I Should Be Sued

I should be sued for multiple counts of:

1. Laziness and Procrastination.

What kind of blogger promises updates when he is MOST FREE during the LEAST BUSIEST time of the year and yet never delivers them?

What kind of blogger gives his faithful readers false hope only to have those hopes crushed when the readers least expect it?

Oh my, I believe I should be the witch of an angry village mob's witch hunt to be burned at the stake for my heinous deeds.

2. Child abuse

Contrary to popular beliefs, I do indeed, treat this blog of mine as I would my child. The only problem is, if this blog is indeed my child, my child would have already been carted away by Child Services on account of my ignoring his basic civil rights.

With the metaphorical expressions aside, I've been neglecting this blog for WAYY too long, long enough to brand me a child/blog abuser.

AND..........

3. Plagiarism

As keen eyes might notice, this little section here is a passage stolen completely from Bryan K's latest blog post and used WITHOUT his permission. *Evil laughs*

This BLOG is not DEAD yet.

Sorry about the slow posts lately. Want to use time in KUCHING to the utmost fullest, or rather I've been busy with gaming/lepaking lately.

I reassure you I will continue updating as soon as patience and ideas come. Well, that’s all for now, I’ll just leave a little something to tell you gu

ys what I was and will be SO busy about =)

Epic Awesomeness to the EXTREME!!! Worth every single penny of its RM 200 price tag

Tougher foes + plentiful more infected + bigger guns = BETTER zombie apocalypse

Oh yeah, not forgetting the myriads of movies I've watched as well. So far, James Cameron's Avatar clearly outshone the rest and I'd give anything to go watch it over and over again.

So awesome is this movie, that it deserves a brand new adjective to describe it: "Avatar-gasm" or "Arrr-gasm"

Good Times. Greater Times.

I'm finally back here, slouching off in the humble abode of my domicile, in Kuching. What better way to spend the free time I have now if not a long-overdue update on this pitiful blog of mine.

Well, here goes...

~*~

It's been a great run, y'all.

4 months at Intec and it was already the end of the Fall semester.

~Time flies but where does it go?~

Hence, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my great friends and lecturers who have made life in Intec here so much more bearable on a daily basis.

Lord knows if it wasn't for you guys and gals out there, I doubt Intec would be like what it is today.

Taking a trip down memory lane, I found that I've really been up to a lot of things here in college.

And I think it's only right I share them all with my readers out there..

To begin, I finally visited the National Zoo.

"les' tre maximus glutinus": mammals that fall under the 'frat boy' kingdom

A place that defined my childhood dreams; a place I forgotten 10 years ago; a place I left behind with my passing into adulthood. It was good to be back (although William's constant oogling at the animals' superior reproductive organs did ruin the magical moment somewhat)

Another trip worth mentioning was my little day out to Ampang to feast on what is perhaps the most scrumptious and orgasmic delicacies that West Malaysia has to offer:

Ampang Chicken Rice........

.....and Ampang Yong Tou Foo

So, what was my verdict on these two dishes?

Both dishes were mouthfuls after mouthfuls of pure awesome, endless tastebuds orgasms, and quite frankly, the best I've eaten in my whole entire LIFE! Seriously.

Even Singaporeans (yes, the mighty Singaporeans) flock down to Ampang to sample these two god-sent dishes from heaven. If that isn't telling you all of how delicious those two dishes are, you seriously need to come down to Ampang to taste these dishes firsthand!

Kudos to Chi Liang and his family for letting me stay over and sample such awesome delicacies!

However, Ampang dishes were just some of the many other Peninsula delicacies that my tastebuds had the privilege to savour.

Orgasmic, I tell ya! Thanks to Mr. Kamal for inviting us over for his Hari Raya celebrations!

With my food escapades aside, college also saw witness to many personal milestones that marked my never-ending intellectual pursuits.

Being the only winner in 2 categories in the Language Awareness Night was also a first for me; safe to say, it was an achievement that I was real proud of. The fact that I managed to beat a handful of talented individuals from all over Malaysia vying for the same prize made this victory all the more sweet.

Of course, the one event that really trumped all others in college was the DigiMusic All-American Rejects Concert FTW!

