Prepare yourself for some...

...sleepless nights?

Mid-semester exams are only days away but what have I done? Completing assignments and having a lot of sleepless nights. I feel like I am back to square one. The months before I enrolled for college, I have been sleeping at odd hours and now, my sleeping hours have gone haywire again. Sometimes, when I do want to get myself to study, it does not seem to work. Lecturers have given us notes, tips, chapters to study for the exam; but yet I am stuck here.

Which do I study first? What do I understand? Will I do well? What if what I have studied does not come out for the paper? Will my peers do better than me? Have they started studying? Are they prepared? More importantly, am I prepared myself? Questions, questions and more questions.

Preparing for an exam does not have any effect on me, blatantly speaking. I have this immune feeling towards exams since 2007. I have no idea whether it is a good or a bad thing. Only when I sat for SPM in 2009, my heart skipped a little faster as I walked into the room for my first paper. Would I have the same feeling that I had months ago when I enter the classroom next week? Hopefully not.

Lecturers for this course have been telling us how to answer questions, giving us sample questions to do and constantly asking us whether we have questions for them or not. They are caring, no doubt. I guess all of us feel as if we could sit back and take a breather after handing up all the assignments. To our horror, that is only the beginning of everything. If I am never going to ace this term, I would never ace the next.

I work quite well with encouragement. But sometimes, all I need is my room to myself with the door shut, a comfortable seat and no one talking. The silence makes me think and concentrate more. Some people study with their headphones on. I would not be able to do that because I would be focusing on the song.

My other thoughts on exams are that people would get so stressed out; they would just give up and flunk their paper. They would not care anymore because they think there is not a point in studying seeing that there is no time left.

To get away from a crazy day of studying, I would plug in my iPod, lie down on my bed and start the player. It might leave me feeling drowsy and sleep, but it is what I would need for the time being.

Years ago, I took an online quiz and it said this about me;

"You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are deeply philosophical and thoughtful. You tend to analyze every aspect of your life. You are intuitive, brilliant, and quite introverted. You value your time alone."

Well, it does apply to me. Hopefully some of it applies to me during the exams. Time to kick start my weekend (with studying)!

This is the end of the CCPD blog assignment too, so till whenever, au revoir readers.

A, B, C, D, ...

No, not the aphabet song. It gets you thinking. You circle one of the alphabets. But you feel unsure and insecure of your answer. You will erase or cancel the previous answer and choose another. You start to panic. "I do not remember learning this in class." You scan your surroundings. Everyone is concentrating on the stapled papers on their desks with the sound of a few pens clicking. How is it possible to be answering questions when you have clearly not studied?

My thoughts on exams in general - scary. Parents expect sky high grades and we get peer pressure. Our mind starts unravelling everything unrelated and search for a reasonable answer to write on the paper that might "magically" appear out of the blue. Unfortunately so, that would not be happening unless you have studied. Most teens have a trend of studying; the "last-minute-studying" kind. The question is, are we going to ace it or fail it? Will our "burning-the-midnight-oil" effort pay off?

This mid-semester exams came quite quickly. It has only been less than 2 months but here we are, sitting for our first ever practical/theory exams since SPM days are over, next week. After 5 months of not cracking our heads, we are going to face this once again. I feel quite rusty because memorizing was never my thing. One thing good about this college exams is that it is not like Malaysian History where you are required to write everything out word for word. In college, you are required to understand and then paraphrase a certain sentence. But then again, if you are not in luck and cannot think of ways to paraphrase, that is it.

As our lecturers have told us, this mid-semester exams are important because further down the line, the exams get harder and harder. Some people have the independence to put their mind into the book and shut out all other noises. As one of the group on Facebook was named, "Get off Facebook and get your face IN a book." For those who have a short attention span, this might be a problem.

Another thing is, we have assignments to be done and therefore the time for us to study is a little limited. We are worrying about a number of things altogether and we have to study at the same time. Some find it hard because of this mighty word - PROCRASTINATION. Indeed, procrastination is the thief of time.

Exams today mean cramming all you have learned for the past few weeks/months into a day's study and get expected OR unexpected results. That has made exams lose its meaning in the first place. Why are we tested based on a couple of papers stapled together? You may think it is stupid but it is actually challenging your mind to think and figure out an answer.

