Buffeting : Experiences

The 2 weeks of the post-STPM cum pre-2011 wasn't a waste after all. The experiences learned along the run was truly enlightening and satisfying.

Experience NO.1: Broga/Beroga Hike.

Technically, the whole trip was more like a half walking and a half climbing session.

It was infuriating to be behind schedule, when the plan was to start the whole process one hour later than the original plan.

Yet, it was no one else to blame except for the inconsistent and inaccurate road signs which Malaysia's government has built.

Imagine going to north-west, when Kajang is actually north.

The original navigator was good enough for me, the only flaw he had was the 1st junction was wrong, and the whole scenario has ended with the reliance on the computer, namely GPS.


Experienced backpackers should know better than to rely on the rectangular piece of circuits and led screen, yet due to several unheard, literally, reasons and arguments, we were stalled for the whole session.


Nevertheless, the roaring heart of a young cub urges him to reach for the top as fast as he could, so as the sun rise could be sighted.

Imagine yourself basking under the moonlight early in the morning at 6 a.m.

Venturing through shrubs and *roll eyes* palm tree, on the freaking bump road.

You were practically in a novel or story book yourself, undergoing each and every of the details as portrayed in those books.

Listening to your own pants(the one from your mouth, not covering the are below waistline), feeling the adrenaline pumping through your veins, breathing the clean air infused with leafy aroma. Ya know?

The flames in the cub flared so strong, until the real deal comes. Climbing the slopes and stones.

Fine, the cub was a bear cub, at least by heart. His has already reached a fully-grown bear's size.

Wrapping a pair of good gloves over the hands would be a good idea for future hikes.

They provide friction, which you really need during the grabbing of rocks and vines.

Even though the hike was still okay, the bear was on his paws and feet all the way up to the top.


It was not long..

Fine give or take, 30 minutes till the other cubs chased on. One was the monkey, another was a chimpanzee.

The bear was lucky to have both primates to his aid, because the coaxing and encouragement they provided each other allowed them to pull through and reach the hill's peak.


Thanks monkey on the left, chimpanzee on the center.

The whole hike towards the top took the trio around 45 to 50 minutes. Not that fast, but still a good beginning for amateur like the bear.


To conclude, hiking is a good exercise for all species and the fulfillment and satisfaction attained is truly exhilarating.

Did I mention I've met other primates from the churches where I stay?
Yes the world is that small.

Experience No.2: Tartsday~

Baking tarts is no joke, especially egg tarts.

Being a first timer, Ratatouille scooped up a few recipes here and there in the net. Upon attaining the most tantalizing-looking recipe in The Food Site the little rodent embark its journey towards awesomeness of PastryVille.

Like before, molding the best crust has became the utmost challenging task, even more when everything is HAND MADE. Although Ratatouille has humongous palms, the kneading and dough punching was still tiring.

Obviously, everything was really based on TRIAL and ERROR, and no synthetic method was applicable.
I had to hunt these aluminiums all over Subang for 3 days until the girl friend(not what you think) dropped a comment in FB...

The next step was to bring the yellow dude into the house. The problem



Dropping the egg down the tart was fun and really, dexterity counts ALOT. It's like chemistry practical all over again, minus the scales available on the apparatus.

And the final step was to send the babies into the incubator for incubation*duuh, what else? fertilization?*

Now, that was pretty simple wasn't it?

The side quest for Ratatouille was, CONTROLLING THE OVEN.

Too bad the home has no proper oven, all baking was practically performed by microwave bread toaster. The results were still okay, below expectation but still a credit was scored for ab amateur like Ratie.

The turning of knob and panicking over expanding egg tarts bulbs was real frustrating, but somehow the whole process was,

jeez I can't believe I'd say ENJOYING.

Whatever.
There you go, homemade EggTARTS~~~~~

Never use brown sugar. The eggs are too weak against the invasion of the brownies.


