A freaking dinosaur. Ancient as the hills from whence came my ancestors. An artefact ready to be put under glass in the London museum. Decrepit in the midst of all this youthful beauty.
*end scene*
Okay seriously though, I feel so old over here. Thanks to my taking a gap year, I'm a year older than most of the other Malaysians here. And thanks to our sucky schooling system, I'm 2 years older than the Brits. =S Thank God for Tara who's 24 this year. =p
As further proof of my ripening/ fermenting age, one of my friends played this high-pitched sound that can supposedly only be heard by teenagers. I don't know if they were pulling my leg or not but I couldn't hear a damn thing. And her 25-year-old brother could! My ears are old too! ='(
Bah humbug!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Making up for lost time
I'm sorry Mids! I know I promised to blog as soon as exams were over but I had to wait till I had something to blog about. ;) This past week has been a whirlwind of trips and goings-out. But then I do have an excuse - I've seen nothing but the inside of my room and the library for the past 6 weeks.
Monday
Finished my final paper!! Wheee!! And the weather was amazing for once. Bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Like Mother Nature was celebrating along with us. =D I spent the whole day lazing about on the grass, reading fashion mags and eating ice-cream. Sigh. Bliss! Then it was Top B in the evening - 1 pound drinks, crap music, people-watching and dancing, rounded off with kebabs from the Burger Van at 1 in the morning. Perfect. It's been sooo long since I've done that.
Tuesday
Shisha at Aqua with Aishani, Neha, Kanu, Tara and Tarinni. Apple mint. Yum yum. =P Somehow shisha brings out the randomest conversations. I don't even remember what we talked about anymore but I know I couldn't stop laughing all evening.
Monday
Finished my final paper!! Wheee!! And the weather was amazing for once. Bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Like Mother Nature was celebrating along with us. =D I spent the whole day lazing about on the grass, reading fashion mags and eating ice-cream. Sigh. Bliss! Then it was Top B in the evening - 1 pound drinks, crap music, people-watching and dancing, rounded off with kebabs from the Burger Van at 1 in the morning. Perfect. It's been sooo long since I've done that.
Tuesday
Shisha at Aqua with Aishani, Neha, Kanu, Tara and Tarinni. Apple mint. Yum yum. =P Somehow shisha brings out the randomest conversations. I don't even remember what we talked about anymore but I know I couldn't stop laughing all evening.
Tara and I
Camwhoring was the order of the day!
The Tarinis. (eww my hair is yucky but I like these pictures so I'll let my vanity suffer =p)
According to these guys, I camwhore really well. =S Owe it all to you Wenz.. months and months of practice under your patient tutelage has turned me into a pro. Now I can pass along the gift.=P
WednesdayShopping with Quennezy and Zhiyi (my fellow Malaysians and Benes flatmates) in Birmingham, which is the nearest town with any decent shopping. Or as the Brits call it, Bham. We had yummy Japanese food in Mount Fuji and deliciously cold, sweet plum wine. And then it was shop shop shop till we drop drop dropped! Haha. It was soo good to go out shopping again. I must've tried on countless tops and trousers, sunnies, shoes! In the end all I got was this really cute corset-like top from Jane Norman. Why oh why don't they have Jane Norman in Malaysia?? And no, I'm not telling you how much it cost. =S
Thursday
I *was* going to spend a quiet day indoors but Shani called and off we were to watch Sex and the City in Coventry. Omg, the clothes, the shoes, the bags!!! I kept turning to Tarinni every few minutes to squeal about Carrie's shoes and she kept saying "watch the movie, not the shoes". Lol. I never really bothered with the series before but I'm starting to like it now.
