Finally, after much anticipation....I've got the chance to meet up with 2 of my primary school buddies, Dylan Lee and Shu Weng. Oh Yeah!
We had Gui Ling Gao at Gong Woh Tong, then the arcade, then pool, then Starbucks, then some Soju.
19.5% alcohol.....WOWOOOOOOO~~.....ok. I'm not drunk. XD
I got lost when Shu Weng tried to explain to rules of the game.
Though not able to shoot many balls, but personally I think pool would be a game of wisdom (personal thought). It's different from other physical sports (badminton, swimming, etc), nor it is like cards or games. Pool teaches you to reach out for a new perspective, to look at thing from a different angle. And, the trickiest part: precision, which I never got a hold of it. In another way, you get to apply some of your concepts in Physics. Because the cue is not directly facing a red ball (which you have to hit first) doesn't mean that you can't...and of course, vice versa.
We had a chat on our personal experiences on National Service as well as the Australian defense system and stuff like that. #gunz hehe
P/S: I'll get back to the Starbucks series. XD
After that, we challenge ourselves to some alcohol....the Korean soju....served chilled. and yea...we chatted again. I think the soju was a great worth of money....not because (just a little) of the 19.5% alcohol content, but the complementary tidbits and soup served together. and... yea...we chatted again and again.
We talked about Christianity and Buddhism and other stuffs. and we went along pretty well.
Merry Christmas...and God bless...happy birthday, Lord.
and for this year's pick of Christmas song (last year's was White Christmas) is
Merry New York Christmas.
I think the lyrics displays the true meaning and spirit of Christmas...
which is all about Him.
"hear the sidewalks angel's echo....Hallelujah"
“How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts!”
This school, somehow is the best mistake I've ever made. Here's some ugly facts about me (maybe I've posted it somewhere in this blog), that I didn't take the application for secondary school thingy seriously and failed to enter Catholic High School, the one that I once dreamed of. Even till today, I kept on thinking whether could I achieve greater heights if I have taken that path at first place. However, what done is done, and can't be mend. All I could do, was to choose a better school.
And to SMK Seri Kembangan it shall be.
I've learnt a lot in many aspects of life through this school, dealing with peers, competitions, teachers, nasty things and awesome stuffs as well. From a 142cm tall little kid, I grew up to be "taller", both physically and mentally. The most interesting part, I grew up on how a New Village boy should have (although he still suckzzz in basketball), rather than a student who was brought up "formally well" from the urban schools.
The prefect. The protagonist. Perfect? No. Pro? Yes. Through this organization, I sense a greater transformation in myself. Timid at first place (not daring to ask where's the toilet). Strict and fiery then (easily-could-have-got-into-a-fight-kind). Finally, a calm young man...that sometimes don't take things too seriously and could be really blur at certain times. Most of my friends are here, all united with a badge. Despite being a role-model to the other students, we have our ugly moments, too. Normally, skipping classes under official reasons ; and occasionally skipping classes with the so-called official reasons. Headcounts? The least, but take serious cases pretty seriously. Oh! And I learnt how to organize a dinner fit for 100 pax!
Camps. The more you go, the more you gain. The exposure is totally different from the context of National Service. You get to go jungle trekking, soak in mud ponds, play in waterfalls, experience the thrill of a real Flying Fox (believe me, NS's flying fox ain't taking you anywhere far), surging lakes with your shoes stuck in the mud, tomato fights, night exploration that somehow so peaceful with a boy partner clinging on your arm, gazing at the universe and the stars, sleeping with a guy that sweated so "heavily" and felt his warmth, bitten by leeches, learnt how to rescue people from drowning, struggling yourself through obstacle courses, gathering firewood to build a fire and cook dinner with it, amplifying the spirit of teamwork etc.
I'm somewhere in there....
Projects. Teaming up with friends to get things done. Or at least, copying each other's work. Working through the night, trying to complete the project, but ended up watching The Demon Barber of Fleet Street instead. Visiting historical buildings with friends (Jun Lek and Gze Xie) and taking photos of pages of books in Borders, Times Square. Finishing the whole Geography project in 2 days, and got an A. Spending 1 hour just to draw the front cover.
Books. Reading and making notes, but not really understanding the content. So, we scribble the pages instead. Trying to answer model questions, but to no avail and have to refer to answers.
Teachers. "This is the system" as the answer to most unanswerable questions. Giving nicknames to teachers. Having to study the wrong chapter for exam because of the teacher's amnesia and hence, failing the exam. Nurturing minds of all sorts. Listening to teachers sharing the own life experiences which were priceless. Laughing to teachers jokes, falling asleep on teachers' lectures. Came to realize that I've just occupied one page for my Biology notebook. Praying hard for not finishing homework. I'm sorry and I thank you.
