The Last.

2013 is coming to an end, and yes, this seems horrid, that I'm about drop a major rant. But I'd like to look at it as somewhat of a message to a lot of people out there. Four incidents that I feel need to be addressed. So I apologize in advance if this insults anyone/ hurts anyone's feelings. Also if this is too long, I'm sorry.

Case Numero Uno:
I had been sitting on a major highway, crawling my way home. It was starting to get on my nerves so I decided it was probably better to turn off into an alternative route to get home. So, being the responsible driver I am, I flicked my signal to go and checked if there were any cars. I saw a car coming at a distance and knew I had enough time to make it, so I exited where I was. But somehow, halfway through getting out of that tight space, the guy had sped up and was RIGHT next to my car, honking and making a ruckus. I took a glance and saw his wife starring me down, and him with an angry hand gesture. Whatever, I decided to ignore it because I knew that he sped up on purpose so that he could overtake me before I took the lead (as if one car would make such a big difference), the way a lot of locals do here. Whatever. So he was in front of me, and so happens, we were heading the same route, and hit a traffic light. As there were three lanes, I decided to take the most vacant one and go on my merry way. But, I ended up on the spot right next to his and by then, he had the window on his wife's side down and was yelling in Malay, with more angry hand gestures, telling me to "GO DIE". So you can imagine how I was already feeling since the honking up to the traffic lights: nervous, yet, pumping with so much adrenaline.
My response:
I smiled, the biggest I could, and pulled my my own hand gestures, a peace sign, with my giant peace sign ring facing them.

Case Numero Dos:
I was heading out of work, going home, and decided it wasn't too early to switch into the lane that I needed to be on. So, again, being the responsible driver I was, I flicked my signal, peeked out a little and began edging my way out of the lane. When suddenly this motorcycle started charging at me, honking furiously. Being the motorcyclist he was, he swerved his way around my car, ahead of me, slammed on his breaks with and angry hand gesture, yelled a really loud "OI!", rolled his eyes and sped off.
My response:
He had already sped off, so I just sat there in, not sure if I should be mad, upset, or guilty that this happened.

Case Numero Tres:
On separate incidents, I went out with some people (who hang out in the same clan). First time, it was with A&B. We decided to go watch a movie, and wanted to get some grub before. It was a weekend, so obviously it'd be a busy busy BUSY day anywhere, everywhere. One of our orders included two drinks, long story short, the drinks never came even when we were about to leave. I can understand why it may have slipped, or if the waiter had forgot. I mean, the waiters had to take tables from numerous tables before sending them to the kitchen. On the other hand, I can also get why one would be displeased by the absence of an order. However, what came next was a major shocker. Yep, you prolly guessed it... Someone asked for our drinks, but in the least courteous way; demanding, authoritative, pissed off. Honestly, I don't know why I didn't say something to the person at the time. Instead, I did the total opposite to the waiter, and thanked profusely.
On the second food date with these people with two additions: C&D, we went for brunch. It was a Sunday, but not too busy at the restaurant we occupied. C&D had already been there a little when I got there, with their food orders in. Not long after I arrived, A&B got there. Together, we ordered our brunch. Long story short, the waiters messed up the orders somehow... I guess when three people are giving you orders and constantly changing their orders and trying to make up their minds, I can see how it'd be confusing... This time, C took charge of dealing with the waiters. Now, a little back story of C.. I've known C for a while, and in all our interactions, they've been pleasant: C was generally a great person.. So naturally what occurred at the restaurant left me speechless. C was awfully rude, demanding, and authoritative, paired with frustration and annoyance.
My response:
So new was this that I actually could not speak. DAMN IT KIM. So instead, I let C settle my share of the bill as well. Thanks C. I'm sure you know who you are. I hope you stop being so rude. 


Case Numero Cuatro:
It's lunch time, my colleague and I went to get food. The system works like this: you grab a table, have someone sit there/something there to reserve it before someone takes it away from you. Then you go to the counter (there are two guys standing together), you give the first guy your order and the table number, pay at the cashier (this is the 2nd guy with the cash register), and they'll bring the food to you. So I had my colleague sit there while I ordered the food. It had been a while since my last visit, so I forgot about the table number, and had to kinda slide a little out of the line to check my table number. Then, as I did that, the lady behind me figured it was a good time for her to swerve around me and jump in front of me to pay for two packets of take away items.
My response:
I waited till she was done paying, and tapped her on the shoulder. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Hi aunty, I know you're in a hurry, we all are, but its not very nice to jump queue la..
Her: Yeah, I know. But I'm only over there (pointed at her table) and I only needed to buy this very quickly.
Me: Yes, aunty, I know, but next time, don't jump queue la, it's not very nice...
Her: Yes, I know. Do you want this? Just take this la.