Conclusion, tiring. Really. The whole afternoon was spend kneading and measuring everything from scratch. The last thing I needed was the crash of the modem.

That's a wrap. Lately, there have been stories circulating in the bear's brain. I wonder if I should compile them into a book.

Buffetting: Minding Your Own Business

Literally.

The dilemma kicks in just like that, especially when your family runs a business.

The struggle between helping out with your friends, and helping the family business in the premise.

I've seen tonnes of people with family business. Generally, if you are somehow majoring or in fact taking a certain subject related to the whole system, you are in fact, already programed to be IN the system.

Deep down inside, there's a teenage boy burning with desire to flame through the odds and wants dearly to help out the friends at school.

Yet, reality bites and guilt flares even more. So, the best choice would most probably be helping out, as an office boy, in the office. No pun intended.

It's just the way how the mom conveyed on the stress and hard work required to sustain the current lifestyle, and being the eldest son in a typical Chinese family, I'm probably given the death sentence to help out in every single way in the family, be it house chores, electrical appliances, computer softwares, and back to the buzz.

The rant goes on and on, but by the end of the day, the logic kicks in.

Aiding the friends is voluntarily.

Aiding the family is compulsory.

After 1.5 years of devoting to the school, diverting back to the family seemed logical and sensible.

Of course, if the time is right and hours were abundant, lending a hand in charity works never harm.

Since family calls, there is no way one could say no, even more for me.

Kinda like dejavu. This sensation is exactly the same back in form 4, when the school teacher asked for help in the SPBT(Text Book Lending Scheme) room. The answer was no because of the family business again.

Well, I guess being able to have STUDY as an excuse have had its perks.

Nailing down Malaysia's toughest examination was no joke. I had to admit it was the toughest, tougher than A levels would have offered due to the overloading amount of knowledge required to be regurgitate in 3 hours' time.

The family understood my condition*heck they were the ones asking me to take the course* and allowed me to have all my time in preparing for the exam.

Little do they know that I took advantage of all the alone moments at home, *coughs* studying~

Well, at some point I need to time to de-stress and let loose, but the hours of scribbling Ch3C00H and Dy/Dx all over the papers were no joke.

There were migraines, screams, curses, and hell load more. Yet, it was satisfying to print down the correct answers and get a red tick after the hassle of hunting down the suitable formulas and knowledge application.

Good grief, I think those organic chemistry has now left my head for honeymoon before the interview hits back.

Did I mention that University of Hong Kong dropped an email for an interview.

Wasn't expecting much, but it is really exciting to be summoned for an interview form the no.1 university in Asia, though US is now in the list of countries abroad.


Guess preparations are needed to attend this interview. What kind of preparations?

Work out, reading up and maths practices. Hopefully everything goes well and an offer letter pops in real soon.

Yes, I'm lifeless.

Buffetting: Converging Thoughts

Yes, I'm sure those comments in my FB profile picture has blown plenty away.

I'm once again, BALD.

Well, its more like a head start,literally, for my new year's resolution in 2011.

Go bald, get fit, get into a good course.

I'm not sure if I'm considered lucky, in the sense that I've been steered back into my initial direction and ambition, becoming a doctor.

Yet, there's a glitch. I might not be practicing medicine even after I've graduated, due to the fact that I have not much confidence in performing my duties as a surgeon, as proposed by my family friend.

Isn't it weird? After an immense load of research, I'm some how given the death sentence to take medicine no matter what.

It's like I've beating around the bush all these while, and it was pretty much a waste of time for all the course hunting and the late nights of Internet scrounging.

Yet, a good friend of mine directed me to another perspective, taking those research as a worthwhile effort. At least a fundamental conception has managed to establish and I know this course leads to a better future for me.



"The boys at your age of 19 and 20 have a very high tendency of ruining your own future by your bare hands."

The words were so strong and vexing, and I can still hear her words echoing in my mind.