Being a first-timer to a concert of any sorts, I was a total newb/noob at concert-going. Thank goodness my friends were there to help me survive the mosh-pit.

Arriving late for the concert, rowdy crowds and standing in line for an agonizing 2 hours do not make for a memorable experience.

However, when the All American Rejects graced the stage, it made the whole entire night all that worth the free ticket and 6 hours of non-stop standing.

Sorry for the pic quality. I was standing rather far from the stage.

Performing hits after hits from their albums past and present, the atmosphere was electric, crowds screamed out their approval and everyone was having a hella' good time with their songs.

Even I found myself out of breath and out of voice after the night was done and through. Note to self: Don't ever, EVER sing along with the crowd for 2 friggin' hours straight.

Screw that. I'm a slow learner~~~

Best part of the concert was, we got stranded in KL Central after the concert. With no where else to go, we toughed it out like real MEN and crashed for the night in McDonalds where the smell of Big Macs and Apple Pies flitted in and out of my dreams.

Truth be told, I felt so college-like, pulling off crazy stunts like that.

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

...........

With all those happenings and life-changing experiences, I almost forgot to include in the most important moments that highlighted my stay in college!

One could call it my retard moments(read: camwhore instincts kicking in). Hence, the face.

Hmm....

Looking back, why was I even there at Intec? Seemed to me that college was only reducing what little amount of functioning brain cells I had left.

Lulz. I'll apologise later, Diane and Lyanna~~

At least I'm not alone.

=P

No Place Like Home

Well, there's not much to say.

I'M BACK!!!!

Back in Kuching, that is. Wow, I didn't realize just how much I missed home until I actually set foot in the airport.

It's good to be back.

Warm showers, comfortable beds, free laundry service, home-cooked meals, authentic Kuching hawker fare......

Sigh, nothing beats good ol' Kuching

So, guys and girls, if you're looking for a fun night in town, call me alright?? My cell no. is still the same.

I still haven't eaten kolo mee and laksa yet! First one to chia me eat gets a free cookie!!

=D

All-American. Rejects. EPIC WIN

I am very sure that everyone's well acquainted with who the All American Rejects are, right?

We know that they're a great band that produces great music that fans would love nothing more than to dance and sing along to.

With their unique twist on the alternative rock/ power pop genre of music, it's little surprise that they've managed to build such a strong fan base.

Spawning hit singles like Dirty Little Secret, Move Along, Gives You Hell to name a few, the All American Rejects are a joy to listen to.

However, what has that got to do with me?

Well, today is a very special day for me and a few others here in Cendana. Why, you ask?

Need I say more?

*Fangirl squeals*

Dead To The World....

Seriously, I really need to start updating my blog again. College life has really kept me occupied.

Even without assignments to turn in on time and tests to cram for, I find it hard to update.......

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

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

No thanks to those cherubic pleas of my roommates that go:

"Please Nat, please kick our asses in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare PLEASE! We would love for you to pwn our butts in Cod4~~~"

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

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

......

How can I refuse right?

XD

Childhood Education (Campaign Project)

DISCLAIMER: The following blog post is merely intended as a credit fulfillment of our campaign project for our Oral Communications subject in Intec UiTM.

Therefore, this post will implement in no way the proposed solutions, nor should it be viewed upon as a medium to participate in the worldwide efforts to alleviate poverty and improve upon childhood education.

Again, this is simply as credit fulfillment for our Oral Communication subject but that does not lessen the gravity of the lack of childhood education in developing countries nor does it change the writers' sympathetic disposition towards this issue.

CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Education is a basic human right that all people, regardless of age, ethnicities or race, should deserve to have.

This right has been set in stone since 1948 in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moreover, on an international basis, the United Nations' International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 guarantees this right under its Article 13.

In particular, children are entitled to this right as education not only provides a brighter future for them but also shapes them to be future leaders of the world.

However, this is not the case in many parts of the world. According to figures obtained by UNESCO in 2005-2006:

1. 75 MILLION children are not in school even when they ought to be
2. 90 MILLION MORE do not even have basic access to education in the places they reside

Therefore, it can be clearly seen that something must be done about these numbers to allow children access to the education that they are so rightly entitled to.

Why?