Many have used this proverb in almost every nook and cranny of the world and it has definitely boost people's confidence: "Where there is a will there is a way." In this case, if you study for the exam, you will ace it.

Sports

What comes to mind when you hear the word "sports"? According to answers.com, sport is defined as "a physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively."

Look around you and you will find a sea of people with extra/less body weight on them. People have the thinking that lighter people are healthier compared to people who are heavier. This thought is wrongly interpreted. A heavier person might have extra body mass on them but if they do sports, they are actually healthier than a lighter person who does not do sports. Often times, lighter people think that they do not have to go out and sweat it out because they are not overweight.

I have done sports before but I have lost the drive to start sweating it out again. I have always loved running. Running on the treadmill that is. Running outdoors does not push me further to run but running on the treadmill does. Funny ain't it? I would warm up by running on the treadmill for 10 minutes, head to the machines (I have never touched the weights, ever) for half an hour or so, and run for another 30-45 minutes.

Having people running on other treadmills in the gym makes me compete with them too. Seeing the calorie counter's (which might be wrong sometimes) numbers going up gives me the sense of achievement. I would increase the speed and run at a particular speed at a fast pace for 5 minutes and then slow it down and walk slowly for another 5. I will try to stay on the treadmill for as long as I can; until I literally feel like passing out everytime (mind you, I was not legal to be behind the wheel yet so I did not have to worry about driving home).

Joining a gym is a hassle nowadays because the terms and conditions that you have to follow restrict you from this and that. So that is mainly why I have stopped going to the gym. I joined a gym nearby my neighbourhood after sitting for PMR in October just to fill up my time.

At TTDI Plaza a few years back for a friend's party.

Another sport that I do is swimming. I have learnt swimming before when I was 9 years old. Truth be told, I had no idea what my instructor have taught. Back then, I was really blur about things around me. Another obstacle was because I have a fear of deep water (I fear heights too). 5 years later, ending of 2006; I decided to take up swimming lessons again. This time, it was with a Sarawakian lady in One Utama's Sealantis. I learnt all 4 strokes - freestyle, backstroke, breastroke and butterfly in a year plus. I would never have thought I (my dad too) would master these strokes and overcome my fear of the deep end of the water.

I do swim occasionally during the weekend sometimes. I still love being underwater. I may not be your golden girl but this is good enough to me.

All in all, I think sports is a good way of relaxing. When I get out of the pool or get off the treadmill, I would feel so much better and 5 times lighter. True story.

It's like ANNOYING stuck on replay, replay-ay-ay-ay

Overplayed songs become tad bit annoying, do you not think so? Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Sean Kingston and many other artists' songs have been playing on repeat every single morning on radio stations. I cannot help myself but flip to the next channel, searching for something even more decent to listen to. Where has the value of music gone? Why are people so obsessed with these songs? I have yet to know. Comes with a catchy beat, perhaps. As for me, I listen to different genres, almost everything except for metal, rap and RnB songs. Oldies, rock, pop, jazz, blues, etc, yes please. I was brought up listening to 90s music (siblings' influences).

Season 7 winner of American Idol, DAVID RONALD COOK.

Cook was born in Houston, Texas on the 20th of December 1982 and raised in Blue Springs, Missouri. He performed musicals in high school and was an avid baseball player.

Most of Cook's song lyrics from his debut album "David Cook" were written by him and dedicated to his late brother, Adam. Before auditioning for American Idol back in 2008, David was in a band called Axium. One of the songs by the band is "Just In Case." Give it a go. Initially, David did not intend to try out for the show but only to support his younger brother, Andrew. Eventually, he auditioned and made it to Hollywood.

He also did a solo album entitled "Analog Heart." I find the lyrics of all of his songs growing deep with emotions. Artists who take the initiative and time to sit down and compose their own songs catch more of my attention. What is so special about David Cook? He can sing a soft slow ballad and at the same time, rock out with his guitar. Some of his musical influences include Our Lady Peace, Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, Switchfoot, Collective Soul, Alice in Chains and Big Wreck.

Basically, to me, music represents us as individuals. Music is everywhere, even a simple sound. Music connects people from across the globe. We may be a million miles apart, but it is the music which links us together. There are times where you do not feel good; having music that suits the mood cheers us up a little. It is a stint of hope that you are not alone. For example, when I am alone (I am shy to sing in front of crowds), I sing just to let loose.

