5 Items I Would Grab From A Burning House

First of all, I would like to say that the original title in the writing prompt was a bit different.

The funny thing is that the prompt title instructs and assumes that I would willingly burn down my house.

Gee, thanks, writing prompt. At least I can prepare myself in case it ever happens, not that I wish for it to be, good heavens no. Let’s start.

1) Identification Records

 I’m assuming a majority of you would dash for your shiny electronic gadgets at the slightest hint of danger, because we all know how social media is our life, and how we would die painfully should our social connections be severed by raging fire. I understand perfectly; I’m an addict. But if I were to think it through, it’d be a wise decision to save your documents (Birth certificates, identification cards etc.) first, because your life depends on your identity. And if you have no proof of whom you are, then YOU DEAD. :O Your life would probably be a struggle, seeing as how humankind nowadays is very much paranoid and sceptical with identities. It’d be hard to find a job, education, you get the gist.

2) Wallet

 Money logically comes after identification. Because...

Nothing in the world is free.

                                 – Someone who apparently has to pay to breathe air

 But seriously, you need these colourful papers to trade it for food and shelter, in other words, survival. You can always steal, but y’know, morals and so on.

3) Phone & Laptop

Yeah, there are two items in one. Hey, for all you know, they might be at the same place when the house burned down. *shifty eyes* Well, like I said before, gadgets are very important in at least my life, if not everyone’s. I thrive off online gossip and mindless chatter. I crave for social interaction. My hand feels lonely without my phone constantly glued to my palm.

Oh, and my work is stored in my lappy. I guess that’s a more plausible reason to save them.

4) Box of Memories

 Technically, my box of memories does not exist (yet), but thinking about all the small trinkets of the past I would be losing to the self-inflicted flames, I might as well stuff all of them in one container. Yesh, I am a sentimental person. I cling on to memories very dearly.

5) Books

I am a book lover. Must I elaborate on how I would do anything to keep my books?

So I guess that’s 5 items that I would save from my burning house. Truth be told, I never expected my books to be in the list. .___. I shall now have a day to look around the house and ponder about things that I could’ve saved from the fire.

So ask yourself: What would you grab from a burning house?

Hide and Seek in TESCO with Bros + Surprise Visit to UiTM~

 Yep, my life has been reduced to this.

 Ever since the last post, I haven't been doing anything worth pouring into a public blog. Until today. Yeaaaaah, I just humiliated myself by running around the clothes section, chasing my two sweet lil bros in a game of 'Hide and Seek'. The last time I did that was 2 years ago, at a 3-storey furniture shop. Man, it was so awesome. Gave me adrenaline rush. :)

 You might be going, 'Aren't you embarrassed?' Hey, who am I to them? A stranger. They won't know me at all. (Until they read this blog, and then goes 'Ah, it's the lunatic in the red jacket from the other day.') And besides, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who does these childish things? Right? If you don't, then you are a hypocrite for telling people you're a 'child at heart'. :P Yeah, call me immature. I'm a guy. We mature late. And I'm a late bloomer. Get with it.

 The other, more exciting event of yesterday was the surprise visit to UiTM. To visit a mate. Whom I haven't seen in a LONG, LONG WHILE. A best friend, who coincidentally has a similar name to mine. :) Brought him out to dinner. Out of his dorm, not out of the campus, because there's a supposed male curfew that starts at 11pm. (But still out, technically.) And not forgetting my sweet cousin, Kak Mimin, another resident of UiTM. :D Yeah, killing two birds with one stone. Multitasker right here.

Ash and Acap. :D Plus the big red fella in the background, a.k.a Lil Bro 1

"Why aren't you in college?"

 Moi? Answer: I'm simply too awesome to be imprisoned by the grasps of tertiary education life  I'm entering next month. :) Where? Spoilers~

 I also just realised that I'm nearing my 100th blog post. Which is weird, considering that this blog has been living for 3 years. I should really be more active. But hey, it's a perfect time to be engaging in some cool, secret project. :) Just two more to go.

 This has been me, signing out.

Interview #2: KYS Chartered Accountancy Programme

 The other day, I received a phone call from the Saad Foundation College/ KYS, or rather, my father did. Over the static noise, I managed to catch that they were offering me a chance to go for Chartered Accountancy Programme in New Zealand. I also got to know that my school sent me a list of hopeful candidates to them, which answered my question; HOW DID THEY GET MY NAME?

