Piece of Mind

i'm trying hard to refrain from writing figuratively like i have been for the past week... but somehow i can express myself better that way i think... cos being direct has never been somethin' i'm good at? ah... just can't resist... here i go again... happy but sad here but there awake but dreaming hopeless but hopeful smiling but crying near but far warm but cold all but nothing

i got back home from jb at 2356hrs only to see my msn flooded with messages on the petrol hike from midnight today to 1.92 sen per litre... thats a friggin' 30 sen increase! what the.... it's too late for me to rush out jus to fill up now... i guess i'll have to pay the price tomorrow... since my tank is really empty and i procrastinated on fillin' up... with the hike... i'll have to hike more often from now...

a few days back... a friend of a friend met with a motorcycle accident and was hurt pretty badly... her motorcycle was in bad shape after that too... fractured wrist... nose... etc... and only just last night as i was havin' drinks in ayub pulai... a car and a motorycle collided with such a loud bang it startled everyone in the mamak... the rider flew off his bike and was terribly injured... blood was streaming down the road a dozen yards away from where i was seated... such a sad mishap... boy have i seen more accidents in my few years here than in my earlier years in ipoh... i think i've mentioned it before... and i'll say it again... people here are reckless...

for those non-metalheads out there... that's the second verse from megadeth's symphony of destruction... which we will be jamming tonight if all goes according to plan... finally my first round of tests are over... with robotics being the final paper today... hence the post title... ;) before i take a nap and play some guitar... here are some pix from the chinese new year last month...

over the past week... i went joggin' uphill to the observatory twice... after not having been there since my first fortnight in uni... nothin' has changed though... old dilapidated building is such an eyesore... the rooftop provides a good perspective for takin' pics though ;) i went to mcd's for four days in a row... not that i'm a huge fan of fast food... it's just that it's comfy and conducive for playin' while workin'... i went jammin' with a new lineup of musicians... some of us have jammed before with each other considerin' the fact that we've known each other for quite awhile now... but never in this exact lineup

all our hearts? well... that's what the most famous chinese love song says... anyway... i was just takin' some pix of the full moon the day before just for fun (too free?) which i thought would not be of interest to anyone anyway... guess i was wrong... turns out a friend of mine had actually wanted to take a few shots of the lunar scenery that very night... but couldn't because she didn't have a camera... she's in luck then cos i have the pix... haha... most of you guys will be thinkin' what's the fuss about... nothin' actually... some ppl are just too free... too much time on their hands to stargaze and look far into outer space... :)

totally unprepared for the test which i had to take today... hopefully no more screw-ups like this in the coming months... wouldn't want my cpa spiralling down... dinner at one of the coffee shops in tmn u was rather interesting... the owner related to us an incident where thiefs came to steal their crockery, utensils and gas tank(s?) in broad daylight while they were open... there were about four workers in the shop and all were too busy to notice... i wonder how... such a notorious area he remarked... i kinda agree with what he said... i always had some negative perception of a number of the locals here... and the many foreign workers roaming the streets all the time... its bad to be prejudiced but in a way it's good to be aware of the ruthlessness of some characters at times... as much as i like the food in aliff & ganapathy... i can't say the same for the service by some of the workers some of the time... only recently was my friend overcharged 50sen for a plate of nasi lemak in aliff... quite delibrately in my opinion... and in the end they decided not to patronize there again after such poor service... the same case happened in ganapathy a few months back too... but we're still going there from time to time... :) layered wafer isn't sweet fyi

shortchanged of a week's holidays... we shall all be facing a long span of thirteen study and exam weeks ahead... hopefully there's still some time for a recreational trip or two... the thought of my industrial training and final year looming in a matter of months isn't pleasing at all... what more with the absence of long stretches of holidays from now until september probably... by then i will probably be bogged down by my final year project just like all other batchmates here... on a lighter note... the past week has been quite alright... my good housemates brought back dozens of cny cookies... including my fave ones especially for me :) a whole lotta firecrackers and fireworks were set off in my neighborhood on the ninth day of cny... much more than the lousy danga bay NYE celebrations... electronics III test was pretty alright considerin' the fact that i barely spent time on it... just not in the mood for serious revision... it was rainin' for most of the afternoon... and when the sun finally shone again... the skies were a sight to behold... a huge rainbow arched for miles from end to end... personally i've never seen one so big... simply beautiful... went out for late night drinks a couple of times this week... and it seems like i'll run into ppl everywhere... even in tuta at 0130hrs... and of course dun mention the new 24hr McD built especially for the nocturnal student population... EVERYONE goes there... before i end... here are pix of today's daybreak...

upgraded my pc's ram to 1gb to better multi-task like i always do... especially for dvd-burning which is resource-hungry... i guess this amount of memory should suffice for the time being :)

the past week has been an enjoyable one... and i'm sure the same goes for most of you guys out there who were endlessly partying, house-visiting and eating throughout the festivities... it's interestin' to check out other blogs to see what my fellow buddies have been celebrating their chinese new year... well... as for me... it was a short and sweet five days in ipoh... my two bros and sis-in-law were back for the reunion dinner... and of course there's the usual visitation to some extended family members... and church on cny eve as it has always been annually... unlike previous cnys... i didn't house-hop as much... but i did meet up with a few people whom i have not seen for a long while... kenny from melbourne... 2 yrs... and andrew from newyork... 4yrs... well... time does fly... it doesn't feel like they were away for too long... we still talk like before... hung out with a few university mates... ex-classmates... close friends... and before i know it... i'm back in jb.... much earlier than everyone else... no worries... i'll need some time to organize my stuff here... both my studies and dvd-burnin'... hehe... may the year of the dog be a fantastic one!