Love Story Meets Viva La Vida by Jon Schmidt (A Piano Cello Compilation)



An awe-inspiring song! 5-Star! When I first heard this song with a set of headphones, I felt as if I was virtually transported into another world. I was close to tears, tears of joy.

FIBA U-19 World Championship is in town!
Went to watch 3rd Round matches between Puerto Rico against Egypt and Greece against France. A couple of alley-oop dunks got the crowd all jumping. You can really feel the adrenaline pumping even though you aren't on the court. Awesome!!!

Sunday will be the Gold Medal game. Hopefully, the States will be in. Future NBA stars! Tickets in hand, here I come. :)

Swine flu outbreak. IS that for real? I would rather not talk about it. Silently, I pray for the people around the World.

My third field trip of this semester, this morning, at Ardmore Atmospheric station about 50km south from the city. The morning sky was pouring when my housemate woke me up. It was 8.40am. The transport provided was scheduled to leave at 9.00am. Thankfully I was not going with it. I cursed the rain. A coldfront hit Auckland today, that explains the weather. I checked my alarm, the "bell sign" was still there. It was set to ring at 7.30PM. Geez, clumsy. Still, a friend of mine was suppose to pick me up at 9 too, but he can wait :P I am a Malaysian afterall.

Akash arrived late, he is no Malaysian. The road was all wet. Speed kills on slippery roads. No speeding which means we are going to be late. We cursed the rain.

It was so cold out there. It was all wet. I was the only person silly enough to be wearing shorts. I thought the place was going to be lumpy, did not want to risk getting my jeans muddy. The regret kicks in as soon as I got out there doing field work. We cursed the rain. And the weather.

Today's objective was all about the sun; sort of like measuring the amount of irradiance coming onto the surface at solar noon. We were suppose to be there from 10am till 4pm approximately. Took basic measurements such as the wind direction, surface temperature and the relative humidity of the air. Later did we know that the weather would stay the same. No sign of the Sun. We were allowed to leave the station early, we left at 1.

And so .. we thank the rain. :)

As usual, Uni stress kicks in for everybody even during the Easter break. I haven't been updating my blog not just because I am dreadfully busy but .. am lazy. Things in NZ are so far so good. I have got a good accommodation, got my broadband only recently and I cook most of the time now cause I finally got my own kitchen. It is sometimes TOO comfortable at my place so much so that you don't feel like doing anything else but stay in deep slumber. That's bad for studies, I know. And Goddammit myself for blogging when I have got an assignment due tomorrow and am only half way through. I figured the mind would automatically switch to an alternative thing after a fair amount of stress is applied to it. Take an example of a study table which on it, a laptop and a pile of undone assignment. After looking at the pile, you would think "Come on lets go on Facebook, only 5 minutes". And then there goes the mouse movement to the url column and www.facebook.com. (Hey what the .. ? Why is the web page on Facebook? Well, the mind has been TOO accustomed to technology. The heartbeat, our breathings, counter reaction, all of this are being controlled by the Medula Oblongata, so it may happen! Auto facebooking?) In a minute, you'll be on that page but you won't just be there for 5 minutes; it will drag on and on to say, 10 minutes? That is a wasted 5 minutes. When your mind gets TOO comfortable, before any stress can be applied, ONLY the thought of stress could already work your mind through hell. Sigh* No matter.
Since I got back here, I haven't really had a free weekend. I have field work to do for my courses. When there's none, so far only two (free weekends) of them, I did charity and went on a retreat to a monastery to learn the "art of meditation". Meditation is NOT an easy skill.
And then come Easter break, two weeks holidays for mostly everyone but not me because I had my longest field work so far. Seven days to Port Waikato to do some geology, observed the landscape there, hacked some rocks, collected some fossils, did some large scale mapping. Did all that while carrying a backpack equipped with lunchbox, water bottle, a geology hammer, field books everyday for seven days. By the end of each day, the bag would be so much heavier piled with rock samples despite all the food been eaten and water being gulped down. It was like a military camp. We had to hike up hills up and down steep valleys without a proper pathway, we walked for many miles, certain times across electric fences. A few of them got shocked. Failure to maneuver MAY cost your live. The experience attained from this journey was one to be remembered of. OK today is the end of my Easter break and the start of semester 1 Part 2. Happy Easter everyone. Here are some pictures of Port Waikato region.

(My boots in black sand aka magnetites)



(Waterfall lake)


(All muddy)


(Stream crossing, was lucky my boots were waterproof)


(Watch your footing!)


