My week so far

Taken after my birthday dinner in Marche, The Curve.

I just thought it was a really pretty sight, among all the chaos that surrounded it. The ambience felt very Italian, aside from the Big Apple shop in the background, which just ruins the picture.

I'm trying really hard to find time to blog, but A-Levels are so near, that it feels guilty to even be online, let alone spare half an hour here. I'm trying to juggle between being a student, person, and blogger, but at most times, and with how hectic life in KY can be, I'm usually only allowed to fit into two of those categories at any one moment.

Besides, I really have nothing to talk about nowadays.

Pathetic.

I haven't actually deactivated my Fb account, because I am that lacking of self-discipline. At least the FB app on my phone is gone, so that's a step, albeit a REALLY small one. *pats shoulders

I find myself fiddling around with my phone at a constant rate when I'm bored in my chalet room, and every time Twitter becomes boring( highly unlikely), I move on to FB, just to find out it's not there anymore. and every time that happens, I keep telling myself, "Light at the end of the tunnel, light at the end of the tunnel"

The hardship I go through just to study. Hahaha.

*Moves on to 9gag*

18 --> 19

Just spending a late evening in the chalet in front of the laptop trying to carve out a blog post worthy of the final day of me being 18.

Damn, Kenny Sia has his work cut out for him every time his birthday comes along. I was thinking of, maybe, i could list down 18 amazing things I've done when I was 18, but I can hardly even note down 4, let alone any double figures. And I thought that would be a bit too cliche and imitation is not always the best form of flattery, when it comes to anything and everything, social networking.

So, let's see how shall I mark the end of a momentous year- And, it has been such a great year- and turn 19 with a bang?I guess I'll just bore you by listing down from A-Z of how *today went.

*Today- The last day of my childhood. LOL just kidding. I'm always a child at heart.

6.50-Woke up feeling really great, thanks to the amazing sleep I had the night before, and God's awesomness for letting rain pour down in KYUEM, making it 150% more conducive to sleep. Ate breakfast. Feeling blessed.

8.30- Maths class. Felt really productive, and actually started doing voluntary maths exercise( That's just pretty spectacularly amazing, for my standards) Got back a Maths paper, which wasn't really up to par, but at that time, there were so many limitations so I couldn't really perform well for it, so be gone with that. At least I'm persevering.

3.00- Had a Chemistry class. Did a few experiments. Carried out a test to create an Ester. And found out that it was an Ester for Root beer. The entire class was just so happy and child-like. :)

4.15-6.00- Had a brief meeting with Pn. Su, whom we all haven't met for quite some time. She gave us really good advice, and reminds all of us about our goals and aspirations. After it ended, I felt so determined to work even harder than I am doing now, and to always keep myself on the right path, with the perfect balance.

Motivation: Restored

Level: Asian

(I'm going to deactivate my Facebook a few days after I turn 19, because I think the minutes hours I spend on it can be more beneficial if I read my books. Don't worry, only for the time being; Just until I complete my AS Level examinations.)

You see, this is just a day in my life, be it here in KYUEM, or at home, or anywhere else I may be. No, I don't always have good days, heck, I have had some rough patches along the way, but if you can try and disregard a bad day as an excuse to have a miserable life, then you'll always be happy.

And that's what I try to do. And more often than not, it has helped me to be a better person. Less negativity, less of all that toxic energy. And now that I just have a few more hours before I start living my last year as a teenager, I believe it's safe to say that I can sum up the entire of last year in just one word:

..To have a god that I can still look up to in times of need and despair

..To have a great family which is my primary support system and want nothing but the best for me.

.. To be a part of a scholarship program that has allowed me to achieve dreams, in more ways than one.

..To still remain close with old kindergarten and high school friends, and able to make new and lasting ones.

..To actually believe I can reach anything I set my mind to.

And the list goes on and on, because life, as we know it, is a bundle of blessed opportunities. And I plan to make the most of my year as a 19 year old( Wow, that sounds really weird and awfully old haha).

