2009

Happy New Year 2009! ^_^
New Year Resolutions:
1)Be more disciplined, work hard (emulate my roommate) in everything!
2)Must organize something!
3)Sing more and draw more and read more~

I am a bad multitasker, so I can't have too many resolutions! It works better if I focus on just one ^_^

Wish everyone will succeed in their resolutions!

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I didn't know my TOEFL results were in (Stupid ETS never informed me) until today when I checked
115/120- I'm relieved!
The thing is, I didn't put my TOEFL score in my CommonApp because I didn't know I had the scores ady. Stupid me for assuming things =A=
But Mami is happy & that's great!

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I've finished 4 of my uni applications! NEVER EVER EVER try to put off things to the last minute because you will feel like wanna die. Imagine trying to write app essays and supplement essays and filling up forms and doing research on the unis the whole day, everyday, for one whole week! And besides, if you started earlier, you could show your essay to more ppl, get more comments, and have more time to improve them!

I've learnt my lesson and I'm gonna work hard for the transfer application (if I don't get in this year) But please get me in this year!!! (becoz i dun wanna go through the horrible application process again)

Thanks to Jun Tat, Hui San, Mei Qi and especially my dear bro Josiah for helping to read my essay and give comments! Really helped!

Now it's not the end yet. I still have my Uni of Washington apps and I haven't written the 2nd essay (short one-abt 250 words) and Activities Log.

Question (Choose one):
1. The University of Washington seeks to create a community of students richly
diverse in cultural backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints. How would you contribute to this community?
2. Describe an experience of cultural difference, positive or negative, you have
had or observed. What did you learn from it?

I prefer question 2. I thought of writing about what a foreigner said about Malaysia, or compare Malaysian Chinese vendors with scary China vendors.

Guys, any ideas?

Cheers to the New Year!

Makan makan!

3 mini keropok rotan~!! Usually I don't like keropok rotans coz they are too tough, but these are very nicely fried! Crispy on the outside, juicy & 'Q' inside =D!

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A labu couple:

LABU-LABU = RABU RABU = LOVE LOVE! (to those who can get my lame pun, pls bear with me orz)

****After a few hours****

The Labu transformed into a Labu Dish! (tang hoon+sliced labu) Pa's the cook...pretty tasty =3


The 'Ba Zhen Tang' (8 Treasures Soup) in process:

Saya diberi makan benda-benda macam ni setiap hari di rumah :P

Balik rumah = Tambah Berat

Sangat-sangat keberatan...

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Anyway, I was writing another rant about uni app, but then decided to post something more reader-happy.... Coz I'm so desperate to get more comments, pitiful

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Let's end with an intriguing logo:

It's read as 'AI'. And the meaning of the word is manifested in the word! How amazing...

(btw, i discovered the logo on our FMM Sisters' car (yeah, our church's sisters have a car) =D)

The trend nowadays is Rainy Days...

The air is wet, soaks

Into mattresses, and curls

In apparitions of smoke.

Like fat white slugs furled

Among the timber
...

The air is still, silent

Like sleepers rocked in the pantun
...

This was forty years ago,

When nyonya married baba.

~Monsoon History, Shirley Geok-Lin Lim~

I read a few blogs...........guess everyone in kelantan is experiencing similar feelings about rainy days. boo.

The purpose of this post is just to achieve 5 posts + divert your attention from the previous post =P

So...i'm going to bore you to death. What did I do today?

1.7.30am Woke up.Brrr.Super cold.Breakfast (char mee hoon) at Ah Sim.

