Mexico 2006

I know it has been 3 years ago but I don’t think I have posted a proper blog post on my trip to Mexico before. I have been wanting to blog about this for the longest time ever. It was the best experience of my life and I want to make sure that I remember it and have it fully recapped in this blog. You don’t have to read it. Let me warn you that this will be a very long post.

3 years ago — late August, 2006 to be even more precise, Wei Lian, Nadzlin, Farhana, Muzaffar, Yongming, Alya, Annie, Hanisah and I were chosen to represent our country, Malaysia to the 9^th International Theory of Constraints for Education (TOCFE) Conference held in the city of Leon, Mexico. There was this assignment my classmates (2 Gamma) and I had to complete, namely The 100 Clouds Project. We were given a booklet and we had to mencatatkan (no time for making this post perfect. lol.) our dilemmas and problems in it and solve them using the thinking tools that we were taught. The nine of us were obviously the awesomest of the bunch so we got chosen Just kidding!

We were told that we were selected just two weeks before we were supposed to leave. Can you imagine getting our travel documents and all done in that super short amount of time? I begged and begged and begged my parents to allow me to go (initially they said ‘cannot’ ) Cut long story short, I managed to convince them with a lot of crying and wailing at home hahaha and yayyyyy, finally, Mexico babe!

Oh, Farhana and Yongming denied the offer (their parents didn’t allow them to go ) Muzzafar backed out at the very last minute for reasons only God knows… we were going the next week already! For whatever reason, Muzzafar, if you’re reading this, you made the WRONG decision.

Two days before we left, there was this press conference thing with The Star in school which was super cool. Pn. Norhaliza, our penyelia petang back then, asked us all to wear the prefect’s blazers so that the school emblem will appear big big in the newspaper

I remembered I was damn pissed off with Alya that day. I forgot why. I think it was because I wanted to sit next to the interviewer but Alya was there and she insisted to move. So I merajuk-ed until we were at the airport. Hahahahahahahaha. And then at the airport I asked her if she brought the push pops and she replied “opps! I forgot”… Pfft. Lagi I was pissed.

But we berbaik-baik in the end (everybody say aww…) We were going on an adventure of a lifetime! No point not talking to each other. It would be sucha waste!

The airplane I was on.

I was such a jakun then… imagine me being on the plane itself.

Alya and I (friends again. haha)

Eating some chicken or something. It was an exciting experience! My first airplane food that I can remember eating!

We arrived at the Chiang Kai Shek airport, Taipei, Taiwan 4 hours later. We were walking around the airport with Hanisah hunting for tea/coffee while Mrs. Saras, Wei Lian’s mom who was also our chaperon was looking for medicine for Nadzlin who was experiencing major jetlag. Nadzlin looked really sick.

Hanisah and I — sexy in pink

Alya and I posing like Nadzlin. She’s the super jetlag one.

Before boarding the plane to the United States.

Alya — I took this for her! We were like “I take for you, you take for me” kinda thing.

I commented that she looked like a slut in that photo and she was like totally fine about it! LOL.

Some random granny Alya and I saw in the airport. LOL. Can you believe we took this without her noticing?

I was damn enthusiastic about getting a secret shot with her. After many failed attempts thanks to my lousy photographer, Alya, we finally did it! There.

Yay!

I don’t think she had a clue that she’s actually in the photo! Alya and I were laughing like mad by ourselves till everyone else were giving us the glare.

And then off we go to the United States.

I was so tired but I couldn’t sleep. How to sleep in an upward position you tell me?! In the meantime, I cam-ho a bit lah! Time is Gold yo! And oh, we didn’t get the window seats this time.

Alya and I

Mrs. Saras and Wei Lian. Hehehehe.

And beside Alya was Hanisah who was… DRAWING her clothing line thingy. Wtf. People all trying to sleep, she, on the other hand, was drawing. Just when I felt like I was finally able to sleep, the stupid big TV in the airplane was blasting noise like nobody’s business and to make matters worst, some idiot opened the window and thus blinding my eyes. For 17 hours, I sat in the plane like a stone. Omg.

At about 10PM, we finally reached the Los Angeles International Airport, California, The United States. When we were at the immigration center, there was this suuuuuuuuuper loooooong line. So I invented this game — “So You Think You Know Their Nationality?” Hahahahahahaha. We were all like guessing the nationality of the people who were there and “checked our answers” by looking at their passports. Like for the Filipinos, their passports are blue and has the word “FILIPINAS” on it I remembered there were quite a number of Filipinos around while we were there.

In front of the gift shop.

Me with my passport

At the immigration. LOL.

Once we passed the immigration, we RAN to the ticket counter which was like very far away. Mrs. Saras was frantic. I thought can slowly slowly walk and take my own sweet time and take photos all… but no — “RUN”, said Mrs. Saras. And so we ran. Apparently, we are late for our connecting flight to Leon and we must hurry. It was just like a scene in The Amazing Race. Fuhhh. Exciting. Hehehe.

And once at the ticket counter, the ticket lady behind the counter said we couldn’t board the flight ’cause we were too late. *Gasp* Mrs. Saras did the talking and pleading while the six of us stood behind and gave support by giving the ticket lady our kesian look *pouts* Hahahahahaha. But deep down inside me, I was quite ecstatic ’cause missing that flight meant we could hang around L.A. for a bit

There were also some issues with our luggage being wrongly sent to God-knows-where. Cut long story short, we managed to board the Aeromexico flight to Leon and everything else was fine.

Eating the hamburger

Lying on Alya’s lap. Hahahahahahahahaha.

After an entire day of not sleeping, I was finally able to sleep throughout the flight from California to Leon, Mexico… thanks to Alya’s super comfortable lap. LOL. Yes, I literally slept on her lap for 2-3 hours. I slept throughout the flight till I forgot to fill in the custom form. When the plane was landing only I started filling it up.

And oh, I forgot to tell you that it was SO DAMN COLD inside I almost froze to death on that plane

And once the immigration center in Leon, I still had not completed my custom form yet plus I had a very bad running nose at that time. After writing one two words… I had to blow my nose. LOL. Everyone was done with theirs already except me and I was soooo scared I would be left behind. But Alya waited for me lah. I LOVEEEE YOU ALYA. Thanks for being super awesome and super patient with me. Haha.

I experienced my first culture shock at the airport. At the entrance of the airport, a line of Mexicans greeted us. As I walked towards the first person of the line, she embraced me with a hug. And so we hugged and I thought that was it. I wondered when would she let go of me ’cause it had been like around 7 seconds already. So long one the hug? Hahahahahaha. And then the lady cynically said “Are you gonna kiss me or not?” giving me a hint that I should kiss her! So I kissed her on the cheeks and repeated this with the other women. Kesian me… I was just an innocent 14 year old kid! Hahaha.

5:00AM, Mexico.

We stayed in a suite in Mexico Plaza. I went to bathe IMMEDIATELY.

The bed.

The lounge.

I turned on the TV and some news was on air and they were talking about Vicente Fox, the then President of Mexico. My first news other than Buletin Utama TV3, Berita NTV7, etc. Exciting!

Tee hee.

After that, I fell asleep on my bed. Was supposed to meet up with the rest at the lobby at 8AM but I overslept! I was sleeping so soundly even Mrs. Saras, Wei Lian, Hanisah, Annie, Alya and Nadzlin banging outside my door also I cannot hear. LOL. They must have thought I had died inside or something. So what they did was… they sent Alya to climb through the window and into my suite to wake me up. Hahahahaha.

I was finally awakened and to my absolute horror, I saw Alya in front of my face. In my suite. What the hell?! Hahahaha. Luckily I didn’t sleep naked or anything like that. And everybody was laughing about it TILL TODAY.

ANYHOW, we went to the Plaza Mayor mall with our new Colombian friend, Ana Maria and her mom, Mdm. Francis. I forgot who fetched us there. Not sure if we took the cab. I think we did.

