TEARS OF POLARIS

Maybank Malaysia Open 2012 - Review

2012-01-18T00:54:00.001+08:00

Coming Soon.

Maybank Malaysia Open 2012 - Part 3

2012-01-17T23:50:00.000+08:00

[Two-in-one entry: January 14 and 15]

Saturday, January 14, 2012
Semi-finals day was, unlike usual years, as long as a horrifying 11 hours! From 10am to 11pm, as ten matches were all scheduled to play on one court only, one after the other.

Cho Gun Woo and Shin Baek Cheol won Chai Biao and Guo Zhendong in the semis. During their game, Lee Yong Dae was sitting at the front row of the players' seats, closest to the court. I caught him shouting tips to his friends when they were playing on the side nearer to the seats. Kinda sneaky the way Shin Baek Cheol walked towards the back of the court to hear what Yong Dae was saying, in the midst of the thundering cheer from the audience.

Visit badzine.net to read more.

Basically, the fact that I saw Lee Yong Dae, and that Cho/Shin and Ha/Kim made it into the finals, made my day. I wasn't as tired that day, but since my favourite pairs and Tago Kenichi(following Chen Jin's withdrawal) made it past the semis, I couldn't be sure if it was because I saw Yong Dae that I was more energetic after work that day. Though I was, indeed, not too sleepy any more once I spotted him.

Creativity of an Indonesian supporter.

Sunday, January 15, 2012
Final's day. The people I supported all lost, and that's pretty much a turn-off, but my day wasn't too bad; fortunately.

I didn't really like the idea of humiliating Dato(Lee Chong Wei)'s opponent, publicly, to show support for the local hero. Before the matches started at 1pm, there were some performances and at some point, the guys were talking about Dato and his opponent. They said something like, "His opponent's a Japanese, right? What's his name, eh? Takeshi Kaneshiro? Or...Toga[instead of Tago]?"

Tago's known to be a huge fan of Taufik and he imitates almost everything about him.
Look at that Taufik-ish backhand :D

I know that was suppose to be a joke (was it?), but I didn't really like the idea. They spoke in Malay and I kinda felt that it's quite disrespectful because Tago doesn't understand the language. But oh well, just my thought.

Tago lost, anyway. But I did enjoy the game he had with Lee Chong Wei, despite the unfair line call. I like Taufik Hidayat's style, and I love the way Tago does backhand smashes the 'Taufik way'.

Final's article. Visit badzine.net for more.

Press conferences with champions Fang Chieh Min/Lee Sheng Mu and Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl was interesting. The feature interview with love birds and mixed doubles champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei was funny too (ESPN did a feature interview with them, based on how well Zhang Nan knows his girlfriend. They did various interesting interviews with several players. Should be on TV next month or in March)!

Bright smiles on the women's doubles champions' faces.

In short, final's day was good- just not perfect because my faves didn't win. After work for the last day, I went home, tired and hungry; but contented. And I began to miss the week right after I left the stadium. That was soon.

After saying all the goodbyes to the people who shared the week with me, and after the final's article was published on Badzine, my exciting + exhausting + happening week ended, officially; with lots of new memories and experiences.

Photos: Full credits to Yves Lacoix, Badmintonphoto.
[End of January 14th & 15th's entries]

The End.

Maybank Malaysia Open 2012 - Part 2

2012-01-17T23:33:00.000+08:00

Friday, January 13, 2012
Quarterfinals started at 5pm.

Visit badzine.net to read more.

On Friday(four years after the 'Lu Yi case' in 2008), I met another player off-court before I even saw him in action on-court. He's not that new. It's just that I hadn't been following badminton news much that I never knew him before this.

Kim Sa Rang of Korea. Played men's doubles with Kim Ki Jung(usual partner of Shin Baek Cheol) at this Malaysia Open. Kim/Kim were the ones who sent our Koo/Tan off as early as in round two, and he was going to play Hashimoto/Hirata in the quarters.

I met him before his game and he made a promise that I didn't really expect him to keep. I actually wanted to say 'You guys must win this', but I was so busy sending him off to get ready to go on court that I had forgotten to do so. In the end, Kim/Kim lost to the Japanese. And I was thinking if they could have won if I told him to win. ahaha. Well, maybe not.

Another interesting person I met on quarterfinal's day must be Chan Peng Soon(partners Goh Liu Ying in mixed doubles). They defeated some really good pairs and made it into the semis on Saturday. On Friday, they survived a crazy game against a Singaporean pair, where the rubber set ended in 27-25! I liked the way they exclaimed in joy when they entered the backstage. "Wahlau-A!" That was so Malaysian. :D

Chan Peng Soon. Pretty good looking I'd say.
Maybe not very Junho-ish but he sure looks like someone to me.

As for Lee Yong Dae, he and Ha Jung Eun didn't survive the match against China's Xu Chen/Ma Jin. Sad to say, as well, I hadn't met him that day.

When they lost to the Chinese, I was sitting in the stadium, working on my article. But I didn't notice when they got defeated and retreated backstage! When a journalist friend from China Press came and told me about it, he said, "Eh, your Mr Lee is leaving. Go stop him before he leaves! Like in Winter Sonata. Grab him and say, 'Don't go..!' "

Crazy, but I did leave my seat to go see him, so maybe I can get him to say something about the defeat. I never really ran that fast the whole week, until then. It totally felt like my version of Winter Sonata as I was hurrying down to stop him before he leaves. Too bad, he was no where to be seen when I arrived backstage.

So in other words, I didn't see him the whole day on Friday.

Jan O lost to Chen Jin, but was still very nice after that. :)
Photo credit: Yves Lacroix for Badmintonphoto.

When I got home, close to midnight, I was so drained. Someone said it's because I didn't see Lee Yong Dae the whole day. But I thought it's probably because most of my favourite people lost that day.

And it was Friday the 13th. I didn't notice until someone mentioned.

[End of January 13th's entry]

...To Be Continued

Maybank Malaysia Open 2012 - Part 1

2012-01-17T21:01:00.002+08:00

Badminton Malaysia Open this year was sponsored by Maybank - instead of Proton the past years - though I should mention as well, it was presented by Proton. So the name- Maybank Malaysia Open presented by Proton.

The bluish-ness of Proton and yellowish-ness of Maybank.

10 - 15 January 2012. It was a great week! ..though, really tiring. But also because of the tiredness, I realised Yong Dae was actually my source of energy. *cough**blush*

Went to Bukit Jalil Putra Stadium on Tuesday, the 10th, to collect my pass and stayed around for awhile to check out the qualifying rounds a bit. On Wednesday, I skipped it for classes. I started reporting on Tuesday, but Thursday was more like the real start to it.

Thursday, January 12, 2012
Early in the day, I had a funny and interesting little encounter with my beloved same-birthday guy YD; and that totally jump-started my day. At the press conference with Peter Gade(lost to Tago Kenichi) and Jan O Jorgensen(beat Lin Dan), I was really touched. First by Peter's love for Malaysia, then by Jan O's comeback after the great downfall end of last year.

Out of four courts on Thursday,
Yong Dae's match was played right in front of my place!

I was somewhat pleased, because I called for an upset in the match between Jan O and Lin Dan. Not many people agreed with me, but it happened - Jan O defeated Lin Dan. I don't care about the possible presence of reasons behind (like those pro-Chinese or anti-Chinese fans would say. I'm neutral, anyway), I just felt lucky enough to have 'ordered' for our photographer to shoot pictures of that match.

As for Peter Gade's loss to Kenichi Tago, I was on Peter's side, though I like Tago, because it was Peter's last Malaysia Open before his retirement, and he loves Malaysia. So of course I hoped he'll stay longer.

As Tago was leading, I had mixed emotions (LIKE TOTALLY). Tago winning means I'll be happy because one of my favourites won, and it'll make a good feature story. But Peter losing means I'll be sad because I like Peter too, and he'll be really disappointed to have to leave so soon.

Visit badzine.net to read them
and other reports on the Malaysia Open 2012.

So in a way, Peter Gade and Jan O saved my day; by giving me interesting stories to write. And as always, press conferences with this two Danish men are awesome. :)

The day ended well for me, and I got home at midnight. The last meal I had was lunch, at noon, and a piece of bread while rushing on the article in the stadium. So prior to leaving the stadium, I bought Ramly burger- for dinner at midnight.

Before going to bed, I dropped a message to Peter Gade:

He was already on his way back to Denmark, and as expected, was pretty much affected by the defeat. But I know he'll get back up because like he said, he's gone through it so many times and he knows how to get out of it.

I'll remember Peter Gade. One of the friendliest players I know. A great man, and a very loving father, I'm sure. Also, one of the oldest top players in the world. Very respectable.

[End of January 12th's entry]

...To Be Continued

I'm Still Alive

2012-01-16T16:26:00.000+08:00

I hope I didn't give an impression that I was going to abandon this blog. Since the start of the new year, I've been really busy and just yesterday, the Badminton Malaysia Open 2012 just ended, so now I at least have some time.

I will update soon (hopefully not too long later) about the exciting week, and I'll also, still continue updating about my trip to South Korea last month (I know it's been a month and I've only updated two entries on that).

I'll be back. Promise. Just stay tuned ;)

Thank you ♥

Thank You 2011.

2011-12-31T18:26:00.000+08:00

Here we are again, at the last day of the year. 2011 seem to be quite invisible to me.

The New Year countdown last year is still vivid in my memory and everything within these two ends rushed by so quickly that they all seem so blur. Maybe it's just me, because 2011's been a really different year for me, personally.

'Thank You 2011'? Guess I've grown to be more thankful :D

Last year, I said it was a year of struggles to find out who I really am and what I really want to do in the future. I guess I ended the year without an answer and continued to seek for it this year. This year, it was a year full of reflections where I began to redefine LIFE; how I see it and how I want to live it now on.

To make things easy, I'll stick with the same old idea of listing the memorable events I've had this year. (Note: Events in blue are linked to their respective entries. Do click on the event names if you'd like to read back on them)

Starting 2011- Countdown at Sungei Wang. This was recorded in the ending post last year, but seeing it's a beginning of the new year, it should be listed here as well. That was the first countdown event I've ever participated in. The artists from our company were splendid! Thank you Tank and Power Station. They are the first guys I spoke to in 2011.

It's been great throughout our stay at KL and it was a great memory sitting by the glass window at midnight watching the lights of the KL Towers going off. This event was a great start for 2011, and perhaps also the main reason I couldn't feel the advancing into the new year- because I had to work! Though work was really fun with the people. :)

Media Night at RedBox Karaoke. My first Karaoke night in 2011. It was great to get to sing and eat and drink all the good stuff without having to pay even a bit. There was an award giving ceremony too, and our artists won some trophies which were then received and brought back(to the office) by us.

Media Night experience. Check.

End of Internship at H.I.M Music. Getting into a music label for internship was probably like a dream come true. Apart from all that I've gained and lost at college, the internship was perhaps the main dish of all. Thank you so much, to my bosses, supervisor, colleagues and friends(including the artists). You guys totally opened a new world to me.

Korean Language Course. Finally my dream of learning a fourth national language came true in February this year. Many have asked why I picked Korean over Japanese, which has always been the hot pick of a new language. Well, Japanese was actually what I had in mind when I started dreaming of a fourth national language in secondary school. But after visiting South Korea in 2007, I noticed that I was then already able to read in their language(but of course I couldn't understand what I can read), and so I thought it might be easier for me to start things off with it.

Also, probably it's because of the success of Korean athletes in badminton that I decided to learn it first. Generally Japanese is probably the hot choice, but in badminton, though Japanese is hot as well, Korean is the trend. aha Okay maybe I'm being a little bias here.

Learning Korean has also drawn my attention to the entertainment industry in S.Korea. Unlike most people who learn the language, I'm not a fan of Kpop, and have only started to know them after learning their language. Instead of Kdramas, also, I'm more to variety shows. Why saying this? Because I still don't like to be stereotyped as a the type who "learn Korean language because they are die-hard Kpop fans". ;)

Getting Published. It's one of my dream to be a published writer. On a book, I mean. This year my articles were published. Yeah not my book, and it's nothing big, but I guess it's a first step? During internship my news reports were put on newspapers/magazines, and after that an article I did on suicides was published on the papers under my name. And I was paid.

Why don't I feel proud? Probably it really wasn't anyhing big, like I said. But it was an experience nonetheless. :)

Helping Japan Tsunami victims. That was the first time I can recall that I ever had a feeling so intense to do a part in helping the victims. Was it because of my feelings for Japan after the visit in September 2010, or that I've grown to be more sensitive and kind-hearted? ;D Either way, it was BANG! So touching to know the warmth I sent were spreading in Japan to the people who need them. I was so proud of myself.

Badminton Malaysia Open 2011. I was absent due to internship, but this had to be on the list. Malaysia Open 2011 was the first year(since 2008) without me running around the stadium.

Yong Dae's Olympic gold medal partner Lee Hyo Jung got married on October 29. ♥

Chinese Badminton League 2011. My first national event after writing for international ones. Thing is, it's Chinese national, not Malaysian national. It lasted a whole two months, and there were all Chinese players, lots of young ones I've never even heard of. It was the first year China League recruited foreign players to play for their clubs, so it being my first time writing for CBL, was also special in a way. New format, new players, new experience. Nothing but perfect.

Sudirman Cup 2011. I started to notice the fate I had with China this year. Chinese League was obviously in China and Sudirman Cup 2011 was held in China's Qingdao. Writing for major events has always been exciting, and havocking. The week was killing, but I loved it. By then I was already calling myself a 'team event specialist' because the events I've covered in a row were- Thomas & Uber Cups 2010, Chinese Badminton League and Sudirman Cup 2011. They were all team events. Thanks to the experience gained at TUC last year, CBL and Sudirman turned out fine. :)

...and my articles were the most popular ones of the week :)

P.S: Sudirman Cup 2013 is scheduled to be held in Malaysia. I'm looking forward alright! :D

Solibad Day 2011. A world record and history. We all did it around the world, and I made it happen in Malaysia. That was possibly the greatest event I made real with my ~~own~~ hands thus far. Thank you Rexy, thank you Koo Kien Keat, thank you my boss Raph. Thank you everyone.

Goodbye teens. I turned 20, but am still young ;D

Badminton China Masters 2011. In Changzhou. China sure loves me this year. It's my first event after turning 20, as well as my first individual event after more than a year of team event writing. That was the best, because after our 23rd and 20th birthdays, Yong Dae won gold that week and I reported his victory. September 11 babies ruled China Masters 2011.

Not forgetting, it was Koo and Tan's birthday on the finals day, but Yong Dae and Jae Sung defeated them early enough for them to not get their birthday presents. :P

Badminton World Championship 2011 Draw Ceremony. My first live badminton draw. It was at the hotel I became familiar with after spending days there with Tank and Power Station for the New Year countdown.

College Graduation. I'm officially a Diploma holder. Since August 2011. I scored A for my internship report, and another A for my Thesis on Press Freedom. Perfect end to my dramatic college days.

Helping Thailand Flood Victims. Second warmth sent out this year. The flood was so bad I got so worried because Thailand's one of the places I've yet to visit and also because I was concerned about ~~my friends~~ the people I like in Thailand. Su su Thailand(Go, Thailand)!

Fifth Year Anniversary at Badzine. After being spotted and recruited into the team at 15 in 2006, I had my fifth year anniversary as part of Badzine on November 26th. Oh how much I've learnt, grown, experienced and known. All my love and gratitude for the whole team especially my bosses, editors and colleagues I've been working with closely. xoxo♥

Visiting Korea for the second time. I'm still in the process of updating my travelling diary. Everything will be recorded in their special entries so I guess I should cut this part short. One thing is, I still love it the same and I'm still missing everything there right now! :s

Lover-less at the very romantic Nami Island, South Korea.

So, 2011's been good on me. It ended with lots of events to be remembered and went by without being too much of a tough year. 2011, thank you for being with me for the one and only time in my life. Thank you.

I have no new year resolutions because for me, they'll all vanish into thin air once I've revealed them. So we'll wait until I've achieved something before we do the talking. ;)

Happy New Year. May 2012 be a blessed year. Stay happy and healthy! ♥ ♥ ♥

P.S
How's 2011 been to you? Your turn to share your 2011 stories^^.
And thank you for making it all the way here with this looooooong entry.
I talk too much. But it's the final entry, after all. :D

South Korea`11: Day 2

2011-12-18T22:10:00.000+08:00

We went to Mt. Sorak National Park today. We've been there in 2007, but this year the scenery was different. Back then, the weather wasn't this cold and there weren't much sign of snow. This time around, there was snow everywhere. The ground was covered with a thick layer of snow and patches of ice. It sure was a different experience.

Awesome memory I have for recognising the exact spot I took photo in 2007.

There's a huge Buddha statue in the park, and an underground temple or sort. Four years back, our tour guide from Hong Kong brought us into the underground temple. Mum liked it and this time she even prepared photos of the Buddha statue we captured then, in hope of giving them to the monks we met back then.

However, this time we weren't allowed in. Since it's underground, I'm not sure if the temple is no longer in use or that they no longer allow tourists in to look. Either way, it was great to see the huge Buddha again. :)

We also went to a seafood market this morning. For me personally, it was interesting as I finally got to experience going to seafood markets in Korea. I've always seen their markets on TV in the variety shows I watched (mostly on 'Family Outing'), and it looked kinda fun though I never liked wet markets in Malaysia.

Buddha in the snow.

Today it was indeed kinda fun, but I'd say if this market existed in Malaysia, I wouldn't think it's nice. Probably it's because of the weather. To me, it seems winter makes everything fun. :D

Oh, and sorry guys, I guess I was too indulged in the 'seaside market atmosphere' that I forgot to snap photos of the place. But I must say there sure were lots of fishes I've never seen in Malaysia (except that I've seen some of them on the show I mentioned earlier).

It's our ski day at South Korea's largest ski resort, Yong Pyeong Resort today. Last time it snowed while we were skiing at Oak Valley. Too bad it didn't snow today.

Bro in action.

After my not-so-good skiing experience in 2007, I decided not to ski this time(about the bad experience, it wasn't anything horrible; it's just that my legs hurt due to an old injury). But I went down to help out in guiding the other family a bit with their first time skiing. Thank God for last time we met a tour guide who can ski and had taught us some basics of skiing.