Sorry to say, but the music produced nowadays have no meaning and are straight-out annoying. New music, they are fresh but not anymore once they become overplayed. I prefer an old song being played over and over again. Truth be told, finding a right song for that particular moment is quite frustrating - where you do not know how you feel or what do you want to feel.

Goo Goo Dolls' Iris. This song is the soundtrack for the movie City of Angels. The lyric of the song is about Nicolas Cage's character who is an angel that falls in love with a human lady.

"I'd give up forever to touch you..." - Because he is an angel, he cannot touch her; his hands would go right through her but both would not feel a thing.

Song lyrics tell a story; as cliche as it sounds, music DOES feed the soul.

Pictures courtesy of google.com.

Week 1 at the new campus

All that noise, and all that sound,
All those places I got found.
And birds go flying at the speed of sound,
to show you how it all began.
- Coldplay's Speed of Sound

Days pass, but weeks seem to pass even faster now; passing at the speed of sound. Week one at the new campus has been quite an experience. It was only once that I was 15 minutes late for a lecture and that was it. This week? Hopefully the traffic will be smoother or I will have to leave home way earlier.

One of the banners around Block B.

Where I had my nasi lemak meal. The popiah itself is not too bad. This picture was taken at 7.50a.m., so imagine how early these people were there. In fact, every food stall at the campus will be bustling with people and it will be very humid. The tables and chairs are not sufficient either; especially during lunchtime at the cafeteria. That, and long queues included.

I like the architectural design of this open space. The checkered tile-grass pattern adds to the "futuristic?" look of it. To me, at least. Well, this is definitely one of the places to take pictures. *clickS*

There I go.

The staircase leading down the lake is a nice place to just sit and have a small talk with your friends; provided that the weather is good.

View of the library (which is 4 levels high). The library draws my attention. It is really spacious and the furniture can speak for itself. Kind of a perfect hang out spot. There is a meeting room with your typical meeting room office chairs on the highest floor of the library which is the 5th floor. There are computers in the library too - one section of the library has Mac computers. I heard that you need to request for the keyboard if you do want to use the Mac.

The most talked about lake. I heard that it is being/going to be used for kayaking? That sounds fun. The lake separates the hostel and the blocks. It is even bigger if you are standing right there and looking beyond the lake.

And... Another.

View of the hostel from Block A. There were pictures of the interiors of the hostel posted on Facebook by Taylor's themselves. Pretty environment. I heard that there is going to be a hotel right next to the hostel for Hospitality and Tourism students' use. Reasons why I wanted to be in that course... Sigh. I think that TCHT students have the most facilities on the campus too. With what, 9 restaurants, 14 culinary suites and more to come? Definitely worth paying the tuition fee if you are a TCHT student.

Grilled chicken portobello mushroom wrap @ Dessert's Bar.

3 plates of carbonara coming right up!

One of the long banners stretched across Block A and B. I counted the number of schools there were on the banners. TEN SCHOOLS.

And lastly, we have the Student Central. How may I help you?

This, is... Taylor's Lakeside Campus!

Try mimicking Ryan Seacrest saying, "This, is... American Idol!" and you will get my post's title.

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After 3 short weeks of studying at the PJ Campus, we shifted to the Lakeside Campus. My first impression when I stepped into the campus a few months ago to check things out, I thought it was pretty and huge. The stairs and the open space leading to the lake were designed in a way to make people feel free; in my opinion anyway. With the grass so green and sun so bright, I felt like it was a perfect picture-taking spot and started snapping away.

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I am quite alright with the shifting - downside is, the prices of the food are costly. Finding our way to class was fairly easy and it was not at all that huge of a building. Maybe it is just the number of floors. Having said that, there are a lot of people in this campus indeed. I have bumped into a lot of old friends and seniors in just a couple of days. Some were surprised, some were excited and some just played it cool.

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At first, I was wondering why there were so many people in office wear. One of my ex-schoolmates who is in the School of Tourism told me that it was compulsory for them to wear formal clothes every single day. Imagine that; long-sleeved collared shirts, slacks and tie (for the gentlemen) and pretty blouses, skirts and high heels (for the ladies). Just wearing a simple tee and putting on a pair of jeans already makes me sweat. How would I survive wearing formal attire like the School of Tourism students? But I must admit, they look smart and good in those outfit.

