A National Service First

You buzz-shave your head in preparation for National Service. Check

You brought enough underwear to last you the week in National Service. Check

You've mentally prepared yourself for 3 months of being away from home. Check

You've said your goodbyes to heated showers and a comfortable bed. Check

You've said goodbye to the life you're about to leave behind for 3 months. Check

You're looking forward to experience military life. Check

You've double-checked all the necessities you need to bring to National Service. Check

You've arrived at the pick-up point at the stadium on the day itself. Check.

You're about to hand over the bus ticket to board the bus. Check

The authority refers me to the Secretariat after seeing my medical reports. Check

The camp commander looks at your medical report and says, "I won't accept you. You are hereby rejected from the camp. Now go home! No need report for National Service".

...............................................

.............................................

WHAT THE HECK????

Lol. And thus was the tale of a guy named Nathaniel Sia who reported himself in for National Service only to be rejected instead by the big bad bear named Lieutenant Colonel Rahamen.

XD XD XD XD

Not too sure I should be happy or sad. Most parts happy but a little sad cuz' I was already looking forward to go.

So, I've got three whole months ahead of me doing nothing. Anyone can recommend a part-time job somewhere or if anyone is hiring?

P.S: Those that want to see me bald, you're in luck!

LAN Parties are AWESOME!!!!

Just to clear any doubts off those technophobic readers of mine (lol, Luddites!), LAN stands for Local Area Network. Basically, in layman's terms, it's a series of PC's linked up to one network. Correct me if I'm wrong yar~

Anyhoo, just a week ago, I brought my PC over to Bryan Kho's house (BK for short) for a little LAN party/sleepover together with him and his brother. With the release of so many hotly-anticipated games over the holidays, naturally, gamers like him and I planned a little LAN party for us all to enjoy.


So, we ARE NOT, I repeat, ARE NOT, having a LAN exclusively for DOTA. That would be soooooo lame. Before you guys come over here and murder me, please kindly read on.

With bajillions of new games out there, most Kuching-nites are only interested in one game, Dota. Not too sure why la. Hence, Dota players, take no offence reading this yarr. The game ain't lame. It's just lame dat ur all still playing only one game when there's so many out there. Don't you feel like your missing out?

Among the games that we were eager to try out were of course:

Left 4 Dead (the hottest online co-op game EVAR!)


Grand Theft Auto IV (hurray! Now you can commit crimes without the guilt!)


Gears of War (wanted to finish up co-op nia)


Call of Duty: World At War (It's World War II! Bring friends~)


Ehem, my main focus here will be, of course, Left 4 Dead. Arguably the best online co-op game to hit the shelves, it deserves an exclusive review~~

Left 4 Dead. It's the zombie apocalypse. And a good thing too. Left 4 Dead places you in the shoes of one of four survivors caught in a god-forsaken city where zombies (The Infected) roam free.

Zombies: Check. Eerie setting: Check. Happy thoughts: Yeah right.

Your objective in all four available campaigns is to survive as you make your way to the designated rescue points. However, your chances of making it out alive are greatly hampered by the many shitloads of zombies that lie between point A and point B.

With a variety of locales to play from, Left 4 Dead makes for a unique experience as each zombie spawn points as well as weapon pick-ups are random thanks to the AI director. Therefore, although you'll be playing the same four campaigns over and over, the AI director makes each playthrough a different experience altogether.



These ain't your ordinary, run-of-the-mill zombies that lethargically lumber towards their prey. Instead, you have those that can friggin' RUN. And they usually bring friends too, so, more often than not, you'll be left fighting off hordes of them at the worst of times.



And to add insult to injury, there are these Special Infected too that are thrown into the mix. Hunters stalk their prey and pounce on you before clawing your guts out. Smokers pull Survivors long distances with their uberly long tongues. Boomers vomit bile onto you, clouding your vision and attracting hordes of Common Infected. Worst of all, are the Tanks; giant meatballs that dish out massive damage and a shitload of bullets to kill.

Zombie, meet Shotgun. Shotgun, meet zombie~

Never before has a game blended teamwork and communication so well until Left 4 Dead hit the shelves. Covering each other's backs is what Left 4 Dead is all about. Let a Survivor wander off alone, and chances for survival will greatly diminish.