Today, teaching the other family how to ski made me think of Walter(our tour guide in 2007) again and dang, I miss him. ~~Wonder how he's doing now.~~ haha.

Anyway; Yong Pyeong Resort is also very high class and has about the same design as the one we went to last night and the one at Oak Valley. Perhaps ski resorts are about the same.

We cooked dinner in our 'condo' today. Memories of Oak Valley oh yes.

English father(I suppose) teaching his little son to ski. The kid's fantastic!

I might not have mentioned this but - as I said, I like some of S.Korea's variety shows - I love 'Let's Go! Dream Team' and 'Running Man'. This trip to Korea made me missed some episodes of both shows on TV and while resting at the resort today, I suddenly thought it could be possible to catch the shows on Korea's very own channels(instead of our Astro KBS World and One). Too bad I didn't check their broadcasting time..

However, just as I was thinking, I caught a glimpse of Yoo Jae Suk(Korea's nation MC, host of Running Man) and realised that it was indeed Running Man on TV! What's better was; it's the episode where they went to Hong Kong for filming and my favourite CNBLUE's Jung Yong Hwa was one of the guests! Perfect, isn't it!

Jackie Chan appeared on that episode too!
(Credits as watermarked)

So I watched it, without subtitles; and I noticed I managed to understand them! I even did on-the-spot translation for bro who also wanted to know what's going on. I guess in Malaysia I've always been relying on the subtitles so much that I never realised I could do fine without them. Watching a favourite variety show in Korea without subtitles is definitely one of my most memorable experience here and along my way of learning the language. :)

Anyway, today's been a very tiring day. It was a great day nonetheless. We'll be going to Everland Theme Park tomorrow! Hopefully it'll be as fun as today was! So till then.

View from our balcony: ski site.

Good night. zzz...

PM 11:10 GMT+9,

Yong Pyong All Seasons Resort.

South Korea`11: Day 1

2011-12-17T21:33:00.000+08:00

여러분 안녕하세요(Hello everyone)! It's my second time in Korea.

Last night at 11pm, we took Air Asia X from LCCT to Incheon Airport, South Korea. This was my very first experience flying in a premium class cabin - and woah, flying for long hours has never been THIS comfortable.

Imagine flying at night, lying down beside the window on a plane, with a pillow and comforter. Directly outside the window there's a half moon and lots of stars, and on the plane - besides the many air stewardesses - there's a super hot Korean air steward; specially serving our area!

Six hours felt like 30 minutes. Literally!

Now I know how this feels like. Splendid!

Arrived at Incheon International Airport at 6.20am Korean Time (an hour ahead of Malaysia) and the weather was a freakin' -10°C. Crazy! Khun was right about the global ~~freezing~~ warming.

Honestly, compared to my visit four years ago, this time upon arrival, I couldn't really feel it's Korea; just like last year I couldn't feel it's Japan when I was in Hokkaido. Probably because I can understand their language now so I don't feel the strangeness? Maybe.

Anyway, this time my main point isn't to visit the places, since I've already been here before. It's more like a re-visit and I mainly want to feel South Korea more now that I have more knowledge about the country.

During lunch today, I was really happy because I saw a Coca-Cola poster of Nichkhun. I wasn't a huge fan of him or of 2PM, though I liked Khun's wise and inspiring words. But today, because of the freezing weather (which for the first time I thought I'd declare winter's no longer my favourite season), it felt so warm to see Khun.

I truthfully began to respect his courage and determination for staying all alone in Korea as a foreigner(especially one from a tropical country) for so long. It really isn't easy.

Korean Strawberries are the best of the best!
These were FRESH - and FREE!

We had steamboat for dinner today, at a place I thought I'd been to before. There was a shop beside it, selling all Kpop stuff and young girls and boys were swarming around it like bees, hunting for SNSD, SHINee and all those Kpop bands, you name them.

I first thought I'd just go and have a look, until suddenly the shop owner came to me and showed me to a pile of 2012+2013 calendars two-in-one! Back home I was wondering if I'd get a nice one for the new year after I got the Fahrenheit calendar from my supervisor at H.I.M.

So, while wanting to practice Korean, I asked the guy if they sold CNBLUE ones. He sprang over and began searching it for me. I originally only asked without expecting they have it (and the main point was only to speak Korean), but since he found it, I bought it.

The miracle/interesting thing is, the calendar gave me warmth! haha. I was freezing so badly I wanted to cry(serious!) a second before, and once I got it, for an instant it seemed like the cold didn't matter any more! :D

So did that mean CNBLUE's my sun in the winter? Or was it adrenaline or something generating heat for going out there and conversing in Korean? Aha whatever.

Today we're having a night at the Sorak Sun Valley Resort. It's a very cool and fully furnished + equipped resort, like a perfect apartment one could rent. Its design's completely like Oak Valley Resort's, though, as I remember. But it's perfect nonetheless.

Bedroom, kitchen, and the view from our balcony.

Alright now, gotta get up at 6am tomorrow. I better get to bed soon. Hopefully tomorrow's gonna be warmer.

Good night Korea, good night Khun, 2PM, CNBLUE and all my Korean friends! Ahaha :D

P.S
Teacher's hometown Chuncheon is freezing like crazy.

No wonder he kept saying it's so cold I might die :\

PM 10:33 GMT+9,

Sorak Sun Valley Resort.

Before Leaving

2011-12-16T15:04:00.000+08:00

Hi, my first post of December! Seems like I took a long break after the non-stop posting last month.

I'll be leaving for Korea in a few hours and again, I'm making a to-bring-list so I don't forget to pack some important things. I'm also trying to think of some things I want to buy there. Everyone's talking about K-Pop albums(because they're waaayy cheaper in Korea than in Malaysia I guess), but I have nothing in mind. See, told you I'm not a huge fan of K-Pop. ;)

I've been putting this old song on repeat since I got electrified

by Tony Ahn recently, though.

Just awhile ago, I suddenly remembered about the Fuji Apple Mentos I bought at Korea in 2007! Those were totally WOW! Back then I remember treasuring the last piece of Mentos for months! Because we don't have Fuji Apple flavoured Mentos in Malaysia! So I decided to put this candy on my top to-buy-list this time. Maybe a WHOLE BOX of them? :D

BUT... (I have a hobby - more like a habit - of keeping unique candy wrappers) I noticed in my collection that there's this Fuji Apple Mentos with a RM (Ringgit Malaysia) price tag on it, placed together with the Mentos wrapper with Korean characters.

Then, I remembered that sometime this year or end of last year, I found them in Malaysia. Somewhere in Malaysia! But thing is- I can't remember where! And I don't remember seeing them anywhere else other than the place I bought it. Jeez. Was it from Genting? Hish.

This was taken back in 2007 before I munched down the last one from Korea.
Imagine how much I treasured it!

Now I'm wondering if they are already sold in Malaysia. If so, I wouldn't have to spend extra Korean Wons (Mentos in Korea is like.. double the price in Malaysia, I heard). But I remember the one in Malaysia being pinkish red, while the one from Korea was a pleasant Fuji Apple white.

So... what should I do?!

Maybe I'll decide when I see them in Korea. Yeah.

At Oak Valley Ski Village. 2007.

Anyway, before I get back with packing, I gotta say this. Someone I love just arrived in Malaysia some hours ago, while I'll be leaving a few hours later. Awesome fate, isn't it! :P

Alright then, till I'm back, please do wait for massive updates on my second trip to 대한민국 (Dae Han Min Guk - South Korea)!

Stay well! :)

P.S
Thanks to You and JK for staying back to look after everyone at home. ^^
Ming, I'll miss you. Wait for me to be back with lots of love for you! :D ♥

20th This Month

2011-11-30T21:58:00.001+08:00

I hope I didn't bore/annoy you guys for updating so frequently this month. I was trying to keep up with the tradition of hitting 20 posts every November(following 11 every September).

Next month I guess this is going to slow down a bit, but you'll be seeing updates on my trip to somewhere then!

Goodbye, November. You've been great :)

30th

2011-11-29T15:54:00.001+08:00

Today's the 30th birthday of the first singer I've ever liked (I guess. At least his album was the first one I've ever bought).

He won first prize at the Astro Talent Quest (currently Astro Star Quest if I've not mistaken) in 2002 when he was 21. I only got to know him the next year because my Keyboard instructor made me learn the song that became famous after he sung it at the competition. I didn't know about him before that because, you might have guessed, I didn't bothered about music/songs before I was interested in this guy.

OMG so young looking!

So when I was 12, I bought my first CD- his first EP.

Years went by and now I'm 20, he's 30. People who know me well enough will know he's my first favourite singer. Now it's about eight years later and probably some of my long-time friends would ask if I still like him.

Well, I'm still buying his albums, but I don't buy merchandises any more. I still love his very distinguishable voice, but these recent years I don't put his CDs on play non-stop like I used to do. I still get excited when I am able to guess his voice accurately and I feel happy listening to his old songs and watching the old dramas he acted in.

Drama set and merchandise.

However, truth be told, I don't quite like the style he's been doing in the recent albums, but I'd say it's just me. Probably I still(and only) like his original style of soothing songs(which I think suit his voice best) rather than the different kinds of songs he sings nowadays.

But I still buy his albums, as I said; because after all these years, purchasing his albums has became more like a form of support, instead of buying them because I like the songs. It's just that now I just buy it, when I used to pre-order the albums so I could get the posters/other merchandises that only comes with pre-ordered albums.

Latest album.
Released early this month or end of October I think.

So, after the long story, here's the ninth wish since 2003 for my first favourite singer- NICHOLAS TEO.

Happy 30th birthday :)

P.S
Sometimes I blog so random stuff that I wish I don't annoy my readers too much. That's why I say sometimes, I write for myself just so I can read back one day. ;)

Just An Update

2011-11-27T23:22:00.001+08:00

This dinner would have been perfect if it wasn't for my flu. Thank you bro for the sore throat and runny nose. This better not get worse. I want to get well real soooon..

Five Year Anniversary

2011-11-26T23:26:00.000+08:00

November 26, 2011. My five year anniversary as part of Badzine.

I just turned 15 when I first joined them in 2006. Now I'm 20.

Jeez, I don't even dare to read my old articles! Now I even wonder what made them invited me into the big family! I was so.... young and fresh; and most of all - my English was $`#%@! It's not even very good now, imagine back then!

But I'm truly thankful for the very event on November 26 2006 that has changed my life. I surely never thought I'd ever get such an opportunity before it happened. Thank you, BADZINE. ♥

The Difference

2011-11-26T23:22:00.001+08:00

What are the differences between these three; an author, a writer and a journalist?

Sometimes I think it's so obvious and I get it, but then I realise I don't. Now I think an author is a writer who is published, a writer is someone who writes, and a journalist is one who writes news reports.

Then what are the differences between a journalist and a reporter?

Maybe I'm making life hard. What's so important about the names! Just write whichever way you're happy with. But it's important if I'm a student, isn't it?

So what's what?

An Old Ticket With Memories

2011-11-24T18:50:00.001+08:00

Look what I found in my desk last night.

The ticket for our annual dinner on 11.11.2006!

I still remember picking ticket number 1010 (there written on the ribbon) because 1 0 in Mandarin, has the same pronunciation as my name. Too bad it didn't allow me to win the lucky draw that night.

Oh and it reminds me that our school celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 2006! That makes it.., 30 years old now. :D

Helping Thailand

2011-11-23T01:41:00.000+08:00

On November 14th, I've sent some support to Thailand to help their flood victims.

Unlike the time we sent stuff to Japan, this time I did it from the comfort of my home (so you can tell I don't have photos to share). It is actually because we were told that there was still transportation problems at Thailand and sending goods wouldn't be quite appropriate as they might not reach the intended area. So, we(mum and two of her friends, bro and I) decided to send them financial support instead.

And so we did!

I didn't take photos of the donation form or the cheque we sent, so that explains why we don't have photos this time. I was actually quite eager to send goods because I'd love to have photos taken as remembrance of our effort in helping our neighbouring country. But since they'd prefer financial help, I shall just put this meaningful act in words in my memory.

I didn't donate much, but it was the most among five of us. Then, I was joking about how I originally saved the money to buy some stuff I desired, yet now even before using them to get what I wanted, I had sent them off to save people instead. Haaa.. That wasn't a lot of what I saved up and giving away the amount definitely doesn't matter much. I can still buy what I intended to get, but I felt good for sacrificing part of what I want so a few other people can get what they need. :)

Anyway, that's about our second act of helping a disaster-hit country this year. It's good to help, but it'd be great if there weren't many needy; because that means less people are suffering! ♥ :)

Little Things That Matter

2011-11-22T18:30:00.000+08:00

When I was in school, I used to think that schools were a waste of time because it takes up a lot of your time and sometimes gives you what you didn't really want or need.

Maybe I wasn't quite right, because as I grew I learned that everything we do in life - whether or not we see its meaning - are done for a purpose.

To make things simple, I'd say, perhaps sometimes, we just have to do things that we are unwilling to, and for the moment the whole thing would seem so completely meaningless that we can't help but grumble over it; then often putting the blame on life.

But - in the future when time comes, we will see that those seemingly meaningless steps we took in life, were actually stepping stones - or aids - to what we want to do. Sometimes, maybe, they can even be a door which opens up to something you might then treasure preciously for the rest of your life; and before that you never even knew(or realised) you enjoyed and were capable of doing it.

Why am I saying this out of a sudden? I always want everything I do to be something useful for the future. Maybe I merely successfully convinced myself that even the days I simply lie around at home doing nothing are important little pieces that may lead to something big in the time to come, but I truly believe in it (indeed, regardless if it was just, only something I convinced myself to). Why not, I guess 'doing nothing, but with hope' might just be better than 'doing everything, yet without hope'.

This post (everything before this line) was drafted on September 6th and truth be told, by now I've forgotten what this post was originally meant for. But reading it back, I would say that stepping out of school, I've finally came to realise the meaning of those little bits of training we received while carrying out our prefectorial duties back at SMKSJ.

Our seniors always told us not to lean against the wall/table/tree/anything lean-able while duty-ing(as we used to call it). I didn't really know what it was for, I just followed what they said.

Now, for example; whenever I see waitresses at restaurants leaning against the empty tables/chairs while not serving customers, I feel that it's actually quite disrespectful for the onlookers and it makes them look lazy and sometimes, rude. Well, maybe not that bad, but it just doesn't look good. After all, they're at work, on duty.

Thinking of this, I finally knew why we weren't encouraged to (or perhaps even allowed to) lean during duty time. It makes people look very slack and as if they don't respect their duties(and customers, in some cases).

Prefect duties and its trainings. That's one of the little things in the past that I think matters quite a lot when you're out at work. I believe some of my fellow prefect friends would agree with me that the prefectorial duties have indeed helped us a lot in the sense that they shaped us to become who we are today; more or less.

So, everything happens for a reason. I'd say it's true.

I Like This

2011-11-18T21:08:00.001+08:00

They compete on court, but they're friends off court.. ☺
Photo and caption taken off: @ami_gumelar 's Twitter

I like it when athletes from different countries are good friends when not competing. In the above picture especially, I liked Lin Dan and Taufik together. It just feels nice to see them together, especially when part of the world thinks they're both against each other.

This picture reminds me of the Badminton World Championships 2005, when Taufik won Gold, Lin Dan took Silver, and Gade and Lee Chong Wei got Bronze. Like that;

Those were the days when Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei appear not on the centre of the podiums, but on the sides. Now they are both taking turns to stand in the middle, while Taufik and Gade sometimes appear on the side.

But, isn't it nice- to see athletes of four different nations on the podium? It makes the picture look more harmony because then it'll be evenly spread. :)

Anyway, that's just me and my little thought. I like them all. Well, almost..

Paulo Coelho

2011-11-17T15:04:00.001+08:00

I've came across several motivational/wise sayings by Paulo Coelho on Twitter as they are often retweeted by a friend. He says very wise words and sometimes I really feel it. So I decided to search his name online.

Paulo Coelho (wiki) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. As you can see on the Wikipedia page, his dream as a teenager was to become a writer. The dream went on all the way until he grew older, and it still continued to burn.

Somehow, in fact, I have also this little dream to become a writer(not an English-writing one, maybe). But I'm not as motivated, inspired; or just - not determined. Maybe it's not time yet. Perhaps I still have a lot to go through.

Anyway, enough with excuses. I came here today to mention about this writer and his wise sayings.

For a reason or two, Coelho appears like Steve Jobs to me. To me. Maybe the black tee, certain features, and the wise words? Yeah.

"There is nothing wrong with appearing to be a fool, if what you are doing is in fact intelligent."
Paulo Coelho;
in '20 sec reading: How to behave like a fool'.

Third Korean Test

2011-11-16T21:57:00.000+08:00

Today I sat for my third Korean test. Sad to say I was sick and was literally shivering through the whole session.

I checked twice before handing in my paper, but sadly I still failed to spot one ultimately careless mistake. So silly and funny all I could do was laugh about it helplessly when I got my paper back.

So one mark deducted there, plus another one lost in the oral section, no more 100 this time. Good thing I didn't accept any bets (like for the previous test, my bro made me promise I'd get 100 or he'll make me sleep in a 동굴- a cave). This time all I said was if I made it again, I'll treat everyone out for a meal.

Reverse promise leading to reversed results? No treat = save money = happy. But no treat = no 100 = $#%@!

Oh well. Well deserved though, seeing I only started revising a few hours before and realising there's a WHOLE LOOOOTTTT to study.

Yeah. So that's it. 98% for ma third test. :)

[Updated Thursday, December 15th, 2011]

English Essay

2011-11-15T17:35:00.001+08:00

Currently taking a break from Korean revision. I've been studying the whole day today because exam's just tomorrow and I procrastinated too much, as usual.

That's the SPM English paper this year. Interesting, isn't it?

I still remember the fourth topic given in my year!

"Write a story that ends with, '...Now I realise the value of a true friend.' "
(checked entry on November 14, 2008)

Ours was good. This year's isn't bad either. In fact, I like them all, except the second one because I've never liked to write factual essays. But if I were to sit for SPM this year, I'd still pick topic 4. ;D

Okay now, shall get back to study.

Be well!

P.S
Question 5 looks like it's saying "Peace! These topics aren't too tough, are they!" Ha ha.

P.P.S
Am I not supposed to post the SPM paper so soon? I sure hope not!

Another Meaningful Thing To Do

2011-11-12T17:43:00.001+08:00

If I've done it for Japan, how can I not do it for Thailand?