2.8.45am Mass at Church. I'm the organist today, Annemary (my ex-piano teacher & sifu, who's moving to KL soon :( played the keyboards, Stefan & Edward guitars, Uncle Paul bass guitar, Uncle Gerrard drums. Kau Yang Terindah (thanksgiving hymn) was the highlight today! A lady from Kem Desa (i think) took the mic and sang the hymn so expressively, so wholeheartedly, and so powerful! Father Robert Daniel even praised her during mass =D

3.About 10am After Mass. Audrey came to ask me about Bio (SPM Bio on Mon), so i hope i could help her >.< (i'm not a very good teacher) Then we play with the kids gang (ranging from 3yr-old to 18yr-old(me)) The 3-yr-old naughty little boy kicked the 4-yr-old naughty little boy and the 4 yr-old bawled his head off while the 3-yr-old just ran away and came back (the 'big sis' and 'big bros' tried to get him to say sorry but the 3-yr-old never understood LOL). Anyway, I kena kicked by the 4-yr-old later. But of course he can never beat me MUAHAHAHA. That's why I love bullying playing with little kids. I esp. like him coz he takes notice of me, but he cries too easily lar.

Oh yeah, Aunty Anu came back! Whee~~!! I haven't seen her for so long~~ She's working near INTI-SJ, maybe can get chance to see her..

Maybe all the ex-Kota Bharu church members who have moved to KL should gather for dinner some time...see how many have gone...t.t

4. 12+pm Lunch at Sekawan. Food (snack) of interest: pulut with pisang in it! nice! After lunch, stopped at Muhibah Bakery. That day I said KB bakeries bake nicer bread right. Right so! More variety and taste ^O^ 

Some new product from Muhibah. Named "Japan/Alex-Can Bun"(??). In chinese it says butter.. The bun is a bit kepek after reaching home. Sorry that my crappy camera couldn't snap a better pic under crappy lighting.

Now this one looks nicer right. Some multigrain-cake-roll. The cake is very soft and smooth~ And then my mother said, "Remember that time when you had sore throat? You couldn't eat anything except something that looked like this-"

=A= Don't remind me of that tortuous time...it was before SPM BC Paper...i kena very very very very very bad sore throat+and becoz i couldn't eat anything kena gastric juga... miserable

5. 6+pm Dinnertime. Lauk from "Tong Ah Ju" (my mum calls the restaurant that way; it's real name is Tong Ah Juan)= fish (hang hu) with yellow kuah, turnip+carrot, steamed-mincedmeat-ball, small bowl of soup, and pucuk paku (ferns) stir-fried by pa.

6. Normally I would watch Flame of Recca at 6.30, but I skipped since I've watched today's episode before. 7.30pm Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X) =D The episode where Kenshin beat one of the Juppon Gatana (the vegetable-head guy Chou), and got his new katana! I really enjoy RK but = = spoilt by the dumb subtitles. Goodness! I dunno why the NA dubbers love to add cheesy, "very thoughtful" lines that are just plain annoying when you know clearly that the characters are neither saying nor thinking such things.

Ori:

Kenshin: Kaoru-dono!

Kaoru: Kenshin~!

NA dub:

Kenshee: Cori, I love you~~~~! 

Cori: Kenshee, I love you too~~~~~~! 

=A= So lame. Even worse when out of the blue, some cheesy subtitles come out when NO ONE IS SUPPOSED TO BE TALKING O.o Those clever dubbers must really enjoy writing drama scripts to even bother to fill in the silence in the original audio. It's so distracting for me. Gah! 

--I am anti-low-quality-dubbing = = But nowadays the Americans know better. The lame dubs are probably a thing of the past...hopefully >.<

7. After bath, try to study SAT BIO. Super Big Product Fun Show (ANIMAX says it's the "wackiest Japanese fun show ever") at 10.30pm. Unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations. Firstly, they dubbed it and I can't hear properly what they're saying coz they're talking so fast + their voices (old) don't suit the hosts (young). 2ndly, i don't find it that funny at all, merely '. . .' So I switched off after 10 mins.

8. Struggled with SAT CHEM. TAT Chemi is driving me crazy!! I dun know how to do so many questions TAT Even my father cannot help me TAT HELP ME~~~

---------Fin this draggy draggy draggy post ady lah!------------------------

Ok, finish up with a plate of nasi dagang (ate this a few days ago)

And a cute random snail.