At the mall

Annie, Wei Lian, Hanisah, Nadzlin, Alya and I

That’s me again. I pose at every angle at anytime

Mrs. Saras and Mdm. Francis

And then we walked to Walmart which was a few blocks away from our hotel.

Hehehe. As you can see, I was a total jakun snapping photos away like there is no tomorrow.

And in the evening, we went out for a walk around downtown Leon. And oh, in Mexico, I learnt that the correct pronunciation of ‘Mexico’ is Meh-hee-co.

Some theater

Alya and I

Us

Some cathedral

In front of Plaza Mayor at night…

Hanisah was dying to shop but I was dying NOT to shop. See the disadvantage of being the only guy in the bunch? We all split up. Hanisah, Annie and Nadzlin went to shop for clothes. Wei Lian and Mrs. Saras went… somewhere else with Mrs. Khaw and Pn. Zamani. Alya and I jalan-jalan around… but weren’t shopping!!! In the end, we stalked Hanisah at the ladies department. LOL. Gile no life.

One thing I noticed while walking around Plaza Mayor was couples publicly holding hands and hugging everywhere. I said to Alya “come! lets all pretend to be the Mexican couples!” and so I placed my hands on her shoulders and walk. Hahahahahahaha. She totally didn’t mind at all. LOL. So sporting. It was quite a romantic moment come to think of it again. But we weren’t in a relationship, I swear.

At 10PM, we took a cab back to Plaza Mexico. But before that, we stopped at McDonalds. Hanisah bought a large cup of coke and it was abnormally HUGEEEE… not like the large coke we get in Malaysia.

This photo does not give the size of the cup its justice! Trust me, it’s freaking huge!

Love this picture. We were all really really really very tired.

Once I was back in my suite, I terus fell asleep… in my jeans! Haha.

Next morning…

I managed to wake up early by myself! Thank God! haha.

Eating cereal

Koko krunch… I think

I know this looks like I just puked on my plate and taa-dah but it’s actually some potato salad thingy which tastes super good.

And then we left for Colegio Greenwich, one of the local schools in Leon.

Jealous much?

Oh, I forgot to let you know that we played soccer! It was super fun. And the funny thing was that one of the guys (the one who looks like Harry Potter) kicked the ball and it hit Hanisah’s face. LOL. Her reaction was so funny I laughed like a mad cow. Any drama that revolves around Hanisah is funny

Next, we toured around the city of Guanajuato with Mr. Pradeep of India and his wife whom were both TOCFE people. We chartered a van but too bad there were not enough seats for all of us so I excitedly volunteered myself to sit in the boot/trunk. LOL. Alya sat with me too!

Posing in the boot. Lol.

Alya and I!

Conference: Day 1

Yup. As mentioned, it was the first day of our conference. It was held in Technologico De Monterrey, a university in the city. On this day, we met familiar faces such as Mariana, Luis, Honorio, Melissa and Michelle from Colegio Greenwich as well as Emma from the United Kingdom and some other local kids from other schools like Celso, Andres and etc. There were 23 of us in total under the AGOAL Academy… it’s a youth thing.

Alya and I

Malaysia

Me giving a speech… it was very lousy one indeed. I was beating around the bush.

In front of Technologico De Monterrey. Was wearing Annie’s vest. Hahahaha.

Basically we learned more about the thinking tools on Day 1. Nothing much. But we got to know our AGOAL friends a lot better on this day though.

Conference: Day 2

We went to several schools in Leon to teach the thinking tools that we have learned the day before.

Antonio Sanchez Herrera Primary School.

Fuyoh. Ganas betul that girl behind me.

Alya, Honorio and I

The kids at Antonio Sanchez Herrera were super cute lah. At one time, where ever I went, they followed. They as in a swarm of primary school kids. And then we ended up playing catching. I had to run around the school like some 6-year-old. LOL.

Reina Maria Pre-School.

Humane School. It’s a private school I think.

After our off-campus activity, we returned back to Mexico Plaza. Nadzlin, Alya and I walked to Walmart and we bought snacks and a tub of ice-cream.

The bestest moment of this trip for me would be when I was lazing around in Alya+Nadzlin’s lounge with Alya and Nadzlin, sharing the tub of ice-cream that we bought while watching Spongebob in Spanish! We were sharing a good laugh over stupid stuffs and… Hanisah It was just a modest moment but I felt true happiness and contentment… that happiness I cannot really describe in words. It was a feeling I only felt once and never again ever since then.

It might not sound significant to you but to me, to be able to chill out with some of the most amazing people in my life… 100 miles away from home and to have nothing else to worry about made me feel like the luckiest 14 year old guy in the world

Conference: Day 3

We spent almost the entire day in the lecture room. We worked on the AGOAL presentation which was to be shown to adults the next day. I was in charged on the powerpoint presentation. Chey wah!

Me… looking pissed. LOL. But I was actually having a lot of fun!

Gabby (the puppet) and I

Team Malaysia

In the evening, Honorio invited us to his barn. His mom picked us all up from Technologico De Monterrey. When we were at his farm house, Honorio’s younger brother was watching Harry Potter. Lol.

Honorio’s mom driving

Honorio’s mom served us sushi for tea time. I know I had many “first times” but legitimately, that was my first sushi in my life. So Kai Yee, the one I ate with you the other day wasn’t first Hahahahaha.

The donkey. Haha.

And Honorio’s mom gave us an exclusive tour around the house. The interior of the house was super nice man. Just like a hotel, I would say! While then, Luis, Honorio and I played the toy gun thing. The gun could tell you if you shot the person or not. Ran around the compound of the house until I sweated like a pig man.

Luis and I with the gun… toy one yea!!!

The crib.

And then we played soccer!!! It was the best soccer game I’ve ever played in my life. It was just the 9 of us, Ana, Honorio, Luis, Annie, Alya, Hanisah, Nadzlin, Wei Lian and I plus the awesome autumn weather which made it all the more amazing.

LOL.

We had to stop at around 6PM ’cause we had to rush back for the banquet. I really didn’t wanna stop playing I was having the time of my life in Mexico. And the best part was during our ride home when sang Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie and Daddy Yankee’s Gasolina in the car. It was just so… Mexican and I loved every single second of it.

Arrived at the hotel. Bathed. And got ready for the banquet.

During the banquet…

Nadzlin and I

Wei Lian and I

Ana and I

Alya and I

myself, Honorio’s mom and Honorio

AGOAL

We ate. We mingled. We took photos. We danced.  It was an awesome night though it was our very last night in Mexico.

After the banquet, I continued with the powerpoint presentation in my suite till 2AM. I was sooooooo tired man.

Conference: Day 4

Last dayyyy I remembered we were all hanging out in Hanisah + Annie’s suite in the morning. Annie was bathing at that time kot. I was having fun jumping on their bed and starting a pillow fight until Hanisah got pissed. LOL. Hanisah was one grumpy 14-year-old girl, I tell ya. The stupid fur from the pillows stuck onto my jeans. Ugh.

And then we departed to Technologico De Monterrey for the last time. Did the final touch ups and preparations for our presentation to be presented later in the afternoon.

Ana, Andres, Luis and I

Honorio, myself, Alya, Luis, Montse

During our presentation…

Fiona, Alan and I (clockwise)

Daniel, my roommate and I

After our presentation, we waited in the lecture room. If I am not mistaken, we were waiting for the other presentations to end or for Madam Rosa, the principal of Colegio Greenwich, to pick us up from Technologico De Monterrey to the airport. I remembered Alya was chasing me around in the lecture room ’cause I took her keris (one of the souvenirs she brought) and I threatened to break it into half. LOL. And I really broke it into half in the end! Hahahahaha. Alya was so angry with me… she even cried. I kept apologizing but she didn’t want to talk to me anymore And one lady came in (I presume she works at the university) and she must have thought “what are these shameless Malaysians doing here?!” Hahahahaha. But Alya and I berbaik-baik-ed later… again. LOL.

