Wow

I haven't been visiting and writing on this space for two months. So many things happened like, how I lost someone I was very close to my entire life. Yes, I ain't kidding. May you be happy up there :)

Once again, lessons learnt. Never take anyone for granted. So easy to say, but we always make the same mistakes. :(

Anyway, on to something more encouraging and wonderful.

Got a few written pieces up for another NPO. This time it's one in the UK. Chanced upon it on Stalkerspace of UNI on FB of all places. Haha. Possibly the most useful and educational post in my entire life as a university student/postgrad currently.

Okay, till next time.

Gotta finish whatever needs to be done ESP. my crazy thesis.

From one book to another

I guess it's true that once you're a book-lover, there is no way you can ever stop buying/getting books. I've been getting so many books it's like as if I've the time in the whole wide world to read them lah.

I try my best now to read some pages and stop and after a while go back again. thanks to how technically I am FREE-R than in first degree life.

meh

I don't know who reads blogs anymore. And my blog is not that funny anymore. Somehow just to lazy to blog. :(

Maintaining blogs with zero social life is meh.

sayonara

I still read the printed word

Few days ago, I finally got down to finishing Life of Pi. Truly, it felt most relaxing to find time to read such a great book. For so many months I've been wanting to read but just never found the time to do so.

Next up: Whatever it takes by Adele Parks

Of five girls and a boy

It is such joy to have known them even if most of the time, I see them ONCE a WEEK. Really, they make me feel a little more relieved about the major thing I'm doing now.

They're so random. How they can switch from ONE joke to another pretty easily. 

It's just funny you know when the girls outnumber guys. Suddenly, all the stereotypes come up even if you didn't mean to stereotype them but thankfully, they're a nice bunch. And we were taught in the span of three years (undergrad) to think critically so yeah.

I'm glad to have them as my Honours mates.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

<3 <3 <3

SHD I WRITE A THESIS AGAIN....

1) I never want to deal with the PAIN of filling up, editing and getting ethics clearance.

2) NO NO NO WAY . I will never choose a topic too theoretical for me to explain in simple terms


3) CHOOSE SOMETHING THAT HAS NO HUMAN INVOLVEMENT. I WOULDN'T SAY IT'S EASIER but it saves you the trouble of HUNTING HIGH AND LOW for people to ANSWER your QUESTIONS (the way you want it).

DONE RANTING

The life of a researcher

Thank you for reminding me to procrastinate again with this post. Sweat.

So research has beeeen taking up much of my time. Well, actually research with a substantial amount of hanging out on Facebook since I was smart enough to choose a topic that feeds my addiction. lol. Well, I don't always log in but when I do, I will find it difficult to log out and concentrate.

Even if class is JUST ONCE A WEEK, time runs out pretty fast. SHD I SAY TIME FLIES? By right I shd be confident about my lit review at this stage... but... whattheXXXX? After Honours presentation which was good but not stellar, so much of the feedback given kinda make me have second thoughts about what I'm doing. It's like... ah! never mind.

Whatever it is I gotta work on my 5000-word finalised proposal.

So, I am INTJ

Honours has been a journey of self discovery, really. I find that I question myself a lot more than I did in  my first three years. There's only SIX of us this year. Not like the number had increased in the past few years.

Research life is so different from your typical bachelor's. Trust me, it is much harder to keep track of what you're doing than when you had deadlines to adhere to. It is so much easier to procrastinate and overlook certain things.

The other day after class outta boredom, J let me try the Myers Briggs test and guess what? I got INTJ. Which isn't exactly surprising but at the same time, I felt... I dunno. Content? Sad?

Some of the things which I felt were true to a certain extent:

Treated like a "doormat"
Often unappreciated although submits work of high quality (or sth like that)
Methodical in approach (which probably explains why I am in Honours)
Prefer to work alone (once again, why I like researching)


gtg, bb.

You taught me something even if we were not that close.

From what I remember, though how little my memory of you may be, you were such a pleasant girl.

Most of the time, it was HI-BYE conversations in high school. Yet, I'm thankful that you were nice to me. A wonderful prefect, I'd say.

We were never in the same class.