Healing, shooting and distributing health supplies to wounded team-mates are vital in your on-going quest for survival. Action is intense as there is most probably only time for split-second decisions that can differentiate life or death. Difficulty level is also ramped up depending on the survivors' condition, all thanks to the AI director.

Survivors that are faring well will find fewer health pick-ups and the spawning of multiple hordes of Infected become more apparent. Those down on their last few legs will expect to run into less resistance and come across more health and power-ups.


Instances like saving a team-mate from the clutches of the Special Infected, reviving a downed character and healing them as well as switching strategy on the fly to tackle the oncoming hordes of zombies all makes for a truly, rewarding and intense co-op experience unlike no other.

Hence, communication here is vital, especially during the grand finales in each campaign where waves after waves of zombies endlessly flood towards you whilst you wait for your rescue. After each campaign is completed, you are rewarded to a cheeky, movie-esque credits sequence that detail your gameplay stats.

However, this game is best played with friends. Sure, you can take on each campaign with an AI-controlled partner but you'll lack that sense of interaction when played with friends. When having friends as your team-mates, you'll have that sense of urgency to look out for them as well as a feeling of improvisation and strategizing to get out alive.

Haha, take it from me and Bryan Kho. The whole night of our LAN party, we were hollering and yelling over the gun-fires and zombie howls, barking orders to each other, pointing out health, explosives supplies and the location of the Tanks.

And that concludes the review. Back on track, we'd also finished up co-op for Gears of War before heading over to Reening's place for a little Gears of War 2 action. Thanks, dude! We really owe ya one!




And what can I say, Gears 2 is every bit as awesome as how its predecessor is. Blood, guts, guns, and gore....ohhh add in super-uber testosterone action basically sums up Gears 2.

A little Grand Theft Auto IV multiplayer was also played and boy, was it a side-splitting experience. Can you imagine, soccer moms as hired contract killers? Cold-blooded mafiasos hitching a ride on a broken-down scooter, mowing down random pedestrians? If it's one thing Grand Theft Auto IV that did right, it was the multiplayer action, no doubt.

And that concludes this final post before I head on out to National Service. Expect this to be the last update before this blog undergoes a three-month long hiatus.

Till then, cheerio and game on!

I'm Popular!! Nah, not really......

Just yesterday, I went over to the RTM radio station for a live broadcast on DJ Jennifer Lau's Red FM radio show!

It was awesome, I tell ya! Courtesy of best buddy, Derrick of course.

*No pictures arrr. Just so happened that my brain had diarrhoea and I completely forgot to bring my camera. Arghh! Now my brain constipated liaw with all the frustration and rage. XD*

This was not really something new to me though, Derrick had invited me several times already to the RTM radio station for several Christmas and Chinese New Year jingles. Still, words fail to describe how awesome it was!

Joining me was several returning faces like Rick and Ralph. Joshua, Melvin and John Paul; the noobs also joined in on the fun. XD XD

Derrick made an awesome co-anchor to temporarily replace DJ Jennifer Lau. Several questions were asked here and there and POOF! We're done! Walao eh, 45 minutes of live broadcasting just went up and away liddat ar!

So, yeah, it was awesome.

Just thought it was something I need to get off my chest and also, wanna update this blog a bit mar....

Anyhoo, please excuse me while I go scare myself shitless playing Dead Space. Cheerio!

Jealousy. Makes. Me. Wanna. Eat. Cake

Like, oh my gosh, why is everybody making me so kek tiok that Gears of War 2 is not out for the PC?



And like, why didn't I just get off my lazy ass and earn money to afford an Xbox 360?

Effin' Cliff Blezinsky.

May you eat unsalted pickles for every hamburger you take a bite into.

Ignore the rambling please and thank you~~

As an added side note, Call of Duty: World at War


and Far Cry 2 was UBERLY AWESOME!!!!


Can't wait to sink my teeth into Dead Space, Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead.

Freedom. Is. AWESOME

Ehem. I know it's a little too late to be declaring this but WOOHOO!!!!

SPM's finally over!!!!! Bluek XD XD

So, why am I not updating this blog of mine? You see, I've been giving my much-neglected computer some tender loving care of mine. Now now, don't ask questions you don't want the answers to.

