I’m not a particularly sociable person. Most of my free days are spent at home catching up on work, reading up on debate material or being glued to the computer screen trying to come up with a good post. Good conversations don’t come naturally. I hardly watch TV, I refuse to watch The Dark Knight and I couldn’t be paid to.
Well. Maybe if I was paid…I am the kind of person around whom awkward silences occur a lot around, and I suck at talking to people I’ve just met.
This, was supposed to be the beginning part of a post I promised one of my friends. And while I no longer think that this paragraph is a good way to start the post, I found it honest enough to keep while I deleted the rest of my ramblings. But I don’t know how to continue this; for once, tonight, I’m at a loss for words even though I have so much to say about this.
Maybe I’ve just proven my point.
Labels: Musings, Personal, Quickies
An update for the sake of updating: this is a picture hanging in the living room of my piano teacher’s house.
Looks like a typical picture for a piano teacher to have right? But look closer.
It’s a vuvuzela!!!
:D
Sorry.
On another note, take a look at the post title and guess what movie I watched last night!
…That I got 7th place in the college/uni category at Jog For Hope 2010; and that hectic as my life is, it pretty much is everything I once asked for once upon a time.
Remembering to be happy makes me feel stronger.
I just received a notice regarding the MAD Charity Show – its venue has been changed from changed from Dragonfly KL to the Ministry of Sound @ Sunway. Do take note and make the appropriate changes. (:
***
A belated note on the World Cup. Does not anyone else feel that relying on an octopus to tell you who’s going to win the match is insulting, not just to us but to the animal kingdom as a whole? Obviously we are the most intelligent creatures on this earth, so it goes without saying that believing an octopus’s random predictions is a beyond stupid. I mean come on, how hard could it have been to get it right? It has a one in two chance of picking the right team! (Further Math students could probably prove me wrong on this but even at face value, one in two aren’t such bad odds)
And I don’t believe that the octopus is psychic. Yes, many animals have been shown to be intelligent and perhaps possess abilities we would deem “psychic”. Dogs rush to the door minutes before their masters arrive home, salmon find their way back to their breeding grounds, abandoned cats find their way home after being lost 100 miles away. The animal kingdom has secrets humans can probably never hope to uncover; or at least, not for a long time.
But the line is drawn at that creeping charlatan of a cephalopod. Because I believe that, no matter how “psychic”, intelligent or as Jonathan says, “pre-cognitive” he is, Paul simply will never be able understand a pointless activity that was invented purely by humans, for humans. Neither does he understand what flags and nationalities are, or what winning means to anybody at all. Paul is simply one freaking lucky – and hungry – octopus whose sole quest in life is to feed and breed.
What’s worse is that his predictions have made headlines around the world. Which goes to show you that clever has humans are, most of us are - most of the time - still the gullible monkeys we once were.
My point is, truthfully I didn’t really like the Netherlands that much. Spain beat Germany after all! But I REALLY REALLY hated Paul so much that I supported Netherlands just so that I could have the privilege of laughing at the world just in case he was proved wrong. So I went and changed my desktop wallpaper orange, tweeted my support to the Dutch incessantly and stayed up all Sunday night… To watch the Oranje go down in the most shameful manner ever. –.- I feel infuriated. This hasn’t convinced me at all of Paul’s capabilities and therefore I shall be revenging myself personally by eating tako every day for a month… Or as long as it takes for the disciples of Paul to shut up.
(Yeah I know my form of revenge isn’t quite coherent with my rant about the wondrous animal kingdom and it’s not even Paul’s fault, but what to do. Spain really deserved to win lah!)
(Besides, Paul is really quite a stupid name for an octopus.)
HELP College United Nations UNDP Club brings you a night of partying and fun – at great rates and for a good cause! We will be organizing the Making A Difference (M.A.D.) Charity Show 2010 on the 30th of July (Friday). The event takes place from 7.00pm until late, at Dragonfly (opposite Pavilion KL).
The show is purely for charity, and the beneficiary of this event is Make A Wish International, a foundation which grants the last wishes of children terminally ill with medical conditions.
So what has this night got to offer?
- Amazing dance performances; choreographed by a So You Think You Can Dance finalist. The dancers will come from some of the best dance schools in Malaysia and will feature many difference styles – samba, tango, salsa etc. This will be the highlight of the night: the dance drama; a drama performed not in words or song, but through dance.