Furthermore, even our own Penang is across the sea. So are Sabah and Sarawak, but Thailand is on the same piece of land!

Haha okay, I didn't mean to sound like I don't appreciate or love Penang, Sabah and Sarawak. I was just saying; to spice up this short update a bit. ;)

Get well soooooon, Thailand! ♥

Triple 11

2011-11-11T18:22:00.000+08:00

Let's be honest. I've been waiting for this day since 101010 last year. hehe Well, not exactly waiting but I kinda looked forward to it.

Now that it's already 111111, let's look forward to 121212. :D

Here's a random fact: In Korea, the younger generations call November 11th the Pepero Day. Pepero, in case you're wondering what it is, is a biscuit stick coated with chocolate. It was(and still is) manufactured by Lotte Confectionery in South Korea since 1983, as I read, after being inspired by Pocky from Japan.

I didn't buy it,
but I decided to take a picture as I stumbled across it while shopping today.

So, in South Korea, November 11 is known as the Pepero Day because the date 11.11 resembles four Pepero sticks (and for this year, six Pepero sticks). This day is somewhat similar to Valentine's Day, for them, where young people and/or couples exchange Pepero sticks, candies and romantic gifts.

Well, I'm old enough to know that this 'Pepero Day' only exists as a commercial strategy to promote the company's biscuit sticks; but it's Triple Eleven today! And Pepero Day sounds romantic! Aha.

So, Happy Pepero Day, everyone! ♥

Exams

2011-11-10T22:58:00.001+08:00

My third Korean test is on next Wednesday, the 16th, and my brother will be sitting for SPM starting on the 14th.

Thanks to him for constantly complaining to me about having to study when he doesn't want to, I've been reading through my old blog posts, mainly those written around November 2008- the time I was in his current position.

Now it seems to me that I didn't have such a bad time, comparing to him now, probably because he really wants to do well, while for me back then, I only aimed to score in a few particular subjects.

I've told him that judging from his grades at the school's exam, SPM shouldn't turn out too tough for him, but he'd said it's the final time he's having a chance to try to be better than me in something. Perhaps he's pressured by how our family(the whole family, not just our parents) always say I'm good in this and that and he really wants to be known as himself, instead of being 'her brother'.

But in fact, we're actually quite different and I think we shouldn't judge who's better than other this way. On the bright side, for him, people would be saying 'aww you're just like your father' because he excels in Maths, while for me, it has always been 'how come you're not good at Maths when your father's a Maths-genius?' Ha ha.

Anyway, that was off-topic. I wanted to say, have I mentioned- I always get pre-exam bad dreams! Not an exception, even now. Seriously, studying isn't that bad, but exams are definitely not as fine. :P

P.S
Happy birthday, Calvin. xxx

South-east Asian Face?

2011-11-08T18:51:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, while reading about the flood in Thailand, I recalled the many incidents where I was said to look like (or completely mistaken for) a Thai. To people who know my name, they'd ask if I was a Thai-Chinese mixed.

One of the funniest event happened when I was in Form 2. Our history teacher(I even remember her name!) asked me if I was Siamese. My first reaction was hey, this is new; because all the years before that, in Malaysia, people often mistaken me for a Malay (I was really tanned back then), and when I went to China, they'd asked if I was Indonesian Chinese.

Nichkhun Horvejkul, member of a South Korean boy-band, 2PM.
His father is a Thai, while his mother a Thai-Chinese.

So, I told the teacher that I'm Chinese. But even then, she insisted that I must have Thai blood and wanted me to go home and ask my father. I reassured her that I'm a pure Chinese and tried to laugh it away by telling her I was often mistaken for a Malay. Shockingly, for me at the time, she said, "No, you don't look Malay. You look Thai" and "Really, go home and ask your parents. You MUST have Thai blood."

Well, I just smiled, nodded and said okay- just to end the topic. It wasn't because I hated it, but she insisted so much as if she knew me more than I do, and it was rather funny in a way.

These years as I grew older, I don't get asked about my race any more, probably because I was enrolled at a Mandarin-medium college, and everyone were Chinese. However, it happened again.

Boonsak Ponsana, a Thai badminton men's singles player.

Once, when I was covering a badminton event at Bukit Jalil, and many media people from a few other countries were present, I was asked if I was a Malaysian! I said yes, and asked if she'd thought I was Singaporean (because usually multilingual people around here are either local or from Singapore). She said no; and, "You look Thai."

AGAIN!

That time, I felt indifferent enough, and jokingly admitted it. "Yes, I'm Boonsak's sister." Why the sudden twist? Because we, including the lady who asked me and another local journalist who was listening to our conversation, are all Boonsak's supporters. :D

Tony Gunawan, Indonesian Chinese badminton men's doubles player.
2000 Sydney Summer Olympics gold medallist.

Anyway, so last night I thought of this being mistaken for a non-Chinese thing again, and brought it up to my parents. Startlingly, my mum said that when she first knew my dad, she had also thought that he looked like a Thai descent. Even up till now, yesterday, mum was asking dad if his mother, who passed away before I was born, had Thai blood. The answer, apparently, was no.

Then, I was thinking that actually most South-east Asians have similar looks, though people of Chinese descent were originally from East Asia, which explains why some South-east Asian Chinese people look Chinese/Japanese/Korean.

So I guess I have a typical South-east Asian face? I don't really mind any more (I disliked it when people think I'm Malay when I was a little girl), because I found South-east Asians (especially Thai-Chinese) quite good looking. teehee.

Susi Susanti, Indonesian Chinese badminton women's singles player.
Won Gold at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.

I've never asked, but now I wonder if my friends have ever thought I don't look very Chinese, in that case, more Thai/Malay or any other races I have not been mistaken for?

Do let me know!

P.S
I was even mistaken for a boy when I was eight and had a boy-cut hairstyle! Jeez.

Pusaran

2011-11-06T21:41:00.000+08:00

Ever since I learnt about this Malay short story titled 'Pusaran' in Form 4, Hari Raya Korban (also: Hari Raya Haji, or Eid al-Adha) has always reminded me of the story.

Synopsis I found online.

The story is about a little boy, Junid, who sees Pusaran, the cow his family reared, as his best friend since young. Years later, when Junid started to go to school, his parents thought it should be time they separate Junid and Pusaran, thus deciding to sacrifice it on the day of Hari Raya Korban (see: tradition and practices of Eid al-Adha).

When Junid arrived home after school and realised Pusaran was missing, he searched the village and finally found it at the place where it was going to be slaughtered. Junid ran to Pusaran and while hugging it, cried and told the villagers that he wanted to be killed together with it. The villagers then stopped the ceremony and advised Junid's father to talk to Junid before making a decision. Finally, the ceremony was cancelled and they promised not to part Junid and Pusaran.

Haha! Memories!

I remember liking this story a lot and I'd say besides the touching bits in it, the way our teacher discussed it in class had also added onto its interestingness.

So today, God bless all the sacrificed cows (and any other animals) and everyone, whether or not celebrating this festival. Selamat Hari Raya Haji and Happy Eid al-Adha to all the Muslims around!

P.S
Our Prime Minister(and his wife) left for Mecca to perform the haj pilgrimage. Hopefully he'll be back to make Malaysia a better place. Ahaa :D

Emoji

2011-11-06T19:10:00.001+08:00

Have I mentioned? (Okay I'm sure I haven't, but here goes..)

I like the set of Emoji (or emoticons) Apple products users get to download from the App store.

Here's some of them. Don't they look interesting(if not cute)?

As I know, they are only usable and viewable on Apple products, unless, of course, a site allows it to be visible, because(as I noticed) Apple users like to use these Emoji's when they're updating their social networking sites from their iProducts.

I don't really use emoticons on MSN any more, but I found these iEmoji's really cute!

Well, just to say. I don't own iPhone/iPad/Macs, anyway. :)

Currently Reading...

2011-11-04T18:03:00.000+08:00

This has got to be the first biography book I've ever bought. Not sure why I bought it, yet, though. Probably I just wanted to try reading something like that. But I surely would like to know more about the life he lived. Perhaps that could aid in my learning about life.

From what I've read so far, I guess Jobs must have went through quite a tough time in convincing himself to allow everything to be revealed truthfully. The book's author, Walter Isaacson, said, Jobs didn't seek any control over what he wrote, or even asked to read it in advance. And Jobs' wife, Laurene Powell had also encouraged Isaacson to be honest about Jobs' failings. "There are parts of his life and personality that are extremely messy, and that's the truth."

At some point in life, we'll learn that some of the things we used to think were right, can be in fact very wrong, and due to the die-hard persistence we had back then, realising and accepting the truth (that it was wrong, and you were wrong), can be a very painful thing to do. But sometimes, that's the only way we can get out of it and become a better person.

I guess, for Jobs to get someone to write everything about his life, truthfully, was probably a decision he made to face - and accept - the mistakes he had conducted. And, with that, tell the world that all that doesn't stop one from becoming a successful person.

Actually, instead of looking at this book as the biography of the founder of Apple, I see it more as a book about Life. And apart from learning about Steve Jobs, I think it'll also allow me to see, and learn, more about life.

So yes, we'll see what more about life I will come to comprehend later on.

Stay well!

Hey, November

2011-11-03T00:32:00.000+08:00

Just awhile ago I was saying hello to September, and it's now November before I even realised it.

It's nothing new that time flies, but I'm still amazed by how February - the month my internship ended and I started picking up Korean lessons - seems like it's just not long ago.

So, hi, November. May we all spend the second last month of this year well and create more 2011 memories before the year ends soon. :)

My bed sheet! :D

P.S
Thailand, please stay strong so I can visit and see your bright smiles some day! Su su Thailand!

[Note: for Malaysians and Indonesians, 'su su Thailand' may sound funny or sounds like it means 'Thailand Milk', as 'susu' means milk in Malay/Indonesian, but from a recent reality show, I learnt that in Thai, su su means 'Fight and go on' (as in, 'Go, Thailand!') or 加油 in Mandarin and 화이팅 in Korean.]

So yes, SU SU, THAILAND!

Caterpillars

2011-10-30T21:44:00.000+08:00

I guess I - or we, in general - am(are) like a caterpillar. A many-cocoon one, to be exact.

I got this thought because I the process of us growing and changing at different stages of life, is like a caterpillar shedding an old cocoon. We shed our old cocoons and become a new - and hopefully better - person, just that we don't only change them once, and we'll probably only turn into butterflies in our graves - because that's when we can be sure we won't change any more (well, not if you count decomposition).

Ew, I hate caterpillars, actually. :S

I noticed the changes in myself, too, throughout the years. In short I was a very dreamy person, and am now a more realistic one. I don't really create a world and live in it any more, and I learn to see the world and accept it as it is. Maybe I'll go into details in another update.

A friend said people are both sad and happy about the changes they've gone through. I guess perhaps, but for me I'd say it's more to the happy side. I've became a better person, anyway (...uh, I am a better person, ain't I?). :D

So anyway, caterpillar or not, that's about a sudden thought that came through my mind- again, in the bathroom (you see, good ideas often come by in the toilet and/or bathroom, don't they!).

Till then. Be happy!

Love vs Like?

2011-10-24T00:02:00.001+08:00

For years we've been wondering what differs love from like. So I am now.

Just today, a thought came cross my mind and I thought it could be one of the differences between the two.

When you love somebody(or something), you'd still wish for their best even if you begin to dislike something about them; and when you dislike something about the person(or thing) you like, you just don'tgiveadamn about it any more, like it's never existed in your life.

In that case, if you hate your girlfriend/boyfriend after a breakup, that shows you merely liked them; and if you still pray for their happiness after parting, it means you loved them.

Hmm. Yes no?

P.S
Denmark Open finals- Jung/Lee won Cai/Fu again, I'm glad. Lee Chong Wei was defeated by Chen Long in straight sets, oh well.

Hot or Cold?

2011-10-17T22:06:00.001+08:00

Winter has always been my favourite season, though in Malaysia it's summer all year round. Most people don't like winter because of the cold, but to me, I've always thought putting on more clothes would solve the problem, unlike during summer when it's so hot, even wearing only shorts and sleeveless tees won't help.

Winter in Korea. 2007.

Not only that, I loved cold drinks. Anything I drink has got to have ice in them. I guess basically I just, somehow, disliked hot stuff. Even during shower, I never really fancied very warm water(but of course I didn't like it too cold either).

However, lately I noticed some changes in myself.

Not only had I learnt to ~~appreciate~~ not complain about the sun, I even started to love hot Milo (now the box of Milo Sejuk is abandoned somewhere on the kitchen shelf) and every time I go to shower, I'd adjust the water temperature so that it's warmer (as warm as I could take).

Perhaps I'm getting old? Warm drinks now feels perfect in my tummy and warm showers make me happy.

Or is it just getting colder at night in Malaysia? Hmm.

Update

2011-10-10T15:25:00.003+08:00

Last night, I edited the layout of my blog a little. If you noticed, I added some tabs at the top, just beneath the header picture, just so I can remove some widgets from the sidebar.

I even created a page for 'PROFILE' where I took the idea from Facebook's profile layout. So now my profile shows what you'll see if you click it, instead of the usual blogger profile. As for 'CONTACT', click and see!

Is it more organised now, or what? :)

Big bright sunny weather

I originally wanted to try out a new template as well, but it seems I still couldn't except the drastic changes; or maybe I just haven't found one that looks good to me at the moment.

So that's about the recent updates on the layout of my blog. About updates on my life, I guess Steve Jobs passing has had some impact on me. I personally think I've changed, slightly, for the good. Maybe whenever I remind myself of the dream I had, I feel motivated and indirectly, encouraged.

Something I saw on Facebook

Hope it'll last. :D

P.S
Happy birthday Chun :)

For Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011)

2011-10-06T20:27:00.001+08:00

So Steve Jobs passed away.

I probably shouldn't be writing this, but I noticed I needed to, as usual, to remember this day. Besides, this is my personal blog and I don't have many readers, anyway. So this doesn't count as attention seeking, does it? ;)

And I even removed this update on Facebook.

Anyway, there's a Chinese proverb I know that goes this way, "Though death befalls all men alike, it may be weightier than a mountain, or lighter than a feather." (人固有一死，或重於泰山，或輕於鴻毛)

The late Mr Jobs must be the former. Really. Like really; for he had lived a very meaningful and productive live. That's what I respect about him - the life he lived and the words he said.


Coincidence much? The cover of one of mum's latest books. I had it designed last year, with the photo of an apple taken at the orchard we went to during our trip to Hokkaido, Japan back then.

Speaking of coincidences, would it be too fake if I said Steve Jobs appeared in my dream last night?

Truth is, I did dream of him last night.

In the dream, I was watching Jobs giving a motivational speech at a university (and in fact I've never, at all, watched videos of his speeches before). He looked chubbier in the dream than on his recent photos, and that caught me wondering(in the dream) why that person before my eyes looked more round-faced than the one I knew from pictures online.

Then, I was shocked to see his older photos just now, when he was indeed not as lean as he seemed these days. (That photo of him on the left, was something like the man in my dream last night.)

..and now I'm curious what the exact time was when he left. Last night, when I had the dream, might be it, yes?

Maybe if I add some superstition to it, it could be a message for me, to be more motivated in all the good things I do. :D

On Apple's homepage today.

Whatever the reason is, superstitious, coincidence, both, or neither, I am one of the kazillion people praying for Mr Jobs, his family, his friends, and the world; today.

Rest in peace.

P.S
..and I even thought it was a nasty prank when I saw only the headline on my phone this morning. Sorry.

Happiness?

2011-09-30T22:01:00.000+08:00

People want happiness.

As we grow older, we sometimes look back into our younger days and exclaim at how carefree those days were. Those were happy days, but I wonder if those were good ol'days just because we were free from excessive worries, like those we have now, maybe about the future.

Since we can never turn back the time, nor deny the fact that life is full of challenges, perhaps learning to find happiness in the worst situations, will bring us true joy.

Being happy when we're trouble-free is an easy thing. It's true we should be happy with every second of bliss, but we cannot expect life to always be that smooth. If life gets tougher the older we get, we'll have to find a way - probably a higher level of happiness - to not lose our smiles in the storm.

Something like, in Nintendo's Pokemon games, some 20 HPs works fine during the beginning stages; but as we advance further into the story, we'll need more HPs to survive - even an attack by a wild Pokemon. (Jee, why am I talking Pokemon here!)

Anyway, maybe I shouldn't be too satisfied with the small little joys I have, just not to the extend that I give up everything for it, because it just mightn't be eternal(or permanent, or strong enough to survive hardships). Small little joys are what we collect to remind ourselves that happiness can be very simple, not what we hold on to by sacrificing the many other dreams we may have.

I don't know why I'm talking about this, but it just came to mind while I was showering just now (you know, great ideas tend to bloom in the bathroom, it seems).

So yes, it's the last day of September now. Time to wake up now that September's ended.

P.S
This is my 11th post of the month (I don't know why but I'm still keeping to that weird little habit of posting 11 entries every September. Makes me - and my birth date - special, doesn't it? ;D).

Pet Peeves - and an old story

2011-09-28T21:59:00.019+08:00

People have pet peeves. Probably even the nicest person on earth would find something particularly annoying.

Today, inspired by a friend's blog entry, I'll talk about some of my pet peeves (which are quite similar to what he mentioned in his post).

The assumptions people make about my social economic background. That's something I truly dislike too. I hate it when people say I'm rich. (Now, my friends who are reading this, please don't let me know if you're thinking, "BUT YOU REALLY ARE RICH!" Ugh.)

Many times, I've had people tell me that I'm rich. I mean seriously, they TELL me that I'm rich. When I deny it, they insist that I am, as if they know me better than I know myself.
-JR

I get that too! They TELL me I'm rich and insist that I am when I deny. Sad to say, even my closest friends do that! When I say my family's just average, they say YOU'RE RICH! Worse still, when they say, "YOU are average, than what are we? POOR?"

Right, maybe I don't need to worry about money as much as they might need to, but I never and still don't think I'm rich. Generally, I hate it when people make false assumptions about me - even more when what they assume is the exact opposite of the truth (duh!). So I've been thinking of the possible reasons as to why I'm so against those kind of assumptions.

Maldives. One of the places I've always wanted to visit.