Anyhoo, us 5A-ians threw a farewell party a day after the EST papers (last paper marr...but not for me. Curse you all, Prinsip Perakaunan!!! I say, let the heavens above SMITE you with their mighty wrath!)

Venue: you guessed it.....Hartz Chicken. Where else la, duh?


The whole idea thing was of course, courtesy of Jeremy Lim's uber-awesome brainwave and it was us little minions of his that helped organize it. Reception was fantastic. The whole class practically turned up.

Eager diners waiting to pounce on the buffet table. AND gain 5 kilos in the process

Lo and behold, the mighty doors of Hartz Chicken swung open and ushered us all in. First stop, buffet table (duh, there's a reason why it's called Hartz Chicken Buffet, ya know XD)

Oh food! Mighty glorious food! Nom nom nom nom~~~

Tried telling Pei Yin to watch what she eats, but no....... She goes like, "Like, let's not listen to the health-conscious guy and binge AND then throw up later on cuz' it's so totally hot." Lol, just joking but seriously, the binging part was true.

I thought the pic below was cute. Lol, poor Yvonne lining up for chicken wings behind the carnivorous, meat-craving guys.

Chicken wings fat goes where? Them BOOTIES of course!!

Once everybody settled down and got munchin, things quieted down a bit. But as they say, it's the calm before the storm.

Soon after, everybody was all full and then, all hell broke loose. In the form of cam-whores, of course.

Before we delve deeper, allow me to introduce several key figures that our class all knows and loves.

Akasyah and Aneesah. Gals with spunk and attitude. Also voted most likely to first appear in a bootylicious hip-hop music video coming to you real soon.

Akasyah (left) and Aneesah (right)

Then there's of course, the iconic "V for Peace" figure that every class ought to have. Wendy Chan was undeniably the person that fit those shoes. Unfortunately, she couldn't make it. So, treat yourselves to some random substitute for her.

Melvin Yeo; our class's pretty boy

Not forgetting the "Fire and Ice" duo that every class is well-known for, are Rachel and Carrie. Rachel's the calm, cool and collected one. Carrie is instead the high-spirited, fiery and hot-headed one.

Rachel (left) and Carrie (right, who is ironically eating ice-cream XD)

Then, you have those pairings that are simply just eccentric and weird. Eccentric is epitomized by Eunice (right); who has a time-lag before laughing at a funny joke. Weird is represented by Yvonne (left); a master of one-liners and impersonations.

Eunice: Eh, it's spelt E-U-N-I-C-E ar.....Must remember!!
Yvonne: Uhh, you lost me at 'E'..
Eunice: Haiya, cannot spell what for sign autographs for me!
Yvonne: Eh, you forgot ar? Famous people are usually-
Eunice: Oh yar hor!! They all dumb dumb wan....(short pause)
Both: (giggles like rabbits on crack)

Behind every good class, there must always be a good treasurer a.k.a along. And that's why Joan and Pei Yin are here to do the dirty work! These two know their money better than their own names. XD XD

Money money money~~~~~~~~

Group photos ahead!!!

I look like David Archuleta in this pic~~

You'd think with girls outnumbering us guys 3 to 1 in the class, I grabbed a few pics with the last remaining testosterone-raging guys in the class.

Guess what, you were right!

From left to right: Ambrose, Dennis, Bernard, William and Me
Sitting down: The uber-awesomely, super-kawaii Wei Yei

Me with the frat boys

Here's another example of why Eunice's flies south when it ain't winter, if you know what I mean. *wink wink* *nudge nudge*

Eunice no likey guys that are better-looking than her

We endorse Barrack Obama and Hartz Chicken to be the next President of the United States!

And amongst all the havoc....we apparently had a killer on the loose. Poor Ernest. Anybody willing to donate an extra kidney, liver and heart to the poor guy?

*insert cliche horror movies one-liners like, "Look out! Behind you!"*

Not to forget! I grabbed a pic with the leading lady of that night. Our very own Angelina Jolie-esque, sizzling hot Angeline!

Damn, the guy that she's gonna wind up with next time is one lucky bas****! So, word of advice, you'd better treat her right cuz' I know where u live. That's right! You who is reading this post right now! Treat her right!

She's smokin' hot in that dress!

Pic below is a reminder of the ill-fated quartet that still has to sit for their Prinsip Perakaunan test in the next 3 days. Oh, cursed fate!!! Why?????