Me: Aunty, it's okay, that's not the point. Next time, just don't do it again okay?

Her: Yes. Next time. Just keep it to yourself!

Honestly. When I think about it, I'm starting to ask myself if I was like this before I left the country. I probably was. Demanding and shit, especially at eateries. Shit, never again. 

Since the 3rd incident, I promised myself, never, ever, ever again will I sit aside and watch injustice happen. And to whoever is reading this, I hope you too stand up for injustice, whether it's as simple as telling an "adult" that she should line up, or if it is throwing up peace signs at rude drivers, or even standing up against your friends for the way they're treating an inferior. Do it. Many of us, myself included, have lived in the shadows of others, brushing things off, saying "it's okay, they're like that", when we know deep down it's unethical and completely rude. So I hope all of you reading this, will join me in standing up and spreading the message. And by that, I also mean that you deal with the situations with maturity, with respect, to raise neither your voice, nor your fists no matter what the person does. 

I hope your 2014 rings in more joy, garners in more respect, and that all those beautiful wishes come true. It's a new year, new me, and I hope, a new you too. 

Love,

Kim. 

Setengah.

Ya know what, it's definitely been too long.

Frankly, I'm a horrible blogger; if you can even categorize me as one. I take hiatuses, go AWOL, and basically play hide and seek with everyone, be it on social media or not. If people are even aware is a completely different field. But really, I've been home a while, and only a handful of people know. Some basically find out by bumping into me, not that I go out THAT often to begin with. Others, well, it's just cause I actively seek them out. Talk about lasting impressions: another thing I'm horrible with. I don't exactly remember a lot about a person. My brain only remembers those whose koo-koo levels are on par with mine. Either that or my crazy infatuated self thinks she's in love with you. You know, either or. Thinking aloud here.

But really, I know I apologize a lot, and knowing me (as much as I'd like to not admit it), I will be doing a lot more of that. Apologizing, that is. And yeah, you're probably right, it is an awful awful excuse to be missing from social media, or even this lonely, forsaken blog. Poor thing.

To be quite honest with you, I've not been in the best place lately. Not so much emotionally, nor mentally. Being a "fresh grad", being "funemployed, and been practically thrusted into the unwelcoming embrace of "the real world", and readjusting back to Malaysian culture (and not being very fond of it) has zombie-fied my.. well, me. I'm a pretty optimistic person in general. Though I may not seem it, nor do I portray it as much, I am. Especially when people laugh at me in disbelief; my optimism levels tend to skyrocket. Or so I thought.

I would go on. But honestly, what else is there to say right? Sides, what goes on the internet stays there permanently and whatever I say here shall be taken so seriously along with the repercussions that come with the package whether you want it to or not. Right? So, I'll just leave it as it is right now. I think I'm moving on with this and shan't think any longer about what has already happened.

We'll see where the wind blows this time. Hopefully it'll get me back to writing again.

くに、おめでとう！

Dear Kuni

I know I don't tell you this enough.. Or maybe I do the exact opposite. I don't know. You're such a mystery to me, I'm not quite sure what you're thinking when I'm being ridiculously me. But anyway! I'm guessing that it's been announced in the emails about your resignation. So this post is dedicated to you! HA. I don't know if you remember the first time we met. Cause I do. And it was embarrassing. At the time, I was overloading on the Nat King Cole playlist and... it affected my speech cognition. I said words that were taken out of "context". Definitely something I'll never forget.. But more importantly, I'll always remember the late nights when I would Skype you because I needed a distraction from homework cause I'd done nothing but school work all day and night. You always responded and always found ways to keep me entertained till I felt motivated to continue with my work again. I never quite thanked you for that. So, thank you! Thank you for taking such awesome photos at SUA over the last... 2 years? Haha. And actually, thank you for helping out at Vagina Monologues, agreeing to do it on a last minute request, and of course, the really cool graduation snapshots. Those were really fun! 

