Flashback #3: Gruelling Haluansiswa

Finally, I made the decision to accept the offer to read science in UM.

Where should I begin with? The first day was much akin a nightmare for me. Upon arrival at the college (hostel), I was stunned or rather upset by its condition- old, dirty, gloomy.Totally an uncomfortable and not condusive environment for studying. I didn't like it at all and how I wished that I could leave immediately. Which freshie didn't?

Another thing was the stern-looking seniors or pembantu mahasiswa (PM) to be precise. None of them looked friendly or as Calvin said, they purposely put up a cool face?

After cleaning the room and unpacking my things, Shenyang came over. Then, we had our very first lunch together in the dewan makan. Fried ricwe with chicken, not bad, I thought. FYI, we are charged RM10 per day, a difference of RM3.50 compared to other hostels as meals are provided, 3 times a day. So this should give u an impression of how the food is.

The haluansiswa (orientation) kicked off with the PMs introducing themselves and reminding us how great it was to enter UM (that was before its #1 uni in Malaysia status took over by UKM). We were given a polo tee and a tee which we wore for the whole week, without being washed!

On average I only slept for less than 3 hours everyday. Our timetables were packed with activities. No free time for suka-suka or tak buat apa-apa. Some ended as late as 12.00 a.m. Plus the time to gather everyone and walked back to hostel, together,then, waited for everyone to settle down took at least 1 hour. After that, the PM will either nag or scold us. That took away another 1 hour. Cheer practices took another 1-2 hours. What's left for us? And we needed to wake up and gathered as early as 6 am after that for senaman pagi.

During meal time, we were ordered to eat with our hands, no fork and spoon! Big trouble for me since I'm not used to that. I have no choice but to skip the first few meals and ate biscuits instead. Besides, sardin and kubis masak ikan bilis (yg tak masak) werent that appetizing anyway.

We had to attend numerous talk, speeches, sesi bersama tetamu khas, from the one by our own pengetua kolej kediaman till by some ministers, with their pidato-s. Well, imagine that you was so sleepy and it was so comfortable inside the DTC, yet you can't do so, either risking the fact that you might be on air and watched by everyone scolded by the PMs. The rest were chit chatting or sms-ing, some wondering "bila lah dia nak berhenti ni?".

Filling PTPTN form session was the worse amongst the activities conducted. It was pathetic. Thanks to the few PMs who themselves are confused and bad tempered, as well as those with incomplete documents and asked stupid questions. It was totally a mess.

One interesting part was the tradition of sub/sorak (cheer) other colleges. I must said we were lucky as we weren't tortured i.e. practice till late at night and our cheers were kinda short. Thus, not impressive at all and we really takut kena boo lah. Thank god we didn't end up at the last place. Who would forget "lu shin chan" or "wuak terlentang"? <-- what's that by the way? (which Calvin commented was pretty disgusting)

For all the formal functions that took place in DTC or sports event at the field, we walked down together. Walking under the blazzing sun is not enough, we must wore the cap to show uniformity<-- crap lah. Once while waiting for everyone to get ready, I took off my cap for a while because of the poor ventilation in dewan makan and my cell-leader ( you-know-who) was quick to notice and teased me "I tau la rambut u tu cantik, but tolong lah pakai topi, nanti kena marah". Speechless.

In UM, we need to register the courses by ourself which means that we can arrange own timetable. However, it was based on first come first serve basis. The day when we rushed down to the computer lab in library was unforgettable. The PM afraid that we might late and did not get what we want. Luckily most of us got what we wanted.

Throughout the whole week, I made alot new friends from all over Malaysia and coincidently we were "connected" to one another. I would have ended up in the same hostel with my ex-best friend from primary school if he accepted the offer. Chee Beng, Wai Chung's best friend whom I met before, once, was there too, though it took me few conversations to realise he's the one. Wei Lun from neighbouring Dato Lokman was Muh Tyng's primary school friends and he knew Shin Yie from NS. What a small world we live in~!!

The best-of-all was the closing ceremony. I was glad that it will finally end. Thanks to Adam, the kaki clubbing who became so excited, I was pulled into the water, cheering, singing and shouting with them, along with Tze Kui, while others were sleeping! A sign of relief when my college didn't get the last place for overall performances throughout the haluansiswa week.

No doubt, it was tiring. Personally, it was bittersweet. Some might think that was the worst week of their life but I believed all of us would agree it was memorable. Like what out PMs said, once a lifetime experience. Nevertheless, we learnt alot from this gruelling, unforgettable yet enjoyable one week.

Flashback #2: My Choice

Around May this year I enrolled in UTAR. Not all of my friends knew it. I couldnt figure out a good answer if I'm being asked the reason. It was a sudden decision anyway.

OK. The next thing is that I need to tell myself that I'm a student again, after so many months and accept the fact that I was alone in UTAR!

