Leaving On A Jetplane

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go. 
I'm standing here outside your door. 
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye. 
But the dawn is breaking, it's early morn. 
The taxi's waiting; he's blowing his horn. 
Already I'm so lonesome I could die..."

Oh ok, my departure wasn't exactly that dramatic, but it was sad nonetheless. hehe.. This is the story of my departure journey...


25 Aug 2008, 8.30pm

For me, my departure started the minute i stepped out of my house's front gate. It was as though i'd be stepping into a whole new world really really soon. Whatever happens from then on in Canada is really beyond my imagination...


From Permas to Larkin...
My bro and his gf actually rushed home from OT just to send me off. My dad, mum, bro and his gf all became my entourage to send me off that night. It was heart-warming. We all squeezed into one car together with my super duper heavy bags, as well as my heavy heart. =( I sat at the back with my parents and all the way down, they kept asking me if i've left anything behind. Passport? IC? Phone? Documents? Winter clothes?... [10 seconds later] Passport? IC? Phone?.. and it goes on and on... Parents will always be this naggy i guess. It can't be helped. And yet at that moment, i was actually wishing they'd nag more.. i won't be hearing it for the next 4 mths.. so, i was actually glad they were nagging at me that time. I wonder if i'd miss their voices soon.
Kimly told me to take lots of family pics before i left. So i did. And i think it really helps lessen my loneliness here in Canada. Thanks Kimly! =D

Taken from the bus

Oh, and my sis did ask me to take pics of all my beloved soft toys at home, which i did. But sorry guys, it's too embarrassing to show you. So i shall keep it for my sis n myself to see. hehe.. =P

Oh, oh, and Aug 25th is also a very significant day for Vince n me. Sighs.. wish i didn't have to leave JB so soon. Ah well, at least we get to meet up before i leave and i'll be seeing him again when i transit in Sg. So yays! It's not too bad huh. =D

Larkin to Sg. Nibong...

It was a long loooong ride back to Penang. Tickets were running out when i bought them a week ago, and so i was sitting right at the front of the bus with little leg space to stretch. My super big backpack was also there to make the space less bigger. And the temperature in the bus at night can be comparable to winter! According to Kimly that is. I didn't thought so before that.. but after that night ride. I will now strongly advise anyone to bring their down jacket, gloves and watever they think is necessary during winter, the next time they take a night Konsortium bus for more than 4 hours. I was so tired due to the whole night of packing my endless clothes and stuff, that i slept right through the journey. In the end, i was awoken by my phone ringing. It was bee chin who was coming to pick me up from the bus stop. When i woke up i checked my watch to see that 8 hours have passed! I was happy cos it means i shd be arriving in Pg soon.. but to my horror.. the bus was only at Ipoh!!! AHHH!!! 8 aching hours and i'm only slightly more than halfway through. Damn... It was raining.. n the bus got colder.. But i managed to sleep while shivering nontheless. haha. When i finally arrived in Pg, it was 10 hours long past 10pm, the time was 8am already.. -.-"

Penang...
Immediately after reaching Penang, bee chin took me to have breakfast. Pan mee!! She fed me so much like i will never taste M'sian food ever again. haha.. It was good. Oh, and i was told that it was a Public Holiday in Pg that day, due to Anwar's election thing in Permatang Pauh. How convenient.. Now i couldn't go to IO to ask about my scholarship!! Shits.. All becos of that election. Sweats.

Well, luckily i had a whole day of meet ups to do. First, i met up with Jun for lunch. And later, we had to search high and low from BJ to Queensbay to eventually Sunshine Sq to change my M'sian ringgit into Canadian dollars. It was a very unlucky day i tell you.. Because of tht public holiday, many money changer didn't have enough canadian dollars for me to change! And the rate was super high at 3.27!!! I was told by everyone that the one in BJ was the best money changer. But to my dismay, he disappointed me. That shop was the only one who offered me their so called "best rate" (my ass) at 3.27! Luckily, we went to check it out at Queensbay and found one kind man who gave me 3.15! But the catch was he only had CAD150 left. So i quickly changed my money two of us pretty gals had to beg him to help us call other changers to see if they have extra CAD. haha.. Alas, there were none he knew.. and thank god for Vince's dad who told me tht Sunshine Sq had a changer at 3.25. So, we took it cos we had no other choice.. Million thanks to Jun for accompanying me almost half the day just looking for money changers.

Jun! Jun!!