And then it was time for us to say goodbye. Honorio brought his family along too who brought their camcorder. LOL. And he also gave us all Nutritas. Hehe. So sweet of him and his family lah.

Madam Rosa arrived shortly after and so we all left for the airport. Wei Lian, Mrs. Saras, Alya and I followed Madam Rosa while Nadzlin and Hanisah followed Madam Rosa’s son who drove a sports car!

In front of the Guanajuato airport.

And then back to the United States.

Fuyoh, my eyes were super red man. Was obviously very tired.

Outside the Los Angeles Airport.

While walking to the Tom Bradley International Terminal, there was this journalist and cameraman with his huge pro-looking camera directed at her outside the airport. While the journalist was doing her reporting thing, I purposely walked behind her and turned my head to face the camera. LOL! I might be in the local news that day yo!

Tom Bradley International Terminal

Wei Lian, Alya and I

Literally sitting down in the middle of the road/floor/wtvr.

And oh, I forgot to mention that throughout our transits and all, Nadzlin and Hanisah were ALWAYS sick. Jetlag lah. Headache lah. Vomit lah.

Hanisah and Nadzlin. Lol. They are so gonna kill me for posting this picture up.

So Alya and I posed with them. They did not even budge! Don’t think they noticed also.

LOL.

Hahahaha. Alya.. doing her yoga thing.

Acting all crazy in the airport while waiting for Mrs. Saras to settle our flight stuffs.

In the plane, we were all scattered at different corners of the plane. I sat with this Asian American lady who lives in Chinatown, LA. She was on her way to visit her brother who lives in Ipoh, Perak. So yeah. And being so narrow-minded, one of the first questions I asked her was.. “so… have you met Angelina Jolie or George Clooney?” LOL. She’s from LA mah. And then she was like “I’ve never heard of them before” LOL.

But I was sleeping for most of the time so I didn’t really talk to her much.

In a foetal position. The seat next to me was empty so… I take also lah! Quite torturous to sleep in that position for 16/17 hours.

And then 1 hour before we landed in Taipei, I woke up and complained to Alya about how uncomfortable I was sleeping on two seats. And she tergamak told me “MATTT!! The entire row I was sitting at was vacant throughout the flight” Pfft. I was so mad at her ’cause she could have invited me to sit next to her EARLIER so I can conquer the whole row of seats to sleep! I think because of this, it affected my growth! No wonder I haven’t been growing any taller since Form 2!

Taipei

Was actually pointing at Kuala Lumpur. But if you look at it closely, KL is further up on the board. I was too short. LOL.

Taipei, Taiwan

Had a debate with Alya on Taipei being a part of China. I said Taipei is in China and they share the same currency. But she, on the other hand, believed that Taipei isn’t in China and Taipei and China have individual currencies. I was wrong, obviously. LOL. We were talking/debating so loudly (probably it was just me. haha) until we/I woke a lady who was sleeping at the airport up. With a groggy and hoarse voice, the lady said: “TAIPEI ISN’T IN CHINA!”. Oops. Lol.

Annie, Alya and I chatted with the lady whom we soon found out was from Singapore. She explained to us about Beijing, Taiwan, etc. which was really cool. I love history! I think Alya was bored. LOL. So I teman-ed her for a walk around the Chiang Kai Shek airport leaving Annie to chat with the lady alone. LOL.

I begged Alya to buy me Starbucks which she did in the end! I hardly spent on anything during this trip ’cause well… I have a personal ATM machine. Hahaha.

Starbucks courtesy of Alya

Me!

I remembered I was pissed off by something Alya said/did and so I merajuk-ed (I was like some small kid lah. I merajuk very easily especially with Alya. Hahaha) and decided to walk back to the waiting place myself. And I ended up being LOST. Hahahahahaha. I was like running from one end of the airport to another… worried that the plane would take off without me. Omg.

But I managed to find the place eventually and was super glad to see Annie waiting there. The Singaporean lady had left already. Yay! Annie, I was never so happy to see you! Hahahahahahaha. I was sweating under my t-shirt man! And Alya was like “Padan muke!” LOL.

There were a lot of empty seats during our flight from Taipei to KL. It was so empty that most of us had a row of seats for ourselves. Slept on Alya’s lap like a baby throughout the 4 hours from Taipei to KL. Didn’t wake up at all… not even a second! The only time I woke up was when the plane was about to land and the air-stewardess was menggesa-ing the passengers to buckle up! LOL. Her lap is so soft and was so good to sleep on…what to do?

Arrived KLIA at noon. But we couldn’t leave the immigration place just yet ’cause Nadzlin lost her passport. *gasp* We all waited while one of the air-stewardess took her back to the plane to look for her passport. Thank God she found it man! Apparently, it was found in the bag compartment of the plane. It must have fell out from her bag or something.

Slept as soon as I arrived home. Went to school the next day. Am I awesome or what?

The end

In retrospect, apart from good thinking skills and solving my personal problems better, I think this trip has also changed my perspective on life — that life isn’t all about being book smarts. There are so much more to see, to feel and to experience out there and I am just so fortunate to be on this trip. And the best part of it is that I was with my classmates, my close friends throughout this journey and knowing that there are people who are able share and relate to my excitement is just surreal. Not many people get to do this and travel so far at the age of 14 and I am always and forever so grateful and thankful for this. Truly an experience of a lifetime. Reading and just looking at the pictures does not really show you how awesome and how amazing this trip is. You have to experience it yourself to really understand and feel what I am feeling.

Thank you Annie, Alya, Wei Lian, Hanisah and Wei Lian for making me comfortable despite me being the only guy from Malaysia and for making this trip a trip of a lifetime for me. I’ll always cherish these moments with you guys and will carry them in me for as long as I live! Keep in touch.

Love,
Matt

(P.S. It took me nearly 3 weeks to complete this)

 

Final days before SPM

The following are my very last bunch of photos of school and so I guess this would be the very last time you’ll see me in school uniform.

During recess on a Friday…

Kai Yee, Adrianne, Elaine, Yongming, Yongming and I at the canteen

Yes, I know I look awfully fat. That was what stress did to me. I was already a fat calf in 2008 but 2009 turned me into a hippo.

Trying to open that damn packet of keropok — wanted the fish one but they were out of stock.

My face is so round like a fishball! I can’t even see my cheekbones anymore omg. I want to commit suicide lah I look disgusting. Still can eat the keropok summore.

Haha still cannot open!

My Science and Math club noticeboard.

Kai Yee and I with our respective club’s noticeboard.

Her basketball, my ping-pong.

The hippo’s jumpin’

After that we went back to class and did our work which we were supposed to do from the start! The most crucial moment of our secondary school lifes and we’re jumping

Being nerds. Hehe.

Not long after, we turned bored and were all tired of doing whatever we were doing at that time. Ok lah… it was only Kai Yee and I who were bored of doing Bio. We managed to convince everyone in the class including Shuhada and Azliza to go down to the staffroom and take pictures with the teachers

So much for being hardworking students and scoring straight A+. Haha!

BELUM!!!

It was supposed to be 12 days left till SPM but we self-consoled ourselves by rearranging the numbers to make it 231 And then Pn. Kamachi, the school clerk passed by and she gave us the tsk-tsk look. Hehehehehe.

Anyways, for most science stream students, SPM’s over and it has been 6 days now. Time flies right?

Pn. Akmaliza
(my class teacher of year ‘05 and ‘06)

Pn. Kausar
(my English teacher of year ‘05 & ‘06)

Pn. Azilah
(my BM teacher of year ‘09)

Mr. Jacob
(my EST teacher of year ‘09)

Pn. Loo
(my Civics teacher year ‘09)

When no teacher layan-ed us anymore, we returned back to class and spent the last 30 minutes or so in class… taking MORE pictures amongst ourselves. Hahahaha. Oh, basically we could roam around the school like anywhere and anytime we want too. It was fun! Which teacher would wanna stop a bunch of obedient and innocent lil graduating kids like us?