The last remnants.....

Urgent news: *we are sorry to inform you that the blogger has suffered from a slight case of diva moment-ism and he will resume posting immediately or after he finishes crying. Whichever comes first*

Ehem, as I was saying.....more group pics!


And as a special request to a certain friend, I've decided to put up a little advertising for the business that he's about to take over one day. So remember, if you ever desire toilet wares or just a comfortable toilet bowl for your butt-cheeks to call home, United Fusion is the place to be!

If you're shopping with a mission, look no further than United Fusion! XD XD

Me with the proud heir to United Fusion

As the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end," and this was indeed the penultimate end to my secondary school life. Man, am I going to miss those good times I had with my friends back in Form 1 till Form 5.

Oh well, for every end, there must be a new beginning. This is one chapter of my life that has now ended and I happily look forward to beginning a new one in this much-cherished book of mine that I call "My Life".

I pray with all my heart that my friends will find success in life and hopefully we will cross paths again wherever fate might take us. Till then,

Farewell!

*To end the night off with a happy note, I didn't go home empty. No siree, I definitely didn't go home empty, if you know what i mean. Hee hee =D

Hibernation....Zzzzzzz

I. Am. Declaring. This. Blog. Hibernating. For. The. Time. Being.

SPM's just around the corner bor. No more fooling around! Especially with this blog. Hate to disappoint the fans reading my blog (If I even have any XD) but SPM calls for more attention now.

Again, this blog is hibernating. Zzzzzzzz

Pigs Can Now Fly

I'm quite sure that many of us are familiar with the almighty name, "Bhaluddin". Without a doubt, shivers will run through your spine.

However, for those of you who happen to be kataks di bawah tempurung (note the BM proverb), let me bring you up to speed on who the afore-mentioned person is.

A silver mane for hair. A mullet haircut that looked like it time-traveled from the 80's. A haircut that includes a single cut to his side-burns. And of course, the uber-fantastic principle of Pusat Bimbingan Karya. (the one-stop choice for us kiasu Chinese for BM tuition)


You all know of how notorious he is for giving out all these current world issues of which he has compiled and printed out for us. Sad to say, not many of us read them. Even worse, we use them as toilet paper when afore-mentioned item has run out.


Not forgetting those karangan contoh or role-model essays which he too, distributes out to us, in high hopes that we'll read them and improve on ours.

Usually, these essays contain superb, bombastic BM words as well as vocals that will blow your BM-boggled minds away. Literally.

To further blow your mind away (or whats left of it anyways) is that most of these essays are written by us Chinese. Sometimes, you just gotta question them if they are indeed Chinese, or of mixed blood.


We've seen them all, we've read them all, but time and time again, we just can't hide that sense of awe and envy towards those endowed writers. They're good, smart, clever and above all, fluent in BM.

Today, I join their ranks.


My BM cukup teng liaw. Hee =D

Friggin' Test Results

It's those times of school again when we really do start to dread and/or look forward to. Damn right, it's none other than test results.

Referring to my above statement, I'll break it up into 2 parts to clarify a few things.

1. You really-cannot-wait-or-you'll-crap-your-pants looking forward to test results.
This is usually because you've studied your ass off for the exams, where you'll note that your backside is no longer there; those two ass-cheeks have gone off for holiday whilst you study.

When you've practically memorised the Form 4 and 5 textbooks inside out, you'll have full confidence that you'll do well, with nothing to fear or hide. The only thing you need fear is; throwing yourself over Satok bridge because of a few careless mistakes that prevent you from getting a perfect 100.

Plus, you have to be a super-genius to be categorised as such. If you are, **** you for not divulging that endless well of knowledge with us.

2. You'd rather watch Chris "Leave Britney Alone" Crocker on Youtube 24-7 in exchange for not getting your test results.

Those endless tomorrows of which we say we will study then will never come to materialize, save for when it's already the last minute. Then, you'll stress out like hell and gain 50 pounds plus pimples in the process.

This would be the category that most of us, cruel as it may sound, fall into. Of course, those endless days of procrastinating will eventually bite us back in the ass, and when it does, it bites hard. What you get is a big, fat report card with marks crossed in red. XD XD

As for me, well, I'm very grateful, thankful and relieved for a steady stream of consistent marks. Nothing too extreme though. Even the subjects which I scored the lowest marks were Add. Maths (duh. No-brainer here) and Biology (oh gawd, I just wanna burn them books!)