After that tiring and exciting race against time, it was time to meet up with the BATI gang - Adam, Azren, Jaya and Mel at KFC! Gosh.. It was really nice to see them after the break, and to listen to Mel and her stories... Sadly, Sir and Hellinie couldn't make it. But it was fun nontheless. Too bad i totally forgot to take a pic with them!!! AHH!!! I just only realised. Sorry guys. Oh and Mel bought me a baju kurung!! And i'm supposed to wear it and take a photo in the snow! omg.. how la? haha.. But still, i wanna thank mel for her lovely gift.. Love you mel!! =D

Later that evening, it was time for a dinner with Vince's family. We dined at Vince's favourite chinese restaurant near USM - Xiao Mu Wu. Too bad vince couldn't be there to join us, and finish up the food for us. haha. But we managed to finish it somehow.. although with much difficulties. lol.

Then when night came.. there was bad news. We were supposed to bunk in with Farah, the other malay gal from USM, for the first night in Vancouver. Last minute, she told me that it was impossible, cos she herself is bunking in someone else's living room. The situation was so stressful that i suggested we went for supper after everything was settled. We managed to find a place at the YWCA in the end. Thank god... So supper till 3am.. and then, it was too late to sleep. I was afraid i couldn't wake up and then i'd miss my flight! haha.. So i stayed awake the entire time. lol. Thankfully, Kimly was also online and we chatted thru the scariest moments. Well, at least he did help till the last minute when he made me panic by giving me all sort of situation examples that could make me late for check in! Ish.. haha..

Oh, and guess what?! Dr Radiah who was teaching the 8am HBT class on the day of my departure suddenly cancelled class and made everyone come to the airport to send me off! Scary.. Vince was of course jealous, cos no one did anything like that for him. LOL... See here for the announcement. I initially thought Vince was joking. But when i saw it with my own eyes.. I was speechless. haha.


Bayan Lepas, Pg...
We finally made it to the airport, after waking bee chin, melati and hellinie. Bee chin was like a F1 driver cutting between cars to the airport that morning. Though we were not late exactly, but we wanted to be there earlier. haha.. And luckily we did. The queue at the check in counter was looong. Many ppl were flying to sg i guess. Then while waiting in line, the counter ppl announced tht the counter will be changed cos the luggage belt won't work. So we rushed there with all my luggage. haha..

Once i chucked my big luggage in for check in, i felt relieved. My luggage was not overweight! It was just 21kg. haha.. So happy. ^_^ You'd think with the amount of things i brought, the bag would have been overweight. Joeyin came just in time to check in with me. haha... Then as we were heading to Coffee Bean for some morning breakfast, bee chin told me to look at one lady reading newspaper. You'll never guess who that was.... It was Dr. Radiah herself!!! Gosh.. wat a shock! I knew she cancelled class, but never did i expected her to come to send me off!! Wow.. it was weirdly surprising. And i managed to take some pics of the moment...

Mel, Hellinie, Bee Chin, Me, Dr. Radiah

The master mind and me.

Mel and Hellinie.

Me and Dr. Radiah - the person who made it happen.

Me and Xiao Shuai

I'd like to thank Dr. Radiah for cancelling her class just for me thus making the send off possible, for Bee Chin who went thru all the trouble of begging Dr. to do so, for Mel who woke up early in the morning just to send me off and in the process forgot to bring her keys out, for Hellinie who woke up together with Mel and later helped Mel break into her room, and of cos Chin Yuan @ Xiao Shuai for riding his scooter (Xiao Mian Yang) all the way from USM to Bayan Lepas. It was a really touching moment. Love you guys!


Penang to Singapore...
It was slightly more than an hour's flight from Pg to Sg. Our excitement increased as the plane took off. Because the seat next to mine was empty.. we enjoyed ourselves to the extra space.. And of cos, we could act a lil crazy without anyone noticing. haha..

Can you see Joeyin's excitement from here? hehe..

View from the plane's window. It felt like heaven..

Oh, and if you happen to fly with SQ, please do not take the Black Pepper Chicken Sandwich. It tastes really just full of black pepper! =S Not nice if you ask me, but edible lah...
haha...

Singapore...
We arrived in the fine city shortly before 12pm and was awed by the shops and stuffs we found in Terminal 2. I was expecting to see Vince with a placard waiting for me at the airport, you know like in those dramas. But sighs.. he didn't make it on time. In the end, we were the ones who went to receive him at the MRT station! hahaha..

The empty taxi line.. I just love the color dividers.. hehe.

And here comes Vince at last...