活着VS随时离开

今天友人传来这样的简讯：

        我要跟你说声对不起，之前如果我有对你做错什么事就请你原谅，我们可能不能再谈了，因为每个人总有离开的一天. . . 对不起你保重。

. . .

. . .

我逼不得已要走了. . . 

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

去日本

. . .

. . .

帮Ultraman打妖怪

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真的被吓了一下。心被打击了一下。我早已知道这个道理。可是我还是在拖延。为什么？

只不过是个开玩笑；可是，如果没有下面那部分？

第一句说的是实话。

     每个人总有离开的一天

     我们可能不能再谈了

               -----

谁都一样。谁都不知道谁几时在哪里会离开（除非是terminal illness)。真的。死掉。没掉。

那时，你会怎样？

               ------

我曾想象，如果自己死去，身边的人，认识我的人，会有怎样的反应？

（不是妄想的。已有一次差点被车撞。早一步迟一步可能没那么好命了。〉《）

我也曾想象，如果身边的人死去，我会怎样？

 （之前，有位朋友的姐姐（或是妹妹）去世了。听到他很冷静地在电话里说：My sister passed away. 我也呆了不知怎回答。然后，我想象，如果是我，我的哥哥，去世了，我会怎样？

只是想象，就想哭；肚子底感觉空空的-没了大哥，没了二哥，好恐怖，我不要。

如果是爸妈没了？好友没了？

这些迟早要经历的。是人就要。除非你早死啦。

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我们的时间不多。我活了18年，真不敢相信我活了那么多年，更出奇的是，大家都说这是‘理所当然的’。真的吗？活着是理所当然的？死亡就出奇了？

不不不。或者，可能是倒反吧。死亡才是理所当然。

那么，活着就是奇迹啊。

每一天，每一分，每一秒. . . 

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后记：传我简讯的好友，对不起我一直一直在拖延。还是说声谢谢，我很开心你传简讯给我！

Road to Home...

Today my parents went to KB, so I walked to Ah Sim's to get lunch for my aunt and me. Ah Sim is one of the very few chinese restaurants in Pasir Mas (btw, Ah Sim is not the name of the restaurant, Ah Sim is the lady owner, the main cook ^^)

Before turning back, I dropped in Florida. Bukan U.S punya lah. It's the biggest bakery in Pasir Mas. I can't say they have the best bread though. KB's bakeries bake nicer-tasting bread =P  

Here's one huge, gorgeous bun =w= Pity I dunno how it tastes like. But it's so cute so I couldn't resist taking a picture ^///^

Which inspired me to take some more pictures on the way home. With my crappy but handy handphone camera. 

Here's a splat of blue paint.  this is really stubborn paint. it had been stuck there since form1. i like to jump over the splat. Come to think of it, i've never tried stepping on the splat to see whether the paint will stick to my shoes or not. Hmm..

 

Advertising banner. PUSAT TUISYEN SERI KOTA.  Obssession with tuitions.  Long time ago (Std3-Form3), I used to walk this route every week to go  for BM tuition with Cikgu Mat, just  across the road facing this banner. Although Cikgu Mat likes to talk about stuff outside academics a little too much, he's very jolly and yeah, I have a firm foundation in BM thanks to him. Hope he's well now~

KHIN Trading. The stripes remind me of carnivals of doom and evil fanatic clowns.  But I kinda like those stripes =P

Rustic little Winding Road...wonder where it leads to? 

Mysterious wooden box. The padlock is RAINBOW-COLORED!! ! although you can't see from this photo

 

Another  lovely little winding road. No mystery la, they all lead to lovely houses =)

Lovely potted plants and drain filled with dark, murky waters.. I like the rug hanging on the pipe. And the black thing there is a cute black kitty.

The place with potted plants used to be a kedai runcit, where me, Lee Chee, Ah Min used to go and buy 'chickedee's (=snacks), popsicles in plastics, sweets, asamboi, icecream =D Ah...the good old days.