Block E - where the classrooms for most of our lectures and tutorials are conducted. I like the olive painted walls because it is similar to my favourite colour! *green*

Thinking that we were the earliest to class, we found bottles, files and bags already put into place. The classrooms are fairly bigger in width.

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And they say the thing about the Lakeside Campus is its parking.

11a.m. on a Monday morning.

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Here you have it, a campus with almost ten thousand students with parking for only 20% of the students. Even if you are having classes at 8a.m., the parking is almost full at about 7.40a.m. and therefore you will have to park near the basketball court - on the sandy area. I wonder what is in store when the timetable for the next semester changes. *cricket chirps*

View from the library.

I witnessed an accident on Tuesday morning when it was my turn to drive to college. Well, let's not get to that shall we. All I remember was that I was in the Sunway area at 7.35a.m. and could reach in 3 minutes but the jam was insane that it turned into a 30-minute long drive. Experience? Totally.

The famous Malaysian delicacy - nasi lemak from Sisters Crispy Popiah. Not a bad meal. Though I must say, the sambal was quite spicy even for a chilli/sambal/belacan lover like myself.

Assignments are piling up! Gah.

On holiday!

Can I get another Amen? (Amen!)

There's a flag wrapped around a score of men (Hey!)

A gag, a plastic bag on a monument

I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies

This is the dawning of the rest of our lives

On holiday!
- Green Day's Holiday

Holidays. A word which may sound like bliss to almost everyone. The period of time where you can go on a vacation, catch up on your sleep or a particular television series you are following or just laze. This holiday was pretty uncalled for because Taylor's was having their shifting to the new campus done.

My holidays were not too productive, to be honest. Was I getting my assignments done? Not really. I remember going places - running errands, eating and that is it. I went for my dental appointment to check my post braces teeth. The dentist said in order to get my lower front teeth straighter, I would have to put on braces again on the 6 lower front teeth for 6 months. Either that or I will have to wear my retainers 24/7 unless I am eating or brushing my teeth which is quite a hassle, I must say. So, I will be putting on braces (again, sigh) next Tuesday. Let the 'torturing' pain begin, once again.

The road to KLIA on a Friday night.

When I was younger, we used to travel to my mum's hometown in Seremban to visit our relatives. We would come back home at night with some jazz songs or some other sleepy songs playing and me feeling nauseous. Maybe I was car sick. I would be fast asleep by the time we got home and either one of my brothers or my dad would have to carry me into the house.

Pantai Seafood Restaurant.

The name of the restaurant says it all. Having a variety of seafood to choose from, small wine cellar, a nice ambience, what more could you ask?

First try of the Taiwanese gourmet in One Utama.

It was a pretty decent place. There were a lot of babies/little kids around in fact. I have no idea why, but the places I have been to over the past few days had small children. I could not help myself but to look at them (not in a stalker way, of course!).

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Before entering college, I had a long "holiday." If getting REJECTED for my application to transfer to the first batch for National Service is not bad enough; I found out that I was in the third batch. If I were to be in the first batch, I would have gone for it. That alone frustrated me, but I decided to let it go and defer it.

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3 months, almost 4 - may sound like a pretty long 'holiday' but I managed to go through these few months (December '09-March '10) without working or whatsoever. I went for driving lessons, I swam, I read books, I helped out with the chores at home, I hung out with friends, I slept at the oddest hours... Time passed just like that.

I did wonder how I was going to go through college days with my haywire sleeping hours. The day before the 29th of March - morning rather, I only got to sleep for 2 hours. Maybe it was the anxiety.

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All in all, it was a great holiday spent.

I played with dry ice too!

Bubbles forming. A mini experiment at home.

Christmas at a friend's place. The turkey meat was literally hella good. Do not get me started on the awesome gravy.

Till then.

Needles, foosball, missing seats and a pupil

My door is left ajar, but the neighbourhood is still in the night; probably because it is already midnight. Back at the old house, dogs will be barking at this hour. I wonder why... My room is echoed with the wild whirring sound of the fan, the click-clacks of the keyboard and music on the player. It is a Friday morning. A week ago, I was still in class, only attending a 2-hour tutorial class (IT class was cancelled). Where did time go? I have not the slightest clue.