We headed to NUS at once to deposit our luggages before walking around Sg to meet ppl. I'm really glad we didn't have to drag our checked-in luggage with us when we transited in Sg.. Only had our hand-carry and laptop bag to bring around. But that alone was heavy enough. Plus, the moment we arrived in Sg, it began raining.. and that made dragging our luggages around even more difficult. What luck we have. Because of the rain and heavy luggages, we were late in meeting up with Ming Eng, Chai Lyn and Sin Yee... I'm terribly sorry for that.. I know Ming Eng hates ppl being late, but we really couldn't walk anymore faster. Sorry gals.. So from NUS, we met up with Norven and together we rushed to IMM to meet up with these buddies of mine. Luckily they waited for us to come before leaving. It would be so sad if i left without meeting them. It's been almost a year since I met Ming Eng.. And although there were times when both of us were in JB, somehow, we couldn't meet up no matter what. So yays! We finally meet!!

Chai Lyn and Ming Eng

The people who waited for us..
By the time we got there, they had finished their meals. hehe..

Me and Norven

The gals

And the thorn among the roses.. Vince, who is busy eating as usual.

Picture taken after several attempts to get the waiter's help.
We were waving wildly, but no one saw us. Super blur!!

Later that evening, it was dinner with Yu Hooi, my sis and Joeyin! We went to Botak Jones, a famous crowd packed western food stall in one of the hawker centre near Clementi. I tell u.. the line was sooooo long just because of this one small stall. The second thing i was instantly attracted to this stall was their brilliantly interesting menu (which i conveniently forgot to take a pic of. alamak..). It was a very good source of entertainment for customers as they line up to order food. The food was really good and filling tho. Worth every cent we paid. haha..

A very satisfied customer

Yu Hooi and my sis caught in action

Me, probably covering my mouth to prevent juice from the succulent fish from squirting out. lol.

Joeyin, enjoying some refreshing ice cubes after the very filling dinner.

Waiting for the bus to go back.

Marge, me and Vince.

We went back to NUS tired and full... It was a great day anyhow. Got to meet up with lots of friends and enjoy good food. What a blessing. I think it's gonna be something i'll miss in Canada... =(

Earlier on we had planned to stay over at the airport our next morning flight check in. However, that means we had to rush from NUS to Changi before the last bus n mrt at around 11pm. We were late in doing so, so by no choice and lots of planning, Joeyin n i decided to stay over in Vince's room. haha.. Isn't he lucky to have gals in his room? lol..

It was a better idea though, cos we had better sleep on Vince's bed.. and we had someone to wake us up in the morning.. (thanks sayang for staying up the entire night) and I could meet up again with Norven n Margie!! Norven told me to go meet her, cos she has smth to pass to me...

It was a letter! i LURVE letters.. Thanks a lot Nor!

And a pack of sweets!! How sweet..
Too bad i didn't need them on the airplane cos i was fed very well in the sky.
But it's very useful when i go for classes later! =D

And Margie wanted to meet me to pass me her cutlery and smth very dear to her... Thank you so much dear. You're the greatest sis! Love you!!! Miss you too!!!!


Changi to Vancouver...

Flying from SIN - YVR meant we're leaving from the world reknown Changi Terminal 3! Yays!! It was a splendid sight to behold and really world class in everyway. KLIA is nothing compared to this, seriously. The architecture and facilities there are so much more nicer in everyway. Well, maybe i shdn't be bias. haha.. Let's just say T3 was very posh.

The check-in area
It was sooo international.. the counters alone took an entire floor!

Joeyin and i going camera crazy!

Breakfast @ Wang Kopitiam to fill our rumbling tummies.

Look at the eggs.. The yolk is bigger than the teaspoon! O.O

Vince pushing my trolley

And joeyin pushing hers! hehe..

The entrance to an exit

And so we were on our long journey all the way to Seoul n straight to Vancouver. It was a very sad departure.. knowing it'll be the last time i'll see vince till 4 mths later.. And when he called me before walking away, it felt even more harder to leave.. =(

Anyhow, to leave we must and so we boarded the plane. Of cos not without taking advantage of the tax free shopping in changi! Joeyin and I were searching for perfumes cos according to her, we'll be stinking in winter from not bathing, so we need to use some perfume to hide the smell. haha! And we bought Estee Lauder's Pleasure - Exotic. It came in packs of two, and that was the nicest so we both agreed to it. haha...