About disliking being called a rich person, I originally thought it was because to me, personally, being described as a rich person means you act like one (i.e.: bossing around or looking down on others because you belong to a higher economic class); but then I realised that I still don't like it even after they've said, "No, not at all. You don't act like one."

So, I still don't really know why, but it's very likely to be because I don't even live - or spend - like a rich person.

I don't buy branded items; I don't always buy shoes/clothes/bags/cosmetics like most girls do; I don't usually dine in more-than-average restaurants... What else? I have never had a part-time job too, but by now the I don'ts listed just before this sentence should have explained why I have no problem surviving with the average allowance given to me.

Back in college, my course-mates often complain about not having enough money to live the remaining days of the months, or that they can't afford to pay some college fees; but, the thing is - they also always grumble about how poor the service at Starbucks was, and how they've had a not-so-appetizing meal at Wendy's, at Shogun, or at Pasta Zanmai. And I have never eaten at those places before! NOT ONCE. Starbucks, too!

Fine, maybe that's because I never was(and am not) the best me. Yet.

Anyway, I just wanted to say, I probably am slightly richer, but that could be because I don't spend that much. And if you're trying to say I live in a bigger house, here's something;

I remember an incident in 2006 when a burglar broke into our house during the FIFA World Cup season. When I returned home from school, I saw the man ran through our garden after sneaking out from our house as he heard us arriving home. Our house was ransacked, really. Everything was scattered on the floor, even in my room there were pieces of torn angpau packets by the floor of the opened drawer.

After making a police report and checking around to find out what and how much was stolen, this was about all - a digital camera, one or two necklaces that belonged to mum (possibly the ones she wore at her wedding some 20 years ago), and a few thousand Rupiahs left in dad's working luggage.

Sad day for the burglar, wasn't it? He must have thought we were rich by looking at the exterior of our house, as well. Maybe he's the best person to come out and tell people that living in a nice house doesn't mean the family's rich.

Tree houses! One of my dream homes as a kid.

Besides that, making assumptions about my personality when you don't really know me that well is another thing, but I think this post is long enough already so I shall not get into details with this one; but I might, maybe one day. I guess most people hate that anyway.

So yes, that's about one of my pet peeves. Jeez. ;)

P.S
I hate it, too, when people assume I'm a K-pop fanatic when they know I'm picking up the Korean language. Jeeeez what's wrong about liking a language without being a fan of their celebrities!? (but of course, I have nothing against them - the celebs, I mean.)

Something Short

2011-09-26T21:06:00.003+08:00

If I say I blog to store memories and to remind myself of what I did/how I felt on a certain day of a certain year, should I be tweeting them if they're small, short and not very eventful? But Twitter and Facebook doesn't really allow you to easily scroll back to a particular day in the past, do they? Something that blogs do.

Cold night, hot shower and a good book (or a good movie; or something nice and warm to drink; or just something good to do). Isn't that bliss? :)

A Smile

2011-09-26T00:21:00.009+08:00

I can't recall since when I started to enjoy(or noticed I enjoy) helping people. Maybe after the earthquake at Japan, maybe since young.

After graduating college, I've always been thinking of my future and what my dream job is. Last month, I bought a book about Job-Hunting and Career-Changing (I'll mention its title when I write about the book next time), and in it, the author encourages us to get to know ourselves better before looking - or even thinking of looking - for a job. He said, think of the things you enjoy doing.

Every time I try to think of the things I enjoy doing, apart from the obvious ones, helping people in need always comes to mind (but I have no idea, yet, what I am going to do with it - especially when I hope to help people even if they don't have the money, but charity won't earn me money, ey?).

I feel that

Anyway, the main point of this entry is, I guess we've been forgetting a very simple thing we can all give. It doesn't cost us money, and people who need it don't need cash to get one - well, I hope.

While reading an article online, about an Australian man who saved many lives by stopping suicides, I came across this;

A smile cannot, of course, save everyone; the motivations behind suicide are too varied. But simple kindness can be surprisingly effective. Mental health professionals tell the story of a note left behind by a man who jumped off San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. If one person smiles at me on the way to the bridge, the man wrote, I will not jump.

Then, it hit me. A smile! It may only be a smile, but sometimes, that's all somebody needs.

So somehow, since then, I thought we should put on a smile when we meet people. Not only because we have to (you know, at those events with lots of people), but also because we can.

Jeez. Do I sound kind? I've never liked to sound like a saint, or even just like a kind person. That's wrong, isn't it - I mean not liking it? It's suppose to be a good thing, but nowadays perhaps people might think it's odd for somebody to be so nice. :D I'm not saying I'm nice, but well.. it feels funny to be writing this.

Or maybe I'm only feeling weird because I'm not used to revealing this side of me to others, not even my family.

Anyway, stay well, be happy and SMILE. :D

Perfect Week

2011-09-18T22:51:00.008+08:00

The best way to end the week: Your favourite pair won gold and you're the one reporting. :D

Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae won Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in straight games! BEST DAY OF MY WEEK! It sure was good to watch, good to know, and good to write too!

Late night snack while working past midnight.

So the week ended, so has my work. I feel so lucky to be working on a tournament where my most beloved ones end up champions! Even more, champions among the other Chinese champions! If it weren't for them, China would have gotten all five golds! Hoho..

I have nothing against China, actually. It's just that I'm tired of Chinese domination. But again, I have nothing against them. I don't hate them, and I'm not anti-China (I'm just very pro-Korea). :) Just saying, because I know some people are really anti-anti-China. Ha!

Credits as watermarked.

This whole week, I wrote a total of (lemme count) eight articles. I felt I dealt better with stress this time, as the pre-event syndrome wasn't that bad as it used to be. BUT I think around the second day after it started, I thought after this ends I'm gonna take a long, long break and stay away from reporting - I even thought of skipping next year's Malaysia Open!

I honestly thought so, probably because I wanted to be away of what I've already been doing and try to find out what I really want to do in the future. But then again, China Masters just ended a few hours ago, and right away I felt like writing again! Fail.

So hmm, the good thing(besides Jung/Lee winning) about the week? They were on the headline photos TWICE this week!

Headline photo One.

Headline photo Two!

I didn't intend that, because as you can see, the first headline was on Koo and Tan. I thought maybe a photo of them frowning away on court would work, but it turned out our Editor used Jung and Lee instead. I'm happy, so I don't mind!

Anyway, that's the end of my comeback, returning to individual event writing. It turned out so much better than expected, and I'm totally grateful for the fantastic week!

P.S
Happy 26th birthday to Koo Kien Keat, and 24th to Tan Boon Heong.

Stats

2011-09-16T15:13:00.004+08:00

(click picture to enlarge)

Becoming 2-11 today, I hope!

P.S
Why must today's matches start so late? Meaning it'll be until close to midnight? No wayyy! Hopefully they'll make it quick! ;D

First Event as An Adult

2011-09-15T23:02:00.003+08:00

It started yesterday; the China Masters 2011. It is the first event for me as an adult, and also an individual event after I've been running around team events continuously for over a year.

Thomas & Uber Cups, Chinese League and the Sudirman Cup. They were all team events. Getting back to an individual event now, this whole thing feels different! Probably because I'm a person who enjoys teamwork, so I also feel good writing about an event where the whole national team works together (not like they don't work together in individual games, though). Or, because team events can become very dramatic, writers can spice them up in a more storyline-ish way.

I work better with a plan, so I prepared this - a complete layout of the draws!

I was told, though, that team events are indeed easier to be written on compared to indies. Well, maybe. For a second I thought I should just become a team events specialist. :D

Okay, so about my thoughts - so far - on this time covering an event, I feel something I hadn't previously felt. That is nervousness (or was in anxiety?) about a different thing. Usually, my pre-tournament syndrome was, I think, because I was afraid I won't have ideas or will not be capable enough to write well. I still feel the same, of course, as I was never confident about my English writing - an even more now! But apart from that, I noticed now I worry more about the teamwork part.

Teamwork, with the editor and, mostly, the photographer. Whether or not I had requested for photos I think I may need(or if I'd use the photos given), or whether or not I simplify things for the editor. That's what I think now. Perhaps it's been long enough I wandered about in the field that I am expecting more from myself, but I should be improving, isn't it!

Anyway, that's it for today. Today's job ended much earlier than last night and I'm totally grateful for that, because I won't have to miss my favourite show on TV tonight.

So yes, till Sunday when the finals end, let's all have fun together!

P.S
Yong Dae who didn't get his birthday present last Sunday, will NOT allow Koo/Tan to get theirs this Sunday. Hohoho.. Go Jung/Lee tomorrow! *heart*

Today, I'm 20

2011-09-11T23:13:00.007+08:00

Now, I'm officially 20! An adult, as they say.

As I said in last night's entry, I then decided to have my 20th birthday like any other ordinary days. So basically, today wasn't special if you're talking about birthday celebrations and sorts, but to me - deep inside, emotionally - it sure was different.

It seems my Hotmail theme doesn't only change according to weather/time,
it even changes on my birthday! Look at those fireworks! Pretty!

Here I guess I should warn you, my dear reader, of a granny-like post below. I'm not sure but if you couldn't understand why I'd think this way(as I will write below), I probably really am a person who can't be easily understood.

Here's part of what I wrote when the emotion became really strong, suddenly, at 3.13am today,

I guess this is the first time in 20 years, besides this day in 1991 when I was born, that I had tears on my birthday.

Looking at the things around me, I feel so extremely thankful for all that I have. I'm grateful for everyday, I wake up healthily and peacefully. I'm grateful as well, for when I open my eyes every morning, I still see my loved ones and my precious possessions in whole by my side.

This day, nineteen years ago.

Today, I want no celebrations. I only want to thank God for 20 healthy, peaceful years; mum and dad for everything they've given me all these years; and all those around me for their sincere wishes.

Actually, ordinariness - is bliss.

Now, I noticed that I'm appreciating every moment of life. This, maybe most may call it emotional(or sentimental), was what I had none of last year - at least about life.

I have no idea what planted such thought in me. It was like tick! and I felt that way. I even wonder if I'll still think the same about my birthday next year. It's just, apparently, what I thought and how I had my birthday this year.

In the morning, gratitude was paid to God. Then for lunch and dinner, we ate out at some restaurants nearby. There was a cake for the day, though, despite the simplicity. Probably they somehow felt sorry for not buying me a cake on the day I turned 18, two years ago. So at night after dinner, the four of us at home gathered around a table with the cake. Birthday song sung, birthday wishes made, candles blown, cake cut and eaten.

All in all, it was an ordinary day, where I thought I valued my parents' - especially mum's - feelings more than mine. People say you feel this way when you've matured, but I guess it's still too early to conclude anything in my case. It could just be a sudden thought that probably wouldn't last till my next birthday.

Anyhow, that was how I marked this day I left my teens. Now, I'm 20 - and a whole new journey is about to unfold. May I face the obstacles in life more steadily now that I'm no longer just a teen.

Last but not least; Happy Birthday, my dearest Lee Yong Dae!

Simple it may be, but the fact that I share the same birthday as someone I adore this intensely shall not be forgotten. (Oh yes, I watched him played the finals in Taipei, on TV, this afternoon. He didn't win, though. Fantastic ordinary birthdays for us, eh!)

P.S
Did I bore you with this entry? Well, if I did, I warned you about it being granny-ish. ;)

This day last year

2011-09-10T20:53:00.011+08:00

Today's my birthday eve (I wonder if there's anyone else who value the day before their birthdays so much that they'll name them birthday eve).

This day last year, I was at Hokkaido, Japan. Otaru, to be exact. This time last year, I was shopping around Sapporo after devouring one of the best ramens in Japan at Hakata Ippudo ramen shop.

Today, I got up from bed earlier than usual, just to spend more time on the last day as a teen. The moment I woke up, I thought of this day last year. Time sure flew. It felt like it was just awhile ago that I had came back from my Japan trip.

Anyway, this morning, I watched a movie - an old one - on TV, which coincidentally, was a Japanese movie, 20th Century Boys. Guess the day wanted to start itself completely Japanesely to remind me of its form last year. After the movie, we had Japanese lunch. That honestly wasn't preplanned at all, either.

Basically, today was quite a meaningful day for me. The whole day tons of flashbacks hit me. My last day as a teen. I never viewed this 'leaving teens' thing seriously before, not until a friend's birthday on the 8th, it just hit me that I was so close to losing the word TEEN in my age number. I thought it didn't mind; but today clearly I felt it. SO MUCH.

In case you're curious, here's the LINK to it.

Why exactly, I don't quite know, as till now I still tell myself that becoming an adult is what you say on your 21st. Perhaps because people had been constantly telling me "you're leaving your teens".

However, though, I don't have any plans for celebrations tomorrow. It's going to be just another day, anyway. My younger brother, when heard me complaining about becoming old soon, said, "So what?! You're growing older every second!"

Somehow I had been thinking whole day about a meaningful/memorable thing to do tomorrow, to note the day I turn TWENty. Now as I'm writing this, I guess I sorta want to just live it by ordinarily. It's the inside and the quality of life that matters, anyway. Though probably I'm only hoping to have it quietly just so I don't feel the you're twenty thing so much.

Either way, as I finish this entry, I shall announce to my family that I'd like to have tomorrow an ordinary day, as it is. For an instant I noticed the need to grow up inside and value some other things more importantly than a mere birthday celebration. Some other things, like, the Chinese Taipei Open tomorrow where Lee Yong Dae/Jung Jae Sung might win first place(as a birthday present for me, and for Yong Dae). Or, like, reporting on the first ever badminton event I do as an adult (the China Masters 2011, starting September 13th).

A birthday celebration, probably, like any other grand celebrations, is just a moment of grandness and partying. After that, everything's over - and you feel the emptiness. Well, in a way.

So, okay then. Till 06:28:59 GMT+8:00 tomorrow, I AM NINETEEN. A proud nineTEEN.

...and today, my Totoro music box is one year old.

Just wondering ; )

2011-09-06T22:19:00.006+08:00

Generally, in school, people are often said to be the type who are good at science and maths, or at languages/linguistics. I'm often told that I'm categorized under the latter. Well, there's obviously no reason I could deny that. Not because I'm a language genius, I'm just a lot weaker at science and particularly, maths.

If it is true that science-maths geniuses are handicapped at languages and vice versa (which I sort of agree up till now), they should be proud to be that excellent in their field, so I wonder if the science-maths people would also look at language geniuses as amazing, geniuses? Or would they just think that language is nothing put a piece of junk?

Just wondering, because I think people who are real good at science and maths are geniuses - though I don't excel in languages and linguistics that much than them, than they comprehend science and maths better than I do.

P.S

Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.
- Ralph Marston

Oh, yes, maybe. Oops.

Hello, September

2011-09-03T19:57:00.003+08:00

It's already the third day of September.

I initially wanted to start this entry with a screenshot of my Facebook status 'on this day in 2010'. Too bad, I didn't update my status that day, apparently. So I looked back on blogger to see if I had updated this day last year, and so I found this - Solibad - Lee Yong Dae's racket.

So it seems back then was about the time Yong Dae officially became an ambassador of Solibad, and his racket was put up for auction. Now it reminds me, that I dreamt to win the racket as a birthday present for myself; and this year, a few months back, I was looking forward to my birthday when I can ask dad to buy me a Victor Brave Sword 09(the racket on auction last year, though could have possibly been Brave Sword 11).

Literally.

Oh well, now it seems I've changed my mind about wanting a BS-09 as my birthday present, anyway.

Since some years back, when September arrives, I'd always look back on the entire year - beginning September the previous year - to see how I've changed and what I've learned. I just wanted to know if I had matured and became a better person since my last birthday.

So this year, the most striking difference, to me, would be having graduated college.

This time last year I was having my very last semester break before the final semester(in-campus) at college. According to a Facebook status some time in August 2010, it seems I was having quite a tough time back then. Now, I'm glad to say I'm a much happier person than I was a year ago.

Anyway, that's about it for this entry. I just wanted to say it's September already!

Stay happy! :)

I did it again

2011-08-27T15:35:00.004+08:00

So on Wednesday, August 24, I sat for my second Korean Language test.

Remember in this post I had mentioned about my aim and the possibilities of achieving it. This time I wasn't confident at all, even until I finished answering the questions I was doubtful of my answer for one of the questions. I even thought of flipping a coin to decide on one of the two possible answers I was thinking of!

In the end I guess a quote proved itself right.

"When you have problems making a decision, always flip a coin. It isn't because coin flipping always gives you an answer; it is because by the time you toss the coin up in the air, your heart tells you what you hope it'd be."

So yes, before even flipping the coin I finally decided on an answer - which turned out to be right :) .

Now I realized it was silly to have even thought of flipping coins for an answer, but at least the mere thought of it contributed to my second 100.

I'm still wild now, hoping for a second consecutive 100. Now I know as the good grades are kept up, I'll tend to expect for more. Even more when a course mate of mine said I should aim for an all-100 up till the final test in Advanced level and make myself a legend. Crazy, isn't it!

Well, that sure sounded tempting and like a nice thing to do, but we all know it's still too early to say whether the next 100, even, could be done.

So till then, there goes my second Korean Language test!

BWC`11 - Wrap up

2011-08-15T20:35:00.017+08:00

So the BWC 2011 have finally came to an end last night. China wrapped all five Golds with Lin Dan and Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng celebrating their fourth World Gold.

Personally on my side, I concluded that I was completely out of luck this year for none of the results I hoped for came true. Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae missed the Gold again, while Ko and Yoo failed to stop the mighty Cai and Fu in the finals.

Despite the sprouting dark horses in the early rounds of the championships, none of them managed to enter the finals, but here I guess I shall give them a chance to feature on my humble little site.

Kevin Cordon of Guatemala. The one who defeated Chen Long in round 1 and met Lee Chong Wei in the quarter finals. Also, a funny lil' expression on Chen Long's face.

From left: Spain's Carolina Marin (bt Eriko Hirose R1), Ireland's Chloe Magee (bt Indonesia's Adriyanti Firdasari R1) and Singapore's Derek Wong who defeated Taufik Hidayat on the latter's 30th birthday.

When I said none of them managed to enter the finals, I meant excluding this mixed double's pair..
Great Britain's Chris Adcock(England) and Imogen Bankier(Scotland). They defeated the Thais, Japanese, Chinese and Indonesians and entered the finals where they finally lost to the first seeded Chinese pair. No Golds for them, but they were the darkest dark horses of the week; well at least the ones who made it into the finals.