- Other performances – magician ZLWin will be performing. He will also be interacting the crowd, meaning that throughout the night he will be walking through the crowd, maybe pulling random magic tricks on random people. Apparently he’s the next David Blaine. Not the kiddy magician, the scary type (according to Cassandrah lol)
- Celebrity Appearances – a good twenty celebrities will be present, including the likes of Deborah Henry (Miss Malaysia World 2007), Thanuja Ananthan (Miss Malaysia World 2009), so what you what you waiting for?
- Speaking of which, MizzNina might make an appearance too (;
- Goody bags, which everyone will get if they attend (: the goodies you get are unbelievably awesome; you get Coffee Bean vouchers, Celebrity Fitness Passes and so on. There are LOTS MORE, amounting up to RM150 but I could only remember the Coffee Bean vouchers because that’s what I’m going for. Heh.
- Free flow of food and non-alcoholic drinks till 2am; alcohol will be available at discounted prices, but you have to present ID as proof of age. (What? I know it’s an awesome deal but there’s no way we’re being that generous!)
After 9.30pm the dance floor will be open to anyone and everyone. It’s a great way to have fun and spend the night with friends. And it’s all for a good cause!
Here’s the sweet note: one ticket for entry costs RM50.
Bear in mind that first of all, you’re getting goody bags worth RM150 just by showing up for the show. And secondly, MOS charges RM50-RM70 (I heard) for entry into their club, minus all the bonuses I just told you about up there. If that hasn’t got you convinced, remember that it’s all for a good cause. And personally, I never heard of a better deal. (:
You can purchase tickets from any HELP College UN Club members (not just UNDP members). If you’re interested, drop me a message in the chatbox or on facebook. For more info check out this and this.
By purchasing a ticket, you’re not just rewarding yourself with a great night of fun. You’re also MAD – Making A Difference. (:
Labels: Events
Ian got me started on this last night. Ended up having an epic urban dictionary search session instead of designing the debate society’s flyer. Sorry Zean Shiung, there’s still Sunday. :D Anyway I searched up everyone’s names and included my favorite definition under each.
NOTE: Not to be taken seriously. Most of the time. (;
#4: a charismatic, if slightly nutty, male.
See #6 (;
#1: An amazing name. People with this name usually kick ass at everything they do.
#6: A ninja.
#10: Every one is obsessed with him. He’s not popular. He’s not hot, though some people think he is. Girls harass him constantly and will never stop. He’s funny. He’s weird. He has broad shoulders. He is kind of tall. Every one loves Peter. He’s spazzy.
Oh that guy fell down 4 staircases. He is such a peter.
#4: Someone who likes looking up his name on Urban Dictionary.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
#1: The most sincere, goodhearted, and gorgeous girl to grace the world with her lively presence. Some say she resembles Rachel Weisz but in actuality Weisz would never be able to reach the pedestal of beauty that Joanna sits atop of. 2. Pretty much the most awesome person you can ever hope to meet. Be weary though, Joanna is a complete badass and is known to carry either a nine or a gat with her at all times - for protection from other jealous rival badasses and if she just feels like being a thug and robbing a liquor store or grocery for the hell of it.
#8: Of Gaelic origin meaning Fortitude and Strength. Also, perhaps, the most beautiful young woman on the planet.
#3:
1. n; the onomatopoeic sound effect of bouncing boobs.
2. v; the act of boobs (or the owner of said boobs) creating this sound by bouncing.
I think this is the point where I fell off the chair laughing.
Samira, Trishna and Prashanth only have one entry each. Zean Shiung and Ezreena don’t feature. But they DO have a good entry on Shaun. Check out #1 (;
Aaaand finally.
#2: An extremely pretty and interesting girl. Hair is usually blond as she can be a bit ditzy at times but everyone loves her for it. Parties hard, loves life and is particularly fond of bows. Anyone would be lucky to even know a Louise.
#3: A popular feminine form of the name Louis; it is used in all English-speaking and French-speaking countries, and is commonly found across Europe. Rhymes with most of the English dictionary: cheese, peas, keys, please, knees, wheeze, jeez, bees, ease, tease, sneeze, these, fees and so on.
Also in a famous saying:What up Louise!
"Jeez Louise!"
Ohhh the things people around the world with our names do when they’re bored. (:
Go go search up your name and tell me what comes up!
Oh and I’m no big fan of cheerleading, though I do like watching the cheer routines. But I am a huge fan of Catholic High School (; and twitter tells me that Calyx Girls have just made the top 15 at today’s Cheer 2010! :D
Isn’t it?
Don Pedro: Look, here she (Beatrice) comes.
Benedick: Will your Grace command me any service to the world’s end? I will go on the slightest errand now to the Antipodes that you can devise to send me on. I will fetch you a tooth-pick now from the furthest inch of Asia, bring you the length of Prester John’s foot, fetch you a hair off Kublai Khan’s beard, send any message of yours to the Pygmies, rather than hold three words’ conference with this harpy. Have you no employment for me?!
- Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing
Act II, Scene I
Much Ado About Nothing is now officially my favourite Shakespearean play. I really shouldn’t have read it first because now it means I am barely going to touch Othello. :D
And the A-Levels Lit students of three years ago already used this for their A-Levels Production! T.T
Labels: Quickies
From plinky:
When was the last time you thanked someone?
I really can’t remember. I think it was when, during TCSHMUN 2010, I sent the delegate of North Korea a thank-you note for livening up my boring resolution with a joke amendment. Or maybe it was the time I baked a batch of cookies for Trishna and her family for doing a disproportionate amount of the ferrying to-and-from college and our various activities this year.
You see, those emails telling everyone that the hardest two words to say are “thank you” worked themselves into my head: I thank people a lot. I thank people for holding doors, librarians for processing my books, sales clerks for tending to me, cleaning ladies for allowing me to use the bathroom even though they’ve only just cleaned it. I don’t mumble it either; I say it loud, I say it proud.
And still, I feel that I don’t thank the people in my life enough.
Let me explain. I made my dad a huge thank you card for Father’s Day, thanking him for working his back out doing overtime. And yet during the holidays I went on a big shopping spree. It wasn’t a huge amount of money by my peers standards but it did blow out my wallet. Receiving the invoice for my flight tickets to London and Istanbul recently just increased my guilt till I felt like barricading myself in my room if my dad so much as looked at me. I also acted in a really irresponsible way, not bothering to coordinate my social events with everyone else in the family, and being irresponsible with his things as well as my own. I feel like sometimes I can’t blame him for treating me like a kid, because I certainly haven’t been acting like the 18-year-old I am supposed to be.
After every meal every day, I thank Aunty Eva (our maid) for preparing the meal. She’s been with us for as long as I can remember – apparently she arrived to work in our household a month before I was born, so she’s been here a good long eighteen years. She’s really cheerful and capable, but she IS getting on. I hear her coughing a lot, and I can make a rainbow out of all the pills on her breakfast plate. And yet I don’t help her with the cooking and housework as often as I should. I shove it to the back of my head with the thought, I cleaned the upstairs last week. I’ve done my part.
& It’s not like when I thank my dad and Aunty Eva, I’m not saying it sincerely. I say it with all my heart! But maybe “with all my heart” means and thank you for having to absorb all the shit I throw at you, because I’m really really sorry but I’m going to do it again.
Another person I don’t thank enough would be my cousin Dennis a.k.a my Favourite Cousin (FC) whom I undeniably bully more than I should. He’s my know-it-all and my go-to for almost everything. A lot of pre-debate tournament nights were spent on the phone or in front of the computer with him, and he’d have to fork out his work hours just to come and layan his nut of a cousin who hasn’t got two feet to stand on and a brain to think with. For those of you at TCSHMUN, you know that my resolution passed with hardly any abstentions; the truth is that Sheng Hoay and I had spent the night before in front of the computer, and he was helping with it. He never spoonfed me information (I don’t think Lundu is reading this but just in case, HELLO :D), instead asking me questions that got me to think for myself. As a result I came up with a wholesome resolution that covered all aspects of a problem that was relatively minor. The bottom line is, I didn’t do it alone, as everyone is of the mistaken opinion that I did.
A lot of times he says things that are hurt and cutting but absolutely true. (Not the time he called me an orangutan) I mean like the times he told me I wasn’t treating my younger brother well enough. It absolutely hurt to hear it, but it was the pure shameful truth – half the time I brush my brother aside like a fly on the wall.
And yet I forget to return his texts (ignore them sometimes when I’m busy), and in general forget to return all the kindness he’s bestowed on an OKU such as myself. Heh.
It’s easy to thank cleaners, librarians and acquaintances, because you know that given the means, you would be able to help them back. It’s easier when you know that repaying them isn’t a task that will ask much of you.
Conversely, it’s the most difficult to say thank you to those whom repaying means changing yourself for the better, because it means admitting that who you are now really isn’t good enough; which is why they had to step in in the first place.
But what can I say right now? Because I realized that thanking somebody goes beyond just saying thank you. Really thanking the people who deserve it most requires action and change, to show that what they did for you wasn’t for nothing. I can resolve to be a lot more responsible and hope that my dad and Aunty Eva are going to notice, and I hope it makes a difference to them. But if that resolution goes down the drain like every other promise before that, there’s really no point in talking so much here.
And so once again this is just a blog post full of hot wind and little else.