Not too sure how my parents are gonna take it tho.......expect it to go something like this.

*Enters house*
Me: Yo, wad-up, Big Daddy-G??
Dad: You're talking ghetto' again. Show me your test results.
Me: A'ight, a'ight. It's cool. I ain't trippin 'bout mah test results, dawg!
*Opens report card*
Me: Yeah, yeah. So how'd I do, dawg? We cool?
Dad: I think I'm facing middle-age crisis. Is that really what I see on this report card, son?
Me: A'ight, chill! Chill, dog. We don't want nobody to get iced here, dawg! Dam-n.
Dad: Explain.
Me: A'ight. So, you see, me and mah homies were hanging out in the 'hood see? Then, this pretty 'ho was like all over our faces. And then, we were like, 'Dam-n' and she was all-
Dad: Meaning to say, you didn't study?
Me: Uhh......technically...and euphemistically.......
Dad: Get out of the house.

Like, uber L337-ness!

Been meaning to do this for so long, but neh....I like procrastinating. If you ain't, you're not a regular teenager, no?

You may have noticed a significant decrease in the number of posts on this blog as of Feb 2008. For that, I humbly apologize for those short-comings.

The reason? Simple.

Brand. New. PC.


After waiting for like 2 years after the PMR results came out, my father finally approved of my decision to get a whole new desktop with his ever-waning 'government computer loan' or something liddat.


Anyhoo, I was OBVIOUSLY very happy. But the decision to put it in my room only made me happier.

The truth is out! Nathaniel sporting panda-bear eyes at school the following mornings are no longer the greatest mystery of life. Ever.


Computer specs:
Acer Aspire Model M5640
Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.4GHz
2.00 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GS (if the power of graphics card were rated 1 to 10, this is a definite 1 gazzilion trillion billion)
400 GB Physical Memory

Features:
Multi-in-1 card reader
TV-tuner card and remote control (lol...you can watch TV on this thing!)
Super Multi DVD drive

Inclusive of:
Wireless Acer Keyboard and Mouse
Edifier Surround System w/ Subwoofer

This is by far, the most recent and advanced piece of technology that I've owned since the Playstation 2 back in 2003. XD

With this, I get to play both Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 games which are ported to the PC of course. Oh my goodness, the sweet, sweet smell of those 7th generation games.

Speaking of which, gotta go now! Them games are calling out to be played!

Don't cha just wanna go out there and get one?

Holidays? Goodbye~~

2 weeks worth of holidays is indeed what every student dream of. You can rest easy with the fact that you'll no longer be seeing:

1) Those dreaded pages of Biology
2) Hypnosis treatments that take the guise of long-winded lectures and explanations
3) Dreaded faces of your teachers
4) Those figures on your test papers that you would die for. Literally.
5) That dreaded face of your alarm clock that goes beep beep every waking hour of the morning.

Alas and alack, that brief moment of respite must come to an end someday. Seriously, tomorrow's school already! Arghhh!!!

To those of you who spent all day long relaxing during the holidays and not hitting the books at all but are now feeling guilty over it, do not fret. We are only human.

There is still time left to catch up on your studies, provided that you didn't a brand new gaming platform over the holidays and stuff liddat.

SPM is 5 months away!! No need scared YET. But I would still recommend you all to study when school starts tomorrow.

Yay for school~~~ yeah right. I'd burn down school first chance I get. Hee =D

Tagged

Tagged by Samuel. XD XD

Well, here we go...

8 things I am passionate about:

• Family
• Friends
• Video Games
• Computers
• Guitars
• Angelina Jolie
• Exercise
• My weight
  

8 things I say too often:

• *Girly Laughs*
• "Like, whatever~"
• "Yeah, bay-beh"
• "Agreed."
• "Say what? -insert random words here-"
• "And now I quote Winston Churchill!!"
• "Lol!"
• "Oh my gosh!"
  