This time we had another passenger sitting next to me. His name is Nizar Harji. He's like this sort of old man who travels a lot. And guess wat?! He's from Vancouver!! So we were lucky enough to get lots of tips and advices about Vancouver from him. It was fine at first.. but then.. he became too friendly.. i dunno if he meant it or it was unintentionally.. he kept nudging me, touching my arms and all.. Omg.. i felt very trapped in between. And that Joeyin was like, "See he treats u so well! Good la!!" Omg.. i can kill joeyin sometimes -.-" Piece of advice, DON'T ever get the middle seat. haha.. Well, i cannot describe the agonising 19+ hours on the plane sitting there. I even had to resort to using the pillow as a shield. lol.. But after all that weird stuff, this Nizar guy was ok. He even made our trip entertaining! In the middle of the night, when everyone was asleep but us, he requested for nuts, more nuts, fruits, and chocolates for us! haha.. The air stewardess was kind enough to actually give us all those things - which usually are only served to First Class passengers. hehehe... So in the end, we had bananas, packets of nuts and a Snicker bar. =)


Korea...
The transit in Seoul was a brief one. We only managed to use the toilet, send a short msn msg, and then it's back on the plane for the next 12 hours. Nothing much to be said... but one thing tho, Incheon Airport has this internet area for passengers, and they even provide the laptops for us to use... and u know wat laptops they use?! MACBOOKs!! and VAIO... and all the branded ones.. Gosh.. how cool is that?! hahaha...

My trolley with the picture of Song Hye Kyo.
Pretty, no?

And that's the story of my journey to Vancouver.. Stay tuned for The Touchdown story coming soon!! =D

The Days Before Leaving...

Being back home this time was very different feeling althogether. For one, i'll be just sort of 'transiting' there for just a week to pack n ready myself for Canada. Although one week usually last me just nice.. this time the 7 days didn't seem enough. Sighs.. Time zooms past whenever we want it to stop.

Anyhow, the days spent in my favourite place in Malaysia and also my fave little Sg island was a memorable and sweet one. I can't elaborate more, so let the pics do the talking... (Oh ya, did i mention that i've bought myself a camera?! teeheehee =D )

WARNING: From now on, my blogs should be very very long due to the numerous pictures i wanna upload. hahaha.. So enjoy!

I finally saw rain in weeks.
This was on my way home on the bus.

My mum.
Though she complains this shirt looks old and the table looks messy.. I still like it cos, it's a very rare pic of her smiling naturally. hehe.. i miss her..

Margie!
Ever so cute n face-pinching worthy. hahaha..

Just after 2 days in JB, then i headed into Sg to meet up with Norven as well as my sis and sayang who just started uni in NUS. Brought all the tau sar peah, bought all the way from Pg, across the causeway for them. Well, the smiling faces when they see the box of tau sar peah was worth it. =)

Norven, Vince n myself in the (can't rmb the name's) Music Hall, NUS.

Ceiling view of the corridor.

Sky view from the Music Hall.

NUS Museum Open House!
I was fortunate enough to go NUS on that day. The musuem was great. Really high class and all. There was even some lucky draw! And Vince won a silver chess set. Nice hor..

Singakuda (if i rmb correctly)
This is the mystery piece we had to find the name in order to enter the lucky draw.

What is an open house without a buffet?
And when there's a buffet, Vince sure makan! lol.

Us and the PRCs from Vince LEaRN program. These PRCs speak really good English, unlike some we know. Though i was just a visiting fren, it was nice to know them. Oh! And the guy on far left, he's nickname's Long-ge.. And Vince, being his fren.. was named Siang-ge by Norven. hahaha.. =P

Then Vince n i met up with my sis, and Dennis.
Guy on left: Dennis, guy on righ: Vince.
We went to have supper... and ended up walking one big round plus U-turn back to PGPR (vince's hostel) cos the back door was locked. It was very tiring but fun all the same. Cos Dennis and Marge walked together with us. haha..

When we went back, it was already Norven's 22nd Birthday on 22nd August! So, we bought her a little something for breakfast. And sneaked the gift into her room, while she was sleeping. Mana tau, the moment i left her room, she already realised i came in. Alamak.. Sorry for waking you up ya.

And so.. the 2 days, 1 night in Sg ended just like that...
This was on the way back to JB together with Vince.
It was a short visit but sweet nontheless. *hugs*

Mohd Jaya bin Mohd Johan
This is my coursemate from JB as well!
EVERYONE says he's Vincent's twin.. wat do u think?
Well, maybe u can't see from here, but both of them are dark, big sized, same round and loves to eat! =P
Anyways, he was our driver and food guide while Vince n I were in JB. =D

After enjoying myself in Sg for quite awhile, it was time to get down to some serious packing. Gosh... the amount of clothes i had to bring.. and plannings i had to make...