True enough, the route Yvvone managed to lay out was crystal clear that taking medicine will be the best choice for what I wish to do in the future.

"Be the best, and you can branch out anytime you wish."

It's the second time I've heard this, but this time its from a friend, not a family member.

Have you even encounter the feeling that an advice form a complete stranger somehow is much more acceptable compared to your own family?

It happens to me, a lot.

Studies, Trips, Technical issues, I somehow find it easier to listen with a much more open mind from a stranger or friend, rather than a person who are at least, blood related to me.

Family seemed to be somehow a wall for me to breakthrough, in order to be much more outstanding.


Well, the decisions are finally made. Medicine should be the right choice for me in the long term.

I guess the only abroad plan for me now is to America.*hello Hollywood!*



The whole route probably take me up to 8 years upon graduation. Plenty needed to be settled.

Visa, Scholarship, Living Expenses, Tuition Fees for 8 freakin' years.

Guess I need to pay another visit to Carlton's for more tips and advices.

Well, that's pretty much how thoughts were converged lately, and darn. I still have tarts to bake tomorrow.

Buffetting: Seasons

Most family would probably demand for a reunion at this particular time of the year, when people come together and tell each other how they look like compared to the year before, be it in a positive or negative manner.

The younger generation will obviously attract the most attention, in which the adults would start groping them everywhere appropriate and telling them how big and huge they get and how the adults have grown older. Well, at least this is what happens in MOST traditional Chinese family.

I for once would love to have a Christmas experience in 2011, and the exchange of presents and turkey smacking would really occur. You remember how we were fascinate by those Christmas dinners shown in the 19" TV back in the 00's? Some how I am just dying to experience those kind of scenarios, at least once before I enter adulthood. Not to say that I'm not going to celebrate it later on, to celebrate the festival with a child's heart, is some how different to me.


At any rate, I'm a somewhat semi-traditional Chinese, and there are some traditional festivals which I still require my conscious to hold up and practice.

The winter festival/solstice, also known as 冬至 is a day when most Chinese families reunites and celebrates the festival by making and eating glutinous rice balls or dumplings together.


From where I see it, the whole point of the festival is providing s short time span for the family to spend while working on the dumplings together. The spherical shape of the dumpling somehow resembles and becomes a pun for the unity of a family, namely 团圆。

团is most probably referring to the pre-deposition of the rice balls, and the rice flour exists in the state of a lump, somehow close to a ball shape before it is nipped down to small sizes.


圆is obviously referring to the shape of the made rice balls, where their shapes are more or less spherical in shape.

When these 2 Chinese characters are used together, they bring the meaning of Unity. And I believe the whole point of celebrating this solstice is to strengthen the bond and promote the unity of a family.

What we normally do in MY family is pretty much the same every year, including the constant yelling at each other for those blardy-damned-looking rice balls as if each of them got rolled down the stairs at least a few thousand times.

Since I'm the biggest, literally, in the family, I was held responsible to knead the rice flour until they become tender and good-looking enough to be sliced and diced into spherical balls.

Well, throughout the session of flour pounding and rice ball spherical-synthesizing, any topic can be raised including the color of the rice balls, down to how lights are being refracted(all hail light spectrum), what size of the rice balls will be the best, and back to bombarding each other for the absurd-shaped rice balls.

I do enjoy most of the sessions, except for the constant blaming of the parents for how things got messed up, when it was clearly their fault. Well, its just so typical of adults to not admit they are wrong and blaming the youngsters for their fall.

Did I mentioned about the soup? Well I'm not sure what kind of culinary term to use here, I guess sweet soup is the best word to describe it. It's basically a boil of pandan leaves and sugar into simmer and the addition of ginger slices to give it some tangy sensation instead of the bland sweetish taste. Believe it or not, when the balls and the soup come together, it tasted as if the flare blazed all over you, or at least, me.

Well, that's practically what I have celebrated throughout these 2 weeks after STPM.