As your underclassman, I really look up to you as an inspiration to always strive to be better while remaining humble always. As a friend, I'm super excited for you and your new adventure! Good luck, and please keep us all updated on your new line of work!! (: 

YAY!

Kim

Wake Me Up...

... when my stop is here... (whoa! it rhymes with the song lyrics too, nice!)


But uhm yeah, not sure why, but I've been falling asleep in buses (not sure why this doesn't happen in the subway) more frequently lately.

I related my past sleeping (more like bob your head involuntarily while napping) experiences, and was -in vain- told how dangerous it is cause I'd miss my stop (uh, this happened to me once in Barcelona actually)! To which I replied... NAAAAAAAH. I've never missed my stop when it happened so far. Until today...



I was 2 stops PAST my stop, heading to my 3rd and that's when I woke up. I also thought the bus driver would be stopping soon. But to my dismay... Nope. And some lady was asking me some question but since I didn't understand what she was saying, I just sat down awkwardly. Then the bus stopped at a red light and the driver asked me something and again clueless me couldn't respond. So instead, I said "here's fine" and was let off.



PHEW. CLOSE CALL. Thanking the lucky stars that I didn't end up in the oceanside or something.


Speaking of stars...

This'd be a really fun painting project

Ah. I miss painting class. 

But on a whole other topic...

I spent about 5 hours talking to someone on Skype today. It was pretty interesting. The topics ranged from electronic cigarettes, to food (more specifically Korean food), and then relationships. One thing I'm left to think about was about how a person can say if their partner is "the one". We've seen such magnificent increases of divorces over the years. Noooot to mention the immense amounts of marriage proposals (I blame Vegas marriages, and overpopulation). But no, really. Often we see these marriages lasting short, abruptly ending because "things got tough" when a vow of "for better or for worse" was made. Hmm. 

How can one really tell? 

Okay. I'm gonna go ponder. Though honestly I barely have time (kay this Skype call was once in a while, also cause I place high importance of maintaining good relationships with friends)

Thanks for reading today! Hope it didn't bore you too much..

56 Years Later...

There are many things I can name about Malaysia

Things that I absolutely dislike

But let's not dwell into the negative

For growing up, I was taught to think positive

After spending years abroad

Picking up on some critical thinking

Expanding myself on more cultural understandings

Learning the ways behind painting and drawing

Not to mention the late nights in my room dwelling

At times I had mad mad cravings

Sometimes it'd be Pan Mee, others Wantan Mee

But instead all I had was Maggi Mee,

And packet drinks of my favorite "milk tea"

I sure paid a huge fee

On campus, the closest thing to home really

Were the Malaysians that surrounded me

Proclaiming, exclaiming, and disturbing our surroundings

Laughing out loud, speaking Manglish

Occasionally, we'd slip and the word "thambi"

Or was that just me? Prolly was just me.

Excuse me for I'll regress.

For this I must confess,

I have an innate love for durians..

Oh what I'd give for just another taste.

But anyway having spent 4 years of my life in the west,

I began to appreciate the abilities

That my country has bestowed upon me

For one, is my Chinese primary school education

That's where I learnt mandarin,

Jumping on the cantonese band wagon

Actually, it was from all the bullying

In the language that I didn't know

But that's not the thing...

Bahasa Melayu, 地方研究 (di fang yan jiu),

The trilingual subjects that they used in teaching

Made Malaysians truly one of a kind.

Before I move on to politics,

Somewhat of a sensitive topic...

For once I shall be blind

And talk instead of the fruits of our tropics.

Malaysia, you have molded me into the person I am today.
Your education system, albeit horrifyingly flawed in countless manners, have helped me with languages.
Your people, a wondrous melting pot, has taught me to learn, respect, and accept other cultures and beliefs within and without my country.
Your food, a tease to the eyes, orgasmic to the tastebuds
Your natural beauty, a hidden gem, still remains a mystery to those who those who seek discovery.
Once a strategic location in history, caused many a fight between east and west.
Once a promising country, development on the rise.
But now, you're fifty six in age, looking back on your life thus far, what have you accomplished?

Happy Merdeka Day.

Vent-u(ew)ra

A tad bit upset from some of the events that took place today.

Wanted to do a rant-and-run. But decided to save it for later.

Meanwhile, here's a parrot dancing to Gangnam style.

YOU KNOW YOU WANNA WATCH IT.

How cute!

The little fella even has a cute little mohawk.

Melted muh heartz. 

