Australia
That’s where I’m going tomorrow! Starting anew. I’ve stayed in Penang my entire life, so I guess I’ll be experiencing how it feels to move to another country. All those times I wondered why kids who move a lot get emotional and stuff, guess I’ll understand them soon enough.
At the moment I’m packing in last minute things, so I don’t really have time to feel sad. In fact I don’t really have any feelings about this since I’m so occupied. Which reminds me, I used to ask friends about their feelings before they leave for another country, and it’s so funny and incomprehensible to me why they would say they ‘had no feeling’. Finally I get it! 
Every time I start anew somewhere, whether high school or college, I’d think about how I wanna change myself and how this would be the perfect chance. But really I still stay the same. I only found myself changing by learning from the new experiences I go through. So yesterday I was thinking about the whole ’starting a new life’ thing again, this time in Australia. I was trying to think of something I wanted to change about myself, beginning from this month. But I couldn’t think of anything! I keep telling myself this is the chance to change! Don’t waste it! But really nothing came to my mind. I dunno.
Actually the reason why I’m doing this is because I’m such a shy person. If wearing a dress out of the blue here in Malaysia (after not wearing one since I was 11) would probably cause everyone to notice, stare, comment, etc. then I’d rather not start wearing one even if I really wanted to! That’s why I always appreciate opportunities to start fresh. But now I can’t think of any! And I feel there should be something to change. Maybe smile a bit more, be a bit less cold in person, talk a bit louder so others can hear me and not bully me, finally wear skirts/dresses after all those tomboyish years (not that I have any to wear)… I don’t know. Friends, if you can think of anything positive to improve on, let me know!
In the mean time, I gotta get ready for Australia!
I’m home
We’ve reached safely. I’m so thankful that all our flights were comfortable and didn’t have much turbulence. Those long hours went by fast with reading The Host. haha… still I’ve only read it halfway. Kinda weird not having bro and sis around. Guess I have to get used to that sooner or later…
Jet lagging here I think. Plus the flu… zzZzzZZZ
Nightly Gathering
I dreamt of Claire Bennet in Heroes. I dreamt I was with my brother and sister watching Heroes together. Then I woke up and stared into the darkness of my hotel room and realized we will never get to watch shows together again. At least not regularly.
I went into the shower and thought about how long we’ve been doing this. And I remembered the photos our dad took of us watching shows. Since before my sister was borne (just my bro and I ) and when my sister was just a baby (that’s the three of us), we’ve been watching shows together (Smurf, Jam, Sesame Street, Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles…).
Then I remembered at 10 we started watching shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer together. I never understood their jokes then.
At 15, we watched my ‘first’ anime – Trigun. Of course 2008 December during the Doraemon promotion in Queensbay did I only realize that my first anime was Doraemon, not Trigun. But since Trigun we haven’t stopped watching. Cooking Master Boy, Yakitate Japan, Haibane Renmei, Great Teacher Onizuka, Full Metal Panic… They were countless.
At 17, my brother left to UK. My sister and I got busy with senior years in high school, training, college… We didn’t watch much together, other than Peach Girl. I was pretty sad at the time, having left Yakitate Japan half-watched and my brother gone. But those days my sister and I grew closer. I also found Guo Yi.
In 2007, when I was 19, my brother graduated and came back. I was so happy that we could continue Yakitate Japan! That was so much fun. We also watched a lot of new stuff, this time more mysterious scary shows instead of the usual high school romance and crazy comedy (although we watched a few of those too like Nodame, Clannad and Slam Dunk). We also moved into American shows, now that there are so many good ones out there, such as CSI (usually without my sister) and Heroes and House! All those memories! There were so much fun, night after night gathering in my brother’s room at 10 for more shows.
Then this morning I woke up in the dark and realized that things wouldn’t never be that way again. By the time I return in July my brother would be in the two years full time training. After those two years, I’m not sure how the future would be. Maybe one of us would no longer stay with our parents. And hence the gathering can no longer happen. I took those days for granted, never realizing that they were reaching their end. Before I knew it, it ended. And here I am waking up in the morning without them around.
RIP our 11 year nightly gathering…
Bored in San Francisco
My brother has left for Penang and my sister has moved into the sisters’ house. Orientation has begun for her. So now it’s just my parents and I. The hotel room has been quite a lonely place since and I’m starting to miss home.
Buskers
Buskers are mainly beggars who perform on the street side for cash in countries where sitting around begging is not allowed. The normal thing to do is sing, play the guitar (or some other common instrument) or draw and paint local landmarks.
But at the Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, I found out there was a new kind of basking. LOL!