First day in UTAR? Oh, certaintly I wouldn't forget that. How could I? It was full of hiccup. Things just went wrong. The admin staff weren't that friendly and warm towards freshies like me. The office was damn crowded with everyone busy handling their forms, paying fees and copying timetable, comparable to the end-year sales in MNG I guess. Luckily I met a former senior of SAB who he helped me abit.

Then, I wandered around aimlessly, not knowing what to do and where to go next. The campus wasn't that big and that was the problem! No where to go. The canteen was so packed. And I was so annoyed to the extent that I actually smsed my friends to complaint how pitiful I was, then. How childish I was that time.

Guess what? I was told that UTAR FES was full of nerds and it's the most quiet one amongst other campuses. I was mislead! And I had a culture shock on the very first day. Adui, the probabilty of meeting funky-dressed ones is higher than in Times Square. Out of 10 guys who wear spectacles, 8 of them had those thick-framed, trendy frames. Out of 10 persons, at least 8 or 9 dyed their hair. It was more like a fashion show over there.

Well, the first week was tough, when I had no friends, when I wasn't really keen in making one. Most of them seem to know each other as they were either from TAR or foundation. It was kinda hard to jump into conversations with strangers. Though I saw many lonely souls just like me, I didn't make any move such to talk to them. People think that I was rather "dao".

Things turned better when I met Christina or Eugene, followed by Alfred and Iping. These four remarkable persons are the one who totally brighthen up my days. They are the fab 4 whom I considered as close friends then, and now. Cheers~!!

I knew Christina and Eugene from chemistry laboratory class. Perhaps I was destined to know them? How? We were asked to form groups of 3 and I had joined this group which consists of a girl and a guy who can't speak cantonese at all- gosh, I quickly switched and joined Christina and Eugene instead. The girl (who can't speak cantonese) was damn "tulan" at me.

What so special about both of them? They are banana-s (don't speak mandarin). In a place where majority speaks mandarin, I still met such people, don't you think I was lucky? The most important thing was that we worked along very well in our chemistry experiments. We were superb, I felt we were a strong team. And I knew wé were in the right channel when we thought of the same about our beloved lecturer- Dr. Loh!

My first conversation with Alfred was rather awkward. It never came across my mind that we actually could get along, pretty well to be exact. I brought this glutton to wai sik gai for dinner. In return, he invited me to Penang for a short trip. Bonded by alot of common interest (food, travelling, aquatic plants, camera) and similar background, we got close very fast.

Remember I mentioned the girl who was annoyed when I switched groups without informing them? Iping lah, who else? SS all the time! Sweet and smart leh! and syiok sendiri, of course. Some might mistaken her for those mui-mui who always peep at guys (oh, she does too!) , she proves herself to be a very supportive friend, and never fail to give precious advice when I really need it.

A bunch of nerds? OK, our STPM/A Lvl results automatically put us in that category. But we were NOT! In fact, we hardly talk about studies at all. Amazed? OK we spent most of the time in library, that was because we have no where to go!

While others paying attention to the lecture, we were either busy telling stories, looking at what's other people is doing or laughing at each other's jokes. Other than that, me and Eugene would have fell asleep. Alfred left the class half way and Iping peeping at the cuties. Typical scenario in a lecture hall.

Other than the fab four, Choy and her gang had been really nice to me. Not forgetting Liz, who showed me around in campus during open day and the first few days. Her existance made it easier for me to adjust to my new campus life. Thanks for everything.

Time passed so fast. Almost one month. When things started to get heated, when friendship blooms, I chose to leave UTAR. What a bad ending to this chapter. And the journey continues...

Flashback #1: When You Failed To Work Out Your PLan

My original plan: work till May, have a rest, go for holidays and hang out with my friends before the uni intake.

However, things didn't turn out that way.

Out of sudden, I enrolled in UTAR and that spoiled everything. The only difference that it took up 5 days instead of 6 working days but I had to woke up really early. Anyway, I endured that for almost a month before the I finally arrived at the big crossroad of my life i.e. when the uni application was out.

Looking back, things actually turned out to be better than what I expected.

Forget about travelling. Nobody going to accompany me anyway. Besides, most of them were working and travelling alone wouldn't be fun.

Secondly, in UTAR, i met alot new friends. When my friend Alfred went back to his hometown, I tagged along. The pearl of the orient was never that beautiful when I was there 10 years ago! He was indeed a great tour guide and gluttonous me enjoyed all the mouthwatering dishes which Penang is famous for- asam laksa, char koey teow and cendol.

And surprisingly, I hang out more often with my friends too. Compared to while I was working, I managed to go for movies or lunch with them and I spent every weekends with them. Miss those days.

Though I was officially uni undergraduate that time, I didnt really flipped through the books. Felt abit guilty now.

That month was indeed wonderful and unforgettable- new friends, Penang outing, hang outs. What I've learnt was when things didn't work according to plans, don't get upset, who knows what will happen next, rite?