Friday
I baked!! More specifically, Dimple baked and I helped. And ate the raw dough. Mmmm her cake is sooo good!! And there's a whole container of it sitting here tantalising me. No! I will resist! I did not work my ass off in the gym today to come back and put it right back on again. Geddit?? ' Work my ass off'? Haha. =p
And then we had pizza and garlic bread and watched Pretty Woman. Gosh I love Julia Roberts! She's amazing. And the guy - was it Richard Gere? *swoon*
Saturday
Back to good old Bham! Lol. Shopaholic much? Why, yes thank you. Actually Dimps and I went there to find her a dress for Final Fling. We hit Jane Norman first and fell in love with 2 gorgeous dresses. And then continued trawling the mall and high street for the next SEVEN hours but everything else paled in comparison. She must have tried on more than 20 dresses I think. My part in the project was to pick stuff off the racks and hand them to her. =p And of course I did my own bit of shopping in between. Got the awesomest pair of shades from Warehouse and a couple of tops from H&M. Me loves!! =D
And then we went back to Cov for dinner with a bunch of 3rd year friends at a yummy Thai restaurant. Then came back to campus and stayed up till 4 in the morning gossiping and catching up with everyone else who'd just finished their papers. It was actually bright out when I finally left to come home. Looong day.
Sunday
The only productive thing I did today was to go to the gym. And then I came back and polished off a burger because I was so ravenous after that. So maybe it wasn't quite so productive after all. =S
Long long week and more to come. Whee!! Bon Jovi on the 24th and then I'll be home on the 4th!! =D
Friday, May 16, 2008
On Cloud 9
I promised a recount of my skydiving adventure. So here goes (in minuscule, painful detail)
Warwick's skydiving club organises a charity skydiving event every year - The Great Warwick Jump. Basically I had to raise a minimum of 300 quid to cover the cost of the skydive with the rest going to the charity of my choice. So -
March 15th - This was the weekend we were originally supposed to jump. But we got to the dropzone in Hibaldstow (which is in the back of beyond, might I add. It's about as ulu as it can get) and found ourselves in a weather hold. The clouds were too dense and low so no one was allowed to jump. We hung around from 7 am to 9 pm. Dissapointed, we came back only to discover that the others, who had roughed it out overnight, were greeted by clear skies the next morning and managed to come back having completed their jumps.
So 2 weekends ago, the skydiving club organised another trip to Hibaldstow. That, I have to say, was the most adrenaline pumped day of my life and not just because of the jump.
I woke up to realise that I had overslept and missed the minibus taking us to the dropzone. Brilliant right?
Well I wasn't going to miss yet another chance at skydiving so I decided to hop on a train to get there. Took me 2 changes and a cab ride (I told you this place was ulu) but get there I did in the end.
Skydiving seems to entail a lot of waiting - for your turn, for the wind to die down, for the cloud to thin out. So I waited. And waited.
None too soon I was pulling on a jumpsuit and being strapped into a harness by my tandem instructor. It feels like you're being compressed when you're in it. We went through a final round of instructions about what we were supposed to do, then made our way out to wait for the plane.
It's one of those really old-fashioned WW2 planes that look like they're about to fall apart at any moment. Yeah, this was what was going to carry me 15,000 feet into the air. The plane lands after having dropped off another batch of skydivers, and we clamber in. There was one other tandem jumper apart from me, the others being seasoned skydivers. There are 2 benches in the tiny compartment and 15 people to squeeze onto them. It's soo packed. We're pretty much sitting with our faces pressed into the back of the person in front of us.
We took off and I could see the ground falling away pretty quickly. The instructor, Chris kept pointing out the different altitudes. Funny though, I didn't really feel scared. There was a huge amount of anticipation but not so much nerves.
Everyone's pretty much sitting quietly or talking amongst themselves. Then at one point, there's a flurry of activity. Everyone is turning to each other and giving high fives, and secret handshakes. People are saying to me "have a good jump" and "don't forget to enjoy yourself". I have to sit on Chris' lap as someone else fastens us together and checks the buckles and straps one last time.
The door/hatch is opened and in the space of less than 10 seconds all the experienced jumpers have disappeared. The other guy and his instructor melt into the sky and then we're kneeling in front of the door and all I can see out of it is blue blue sky dotted with clouds, and then we're in the blue blue sky.