(Jurassic bedding)


(As we move on)

(Lunch break)


(A fault across)


(The fault earlier, runs right through the hills)


(Eroded beds due to wave actions)


(Harmony of Geology .. of Earth, Sea and Sky)


(Careful walk)


(Vertical beauty)


(My seniors, only people who are free on that day)


(And when we think that we have come to the end of the path .. the jouney goes on further)


(Bunk beds we stayed in)

Some of the settings look a fair bit like that from the movie Jurassic Park don't they.

I smell a stale blog, left aside to rot.
With dust settling on it.

Most of my friends who played a huge part in my life have left this pretty place to further their studies. I shall take this opportunity to thank them for all the help and support they have given me, as good pals, and to wish them the very best living far from home. The sweet memories we have shared shall remain in our hearts. I shall miss you guys (and girls).

I was not able to send most of them off because on the week their flight was scheduled, I was on a random vacation up in Penang. I did however see off cool boy Sai Meng who was flying to Miri. I was surprised his parents did not accompany him to the airport. Instead, we drove him there. I cannot tell you who the driver was because if HIS dad finds this out, he will be in hot water. :X

(Bros! from left: SM-JL-Jit-YC)

LCCT was real crowded. He left without a tear shed.

(Jit's professional driving skills ... Ooops!)

Today marks the day of F-r-e-e-d-o-m for my mouth. The day my bracess was removed, completely, after about two years plus. I miss a major part of my dental appointment due to studying abroad and it was kind of costly doing them overseas; that's why it took so long.

(Smiles)

Freedom never tastes this good.

Its been splendid spending my days back in Malaysia. So far I have been doing the usual things such as chilling with Friends, basketball, late night mamaks, EPL Night, spending time with family and Wen. I am certainly enjoying this even if it doesn't seem too happening. Knowing that my days here are numbered, I try to make the most out of my every day.

The days here are not like days of last year. Jit's busy working, Shiau's not on holidays. Though I have got the others, it is certainly better to have them around. I can count myself to be lucky that Wen's around! I haven't met up with many of my other mates yet; sure hope to see them soon.

Attended MAMA MIA musical today at Istana Budaya with my family. The show started around 3 but we left home at 1 right after lunch fearing KL's terrible traffic. The parking spaces were almost all occupied already despite turning up quite early. The hall was huge. More and more people turn up in formal attire while I was only dressed semi-formally while my sis wore casual clothes. She felt the awkwardness. Everyone was asked to silent their phones and usage of camera was prohibited. A wasted one failing to capture and good shots. The performers, both sexes were gorgeous. And as for the play ... I can't pretty much describe this but one word: AWESOME! .. coincidentally, Celest, my friend from NZ, was sitting just behind me.

The show ended around ten to six. Fearing for the worst, its after office hours. We left the place with me hoping to get home quickly because dinner appointment was at 7; only to be caught in the disastrous KL traffic jam. It took us 2 whole hours to drive back to the doorstep of Home. Once home, I rushed into my car and sped off to Dewi's Corner for dinner. First time meeting up with Steph, Bak, Josh, Jing and Deric since I got home. It was great! Right after that .. Friday Night Ball and a farewell to Mattheaus for he's going for National Service the week after. That's all for now. :)

SHORT HAIR~!

Happy Birthday darling Tan! My oh my, time flies. It's your 20th already, oldy. See that recent picture of you, you look way younger! To me .. Short hair brings out the youth in you. :p You are still real pretty with your current hair. Hee.. That's my favourite picture of you. :)

Here's the thing you see. I had the sudden inspiration to update my blog on this big day of yours. My itchy fingers just had to take me to Aileen's page FIRST, to see what she came out about you this year. It turned out she wrote a whole long ESSAY. Dammit! Now now, I can't be beating no law students' essay, can I? =/

I'm left with the following (catch phrase) .. which can only sound more than the TRUTH:
You are my perfect piece of gem.
You are my marvelous superwoman.
You are my greatest asset.

Sincerely.

T^W^O years is still not something to boasts about but I have you assured that my hands will be there at your semi-dark hours. With your sort of character, there will never be A dark hour :) You are my confidante. Does this mean that I confide in you? Yes.
A friend which can never be replaced, yes you are.
A love one that will never be a tick away to whisper into my ears the sweetest things one could possibly say.

I thank you love. It's been awhile since I last hold you. This is also the first time I am far away from you on your BIG DAY. I miss you and it won't be long till the broken puzzle be fix again!

From my heart and soul. A tale of two <3 .. I hope you enjoy this.

Happy 20th Birthday, darling! Have it an awesome one there alright.

PS: Ima no bimbo :P Yaaouwwh.