Celebrating the solstice once more reminds me of how fast 2010 has passed, and I have already grown older by a year. When I look back, I've realized that I've grown in ways that I might or might not like them. Shall I stay as wise as a sage like how I've been throughout 2010, or shall jump into the kinky and perky me back in 2008? It's like a transition between teenage and adulthood, but I would like to have the best of both worlds.(no I don't really fancy Miley Cyrus)

Well, guess I shall head back to university application tomorrow, seeing how time really dislike me by driving me right to the wall.

I shall enjoy my Tang Yuan the first thing I wake up tomorrow.

Buffeting: Time

Did you have enough time to spare today?

Was the duration for the proposal at work enough, or did you need more time?

Time is of a concept, yet its still so abstract that probably no one has ever grasp on to it up till today.

Yes, we might be able to see it in our nude eyes in the form of watches, LCDs, and owh the ancient Greeks made the clock from the sun's shades.

Yet, has anyone ever been the Master of time?

Time has been discussed and portrayed in various prospective and angles in the media. Let's see how the scenario has been interpreted.

My personal favorite:


Kamen Rider Den-O.

Well, I have to admit the whole VFX thing appealed to me at first to watch this series. Yet, what made me thinking was how the whole series linked everything together to time. There was a time paradox and cliff-hangers here and there, making the audience to wonder even more about the series itself. The series Kamen Rider Den-O can be read from the link.

What amazed me about the concept of time in this franchise is the whole purpose of "protecting" time. You get the drill, some monsters attacking citizens and yadda yadda... But the weird thing was, the whole point of the fight was to protect the "Junction Point"(JP). In this case, the whole franchise has 3 Junction points, one related to another. The JPs mentioned in this series has a special ability to allow life-forms which travels through time to possess the JPs, namely the Imagins.

The first JP is obviously the main character,namely Nogami Ryoutarou. Well nothing much special about him other than the fact that he is the main protagonist killing all the monsters. Total of 5 Imagins has been constantly possessing him, and the picture attached shows all 6 of the different forms, including the original citizen look.



The 2nd JP known was the soon-to-be brother in law of the 1st JP, namely Sakurai Yuuto. The whole character was just misleading initially, but the whole picture became clearer as the series progresses. What fascinates me most is the splitting of the characters into 2 time lines, each comprehends one another. There was an adult version and teenager version of the same character, both with distinct personalities yet with the same goal, protecting time.

The consequence was, the lifting of the memories each time the younger self morphs.

Talking about lifting memories, another series which relates most to time is:

DORAEMON!!!!

Anyone in my generation who doesn't know about this iconic cartoon character is bound to smack themselves to death into a wall.

I'll save the summary, you know how the impossible can be done by this robotic cat from the 22d century. I was really hoping the real thing can be materialized by our time, yet as what have been proposed by the series finale of Nobuo Sato, a time paradox occurred and what was suppose to happen did not manage to, and the whole time line shifted into a parallel reality.

I was really crying when I read the last scene of the comic. Even though the time paradox had occurred, the protagonist (Nobita) did not give and ironically became the top student in order to find a solution in regenerating the batteries of Doraemon, with the memories still intact.

The authors was really realistic in dealing with how the story should have progressed, in the sense that anything which could be resolved in the future was halted due to the enforcement of new time traveling law by the Time Patrol Troop, in which the time transcending policy is much more stricter, upon the system halting of Doraemon due to lack of battery energy.

To make matters worse, the pair of ears each Doraemon suppose to have which serves as the memories reservoir in Nobita's Doraremon was chewed up by a mouse( resulting in the musophobia of Doraemon) and replacing the battery will reset all of Doraemon's memories.



The choice was waiting for a competent robotic technician or plain battery replacement and memory reset.

You should know the choice, seeing how long the series has ran right?*picture credits to Dora's World.