We just fell. Non-stop with nothing to slow us down. I kept waiting for us to hit the ground. It's so strange but somehow I felt safe knowing that I was falling and wasn't going to fall flat on my face. For 50 whole seconds we just fell. And for a good 20 seconds of that I was screaming my lungs out. I think at one point the instructor's hand came round to cover my mouth. Lol. After a while I just ran out of breath and decided to enjoy the rest of the fall in silence. Well, you couldn't call it silence. We were falling so fast the wind was deafening. And it was so cold that when we fell through the clouds, the water droplets felt like ice crystals on my face.
All too soon, Chris deployed the parachute. And this was perhaps the strangest part of the whole thing (notwithstanding the fact that I had just jumped out of a plane). We were just suspended in mid-air. We weren't moving at all, just dangling there like puppets with no strings attached. I couldn't stop looking down. There were my sneakers, and then way waaay below were houses and gardens and fields looking like doll's house pieces.
And we were sort of gliding through the air. Sometimes doing corkscrews. It was so peaceful and calming seeing field after field dotted with bright yellow flowers and roofs and chimneys underfoot. It was quite bizarre too, come to think about it - having a conversation in mid-air. And yet incredibly romantic. If only I wasn't strapped to a complete stranger.
The landing happened so fast. I never really realised how quickly we were descending and before I knew it, my feet were on terra firma. And I gave Chris the biggest bear hug I could seeing as he was a towering 2 foot taller than me. I was on a high the whole day and all the way back. Even thinking about it now gives me goosebumps.
So ended my charity skydive. Oh remember the children's home where Shashi and I used to teach? Precious Children's Home? Well that's where I've sent the money I raised. I'm so glad I could do something for them, even from way over here.
I can't wait for next year!!
Warwick's skydiving club organises a charity skydiving event every year - The Great Warwick Jump. Basically I had to raise a minimum of 300 quid to cover the cost of the skydive with the rest going to the charity of my choice. So -
March 15th - This was the weekend we were originally supposed to jump. But we got to the dropzone in Hibaldstow (which is in the back of beyond, might I add. It's about as ulu as it can get) and found ourselves in a weather hold. The clouds were too dense and low so no one was allowed to jump. We hung around from 7 am to 9 pm. Dissapointed, we came back only to discover that the others, who had roughed it out overnight, were greeted by clear skies the next morning and managed to come back having completed their jumps.
So 2 weekends ago, the skydiving club organised another trip to Hibaldstow. That, I have to say, was the most adrenaline pumped day of my life and not just because of the jump.
I woke up to realise that I had overslept and missed the minibus taking us to the dropzone. Brilliant right?
Well I wasn't going to miss yet another chance at skydiving so I decided to hop on a train to get there. Took me 2 changes and a cab ride (I told you this place was ulu) but get there I did in the end.
Skydiving seems to entail a lot of waiting - for your turn, for the wind to die down, for the cloud to thin out. So I waited. And waited.
None too soon I was pulling on a jumpsuit and being strapped into a harness by my tandem instructor. It feels like you're being compressed when you're in it. We went through a final round of instructions about what we were supposed to do, then made our way out to wait for the plane.
It's one of those really old-fashioned WW2 planes that look like they're about to fall apart at any moment. Yeah, this was what was going to carry me 15,000 feet into the air. The plane lands after having dropped off another batch of skydivers, and we clamber in. There was one other tandem jumper apart from me, the others being seasoned skydivers. There are 2 benches in the tiny compartment and 15 people to squeeze onto them. It's soo packed. We're pretty much sitting with our faces pressed into the back of the person in front of us.
We took off and I could see the ground falling away pretty quickly. The instructor, Chris kept pointing out the different altitudes. Funny though, I didn't really feel scared. There was a huge amount of anticipation but not so much nerves.
Everyone's pretty much sitting quietly or talking amongst themselves. Then at one point, there's a flurry of activity. Everyone is turning to each other and giving high fives, and secret handshakes. People are saying to me "have a good jump" and "don't forget to enjoy yourself". I have to sit on Chris' lap as someone else fastens us together and checks the buckles and straps one last time.
The door/hatch is opened and in the space of less than 10 seconds all the experienced jumpers have disappeared. The other guy and his instructor melt into the sky and then we're kneeling in front of the door and all I can see out of it is blue blue sky dotted with clouds, and then we're in the blue blue sky.