8 books I've read recently:

• School textbooks (oh, the friggin horror!)
• Next
• Jack and Jill
• The Night Watch
• Red Rabbit
• Astro Operating Manual
• Eldest
• Cat and Mouse
  

8 songs I could listen to over and over again:

• A Beautiful Lie (30 Seconds to Mars)
• The Kill (30 Seconds to Mars)
• Theme of Laura (Akira Yamaoka)
• Your Love is A Lie (Simple Plan)
• Chain (BACK-ON)
• Child in Time (Deep Purple)
• Burn (Deep Purple)
• Made of Tears (Joe Satriani)
  

8 things I learned last year and this year:

• How to play the guitar better! (Shredding solos, oh yeah!!! *air guitars*)
• Learned to speak Mandarin better (What to do, don't wanna be a banana mar.....)
• Learned to sort through Accounts and all the debit and kredit crap.......(bo pien, took Accounts last year)
• Learnt to be a better, and more seasoned solo traveller! (went away to so many places for school functions and competitions XD)
• How to be a friggin' FPS'er (blame my new gaming platform)
• Learnt how to be an MP and debate (lie and bullshit convincingly)
  
• Learnt how NOT to make Maggi mee
• Most of all, learnt how to be a better person in life!
  

8 people I wanna tag:

• Bluek, don't feel like tagging anybody! Whee~~~~
  

Inter-Divisional Debates Competition

As promised, a recap of our Mukah escapades.

Arriving at Kuching International Airport bright and early, we debaters set off with the resolve to win the state levels and proceed onto the nationals.

Before that, luggage check-in was due as well as the inquiry of our own respective weights. Like, WTF?? They had to ask for our weights to get onto a plane?? Weird. However, MAS Wings were kind enough to let us on board without much of a hassle.


Then again, looking at the sheer size of the plane that we were supposed to board, it made me think that yeah, they had a good reason to inspect our weights before we got on board. Wouldn't want that tiny little plane to crash just cuz' I lied a few kilograms off my weight. Hehe.

The plane only sat 16 people, and the friggin' cockpit was in clear sight, with no partitions to separate us and the pilots. Wow! Buttons and knobs were everywhere!


All in all, the plane ride was rather smooth, except for the taking off in which the temperature in the cabin was like, a walk in the Sahara Desert. The plane flew at a pretty low altitude, rendering much of the ground below visible to our sakai eyes.

Upon landing at Mukah Airport, I was met with this sight:


I lol'ed. Wow, never before have I seen such a small airport. FYI, for the record, Lapangan Terbang Mukah didn't qualify for such a small airport. Rather, Padang Terbang was a more befitting term to describe the airport.

Luke makes good camwhore material

Soon after, we were whisked off into the centre of the Old Mukah Township; situated along the riverbanks where our lodgings lay waiting.

Now, for those of you who think that Mukah was like a place where civilisation and development eluded it, and that the people here still live in long-houses, think AGAIN.

Hotels and inns were aplenty in Mukah, owing to the town's rapid development. We were booked to stay at King Inn Hotel, a nifty little hotel located at the edge of the old township.

Glad to say, the hotel lobby looked quite homey and welcoming. Sure la, it's nothing like the 5-star, ritzy hotels that you'd find on Astro's Channel 707, but it was at the very least; home.


In terms of the rooms, they were very clean albeit lacking in decorations. The room had cable television, a hot shower, and a fully functional air-con! Best of all, each and every room in the hotel had friggin' WiFi connection!


Soon, we got unpacking and with 4 boys cramped into one room, it was as messy as hell.


After having lunch and a well-deserved afternoon nap, we set off to explore the entire town. Our first stop was a walk around the Old Township.






The old township was reminiscent of other small towns like Sarikei, Bintangor, Sri Aman and such, with the various buildings and constructs reflecting the age of the town. Lots of small shops around selling an assortment of knick-knacks to household goods.

At first, we thought that was all there is to Mukah. We were wrong though, the New Township located further inland had much more installed for us. Thus, we headed there too.




The New Township can best be described somewhat like Kuching's MJC. Developing rapidly with shophouses popping up all over the place, it'll soon blossom into a full-fledged city. Plus, there was quite a nice park called Taman Boulevard Setia Jaya that snaked its way across the middle of the New Township.


As night fell, we debaters got busy and practiced for the next day. Each of us took our turns in delivering our speeches while the rest POI'ed till kingdom come. Kudos to the hotel guests who were kind enough to endure our late-night arguments.