The original wooden house on the left had been burned down in 2005. Thankfully, no one was hurt. They have rebuilt their house.  Mr.Baharung and family lives next door (house on the right).

Junction.

Junction. =D

After crossing the junction. =D This road leads to the some more houses and then the river.

Longkang. Black, dirty water.  But strangely beautiful when the ripples sparkled and shone under the sunlight :D

Hello Cock-Cock-Kei!

Scene of Romeo & Juliet.

Nah. My neighbour's neighbour's, which is also my neighbour,'s house. Used to come here quite often. You can guess who lives here =D

Back road leading to neighbour's back door. =D My house is just over there!

*~*~*~*~*~*

Pasir Mas may not be very developed, but it's not very kampung either. I do hope that the jaws of 'development' won't be too buta and demolish everything that is deemed old-fashioned.

I enjoyed the walk home tremendously. ^_^ Wish i had a proper camera, then I can take better quality photos (but it'll take even longer to resize/upload those T.T)

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I now understand why my brother said blogging takes up a lot of time, esp. when there are pictures. T.T Took me 2 hours to do this boring post. Zzzzz

Second Flight...First Wind~ 祝开幕愉快! 撒花撒花~

I finally started a blog~! Cheers~ 撒花撒花~

=.="
. . .

=v=
..it is something to be glad about =p

This is not my first blog. I may have told some of you that I had a private blog which no one knows the address except me and a priviledged (not really) one. Maybe because I didn't have the guts to see how you will react to some of the content i wrote in my private blog (paise). Hehe..but actually it's not that secret la, you can find it if you want to..

I enjoy reading blogs. Blogs speak loads about the people who write them. Especially blogs of people whom I know, whether close or not. From what is written, I get to know your feelings, your opinions, slices of your life, things about you that I have never known about. From the tone of writing (happy or moody or sarcastic or angry), the style (long or short or with pics or none), the layout design etc., I come to know you more and more. Blogs connect people. Even when I read old and outdated posts, I will discover something new each time. That's what I love about blogs.

So now, through this blog, i wish to return the favor. I want to show you another side of me- the "written" me- the personality as seen through my writing. Some of you may have already been used to my haphazard, long-winded, emo style from emails, but I guess mostly not. I would love to have my friends (esp those who are close to me) know what I'm up to and what my real thoughts are.

Now for a self-centred FAQ:
What will you write about? Anything I want to. Rants, my life, events, opinions, music, anime blahblahblah. I welcome suggestions from you guys! If you want me to write about a particular topic, do tell me, and if i get into the mood, i'll be pleased to do so~

How often will you update? Judging from my miserable record, I guess it will be pretty irregular. But when i get the wind, then *POOF!* A new post!

What should I expect from this blog? Beware of long ranting posts. Beware of foul words, although I care about my image so that won't be too often. Beware of syok-sendiri-ness. Beware of me, me, me.

Rule of thumb: This is my blog and I am the King of My Blog! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

But Maria is a democratic person so she welcomes comments! Feel free to critic my posts but please don't be rude. And if you want to comment on another person's comments, go ahead. If you want to interact or argue with one another, i'll be even more pleased! Nothing beats a hot debate!

(but please, please, refrain from insulting or hurting or rude remarks. we are a civilized people and we must show a good example for the next generation, right?) Anyway, if i find the remarks inappropriate i will just delete them. Please tell me if you're not satisfied with anything, in a nice way of course.

(hey hey, maria, this is only your first post and you're talking like you've already written hundreds of posts and have lots of fans, o.o)

Oh yeah, the title of the blog "Second Flight" is taken from a song (Onegai Twins OP). I like the phrase very much coz you can get many layers of meanings from it. but somehow it doesn't look right up there. First Wind is just talking about first post, not taken from anywhere. I wish i had more creative ideas on what to use as the title of my blog... i will change when inspiration strikes-- ^_^

Hope you're not bored yet!

Good night,
Maria, or Mei Hua, or whatever name you prefer~