We just fell. Non-stop with nothing to slow us down. I kept waiting for us to hit the ground. It's so strange but somehow I felt safe knowing that I was falling and wasn't going to fall flat on my face. For 50 whole seconds we just fell. And for a good 20 seconds of that I was screaming my lungs out. I think at one point the instructor's hand came round to cover my mouth. Lol. After a while I just ran out of breath and decided to enjoy the rest of the fall in silence. Well, you couldn't call it silence. We were falling so fast the wind was deafening. And it was so cold that when we fell through the clouds, the water droplets felt like ice crystals on my face.
All too soon, Chris deployed the parachute. And this was perhaps the strangest part of the whole thing (notwithstanding the fact that I had just jumped out of a plane). We were just suspended in mid-air. We weren't moving at all, just dangling there like puppets with no strings attached. I couldn't stop looking down. There were my sneakers, and then way waaay below were houses and gardens and fields looking like doll's house pieces.
And we were sort of gliding through the air. Sometimes doing corkscrews. It was so peaceful and calming seeing field after field dotted with bright yellow flowers and roofs and chimneys underfoot. It was quite bizarre too, come to think about it - having a conversation in mid-air. And yet incredibly romantic. If only I wasn't strapped to a complete stranger.
The landing happened so fast. I never really realised how quickly we were descending and before I knew it, my feet were on terra firma. And I gave Chris the biggest bear hug I could seeing as he was a towering 2 foot taller than me. I was on a high the whole day and all the way back. Even thinking about it now gives me goosebumps.
So ended my charity skydive. Oh remember the children's home where Shashi and I used to teach? Precious Children's Home? Well that's where I've sent the money I raised. I'm so glad I could do something for them, even from way over here.
I can't wait for next year!!
I can't I can't I can't
I can't study no more!!!! ='(
I have statutes and case names coming out of my ears!!!
ASBOs, terms and representations, Law of Property Act, trusts and land registration, negligence, economic loss...
My nightly bedfellows include Jeremy Bentham, John Austin, Karl Marx, Thomas Hobbes...(Hobbes writes beautiful prose by the way. Just in case someone might want to pick up Leviathan for a bit of light reading.)
When I walk past the red post box outside the supermarket, I think of Adams v Lindsel. I saw an article about a fire and R v Miller popped into my head. I look at a bloody pathway and think of easements!
HELP!!!
2 more weeks and so much left to cover! How??
I have statutes and case names coming out of my ears!!!
ASBOs, terms and representations, Law of Property Act, trusts and land registration, negligence, economic loss...
My nightly bedfellows include Jeremy Bentham, John Austin, Karl Marx, Thomas Hobbes...(Hobbes writes beautiful prose by the way. Just in case someone might want to pick up Leviathan for a bit of light reading.)
When I walk past the red post box outside the supermarket, I think of Adams v Lindsel. I saw an article about a fire and R v Miller popped into my head. I look at a bloody pathway and think of easements!
HELP!!!
2 more weeks and so much left to cover! How??
Monday, April 14, 2008
4th of July Baby!!!!
I'll be HOOOOMMMMEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you tell I'm excited? =D =D =D
That's less than three months away!!!
Okay, I'm writing in exclamation marks..I'll tone it down now.
But I also want to go to this summer school in July. If I do then I'll only be able to go home in August. But this is really prestigious and a fantastic opportunity to network if I'm going to work here. And it'll make getting an internship next summer so much easier. Plus, it looks like a fantastic way to learn about the legal profession.
Oh I'm so muddled. I guess everything still hangs on me getting in but I'm torn right now.
I really really really want to go. But I miss my family back home. And all my friends. And my gran. =(
And my excitement has plummeted. :-S
Can you tell I'm excited? =D =D =D
That's less than three months away!!!
Okay, I'm writing in exclamation marks..I'll tone it down now.
But I also want to go to this summer school in July. If I do then I'll only be able to go home in August. But this is really prestigious and a fantastic opportunity to network if I'm going to work here. And it'll make getting an internship next summer so much easier. Plus, it looks like a fantastic way to learn about the legal profession.