Friends. Being in the same class together but rarely speaks (that's just miserable). Hanging out together for parties and gatherings. Playing Aruba on people's birthdays. Teasing each other. Revising together, but ended up hanging around playing. Having group discussions that probably won't to anywhere. Listening to people's stories. Going on field trips. Cycling downhill and ended up to exhausted to cycle back up, and had to drink tap water due to extreme thirst. Go on "expeditions" with friends after tuition. Having lunch at hawker stalls and spending time in Popular doing personality quizzes. Comparing who takes better photographs. Arguing whose right whether it is mist or clouds. Singing and whistling songs. Jamming together on the guitar. Class goes mad while teacher's on MC. Encouraging each other. Cam-whoring. Study hard, play harder.
Crushes. Dare to like but chickened out to confess. Trying to act cool and smart in front of her. Burning a CD of her fav. artist and run away from giving her during her birthday. All linguistic and speech went short-circuit when facing her. Stalking on her FB profile, blog, etc... Printing out her photo to be kept in your file. Having small discussion groups about crushes. Feeling so empty without her. Almost cried at the last day of school, facing the fact that I'm actually older and am graduating...There's only 2 things in life that I found most challenging at my time : girls and love.
It's Christmas eve. Wishing everybody a joyful Christmas and be merry always. This year, Christmas will be all about sharing the joy and spreading the love. Wishes and words (true words), it's the least I can do. Put all the burdens down and pray. Gain more strength to go for more miles. I'm sorry if I've offended, neglected anyone of you. Don't worry. I realize my mistakes. Thanks, Lord for everything...and Jesus, Happy Birthday.
Straight to the point....zap! with full description as recalled...so far...or better known as a "report".
"Days" is from the moment I woke up till I fell asleep, not based on time.
Ting Meau and family gave us (Jakey Wong, Yee Qiong, Joanne, Jing Hong, Yi Fai, me) a treat to Genting Highlands.
0845
I arrived late by 15 minutes (0845), Yi Fai and Yee Qiong were already there. Then Joanne popped out and dragged Yee Qiong for the toilet. Jing Hong finally arrived. Had a tough time with the ticket vending machine, so we opted for the ticketing counter. Departed for Pudu Raya Bus Terminal from Bukit Jalil LRT Station. Ting Meau and Jakey joined us at Sg. Besi LRT Station. Arrived at the Plaza Rakyat and proceeded to the Pudu Raya Bus Terminal. Waited for the bus to arrive. With Jing Hong's DSLR (Canon 60D) along, that's when Joanne got struck by the so-called "Camera Syndrome" (a gentler phrase for cam-whoring ) till the end of the trip.
Ting Meau
1000
Boarded the "Go Genting" express bus for Genting (duh?) at gate 13 (I think...didn't get to see the ticket). Clear traffic at the DUKE Highway through winding stretch of the Genting Highlands road.
1100
Arrived at Gohtong Jaya via express bus, then took the cable car to Genting. The gondola got overloaded with another 2 aunties on board. Jing Hong "sacrificed" to join a pair of Sikh couples in another gondola. Ting Meau had a conversation with the aunties and through the slang, they had something in common : are Penangites (people from Penang) and are living in Kuala Lumpur. Through the (approximately) 25 minutes-ride across the tropical rain forest, with some howling of apes, and of course, laughter (I'm lame, so it's rarely from me. Note that. I'll post something 'bout this issue.) , we arrived at the Genting Skyway. While waiting for Ting Meau's family to arrive (to check in the hotel), we ordered 2 sandwiches ('bout RM42!) at the Bakery, but at least, the names sounded good and taste awesome, seriously awesome, like this:
and then...I lost consciousness of time.
Before we could lay our fangs on the bun, Ting Meau's family arrived. We had our luggage kept with the bellboy, then we joined Ting Meau's family for lunch at Imperial Rama.
Here's something new (to me) : chopsticks have genders (公筷, 母筷) , which the the female (red) is used to take food from the dishes, and male (black) is in contact with the picked food and the mouth. It's rather confusing, but the concept is quite hygienic, meaning you don't get infected easily via the saliva. Such confusion could be voided if there is a ladle or spoon provided on each dish (source: Jakey XD). Among the dishes: patin with sweet & sour sauce, spinach, shredded ginger with pork, tofu with slippery soup (broth), fish cake, deep-fried shrimp. Heavenly. Guess I need not explain every dish, eh?
The room:
I know that the picture is kinda blur, but it ain't my camera's fault. Blame it on Photoscape.
Located inside Genting Hotel, the Maxims Suite is like.....OMG. (I can't figure out any suitable word).