In class…

Wheeeee…

LOL. Like what Nadzlin said, we were jumping like as though SPM’s over! Haha.

But anyhow I am glad I lived my last days in school to the fullest.

At the overhead bridge

Graduation Day

We sang the school song for the very last time. I was emo the whole way through. And Ameet was like, “Can you not be so emo anot?!”

I don’t think he understood nor he’ll ever understand what I felt that day. I don’t blame him though. He has only been in our school for one year and in this one year, he was only in school for a couple of days.

He was not in Subang Utama on the first day of school in January 2005. He never had that opportunity to see how the school has transformed in so many ways like WE, the true students of SMK. Subang Utama did. He has never been through what WE, the true students of SMK. Subang Utama did. He has never loved this school like how WE, the true students of SMK. Subang Utama did and will continue to love forever so dearly.

Sheng Ling, Michelle, myself and Ismail

On stage receiving my graduating certificate

Posing with our certs

It was a proud moment for all. We finished high school yo!

Classmates for 2 years… some 5.

With the awesome BM teacher

The senior prefects

5 Zeta, graduating class of 2009.

Kai Yee and I

So fat still eat nuggets! LOL. They are one of my best canteen food ever. This will sound weird but I think I am gonna miss canteen food!!! I must ta pau (take-out) all the keropok, nasi lemak, nuggets there is available in the canteen so I can eat them everyday

And for the last time, presenting you 5 Zeta…

Don’t bother finding me in this picture, I am not in it. I was in the staffroom getting teachers to sign my autograph book. Heh. Yup! I have an autograph book.

My Math teacher, Pn. Jeeva was like “I didn’t know people still keep autograph books these days” to which I replied “I am keeping the tradition alive!” Lol. I also have one in primary school so yeah.

I will probably share with you some of the nicest and sweetest notes my teachers left for me in my autograph book in my next blog post or something.

Mr. Sim!!! My physics tuition teacher… with Nadzlin and Einul.

Hehe. He’s one super awesome teacher lah. We both share this one common word: “HABIS”. Whenever I answered a physics question wrongly he would go like “HABIS!!!” and when I spot a typo or something on his paper I would, in turn, be telling him “HABIS!!!” Lol.

And I stole one of his ginseng sweets on the last day and kept it till the SPM Physics day and ate it when I freaked out on one of the Physics questions — hoping it would stimulate my brain cells better. LOL.

Miss Esther, my Modern Math, Add Math and Accounts private tutor.

She’ll kill me if she finds this posted on my blog or on facebook ’cause she said she hasn’t put on her make-up yet

Anyway, I’ve been under her since I was in Form 3. She was more like an elder sister to me than a teacher. She was always there to lend a listening ear to all my grumbles and problems I face in school. Sometimes I have so many things to say till I’ll spend the whole 1 and a half hours talking about it. Hahahahahahaha.

I think of all person… she knows me best. So if I do get famous next time, you know who to interview

My books! Tiga tingkat tingginya can you believe it?! But I only used a couple of them and did one or two workbooks only

P.S. To the juniors out there, please do not get those ‘whizz thru’ books. They are USELESS. I speak from experience.

Ok, I am ending this post here. Byeeee.

 

SPM

Whoooooh. SPM’s over!!! Thank God I am still alive. In the beginning, I thought I would commit suicide half way through or something. Seriously, the past few weeks had been so hard for me, mentally and emotionally. All the tears I’ve cried out. The sleepless nights. The hysteria moments in school. So glad it is over.

For some, straight As or not, it doesn’t really matter. But for me, it’s life and death. For all my life I have big dreams, high ambitions and great aspirations. I always wanted to be an all rounder, a high achiever… an inspiration. And to know that my entire future lies on the result slip which I am about to receive in March 2010 worries me to no end. All the scholarship offers and the admission to the top colleges and universities are at stake. Basically, I don’t want my options to be constricted. I want doors of opportunity to open wide for me.

At my aunt’s place after my last Physics tuition class, she asked me why was I still reading my Physics book instead of resting (’cause I’ll usually rest after tuition); and I told her that SPM’s next week and that I can’t do it. Before I know it, I was sobbing like a kid. And on graduation day, while I was merely asking Pn. Susela some History questions in the staffroom, tears rolled down my cheeks and I unintentionally started crying. And I told her that if I do not score an A for History, I can never be a lawyer and my life will be over.

Perhaps it’s my obsessive perfectionism. But whatever it is, SPM brought the worst out of me. I have fought so hard throughout the year, especially the last three months. Day and night practicing Math. Day and night reading. Day and night thinking about SPM and where destiny will take me to after SPM. Towards the final days until SPM, I was so tired till I felt like giving up. I had totally no confidence in myself and started thinking negatively — pissed at myself for not being smart and consistent enough.

So the day before SPM, as you can imagine, I was frantic. Read up all the puisi-puisi, cerpen-cerpen, prosa-prosa tradisional and all that jazz. I wanted to go to the bookstore to check out what komsas questions have came out in the past years (so last minute I know *gasp*). And when I was there, there was this paper pasted on its door that said—

CLOSED FOR ANNUAL STOCK COUNTING.

WTF?! OF ALL DAYS MUST COUNT ON THAT DAY MEH?! Okay lah, probably their tempoh perakaunan tamat already so must count I wanted to cry at that very moment lah. I was scared.

So I went back home and continued reading. I didn’t really have time to prepare anything for essay. But then again, for PMR I composed and memorized a few essays the day before but ALL did not come out. For SPM, had I followed the tips that were circulating via text message and all, it would not have made any difference but instead made me panic because most of them did not come out.

I forced myself to bed at 12AM… and probably dosed off at 12.30AM because I know sleeping late for an exam so important as SPM would be detrimental more so history was on the first and second day consecutively. It was the EARLIEST I have slept on the eve of any national examination. For UPSR, I remembered reading BM till 2AM and for PMR, I didn’t couldn’t even sleep at all!

And on the big day itself, I literally went berserk in school. All I could ever say was “Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!”. Yongming was most certainly annoyed. Haha. My adrenaline hormones were being secreted by my adrenal gland like nobody’s business and the sympathetic division of my nervous system was on the verge of going haywire *dub dub dub dub*

Before I stepped into the classroom, I took a last look at my ‘note-to-self’ which I had scribbled on the front page of my SPM timetable the night before.

LOL. This is like my manuscrip suci lah. Every time before I enter the classroom I must read this out aloud one.

About point number 3, I tend to write the digit ‘1′ like the digit ‘2′ sometimes most of my teachers and friends tend to mistaken my ‘1′ as ‘2′. You know, most people just write ‘one’ as a single vertical line right? I like to “meng-fabulous-kan” my vertical line by giving it a base and a hat… just like the ‘1′ you see on your computer screen. So yeah. It’s just one of my bad habits lah and it can be costly especially in math.

So for BM paper 1, it wasn’t that bad lah. At first when I saw the choices of essays that were given, I was scared ’cause they were all not in my element kinda thing… get what I mean? Like for BM and also for English, I like to write essays about society/social issues, unity and essay topics that demand my point of view and my vision and which I can relate to my life.

I think it is quite obvious that I chose choice number 5 right? At that very second, it was either choice number 3 or 5 for me. But seeing the question paper again, I would have taken choice number 1 into consideration as well. Actually, 1 and 3 are more Matthew-typed essays as compared to 5. But I have no regrets lah. I wrote about Konserto Terakhir. I wrote it like as if it was an essay for the novel question for paper 2 but gave a super duper extended version of it filled with many many many peribahasas

I clearly remembered finishing my 5^th point at 10.00AM — 15 minutes before the time was up. I was contemplating whether or not to squeeze in another point before I conclude my essay. But I chose not to in the end to be on the safe side ’cause I’ll be damn gelabah and freak out to complete the essay. For the first time in my LIFE, I had time to check and reread my essays. Hopefully it’s good.