Well, did you know that:

1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child states that 'education' is a RIGHT for a child?
2. Nearly A BILLION PEOPLE entered the 21st century UNABLE TO READ A BOOK or SIGN THEIR NAMES as they were deprived of education as a child?
3. In the United States alone, 50% OF THE UNEMPLOYED between the ages 16 to 21 cannot read well enough TO BE CONSIDERED FUNCTIONALLY LITERATE thanks to their deprivation of education as a child?
4. A SINGLE YEAR OF PRIMARY SCHOOL can increase the wages people earn later in life by 5-15% for boys and girls?
5. A child born to a literate mother is 50% MORE LIKELY to survive past the age of 5 years old?
6. SEVEN MILLION cases of HIV/AIDS can be PREVENTED in the next decade if every child in the world received education?
7. Education is the MOST EFFECTIVE steps to ERADICATE POVERTY?

Hence, it is of vital importance that education be made available to all children for the mutual benefit of both the children and the communities that they reside in.

This would mean:

1. Improvements in the standards of living, both socially and economically
2. A longer life expectancy for the children
3. The eradication of poverty in afflicted countries
4. Overall improvements in the quality of life in developing countries.

As we are only college-level students, there is not much that we can do to aid these afore-mentioned children. Even the best that we can do is to just raise awareness concerning this issue of child education and propose ways as well as suggestions for the general public to pitch in and help alleviate these children's plight.

Amongst the ways that we can help are:

1. Helping to raise awareness concerning this issue in order to grab the attention of a much larger audience
2. Charitable donations to well-established organizations that advocate this cause such as EFA (Education For All) and NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development)
3. Carry out activities during the World Day (charity sales, concerts) with the proceeds going to the World Education Funds.
4. Asking for donations from the general public in the form of old books, stationery, etc.
5. Asking the general public to sign a memorandum and send it to the UN as a sign of Malaysians' undying support of free and compulsory education to push the UN into taking actions.
6. Encouraging more people to join a special group of dedicated supporters (World Education's Global Support Network) who invest monthly in the education of the underprivileged.

It is only right that we, the more fortunate, help and provide aid to these underprivileged children.

Hope. Educate. Love. Protect

The Idiot's Guide to Surviving College Life

Well, with the holidays finally here, coupled with the fact that I and a few others are left 4 dead here in Kolej Cendana to face off the unrelenting hordes of zombehs trying to chew our brains out, I finally have the TIME to BLOG!

Oh, joy is me! =D

Finally, a time to schedule meaningful and not-so-random blog posts for my readers to read and enjoy!

Well, I think that this post would detail the particulars of what most of the readers here are anxiously waiting for: Nat's evil plan to dominate and rule the wor I mean, his getting through life in college.

For starters, I think it's best to acquaint my readers to the place which I call home for the following year or so.

So, this is Cendana College. An all-boys only college dormitories. Yeah, only god knows how I'm going to get through the year without turning gay.


Anyhoo, the college is located in Section 6 of Shah Alam and it has quite a decent locality (as in, not being in the middle of a jungle or anything, durh)

There are convenience stores nearby, a laundromat and varied enough a place to get food (so that you don't eat the same damn thing day after day).

Further down the main street of Section 6 will be an 4-way junction. Here you can find a Petronas, a 7-Eleven and the rows of convenience shop on each quadrant of the junction.

Things here are a wee bit expensive. But the Big Gulps are so totally worth it...

Ah, the row of shops which houses the convenience stores, the laundromat and the ever-infamous Dawood

A place to withdraw cash. 'Nuff said

At said junction, if you take a left down to where 7-Eleven is and walk further behind it, you will soon come to a row of mamak stalls* (or Mak Indon/RM 3.50/RM2.70 stores as we call it)

Not too hygienic, but at least they cook hot food...

They normally serve nasi campur or prepare hot cooked foods depending on the time of the day. Usually it's nasi campur during lunch and hot cooked meals during dinner.

The first night I ate here, I was puking my stomach all over the place in 5 mins. Don't get me wrong though, I couldn't stomach the masak merah and kangkong belacan.

XD XD

*But during Ramadhan (fasting month) they only open for dinner, so we poor students of Cendana can only resort to Maggi mee or the nearby (as in, 15 mins walk away) KFC and McDonalds for lunch.