There're lots of windows with awesome views, 2 TVs with DVD-cum-radio player, 2 washrooms, furnished with glass and wooden cabinets, great lighting, sofas, a K-bed with lots of pillows, safety boxes and spacious enough for 7 of us. The girls get the bed, while the boys get the sofa and floor. However, we (boys) did messed-up the bed with wrestles and pillow fights. As a result, a lamp was almost broken. It was then mended by Ting Meau's magic hands.
Oohh...there's even a TV at the bathtub!
We stayed in the room while Ting Meau and Joanne went shopping. Watched TV, fooled around, explore the room etc.
Right after they came back, we headed towards the First World Plaza for bowling. RM3 for shoes, RM2 for socks and RM11 for the game. When getting the bowling shoes, you might be wondering why they only keep one shoe, while you hold the other, it's to prevent theft. Despite the score, we still had fun.
Jakey and Ting Meau's bro, Ting Sun with the a iPad.
Jakey in action.
The snooker centre was pretty crowded. Bloody people trying to act cool yet stupid enough to not understanding the "No Smoking" sign, the concealed space from the counter was filled with smoke. Oh...well. It's non of my business. So, we strolled along the shops. Snow World was closed due to some sort of maintenance.
At night, we had dinner with Ting Meau's grandparents. Most had chicken and duck rice, while I went for something light: wantan soup. Yes, just wantan and soup. The lighting placed above the fans made the ambiance kinda dizzy due to the flickering shadow. Then we stopped by the stage to see some aerobic performance and it goes like this:
Jakey got pretty hooked up to the Christmas performance. Boys have break dance, so girls have aerobics.
Then, there were mascots for us to fool and to take pictures with. Pity them.
Ting Meau and Joanne posing at the "Missing Person" pole.
First World Plaza, Genting Highlands.
Yee Qiong, Joanne, Jakey, Yi Fai, Ting Meau and Jing Hong.
Playing with the revolving door.
We watched Youtube videos till late night, chatted, watched TV and teased each other.
among 'em:
Hippo Explosive Diarrhea
Failed moonwalk
watched
圣魔之血的邂逅--原來愛上你之 《讓愛。》LOVE可蜜短片
And we watched this as well. The setting is in our school and it's a simple story about love and friendship. I really do admire Kyan Seah's hard work esp. in editing. I am terribly sorry if I commented bad things 'bout this video. I know that if I were them, I would be far more worse. I'm sorry.
Jackson and the gang joined in as well. They played poker while Choo took some great photograph of the night scenery. It's basically like this, just that it's a 100 times better:
Ting Meau wrestled with Jing Hong and knocked his head at Jing Hong's tooth. A little bleeding on the scalp. Then, Yi Fai hurt his toe nail while shifting to make way for the sleeping bags. From his look, it's pretty painful. *Ouch* Ting Meau poured some of his grandfather's made medication (oil) to stop the bleeding. Jakey was really sensitive to blood and kept on flushing the blood-stained tissues into the toilet bowl. That sums up day 1 with lots of blood.
Oh...something 'bout the toilet/bathroom: There's not latch to lock. So, control yourself, people.
OK…straight to the point….this is my first outing after SPM and also with Ruthresh Rao. It was a beautiful morning, although it was a little gloomy, some sign of raining. But with an “excited” (not just “wow!”, it is “WOOOOOOW!!!”) heart, everything looks beautiful. By 0930, I arrived at Bukit Jalil LRT Station, bought a newspaper, read it while waiting and finally got slightly frustrated as 3 trains has passed by before Ruthresh arrived. Apparently, his dad missed the turn into the station. Scratch that…
Boarded the train to Hang Tuah Station, then Monorail to Bukit Bintang, the hottest spot in KL although it’s just 1030… Since both of us are boys, and boys are not professional shoppers, we “failed” in getting a present. (Shhh…I can’t tell…it’s a secret…still). We walked through shops and browsing through items…and moved on to another. So, we gave up and took pictures.
This is a post full of faces of me and Ruthresh. Stare at your own risk. The blogger shall not held any responsibility if anyone suffers from cardio-related sickness due to extreme [handsomeness / ugliness]
Christmas ornaments at Fahrenheit 88.
Ruthresh fooling around while I was answering nature's call...
I mean after I answered nature's call.
Overall view of the main atrium in Fahrenheit 88.
A grass bunny and a girl dressed in cute Christmas outfit.
Deer greeting you at the entrance.
Creativity is what that catches people's attention esp in saving wildlife animals.
Bear statues painted from artists all over the world. Focus on the crouch of the fully painted white bear.
Ruthresh and me
Ruthresh and me again
One of the bears, each representing different nations.
While in the indoors has no vast difference with the previous years, except with the merry-go-round and a 4-storey "fake cake"
The centre court in Pavilion KL.