On the pro side, Lin Dan won our Dato' Lee after what most people said was the bestest match ever. Most of my friends may know that I never was a fan or supporter of Lee Chong Wei (yes, despite him being our national hero) and I was more of a Lin Dan supporter in this case. BUT, last night was the first time ever I felt sincerely sorry for Chong Wei. So here's a first time (if I've not mistaken) for me to have his picture in my blog entry!

It was like I finally felt his hard work and eagerness to get that Gold. This time - I'm saying this - he was super! Totally unlike the LCW we saw at the finals of the Beijing Olympic. It was just that Lin Dan was SUPERB. Compliments for him may or mayn't mean much but it definitely means a whole lot more when I'm saying it (HA!).

Another respectable figure at this World Champs - to me - definitely has to be Peter Gade.
I got up at 3:30am on Sunday morning to catch Jung/Lee's match against Cai/Fu, but as I was early, I managed to watch Gade vs Lin Dan. He didn't win of course, but he was seriously amazing! For a player 34 years of age to put up such a great match against Super Dan, I just felt he was awesome. He wants the Gold so badly as it was going to be his first, and he certainly looked fit enough to win Lin Dan - just not till the end when he got too exhausted to keep up in pace.

Not forgetting to mention as well, this women's singles who won my sympathy by breaking into tears at the podium receiving her Gold medal. Wang Yihan.

I never thought she would become the next Zhang Ning or Xie Xingfang for China, as she's always been weaker than the other women's singles in her national team when it comes to handling stress and pressure. Last night she cried while singing the national anthem and it was said the tears were results of the pressure she's been receiving from the ever-strict head coach Li Yongbo.

I'm not changing my mind yet, I just felt she deserved a clap.

So, there goes the out-of-luck Badminton World Championships for me. But there's always a next year :). If you've made it till here, thank you and congratulations for tolerating such a long entry.

In the meantime, we shall look forward to the 2012 London Olympics where badminton will make its way back into this stadium - the Wembley Indoor Arena of London to bring us the best of the sport.

Ta!

Photos: Badmintonphoto

BWC`11 - Short note

2011-08-12T15:03:00.008+08:00

As a short note on the Badminton World Championships going on in Wembley Arena, London right now, here's an update (also to keep this place alive).

People say big games are where the surprises happen. This BWC is surely one of those big events the dark horses show up.

(Click picture to enlarge)

First was Chen Long's defeat by Kevin Cordon from Guatemala in round 1. Kevin took the third set in a smashing 27-25! He must have fought so hard for it. But looking back at his personal record, it seems he's always been a potential dark horse; just quite unknown of. He's also pretty lucky though, to have Carl Baxter losing to Henri Hurskainen thus benefiting an easier win into round 3 (though being able to beat Chen Long means he wouldn't have much problem winning Carl Baxter).

Next one was Spain's Pablo Abian's victory over world #13 Marc Zwiebler (the recent Canada Open champion who defeated Taufik for the title!). Pablo lost to Kevin in the next round anyway, after a battle of decibels in three sets as they say.

So now Kevin's in the quarter final against our world #1, the very Lee Chong Wei!

Though I have a feeling Chong Wei's gonna have an easy win, I hope Kevin does something. If he manages to create a bigger surprise, though, he'll be FAMOUS - if he isn't already.

Also, Taufik was one of the big names who received surprises from those little dark horses. Especially, on his birthday. Wasn't a very nice birthday present it seems?

Perhaps I shouldn't forget to mention as well, the Spanish girl Carolina Marin who toppled Eriko Hirose in the first round.

Dark dark horses, ey! Dark dark horses.

Anyway, here's a quote before ending this short note that didn't turn out very short.

"To play against one of the top players in the first round isn't a good draw so I just said I needed to play my best. ...I didn't think I could win but I remembered I had troubled Bao Chunlai in the Olympics in 2008, so... why not?"
Kevin Cordon.
(cr: Badzine.net)

New knowledge installed

2011-07-28T15:59:00.011+08:00

On Monday July 25th, I attended the Badminton World Championship's live draw ceremony held by the BWF (Badminton World Federation) at Park Royal Hotel, KL.

I was never good with directions and it took me quite awhile to recall that Park Royal was the very hotel I had spent the last days of 2010 working at. Not just the weak memory, I've been to so many hotels due to work last December that I couldn't remember which was which(sadly, still). Good thing I realised just in time for me to not get lost during this adventure of mine.

It felt amazingly great to be in the hotel again after seven months or so. It was for work as well, but for a different field. The last time I was here, it was for the countdown event at Sungei Wang where some artists from the company I previously trained at were set to perform. This time, it was for a badminton draw.

Difference is, the first time I worked as a part of the entertainment industry; while the second time I was part of a sports/journalism circle. For work, same place, different cause. Felt really new and good(because I was already so familiar with the place) - and also somewhat interesting.

Also, as we sat in front of the stage to witness the event, I noticed something interesting. In such events, there are often three groups of people. First be those behind the stage, the ones who planned and managed the event. Second are those who sit in front of the stage - the ones who attend the event to gain information. And finally the third group - the ones ON the stage - the ones who are there to give out information by being interviewed/giving a speech.

Lee Yong Dae/Ko Sung Hyun. Canada champions yo!

Excluding the school/college times, I have experienced two of the above roles - the one behind and the one in front. As I said excluding the days I stood on stage for school/college events, for a moment during the draw ceremony on Monday I wondered if there would be a day I get to experience the third role in a real big event.

Crazy, huh!

But of course I don't expect anything as I have learned that fortuitous events are the ones that have made me big - not really big yet, just bigger than nothing - by opening the doors to a whole lot of opportunities outside.

Anyway, back to the draw ceremony, it was a really unexpected chance for me(or specifically Badzine International) to be invited to witness a live draw for the World Champs. Thanks to our very good editor/friend of Badzine who now works at the BWF for the invitation.

BWF file with media kit given upon entrance.
That list on top, is an instantly printed list of the draw. Cool, eh!

Finally, after all the guesses at wonders, I now witnessed a badminton draw done live before my eyes! Now a new wonder is, are all draws done this way? As I think it wasn't always done the way it was on Monday.

Either way, I now have a wild dream to witness an Olympic draw! Gahaha! :D

Till my next update, stay happy! :)

P.S
I was welcomed warmly by Rexy as I arrived at the venue for registration. It was nice to see him again after some time. I had an odd feeling that he was like my manager as he started to introduce me and Solibad (and himself as the ambassador) to the other journalists. Ha!

A short-term goal

2011-07-20T23:15:00.005+08:00

After Korean class today I felt a need to work harder to earn back some trust.

Since the beginning of this second semester I've been ill on and off so often that I felt I always looked slow and uninterested in class. Somehow I felt it's given an impression that my passion for the language had faded as I think I seemed a little not so active compared to the first semester.

The passion is there as strong as it ever was but I think my effort isn't burning a lot this time. I'd say it's because it's been a rather hectic period of time for me, besides not being well physically, though I wouldn't mention in details yet until things are completely settled.

Anyway, it seemed to me that our lecturer - who previously gave me an impression that he thinks I'm one of those talented students (or some other terms that mean the same) - have recently made me feel that he's somehow lost trust in me. Maybe it's just me, but I know for myself my performance during classes speaks that way.

So, I decided to let my test results by the end of this phase speak!

Some may know that I scored a perfect mark in the last test, surprisingly (I was also told that I was the first among our lecturer's students that far to score 100%). It's not like I never thought I wanted to maintain the good grades but today I feel it. Probably a 100% in a beginner's test is easy, like a 100% in a first grader's isn't difficult. Of course the difficulty increases as we advance but I guess being able to maintain a good performance isn't impossible, is it?

Yong Dae got two titles at the US Open last week!
So did his partner Ha Jung Eun. :D

I may be wild, for if you've noticed, I'm actually trying to say that I am aiming to score a 100% again. The first perfect score wasn't expected, so I'm not expecting the second one either.

I just thought I'd put in some effort to at least do well in the test(especially in the oral section) a few weeks later. I'm trying not to push myself too much into getting a 100%, maybe a 95++ will be fine enough. As long as I can prove to the lecturer and to myself that I still am catching up well this time. :)

So yes, let's not be me because if I were me I wouldn't be doing much revision for tests/exams! Aha.

Oldest sibling?

2011-07-02T17:50:00.011+08:00

As the older and oldest sibling at home, we are often expected - or naturally put to - guide/teach/look after the younger one(s). Last time, I used to think the older siblings at home are usually more mature than the other kids of their same age who are not the older ones at home. However, these years as my younger brother have begun to step into his late teens, I've noticed something interesting.

Most kids who are the oldest child at home 'grow up' earlier than their playmates of the same age. Perhaps this saying is correct when applied to younger children, or to those who have siblings a lot younger than them. I've noticed as they grow up and the younger ones begin to be able to take good care of themselves, the older siblings will as well start to shed off their responsibilities as the oldest child.

Above and beneath the clouds - two different worlds?

It happens in my family, I'd say.

These recent years, my brother who is three years younger have - for countless times - expressed his admiration for me in my little-girl days. When I was still in kindergarten, I looked after him when our parents were too busy to watch him out. At eight, when his kindergarten called for the older siblings to follow the toddlers to a trip to the Zoo Negera, I've taught him many useful so-called surviving skills when the teachers start to lose control of too big a group of children.

Not just once he had said, "Back then I thought it was normal for you to know so much as you were older than me, but thinking of it now, you were just a kid! For a kid to comprehend all those that you've taught me, it's really amazing!"

I'm pleased. I've honestly never realised that too until he mentioned. Then, I started to feel proud of my young self. I was amazed too, as now I look at eight-year-olds as the young and innocent ones who couldn't understand much of what I knew back then (ha ha! Such egoism. Jeez).

BUT, my brother has also said this, "but now not only the looks, you're even acting like a younger sister to me."

Korean Coke!

Cokes from other countries taste different from ours, trust me.

That hit me. I don't deny that, for now at home I'm the one who acts like a kid.

For once I said it was because I comprehend things and think like a mature person, but character wise I'm a playful kid. That made sense, until recently when I felt I - in comparison to other children - wasn't a very playful kid back then, it seems.

So I came up with this hypothesis which till now I would still agree with. That is, the younger brother have grown up and no longer needs my watching, so I've naturally - with the shedding of the responsibility - psychologically returned to the younger days and experience acting like a kid to make up for what I've missed as one.

I guess it is so. But of course I meant just at home. Outside facing the world, we're still our responsibility-pressured selves. ;)

What do you think? As an oldest sibling who came through the years like I did, and the younger siblings who might have seen the changes in your older brothers and sisters.

While I get back to play with my Barbie dolls, do stay well. :)

P.S
Well, we all know I don't own Barbie dolls anymore. :P

As we learn

2011-06-16T16:35:00.004+08:00

Since back in college I've realised this. The more we learn, the more we feel our insignificance in the world.

Also, I've learnt that as learning allows us to know more about a particular subject, it also takes off the fantasies we've previously, or have always, added onto the subject.

That's what we call growing up, perhaps?

Not post-related.
I was told that my Sudirman Cup articles became the top 5 popular posts on Badzine. :)

I've noticed that as I learn - or rather, grow up - my interest for some things I used to enjoy a lot has faded off. Most of them didn't just fade off, it vanished - if it hadn't turned into a dislike.

I'm not going to count them here, but from that it seems what we say we want when we're too young to actually know what it really is doesn't quite mean we'd always be as enthusiastic about it when we grow up as we were in our innocent days. Sometimes even, I wonder why on earth did I even say/want such a thing!

Anyway, here's an update to keep the blog alive for the moment. I've once again fell into the time when everything I think of writing vanishes the moment I switch on my laptop.

So yes, stay well. :)

Entering History

2011-06-06T18:12:00.015+08:00

June 5th 2011 was Solibad Day.

Three (or four) weeks ago, I spent the whole week making phone calls, sending emails and doing some research needed to get approval from several bodies to hold the event in KL. Two weeks ago, I was busy writing reports on the eight day Sudirman Cup (six days for me). One week ago the whole week was completely dedicated to making/waiting for phone calls and getting everything in order and prepared. A whole three or four weeks of hectic life.

Yesterday was the day. I arrived an hour earlier at Bukit Jalil to find a good spot, set up the camera and 'decorate' the place. Then with Rexy's help, we gathered everyone for a simple briefing. First to let them know what to do, and then to rehearse and make sure the camera's angle is good.

Throughout all this, other than the time when I went down to discuss the movements with Rexy, I was up high on a ladder (more like a stool-ladder) behind the camera doing filming, and blowing the whistle to signal Rexy - and Koo - to perform the following movements.

It all ended well at noon, with mixed emotions - as usual - new friends and new experiences. Now here is an entry to remember the historical day.

Many have been asking me if it was an event organised by my college. It wasn't. It's a charity event by SOLIBAD (Badminton Without Borders). Click HERE if you'd like to know more.

It's said we've created history by breaking a record. I'm not quite sure honestly as breaking the world record wasn't at all part of my motive of working for this event.

Anyway, not only yesterday in fact, the whole process of making this event happen was a great experience. I wouldn't say I made it happen all alone. Along the way I had great help from BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia) and a friend Geetha (who previously works for BWF) in the application to rent/use the venue.

Days and nights before the event, I - honestly - was very, very, VERY anxious, as I had no idea at all how I was going to make it all happen on the day of the event itself. It's shameful but I have to say I hadn't slept well for several nights as I kept planning things in my head, and in the mornings I got up early to make sure I don't miss any important calls/emails.

At those times of anxiety, Rexy's call, full of support, devotion and understandings was the most comforting factor to me. I felt encouraged and assured that we will make it. Also, Koo (Kiean Keat)'s call meant a lot in some ways.

On the day itself, when I arrived an hour early to get things ready, Rexy came as well, an hour early too. I was very thankful even before the start of the event as he wasn't late at all! He arrived accurately, totally on time. While I was busy with the camera, he decided that we spell MAS with the shuttles and brought two huge boxes of shuttles from his car. Perhaps the boxes were in his car all the while, but I felt he really was devoted. Then, he even came to see how I was doing with the camera and checked if there were anything else he could do to help.

At the start of the event when the crowd finally arrived, he (as in Rexy) was - unsurprisingly - surrounded by little fans asking for photos and his autograph, but he played his part really well and lead the briefing/rehearsal nicely. Even when Koo arrived, he had went to his car to welcome his anak murid who came along with our banner.

Also, I'm extremely thankful to Uncle Michael from World Chinese Badminton Federation (WCBF) and the people from his MBA (Michael's Baminton Academy) who came in a van with kids from an orphanage to support the event. Seriously, if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have made it at all! I have no idea how I could express my gratitude for MBA.

I would also like to thank all the journalists, photographers and broadcasters(if there were any) who came. I know it's their job to attend such events, but they could just ignore us considering not many people know Solibad - yet. So I'm really thankful.

Of course, with the success of the event, the person whom I would like to thank most is, without doubt, Rexy. He was the first to arrive (except myself of course) and was last, other than me, to leave. He, and Koo, as ambassadors of Solibad have done a great job in the event, regardless in the event itself or in the interviews with the journalists who came. Thanks so much for playing your roles so well.

At the end of the day, this was what Rexy said, "Thank you Ee Lyn, I know you worked very hard, really. You worked very hard. I'm very sorry I couldn't help you when you were working so hard. You done a great job."

The very devoted Rexy.

And all I said was thank you - and sorry.

I felt my lack of experience in handling such an event has brought to them some discomfort, but Rexy was smiling all the way and reassuring me that I did well. So honestly, when people asked if the event was successful, I didn't - and still don't - know how to answer. Some people said it was good, but on my side I felt I could have done better.

As I bade Rexy goodbye and hopped onto the car preparing to leave, I cried. Those were tears of a mixture of a whole lot of emotions. It was of disappointment, for I felt it didn't turn out as perfect as I'd expected. It was of happiness, for we had made it. It was of release, for all the pressure I've been carrying for weeks have finally came to an end. It was of some sort of reluctance, for the thing I had been working on has finally ended, and the people have all left, and it was the end.

The whistle that first starred in our 'Pn Kwan sketch' six years ago.

All in all, Solibad Day was a very meaningful day. Not just to me, but to everyone around the world who participated in it. Of course, on my side personally, I have gained more experience and have learnt new lessons, and again - I am very very thankful to everyone, all of those, who have made it happen. Rexy, Koo, BAM, MBA, the kids, Bukit Jalil, media personnel from The Star, Sinchew Daily and many others I might have not knew.

Thank you all very much! We wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for you, you and YOU. Thank you as well, for the memories and experience.

Last but not least, thank you Raphael - my boss and founder of Solibad - and of course, thank you mum for all the support and everything you've given me.

Solibad ambassadors Rexy and Koo with Michael of WCBF and the kids.

THANK YOU.

Why Do You Friend?

2011-05-30T22:03:00.009+08:00

A friend recently blogged on a topic regarding friending people on Facebook. I've thought over it quite some times previously but hadn't mentioned about it until now, since I'm somehow inspired by a blog entry by this friend of mine, JR.

As you can see, he titled the post with 'Who Do You Friend?', discussing on who to friend and who to not. While mine is 'WHY do you friend?' I think I'll be talking on our intentions befriending someone on Facebook.

Some time last year I started to delete people on my Facebook friends list. I think the first time I did it, it was because I felt that these people were like ornaments on my friends list, where I don't really know who they are (needless to say whether we interact or not) and don't really care what they are up to.

Then, I realised there's a group of people who are hanging in between my line of un-friending and keeping them on the list. Mainly because I know who they are (i.e., college mates, school mates etc) and some others, I knew the reason they added me (perhaps they read my badminton articles or for once we've discussed on a topic regarding badminton). But the thing is, if they are my college/school mates or badminton fans/readers and we don't interact, why should I have them on my friends list?

I hadn't been very active on Facebook lately, as many might have noticed. I don't really wish people 'happy birthday' just because their names popped up on the top right of my page. To me, if I really wanted to wish the person on his/her birthday, I would have remembered the day and text messaged/called them on their phones, or maybe sending an MSN wish if the person's overseas. When I wish on Facebook, it's usually because I don't remember (or maybe never knew) the person's birthday, but when reminded I felt I wanted to send my regards.