Yee Mae and I after BM paper 2.

History paper 1 was okay I guess. Some questions were quite tricky actually. Not many KBKK questions. In fact, there were no KBKK questions at all… unlike in PMR.

Day 2…

English!!! Despite English being my mother-tongue language, I was nervous for it! Early in the morning, I straight away ran to the staffroom to ask Pn. Subbu to go through the ‘The Road Not Taken’ poem with me for the last time. Personally, I love that poem best among the other poems in the SPM English syllabus because it is exactly what I am going through everyday in my life. I understand what Robert Frost is trying to convey in his poem overall but somehow, I tend to make mistakes for ‘The Road Not Taken’ if ever it comes out in poem section of the English paper 2.

Anyhow, paper 1 (essay) was the first paper of the day. The poem one is later.

Elaine and I before English paper 1

When I opened the question paper, I had my eyes set on Section B — eager to know what choices of essay that I have. I love 2008’s paper 1 ’cause I love all the essay topics which came out, i.e. write about a person who has worked hard to succeed in life (you know who I am going to write about right? ), examinations — good or bad? (came out in the ASEAN selection test) and friends.

When I read the first four titles in Section B, I was nervous ’cause once again, they weren’t Matthew-typed essay topics… until I came across the final one. Take a good look at my school trial paper yea?

School trial.

Now look at the SPM paper.

SPM.

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGG

BEAUTY CAME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Which I did for my trials!!!!!! OMGGGGGGGGG. WHAT ARE THE ODDS MAN?! Like what Yongming said, there are thousand of words in the dictionary. OF ALL WORDS — BEAUTY — twice! This is just as good as striking a lottery. Of course I chose to write on Beauty, duh!

Kai Yee, Yee Mae and I before English paper 2.

For paper 2, ‘The Road Not Taken’ did not come out. ‘Monsoon History’ did though. Oh well…

It was not bad lah. I am confident for English but cautiously confident. Anything might happen. God might see this and say “hmm.. this is one over-confident little kid. I shall grant him a D in English”. Terus my dream as a lawyer/politician is shattered.

History paper 2’s next!

Before the History paper. LOL.

The above picture is super classic lah. Look at how everyone is reading History at the corridor. Haha! History was okay. I am so glad that three Form 5 topics came out for the essay. I love the Form 5 history syllabus so much more than Form 4. Pakatan Murni, dasar-dasar Malaysia and all came out. So my thing ’cause it’s about politics! Haha. But when I returned home, I found out that for one essay (the Malayan Union one), I got some of my points mixed up. But that’s okay lah. I did my very very very very very very best and that’s all that matters right?

Day 3…

EST!!! One of my best subjects!!! You can say that all the subjects on the first week are my favorites! The night before EST I wrote down all the topics my school teachers spotted for EST on a piece of paper and gave a quick read on those topics.

My actual master plan

I was so confident that the essay would be related to Biology or Chemistry… so much so I only brought my Bio and Chem book to read in school and boldly left my Physics SUCCESS at home.

Amelia and I before EST paper 1
(I look really bad in here but this is the only picture I have of Day 3 so…)

As I flipped the question paper open, I was horror-stricken to discover the word…

FRICTION

Omg. Heart-attack man! Mr. Jacob, my EST teacher was coincidentally walking pass the exam hall. He could instantly spot where I was ’cause I was sitting quite at the front. All I did was just shake my head — giving a sign to him that I am SCARED TO DEATH. I wanted to run to him and cry. Hahaha.

This was the first paper I found difficult. I panicked from the start of the paper till the very end. The information transfer wasn’t any easier. It was tricky. Like for the ‘benefits of tea’ question — I wasn’t sure if I should specify the name of the tea along with its benefit or just state the benefits alone. Stupid green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea!!

And for the friction essay, it was tough not only because I did not expect it to be from Physics but also because there was no comparison. Most of the EST essays I did requires some comparison to be made (i.e. which method is more effective — A, B or C?) and giving a suggestion at the end. As you can see in my “master plan”, I even made a time allocation for each point — 3 points assuming that there were 3 alternatives. But I totally can’t follow it because there was no comparison AT ALL and there were like 6 points or something. But nonetheless, I wrote and wrote and wrote like as if my life was on the line. 4 pages ok my essay!

When it was times up, I was still at my conclusion. I was toooo nervous to think of anything. I blanked out. I rollered my entire conclusion out because I didn’t wanna give the impression to the examiner that I struggled to end my essay (2-3 lines only don’t omg me) But still OMG!!!!!! I was so heartbroken. One gargantuan patch of correction tape on it. My essay would have been perfect with the conclusion!!!!!!

I immediately went to the staffroom with Amelia right after the paper and declared to all the teachers that I was getting a heart-attack. LOL. And then Pn. Subbu was like “You every time also get heart-attack one!” Hahahahahaha. I told them about the paper and how I didn’t have enough time to conclude my essay.

And throughout the first 30 minutes of paper 2, I couldn’t concentrate as I kept thinking about my friction essay. Paper 2 wasn’t very easy either. So I prayed. It worked lah. And I told myself to focus and not let this A slip away just like that.

In a nutshell, EST was much much much much much much tougher than my trials. I was so pissed.

And during my Accounts tuition the next day (yes, I still had Accounts tuition), my teacher asked me how was SPM so far… and then I immediately CRIED. EST ruined my what could have been perfect week.

Day 4…

Modern Math. It was not bad. I sort of forget what happened for this paper. Forget means there should be no problem right? I think I did a few mistakes here and there for both paper 1 and 2 but overall, it’s fine. Ooooh, I am starting to remember. I think I did a mistake on the transformation question.

Ryan, Sheng Ling, Yongming and I before Modern Math paper 1

Elaine and I before Modern Math paper 2.

Day 5…

Goodness! The night before the Moral paper, for the first time, I DID NOT sleep at all. Ok ok. I admit! I watched The Amazing Race at 8:00PM. Heeeeeeee. Almost finale k.

Anyways, after I did the questions from the kertas-kertas model for Moral, I got nervous ’cause I got a lot of my nilais (moral value) wrong. I did questions from two books you see. And both the books which contain similar questions give nilais that contradict each other. The more I did, the more wrongs I got and the more confused I became. And it was so late at night already! At 4:00AM I was still trying out the Moral questions. Throughout the year, my Moral teacher had been reminding my class that Moral is a tough subject to score and even smart students do get a B for Moral. That statement of hers haunted me all the night long. How to sleep in peace you tell me?

So before I left for school, I ended up having a very very long list of questions to ask and was all set to bombard Pn. Subbu with them. Lol. Even at 7:45AM, I was still reluctant to leave Dewan Perdana and continued asking Pn. Subbu questions after questions that I was uncertain of. And in the end, she just brushed me off by saying “Just put Pn. Subbu in your heart…” hahahahahahahahaha.

I was really really really scared ’cause I was not done asking… not even close!

All in all, the paper was easier than I expected it to be. The questions seem to be direct. Hopefully it’s an A+. Pleeeeeeease let it be an A+.

Sheng Ling and I after Moral

I think I slept early the night before Day 6. I forgot. I should sleep early anyway. Killer paper ahead.

Day 6…

Add Math *gasp* I had been working super duper hard for this subject. For the whole of September, I had been running Add Math ultra marathons from day to night. On the first 5 days, I was nervous. But day 6 was just tension to the maximum!!! I super hate Math and I hated it since primary school. I hate hate hate hate hate Math.

