New Adventures

So far, MN has been great. People here are nice and extremely helpful whenever the going gets tough. It's been a little over a week since I left Malaysia and I am starting to feel a little homesick. The past few days hasn't been easy. Damaged luggage. Check. Looking for housing. Check. Orientation. Check. Orientation sort of demotivated me to the nth degree and it seems like I have no idea what I am doing here. But I guess talking to mama made things 94328743092740329 times better.

Yesterday was Eid and I have to say Eid away from the family is extremely weird. Its my first raya away from the family so I felt a little sad. I guess its normal to feel sad but thank goodness for Skype. I think without that, I would be a wreck here. You see I am very close to my family and I love them to bits. Say what you want to say but I still love my family very much.

After today, I guess I will be busy doing stuff. I hope to meet more people cause I do want to hang out with people here. Maybe I haven't found them yet. Well, lets hope I meet them during orientation and perhaps during the Welcome Day event. We'll see how that goes.

Anyway, I think updating this blog regularly will become harder for me once classes start so I apologize for the lack of updates in the future! Till the next update, cheers!

:)

Feelings

I feel happy, excited, nervous, sad, and bittersweet all the the same time. I guess it's slowly coming to me that these are my last few days in Malaysia for a while. Being away from the comfort of my own home and family to make way for new adventures in a country halfway around the world. I hope everything will be OK. I hope I can make it through in one piece. I hope I have a blast. I hope I come out a stronger person. I hope I come out more mature. But most of all, I hope I enjoy every second spent there. Here's to new adventures in The States.

:)

Just When I Thought All Hope Was Lost

Yesterday morning, I woke up feeling miserable. I was anticipating being woken up by a phone call. But that never happened. Feeling down in the dumps, I freshened up and hoped for a miracle. The miracle did happen just when I exited the bathroom. It was my phone ringing, begging me to pick it up. It was them. I was extremely grateful. Alhamdulillah.

So now, the new chapter of my life can officially start, as I prepare myself to fly off to The States soon. Yesterday was an extremely productive day. Registered for document check, orientation, transportation to the uni, and most importantly my flight. Now am in talks about my room I would like to rent over there. Hope all goes well with the landlord. Just told her that I will be arriving this weekend and hoping for a meeting on Monday. We'll see how that goes, cause honestly I don't really have a choice, but from the description, I think it is a good choice.

Preparing For The Worst

Because my life seems to not go as planned. I guess you cannot 'plan' life huh?

I Don't Know How To Feel Anymore

Sadly, the title makes no sense whatever. You see, this is my second time going through this, and apparently this time it is taking longer. I have no idea why, but it makes no sense at all. If a person had to do the same thing twice, he or she would, logically complete it the second time a little faster if not approximately the same time as the first. Not longer. Definitely baffles me too. Hence, I have no idea how to feel anymore. 

Facebook has become depressing at this point of time. You have no idea how it feels when others are already starting another chapter of their life (something I have been wanting to do since the year started mind you) while I am here waiting for a stupid phone call. I seriously am disliking this. It is rather unbearable. I may sound like I am over reacting, but this isn't over-reacting. This is raw emotion. I HATE IT. 

I know patience is a virtue, but I have been patient enough already right? 1.5 months is WAAAAAAAY too long. And this isn't even inclusive of the 1.5 months I waitied the first time. You know the first time I went through this thing and it cost me 8 months of my life. Oh well, story of my life I tell ya. Maybe they don't want me there. Well, if that's the case, be it. Thanks so much for wasting my time.

Now, this song makes me feel better.

Panic Mode

I don't know why, but it seems like the future looks discouraging for me. What if history repeats itself? That won't be good. In fact, it'll be über-depressing. Hoping for a miracle now. 

In a completely unrelated note, I am currently addicted to this song.

Travel

This is perhaps one of the most creative videos I have seen in a while. Such a simple concept, but extremely effective. Which gets me thinking, I NEED to travel MORE. This video inspires me to do so in the future. World, wait for me, I'll be coming!

:)

MTV World Stage 2011

This is a (much delayed) post about my experience while attending the MTV World Stage 2011 which happened recently. To be honest, there almost wasn't this experience but with what I like to call divine intervention, everything just fell into place.

It all started on the morning of the event when I was woken up with a little bit of great wonderful news from my dad. "You're going to MTVWS11'". I couldn't believe my ears. I was so upset the day before as I was coming to terms with not going, and this happened. Extremely happy, I sort of ran around in my room feeling on cloud 9 for a good 5 minutes (something I can recall doing while receiving identical news 2 years ago). You see, 30 Seconds To Mars was playing and I really wanted to go. I've been a fan of this band since high school and it would be amazing to see them live.

I decided to bring my younger brother with me as I wanted him to know how it felt like to go to an actual concert. I've had my fair share of them and so far they have been nothing short of amazing. Surprisingly, traffic wasn't a hassle and parking was a breeze. My brother and I were extremely excited for what was to come later in the night.

To kick things off was a local rock band going by the name Pop Shuvit. Am not really a fan of the band but they did give a head-banging performance. Next, was this Korean Pop act to come on stage. Quite honestly, I thought they had no place to be on the stage. With names like Pop Shuvit, Neon Trees and 30 Seconds To Mars, I really felt like they were out of place. Quite honestly I thought 'boy-bands' phased out in the 21st century. Guess I was wrong.