 So off I went to the Boulevard Office two days ago, with a bag in one hand and a blazer in the other. A few minutes earlier, on the road, a thought crossed my already occupied mind; since they received a list from the school, wouldn’t there bound to be other schoolmates of mine already waiting there? I seriously could not back out from this now. Going in the lift. I suppose there would just be 3 or 4 familiar faces. Stepped out on the 3^rd floor and the first thing I noticed? Two rows of familiar faces, staring at me. What a pleasant surprise. What was more surprising was the fact that in a room of 50, 60 candidates, only one were wearing a blazer. Guess who that was?

Answer: The idiot on the left.

The screen was this far. And that small. Would you believe that? D:

 After catching up with friends during the briefing (We were too far from the screen to pay attention to the video. And playing it twice does not make it more appealing. Which is what they did, BTW.), we headed to the food a level below. I had a laugh when my blurheaded mate Uzair accidentally brought the wrong result slip, before heading off to another building to prepare for the interview that awaited us. Well, some of us did, because I wanted to ask the people from the first session how it went, and I forced Uzair to tag along.

 The type of interview was a group interview; we were all separated into 5 groups of 2 – 5 people and 3 sessions, all lasting around 30 minutes. The interviewers would hand us a card, containing 6 questions, and we would have to unanimously pick one and discuss about it, before finally giving the interviewers a piece of our mind. Yeah, so when my turn arrived, only one other turned up, him and I making up A2. Now I know you might be going, ‘Hey, isn’t that advantageous for you? Less people, less competition.’ I have to agree, this situation would have been great... If he wasn’t as blur as Uzair.  

 I tried to engage in a conversation with him throughout the interview, but it seemed that his mind wasn’t completely there. It was hard to try to continue talking when your partner is only responding shortly. (BTW, Uzair and Haziq, if you happen to chance upon this, I don’t despise you two. Love you guys. As friends, of course.) After awkwardly choosing ‘What is the ideal age of dating?’ among the topics at hand, we uncomfortably discussed in front of the interviewers. It was over, at last, and I confirmed my earlier suspicions that one of them was a familiar person; we had met at a educational roadshow at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

 And that was how my interview #2 went. It was better than the first one, because I didn’t fumble over my words as much, and the KYS interviewers were much more relaxed. :D I hope all future interviews would go on like this. But I’m pretty sure my wish wouldn’t come true.

Pictures of Moments~:

 

A Whole Week of Fun and New Friends in Malacca~! Day 3 to 6

Due to midyear examinations, lagging school internet connections, and the lack of memory power, I forgot to post the continuation. XD Sorry for that. Here it is~ (The first part is here.)

Day 3: Wednesday

 We got to see the former Prime Minister in person today! Tun Dr. Mahathir gave a very nice and humorous speech about global unity. After that, while waiting for the bus to arrive, my friends and I chatted a bit with the Indian exchange students, and made friends with the SMS Sembrong people, whom, as I would find out later, will be with me throughout the rest of the week. (The two girls were taking part as presenter and copresentor. The other two, boys obviously, were useless people who got picked just to watch, like me.)

During the ice-breaking session with the international, I coincidentally met with a Portuguese who stayed at my school the day before, because of the number 8. (LOL, so lucky.) Fortunately, she said her stay there was very nice, and the tour guides very courteous. Phew.

At night, we were invited to go for dinner at the Malacca’s Chief Minister’s residence. It was BIG. MASSIVE. GIGANTUOUS. And it comes with its own separate gym. O.O Unfortunately, we weren’t able to enter and take a look around. But we were able to take pictures around the residence. :D I got to be in many people’s pics (I didn’t bring a camera, y’see. Had to be photobombing!) That also made up for the fixed seatings. Had loads of fun with the Italians, Giulia and whatshisname, and the STF girls. :)

Day 4: Thursday

 Today was the start of the two-day presentation of the international participants and fifteen local gold medalists. (Obviously my schoolmate and my old friend were included.) I felt very sorry for some of the international delegates, whose presentations were overshadowed by the locals’ experienced demonstration. After the three hour session, we had a workshop, in order to write our resolutions based on Tun’s keynote address. The captain was a Sabahan girl named Sahara (Who preferred to be called Sara) and a Lao girl, Susen was secretary. I became vice-captain reluctantly, due to my wrong timing to stand up and adjust my trousers while they were contemplating on their victim. In the end, I had to conduct everything (The leader used her veto power to force the whole leader work on me. XD) It was during this session that I realized people thought I was 16! (Technically, I still was, but coming to 17.) It was a very shocking compliment, to be called one year younger, but it was a compliment nonetheless. I think it was due to my cute boyish looks. (Though they pointed out that it was because of my immaturity. XD)

And finally, the most anticipated event of the day (And the whole week)… Sightseeing and shopping ‘round Malacca!!! It was the first time I  went sightseeing with a bunch of friends (And one with most, excluding me and another Form Fiver, being a year younger.) and teachers. We stopped at the Taming Sari Tower (The first gyrotower in Malaysia.) and went up 80m into the air, discovering a breathtaking 360-degree bird’s eye view of Malacca drenched in the evening sunlight.