PS: Hi FC I’m not going to pick up your call this time because I’m too embarrassed. What you should do is say IT’S ABOUT TIME. There you see, even saying thank you is a Herculean task for me. Haih why am I so gutless.
Labels: Musings, Personal, Very Long Posts
Three weeks seemed like a longer period of time before the exams ended! I had a list of things I wanted to get done. And I did manage to do all or most of them, but looking back it doesn’t feel like a lot.
Then again, maybe I should stop whining and learn to be satisfied with everything I managed to do, for once.
So here’s what I did with three weeks!
- ICRC Humanitarian Law Debate
The entire HELP delegation at break night, sans Kareem.
- Had a wonderful family holiday at Pulau Perhentian, resulting in me becoming a shade darker.
- Managed to cross snorkeling and scuba diving off my list of things!
- Painted the lamp sitting on my bedside table! (This was part one of a three-part resolution to redecorate my room. The other two parts were to hang up my inspiration board – done – and paste wall stickers on the wall, which couldn’t be done because my sister hasn’t got enough money to pay for her share of the wall stickers yet –____-)
- Learned how to debate British Parliamentary style.
- Celebrated the birthday of a wonderful friend with many many wonderful friends (Hi Jo and Dan!).
![IMG_8548_thumb[2]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5j1TXjQhEk1pkRXD2IBJ4VdlXTgKkPTtEBcrP0dTmm954G3mfvi2IEixUHR4XjvrVa02mjTbjiuMdDA5pDA90D4uRYYPDzCajjAQ0rNkdn_UCmzDsQaE-c4Or1mVsg890lXo5KKSgLFRt/s1600-h/IMG_8548_thumb%5B2%5D%5B2%5D.jpg "IMG_8548_thumb[2]")
My personal favourite picture from the party (:
- Had the worst driving lesson of my life, resulting in my aim to get my driving license before these 3 weeks were up to be terminated. And when I say it was bad, it was BAD! I knocked down umpteen poles and almost reversed into another car!! No pictures of this, thankfully. (:
- Helped my dad manage his church fellowship dinner. And did it like a pro too. (: no pictures.
- Volunteered at PAWS for the Pet Exhibition at Mid Valley Convention Centre. And once again… Need I say it? (My new year resolution to take more pictures has obviously gone down the drain.)
- Watched TWO movies. And this is worth noting because everyone knows I can’t be bothered to watch movies!
- Attended TCSHMUN 2010, my 2nd MUN conference, and got a resolution passed! Well, two resolutions; I was co-submitter for the other.
I think more can be said about this last one. It was infinitely fun, and although the level of debate at HELPMUN was far more intense, the people at TCSHMUN were definitely a lot warmer. The chair of the General Assembly Shafeeq was incredibly diplomatic - except for the instance where he blandly told the Delegate of Latvia that his blazer was horrible (“Don’t wear it, please!” he said). I’ll always remember the GA delegates of Malaysia, Sweden, North Korea and Brazil. Delegates didn’t go out of their way to shoot down a reso, although there plenty of silly analogies bouncing around. At HELPMUN we got miniskirts, tube tops, Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber. Here we had golf courses (full of holes), fortune cookies without the fortunes and godonlyknows what else. There was so much crap about spoonfeeding, breastfeeding, Kim Jong-Il, genetically modified messenger pigeons, the recruiting of vampires as riot police and the use of a Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift remix as torture punishment for those who misuse subsidies.
Delegate of North Korea (GA): This delegate would support the use of genetically modified snails to convey these reports to the United Nations headquarters.
Delegate of Brazil (GA): *poker-faced* Is the delegate of North Korea not afraid that the snails might get stepped on?
*
Delegate of Brazil (GA): Honestly this delegate thinks that the delegate of North Korea is just upset that we beat him in the World Cup a few weeks ago.
Delegate of North Korea (GA): How do I put this nicely… We let you win. Because, you know, some people don’t like losing. They cry.
*
Delegate of Myanmar (UNEP): This delegate asserts that freedom of speech is overrated, and that without the Military Junta to take control, the situation in Myanmar would have been much worse.
Delegate of the Russian Federation (UNEP): So is the delegate of Myanmar actually condoning the Junta?
Delegate of Myanmar (UNEP): Yes. Because this delegate has no choice. If he doesn’t condone the Junta he will be shot.
Superlatives were funny too. Trishna won just about everything in her council (Best Dressed, Next UN Secretary-General, Friendliest, Best Couple with Dhinesh lol). The Delegate of North Korea was voted Most Likely To Nuke, Most Likely To Be Nuked and the GA’s Best Speaker.