Yet, I was lucky that through your best friend's party aka my classmate's party, I had some informal conversation with you.

And according to my FB history, I did say hello at least until 2 years back when I realised that maybe I wasn't that close to you so never mind....

Until 5 days ago, when you randomly  LIKED my grad photos. There was this URGE in me to reconnect with you. Swear I did. But, part of me felt... hmm... this is funny....trying not to think too much, no, nothing weird. no, maybe I shouldn't disturb her-lah!

When I think back and as I looked back at our friendship on FB, maybe that's why you invited me to your church play despite me being your best friend's classmate and nothing more. And maybe that's why despite me being a new kid on the block at the time I saw you around, you were nice to me.

And perhaps your LIKE was a way of saying HELLO and CONGRATS even after years of not keeping in touch.

And on Saturday, just as I was about to reconnect, I saw tons of wallposts - a lot of them containing something I couldn't believe I was reading.

Life is fleeting.

One minute you're here, the next minute, who knows?

truly memorable

Last Wednesday was what I would describe as a fitting close to a TESTING 3 years of (Monash) University. Maybe I was a little too simplistic with my judgement  about graduation ceremonies especially after going for a friend's one because I really shouldn't have been.

Yes, the memories built/made throughout your journey in University may not be equal to the one time celebration i.e. your convocation.

I realised it is more than that. It brought the notsoclose closer, even if it's just a few centimetres closer haha. It definitely solidified the other CLOSE FRIENDSHIPS I'd made along the way.

Next, the PVC's speech couldn't have come at a better time. It reminded me that no matter how far you go, your first degree convocation is the one that you'd want to look back and say HEY, I MADE IT!

The memorabilia I brought back was truly priceless. There's surely NO turning back for those who decided it's not worth it because I saw it as an opportunity, an opportunity to (like I said), bring friends closer, to remember that there's no convocation like this at any point in your entire life... even if you're ambitious to pursue a PhD... it just ain't the same somehow.

I can barely wait to WEEP along with the DVD of the ceremony.

I beg your pardon?

Linguistic habits are INDEED hard to break. Something I'm not used to saying esp. because I'm Malaysian/Asian is 'I beg your pardon'.

I'm too used to saying 'HUH' that everytime AFTER saying it, I feel STUPID because it isn't exactly polite esp. if you're communicating with the exchange students - somehow their 'PARDON?' comes in automatically and conveniently.

And having parents that are POWERHOUSE(S), it's natural that they remind you "Eh, you cannot say 'HUH', you know?" Yet, ironically, because we're Malaysians, it's so DIFFICULT to do away with the habit.

I must practise saying MORE of PARDON. Now when I think about it, I better. Seriously, saying 'HUH' too many times to your supervisor from the UK isn't very nice.

so, we meet again :)

Went back to uni today to settle payment and enrolment. I'm glad that for ONCE, I ain't paying one huge sum.

Thought today would be insanely quiet since the usual semester hasn't begun officially. Well, at least, there's a SUMMER SEM bunch. Like, seriously, why torture yourself with summer sem? Haha. Anyway, I also saw and was easily fascinated by some good-looking exchange students from Down Under. It's like reliving sem 2, 2012. LOL.

I sincerely hope I know what's in store for me.

Don't wanna repeat what I did in my three years: sleeping at UNGODLY hours.

the latest I will sleep is 12am.

let's see if this works for long.

ohmygodisitreallyhappening?

NO WAY! HONOURS DOES NOT BEGIN IN TWO WEEKS TIME!

WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE WATCHING TV, SLEEPING, BLASTING THE RADIO and READING???????????

So much to work on while on holiday and so much MORE to do when research phase begins.

And to think I might go on to postgraduate...

You haven't lived

unless you've read LIFE OF PI.

no, seriously.

what was I thinking? Was initially "Meh, what's so nice about it?" I read so much, so many other books... I mean, they're all GOOD in their own way but, I've never come across such beautiful writing.

It's simply amazing how Martel can just name almost every animal, cram it into one page and yet still convey the meaning FLAWLESSLY.

Every page offers surprise. Like, as I read, I think: What? How is he going to continue the story?