The very first thing I did when I was at school was expressed my fear and hatred towards Add Math to Yongming. Kesian him lah. He was busy reading his Add Math book and there I was jabbering away about how terrified am I for Add Math. And basically, everyday, after a paper ends, I am the one who makes the most noise. Whenever I found out I did a mistake, I’ll moan. Hahahaha. Heartbroken ok! For every 1 mistake is 1 step closer to the roadside — sweeping or cutting lalang.

Yikes!

Note-to-self #2

“You know how to do. Do not doubt yourself. Stay confident”
Self motivation. Kekekeke.

Anyway, paper 1 was surprisingly easy! I mean… there were very minimal omg-I-am-stuck-I-am-going-to-die-’cause-I-can’t-move-on moments. And I was like, omg, an A+ for Add Math, yay! Lol. Talk about being overconfident.

There was a 4-hour break between paper 1 and paper 2 so I went back home and… SLEPT. Hahaha. But couldn’t really sleep lah so I got out from bed and practiced Motion Along A Straight Line instead and went back to school thereafter.

Paper 1 boosted my confidence and ego that I asked everyone to close their Add Math book! Hahahahahahaha.

Zhui Mun and I before Add Math paper 2

Everything was going fine until I hit the trigonometry question (I loathe that damn chapter) and another speed bump on the progression question. Anyhow, I still kept a positive mindset and moved on to section B. After completing the area & volume under the graph question (question 7), I mused over the linear law question (question 8 ) — should I or should I not do it? Omg. Linear law is like a damn freaking easy chapter lah and I don’t know what demon possessed me that made me FREAKING ignore the question. I half-heartedly flipped the page over (I had a strong feeling that it was not a wise move) and carried on with question 9, 10 and finally *gasp* 11 — probability.

I love probability. It’s one of my favorite chapters in Add Math but that probability question was just not the typical question I had been doing in my workbook. After all the rocks and boulders I had to overcome in the first two sections of the paper, I prayed to God to be with me and guide me for Section C. With the clock ticking away, I apprehensively completed Section C. I have gone so so so so far — way to far to lose it for this paper. I remembered telling myself “DON’T DO THIS TO YOURSELF MATT. DON’T SCREW THIS UP” with a teardrop rolling down my cheeks.

And when I was done with Section C, I backtracked to that stupid probability question and mati-mati want to solve it. WHAT THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH ME?!!! I SHOULD HAVE DONE THE LINEAR LAW QUESTION. At that time, I probably couldn’t accept the fact that I can’t solve the question on my favorite chapter.  I must be in total denial lah. I seemed to have chosen the toughest questions.

And then it was times up. UGH.

Moral of the story — never be too over-confident.

Day 7…

Biology. The night before the Biology paper, I analyzed the past year questions and drafted out my own ramalan (forecast) for the essay question and also for the design experiment question for paper 3.

Question 6 was on Inheritance, question 7 Dynamic Ecosystem, question 8 Respiration and lastly question 9 Nutrition (which I did not spot but that’s okay) Bak kata pepatah Andrew Choo, “KENA TEPAT!!!!!!!!!!!!” Hahahahaha. My advice to all the future candidates out there, do not fall into whatever that stupid guy says.  I’ve heard of people who follow his tips blindly and kicking themselves in the end because most of the tips that he apparently gave did not come out.  He ain’t god ya know?

Spotting the topics by yourself is so much better (but before that, please pray ) Best is to read and focus on every single detail of your revision book.

Paper 2 was okay although I kinda struggled at Section A on the fetus question.

Ryan and I before Biology paper 1

And for paper 3…

I did my anaysis thang.

If you view the page of my exercise book closely, I circled the 2006 experiments. Before paper 3 began, I confidently told all my friends that rate of enzymatic reaction (either pH or temperature… but I was betting on pH lah) would be coming out. And it REALLY did but it was temperature, not pH. Nonetheless, I was so darn close.

Next year should be rate of photosynthesis or some respiration question or BOD or DCPIP or urine… kesimpulannya, it can be anything Sorry juniors. Can’t help much. Hehehehehe.

Day 8…

Accounts. Oh my god. Accounts was another paper I was really really afraid of and I had been dreading to sit for accounts since the start of the year. SPM was the very first time and also the only time I sat for the accounts paper in school. I don’t take accounts in school. Accounts was my extra subject so yeah.

The accounts paper was on a Tuesday. So this means that the night before accounts was Amazing Race night But I didn’t watch ok! For the first time ever I missed an episode. I watched the repeat on Saturday though. Like how some of you are football, Greys Anatomy and Gossip Girl addicts — I like Amazing Race! And I am a huuuuge fan of the show.

Anyway, paper 1 of Accounts was not bad. Thank God.

Elaine, Yongming and I before Accounts paper 2.

The three of us were frantic before paper 2 — fittingly so, because paper 2 was like a VERY VERY VERY BAD NIGHTMARE. It was as bad as — or worst than Add Math paper 2. Oh my gosh. I couldn’t balance anything except for the penyata penyesuaian bank. Someone please shoot me dead already!

That was when I truly felt my straight As was in jeopardy. *^*^$*)%#)#)(^*^#*)@)*(@!)%^)#^ I should have taken Economics or Commerce instead. SPM candidates of 2010, start practicing your accounts now! The standard has been ever rising.

But somehow I wasn’t so depressed about it as compared to EST and Add Math. I guess I was tired of being depressed.

Day 9…

The day before Physics I was bordering on insanity lah. I was so worried that after sitting for BM, English, History, EST, Modern Math, Moral, Add Math, Biology and Accounts,  I would end up forgetting all my Physics facts so I cramped in the entire SUCCESS book again the day before Physics and had absolutely no sleep at all. It’s very bad I know.

I really really really want to score straight As so badly you cannot even imagine.

And in the morning, when all of us were at Dewan Perdana, I went totally hysterical. I was laughing with Kairunissa and Shuhada like mad. I think I had like sakit nanar for a moment… like Mahyun from Meniti Kaca and Limah from Bukit Kepong

Ryan, Sheng Ling, Bianca and I before Physics paper 2

People said paper 2 was like damn easy but to me, it was just so-so. I don’t dare to be confident for Physics ’cause my supersmart cousin got a B for Physics (and yet she got JPA. Pfft. Yen Wei I still love you tho )

I found out that I made a mistake for the suitability question (Section C). I did the bulb one and freaking chose the wrong bulb. I chose bulb T which was the one with nitrogen gas at low pressure, tungsten wire, thick and not coiled. I thought that the wire was supposed to be thick and not coiled to reduce resistance so that more current can flow through the filament and hence, more electric energy to be converted to light energy.

When I went back home, I checked the Sasbadi reference book (very stupid of me. I should’ve just let it go) and that damn bulb question was there. According to Sasbadi (I use SUCCESS – Oxford Fajar so I didn’t know the bulb thing existed), the resistance must be high to heat up the filament to make it brighter. This means that the wire should be thin and coiled!

UGHHHHHH.

For Paper 3, the strength of an electromagnet experiment came out. That was a relief. Aih, I couldn’t care less anymore ’cause it was towards the end and I was sick and tired of whining and complaining.

Day 10 (final)…

Chemistry. I was so much more prepared for Chemistry than Physics ’cause of the 4-days break. More time to study means got time to work my spotting superpower. Hahahaha.

On Sunday night, Kai Yee asked me which experiment I think would come out for Chemistry paper 3. So I did my analysis thingy and told her that rate of reaction might come out for question 1 (Kai Yee, I texted you right before you slept — Sunday night 11PM!!!) She, on the other hand, believed that rate of reaction would be coming out for question 3 (design experiment).

And then I checked her own analysis (which was much accurate… or so I thought ’cause she compiled the trial papers of every state) and found out why she was so confident that a rate of reaction experiment would come out for question 3.