So I was walking along the road, when suddenly my sister stopped to snap a photo. I thought of waiting for her but decided to walk on since it was a sight I’ve already taken with my own camera from earlier on. So I walk a few steps while watching her when suddenly I heard a lion growl very near my leg and a plant jumped out at me! I darted it in fright and surprise, only to realize it was a poor busker with no talent hiding behind the plant trying to punk people. Oh well, I wasn’t harmed. I continued to walk on and I started to hear a lot of laughter. I look up and oh no! There were some jokers filming all the tricked people’s reaction! Last time I always watch this kinda scare-people-for-laughs videos and now I myself got fooled! Haha… There was nothing else for me to do but to put on a laughing face and walk on as that was the simplest way to go without generating more laughter.
I just hope I didn’t make it on Youtube. But even if I did, thank goodness for my sunglasses which hides my identity!
What poor people with no talent would do for cash, LOL. *edit* (He’s not poor at all apparently. He supposedly makes USD60,000 in a good year.)
My bro and sis couldn’t stop talking about it that evening.
*update* I just found out he is world famous. So I guess this is a pretty cool experience. For more on the World Famous Bush Man, click here.
Traveling in my sleep
925 is me, I was explaining to guoyi about what just happened about an hour ago.
925- says:
just now my sister woke up and wanted to go toilet. so she get out of bed
then she saw me turn from my side to on my back, then i said ‘hm… hm… no… k, 1 2 3 chak!’ with my left hand in the air clicking the button of the invisible camera
then suddenly my eyes open
and i woke up!
hahahaha
guoyi says:
0.o
u sure?
haha
925- says:
ya
i remember what i was dreamng about
guoyi says:
that’s really interesting n very cute of u
haha
925- says:
we were in san francisco then my dad was holding his hands up then i wanna take photo for him so i say ‘hm..hm..no’ cos his arm blocking some of the view… then when i arrange properly d, i say 123 chak! and click the button to take photo for my dad… then suddenly i opened my eyes automatically
haha
and saw my sister standing there stunned
hahaha
guoyi says:
haha
925- says:
then i asked her.. ‘err…. did i talk?’
lol!
guoyi says:
haha
San Francisco
Hello I’ve safely reached San Francisco!
I’m staying in San Bruno for the whole trip and today we’ll be heading to San Fran.
We’re tired and somewhat jet lag but I’m happy to be here =D
Bumped into Grace at the Penang airport
At Narita airport, Tokyo
Arrived at destination!
Sister to uni
We’re leaving to US tonight so we can help my sister settle down there for studies. I’m kinda sad to be leaving her. I don’t know how life will be without her to hang out with everyday.
When we were young and got into fights, my dad would tell me, “When you grow older you won’t get to see her so much already, will you be happy with that?” something like that. Maybe that time when I got mad I might have liked the idea of not having to fight with her everyday. But now thinking back, I wished we got along better when we were younger. Ah well, at least we’ve been very good together since college, partly knowing we’d be leaving one another in a year or so.
I hope she will do well there and be happy and safe. May the Lord be with her throughout her studies in San Francisco.
Polaroid on Emirates
I like Emirates airline, mainly for its entertainment onboard. They provide a whole long list of new movies to watch. Best of all, you can watch it anytime you want, and even pause, rewind or forward it.
Other than that, the cool thing about Emirates is on this one flight I took to Dubai or Athens, there was this Penangite air stewart who talked to us and decided to use his Polaroid camera on us. Ahh how kind of him, considering that Polaroid is now no longer being manufactured!
College keeps coming back to me
I’ve graduated in August yet once again, I have college news to tell here again.
Yesterday I got my first pay!
My ONLY pay.
RM30.00 yeah!!! LOL
For that sandcastle photographer job remember?
*+*+*
Went to college the other day to settle something with my head-of-school lecturer and he gave this to me. Like woah! The photo my sister took of me and my classmates at one of the college events is on the college’s newsletter. My sister was on the editorial team, writing articles and taking most of the photos. I’m really proud of her. Her photos are professional looking.
Notice the singing girl under the INTI logo. My sister took that shot and whilst everyone whom she showed thought it was boring, the designer of the newsletter thought it was great and used it twice in the newsletter. So she was sooo happy that her fave shot made it.
I remember when I first went to INTI to sign up. At the time I was kinda nervous, not knowing what to expect of my next 2.5 years in this place. I could only hope to get through college as best as I can. I never expected to be what I’ve become, LOL. Geez… Getting straight As for once in my life, being the top of my class, and most unexpectedly, making it onto our course brochure and newsletter cover. And I’m really happy for it. At least I can always remember college as the point in my life where I had the opportunity to do what I’ve never achieve before, to finally get that straight As results that I was never able to do before because of the Malay/Chinese language (whichever that would give me a B).
So now in two months I will be going to university. And here I am worrying about how I will survive there in a whole new environment. Will I fail? Be average? Stand out? Who will I meet? Will they be people I can form long term friendships with or people whom I will only bother with for the next 1.5 year?
And so here I am back at square one, right where I started before college.