Girls (and boys) alike thronged the concert grounds anticipating these 6 Korean dudes, which go by B2$T by the way, to get on stage. And if you are puzzled by how to pronounce the name of this pop band, it's supposedly 'BEAST'. Do not tell me how or why they pronounce it that way, but in my books, B2$T will NEVER, EVER, EVER, look and be pronounced as BEAST. Nuff' on that, they sang (or I think they lip-synched) their way through 6 extremely lyrically-challenged songs. What really troubled me was that a girl standing next to me was balling her eyes out when they got on stage. And when they left, she teared up even more. Hard-core fan huh? When B2$T were done, it seemed like 1/6 of the audience left the concert grounds. I was rather shocked but hey, it was their loss. The best performances were yet to come.

Next to grace the stage was Neon Trees. Now, this band was sort of a bonus for me. I did not really know a lot of their songs, but I was excited to see what they had to give. And boy did they give! Tyler Glenn gave an outstanding performance and he was very entertaining. He didn't mind making a fool of himself on stage, but it was all for the sake of showmanship. He belted out their songs (3 of which I actually knew) and most of the crowd sang along happily to them. Tyler had a way with the audience and there wasn't a moment when I was bored. This was truly an entertaining act. And not to mention the backdrops they used (notice the 'eye')? Cool right? Well, if this was the main course, dessert was to be served next. The band I was anticipating to see for so many years (you don't even know) were up next and I couldn't be more ecstatic. My adrenaline was on an all time high here.

After the the stage was set, Shannon Leto came on stage and started with the drums. I say, he is an excellent drummer. He built up the anticipation for his brother to come on stage and when Jared finally did, the crowd went into a frenzy. I have to admit, not only can Jared sing, he also can pass as a model. No, really, did you see his HUGO Just Different ad? I bet all the girls that day just melted away by his good looks and charm and the guys were just ready to get the show started. I know I was. Now enough of that, the music. They sang 8 songs in total and I sang along to each and every one of them. It was absolutely amazing.

30 Seconds To Mars is a band with a cause. They care about the environment and they advocate world peace. It's a great cause and they spread the word through their music. Simple I say cause music can actually unite people, and if it's for a good cause, why not. Well, the show went off and Jared, Shannon and Tomo gave a stellar performance. Jared was great with the crowd. He called many people on stage for the finale and to be honest, if i was not enclosed in the separate VIP area, I would have ran upfront and make him drag me on stage. How cool would it be to actually 'share' the stage with them? It was quite a nice gesture to the fans because not many artists who come to Malaysia actually do that. Well, to see what really went down while I was there, catch the entire show on-air. Check out showtimes here.

To conclude, MTV World Stage 2011 was a hit. Though there were a few misses with performers for the night, Neon Trees and 30 Seconds To Mars made up for it. To say that I would go again to any one of the band's shows, I will. But I will have to wait and when the time (and money) is right, I'll probably be at one of those shows rocking it out happily. Now, if only I could score tickets to a Coldplay show...

Ps// To all my readers out there, this is officially my 100th post!

Pps// If you are reading this blog, thank you very much!

Ppps// If you are still reading, peace!  v(^^)v

A Summer To Remember Chpt. II

Universal Studios. I always wanted to go there (again) one day and have fun. And recently on a family vacation to Singapore, my whole family went. After a few days of researching on several travel websites, we were set for the day. We decided it was prudent to do the park anti-clockwise and boy it was the best decision ever.

Of course I can go on and on telling you about every single ride I actually got on etc but that would probably bore you to death. Heck it may even bore me to death. Instead, here are the three rides I think are worth a ride (or two).

1. BATTLESTAR GALATICA. Human VS Cylon. OK, Human was thrilling, only because of that massive drop which did not seem to end. Then it sort of just was like any other roller coaster with twists, turns and yes, more drops. Cylon on the other hand was quite the adventure. Yours truly had the chance to ride the beast up front. And boy I tell ya, it was such a joy. Adrenaline rush was at an all time high after this ride.

2. REVENGE OF THE MUMMY. Perhaps because this ride was the only indoor roller coaster in Singapore's Universal Studios. The setting was pitch darkness throughout and boy was it fun! There were a few unexpected twists to the ride, and to find out what, I reckon you go and find out for yourself.

3. JURASSIC PARK RAPIDS ADVENTURE. There was a little bit of drama when we were waiting to get on this ride. Apparently after waiting for 45 minutes, the ride encountered some 'technical difficulties' as they say and had to be shut down until further notice. Mind you, this was actually THE LAST ride we all needed to get on to complete the whole park, yes, entire park. And this happened. We were determined to get on it anyway and with Divine Intervention, the ride reopened at 8pm. We got on minutes later and I have to say it was pretty darn good!

Universal Studios Singapore was a blast for my family and I. It truly is a place to spend time with family or friends. I would gladly come back another time in the future.

Our last day in Singapore was basically filled with shopping on Orchard Road. As there was like a 'further mark down' sale pretty much everywhere, we did quite a bit of shopping there. Yes my friends, we helped Singapore's already blessed economy. But hey, the stuff we purchased were all at a steal, so I guess there is no harm in that. 

I have to say I truly do enjoy visiting Singapore. It's just that everything seems more chilled and relaxed there. No, I do not mean people there are slow (in fact I noticed they walk and do things faster than people in Malaysia), it's just that throughout the whole trip, we didn't need to worry about much. Not transportation, not finding places we needed to get to, pretty much nothing. Everything is accessible via their public transportation system and I laud Singapore's decision to invest so much in that. It is truly something to be proud of. So, till we meet again Singapore, I know we will meet again soon.