I Need You!

Harlow! :)

So, I've updated my new kim-in-korea blog.  Check it!

But before you do, I'm asking for your help!

YES

you.

Give me your ideas/comments/suggestions on coffee, sugar, food, places to go, etc. Whatever you'd like to know and I'll do my best, in my power to go out and answer those questions. Or not.. I mean, you can also just drop by, take a peek and bounce. It's all good. But be nice, say hi ;) Won't take a second.. I promise :)

HEHE.

Love!

Adventure Time!! ^^

Hello friends!!

Kimberley apologizes for long abandoning you. It's not nice :(

She's been busy with settling in and job applications but she's kinda back on track! I think..?

BUT! Just an update, Kimberley's current location is in South Korea.

She also started a blog on her new adventure and will be talking about more things Korea!

Go on, take a peek! :)

Peek

What I'd Like

June is visiting me.

And I have mad cravings.

Cravings for all things

RED VELVET.

Red velvet.

I'm still alive. Sorry for the hiatus.

Crazy crazy times what with finals, graduating, travelling, moving into my friend's, etc.

But yeah..

redvelvet. 

Here's Why.

Many have criticized the black profile pictures and cover pictures of Malaysians as a means of displaying the nations defeat in GE13. Here's what I think:

1. While there are many among us who seem to have thrown up their arms in dismay and pronounced their disgust at BN's win cheat, I haven't. Honestly, the reason why I had it up in the first place was because contrary to the "death of democracy," I used the black photos as a means of mocking BN for the blackout and their magic.

2. On the topic of death of democracy, well, I believe that our government had murdered the idea of it even BEFORE the election. WAY before. But of course, would a democracy treat it's citizens the way they have treated us? With minimal respect and with the pocketing public funds? Democracy seemed to have been non existent in the eyes of our ministers decades ago.

3. The black also signifies the voices that have been suppressed. The voices that remain unheard and slashed by the devil that is the greed of our government and the people who run it. Need I say more?

4. Speaking of suppressed voices, the black is also for the foreign immigrants who, in attempts to create a better life for themselves, were used as cheating tools to "win" the election. Not only were these people stolen their rights to create a better life for themselves and their families (I'm sure they're being shipped home as you read this). They were also horrifyingly discriminated by our very own. Used, laughed at, and then discarded. My heart goes out to them and their families.

5. After reading Rosheen Fatima's post about being "realistic" and if we actually expected PR to win? My answer to that is... Well, YES. Look, I'm not sure if you remember Bersih 2.0 and the turnout we had. I'm not sure if you remember just how big the crowd was and how most of those who showed up actually believed in the opposition party. I know this is rather vague for I lack the numbers and statistics but hey, aren't the images evidence enough for you to see that PR would've ACTUALLY won the election? I don't think you actually were clearly made aware of the political wave that cause the absolutely beautiful turnout of voters yesterday (sorry, no offense, please don't take it too personally, but I don't know if you actually realized it -even if your father is Sarawakian, it doesn't actually prove that BN ACTUALLY won that seat fair and square- Just and FYI, my paternal family lives in Sabah and they're a gigantic family who actually lives in the inlands of Sabah. Did I expect them to vote for BN? Of course not!) Sorry. Just thought I'd throw it out there. Just my two cents regarding your post.

4. For those of you who actually have given up hope and decided not to live in Malaysia anymore. Well, I'm not sure if you realize just how idiotic of a decision that is? First of all, not only are you heeding to BN's words of "encouragement" that seems to want a Chinese & Indian free Malaysia, but you're also giving these greedy money suckers another reason to pocket the already non-existent monetary funds of our country? Come on now.

5. Let's stand up and fight for what is right! What is fair! Life isn't fair, we all know that, and in many circumstances, there isn't much we can do. BUT we can still change what we can, what is in our control, we can right the wrong! If you say that there's nothing you can do, that's not true! We can AT LEAST make this damn election a fair one! LET'S CONTINUE ON THIS BATTLE! IT IS NOT OVER! The world needs to know about this! All the petitions, all the social media. Spread it! Spread it far and wide! Let the world know what's up! Let's get ALL the support we can get, from both the local AND global scale! Enough is enough! Let's fight for this!! Let's fight for our country! Our future! Don't give up now! EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON can do their part! It's not the end yet!

big dreams, little one.

Someone posted this on Facebook right after I told a friend of mine about how scared I am with my future.