I do like stories with time as the issue being discussed. The flashing back and flashing forward is just worth the time to venture into, as well as to relate them to other franchises. Although I didn't take Physics as my 3rd choice of sciences, I would love to branch into the division of the concept TIME in frontier science in the far future if I have had the chance.

So, did you have enough time to spend today?

Buffetting: Relinquish

At least kept my words with the limited blog access.

After a hefty 7 months' time, I'm finally back to blog updates.

It's kind of a relief, yet there are reluctance in letting go, especially the experiences and times I went through in this period.

Well, that ends one of the chapters of my life, and the next is about to embark.

Before that, lets have a recap of the unannounced events which had made me who I am today along the 1.5 year passed by:

July 2010: When I 1st stepped into Form 6, I was really careful in dealing with people, and I tried not to steer myself away from my original plan, to get good results without have any attachment. Fortunately, I managed to fit it, as how I have fitted in back in Taylors, easily.
August and September 2010: Somehow I managed to get involved in something in the school, and the 1st event was coming up with a sketch for my Maths teacher's retirement. It was kind of a dejavu, but honestly speaking, in some ways it brought me much closer to these monkeys.

October 2010: It was like a dream come true when I've managed to participate in this international exchange program, especially with Japan in SMKSS17. Guess the Japanese in me couldn't bare allowing the chance of hosting the whole event slip through my fingers just like that. Although the downside of the hosting job was not being able to have my own partner, the girls in the pictures managed to ask me for interpreting assistance, enabling me to share experience with the friends from Japan, which was really a fortune.

November 2010: The first time I've ever hold newborns in my arms. They might be a different species, yet Hachi was like my own daughter, and having babies around the house was really a great pleasure, and tonnes worth of responsibility.

December 2010: Death is a real normal sight. Death of a beloved one, however is pretty much something most people refuse or hope they never encounter. The moment I held him in my arms, he was lifeless. There was no struggling like he always does when I held him, nor could I feel the pounding heart beats. The first time I held a dead mammal, and a dead life, also, a dead family.

January 2010: I've finally get to join back my foreign language class in ICLS after 1.25 years of course postponing. This is also when I wanted to continue pursuing my dream to Japan. Even though the chances are quite slim by now, I'm glad I've been following on the class till now, because this proves that besides from the main stream curriculum, I do and still have something extra in my CV upon university application. Plus, I've also made some extraordinary companions , whom never failed to entertain me in the class.

February 2010: My closest friend has embarked on his journey to the Lands of Kangaroos, which he didn't enjoyed much up till today. The group was there sending him off, although I would say I miss him too much, as there are multiple means of communication which are technologically-inclined enough to allow steady communication between us. I had also learned that, even when I'm leaving for overseas in the near future, I wouldn't need any friends to send me in the airport. Why? There's no point anyway, unless I'm flying to some backwater places where there are no access to any communication hubs.

March 2010: Meeting up with the primary schoolmates has proved that time do preserve our friendship, memories and experiences even after a decade. We were still close, perhaps closer and I've realized that even without high school mates, my primary school mates are still there for me, and they do not hesitate to allow me to enter their lives, considering I'm the only alien who shares no high school memories with any of them.
April 2010: I have had tried to lose off the attachment and responsibilities as a student. Yet, my mind and body has nevertheless steered me back to the direction and active participation of school events. The Pre-U march was truly a breathtaking,literally,experience, which has also proved that we STPM do not only smack our faces into books. In fact, our march has also impressed several parties due to the commitment and uniqueness we managed to incorporate into the whole system. Bravo I would say, and hell yeah, we did it under the rain."singing the rain" playing.

May 2010: I remembered telling myself NOT to get involved in dicing up white mouse by entering Form 6 back when I was in form 1. I couldn't have imagine myself looking into vibrating organs or oozing blood and there I am, dissecting the white mouse all by myself. This was much different from slicing up the frog back in form 5, because this assignment was real neat and everything was suppose to be in procedure. The whole dissection experience can be read here.