Oh I'm so muddled. I guess everything still hangs on me getting in but I'm torn right now.
I really really really want to go. But I miss my family back home. And all my friends. And my gran. =(
And my excitement has plummeted. :-S
Sunday, April 06, 2008
It snowed...AGAIN
It's early April, the temperature was just starting to get warmer (in the tens, finally!), the sun no longer sets at 4 (making me want to do nothing but hide under the covers), the flowers were just peaking their tiny heads out in anticipation, there were gloriously gorgeous daffodils lining the motorways...
Sounds like the beginnings of a wonderful Spring, doesn't it?
But noooo....dear old Mother Nature decided she would mess with my mind and dumped such a mountain of snow here last night that when I woke up it looked like I was inside a snowdome. Or the Arctic. Or an iced gingerbread house. Lol.
The wonky old bat!
Sounds like the beginnings of a wonderful Spring, doesn't it?
But noooo....dear old Mother Nature decided she would mess with my mind and dumped such a mountain of snow here last night that when I woke up it looked like I was inside a snowdome. Or the Arctic. Or an iced gingerbread house. Lol.
The wonky old bat!
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Revamped!
How does my baby look? =)
Now, can someone please give me some ideas on what to add to it? Coz with all the black gone it's looking a bit bare.
But I have to warn you if you're hoping this may spark some creative juices and increase the frequency of my blogging...well, I am too. But I wouldn't hold my breath. =p
Now, can someone please give me some ideas on what to add to it? Coz with all the black gone it's looking a bit bare.
But I have to warn you if you're hoping this may spark some creative juices and increase the frequency of my blogging...well, I am too. But I wouldn't hold my breath. =p
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Hope Springs Again
Do you want to know the reason for the dearth of posts in this blog?
Hopelessness.
I think coming to the UK opened my eyes to all the drama happening back home. Perhaps the distance gave me a more objective viewpoint. Perhaps it is because I started following the news back home more closely - reading the NST, blogs, Malaysiakini...absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all.
But the truth is, I didn't like what I read. For the first time I saw the patronizing, the corruption, alienation, overconfidence and the utter disregard the government had for our people - without the smokescreen of the mainstream press or the tempurung I used to adopt at home.
Do you know how sometimes you're so overcome with anger or emotion that all words fail you?
There you go.
But today!!! I feel Malaysian like I haven't felt in a long time. I feel that at long last I share the sentiments of my fellow contrymen, and they share mine. That we are one and the same after all, we all want the same things, we feel anger and resentment at the same issues. That there need not be a divide between the races and a truly bangsa Malaysia is indeed possible.
Every newspaper, blog and online news site is crying out "The people have spoken". And even though I am not yet one of those people, their voices fill me with optimism and empowerment.
Hopelessness.
I think coming to the UK opened my eyes to all the drama happening back home. Perhaps the distance gave me a more objective viewpoint. Perhaps it is because I started following the news back home more closely - reading the NST, blogs, Malaysiakini...absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all.
But the truth is, I didn't like what I read. For the first time I saw the patronizing, the corruption, alienation, overconfidence and the utter disregard the government had for our people - without the smokescreen of the mainstream press or the tempurung I used to adopt at home.
Do you know how sometimes you're so overcome with anger or emotion that all words fail you?
There you go.
But today!!! I feel Malaysian like I haven't felt in a long time. I feel that at long last I share the sentiments of my fellow contrymen, and they share mine. That we are one and the same after all, we all want the same things, we feel anger and resentment at the same issues. That there need not be a divide between the races and a truly bangsa Malaysia is indeed possible.
Every newspaper, blog and online news site is crying out "The people have spoken". And even though I am not yet one of those people, their voices fill me with optimism and empowerment.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
In a world gone mad
I'd forgotten the divine bliss and utter peace that only poetry has the power of unleashing.
Tears, Idle tears
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.
Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.
Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.
Dear as remembered kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O Death in Life, the days that are no more.
By Lord Alfred Tennyson
Tears, Idle tears
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.
Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.
Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.
Dear as remembered kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O Death in Life, the days that are no more.
By Lord Alfred Tennyson
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