As you can see in the table above, 7 out of 10 state trial papers had rate of reaction (chapter 1, form 5) for its design experiment question (question 3) so it was very convincing to me that it would come out for question 3.

And looking at the table, I was confident that chemical bonds (chapter 5, form 4), manufactured substances in industry (chapter 9, form 4) and thermochemistry (chapter 4, form 5) would definitely come out for essay. I was also so sure that salts (chapter 7, form 4) and redox reaction (chapter 3, form 5) would NEVER come out for essay that I placed a biiiiiiiig cross for the two.

The chapters which I thought important for paper 2 (the ones with the column highlighted) were spot on — only that… THEY WERE ALL TERBALIK!!!!!!!!!!! Wtf. Chemical bonds, manufactured substances in industry and thermochemistry ALL came out for structure. Salts and redox came out for essay. And to top it all, salts and redox are my worst two chapters in chemistry and the both of them came out in Section C.

Ugh. Last complain lah… just bear with me.

Deva, Amelia, Yongming, Nicole and I before Chemistry paper 3.

The canteen. For the last time all of us fifth formers gather.

Not surprising, rate of reaction (chapter 1, form 5) DID NOT come out for the design experiment question but instead landed itself as question 2 — AGAIN, terbalik.

WHAT IS THIS?!

Luckily the question 3 on pH value of nitric acid was quite simple. Just gotta dump in the pH meter into the acid right? At first glance, I freaked out ’cause I thought must use titration to prepare the different concentrations of nitric acid. No need right? Right? Right? If need also don’t tell me ok… I’ll jump off the building.

Quite close the first time… before I saw that evil thing Kai Yee sent to me.

Anyhow, Kai Yee you’re still awesome. And I am sticking to my words, if it didn’t come out I’ll forgive and forget. *cough*

Overall, Chemistry was easy lah. Just that section C of paper 2 I found tough. But who knows, because of that stupid section C I might get a C! Lol.

IT’S OVER AND I DON’T GIVE A DAMN RIGHT NOW — TELL ME ABOUT IT AGAIN IN MARCH.

Straight As? It’s tough but not impossible. I’ve done it in UPSR and again in PMR and I believe this time it can happen once more. Third time’s a charm. Must believe!!! It’s okay lah. No scholarship also never mind. I’ll just have to work thrice even harder in college that’s all. I have total faith in God that my future is a-okay.

Right after Chemistry paper 3/SPM was over

Annie and I

Kairunissa, Azliza and I

My final walk out of school as a student of SMK. Subang Utama

 

Driving lesson #1

As you can see in the above, I am currently working on several blog posts. I’ve uploaded all the photos that I needed for each and every post. All I have to do now is write about it. If in Biology we learned that anaerobic respiration causes oxygen debt in the body and in Accounts, we learned that should you pay your expenses late, it’ll be a “belanja terakru” , then I think this blog is undergoing a blog debt and my blog posts are fit to be called “karya-karya terakru” heheheheheeeeee

So I was thinking about starting on the SPM article first… until I went for my first driving lesson a few hours ago.

It was fun, yes but omg, IT WAS FREAKING SCARY. I assumed it to be as easy as driving the go-kart in Genting but.. pfft… no such thing!

And I thought that being a first timer, my driving instructor will only teach me how to drive around the neighborhood but once again, NO SUCH THING. I FREAKING DROVE ALL THE WAY TO CYBERJAYA OMG CAN YOU FREAKING BELIEVE THIS?!!!!!!

LUCKILY I STEPPED OUT OF THAT STUPID KANCIL ALIVE. I still have so many things that I want to do in my life. Can you imagine if someone died RIGHT after SPM? *Choi! Chap chi! Touch wood!* I learned this phrase from Nurul (who is a Malay. fuyoh multilingual ) after I told her that I won’t get straight As for SPM. Hahahahahahaha.

Anyways, whenever I look at the speedometer, I would be thinking about the velocity I am going. And when a vehicle overtakes me (STUPID MOTHAFUCKERS *ahem*) I would be estimating the impulsive force that would be produced if a collision occurs. I wonder if the kancil has an airbag It can increase the time of impact, and thus reduce the impulsive force yo. Don’t play play. Heh.

And then, when I was at some highway… some huge ass petrol tanker was near me. I was like “omg!!! I am going to die.. I am going to die. Hmm… petrol has single bond or double bond ah?” *counts heat of combustion* LOL.

The worst part for me was that stupid stick shift. I hate changing the gear. I cannot multitask on the road one okay! If you want me to change the gear, I need at least 2 minutes to do it and then… I’ll completely forget to pay attention on the road. And ooo, I tend to stare out of the window and get carried away. What?! I have never been to Cyberjaya okay.

And oh, I ran the red light FOR THE FIRST TIME ON MY FIRST TIME. Blame my driving instructor. At every traffic light, my driving instructor would go like “GO FASTER! GO FASTER!” Cis! First time must drive slow slow what. And yeah, at one traffic light which was clearly red, he was like “KEEP GOING! KAMPUNG… NEVER MIND ONE”

Pfft.

All in all, I hate driving.

 

Disappointed

Disappointed at myself for…

Not being able to conclude my essay for EST.

Not choosing and answering the right questions for Add Math.

Not being able to complete the Accounts paper.

I feel stupid. I have let down my favorite teachers — Mr Jacob and Miss Esther.

I know I should move forward but… this sucks man!

 

Alya

Just wanna dedicate this post to Alya, a very good friend of mine.

Alya…

STAY STRONG

I wish there is something I could do to help you and to repay all the things you have done for me.

Although recently we may not be as close as we used to, I know you have struggled a lot these past few years. You might not know this, but I secretly admire your strength and how you face the toughest ordeals of your life.

I prayed for you before I had my afternoon nap today.

I just want you to know that you’re never alone.

Rest well. I hope you’ll recover soon.

 

SPM!!!

SPM!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know some day I will look back and laugh at this but…

THIS IS LIFE AND DEATH FOR ME

I want to score straight As so badly and earn a full scholarship so I can live my life feeling secured about my tertiary education but having this huge feeling that I can’t is killing me soooooo badly deep inside.

I have been feeling so depressed these past few days. I know that I am a survivor in many things. I know I have not given up on all the things that I feel passionate about.

But this is just… too tough for me, personally. I don’t think I am ready to be a failure, a loser and a disappointment.

 

Driving class #2

Just a short post for today alright?

So yeah. I went for my 6-hours practical driving class yesterday. This time I brought my Physics book along! Hahahahaha. I can now tell everyone that I brought my Biology, Chemistry and Physics books to each of my driving classes! Haha.

While the driving guy was explaining about driving, I did the Perlis Chemistry trial paper — the one Pn. Pushpa gave last week. Hahahaha. Everybody’s desk was empty except mine. I had my table siap dengan my trial papers, pencil box and calculator on it like some nerd. Haha. But the driving guy caught me doing my trial paper and told me to keep it and pay attention P.S. I was sitting right at the front. Haha.

FINE.

Anyways, this is not the main thing I wanted to say.

What I wanted to tell you is about what happened when the class ended. My driving instructor had to fetch his daughter from school or something so he sent his friend to take me home instead. Before I went for the class, my driving instructor informed me of the plate number of his friend’s car.

So when I was done, I looked for the car lah. And I found it!

Don’t give me this face, i.e. ’cause I am not done with my story yet!!!

Before I entered the car, I asked the guy who was in the car if he was supposed to fetch me home… in English.

And he was like…

“MEH AH?! — LEI EM SEK KONG KONG FU WAH AH?!”
(What?! — You don’t know how to speak Cantonese ah?!)

And so I told him, like how I tell the other Chinese, that I can only understand the language but cannot speak in it.

He looked totally stunned. HAHAHAHAHA. But yeah, he was supposed to fetch me home.