May 2010: I'm came to my consensus that if we want a friendship, you've got to keep it rolling. The whole story can be read up here. Can I live without companions? Maybe not for long term. But, I know how good I am in moving on. I've went through tough times alone, and honestly, I has made me so cynical about friendship at times I swear I could to walk away from it. So, the best solution is to move on. Attachments are sometimes precious and admirable, yet to me, an overboard of attachment can be also known as obsession or refusal of moving on. Why stay in the past, when you are obviously need to march towards the future?

June 2010: 1st things 1st. She is available.
Working so hard for a year continuously can be exhausting, and an escapade to KL can be real fun. Strutting around and holding "conquered" signs beside various roads and routes in the capital city did help reducing the stress. The escape experience was fun, and still by the end of the day, reality hits back and I've began to feel the adulthood I'm stepping into real soon.

July 2010: I've been practically given most of the event hosting jobs and managing duties throughout the year. I do appreciate the opportunities and jobs given, minus the fact that I practically whine my ways through them. Leading the herd is not an easy job, and I knew it since my miserable life back in the old school. Having the chance to work with people who takes things with maximum responsibilities like Pavithra was a real pleasure and her commitment has also minimized my stress level. I will never forget what a magnificent job you have done Pav.


August 2010: The first birthday present from across the skies. International friendships are truly rare, even more for presents exchange and the constant interaction between both parties. I dearly appreciate the chance that Mermaid and Bunny had provided me to deal with these 2 lovely Japanese girls. This has also strengthen my will to work even hard to pursue my passion in Japan.
September 2010: The re-establishment of the Buddhist Fellowship in SMKSS17 was a real bliss. Without fail, I was offered the position as the president of the club due to my resume back in my old school, and I'm sure there were messages and phone calls blasted behind my backs between the teachers. But, being the president again wasn't such a bad thing, and being able to find a group of friends, not just one, who share the same passion and energy towards a particular practice is a real blessing. Much more events were done and much more satisfaction was attained. We might have our argues most of the time, but deep down inside, we know we care for each other.
October 2010: It was finally time for me to leave the school, the mates, the clubs and the memories. I wasn't really keen of the school at the beginning, but throughout the 1.5 years, I've learned to accept, to understand, and to devote,a lil sarcasm here and there along the way,but yes, I know that the current school would serve as a much better learning environment compared to the previous one, including the support and care the administration body have given me. The previous school has no where near the current one, and I bet the PK Kanan of the old school doesn't even know my name. As for the student body, I had a wonderful time with the comrades and juniors. Did I mention I say "Dont Fuck with me" almost everyday to the prefects? Yes, that's me.

November 2010: All the exams came dashing into my life at this point. STPM, EJU and JLPT. 3 major exams in a roll and I managed to survive through them. The mental stress and torture was tormenting and hard to break through, even more with the other external factors including the family matters, school matters and some health issues. But then again, I do not regret doing all these, because I've learned to multitask and deal with stress. Reaching out for the dreams ain't as sweet as they sounded in bed time stories.

December 2010: The battle is finally over. All hopes, dreams and hardship for the past 1.5 years has been cast towards the papers and time. The late nights, study groups and tuition together was a like a dream, yet so real. Still, until now I can't believe that the war is finally over, and a new beginning awaits.

After 1.5 years I've been through hell, heaven and sometimes really sticky situations. If I was asked whether or not this period is worth living it once more, I would say no. Yet, this period had marked itself a pretty heavy loaf in my memories. I do not regret taking this path.

These times had made me what I am today, a really different person from the me I knew during the graduation back in the old school. At some point I do resent being the new me, yet seeing the change has proven that I've grown up, and its time for me to enter adulthood.though I still need to live with Digimon, Sailor Moon or Power Rangers.

Well, I've now officially relinquished my burden and restart my blog. Hopefully I can devote myself enough to post constant updates for your viewings.