Imagine: Packing your bags for winter, a season u never came into contact before - so many super thick clothes to bring - and always thinking there's not enough clothes. then considering Canadian Dollar is sooooo much more higher than MYR - hence need to pack along more cheap stuffs that we can find here, like shampoo, lotion etc. - which is HEAVY! And then need to make sure your check-in luggage does not exceed 23kg!! It's damn hard de lo..

The winter clothes i've decided to bring to Canada.
Courtesy of Magdalene (my bro's gf) for her kind donation of clothes.
All are hers except for the blue down jacket far right.
All so pretty rite?? hiahia.. =D

Well, Margie came home on Sat to spend time with me. It was really touching. Miss her loads.. Then sunday came.. and she had to go back to NUS. Cos it was raining, we decided to send her back by car.

Traffic jam on the Causeway entering Sg.

Raining all the way again... I guess that's what i love about JB, the weather always makes me sleepy. lol.

An almost complete family pic outside Marge's hostel.
OK, my mum just so happen to wear couple shirt with my bro de. And coincidentally, his gf was wearing yellow as well! haha.

View from Marge's hostel.
I just love it! Compared to wat i see outside my hostel in Fajar.

After sending Margie in, it was all the way home again, and more packing to do...
Pack Pack Pack. Decisions Decisions Decisions. *headaches*

I made such a huge mess around the house.. But mum didn't made a sound. Thanks mum, for being so supportive! And i was so sad that i couldn't meet up with sooo many ppl like Michelle, CK, Sab, n Lifen. Sorry gals, i promise to make it up to u gals when i'm back. And to Lifen dear... ALL THE BEST in your future undertakings in UK. Enjoy yourself as much as you can there, and don't forget to keep us updated!!! Get a blog!!! hahaha.. Oh, and special thanks to Kimly for always answering all my nonsensical questions about winter weather conditions etc.. late at night. haha..

I guess that's it. That was the story of the days before i left Canada...

In 3 hrs 10 mins

I'll be on my way home!!!

I've been waiting for this moment for far too long.

Hope my journey back will be a good one.

Lots of outdated stories to blog about.

Will do it as soon as i get everything settled for Canada aite?

^.^

Life After Dropping Courses

Life after dropping courses is FUN yet BORING...

It's fun when u can stay up late - doing whatever you want, and wake up at any time u wish.

It gets boring when there's nothing for you to do except go to International Office everyday!

It's as if my life now revolves around IO only. I can't escape it no matter what.. cos there's still a lot of things to settle for UBC!!!

First, there was the housing issue. See, previously UBC already offered me a hostel for CAN$1625+ per sem. But sadly, i didn't have the money nor the confirmation of a scholarship to pay the deposit of CAN$700 at that time. We didn't want to take the risk, so we missed the application and my offer expired. Then we thought there could be a good chance of getting back the offer if we asked Wan to help us explain our situation to UBC. But whenever we needed him urgently, he's always on MC - hence the nickname. Even when Farah (another one of them going to UBC but on own expenses) sms-ed to say she has a friend there who's looking for roommates, we decided to try our luck waiting for UBC... Who knows, in the end we had nothing.

Then, some bad news came along. Our scholarship, which was supposedly RM17000+ for that one sem, was actually to be shared among TWO people!! Not just for one person! The officer made a mistake!! He made us happy for barely a week, just to pull us back down to earth. Now we're only getting RM8597.24 ie. CAN$2755 for the whole semester!!! We were supposed to get a FULL scholarship! But apparently, JPA has different standards for different programs.. and their list of living expenses are still 8 years outdated. SHITS... I hate M'sian government and USM Bursary!!! =(

Therefore, we decided to start looking for a house off campus. We search high and low.. emailed and messaged and begged soooo many landlords and advertisers in the hope of getting a cheap room for two to share. Somehow, we realised that foreigners don't like to share rooms. They do not really get the 2 ppl share a room concept. Maybe it's becos they cherish privacy.. but it isn't a crime isn't it? Many rejected us just becos we asked to share the room. Some were too far. Some were too expensive.

Finally.. There was a glimmer of hope and it came in the form of a person named Lucky Braich. Even his name's Lucky! hehe.. He replied us and allowed us to share the room! We were set on staying in this house even though it was 14km away from UBC. We were even more sure when we saw the basement room...