But for now, there's exactly about 2 more hours to go, But I'm going offline soon, since god knows, the Chemistry and Physics home works aren't going to solve their own questions. And I can't comprehend being scolded by my lecturers as an idea of a 'brand new beginning'. Heh.

I am turning 19 y'all :)

Alhamdulillah.

Clueless

If it was up to me, that would really be the best way to describe it, really. I don't see it as a curse that it's already the 2nd month of the year, but it is hardly something to be extremely joyful over. Figures, the AS exam( I'll spare you an explanation on that) is in May, which is frightening, and undoubtedly why I only blogged once in January. God hopes I see through that this trend ends. I'm on a long weekend break starting today, and will only be going back to college on Tuesday, so let's celebrate that whilst we're at it, huh? :)

College started about a month ago, and as the first week commenced, I found myself joining a Robotics competition organised by University of Bath, which if you know me well, is like an anorexic joining Mr. heavyweight, because I knew zilch about anything Robotics, mechanics etc. I never even really enjoyed Transformers, so what the heck was I doing there?

It was something different. And different is always good, right?

They gave a short briefing prior to the competition, and you should've seen my face. I felt so lost with all the programming that they so easily describe as if it was A, B, C for them. Worst part was, seeing my teammates so engrossed, and full of confidence that they knew A-Z what the Bath officials were explaining. What did I do? well, I can make a really mean " Oh, yes I totally understand every word you're saying" face, so I just played along. Hey, it worked! :D

There were about 7-10 teams( Sorry for the lack of pictures, I got caught up with the competition, obviously) and my team actually placed 2nd, which was quite unexpected, seeing how we only had 2 1/2 brains working for our team. :D But, my theory still remains that we could have gotten 1st place, if it wasn't for the slow reaction to the timer, hence losing by 1/10th off a second. But hey, you win some and you lose some.

You start to realize that we were all a bunch of nerd when the 1st place winners( who aptly named their team as Foord's Focus, obviously to suck up to my Physics teacher, Dr. Foord of course. mehehe) won a, get this..

..Voltmeter.

But, everyone else got a consolation prize, which I think was so much cooler.

But, I think the best part about joining the competition, was really realising, like an "aha!" moment, how much this field in engineering is not what I'm meant to do. I had a blast entering the competition( Watching my teammate fall on the robotics track made my day instantly) but I can't see myself doing this for my entire lifetime. I'm now more certain than I've ever before with what I'm meant to do. But i will never settle.

".. But it is possible that you dislike a thing that is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you.But Allah knows, and you know not." (Al-baqarah 2:16)

The way I see it

Looking back 2011, it was an extremely busy year from start to end, with defining moments in every month, so it really doesn't come as a shock to me seeing how fast 2011 went by and that it's already the 4th day of 2012( Happy New Year,folks!) the idea was to, like everyone else, write a long blog post about the things I did in 2012, be it great, mehh, or bad. That is, with several pictures. But obviously, I never managed to get to it by midnight. And this is not to diss anyone in particular by saying that,since i would've loved to have done it in time, but procrastination got the best of me, and I missed that moment.

Stop procrastinating(as much): Because what is life without enjoying a tad bit of doing nothing?

But I have since realised that getting attached to a material thing i.e., a moment, is not healthy . I read an article once which read something along the line of," If our inner state is dependent on something which is constantly changing and temporary, our inner state will be in a constant state of instability". So, i will try not to fret about petty things more, and know that it'll bring me more good than harm.

That said, I don't see any harm in listing down some amazing things that went down in the past year :)

1. Got chosen for PLKN. Wasn't ecstatic about it, but now feels that it was an amazing 2 1/2 month stay doing things other people wouldn't get the chance too. ( Come on, who honestly knows how to juggle? I do! I do!
2. Celebrated my birthday in PLKN, and family and friends were there to liven the entire day.
3. In March, got my SPM results, and Alhamdulillah, 10A+. "Extremely happy" wasn't even close to describe how thankful I felt.
4. Between SPM results and college, did a lot of running around to different interviews at different venues, which at one point, mum and I, we both just laughed at how much work is being put into all this-Early July, I got a scholarship.
5. College, such a different phase of my life. I was never very consistent with my work in high school, but everything changed drastically-too drastically, perhaps- when I entered college. Slowly getting the hang of it, but it'll take some time.