Kicked off my Tuesday with a medical check up. Upon my mum's request anyway. At 9pm on Monday night, I was not allowed to eat or drink anything except for clear water until the next day; after the doctor took my blood. I cannot remember how early I slept but I think it was 1a.m. (Yes, it is considered early for a night owl like me). I woke up at about 8.30a.m. and got myself ready. It was a grey and gloomy weather even in the day; the clouds were pregnant with water but the rain would not fall. I was the third patient of the morning, greeted my doctor, took my seat and waited.

The doctor checked my pulse and heart rate.

"Good, good..." he said.
"I swim," I replied with a grin.

Waiting for the hypodermic needle to be poked into my vein and getting it over with took long. My doctor asked whether I was a left or a right-hander. I told him that I was a right-hander and he looked at me in surprise. It was because my inner elbow had not-so-visible veins; and since I was a right-hander, there should be more visible veins on that arm. Slowly, he injected the needle into my vein as I looked away as usual. I have a needle phobia (except for sewing needles) because evidently, it hurts. I glanced to my right to see thick dark red blood leisurely streaming and occupying the spaces in the syringe. It was done in less than 2 minutes.

I had to measure my height and weight as well; I have not grown since 2007. Now, THAT is a bad thing. Maybe it was caused by joining a gym in October of the same year. Anyhow, I am a healthy child. Only that matters most.

Not a very clear picture of the shot.

I went to Bread Story which was nearby and had my first meal in 15 hours. Pretty much gobbled down my food as I was feeling tad bit hungry. My parents dropped me off at the mall soon after.

Caught a movie and lunch with some friends. Played a round of foosball before the movie...

...with a twist!

Another series of strange events. Missing seats this time around.

I love The Simpsons, like many others. I was reading the newspaper to find words for my CSS assignment and stumbled across this 'lovely' page. Why 'lovely', you may ask. Lisa Simpson has missing a pupil in her EYE; that is not a very pretty SIGHT, Lisa. Pun intended. Oh?

Of moving and hosting

3 floors down.

Another new beginning was moving into a new home. I have only shifted twice in my whole life. The first was when I was 1 and a half years old, from Taman Melur in Ampang to Bandar Utama in PJ. I have lived in BU1 since then and have done most of my growing up there. I never really thought that we would shift again; I was quite upset because I was so used to living in BU1 (for 14 and a half years). Our new home was in BU6 but yet, I was holding on... To nothing. I told myself that this was a fresh start. On the 3rd of January 2009, the packed boxes were brought in. I felt quite at home after a few days because we did not buy too many new things. The rooms were a little bigger, there was an extra floor (with a balcony!), the house looks almost the same as before and most of all, I had my own room. Before moving in, the amount of things that were needed to get done was... Merely madness.

One of the things was picking out paint colours. Being "Little Miss Secretary" (a nickname I made for myself for my family), I helped out because I was having holidays.

Had this picture on my main blog. My 1st brother was being funny, that explains my missing head. That is the wall colour of my main wall, Lime Fizz. The rest of the walls were painted in a faint shade of green. Wondering about the hole in the wall? That is for the power socket.

The living area.

Helped my dad assemble these pieces in the China cabinet.

My old room (which I used to share with my sister).

My room as of today. Yes, that is a 'Winnie The Pooh' jigsaw puzzle hung up on my wall which I fixed (with some help) 7 years back.

Chinese New Year was around the corner too, gone over to one of my friend's house. We headed to One Utama soon after by foot.

Had my second Chili's dinner in the same week.

The Curve had pretty decorations, so my family and I decided to drop by.

I had a Chinese New Year gathering over at my place on the last day of January. It was a first, because I rarely host things like these. I remember getting a voucher from Domino's Pizza for my birthday the previous month. Coincidentally, it came in handy when I used the voucher on the last day of its offer. Good timing? You can say that again. I went to collect the pizza in the late afternoon while some of my relatives and friends started coming over. Everything went pretty well. There was lots of laughter in the air. We went up to the balcony after our meal and started jumping (see picture above), trying to imitate High School Musical and settled down for a bit for some pictures. It was one of the memorable days I do not think that I will forget.

It has been a year, 3 months and 16 days... Time flies. What a beginning to everything.