I
I
V

Doesn't the bed look sooooo comfy?? =D

However, Lucky told us he needed to see us before he can confirm everything. There was also someone interested in the room, and he's coming earlier than us! Sighs.. we weren't meant to live in such a lovely room. =(

Fortunately, Luck was still with us. While searching for outside housing, we also emailed UBC to ask for help. And we were offered another type of housing in UBC! Sounds great, but It's rental is CAN$580/month! That's like CAN2320 for the entire sem!!! Which is like 85% of our scholarship!!! AHHH!!!! How to survive in Canada on $400 for 6 mths??!! There was a time when i thought maybe it wasn't worth going to Canada after all.. SIGHS... ='(

In the end, we had to write ask for help from the stupid Bursary.. And hopefully, they'll agree to it. *cross fingers, cross toes, cross hands and cross legs!*

Today, i finally paid the deposit for housing, cleared my medical insurance, and U-Pass (transportation pass) and signed-up for the orientation program! It seems like everything is almost done. What's left now is the scholarship money, the bank acc, and last but not least.. the SHOPPING!!! hahaha.. MEGA SALE, here i come!! huhu =P

Oh and of course there's the Buddies and BATI Club activities that have to be settled before i can leave... Sighs.. It's so boring!!! -.-

I can't wait to go back home!!!!!!!!!!!

New/Old Environment

After getting my Visa, i was told by the International Office staff, Wan (a.k.a. MC-King) that i'm officially allowed to drop all my courses for this semester! It's really tough going to classes when you already know you won't be in USM for the coming months. Though as hard as i try to go for classes, it seems futile and totally boring to go for classes. I dunno why! Especially the syntax n morphology class with it's super duper early 8am classes from tues-thu and it's ridiculous n confusingly crazier 'rajah pohon' drawings, makes me feel all the more excited about dropping courses! haha.. And so, after informing all the lecturers about my exchange studies to UBC, getting their signatures, hearing some advice about travelling n studying abroad from them, i finally managed to drop all 5 courses of mine. You should have seen how fast things were done when it came to dropping courses. haha! Joeyin, i'm sure u'll agree with me on that. =P

Now i'm a FREE student!
I walk around campus, heading nowhere near any class! hehe..

Well, for some this might be old news, for others, this could be news. So, to make sure everyone knows what has happened since my last post..

Vince has gone to NUS, Sg!

He left for the "Land of Awesomeness" on 24th July. It was pretty quick - everything happened in just a blink of an eye. We had plans to enjoy our last week together as best as we can (movies, n more movies. haha..) but somehow, things ended up differently. Now i can't even seem to remember why we didn't manage to watch The Dark Knight together. Hmmm.. I'm getting old too damn fast! Ahh!!! Anyways, with him in Sg, it was not proper that i continued staying in his house. Ok, it's a long story as to why i was staying there. It started with me coming back to Penang early - no hostel available yet, to something like i'm lazy to move out of my holiday home. haha.. =P

So there i was, on the eve of his departure rolling and stuffing his huge pile of clothes into the luggage bag while packing my own things to bring back to my room. And to make matters worse, i had to finish a partner work English Phonetics assignment to pass up the next day, even though i had dropped my courses. Siens.. And then, he made things even interesting by reformatting his mum's laptop without making sure he had all the driver cds! He panicked when he couldn't get the laptop to work properly. haha.. Luckily, with the advancement of technology, and Toshiba's intelligence to put everything online, we managed to find back all the missing drivers.

And the next thing u know, he was saying goodbyes to everyone in uni, and up on the bus. It was weird and sad to see him off. Usually i was the one on the bus. haha.. Thankfully, my tear ducts didn't just burst out at the bus station. I guess knowing that i'll be seeing him when i go back to JB in Aug helps! haha.. =D

After watching the bus leave... his mum n sis sent me to my hostel - to my new hostel room, since my old block's under renovation. The journey to USM was awfully slow. It somehow felt like i was leaving home pula. Andria was saying how the house is going to be very quiet - after Xandria and Vince, now me. And his mum was telling me to come by often whenever i want to. Sighs.. I felt so touched and grateful.

Anyways, now i'm back in my old 'desa' (a place i'm very familiar with) but in a whole new room, with a new roommate too. Her name's Shi Hui from Maths Stats course. A very very quiet gal, who sleeps by 12am and prefers the main light to be off to sleep. Gosh.. Not that i don't like her, i do! But it's kinda hard for me to do anything, when she sleeps so early! I am a night owl!!! I can't sleep before 12 nowadays.. Hence, the first few nites of my new life, was spent under small dim light from my webcam. LOL..