Afterwards, we went off the beaten track (After listening to Madame Chin, a jolly Chinese teacher, and her lengthy explanation time constraints and the time-consuming schedule) and rode on the river cruise a half hour earlier than the others; that way we’d gain more shopping time. Alas, it was not meant to be; we ordered food at Chicken Rice Shop 15-20 minutes before departure, and the bus was far away. It was pretty ironic, because we had Madame Chin with us, who didn’t like people being late. Nevertheless, we had lotsa fun, and had plenty of laughs while eating.

Day 5: Friday

 Today was pretty uneventful compared to yesterday; it was like yesterday, sans the sightseeing. Once again, I had to commandeer the workshop, much to my leader’s glee. We learnt new games, one from Indonesia, and one from Malaysia (Yeah, I didn’t know. Awkward.) So many interesting things occurred (One of them being the international student’s fluency to say the word Buaya/Crocodile and Biawak/Lizard) And then came the gift exchange! I spent most the time yesterday night shopping for souvenirs (Only RM9) Then I saw some bringing in gifts from their schools. All of us went blur- headed, thinking whether what each other brought was wrong!

At night, we had the closing ceremony. Everyone used this time to talk with everyone else, since it was the last day, and the international delegates had to go back. You could see everyone bringing and exchanging books, jotting down contact infos, ensuring future contact with each other, even though they are states and countries apart. Stayed up late to mingle with people, learning new and interesting things ‘bout different languages and cultures. It was pretty sad though, as my 16 year-old mates had to leave that night too. But I shrugged it off, and had a fitful slumber.

Day 6: Saturday

 The morning started with a light drizzle, voicing the sadness and reluctance to let go of this moment. But nothing lasts forever, right? I just hope I could see them again, in the near future, if God wills it.

 So that’s it from me ‘bout this seemingly awesome weeklong adventure. J Will be uploading pics (If I have the time. And if I find some. I need to scour at friend’s FB accounts.)

It Was My BDay... And Nobody Remembered...

The Reading Room

I was in the reading room on the ground floor of my dormitory block, when I received a call from my mother. It struck me as weird, as I had only sent her a text asking her to check whether the deadline of the KFC Star Create competition falls on the 15^th, and she, being the typical cheapskate when it comes to words, would reply one word; ‘yes’ or ‘no’. I picked up the call, and surprise, surprise, my sister’s voice rang into one ear and out the other, screaming ‘Happy 17^th birthday, Abang!’ Utterly surprised, I was, and glancing at my watch, I realised that indeed, the long hand struck 12. Now, now, before you say it’s impossible to forget one’s birthday, I did know it’d be my birthday, but as I’d been complete absorbed in checking my essay during the whole hour prior that, I’d completely forgotten. After chatting with my family underneath the coffee table (The school rules states in black and white that phones are forbidden.), I took out my parents’ gift given to me a few days earlier, on a Wednesday, since they couldn’t be with me on my special day (A solid reason why I shouldn’t be able to forget my birthday.) – a brand new, glossy red camera!  

Busy with work, even on my BDay...

 I spent the day unlike my previous birthdays before this; busy being undetected and low profile. There’s a good reason for this. There’s a tradition at my school regarding birthdays. The said tradition involves a large group of people (Preferably 15+) beating up the birthday boy, if possible in a dark classroom, at night, during preparation class. And I don’t want the same happen to me. So obviously, I made sure all sources that hint at my birthday, however miniscule it were, halts before the precious information gets into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, my dorm mate teased me, telling me he knew my birthday.

 And that was why I wiped off my birth date from my Facebook account temporarily. That, and another reason; to find out whether anyone would care enough to remember my birthdate. It was a regrettable action, seeing as none of my friends bothered to wish me a happy birthday. Well, one did, a close friend and a sensei of mine, but it was a tad late, but I don’t mind. All the wishes I received were from family members. Well, serves me right for being curious. But at least I knew how dependant people are for Facebook.