I have hope. 

It will happen! 

Love,

Kim. ♥

Universe How.

After crazy attempts at trying to find the last character of my name 颖 on the Chinese pinyin list (which was actually right in my face but in my impatience I ran by it), I resorted to looking it up online for copy paste purposes. And in the definition it says:

1. 植物学上指某些禾本科植物小穗基部的苞片 ie, the bract of a flower -the leaflike layer beneath a flower-
2. 东西末端的尖锐部分 Also known as the sharp end of an object.
3. My personal favorite, 才能出众 or known as talent *rawr*.

And the best part...

4. In the example section, MY NAME (I kid you not), 慧颖, was given as an example but backwards. So, 颖慧. Which pretty much means the same thing (wisdom & all the above definitions). Don't believe me, check it out for yourself (click!).

UHM. 

Mind is blown.

And ALL this cause I wanted to put my Chinese name on my Capstone cover page.

I think I just flew to the stars and back.

Also, FIGHTING! to all those completing Capstone! 

Love,

慧颖. ♥

I LOST MY CLITORIS!

Tonight, I do this for the lady (a friend's friend) who lost her life to robbers back home. 

Tonight, I do for the women who are sexually abused because "they dress to sexy/promiscuous". Tonight, I do it for the women who only wear clothes that men tell them to. 

Tonight, we do it for women & children. 

Please join us in creating awareness against violence against women & human trafficking!

Have I Told You How Much I Love Roller Coasters?

Boy, what a week it has been!

To best describe this week:

To those of you who know what reference this is, you're probs rolling on your bellies (or not).

But yeah, it felt like the week has (actually the past 2 weeks have) given me the major stink eye. 

I have been so overwhelmed with so much emotion and the undecided future. But that is just part of the problem. There's everything else in between. Capstone is fine. I'm not SUPER stressed about it (which is a good thing, why should I stress myself out unnecessarily, right?) I think instead, my mother has taken over Stress-Duty and has been up my chin on Capstone. Uh, mom, calm down please? :) And then there are all the other things in between like classes: I missed a quiz (I'm so sad), math has been slowly driving me crazy, and music, I've so much to memorize and painting SO MUCH to complete. I had to pick one of the craziest pieces... Not to mention some of the goals I would like to achieve before graduation... They fall in the interpersonal realm and I'll be the first to admit in a while that this has seriously been the bricks on my shoulders...

And with that said, I must confess that I've shed so much tears. 

I cried over words exchanged

I cried over issues unrelated to me (well, sorta)

I cried over an email (oh dear, it was one scary email)

I cried at 50 Days

I cried so much I think the list is ludicrous.

But you know, I'm doing all I can to find something beautiful in every day. 

Even if I'm still crying, at least I have something to appreciate and I don't go to bed upset. 

xoxo,

Martha & Kim. ♥

PS- I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS. I laugh when I go on them. No idea how this started but it started when I was 19. And like roller coasters (as a metaphor of life), I take life like that, by laughing (as much as I can). Sometimes you cry, sometimes you laugh.  

Wanted.

WANTED:

1. A Malaysian or Singaporean who has spare time on their hands, and is willing to read stories and add Malaysian influences and offer criticism without being a complete buzz killer. AND can give quick and timely responses.

2. A printing company who can print my Capstone into a pretty book without burning an arduous hole in my bank account. 

xoxo, 
Kim ♥

PS- Red to support the LGBTQ community today. 
PPS- comment/email me if you're feeling generous and wanna help! :D

Laugh, laugh at me.

Since I don't have much time and I thought I'd update my blog a little... Here's something...

I'm writing capstone and this is part of a story I'm telling:

"But in our world, in our dreams, we’d have sweet, sweet dreams of being with the guy we liked. No, not celebrities who didn’t know our names. That’s just sad. These were boys we were very much into." 

Thinking about it, I think my life has gotten a lot sadder. Instead of dreaming of a relationship with someone I know, I'm doing it instead with the celebrities who don't know my name... Yes. My life has increased in sadness.

Oh yes, you may laugh now :) 

Hope this made your day.

xoxo,

Kim. ♥

I My Me Mine.

My school.

My ocean.

My school. 

My education.

My school.

My life.

Herbie. Hancock. Is the guest speaker for my graduation. How exciting!! I almost cried when I read it in the minutes from the Board of Trustees meeting that is presented to the school. I am in so much appreciation! I can't even...