It felt weird to be living in my hostel once again. To be moving my huge ass luggage bag nearing the middle of the sem was already weird enough. Then have to wipe everything down from top to bottom for those gross looking dust balls (yeah... there's so much dust, it becomes dust balls). Then unpacking n moving things. Then putting out your bed sheets and all.. And the worse part.. You have to start refilling bottles of water everyday!!! I hate this part. Being a "shui tong" really sucks when u're staying in a hostel. hahaha..

Guess i'll just have to bear with it, and adapt to this new/old environment...

Oh! But then it gets tougher when i miss the presence of the SLK (Small Little Kancil). Damn, i've to start walking around campus and get tanner! Shits.. =(

Cash!

Let's start from where i stopped last time, shall we?

With my visa done, the next thing to do was to get my air ticket! Prices of the tickets were increasing by the hour, and i was so worried. With all the tension, my bro's credit card decided to give me problems when i needed it the most. Damn RHB Bank and that stupid ACCESS thingy for online shopping. It asked for some stupid ID and password, that even my bro doesn't know about. Apparently, it's automatically registered for all card users. Wat da heck?! How to know the password n all if u auto reg for ppl?!! Idiots.

In the end, with lots of help from Vince's dad, i managed to buy my ticket from the SIA ticketing office.

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Counter lady: How would you like to pay, miss?

Me: Cash.

Counter lady: *busy typing* How are you going to pay for your ticket, miss?

Me: Cash.

Counter lady: *stops typing and looks at me in calm shock like this kind of situation happens all the time*

Me: *Takes out the RM6500 (in RM50 &RM100) from Vince's pocket + RM16 cash and counts it on the counter with the help of Vince n Joeyin, then pay* ;)

Counter lady: *Takes my money, count again, put it through the note-counter machine, and then scan every single note for counterfeit, and secretly curses me - "Which idiot pays RM6516 in cash??!! Arrghh!!"*

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For the first time in my life, have i ever held RM6500 in cash with my very own hands. Felt rich for once. And it felt good.. mwahaha.. =P

My flight itinerary...

If you guys have noticed, i'll be transiting in Singapore before i fly to Seoul and eventually Vancouver! So, anyone free on that day, and happen to be in Singapore, maybe we can meet up for dinner or smth? hehehe.. =) Oh and, I'll be flying across the world on Christmas Day!!! How cool is that! hahaha.. =DD

At last, my ticket to Canada and back is settled. Although i had to empty every single sen from two of my bank accounts and borrow money from ppl to pay for it. Whew~ At least for now i can be sure that no matter what happens, i shall definitely be going to Canada and coming back!

But the problem left is... How am i going to survive there??

That remains a mystery...



ps: Did you know that flying directly from Singapore instead of M'sia is MORE expensive? This is because they charge the Tax n Fuel in S$.

One Step Closer

I got my Canadian Visa!!!

YAYS!!!!

I'm now one step closer to leaving USM this sem. Wahahaha... =P

It's sooo close yet just that little bit of so far..

Just a few more things to settle and i'll be on my way.

Whee~!!

Y^o^Y

Don't Wanna Study Anymore

ARGHH!!!!!!!!!

I don't feel like studying in USM anymore!!!!!!

The mood's not here anymore...

Can't i just drop everything and go to Canada???

Last night, while surfing the Internet aimlessly, I decided to check my UBC courses.. and lo and behold.. the courses i applied for, have been registered! Happy happy! =D I got Italian and 2 Linguistics courses. Didn't expect to get both the linguistics courses, cos i was hoping i could do German, but ah well, any course is better the one i'm taking in USM now. Italian!! Tht's so cool!! Now i really can't wait to go to Canada!!!!

* Oh Bursary pleassssse give me my money soon... I really need the money!!
Show me the money!!!!!!!!
(or i'll burn you down real soon) *

Back To School

Long ago when i was still in primary school, going back to school was always a joy. Especially the part where my parents buy new uniforms, new shoes, new socks, new books, new stationery etc! Happy Happy! Just the thought of dressing up before going to school was enough to make me wish to return to school earlier to "show-off" my new everything. haha... Now that i'm in uni already, going back to school is getting more and more depressing. What's more if it's your final year. Gosh, how time flies.. The memory of entering USM for the very first time and joining the stupid orientation is still very fresh in my mind. And every year when i'm back in USM early for the exchange students' orientation, it happens to be the orientation for the local students as well. The long lines walking under hot sun, the umbrellas in every hand, the hanging matric cards on their necks, is just sooo familiar. I've seen this orientation process twice already.. and i can't help but feel old. Feeling old is not the worst part, it is the part where i realised it's about time to leave the studying world and venture out into the working community thats scary. I also worry about what i will be in future. At this moment, honestly, i've no clue whatsoever. Sighs.. Admiration for people with goals in their life is something i'm always stuck with. I hope one day all this would change.