I must sincerely thank the person who insisted I read it.

because not only does it help expand my vocab, it also helps in terms of my word retrieval and visual memory.

GO READ IT.

Pre-Honours post

I don't even know if anyone reads what I post anymore. First, it's because I'm lazy. Second, it's sort of pointless to detail everything that's happening in your life. Third, I'm slowly learning to be a RESPONSIBLE adult besides acknowledging and coping with my being a 'special kid'. 

I may have been labelled SLOW, DUMB and what not. Even till today, my parents' patience are tested and so is mine... but IF anything, being that 'special kid' taught me to be even more humble and courageous.

Seriously, nobody thought I'd be here... typing this post, first-deg grad... and soon enough, Honours.

Next thing in line: to NOT falter while studying and WRITING your thesis.

After watching Marianna's video and stumbling upon her...

Like I said before, the Caucasians have a beautiful way of expressing themselves.

For example, how my Australian BFF goes:

Is there enough room, JL?

as opposed to our very M'sian

Eh, enough space anot?


Well, in another class, he said:

...... and on the other side (of the paper) as well

what do we say in M'sia?

.... oh, at the back also got. (LOL!)

and I remember when we were discussing our presentation parts, as in which part we wanted to do/liked to do. It went something like this:

Hey, JL. So, which part would you like to do? Any preferences at all?

As opposed to:

Eh! So, do what-ah?/which one?

Isn't English an amazing language? LOL.
And yes, I have to agree with Marianna. Her point about the amount of language spoken. The Asians generally don't speak much. HINT: Talk to me... and you'll realise how MUCH I speak. The Caucasians on the other hand GIVE OUT information too freely! Which is what I find MOST amazing about them. LOL. If you're a Malaysian, and you give out too much info about yourself, you'd be deeemed talkative or err.. a show-off-er... and the one forcing you to open up will be called 'penyibuk'. Right????


Hehe...

PS: I stumbled upon her OLD blog :)

2009 Humorous Speech Contest by Marianna Pascal.avi

I swear, this IS EXACTLY why FOREIGNERS... like the awesome exchange students I've met LOVE OUR ENGLISH... a.k.a. Malaysian English

Wanna challenge yourself?

WRITE a THESIS.

Not KIDDING.

It will make you realise that:

1)  your vocabulary isn't as good as you think it is...
2) you really have to put your thinking cap on
3) even as I'm writing this proposal to be submitted, I'm struggling so badly.
4) Eh, what happened to my English? I thought I was FLUENT.
5) Writing for academic purposes is ALMOST like FLYING to the MOON.
6) Despite how many essays they've given you in your first three years at uni, you still find yourself saying: Huh? I thought I knew...

Fingers crossed, I'm actually going back to write my thesis... otherwise, I just wasted time doing my proposal.

Last year

The amazing things I was taught last year:

1) Publishing my first ever article on NYE. It certainly had taught me that WRITING isn't just about HAVING FUN with WHAT you write. It's about having the ability to CONNECT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE, PATIENCE to write, COURAGE to express what you want to say, DETERMINATION to FINISH what you've started. Of course, WORD POWER and KNOWLEDGE come in handy too :)

2) Making mistakes is OKAY as long as you don't make the same mistake OVER and OVER again. - Related to point no. 1.

3) Meeting new people, making friends with some of the most bubbly exchange students. It was HELL SCARY at first because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to understand them, or more specifically their (thick) accents. Initially thought that they were going to judge us especially if we're not fluent in the English language.  They  turned out to be QUITE a NICE bunch. :) They taught me what no textbook could teach me, what my parents have failed to teach me properly. But most of all, I learnt that they can be the most beautiful people ever. They'd be the ones to lift your spirits high, calm you when you're extremely nervous, tell you that everything's going to be alright. Pretty supportive, don't you think?

4) It's okay not to get Distinctions.
Life isn't all about grades. Well, of course they matter to some extent but last year, when I didn't get what I wanted, it was painful... brutal if you'd allow me to say so. Then again, I came back stronger the following semester, telling myself, I need a good break from the laptop sometimes... and I guess it paid off because I had MUCH better grades the second-half of the year :)