Online, social networks or so, to me are actually another platform I keep track of my life. Like whenever I say I'm happy/sad or I said I'm doing/have done something, it's because I often look back into old posts to know what happened to me on a certain day in the past. Of course it's also a way to keep in contact with old friends, though most of us don't really keep in contact by interacting often on Facebook.

Then I thought, we may not be interacting, but Facebook does keep people update on what their friends are up to, though they mightn't ask how who and who is doing. Probably they just wanted to be updated on the whats and wheres, rather than to know whether he/she is doing fine.

I don't know, but it's something my college friends had told me that has given me that impression. She said, "We might not be liking/commenting on your statuses/photos etc, but that doesn't mean we don't follow/read."

Now when I think of deleting people, I try not to tighten the criteria too much because then, I'd be deleting more than half of the 534 friends I currently have on the list. Like JR, I've thought of deleting people who know me but whom I don't know, but I wouldn't want to be deleted by those who I have added and who might not know me. So I felt perhaps if we thought of it like Twitter, we'd understand better.

On Twitter, we have Following and Followers. We follow the people who we're interested in, and the people who are interested/want to know more about us follow us. There's no rule saying we must follow back those who follow us. On Facebook, perhaps these friends who we don't know are the followers whom we don't follow back, but since they're all categorised under 'friends', it somehow complicates matter - whether to friend or to not.

Heck yes!

In most cases, I remember who I added and who added me too, on Facebook. So thus far, I've deleted most of who I've previously added for God knows what reason (perhaps we met in certain events and for once I thought we'd be keeping in contact or such). As for those who added me and I know the possible reason they've done so, I kept them; just because I didn't want to be deleted by those who I've added to follow their updates. Perhaps it's a form of respect.

It's just that nowadays whenever I receive friend requests from such people (of the same college/school who I don't know in person or people who share the same interest and would like to follow me - for some reason unknown since I'm not famous), I've been rejecting them. Probably unless I felt I was interested in knowing how this person's (mostly high school mates) been doing.

I always look through the friends we have in common to figure out why people add me and decide whether I should be accepting, but most of the time unless I was interested, I wouldn't bother accepting. I think if people who I don't know had sent me a message first telling me why they wanted to add me, I might accept - lets say it was to follow my updates like people do on Twitter - as a form of respect of their interest. Why not, I add, perhaps, celebs too, because I'd like to follow. So I would think it over if people are there adding me with an acceptable reason.

Spotted this on my MSN list one day.
Two different people with the same display name.

Actually, now my problem is not about deciding who to keep and who to delete. To me, it's more like deciding who to accept and who to not. Like JR is finding a fine line to decide the first, I'm finding mine too, to come out with a border for the latter.

Perhaps if they had made it something like 'who I friend' and 'who friends me' - more like the 'following' and 'followers' on Twitter, it'd be much easier. I guess?

My guess

2011-05-26T01:08:00.003+08:00

The draw of the quarter-finals for Sudirman Cup was just released.

1. CHINA vs INDIA, KOREA vs MALAYSIA
2. DENMARK vs CHINESE TAIPEI, INDONESIA vs JAPAN

Should I say I'm happy? If I got it right, it probably goes this way: As above in the quarter-finals, and both winners in 1 will meet in the semi-finals, while both in 2 meets in the other half of the semis.

So, my prediction for the semi-finals is: China versus Korea, Denmark versus Indonesia (or Japan, very likely as well).

If my guess is right, this year we'll be having a China - Denmark final.

AND YOU KNOW WHAT? I won't be able to watch the finals because I'll be stuck - maybe not the right word as I might be enjoying - at Genting, and obviously I can't sit by the TV at 7:30pm when the finals are on.

SO, Korea losing in the semi-finals (when I can watch) is GOOD! At least I won't feel too bad for not being able to catch the finals live on TV.

GAHAHAHAHA! Say I'm genius. =P

But wait. WHAT IF KOREA WINS CHINA? O_O

I mean, it's possible! Completely possible you see. Lee Yong Dae / Jung Jae Sung wins Cai Yun / Fu Haifeng, Korean ladies could win - one or maybe two - and Lee Yong Dae / Ha Jung Eun possibly, could and might upset a Chinese mixed double's pair!

NOW WHAT!

Korea - Denmark final?

The Koreans just won an hour ago. So....
They'll win again right? If they meet?

Now what do I hope! Watch Korea lose, or they win and I can't watch them in the finals? JEESHHH.

Or, SACRIFICE THE BUFFET DINNER AT GENTING and stay in the hotel room to watch their finals?

I'm crazy.

Plus, what am I doing talking to myself here at this hour!

OH WELL.

When least expected

2011-05-24T16:01:00.002+08:00

Finally a break from the Cup.

Here's something I wanted to say some days ago but was too busy to. I realised my best is often revealed when least expected for.

It's like when I don't think I did well, people always say it's awesome; and when I think I'm satisfied with my work, it always turns out normal to others.

Guess I've said it before?

Odd, and I don't know why! Perhaps my perception of a good work is too much different from the normal views of the usual onlooker?

And I wonder if it's a good thing - to have my best performed when people don't expect me to.

Any idea?

Lub Dub

2011-05-22T00:40:00.004+08:00

It's tomorrow! No wait, TODAY!

Lub dub, lub dub goes the heart.

In fact, what am I being anxious for? Writing or cheering? Even I wonder.

My one and only Korea's in the same group as Denmark and England. It's Sudirman Cup, guys. Tell me, what are the chances Korea will beat both them and proceed into the quarter-finals? Pretty high perhaps?

China may seem mighty, but many have agreed that Korea indeed stands a chance in outplaying them. For instance:

Arguably, the best match-up, whether finals or not, would be China versus Korea.

The key to beating China is needing to defeat their cornerstones – the women’s singles and women’s doubles – in order to gain the psychological advantage....and last year Korea showed it could be done in the Uber Cup.

Sudirman Cup preview by Aaron Wong, for Badzine.net

Yes no? I completely agree. Though the Korean ladies have had a good deal of ups and downs especially, against the Chinese. Sad to say pretty much the same goes to their men.

Berdegup-degup hatiku.
(Credits as watermarked)

No, wait. What am I saying!

Don't everyone look the same before China - not very easy to begin with but there's the glint of a chance of victory. Isn't it so?

Let me see, as a way of reassuring myself, I'd say if Lee Yong Dae is Lee Yong Dae, there should be a higher possibility we'll see something unpredictable... to most people.

Say Go Korea, would'ya? :D

Getting back

2011-05-19T18:09:00.005+08:00

Sudirman Cup 2011 is in a few days. It must be too long since I last followed badminton news that I've forgotten such events usually begin on Sundays. Thanks to whatever that has reminded me that it's so soon.

Sad to say I don't seem to have gotten rid of my pre-event anxieties. Now - as usual - I feel like pulling out.

I'm supposed to write - and now I don't feel like it, but I know it's only for a moment, just pre-event-ly. After it's had its curtains raised I'll feel fine. I guess.

Anyway, it's time I use the time left to do some preparations to getting back to the circuit. The two-month China Badminton League that ended last month wasn't a lot of the sport to me. At least not that much that's enough to allow me to be well prepared for a major event like this.

I hope it'll be as easy as Thomas and Uber! ..But I find writing from home harder than writing live.

Ahaha. :D

Till then, GO KOREA!

Bye Cbox

2011-05-15T23:10:00.003+08:00

After thinking over it for some time, I've finally decided to remove my Cbox. One of the reasons would be this:

I was going through my previous posts, and realised that I remember some people commenting on it, except that it was on the CBox and not the post itself so the comment's pretty much gone. If you know me, you'll know that I can be very sentimental, and I definitely would like to have those comments stored.

JR.

That hit me that the Cbox doesn't quite allow comments to be kept visible for a long time and under the exact topic it commented. So reason one.

Reason two is, like JR as well said, it isn't as active anymore. Frequent bot spams is also a cause. Not only there are not many actual people left commenting, it's often spammed by names who I doubt are real humans (in this case I'd rather say I'm certain).

So there goes. No more Cbox, and I've added my Twitter's widget in it's place.

Future messages, Hi's and Byes, and comments will go under the comments section after every entry. Don't worry I'll miss any of your messages then because I've set email notifications for every comments received.

Yay for everyone! :D

I'm actually proud to be a Malaysian

2011-05-14T16:38:00.006+08:00

...to an extent, I'd say.

I came across this article a few days ago. The writer said Malaysia was:

A place I once ate at a school canteen with one Amirrulah, a place where I played Sunday basketball with a Tan Kian Ping, a place I once mamak-ed with a Jagdeep Singh, a place where we would celebrate Merdeka at Ashley’s Melawis home.

I liked the way he constructed the whole piece. It's so... Malaysian.

Hong Kong Duck Rice, at Canton-i.

I'm not saying Malaysian English is the correct usage of the language, by that I meant the contents of the article. The way he expressed his thoughts and feelings as a Malaysian Chinese.

In a way, it reminded me of something - I'm not as unpatriotic as I've always thought of myself to be. I remembered how much I loved this country - and the fact that I have good friends of different races.

Thinking of it now, I guess perhaps we were all born "colour-blind". I enjoyed spending time with my Malay friends, and also my Indian playfellows. During those younger days, I had a neighbour of a Malay family. We were quite close and us kids (either they or we) used to stand by the fence on any normal afternoons, calling for the other to come out; for a game or just for a little chat.

To me, they were just ordinary people like us, and the only difference would be they being able to speak a different language more fluently than I can. I didn't really know what Malays, Chinese and Indians were all about.

In fact, even until now I still love the fact that I have friends of the other races. I've grown to know that it is not something you can see in any other country. The different skin shades, the variety of delicacies and the many languages we're born to speak.

Nasi Briyani platter.

I found it hard to explain and describe the Malaysian culture to my Chinese (China and Taiwanese) friends, though it's something as usual as breathing in O2 and exhaling CO2 to us Malaysians. They don't understand how we live with groups of people of different races. Neither do they know that Malaysian Chinese savour Siew Yoke, Pei Tan Porridge and Char Siew Paus like they do, while our Malays have their Nasi Lemak and Indians, their Roti Canai. They often name famous Chinese delicacies and ask if I've heard of them. Of couse I do, we have them all here.

Malaysia is no Malay land. It's a land of Malays, Chinese and Indians. We have our cultures and our own unique delicacies. We have Hari Rayas, Chinese New Years and Deepavali. We speak Malay and English. Our Chinese can speak Mandarin, most of us are even able to converse in more Chinese dialects than a China Chinese can. Some Malays (especially the northern ones) can speak Chinese, and some even Tamil.

Malaysia is just no Malay land. I think in short, it is just like three nations - Malay, Chinese and Indian - or possibly even more - living on a piece of land named Malaysia.

Nasi Lemak.

So yes, thanks to that article for reminding me of my love for this unique nation. It's not Malaysia nor this piece of land that I dislike. It's the form it's evolving into. It's the fact that some people nowadays have had their colour-blindness treated.

Why? Weren't those colour-blind days harmonious enough to make a perfect multiracial country? :)

Of course, I'm not bringing politics into this. I'm talking about the HEART.

Photo credits as watermarked.

My first foreign language exam

2011-05-11T22:35:00.010+08:00

Today's the day I had my first ever foreign language exam (Mandarin and English are not foreign to me).

Sad to say I had a bad dream last night, as I always do before any exams, since young. The dream last night was about sitting for the Korean paper today and being unable to answer a single question. Dang, I hate pre-exam dreams!

Anyway, gratefully, I did well! There's still a teeny-weeny bit of underlying dissatisfaction. But overall it was fine. :D

Tada! :D

If you're wondering why am I not satisfied when I've gotten that score, there's a writing section in the paper, and I thought we were only supposed to write a few sentences, which I did. Yet it turned out that our lecturer said I've only written that much as it was required to get a full mark, and he asked if I was playing safe so I don't make mistakes with the more sentences I write, because he said, "You can write more, right?"

So for a sudden I felt OH DANG why didn't I write more? Jeez.

So yeah, that's the unsatisfied part.

Till then. 잘 지내요! (Stay well!) :)

Everyday is Mother's Day

2011-05-08T21:26:00.005+08:00

Handmade by me! Kiddy, but my heart's in it.

It's completely recycled too. The carnation's made of used angpau packets and dried leaves from our garden. :D

Actually, I don't think I did anything special today except preparing the present for Mother's Day. I did clean the house and help prepare dinner, but it wasn't because it's Mother's Day. It's just that I felt I should be doing it. I do it on usual days too.

Everyday is Mother's Day. Guess it's better to not take this as a special day and only help out today and return to your usual can't-be-bothered self after the clock strikes 12 tonight. ;)

Wow, I've grown up!

Happy Mummy's Day! ♥

Looking young?

2011-04-21T21:33:00.012+08:00

Growing up, I'm often said to look younger than my actual age. Though I doubt those people will still think the same if they were to see me with my group of friends - since I'm certain I don't look any younger than them of the same age - I always felt pleased to hear such a statement. I always think it's good to look young, though in some ways maybe not.

I recall a trip with my family to Genting Highlands when I was about 14 or 15. At a buffet place, we're supposed to pay before entrance, and like many other places, entrance fees for children under 12 was half of that of the adults'. The lady at the counter thought of me as a kid, so I entered the restaurant paying only half of what I should have paid.

Frog riding?

Now, my brother (who's three years younger) and I are occasionally asked if he was the older sibling. He likes it, and will often pat my head calling me mei mei (younger sister in Mandarin) in such cases.

Recently, there's been a booth at a shopping mall we often go to (I won't say where and what booth), and the volunteers stand around the place and come up to you with a surveying sort of form, asking you to fill it up.

On the first encounter, they approached my mum with the form (but were then rejected). A few weeks later, I walked by the booth alone. The girl, presumably about my age, kept smiling at me so I returned a smile. She asked if I was a student and I said yeah, thinking "oh they only want those who're working so they wouldn't ask me to do it if I'm a student".

Unexpectedly, she continued, "secondary school?"

I paused for a moment with my head blank, and spontaneously, gave her a "yeah" reply. I wasn't intending to flee with that answer, but the positive reply came so naturally I didn't know why I said so.

Anyway, what's more shocking was, the girl giggled and said, "Yeah I can see that."

Like wow. I felt so sorry. I didn't know why I admitted that I'm a secondary scholar while I'm actually a college graduate, yet she said it was obvious I'm the former.

Anyway, at least then I know they only wanted to survey people above 18. So today, when I passed by again, a guy asked where I was studying. Being my natural easily guilt-ridden self, I doubtfully, evasively and slowly said, "S...M..K..? Su..bang... Ja..ya..?"

(So sorry but I didn't want to stop there and fill up forms when I'm shopping) The guy gave me a puzzled face for a moment and said, "SMK?" I remained silent feeling extremely guilty, and he asked, "HOW OLD ARE YOU?!"

I said, "Seven..teen..?" (OMYGOSH I'M SO SORRY) Then the guy said, "OH MY GOSH I thought you are in college!" I grinned remorsefully as he said thank you and I went off feeling as apologetic as ever.

Now I wonder, do guys and girls have different perception of people's age? Since the both thought of me differently. Was it because I dressed more maturely today than on the previous encounter? Or perhaps my hair grew longer, making me look older.

The thing is, honestly speaking, it did hit me for awhile that I didn't look young to him. Sadly. Though "college student" could mean I look 18-20, which considerably still means I look young.

Anyway, that's for today. I should get a haircut soon.

Snip the age off. Aha!

...but no I'm not that desperate about wanting to look young. *guffaw* It's just that my hair's getting kinda long and it can be troublesome sometimes.

Stay well. =)

An update

2011-04-17T17:41:00.010+08:00

I apologise solemnly for abandoning my blog for the past three weeks. I've been nowhere far from home or done anything unusual, besides those that I've previously alluded.

For some reasons I feel guilt-ridden for not having, at least, proper classes. I mean, I'm not attached to any universities for a degree course or anything. It makes me feel like I'm a miserable idler. Yet I keep reassuring myself that it is common as I'm waiting for my official graduation ceremony when I'll be presented my certificate so I could proceed further in my studies. Only if my dad could understand that this is a proper break given to graduating students.

In fact, I've been looking for a suitable place to work as a part-timer. Not so I could earn some allowance, but simply to venture around and gain some experience, better if I can help the needy or do some good, to satisfy my desire for the sense of accomplishment. You know, just so I feel good about myself.

Sadly, I've came to realise that looking for a part-time job that suits the needs (in the sense of the job's field and working time) isn't a very easy task, especially when I need breaks on certain days of the week for my classes. Maybe I'll try enquiring for such a schedule. We'll see if that works.

Anyway, now that I'm in a different stage of life, I guess I'm starting to see things more differently or rather, seeing more points of views and, therefore, in the mist of finding one that tallies most with my character and life. Reading back on old diaries of my high school and college days, I saw the distinction and changes and how it appeared to be like a graph with a somewhat perfect smooth curve. I mean, the progression of life. It's like a story. Where more and more gets unraveled as the story progresses.

In short, high school was the time when I had dreams that appeared to be unreachable to many, and I insisted that the possibility of it coming true exists. College was when I took the road less taken, digging deeper inside what I thought was perfect, and upon discovering the truth, startled by the contrast between my reverie and reality.

Now, I guess it's the particular period of adjusting to the contrast and deciding whether to hold on to it now that it's known it can be a real cesspool out there. Though, I'd say I've somehow hit the edge of my dream/goal, so I've proven my high school insistence right. No regrets I'd say.

Anyway, I just came across this article about why guilt-ridden people make better leaders. True, isn't it! So it seems I should be glad of myself.

Collection completed. Finally!

Till then, I hope my next post won't come too long after.

P.S
Dang, this entry seemed pretentious with those unusual vocabs! It's not quite like me to be writing in this manner eh! Too much reading has done me no good so it seems.

A very meaningful day

2011-03-23T22:11:00.011+08:00

Ola! I walked my talk.

I mentioned in the previous entry that I thought of donating my quilt/comforter/blanket (whatever you call that) to the victims of the earthquake and Tsunami at Japan; and I did it - today!

I woke up extra early to load everything onto the car, and went for breakfast with mum. At about 9:30am, a friend's mum came over to join us to send the goods to a camp in KL.

Photo taken by Wei Lynn's mum.

When we arrived at the place, there were lots of polices and the road was partly blocked. I honestly thought it was done to make space for the camp to gather the donated goods until suddenly, a few policemen on motorcycles escorted a black, windows tinted car out and rushed past before my eyes. Then, did I just realise that all the hustle and bustle was made because our Prime Minister was there. Yes.