Dear Mr Herbie Hancock,
THANK YOU. TERIMA KASIH. 谢谢您。Merci beaucoup! ありがとうございます！

I will continue striving till the very end!



Yours sincerely,
Kimberley. ♥

K Popsessed?

WARNING: KPOP related post but it's not a usual "I LOVE BIGBANG ERMERGERD" post. So please continue scrolling if you'd like to invade my thought processes?

A friend sent me a link a few days ago regarding the revenues of two of the biggest S.Korean entertainment companies in 2012. Here is the link. But if you're like me, lazy to read (though I did read this one), or don't care (if you're still reading in the next few seconds, I guess you do care? haha idk)... Long story short... SM Entertainment (the guys who own the big names like SNSD/Girls Generation, Shinee, Super Junior, etc) raked in USD 154 Million while YG, the company who made Bigbang, 2NE1, Psy (yeah you and I we both know how big this dude is right?), and the likes... FAMOUS. They raked in... Are you ready for this?

USD$91 Million. 

er... whut??

Frankly, I was taken a back a little at the beginning. My friend was very very surprised. She said it didn't quite make sense cause of Psy and Bigbang + 2NE1 world tours and all that... But I mean, merchandise sells more than tickets do, no?

But then it got me thinking... Cause I heard that the entertainment companies... Say for example company A, who owns Band/Group BZ. BZ is famous. So technically they should be making shit loads of money from album sales and all right? Well, not how they roll in S.Korea... The artists only start making money after selling a fixed amount of albums.. If I'm not mistaken 1 Million albums? So only after that amount is sold, do these babies get money. Sigh. The price of fame man...


Which now brings me back to what I was thinking...

So now, we have a figure to the faces... Say each group/solo artist is their own unit... And the fans (omg, the fans. I was just made aware of Sasaeng fans... Fucking cray bitches... [Read here of an example, and KEEP IN MIND, these artists pay SHIT LOADS of money for their homes for the purpose of keeping the fans AWAY])

ANYWAY. So right the fans. Now that they see the figures.. and like any crazy obsessive fan who treats their favorites like their boyfriends... I wonder what they'd be thinking?


Side note: The same friend showed me a gif some a letter some girl sent to her favorite artist written with her period... I threw up a little when I read the translation... It said:

I dedicate to Taecyeon my period blood letter.

Ok Taecyeon, You cannot live without me.

Sprinkled with a few strands of my pubes

Dear Lord. 

Sorry guys... For the really random and weird post. Erm. Yeah. But yay for finally writing something in here after ages! yippeee!

xoxo,

Kim. ♥

Whirlpool

Today was a rather stressful day.

I left my room optimistic, armed with my trusty backpack, violin, and bag of art supplies.
Got to the cafeteria half an hour before class. OOOH yeaaah! Had a quick breakfast (when usually it'd take me about 20 minutes to enter and exit the food area before ACTUALLY gluing my buttocks to the chair. This was a new record! (Speaking of records, I have another one about last night... Not the kind those of you whose heads are in the gutter are thinking... *squints*)

Unfortunately, I was stuck with a horrid tummy ache that left me cringing and clasping onto a chair or a table during the first 3/4 of the class. And since it was a 3 hour class, you could say I was dying... But thank goodness, at the small break time in between, I was able to deal with all the crazy that was going on in my innards. Man, I need to up my diet & nutrition stuff. We had to do that for health. And one thing I have determined is to have vegetarian days. Like I did Junior year. And then reward myself every 2 weeks with a Jamba Juice. MMMM yum :D

Anyhoot.

Chinese New Year is in full swing and being far from home, almost a dozen of us gathered at Sam Woo's for a reunion dinner. After exclaiming and proclaiming our hunger to the restaurant and pretty much anyone standing by, we still weren't able to make up our minds.

20 minutes later, 8 dish orders and lots of loud-students-yelling-over-the-table later, we began the wait process.

Agonizing.

After all the hard work of ordering. Phew, sweat free!

(My red hair is now.. brownish. But when I wash it, red still comes off. O_o)

But when the food came... Can you imagine.....

We were... still savages... Probably worse.

This is only a fraction of what we ordered. 

I got lazy...

During the whole thing, we made so much noise, I swear to god, everyone surrounding us were just dying to leave the restaurant. Ooops. 