My holidays has ended, and my final year (OMG! It's my last year!!) has begun. It started with the orientation for the exchange students. This year we had some new buddies to help us with the orientation program. Disappointing to say, their performance was far below par. I dunno wat it is with the younger generation or maybe it's just me -- these so called "youngsters" nowadays, are so much more clueless and idiotic. Even with the advancing technology, these ppl still own a very undeveloped brain. I shall not comment on their brilliance, for i care not how they fair in class, but rather comment more on their basic general knowledge. It is our misfortune that among the new buddies this sem, we have a very "lovely" set of "bowls and plates" (literally mangkuk pinggan). It is disappointing enough that almost half of the shortlisted buddies either rejected, do not reply, or act ignorant towards our activities, what's worse is the buddies that left behind were almost useless. These bowls and plates are the very typical mandarin educated ppl. Not to be mean to anyone who is chinese educated, but these 4 ppl are just a total embarrassment to all the chinese schools. They go EVERYWHERE in 4s. They do EVERYTHING in 4s. Wat is your problem? Are you some 4 year old who needs company wherever you go? I don't recall me being so childish when i was 4. Wat exactly is their problem? It would be fine if they do their job well stuck together, but the problem is they don't! And even after you advice them, you lecture them, you make it very clear to them, they STILL wanna stick together like some kind of siamese quadruplets. Really idiotic ppl. And the worse part is, they only join in when there's fun stuffs to do. This is the most irritating point. Having one super thick face, small brained Roy is enough, now we have 4?! There's a limit to wat human beings can handle.

Then uni reopens... And to start it off, we had to wear formal wear to our first class - Interpreting. It's really hard to walk around campus in formal wear, yet we did it. Applause to all BATI 3rd years for their courage and determination, for we have to wear formals to every interpreting class, tutorials and recordings from now on. Monday blues can't be anymore blue-er. haha.. This semester's schedule was quite a tough one. Although we could register online, the arrangement of schedules still made life terrible. So many tutorials to snatch, language courses to drop and add, and courses that just couldn't fit in although you really need it. Sighs.. I just can't find the mood to study right now. In just 3 days, there's already 1 assignment waiting to be done. (which reminds me i've yet to write my internship report. damn.. ) How i wish my exchange to Canada would be confirmed and happen real soon.

In case you're wondering why I'm still so undecided about Canada, it's all because of USM's stupid idiotic Bursary. they agreed to give the students scholarships. But when we get shorlisted for it, they don't wanna give us the money, not till at least one week before we leave, or worse, like previous expreiences of others, they'll give the money AFTER they return from their place of exchange! WTF!! How are we suppose to go, if you don't give us any money? I missed my hostel application cos i couldn't pay the CAN$700 deposit and becos i daren't take the risk of paying through my own nose without any confirmation from the Bursary. I mite even have to pay for my flight tickets myself too, if i wanna leave on time! And visa!! And everything else!!! (They have the cheek to claim that flight tickets are actually not included in the full scholarship?! That we'd have to claim it back AFTER we buy the ticket?! Wat bullshit is that?! Aarghh!! @#$%&*) God knows when they'll give us the money, or maybe not give us the money. Why can't they just tell us we won't get anything?? At least we'll not have any hopes of going anywhere! Ironically, even though the Bursary is notorious for being poor and selfish, they still have the stupidity to spend it on all the wrong things, like repainting an unused bus stop! Assholes. Stop pushing the responsibility, and just give us our damn money! Now i wished i had applied for exchange to NUS. At least Singapore will definitely give us the promised S$6000. Sighs... All hopes for UBC is now as faint as a dying flame. =(((

I wanna go for Exchange!!!!!

Hmmm.. i guess that's it for one post. I've spilled too much anger into this post. Sorry guys. haha.. =D


Oh! And i'm so happy i met Ah Pang when i went back to Penang after my internship. She's still as crazy as ever!! Crazy Pang. When are you coming back to Pg to find me? I miss you gals in JB!!! Pray hard that i can go to UBC k? Cos if i do, i will be going back to JB before i leave M'sia. hiahiahia... =P



ps: Gonna miss you when you go down to Sg.