Suddenly again, another car (a far low-profiled one) passed by. The first thing I noticed was the Japanese national flag standing at the front part of the car and the odd number plate. For a second I glanced into the car and a man, who we assumed to be the ambassador of Japan in Malaysia, smiled and waved at the three of us. I guess it all happened too quickly and I was startled, I hurriedly did a 90-degree bow at the moving car. It's really funny to think of it now!

Then, we started to unload our car and carried the stuffs we brought to the camp. It was quite a distance away as there wasn't a closer place we could park our car.

By Wei Lynn's mum again, some of our love.
Not everything's there yet.

Let me count. We brought nine comforters/blankets, ten scarves, a winter coat, a box of Maggie Cup, a box of Campbell's soup and a box of bottles of mineral water. Only five comforters and the winter coat was ours though, the others are from my mum's friends.

Okay, now here's one thing. I carried four sets of comforters at a go. That wasn't very heavy so I felt nothing yet, about the huge group of Malay guys (no I'm not being racist, just describing) sitting under the shade, staring at us three ladies carrying so many stuff.

After that, I went back to our car and grabbed what was left - another comforter and the box of bottles of water. Well we know a box with bottles of water can be really heavy, I was carrying the box with the comforter sitting on top of it, slipping off with every step I made. The group of guys continued looking at me as I struggled - and even knelt to the ground while everything almost fell off my hands - to carry the heavy thing to the camp. I guess a slight helping hand was too much for them? =D

Anyway, just mentioning since it's part of my meaningful day.

Ate a lovely heart-shaped plum on a very lovely day. =)

While dropping off the stuff at the camp and registering everything, I felt really, completely, totally GLAD, thinking of the warmth I'm spreading. Ahaa! I know it wouldn't help much, but I put my heart in there; and I'm amazed by how devoted I am about this thing. First time ever in my life, I'd say.

That's about my experience on donating stuff to a disaster-hit country. Spreading warmth! I love how it feels to be helping the needy. =)

Oh-hoh-ho! I'm so proud'a myself! =D

God bless, everyone!

This is life

2011-03-17T18:07:00.014+08:00

For the first time I'm feeling the calmness of eliminating the chaotic world from my life.

"Virgos are often called the control freaks of the Zodiac. They usually invent a world and live in it."
ZodiacFacts on Twitter.

That's exactly what I'm doing now - inventing a peaceful world and living in it.

Fruit tea at a restaurant in Sunway Pyramid.
Those things in the cup are fruit cubes.

One thing that isn't very good about living in the world of my very own innocent creation is, becoming disconnected with the real world. While filtering information - whether or not they are to be accepted into my world - some very important happenings (the country, the world, whatever) are often rejected. In short, I hadn't been reading the papers much, sadly.

It's definitely not a good sign for a person who's about to step into the society. So I decided to build windows in my world, where I can open them to take in some information about what's going on in the outside world.

I love collecting little stickers like these. This Korean characters sticker set is a present my Korean teacher brought from Korea.
I ♥ it!

Living in my own little world has made life happier though. It's a world of red apples, ripe cherries, and all the beautiful stuff which I like (like in the song in 'The Sound of Music').

I've been enjoying my classes. Not very stressful, and every session brought happiness.

Last month, on the 22nd, the article I wrote on suicides was published on a newspaper. I can't quite remember what other blissful things happened that day, but I recall the 22nd of February as a very productive and joyful day. Yesterday, I received a letter from the newspaper's office informing me to collect the payment for my published article at the HQ.

It wasn't a lot of money but it was more than what I personally got for the second prize my reportage received at our senior's graduation last year. Odd I don't feel happy, but it sure was a bit of spice to my life and experience.

Yesterday, a high school friend had dropped by and we went out for breakfast together. Other than the usual talk about life and society, we'd discussed about her assignment on Photo Journalism. That was basically the main reason she'd dropped by, to get some ideas for the piece of work. I love how friends from the similar course of different colleges get together to share/exchange knowledge.

Anyway, I guess I've said enough. Before ending this post, I'd like to express my sympathy for the victims of the recent Japanese earthquake and Tsunami. I won't say I've prayed for them, but I'm definitely thinking of donating my quilt to spread some warmth. Honest.

A set lunch I've tried out a few days back.
I know how lucky I am and I'm truly grateful.

May the world be in peace. The end of the world mustn't come so soon.

Till then. Stay well!

I've been...

2011-03-02T15:48:00.005+08:00

I know I haven't been updating, and I'm feeling pretty guilty about it, despite the fact that I have only, perhaps, one or two loyal readers.

Anyway, it's been two weeks plus since internship ended, and I'm loving life; pretty much.

The week right after internship ended, I had some sort of a bacterial infection. It lasted a week or more and everything I ate 'came out' right away. Amazing how I didn't get dehydrated, thanks to POCARI SWEAT!

After finally recovering, I started my drama spree. Now the names on my list of 'dramas-to-watch' should be decreasing. Oh not forgetting, I went to the cinemas for a movie when I was still sorta suffering from that bacteria stuff. Good thing it didn't spoil the fun! :D

On the second week after 'I became free', I got myself enrolled at a language center and finally my dream of picking up a fourth national language is beginning! I had also been searching online for details on that particular language's proficiency test. It seems the next one will be held in April, but seeing they require candidates to write essays in the language, I think I won't make it then since I've just begun. Maybe I'll go for the next one, sometime end of the year.

Next, I've been ~~trying to follow~~ following the Chinese Badminton League and writing articles for Badzine. The start was quite hard seeing it's full of young junior players we're unfamiliar of. It took me some time to get them all onto a list according to their gender and province clubs. Anyway cut the crap, point is - I've been writing. :)

Sad to say this, but I must be grateful my lecturer at college had allowed me to replace the sole subject I had missed while switching courses last year. Now every Saturday is a day back to college for me. Fortunately, Sports Journalism isn't a big problem for me and the lecturer is one of the very few nice ones we have. Thank goodness!

I've mentioned I'm working on my book. So yeah, I'm working on it. It seems I'm quite determined this time. We'll see how it goes.

Oh, and I did this! Designed mum's one too. :)

One saddening thing I have now is, I've had a few appointments with some friends throughout the weeks, but we ended up not meeting up yet till now, thanks to their assignments. Sad we didn't get to meet up yet, but glad I'm kinda free from what they're currently suffering from. :D

That's about what I've been doing throughout my two weeks plus. Not very busy, yet not too free to be honest.

Oh yes, this is life!

Should I...

2011-02-16T22:47:00.004+08:00

My darling laptop isn't working very well now, so I'm making this quick.

Guess it's time I start working on a book I've always wanted to write. Me being me, I know it isn't easy to complete it but I really hope it will work this time.

For now, I only plan to keep the book - if it is ever successfully printed - to myself because as usual, I enjoy writing stuff to please myself. ;)

Till then, take care.

New header

2011-02-15T22:13:00.002+08:00

Just to note the day I changed my blog header for 2011. :)

INTERNSHIP: End

2011-02-11T22:36:00.010+08:00

May I announce, the end of my two month internship!

I ended my internship at H.I.M International with mixed emotions. Firstly, happy and excited that I have ended work! Putting aside the intern report, a thesis and a once-per-week class at college, now what awaits me is a world full of fun! No work, no classes - like real everyday classes. Wow! This is definitely the first time in my life I'm going to go through this!

The building.

I'm really thankful to everyone at the company, the Malaysian ones, the Taiwanese ones, and even the artists who've came during my two month stay at H.I.M. Now I'm proud to say I've once stepped into - or rather, walked along the borders - of the entertainment industry and have seen how things work in a music label.

I don't know if those were for the sake of courtesy or they really did mean it, I felt appreciated from the way our goodbyes turned out to be. I'm glad.

That (above) was written on my evaluation form. It says, "Has a strong ability in writing, excellent learning attitude and a desire to improve. Will be able to achieve great accomplishments if advanced into the writing/literary field."

I must mention, H.I.M is a Chinese company and my writings were all done in Chinese Language. This is definitely not the first time I'm receiving such compliments, but looking at this internship evaluation form, reminds me of the days in primary school, when I always got 50-54 marks in our Chinese essay exams (the passing mark was 50).

The last day this lift sent me to that 13th floor.

It reminds me of how much my class teacher (also my Chinese Language teacher) complains/worries about it. For five years she's taught me (standard two to six), the same old thing she'd say to my parents during the Open Day was, "Your daughter really has to read MORE Chinese books. She's seriously poor at writing."

I even remember being placed fourth in class (getting a top three in a class in Lick Hung wasn't easy at all, it was the greatest honour to most students - and parents) when my total marks was about 30 marks lesser than the person placed third. Why - because she scored 80 in her Chinese essay paper while I got 50 in mine. Jeez.

I have no idea what caused this but one year, in an exam, I was surprised to a 80 in my Chinese essay. AN EIGHTY! On my Chinese essay paper, was totally weirder than alien to me that time. Especially when it was such a sudden great leap. From 50, right to 80. No joke. Till now do I not know what exactly made it. I hadn't started reading more as my teacher had advised. Uh-huh, but thank God; for now it's one of my greatest talent - as people say.

Thank you, my primary school teacher, too. :)

Note my name - and the doctor's name. :D

Okay, it's weird talking about this in an entry about the last day of internship, but that was what I felt most today!

Anyway, thank you everyone at H.I.M, thank you teachers, thank you mum and dad, thank you bro, thank you friends - and thank God. My two months internship ended safely, soundly, happily and productively. Thank you's!

I don't have a life!

2011-02-08T21:33:00.006+08:00

A: She (pointing at B) doesn''t really go for outings.

B: Me? What made you say so?

A: I don't see you uploading outing photos onto Facebook.

B: Do you see me updating my Facebook photo album often?

A: .. No.

Why is uploading photos onto Facebook a must? No outing photos on Facebook means people don't go for outings?

Been purging since three days ago.
Doc says I'm having bacterial infection. :(

I don't really update my Facebook photo albums with photos of my daily life. I must have got no life! :D

This people must be poisoned.

P.S
I'm not mad or anything, just expressing my thoughts a bit.

CNY: Evolving Through The Years

2011-02-05T20:40:00.013+08:00

Today is the third day of Chinese New Year and I had just arrived home from my granddad's place in Kedah. Coming to think of it, while people say Chinese New Year is the festival where people go home, to us younger generations, it's always been leaving home to go to our parents' hometown.

Like I've mentioned in my previous post, Chinese New Year this time is a pretty different one for me. This time while I was in my parents' hometown, I thought about how the festival had changed through the years.

While sitting around the table chit-chatting with two of my closest cousins, I said, "Years ago, we were a bunch of small kids running around the garden making a lot of noise. Now, we're a group of teenagers sitting around the table talking about life." Guess I'm getting older or something. I've never thought of this before. Or is it because, like I said, this year I'm really free to actually feel it?

The second night of CNY has always been the most boisterous day of the season in our family. It's the night when we prepare lots of food for a party dinner and everyone in the huge family will come home to enjoy the buffet and spend time together. This year, it was rather quiet. Very few of them came back and the ones who came left very early.

Those of us who had enjoyed our meal sat around the garden staring into the air. A distant relative (granddad's sister's granddaughter) then decided that we play a game together. Thinking of the games we used to play, she answered our what-shall-we-play question saying, "Hide-and-seek!"

Instantly, the four of us (me, my brother and two of our closest cousins) looked around the house compound and said, "We're too big to hide anywhere now." Granddad lives in a semi-D and hide-and-seek was our favourite game of all time as a kid. Now not only our age is a problem, our sizes wouldn't let us enjoy such games as much anymore.

This year, we thought a lot about our younger days. My 17-year-old brother, a female cousin the same age, and her 14-year-old sister. The four of us who grew up together were the ones who felt it most intensely I believe.

We tried talking to some other cousins our age and who played games during Chinese New Year when we were younger. Sad to say we failed to bring up a full conversation with them. They, or we, have grown to be quieter and shyer. No wonder they say kids blend in very quickly, we can't seem to do it now.

I was told that in China, they can't imagine wearing short-sleeves during CNYs.
Of course, it's winter during CNYs in China.

According to the Chinese culture, males return home for a reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve, while females go back to their mother's home on the second day of Chinese New Year. My cousin said that a few years from now, my brother will be the only one among us four to join the reunion dinner, while the three of us will only be home on the second day of CNY when my brother goes off to his wife's home.

I honestly can't imagine that at all. I also doubt that it'll be happening to me, or anyone of us four, any few years from now. If it does happen, I guess Chinese New Years will be losing its already-pale-taste more severly than now. It's saddening to think of it. :(

Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Photo Credit.

CNY break

2011-01-29T18:47:00.011+08:00

CNY break started earlier than I expected. I went to work on Wednesday, had a meeting and lunch with some people from 988, and was told that my CNY break will begin the next day. Guess how excited I was!

I finally got my hair cut, after a month and a half at least since I said I wanted to trim my fringe.

Cassettes! Classic?

I can't tell how much I'm appreciating this break! I have a feeling this CNY, when I go back to my parents' hometown, will be the most relaxing one for me ever since I started schooling. I'm really excited to think of it. For the past 13 years we celebrated CNY while preparing for school/monthly test which will begin once the holidays end. Now I'm free, no exams, no classes. Only four more days of internship after the one week break.

THIS IS SO EXCITING! :D

Today I went for a movie - 'Shaolin'. No reviews from me, everyone has their own very different views on movies, but I think it was good, quite okay. I enjoyed watching movies again anyway. 18PL-rated for sure, with all those blood-ish scenes (be noted that I'm very chicken-hearted when it comes to this, though).

Before entering the cinema, I thought Nicholas Tse was handsome (I don't really use the word hot). Now I think Andy Lau's awesome. :D Jackie Chan's entertaining as usual (that's a compliment).

I told my cousins to not watch 'Green Hornet' first, since we plan to watch it at the cinemas at our parents' hometown. I think the last time we ever had a movie there was for 'Brother Bear'. Or have I mistaken? Anyway it was truly some years ago.

Oh, I've been quite addicted to a game lately, thanks to my brother (and/or his friend).

Burger Shop! :D Call me childish, but this is really quite fun! Few months back I was completely indulging in Plants vs Zombies. Aha, I guess this is what happens when I get rid of all (well not completely) the pressure. It's kiddy-time! :D

I'm still waiting for the end of my internship before I catch the dramas I've been longing to watch. I have a long list of them ready.

Till then. Happy CNY break, people! :)

First of 2011

2011-01-22T15:19:00.011+08:00

Three weeks passed and finally here's my first entry in 2011. I had been busy, and during the weekends I can't think of anything to write - or more like I've forgotten what I wanted to write.

Internship will be ending in two weeks excluding the CNY break. I'm excited, thinking of all the shows/movies I'll be watching and the things I've always wanted to do being done.

Went for Media Night at Red Box IOI on Monday.

It feels to me as if it's still 2010. Probably it's because I've been working through New Year that I don't feel it's a new year already. Or, could it be because I've grown up to feel that everyday's yet another ordinary day, be it a New Year's day? I've no idea! Perhaps only after intern's ended when I have my goyang-kaki-at-home days I'll really realise it's 2011.

Few weeks back I was asked to write articles regarding our artists' promo tour and concerts in Malaysia. Honestly I've never liked news writing, especially it's my first official news report, plus it's an entertainment based one in Chinese rather than a Badminton report in English. Was kinda worried honestly.

Taking good care of the baggage filled with artists' performing costumes.

I was shocked when my supervisor called for me the next morning and started telling me how well I write. I've been told that I write very well in Mandarin since my early secondary school days, but those were essays. I'm a lot weaker when it comes to writing news reports. Besides, I never knew exactly what defines 'writes well'.

My supervisor said, "You're the best so far among all the other trainees we've had." So that means the previous trainees couldn't write well? It's like, every time I hand in an unsatisfied work, it's said to be excellent writing. Yet when I feel I've done well, the comments I get are never as honourable. Why so? I've yet to have someone telling me what exactly does "writing well" mean.

Sleepy-eyed. Totally exhausted and hungry after the New Year's countdown.
Oh, Federal Hotel's Merdeka suite's quite nice!

Oops, I guess I sounded like I'm complaining. I wasn't, I only meant to express my puzzlement. ;)

Anyway, she said my articles will soon be on the papers/magazines. I didn't keep track so I'm not sure if they've been published already, but I'll look for them as I need them attached onto my intern report.

My DIY-ed Korean keyboard. :D

Till then. Best wishes!

P.S
BADMINTON MALAYSIA OPEN!!!!
Still sad that I had to miss this year's. Aha!
Kidding. ;P

Adiós 2010!

2010-12-31T23:59:00.012+08:00

2010 was a year of new experiences. I wouldn't say I've grown up. I'd rather call it a year of struggles to find out who I really am and what I really want to do in the future.

It's odd, most people feel lost after SPM, struggling to choose a path to move on. While I was all relaxed back then, I'm now feeling completely lost. Perhaps this is why some people say, "the more you know, the more you don't know". Oh wait, did I make that up? Either way, that's the point.

Anyway, here's a round up of some events in 2010:

Majoring in Journalism. As many may know, I majored in Broadcasting back in the first year of college, and due to health reasons, I had to quit - and switch. A year as a Journalism student was so much better as it wasn't as tiring as the time I had to do lots of filming work. Being a sophomore in Journalism has also taught me that the society is just not as innocent as it seems. I've also realised that I am a person who wants to write freely, and that somehow, Journalism might just not be my thing. That, I have to say, must be part of the reason why I'm feeling lost about my future.

Badminton Malaysia Open`10. Being more experienced (my third year at M.O), I did more than just sitting, watching, interviewing and writing. This year, I did translations during the interviews with some Chinese players. I even got to know some (more) journalists and broadcasters from some local media outlets. This time, other than Yves our photographer, Don, our editor who speaks Korean, was here too. It was my first time meeting Don (and his wife) in person. Oh not forgetting, our big boss Raphael joined us at the stadium too! I felt it was awesome covering an event with the three men. They're great, experienced and friendly people. MO this year, was a totally fantastic one.