Oh and apparently Naomi, Dhinesh and I will be flirting our way into the United Nations assembly one day.
(Come on guys. Seriously. Naomi and Dhinesh, fine. That’s probably expected. But ME?! A flirt?!!)
I wish I’d gotten a picture with Ez and Trish – the latter of whom also got Best Speaker for the UNEP Council! And Haran was Most Diplomatic Speaker for UNEP too. The HELP Delegates rocked TCSHMUN! - but I suppose the pictures will turn up later. Besides that, I only have one other picture to show for it.
HEHEHE yeahhhh baby (;
Warning: from this point on there’s a complete change of tone!
I’ve now reached the last half-hour of my post-exam holiday. I feel nervous as I turn, as I force myself to stop looking at the past, and now face a completely new direction: the new term of A-Levels.
I try hard to be optimistic but I’m not going to lie to you: the road ahead looks ghastly. There’s the Lit production we’ve got to work on (no script yet, oh joy), Lit coursework, and I’ve got that piano exam coming up in November/December. Not only will everything be much harder this time around, I haven’t got Miss Caroline and Miss Joanna to help me. The new timetable looks awful – we end at 4pm just about every day!!! And on top of that I’ve still got to manage the flailing HELP Debate Club and its numerous competitions and fundraisings, United Nations Club WHO and SASA. Things look especially bleak since this time round so many friends will be gone: Ezreena, Lily, Ramya, and soon to include Zean Shiung among the list of those who’ve gotten scholarships. You can see why I’m considering not applying to university till next year!
Oh and have I mentioned how much I’ll miss the seniors now that they’re gone? ):
I sound remarkably stoic if I say one way or another, we’ll survive. We always do. And yet there’s always that irrepressible lingering doubt – Of course I won’t die. Of course it won’t kill me. But this time something’s different: the next six months leave plenty of room for me to do something inherently stupid that will ruin the next five years of my life. And then I’ll wallow in regret, I’ll cry, and descend into a general state of general depression and misery. And I’ll still be alive to live and breathe all of that.
But it’s not like I have a choice. And so survive I will. The question is whether I’ll have the strength to pick myself up again if a life-changing mistake is made.
And now it’s five minutes to midnight.
Here goes nothing.
Labels: Gloom And Doom, Picture Post, Very Long Posts
Family Holiday @ Pulau Perhentian, Jun 14-16 2010
I called this a cliché of a holiday because it was such a typical getaway! Going to an island with clear blue waters to snorkel, dive and sleep.
We had to get up at 4am to go to the airport. I don’t even know why my dad took those pictures of us at the airport – we all looked horrible. I mean come on, who feels like posing at 4am in the morning?! So there’s only one halfway decent picture of me on the first day and that was taken after we got to the resort.
You know how people always talk about white sands and clear blue waters?
Well the way I grew up, the only beach I get to see on a regular basis is Gurney Drive in Penang and you know what THAT looks like.
So when I saw this I went O.O
And went around shouting ohmygod I can see the bottom!!!
Very jakun. Oh well.
And here is that halfway decent picture of me, my eyebags cleverly hidden with my mom’s frames.
Oh and can you believe I went on an island getaway and FORGOT TO PACK MY FAKE SUNNIES?!
Papa and Mama cheesy-cheesying (;
Okay so that’s the end of the first day. And here I have a confession to make. The other thing that we forgot to bring was the underwater camera. And so we spent a good amount of our time snorkeling and scuba diving, but no pictures to show for it.
-________________________-
But there were other more amusing sights.
Like this one.
Aaah.
They’re doing HOMEWORK.
Bless them. (:
The guests all came to the beachfront to watch the World Cup matches every night. This was where I watched that disappointing Portugal-Ivory Coast match and just about gave up on the World Cup.
They even had beach books so that you could have that sprawled-on-the-beach-reading-a-book look. O.O
Somebody on the island is an England supporter!
Mama and I posing before getting on the ferry back. (:
My hair was getting blown about and my dad found it veeeeery amusing. –____-
This is the little boy from the family that went on vacation with us. He ran off with my hat and tried to hide in it. :)
I caught him and made him pose as punishment. (:
So that was my cliché of a holiday at Perhentian! And my captions are all super duper boring but what to do; no pictures of all the exciting coral and fish. ): I’m really upset that I can’t show you what it was like. It was a completely different world. All I have to remind me of that time in the sea are the cuts and scratches I got from the coral.
The best I can say is go see Perhentian for yourself! No point heading all the way to the Bahamas when you’ve got something just as good right here. (:
Labels: Events, Picture Post