And in the car, he was quite friendly lah. He asked me what language do I speak with my parents. LOL. The only bummer is that he can’t speak a word of English and I can’t speak a word of Cantonese. So in the end, we spoke to each other in BM! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

The kesimpulan of my story is that BM is a very important language in our country and most of us tend to take our national language easily and label it as an incompetent language. See… I have proven that BM can bridge language barriers even amongst two people of the same race and ethic background. Heh.

The end

 

Driving theory test

Hello.

I just came back from my driving theory test this afternoon. I am taking a time off from my study schedule to write about it because today was a rather prolific day and should be recorded in this blog!

So yeah, about that stupid, useless, WORTHLESS test. Omg it wasted so much of my precious time and made me stress out the entire week. SPM’s in approximately two weeks time and I am doing this driving shit.

Just in case you are wondering, I ain’t starting the whole driving course after SPM because… I JUST CANNOT. I must get my driver’s license by DECEMBER. It is urgent.

For those of you who have been there and done that, you would know that the driving course thingy is split into two parts right? I am trying to get the first part done before SPM and will be doing the second part after SPM.

No, actually I really do not want to go for it now because 1. SPM’s around the corner; 2. I have zero interest in driving… seriously. Haha. Probably it’s because I know I’ll be successful and chauffeur-driven like… forever. Kekekekeke. Ok. I am not gonna count my chickens before they hatch. For all I know, I’ll be someone’s chauffeur instead. Omg. Touch wood. Touch wood. Touch wood.

I took my test in Kinrara. Arrived at the test centre at 9:00AM. It was super small, super humid, super stuffy, super Third World. The air-conditioner wasn’t working. Even the padded fabric of the seats were ripped off. Omg.

There were A LOT of people. By the way, I was so lonely there. I thought I would meet people who are of the same age group as I am and perhaps make new friends but no… ALL of them were old! Yikes! Ok lah, probably not all… but most of them were! Even at the 6-hour driving class, majority were OLD. Some even have a jangut and it is DAMN WHITE. Omg. It was so white and frizzy that I can’t help but notice and blog about it. Haha.

Speaking of the driving class, it was soooooooo boring. I brought my Biology book to read and managed to cover half of the ecosystem chapter. It was a success! Haha. There was this guy who sat at a few seats away from me… he slept and HE FREAKING SNORED. Omg. I cannot stand being around these type of people lah seriously. So lazy. At least although I wasn’t paying attention I was studying HARD for a better future. And I don’t understand why it took them so long to apply for a license.

Back to the driving test centre… as I was saying… I felt so damn lonely there. This time I brought my chemistry book along! Haha. But I didn’t study at all though. I was trying to memorize the entire driving 101 book.

I didn’t really read much prior to that stupid theory test. SPM laaaaaaah. I have no time to give this thing a damn. But once at the centre, I was damn worried ’cause if I fail, I’ll have to wait until next week to resit and thus prolonging my stress. Die die also must get my driver’s license by December. If not, I won’t have transport to college! Takkan lah I walk? And no, I refuse to take the public transport.

And oh! I forgot to mention that I took the mock driving theory test at home TWICE and I failed TWICE. The first time I scored ±60% and for the second time which I took last night, I scored ±80% (yes, 80% is still a FAIL). I thought of doing another round of the mock test but 1. I was too exhausted and sleepy; 2. I couldn’t do and hence I became lazy. According to Gok Heng, >45/50 is a pass. (Note: My mock test tallies my scores in percentage, so yeah) In other words, I need to score at least 90% to pass.

I only studied Section 1 and Section 3 but completely ignored Section 2. I swear there is no more empty space in my cerebrum left to take in useless and worthless information such as the signboards, how-many-points-I-will-receive-if-I-break-the-rules, the-minimum-amount-of-alcohol-in-my-breath, etc. What are the odds that I will see a binatang liar running in front of my car? It’s dumb.

So yeah. I waited and waited and waited and waited and waited until it was my turn. At 2:00 o’clock, I WAS STILL THERE! I felt like I was like attending the 6-hour class for a second time! It was such a waste of my time and when SPM is only two weeks away, it’s really a waste of time.

While I was waiting, a few ladies were sitting near to where I was sitting. They were like the mak cik-mak ciks from the hood. Haha. And it was so funny ’cause they were LOUDLY yakking about all sorts of housewife nonsense. And one of them was like “Ya Allah, tolonglah berikan saya kekuatan untuk mengharungi ujian memandu ini” And I was like omg! It’s just a driving test! Hahaha.

We all waited pretty long. While waiting, I diligently eavesdropped on their housewife conversations which always sound interesting and funny to me. It was certainly a one of a kind first time experience! Haha. Wait, I don’t think ‘eavesdrop’ is even the proper word to use  ’cause they were speaking so loudly that I can naturally hear.

Later one of them said “Budak nih (obviously referring to me) pun tunggu lama” thinking that I was from China and do not understand Malay, deaf or retarded. I starred at her and then the same mak cik asked me since what time have I been waiting. I replied “nine. err… sembilan!” while putting on a kesian face. Hahahaha. And then she praised “waaaaa… lamanya! you sangat sabar ya?!” (the entire herd of mak ciks exited the centre for lunch at noon)

Mak cik number two asked me what school I was from… to which I proudly answered Subang Utama! I told them that SPM’s in two weeks time and I am so stressed out. And at that very moment, I was officially inducted into the ‘driving moms’ clan. Hahahahaha.

They asked me about my school and what course I am gonna take in college and all. I felt like I was at some college interview or something. Haha. And a few minutes later, I was FINALLY called out to sit for the theory test. My ‘driving moms’ clan wished me good luck. Awwwww… so sweet. Hahahaha. Even my parents didn’t wish me good luck before I left the house.

The questions were okay lah. Quite tough actually. Gunning for a hundred, I did it very slowly and very carefully to avoid making any careless mistakes. The day before the test I didn’t know what a clutch plate was and till now, I still don’t know what a clutch plate is! Haha. And there was one question about it!

I rechecked my answers and then submitted it. My total score is…

.

.

.

.

.

43/50

Thinking that 43/50 is a fail, I was like *gasp* Masyaallah!!!. Hahahahahahahaha.

But then at the bottom I saw the word lulus (pass) and then I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Passing mark was actually 42.

As I walked out of the computer room, my ‘driving moms’ supporters asked me if I passed and so I nodded my head. One of them uttered among themselves “baloilah dia tunggu lama”. Haha. They are super sweet and super cute lah.

I took my result slip and waved goodbye to them before I left… as though I have known them for centuries. Haha. And they all waved back and said bye. Awwwwww…

Happy ending

 

Hiiii

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.

SPM’s just around the corner. About a month more

I just wanna say a few things…

• First and foremost, hiiiiiiiiiiiii

• Sorry for not updating much at all for the past few days weeks months. I would feel guilty whenever I start typing a post. Even now. Not that I study 24-7 but… I just feel guilty lah! Somehow I do not feel the same way when I am playing Bejeweled on Facebook. Haha. But I am over that stupid game now. It was such a waste of my time. Pfft.

• So many things have happened lately I don’t even know where to start! I promise I’ll blog one by one after SPM and you can visit this blog everyday and not be disappointed at all ’cause I assure you that once SPM finishes, there’ll be something new to read everyday. I’ll devout my entire December blogging. Haha.

• High school’s ending. I feel sad. Just a little shout out: SMK SUBANG UTAMA, I LOVE YOU! Remember to tell your teachers and friends how much you love them and how much you’re sorry for all your wrong doings and how much you’ll miss them before you’ll never ever have the chance to do so ever again. SAY YOUR LAST WORDS AND SAY IT RIGHT. For all you know, you’ll never meet them ever ever ever again. Should I end this point with a smiley or a sad face?

• The Amazing Race rocks!!! Damn potong stim… after all the somberness and melancholy, I know.

• All the very very very very very very very very very very very very best for SPM and — life