Some candies to give you some sugar rush during Christmas.
Ruthresh and me, again, again.
How many "us" do you see?
Yea...you better be careful...we are gonna electrocute you...or not...
Einstein tattoo on a polar bear. Do you have any idea what are their similarities?
Both of them have white hair
Entrance at Starhill Gallery.
The "feast" level at Starhill Gallery.
Everywhere is full of Christmas decorations and the scent of Christmas Turkey is in the air (metaphor). Everybody loves present, so they love Christmas. Wrong! Everybody should love Christmas because Jesus love us. Yes, back to the topic. We spent some time searching for the KL Hop Hop Off Bus counter (in Bukit Bintang), and *phheeew* succeeded.
In the bus, two of us rather enjoy the warm Malaysian climate at the open deck than sitting in the air-conditioned section. It was windy and dusty and took a lot of reflex action to avoid tree branches. I supposed I was the noisiest guy in the whole person, besides the commentary. Ruthresh seemed a little annoyed by my “is everything OK?” questions. I’m pretty sure Ruthresh will be more enthusiastic when dealing with girls. There were 22 stations and about 50 tourist attractions. Along the way, we get to see things from a whole new POV, which is from a bus and without worrying about dirty glass panels. While sight-seeing, there were a few families who joined us in the open deck as well. There was one guy who came out to the deck to enjoy his sushi, perhaps he doesn’t want to get caught for eating in the bus (but there is CCTV though); a White lady who kept silent along the trip while I was babbling ‘bout Maroon5 in Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, future career, family, politics etc.; a family with 2 ladies and a son who spoke quite a lot of Hokkien; an Indian family with the grandpa dressed up like a sage, and the lady with an attractive sari; an Indian couple who were friendly enough to help us take some pictures (so did the White lady).
Ruthresh posing on the bus
Life is full of choices...but be wise to choose which one that you can perform best.
Happy Christmas...Noel XDXD
Maybank building somewhere nearby Pudu Raya Bus Terminal.
Road sign on Jln T. Tan CL and Jln. Pudu.
yeah...both of us again...just with a different background.
Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat patrolling.
Isn't it weird that I've never heard of them before?
The Malaysian seal at ex-Istana Negara
The wind was so strong till we got our hairs blown up..and our eyes so "Asian".
I wanna be a camel next time, so that dust won't get into my eyes. Wait...my sunglasses!
Road in Brickfields a.k.a. Masjid India a.k.a. Little India
(yea, the road is paved with bricks which covers a large area to form a field, I suppose.)
Little India is a very colourful town. Look! They even painted the roads with a flowers! Ruthresh said that the council/politicians/government/whateva rebuilt the old infrastructures and develop it into a icon for the Indians in Malaysia, which costs about RM8mil and is still developing.
Colourful fountain in Brickfields as Indian culture is colourful.
Urban jungle...
We then found ourselves in KL Central. It's a big, big world...
National Museum a.k.a. Muzium Negara
The National Museum was having some sort of Sea Treasure Exhibition but that didn't arouse much of our interest. If Sparrow and Barbossa were there, we might consider.
Exposure and love is what that matters in every people.
Ruthresh scaring a little boy.
Ruthresh, me engulfed by urban development.
Istana Budaya a.k.a Palace of Culture.
It is a very special architecture and even mesmerizing inside. The place sure looks quiet to me. Nearby places are the Titiwangsa Lake, Balai Seni dan Bina and the National Library.
I set the camera to a dimmer view...but it's still us.
I guess you know what the iconic structure is.....genius!
The 421m KL Tower with us both ruining it. XD
The head is still the most attractive structure.
Worker stepping on soil contained in a truck.
Reflection of the "KL Hop-On Hop-Off" on the glass panel of another bus.
Many people tend to forget that there are 2 towers above the mall.
Back to the place that we started.
Ohh..it's pretty crowded.
Then, some more excitement at Times Square. We met our classmates as well.
I finally bought a book, perhaps the most expensive book (around RM42) after a 20% discount, yet the least words in it. The book's name? "Brutal Simplicity of Thought" Fair enough eh? If I could, I would have bought a biography of Steve Jobs.
or
Times Square
Cute lighting
Picture of us with me blocking the Christmas tree.
Here's the Christmas tree without both of us blocking it.
Overall view at the entrance, Times Square KL.
Ruthresh getting excited in the tunnel.
We totally nailed it!
Oh...and then at 1700 we visited the Facon Edu Fair at Outra World Trade Centre. I gained an insight on A-levels, AUSMAT. Got some brochures and the people there were really friendly and were willing to explain in a more detailed manner. Everything sounds complicated... We scrammed all around the exhibition for the exit as we were quite late. And, we headed home.