Bright and early the next morning, we frolicked over to Dewan Suarah (coincidentally just around the corner) where our debates competition was held. We were up against Samarahan today, and had high hopes for a good fight.


The lots were casted and again, for the 4th time running, we took upon the mantle of the Opposition. The motion was "This House Believes That Peer Pressure Is More Beneficial than Harmful". We as the Opposition had to say that peer pressure was simply, in fact, very very BAD.

Our team looking good in green

The Samarahan team looked quite formidable at first

And so, the debates commenced with both sides delivering their speeches and answering the opponent's POI. It was quite an amusing debate I must say, where the opponent had a slip of her tongue and accidentally blurted out in BM.

Plus, Narnia was brought into the fray and clearly, our opponents were bemused as well. I must say, all our debaters did great but it was not as good as compared to our debate against Kuching High back in Sematan.

Post-debates, the adjudicators decided upon the results as we anxiously waited for the announcement. Not to be bragging or anything, but I thought the result was as clear as day. We did less blunders than the opponents who:

1) Used BM in an ENGLISH debate
2) Had their 3rd speaker bringing up a new point (a definite no-no by the rules)
3) Didn't answer our POI's properly
4) Used World-style in a PARLIAMENTARY style debate

Results were out and lo and behold, the Government won. That was a heart-wrenching moment then and there. The results really took us all by surprise. How can it be, that we lost a fight as clear cut as this.

Most of us broke down into tears and came on the verge of crying. We were frustrated and disappointed not that we lost to a better team, but losing to the decision of the adjudicators. Plus, these adjudicators had no experience whatsoever in debates and yet, they came to adjudicate our match.

When asked for excuses of why we lost, feeble reasons met our ears which angered me more.

After much consoling, we've put our loss behind and concentrated on what lied ahead. Right now, we put our all into giving Ryner moral support for his Public Speaking competition.

Come dinner time, we discovered a small restaurant by the riverbanks and had dinner there.

Oh boy, words cannot describe how good the food tasted there and at a high price too. Best of all, it was the first chance I had to feast on umai; a delicacy known only to the people of Mukah. Basically, it's raw fish seasoned with lime juice as well as lots and lots of onions and chillies.

Man, that really hit the spot! I would really recommend all of you to try this dish, provided that you have an iron stomach.

Umai!!!!

Next day, we set off bright and early (by that I mean 9 o'clock) to Menara Pehin Setia Raja where the Public Speaking competition was held. Us, being the naive tourists that we were thought that the tower was a good 5 minutes walk away from the hotel.

I insisted upon a taxi, but oh well, I went along with the decision of the others because well, how far can the place be?

Worst. Decision. Ever. Period.

The friggin' place was more than a 20 minutes walk from our hotel!! And under the sweltering heat of the day, it ain't no walk in the park!

The place costed us a minor heatstroke, sweaty shirts and aching feet to get there!

Then again, it was for a good cause cuz' we would brave blistering colds and blazing heat just to give our moral support to Ryner.

Ryner and his speech; Love.

Once the impromptu speeches in the afternoon had completed, we headed back to the hotel by taxi this time around to prepare for a walk on the beach.

Wow, the beach was the most relaxing place to be. With gentle breezes, soft sands, and the waves lapping at your feet, it was the best place to be the calm our nerves down.

The expanse of the beach knew no bounds and the coastline was as far as the eyes could see. Indeed, a magnificent place to be.

Feel free to use this as a wallpaper XD

We camwhored somemore on the beach, role-played as Tom Hanks in Castaway and did some stupid scene out of a Bollywood movie. Lol. I could still remember the time we caught crabs for a free taxi ride back to the hotel. Priceless!

FYI, for the record, (you know who you are) gave me permission to upload this ya?

At the end of our trip to Mukah, we were rewarded with Ryner snagging 2nd place for Public Speaking. Unsurprisingly, champions for both debates and public speaking went to Miri. (I smell something fishy here. Conspiracies, I tell you!)


All in all, it was a rewarding experience for all of us and more importantly, I will forever cherish it as a memory of the times well-spent together with the best of friends. Along the way, I've somewhat discovered and understood myself a little better.

With that, I would like to dedicate this entry to Cikgu Anita, Cikgu Low and Cikgu Theresa for always being there for us, for giving us this opportunity, and most of all, for realizing the impossible.

Thank you so much, teachers! God bless!