 At the end of the day, no one dangerous knew it was my birthday. Yeah, my close schoolmates knew my birthday, but they 

weren't the type to get all excited over an ambush. What was surprising was that my knowing dorm mate didn’t wish me. Turned out he forgot it. Then he tells me that a Korean star’s birthday falls on Wednesday. Guess I’m less important than his idols.

A Whole Week of Fun and New Friends in Malacca~! Day 1 and 2

 Two weeks ago, on a fine Sunday night, in the reading room, I was given a difficult choice; either to go to Muzaffar Shah School (MOZAC) for the Fully Residential School’s International Symposium (FRSIS) for a WHOLE WEEK… Or stay in school, due to drama practice. I initially declined, but after talking ‘bout it with a close friend, and much, much consideration, I changed my mind and packed my bags.

 It was the best decision of my entire life.

 To tell you guys my awesome and fun weeklong adventure, I shall tell the tale day by day (Mind you, it’s a tad long. This is personally for my own reference, and sharing it with you guys seems more exciting.):

Day 1: Monday

 After arriving at MOZAC at ‘round 11 and checked ourselves in, we did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING (Other than eating and sleeping.) The reason for the lack of activity is to let all 63 residential schools’ representatives reach the destination.

 63!? I hear you scream in terror. Yup. That would make the number of participants, let’s see… 4 per school… Times 63… Ah, 252. Excluding the twenty-something Indian exchange students staying at the girl’s dormitories (The symposium is part of their two week stay in Malaysia.) How is it that they’re able to fit all the guests into the dorms, already packed full of MOZAC students? Simple: Give the MOZAC students a week’s holiday. Lucky them.

The boys' dormitory. The open shower's behind the stairs.

 During my exploration of the school grounds (Which usually occurs whenever I’m bored.), I find one of many shocking discoveries; their showers have NO DOORS! And there’s a roofless shower on the ground floor, for all to see~ How was I supposed to shower without people watching me?

This is MOZAC. Did I mention it was on a hill? :3

Day 2: Tuesday

 Today was the day of the competition. I left for the hall at ‘round 7.45… After taking a shower in the toilet (Hey, I ain’t weird. Half of the participants did the same thing.). It’s basically a public speaking kind, where all 63 presenters present their presentations (Duh), based on the theme ‘Global Culture Generates World Unity’, and what better place to have it but at MOZAC, one of few multi-racial boarding schools in Malaysia? Most were common, like how food can start unity of races, and only a few managed to catch my attention (Like the Kenyah tribe in Sarawak, and the miniscule, yet fascinating fact that Fijians love fat people.) I didn’t managed to see all of the presentations presented (What, you expect me to be able to be present at all ten sessions simultaneously?) and unfortunately, I didn’t get to see my friend’s one, as his session was held in a small classroom, and there were limited spaces.

This is Hazeem. :)

 The ice-breaking session, for me, was the best activity of the day. Not only did it give me a chance to mingle with other people, I also bumped into my old friend (Hazeem’s his name.)! Such a funny coincidence, to meet because of the colour red (We were grouped into four teams based on the piece of coloured paper behind our tags.) We were then grouped by the numbers on the coloured paper, and would stay in the same group during the ice-breaking session with the international students the next day.

 Later that night, I, my schoolmate and an acquaintance we got to know with this wicked British accent auditioned for Master of Ceremony. Unfortunately and surprisingly, all of us failed. And the weird thing is, the boys they chose were not that good compared to my friends. The girls were marvelous, though. And that made me a bit green with envy.

 I shall continue this tale on a later date, as it is too long. :) Ciao. :D

Comics, Why They Are Good For the World~!!!

Earlier in the year end hols, my mom, who was driving, in some random moment, turned to me and said: ‘Why do you like to read comics? It’s not good at all.’ I, an avid comic fan (And an overemotional brat), felt very much offended. So much so that my mom noticed my devastated face, tried to soothe me. The conversation went pretty much like below:

MOM: Don’t take it personally. I don’t read comics, so I don’t really know.

ME: Yeah, well, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. YOU taught me that.

MOM: That’s why I’m asking you. What’s so good about it?

ME: Uh… (At this moment, I knew my reasons, but I couldn’t explain it in the language my mom, as well as most adults speaks.)

MOM: So, you should take this as your yearend assignment. Give me ten reasons why comics are advantageous to youth nowadays.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and here we are now, with me giving you information you could use to counter your parents’ ramblings about comics being some kind of disease towards mankind.