2011 was a blessed year.

I notice this trend among a few bloggers, including me, where the annual number of blog posts climaxes in the second year and starts decreasing. I have no explanation whatsoever for that, but you know what, I have had this blog for quite a while and I'm not giving up on it anytime soon. So, cheers to 2012 and a more blog-worthy year!

Trip to Cameron Highlands!

College holidays are just different from high school ones. I have no idea why, though. It's already the last week of December, which means I'm 4 weeks into my semester holidays, but some good-for-nothing individual had to state the obvious i.e.,Good things never last. But in exactly 2 weeks I'll be starting college, which I have come to love, so hah, I win. Still, I've been spending way too much time during the holidays with a constant nagging feeling that I'm going to fail if i don't consistently stare at my books 24/7. Which kind of sucks, since that defeats the purpose of any holiday.

So, yes, one week before 2011 ends. So, I'm going to try and lose some blogging baggage, because I have a few things lined up for next year, and that I can't wait to try it out without having any old drafts to look into.

Like i mentioned in my previous post, I had such a busy week in college before the holiday even started, because KYUEM became the host for a leadership program, where a group of 16-18 year old teenagers from UK came to stay in the college's compound. I was one of the lucky few who got to experience and travel around a few places in Malaysia with them.

Pfft I made that sound as if I got to travel to Mt. Kinabalu.

We headed towards Cameron Highland first thing in the morning, and let me tell you, in this context, it really was the destination that mattered, and not the journey. If you have ever gone up the winding roads towards Cameron Highlands, you will definitely understand. At the risk of painting a gross picture in your mind, it's safe to say that some of us(excluding me, thank god) got a bit sick while on the bus.

All was well when we got off :) But Cameron Highlands is quite a bore if you go alone, so most of the time up there was spent fooling around. Haha.

A machine which helps in producing tea, for all you city folks.

Although the UK delegates arrived on Friday the week before, I never really had a chance to meet them because I was away for the weekend. So, it really was a bit difficult to mingle and start a conversation, especially when they are all generally very shy too! But a few of the senior delegates who came last year and happened to tag along this year, were more open to trying new things, especially food.

This, as a Malaysian, is our specialty. You can never go wrong with Malaysian food, I swear. Even in Cameron Highlands where truly authentic Malaysian cuisine is almost non-existent.

For every few miles, we would spot a stall which sells steamed sweet potatoes, which isn't really a Malaysian food per se( Our ancestors survived on potatoes back during the Japanese invasion, so that counts for something!). Anyway, the UK delegates haven't really tried it before, and they enjoyed it! :D

One of the weird things I found out about UK was, the ratio of citizens who drink and favour tea in the UK( which is a large amount),

to the number of tea plantations that UK actually has, which according to them, is really not that common.

Like I said, we fooled around on the slopes, and took so many photos, it looked as if we were the foreigners! -__-" Dahlah budak budak KYUEM, macam tak pernah nampak hutan, pfft since we practically live in a forest.

MashaAllah, this picture really shows the beauty of nature. The wind was so strong and calming, albeit not as cooling as before. I remembered the first thing I thought of when I saw the scenery above was, " damn, this would make a good place to study!" Serious nerd, I tell you.

By evening, we headed back to college. The ride down was smoother, and enjoyable, partly because everyone was sleeping! I was dead tired by the time we reached college, which was about 8.00 p.m, and though i try to make it a point to go for every event the college organises, I really was too exhausted to even contemplate going for the Christmas celebration that night.

Yes, my college had a Christmas celebration,

in November.