Not to mention how obnoxious we were with the photo taking post belly stuffing...

Crazy faces,

"Gong Xi"

Malaysians..

My god. But it was all very fun. There was lots of laughter, some hiccup-ing, singing, arm waving, etc. 

But to also ring in the year of the snake, my mom decided to Skype me last night when I was at work.. My aunts, cousins, and grandma were there... Their talks of food and all the festivities made my tummy rumble louder than a volcano on call. 

Bitter gourds my grandma planted.

"ngee mao det sit lor!"

(Translation: "you don't get to eat!")

I love bitter gourds. 

Also, did I mention that both my paternal and maternal family have amazing culinary skills?

Boy, do I miss spending Chinese New Year in the deep sections of Sabah, inhaling scents of farms. Yes, of pigs, chickens, and god knows what else they have in that house haha. 

Speaking of being skyped at work, I was SUPER productive in my 5 hours on the job. I finished my math homework, health homework (even though I did it wrong, but I was ahead -kinda- so yay?), and some edits to Capstone before handing it in to my mentor. Though I think I got him and 2 of my peers overexcited for what I wrote when it really isn't as awesome as it sounds... (Seriously, I don't know why this keeps happening.) Got some artwork done for painting class (we had to bring in 4 sketches for potential painting...)

YAY TO PRODUCTIVITY!!

On another note, I sold my couch! I never quite used it after the 2nd semester, so I figured I get rid of some cluster in my room. 

My room feels so much more spacious now... 

anyway, I think I'm going to work on some homework and knock out.

Another crazy day tomorrow!!

xoxo,

Kim. ♥

PS- You like the (again) new layout? :D

Left, Left, Left, Right. WRONG.

I apologize for the absence.

Everything had been passing by so quickly. What with the goodbyes, to the literally 3 day travel back to Soka. Not to mention the roller coaster ride I had been instantly thrown on, riding with a half secure harness. But more on that later, here's the sum of my trip back...

The last (and possibly one and only) family photo before I left

Take off. Then I knocked out for most of it.

Upon arriving in Dubai, I made my way to the JW Marriott Marquis hotel (that opened 3 months ago) to visit an alumni! WOOP!

It was sooo nice to see her face after so long!

After freshening up and a short short nap, I made my way back to the airport

Man, this place really is the wealthiest place on earth.

So elaborate of an airport entrance.

Hungry, I decided to get some breakfast. 

However, unfortunately for me, there was nothing remotely good + reasonably priced except 

Deciding on the local menu (like I do with every McDs I go to anywhere else)

I settled with...

Honestly, I was disappointed.

After stuffing my face quickly, I walked about before boarding... And saw this:

idk if you see the camel in the background but even that was for sale.

beautiful tea pots

sheesha/ hookah

tiny trinkets.

little plates

It was interesting to walk into the souvenir shop cause it was PACKED.

EVERY counter in there was BUSY BUSY BUSY.

Zoom Zoom!

Arrived 4 movies and 2 sets of 5 episodes (of TV shows) later.

First thing we did (well, Ms Chauffeur & Partner in Crime and I):

Got some good Mexican food to go on the way back 

(but got caught in traffic instead, which sucked a bit)

But no biggie.

 This is kind of a rushed deal cause I should be getting on with my homework. On the flipside, the travel back home, as crazy and tiring as it was, I met a few people and made some new friends which was really nice. I also learnt a bunch from Emiko who painted me a clearer picture on those working in the UAE. It was definitely a new perspective.

But since I got back, I have:

1. Gotten a job without having to apply for it
2. Cried 
3. Had trouble with a lot of things on the first day of my final semester.
4. Arrived late for one of my classes (This is one of those "WTF KIM!?" moments.
5. Come to terms and actually became annoyed with the amount of crap I have that DO NOT NEED.
6. Cried some more.
7. Missed home a bunch
8. Gotten Sundofu, Free Froyo & some really good cheese from Whole Foods
9. Realized just how forgetful I am
10. Noticed that Chinese superstition works in contra ways for me (definitely ridiculous sounding but I put up some CNY deco and then shit happened, like what??)

It has most definitely been a pretty rough start but I am going to keep striving. I believe in starting a new day and that things will get better. This semester will most definitely be a success. I know it.


Also, in case I don't get the chance, I wanna wish all of you a

HAPPY CHINESE (LUNAR) NEW YEAR!! 

新年快乐！