Badminton Thomas & Uber Cups`10. First time in my years at Badzine, I covered a major event live. I've always thought of badminton to be the same in every event, but TUC has shown me that a major event, or rather, a team event is very different from the normal Opens. I talked to more people, gained more experience, laughed hard and cried quietly with the players. It was a silly, yet priceless memory. One that I can't put in words. I'm extremely lucky to have witnessed the very first time my favourite Koreans won the Uber Cup. Now every time I hear 'Poker Face' and 'Bad Romance', I think of my days at TUC`10 (these two songs were played in the stadium everyday).

FIFA World Cup`10. Four years after Italy won the cup at Germany. This time, it was in South Africa. I enjoyed the month by staying awake to follow the matches. What's sad is, it seemed that not many people in my class really followed the Cup, except a lady lecturer. Silly, but I felt sad to see Kaka being sent out of the game with a red card that was obviously caused by an unfair judgment. In the end, it felt great to see Spain winning the Cup, somehow. Casillas was an amazing goalkeeper (though I think Julio Cesar of Brazil is great too). Overall, World Cup this year was a different one, with all the top teams being eliminated earlier than usual.

Hokkaido, Japan Trip. My family travelled to Hokkaido in September this year. A very countryside place, but I loved it - completely. I celebrated my 19th birthday there, where I was surprised to a birthday cake with Japanese-written "Happy Birthday".

Then I met a boy who was also, coincidentally, celebrating his birthday in the same restaurant. When I returned from Japan, it took me some time to adjust into the environment in Malaysia. Odd, it being my home. For a period of time, I felt urgh to see the attitude of our fellow people, I felt unsecured to walk alone on the streets, and I felt reluctant to enter our public toilets. Ha! Well not to that extend, but I'm trying to express how I felt and that's how it turned out to be.

Graduation. Our official ceremony will only be held in June (I think) 2011, but to me, or most people, the last day of our final exams was equal to the day we leave college. We had our photo-shoot, some attended the farewell dinner at night, then we left for our own path, for good.

Internship at HIM. After having experienced journalism based work with badminton, I decided to try out something new, at least before I have to decide on which career path to dive into. So far, since the 13th of December 2010, I've experienced two major events at HIM. First was Hebe's promo tour on Christmas Day, and the second, is the countdown at Sungei Wang where our artists (Power Station and Tank) performed. Till now, I'd say being in this field (music label) is great fun. I got to meet many media people and artists, watched concerts for free, got free movie tickets and most of all, learnt how things are like in a company like this.

==== ====

That's about the major happenings in 2010 for me. I'd like to thank everyone for making 2010 special, and thank God for giving me an eventful year with many unforgettable events. I'm really, really blessed in many ways. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

As for my plans/wishes for the new year, I've learnt that it's always better to keep a goal to myself before I achieve it, or I'll turn to give up half way. A goal is always better accomplished when it is not known of, at least it is to me.

Till then, Happy New Year! May 2011 be a better, blessed year!

Won't be back till next year

2010-12-29T23:06:00.001+08:00

I won't be back till next year after leaving for work tomorrow morning.

Two groups of our artists will be performing at the countdown event at Sungei Wang on Friday, and they'll be arriving tomorrow afternoon. So, after picking them at the airport, we'll be staying in a hotel in KL, for two nights.

While I'm away, do enjoy the last days of 2010. It'll never come back! Appreciate it. Gosh I can't take it! It's TOO SOON!

Anyway, till next year, God bless.

Here I am, as promised

2010-12-26T15:11:00.011+08:00

So it seems updating every Sunday is going to be a weekly routine/habit for me now?

Yesterday, on Christmas Day was the last day of my second week on internship. Why Saturday, wasn't it a five-day thing? Well, because we had and event on, that's why. S.H.E's Hebe who had recently released a solo album was here for a promo tour.

We were asked to wait for them at the lobby of Prince Hotel in KL at 12pm. I got there at 11:30am and started wandering around the festively decorated hotel. Five star? I guess so but am not sure. The group were on their way back from Penang and I've expected them to arrive later than scheduled. So, we (me and another intern) waited till 1pm when they finally arrived.

I've always thought of artists to walk in through the backstairs or something, but Hebe walked in through the main door at the lobby! Face wrapped up with a scarf of course, though I think it makes things more obvious, no one recognised her, or were too busy to realise a star's walking through the lobby.

Got this, free tickets for 'Tron: Legacy', when I went to OneFM to distribute the newly released albums last Thursday.

Had lunch, and I went to PGRM, Cheras at 4pm to get the place ready for her mini concert at night. I was so busy that I even had to skip dinner! When I thought I finally found time to eat, I was asked to go to town to buy supper for the artist and her assistants. Guess what! Bak Kut Teh, Pig Stomach Soup and Black Pepper Crabs! Plus two types of veges and rice. FOR SUPPER! WOW!

The thing ended and I got home at 1am. On the way home, I was thinking of them enjoying the supper I just bought, while I'm having an empty stomach since lunch at 1pm. But no I'm not complaining, guess I was too busy - and tired - to feel hungry anyway.

Accidentally sliced a piece of flesh from my finger while cutting some papers.
Note shaded part. That's the sliced portion. Flesh-less! *ouch*

That - I believe - was the main event of my second week at internship. My most extraordinary Christmas for 19 years. I should be blessed, for doing good deeds on Christmas, shouldn't I? Ha ha! Good kids should be given presents on Christmas, shouldn't they? So where's mine?

...Oh well.

Anyhow, I shall remember the day I finally acted like a real grownup, at least it was for a day. Travelling alone in KL at night was pretty...adventuring? I got up at 12:30pm today and had my last-night's-dinner plus today's-brunch. Not eating anything for 24 hours feels quite okay it seems, though it could be like I said, too tired to feel hungry.

Till then! Wondering if I should be looking forward to my next busy day on the 31st. Countdown at Sungei Wang! Ta!

First week down

2010-12-19T01:56:00.011+08:00

The first week of my two month intern has ended. Five working days per week, that put extra gratitude to my thankfulness.

My working hours is from 9.30am to 6pm. I've been as early as 8.40am during the first few days as I left the breakfast table early in case I might be caught in a terrible jam. The office is usually opened at 9am, so during the days when I was early, I sat down and have a drink at the Cafe downstairs (the office's at level 13).

Nice atmosphere I'd say, especially in the mornings. If you know Phileo Damansara II (where The Star's building is), then you know how English-styled the place is.

The view from my working table.

As for what I've been doing these days, I guess quite a lot, yet not so much. I'm under the department of Marketing and Promotion, in case I've not made it clear. This week I've done some very basic work, like filing newspaper reports (newspaper cutting) and sorting and tidying boxes of music albums. I've bared in mind that everyone will have to start from below before expecting to do more in a company. Good thing I'm not one of the people who grumble about being given such basic work.

Other than that, I've went out to send tickets/posters/albums to several units/co-organisers. Yesterday (Friday, 17th December), I attended a press conference of Sungei Wang's New Year countdown event, as two groups of our artists will be performing on the countdown concert. Met quite a few seniors from college who are currently working for press offices or some other media outlets. Then, we had free buffet lunch with the media people and artists who attended the conference. (Oh, on Thursday my employer treated us to Domino's pizza for lunch!)

Albums for free! Ahh! Thank you my employer!

It was overall a new experience, and I'm getting to know, and being exposed to how this sort of company works. The first week was a great one, I believe I've met a very understanding and friendly supervisor/boss, and nice colleagues as well. There's another Mass Comm degree holder from Taylors on internship too. She's one of the great people you'd love to have as a working partner. At least we clicked in the way we do things at office. At least, again, it is so for now.

I'm really grateful for such a good start. Thank God for the luck. The rest of my internship days shall be as enjoyable as its start.

Till my next entry, which I presume will at quickest be next Sunday, enjoy your holidays (while I'm working hard out there)! :)

INTERNSHIP: Start - Second day at work

2010-12-14T16:31:00.007+08:00

Blogging from office's PC. Just finished my work of the day. Now it's time to wait for time to end. Aha!

Internship started yesterday. First day was fine, not as scary as I thought. My first impression of the office was - wow this feels like home! Uh-huh, even my bro said so when I showed him a pic of the office. ^^

I had to spend time to 'decorate' my study room at home with posters I like. Now at office, they're there already! All at the right place and angle from my working table. *grin*

Anyway, just to let the world know, first two days of intern was fine. ^^ Keep it up oh yeah!

Ta!

One of life's lessons

2010-12-12T00:07:00.015+08:00

Life has never ending lessons. At every stage of life, we pick up new ones and forget old ones. Some people stick to old ones, they never change.

I've realised long ago that I've changed in a way. I hated this new me, but I never admitted. (Such cases happen even when I've never lived abroad alone!) This new me was far too protective of myself, that when I sense danger, I tend to take an abrupt stop right there. This, I believe, has caused several opportunities missed, but I never admitted, because to me, staying and living the way I've chosen was the best, and I still think so now.

Today, just before hopping onto the van to get to the jetty to leave Pangkor, Sifu Tan gave me some words of wisdom. I've always thought of philosophies to be self-contradicting, and that words of wisdom don't apply the same to everyone. Yet, I stood and listened quietly to what this ex world-class badminton player had to say.

"I always say we have to learn two things in order to succeed in life - always learn to observe and accept."

He said really slowly, "Observe (pause)... And accept."

It stroke me. I've always claimed to be a keen observer, but Sifu's words stroke me that I've never, or have grown to not accept what I observe. By that I mean, I never accept people's faults. Like what ZodiacFacts on Twitter said, "When Virgos feel annoyed from facing irritating matters of trivial importance, they would turn cold, passive and detached." Little do they know matters of trivial importance can become very important when many - I guess?

Li Ning outlet's in Malaysia! *drools at Lin Dan*

I felt like it was a treasure given to me, especially at this time while I'm preparing for a new stage in life - working/internship. I've been observant, as I self proclaimed, now I should learn to accept. In a way, letting go at least part of my perfectionism, so I could accept the fact that some people are not just imperfect like we all are - they are incredibly odd in a well-bred person's sense.

That means I'm throwing away at least part of my self-protective character, and learn to not detach from irritating matters to quickly. With that hopefully, I'll become a better person. Of course, as well, I hope it'll help me walk a smoother path at work.

God bless.

Welcome home!

2010-12-10T20:31:00.002+08:00

Specially dedicated to JR.

WELCOME HOME!! :D

Go enjoy good food and catch the latest movies at the cinema.

I'll be back tomorrow. ^^

Sorry That I Loved You

2010-12-08T23:43:00.002+08:00

Had been hearing/reading about this guy recently, as people had been forwarding his music videos on Weibo.

Anthony Neely, an American-Chinese mixed. I found this song of his quite nice. It's 'Sorry That I Loved You' from his first album 'Lesson One'. Oh, he composed the lyrics of this song.

I found the MV quite interesting too.

Anyway here's a post to keep my blog alive for the moment. I'll be leaving for Pangkor tomorrow, so no entries till then; I guess. ;)

Ta!

SEM 6: End

2010-12-06T22:43:00.004+08:00

My sixth semester at college ended a few days ago, on Saturday the 4th of December. Then ended my two years at college.

People often talk about what they've learnt in such a blog post, but I guess I'll eliminate that - probably for the moment - since I have yet to put everything together to actually see what I've learnt and how I've changed throughout the two years.

Anyway, I've left college and internship will be beginning next Monday on the 13th. I'm pretty nervous about it seeing I've not experienced working/getting involved in such a PR thing. Besides that, guess I'll have to admit I'm also feeling somewhat worried about the people I'll meet. You know like people say, school's the safest place; or something like it that means the outside world is not as "innocent" as in school/college/university.

For the time being, I'm still stuck with a few pieces of assignments and a thesis to be done with, while I try to get myself well prepared for the outside world. Oh, and trying my best to enjoy my one week break to the max before my planner gets packed up all the way till next year! :)

Online identities

2010-11-30T23:42:00.006+08:00

I've never thought of this, our online identities being different from who we really are. However, I'd say I've realised that many introverts in real life seem to be extroverts online. Probably these real life introverts are lack of self-confidence when they meet people face to face, which is why their real extrovert self is shown online, behind the computer screen.

I do think social networking is a wonderful tool. I mean, for once, I don't have to admit that I actually don't remember someone's birthday, and communication becomes so much easier and cheaper. But at the same time (this was what I learned in class) our online identities become a performance, like how a celebrity manages their image. So in a way, it's not really who we are.

JR.

Coming to think of it, I guess some of my lecturers mentioned something like it before. As in, social network sites is where we sell ourselves, by branding, promoting and labeling ourselves, especially in our About Me's and personal blogs.

Like JR's point, our online identities become a performance, like how a celebrity manages their image.

I guess so, since sometimes I wonder why I post Plurks or Tweets like "Class today's at 2.30pm! Yay!" It's not like I'm a celebrity needing to tell my fans what I'm up to or where I'll be. I do that pretty often. Sometimes I still doubt the move, though I know myself that I'm posting it to express my feelings on a certain happening.

I have a habit of looking back and reading my old entries/posts online. Feels to me it's a way I see how I've changed, mentally (the way I think and my reaction to daily happenings), whether I still react the same to things some time later. It's also a way to track how my style of writing has changed, whether it has improved.

I admit, sometimes I do post entries and updates online hoping to get feedbacks, but most of the time, I find myself posting/updating just to please myself. This, is why I've defended myself for being a person who is still her true self online.

However, here's a point. I might have not realised if I've changed according to how I behave online, instead of my behaviour online changing according to how I've changed. This goes to everyone. In the sense that, without these social networks, ordinary people won't have a public stage to express their inner self. Then we can see why sometimes, the inner self of a person is never seen no matter how close another individual is to him/her; because it is buried deep underneath.

Yet now, with the presence of social network as a stage for people to express their inner self, they simply throw these so-called inner self out, in person.

For instance, person C writes "I'm a person who cries real easily" online. Now C's online image is "a person who cries real easily". Then, in person, C tends to cry too often and easily, maybe unintentionally, as a way to "prove" his words online. Soon, person C who is actually only "a person with sensitive emotions" who doesn't usually express it by crying, becomes a person who cries easily - as a result of his overacting-actions becoming a habit (or new inner self) with time.

Right?

For the time being I'm too occupied to settle down and think if my online image has changed according to how I've changed or vice versa. Anyway, it has, like people say, so many different sides with arguments that are all logical, acceptable and applicable to different individuals.

If you're free and have nothing else to fill time, you may sit down and think of the side that's applicable to yourself.

That's all for the month. My 20th post; finally. :)

Sleepy exam day

2010-11-30T23:07:00.002+08:00

On Monday, it was the first day of my final exam at college. I had a single paper at 1.10pm but I woke up early that morning and hadn't take any naps after the paper. I had two papers the next day (which is today) but by 11pm last night I was already too sleepy to start revising the notes.

I took a nap and woke up at 12am, then I started with some slight revision. Little did I know the short nap would cause me an insomnia. I only managed to sleep around 5am last night at had to wake up at 7am this morning for the first paper of the day. Luckily the morning was still fine.

Law paper at 1.10pm was really killing. I was basically yawning, almost dozing off in the exam hall (The air-cond made the sleepiness worse!). Plus my bandaged arm, my handwriting was just horrible! Yet nice in an artistic way, I have to say. Too bad I couldn't take a picture of my answer sheet or I would have, to remember the worst handwriting I've ever had in an exam. Aha!

English Translation tomorrow. Not much of a problem so I'll be spending the night relaxing a bit. :)

Two A.M.

2010-11-30T02:06:00.000+08:00

Just finished reading through News Editing. Law's at 1.10pm so I guess I'll leave that for tomorrow. *eheh*

They say the English-writing me and the Chinese-writing me seem to be two very different people. Yes? No? Hmm. Me writing in English - looks more rational. Me writing in Chinese - looks more emotional. Oh yeah?

Hmm.

Dear arm

2010-11-29T20:33:00.004+08:00

My wrist hurt badly during my only paper today. Hadn't hurt that much since it got better with the bandage. Guess too much of writing is really killing.

Two papers tomorrow, gonna have to write like mad. Maybe I should wrap my arm with the bandage. Hope it doesn't affect my writing speed. Heh.

Panda coffee art. I'm addicted to coffee arts lately.

Besides the pain, the paper was fine. Not too bad.

Anyway, that's all for now. Really tired and I gotta go tidy my scattered notes a bit. Ta!

Specially dedicated to...

2010-11-29T20:29:00.002+08:00

NICHOLAS TEO.

HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY, my idol since eight years ago. ^^

Gee he was 21, I was 11, when I first heard of him. Ahhhh we're old!

...but young at heart! ^^

Of Hall's Theory and exams

2010-11-29T00:49:00.011+08:00

My Communication and Society paper's at 1.10pm tomorrow. I've just finished compiling all the notes and briefly understanding it. Here's something I have to share.

I read about Stuart Hall, a cultural theorist and sociologist, who developed a reception theory called the theory of Encoding and Decoding (or Hall's Theory). Here's what the theory's about:

According to the theory, audiences can have three different reactions to a media text, whether it be a film, documentary or newspaper:
Dominant, or Preferred, Reading - how the director/creator wants the audience to view the media text;
Opposition Reading - when the audience rejects the preferred reading, and creates their own meaning of the text;
Negotiated Reading - a compromise between the dominant and opposition readings, where the audience accepts parts of the director's views, but has their own views on parts as well.

It says the audience doesn't always accept media texts completely as it is shown. Depending on several factors that affect the way the audiences read the media text, different people will have different opinions on a same context. As shown above, you can see there are three different reactions.

Been craving badly for a good cup of coffee.
I even changed my Twitter and Plurk's background image for it!

Therefore, the greatest knowledge I've gotten from this subject is, when my answers/essays on an exam paper vary from that of the lecturer's standard answers, he should know this:

Depending on my personal backgrounds, I've decoded the notes given in a different way as you did - in this case most probably by negotiated reading or opposition reading - thus the different answers.

So, we're not wrong. We're just different. Oh yes. ;)

Say, how about an A for that? :D

It's SO me

2010-11-28T15:47:00.005+08:00

I'm supposed to be studying my notes.

I've not started! WHEEEEEEE~~

P.S
Happy birthday, Nic Teo's lil sister! (like I know who she is) :D

Korea Open Grand Prix

2010-11-27T21:36:00.002+08:00

That's tomorrow's finals. Proves Korea is still relatively weaker at singles.

Oh dear oh dear. I'm still looking forward to the day they win the Thomas Cup. Best wishes!