Oh yeah, there's usually a pasar malam held at the local marketplace on Tuesdays and Fridays. But to call it a pasar malam is an overstatement. It opens at 5 and closes by 8. Some pasar MALAM, aye?


However, it's usually a god-sent salvation for us college kids. There's a lot of things to see, eat and buy at the pasar malam.


There's fried mee hoon, murtabak, nasi percik, lok-lok, kuih, kebabs, sandwiches, satays, you name it!

(And of course the ape cum stall as William so aptly describes it. Don't think dirty la. It's the stall selling those syrup drinks nia)



Okay, so that's enough about the locality of the place. Let's delve into the survival skills I employ to get me through a day in college alive, shall we?

Morning

So, my day usually begins at 6-6.30 in the every morning. (classes start at 8 am everyday, unlike some others...) While my fogged-up brain tries to orient itself to the waking world, I drag my sorry derriere out of bed.


While the rest of my roommates are rushing for the use of the bathrooms, I sit back and slowly enjoy my breakfast.



I usually get business done in the toilet beforehand and when I exit, everyone's already done with the bathroom so I take my time to bathe.

By the time I get down to the road outside to join in the queue for the buses, it's already 7.20 am. So I take my time to get onto the bus and doze off during the 15 minutes journey it takes to get from Cendana, Section 6 to the Intec campus at Section 17.


Since I'm the class representative (read: scape goat) of Boston, I head on down to the Office of Student Services and Placement (OSSP) to collect the attendance book before making my way up to class.

Boston-ians. "You can't touch this"

Once in class, I set my mind to auto-pilot, pay attention to lecturers*, take down notes and basically just cruise through lessons, eagerly awaiting lunch-time.

*Lecturers in the American Program are well, let's say, out-of-the-ordinary. Keep an open mind, and I mean a really open mind, and one will find that the American Program is one heck of a crazy place.

Afternoon

At lunch, I have the choice of heading off to one of three cafeterias dotting the campus:

1.AUSMAT cafe (which serves expensive, average tasting nasi campur but the cafe's air-conditioned)

2. A-Levels cafe (which has tons of people queuing up for the fantastic and reasonable nasi campur but the place's HOT HOT HOT)

3. ADFP/ACTP cafe (which is newly opened and serving only a small variety of nasi campur. At least the price is reasonable and it is so much closer to our classrooms)

I usually boycott the AUSMAT cafe.

Don't know why. Don't ask. =P

So, I usually have lunch at the remaining two cafes on alternative days. But then, they still serve practically the same thing at differing prices.

If I don't have classes in the afternoon or am not required to sit for the god-forsaken, 4-hour long SAT exams, I would usually go to the library to look up information for my assignments, make use of the uber awesome Wi-fi there and develop frostbite later on.

OR

I would take the next bus out of Intec to go back to either Cemara/Akasia colleges -for grocery shopping and the occasional ogling at girls- or Cendana for a well-deserved afternoon nap*.

*One can only resort to this recreational activity if one is sure there are no assignments to be completed. Or else, you're screwed.

Evening

After a good game of basketball, it's already dinner time! I would almost always head on down to Mak Indon for the nasi campur or Dawood (nasi pattaya and the teh tarik are a must try!) if I craved for some freshly-cooked food.

If it's Tuesday or Fridays, I would head on down to the pasar malam for nasi percik, satay and of course, the uber-delicious ape cum!!





Oh yeah, there's also a food van that opens daily from 6 pm to 9 pm serving dinner. Usually for those who are too lazy to walk out to get their dinner. Prices there are reasonable, I guess.

After stuffing my face full with dinner, I head back to my dorms and in the time before I prepare for bed-time, I spend it completing assignments or having late-night gaming sprees with William and the rest.

If I'm not gaming, you would see me busy doing laundry. It's during laundry that I decide to revert back to the olden ways.

Washing machines?

Hell naw........

Laundry services?

Puh-lease.....

Nothing beats the wonders of hand-washed laundry!


After getting down and dirty with the clothes, I finally take an evening bath and retire to bed. Only to face the same routine all over again tomorrow.

Sigh....

Weekends

I believe the chronicling of the sheenanigans I get up to on the weekends deserves another blog post on its own, no?

Till then, expect more updates soon.

=D