Reasons to Love Comics:

1. 1) Comics have the same elements as what a novel would have. That includes character development, setting, plot, theme, point of view, conflicts, climax and so on. Get what I’m saying?
2. 2) It also has built–in clues to help readers understand the story better. Since comics are visual, even if the dialogues are hard to understand, there are diagrams supporting the comprehension of the tale.
3. 3) Comics have a wider age-range than other reading devices. There are more comics that entertain young and old alike than books.
4. 4) Comics amuse people visually, especially kids. Why, you ask? It’s simple: CHILDREN LOVE PICTURES. :D
5. 5) Most adults want their kids to be reading books. If your child does not even have the slightest interest in books, one advises you to let them read comics. It is proven that comics attract youth to reading. Think of comics as a stepping stone. Your kids will be begging you to buy books.
6. 6) Comics also influence children to be more creative and artistic.
7. 7) Plus, if used right, comics can be used as an effective education device! From experience, it is proven that what you learn can be memorized easier and stay in your head longer if lessons aren’t so boring. By reading educational comics, which is an interesting way to convey messages to kids, it would stay in their minds for a very, VERY long time (Or until they need the info for an exam).
8. 8) Not only that, comics also have a wider range of selection! Yeah, most parents would be shocked ‘bout that, but it’s true. Every month, there are lots of new comic materials out in store. It’s certainly way faster than the release of new books. Take that.
9. 9) Did you know that comics need a different reading strategy than novels? Since comics are just dialogues and illustration, readers need to rely on both and conclude what is not written. Simply put, it gives us a chance to find out extra info.
10. 10) People need variety. In a reading diet, one cannot possibly live purely on words. Explore the imaginary world the comics offer.
11. 11) Most of all, comics are FUN! Reading does not have to be so dull, right? :D

Oh, I gave one extra tidbit, didn’t I? Oh well, it strengthens my claims that comics really are good. :D Just wait ‘til my mom sees this~! :D :D :D

Just don’t get too addicted to it. :) It might mess up your life (Not to mention your book rack.)

Surgeries and a Week Off~!

Hiya, guys, missed me? Probably didn't, right? XD Sorry it took so long for me to update, but I was busy with the end- of year- exams and crappy nonsense. Plus, I had surgery. :) So, if you don't mind, I'm gonna be talking 'bout it, since someone I know requested for this awesome, once in a lifetime experience! :D

So, I had surgery on my left chest two days ago (Which was Tuesday.) And I, as usual, was freaking out, since it was a first. Even though it was just a minor surgery, I couldn't afford to calm myself down. Especially over the fact that it's being done when I'm KNOCKED OUT. O.O Goodness, who knows what they did to me. So, went in at 'round 8. Last thing I saw was the surgery room. Blink. Darkness. Open eyes. New place~! MAGIC. :D The people there were funny. Made fun of me, all of them. .____. Even my dad. That sucks. XD There was a drain attached to my body. At the end of it was a water bottle. To collect the bloody liquid in my chest.

Yesterday, we went to Bukit Tinggi (Tall Hill) Shopping mall to buy me a tight shirt (Because we needed to hold the plaster in place.) And people were like, what is that red liquid inside that water bottle? Seriously. And I was like, it's syrup. :P Stare all you wantlah, as long as it doesn't hurt me (And it doesn't disturb me while I'm playing drum game.)! With a smile on my face.

Like this. ----------> (:

So, I pretty much spent my whole day walking 'round and going against my inner self's screams to rest in bed. When I'm bored, since I can't cycle, I go annoy other people by SMS (You know who you are!) I'd like to take a moment to say thank you for putting up with my texts and shenanigans, guys. :)

Today, I saw my chest for the first time since the surgery. Freaky. It's DENTED. Like a crater. Turns out the fat was pushing the muscle. So now have to wait for the muscle to grow. XP Plus, I found out that my doctor took out TOO MUCH FAT. O.O Doesn't she know how long I had to suffer to collect that much? Now she goes and take too much! Aiyoo... XD

In the end, I had to use the drain thingy for a longer time! XP So, who do you think's gonna be shining like Gaga at my cuz's wedding tomorrow?

(Answer: Me.)

So this is me, signing out. :D

P.S: If you happen to see a guy wearing a dark blue, long sleeved swimming shirt, with a long bloody tube from his torso going to a bloody water bottle on his trousers, don't hesitate to come

up and say hello. :) :) :) Will add photo to help you guys. Right now, my lil helper is sleeping. ;)

Update: Taken yesterday night. Lil bro, being the awful paparazzi he is, failed to take a clearer shot. :) This'll have to do for now.