Selamat Ari Gawai

Back in my hometown, its a festive season now, thus they are having their holidays now while I am stuck here, facing my assignments...Oh well, just wanna have a shout out to all my friends who are celebrating, Selamat Ari Gawai!! Don't drink and drive yea XD.

A short one this time and I am at my 69th post, wanna save the 70th for a special occasion. Till next time ;).

gLee

Thanks to a certain classmate of mine, Felicia, I got hooked onto the 'gLee' series. Well, the series appeals to me in the sense that I love music and a huge part of the story is about the music, the way the lyrics can seamlessly be incorporated into the story line or just a cool, innovation mashup of different songs. The downside however, although this can be expected, which is the songs performed in the series are pre-recorded however, it's amazing how fast the choreograph of each song is being made and performed. All in all, I would recommend to anyone who is willing to give it a shot. =)

On a different note, the series strikes me in another way which is that it help me realize how much I love music and sing. I am not a born singer, do not have appealing looks and do not possess a good voice to win the hearts of others...unlike a certain Justin Bieber (urgh!). I sing for my own leisure and for those who are close to me or just appreciate my effort, so yea, in a sense I do not sing for free XD.

Well, maybe its the environment that we Asians are brought up in comparison to the Westerners. Over there, they are very direct and open, helping each other along the way through constructive critics as for the situation here, its very different. It happens almost every time to almost everyone, as soon as someone starts to sing or perform in public, friends around would start to say things like 'My Grandma can dance better than you' or 'My dog sounds better than you'. So, I find the environment is kinda hard for an individual to grow, well how is one going to improve when his or her confidence and self-esteem hits rock bottom thanks to the people around them before they even start? For me, Michelle was always there, she encourages (forces) me to sing for her and I think she got the full package of what my voice can do. I can hit the high notes in Whitney Houstan's 'I Will Always Love You' during one of the visits to the kareoke. Maybe that's a one off, who knows? Just a thought of mine...

Give her a break

Hmm, since I have not write anything regarding my 3rd semester being a university student, and now I do not really have anything to do so yea, I am writing it now ; ).

Well, there is only one place to begin, 5 subjects and all are killer subjects. To make matters worst, there is a year 2 subject brought forward to this semester (well, only years 2 subjects onward are taken into account in determining which class of honors I graduate with) and that particular subject is none other than Business Law...Heard all I could from my ACCA friends about how hard it can be, so not actually looking forward to it and more so when it is in a semester this packed. Well, as for now, I think the subject is not that bad...YET, with assignments coming thick and fast, doubt I can stay sane for much longer unless I ditch my older self and start getting some work done.

The other 4 consist of Management, Accounting, Economics and Statistics. Well, I gotta say that I am faring quite well with these 4 subjects after the struggles I had back in CIMP especially with Accounting and Economics. As for accounting, I think I am doing pretty well at the moment, because I got my CIMP lecturer teaching us this time around, so doing pretty much the same thing but the second half would be a different ball game as it requires more analytical skills, which is not my strongest. For economics, I struggled the most during CIMP but now I guessed its worth it as now, the lecturer may not possess the best of pronunciation in the English language, which I think kinda affected how she wants to explain her points. Understanding may be tough, but I always say this to myself 'Give her a break', which is what I hope the few hundreds would also try as its not easy to stand up front, while the audience just can't wait to laugh at you, I had that experience so I guess I can understand how she would feel. Well, I do my part for paying attention...well, my parents pay for me to learn, not laugh at lecturers...

Statistics, what can I say..I think my batch did not get the best of starts with this subject with our Computing lecturer casting a daunting shadow over it during my first semester. Turns out that, it is still quite manageable and this would really required A LOT of practice to do well in it. Lastly, my favourite Management. Back in CIMP, same in Lancaster. Taught by Mr.Shannon, our philosophy lecturer last semester and I enjoy his classes and hope I can do well as it would be a tough paper to write during the exams...

Well, that was how my 3 weeks into my 3rd semester appear to be, hope the better stuff are yet to come and looking forward in getting through with this semester, not failing any papers...HORRAH!!! ; )

Looking Ahead

Well, council is coming up. I am placed in a position I am not familiar with but I'll try my best to cope while giving my all. Just hope all things go well for this term.

A short one this time, ending with a quote.

“My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 7,000 miles to finish it.” [Wes Thompson]

Featured article can be read here.

All I wanna say is.....Thank You

It may seem to be a just a simple word, where normally would be used by most if not all across the globe. A simple word of 'Thanks' regardless of what language it may be spoken in, but for this post, my thanks is given to 3 special person in my life aside from my immediate family members. Guess I wont need to name anyone, as you read on I think you'll know who I am referring to.

If you had been reading what I'd written so far, I do not think that you'll ever miss a post where I would mention about the life being in the 'Junior Leadership Program' a.k.a Juniors/Shits/Sluts. We started off by being 10 total strangers, ended up being closer than friends but the catch is this, although 9 of us was left standing in the end, we clicked almost instantly and the whole process is beyond any words or phrases that can explain. The simplest way to put it, in to words of John New would be "Its MAGIC!". I believe all 9 of us came out from it being extremely thankful of actually signing up for it and being accepted to be one of the pioneer leadership program, credit to Jason and Jack Shen, our beloved Dads.

The reward we got from it, its not just the lesson and experience gained by working together, being through the ups and downs but I would think its something we all share, which is friendship. In my opinion, a friendship so pure that I would say,on any given day and time, we would stand up for each other of us and fight. Well, that is what I'll do at least.

Being in a group, like it or not, little clicks then would be formed as maybe we just found it more comfortable being around each other. I was with two, who described me as a 'pressure cooker that finally got the rice cooked'. I was E-X-T-R-E-M-E-L-Y quiet, back then even I know that and the irony is that it only happens to me when I was around them. Not a good sign I know but how wrong could I be. Not only when the rice is cooked, they accepted me back with open arms rather than cold shoulders for being so anti-social all those while. I was a person, reborn and walking down a new path with them still by my side. If I would not have broke the shell, then I would not even meet Michelle, which is the third person that I mentioned above. She is important without a shadow of a doubt but now I would not be focusing on her.

The other two that I had mentioned, one is a friend, closer than most of the others that I got and one - although we may not look like one another, nor have the same parents - that I call my sister. They were the ones who accepted the once again functioning pressure rice cooker and also led me to the light which the product is the me of today. Although still shy, timid and not really talking a lot its already a few light years' distance away from how I was back then.

What I can take from the experience that I had in Juniors, aside from the fond memories we all share together, is this. The brand new me but I do not think I would ever reach a point that I would say I found myself as I think no one would be able to say that. I believe that the whole Juniors experience would mean more to me than to anyone else, not saying its not important to them but yea....you get the point. Which is why, my passion for the Student Council and the new batch-es of such Juniors programs is burning ever so strong. People may think that I am lifeless, being so committed to the Council just to get a piece of paper at the end of it. But trust me, I know what changes it can bring to an individual and lucky for me, its all the right changes.

Well, I think I am running around in circles with this post trying to say one simple thing but as how I started this post, its beyond any words or phrases but I tried. Hope it make some sense to you if you are reading this. Lastly, to the 3 of you, I do not know what else to say but for the simple word, which is..

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THANKS!

Follow up on the previous post

This is good to see. Thank you Fabregas:
- for setting up the first goal
- for having the nerves and step up to score the penalty after all that has happened
- for setting up the third goal
- for kicking players that kicked you
- for sssshhhh-ing Tony Pulis
- for rallying the players together

Lastly,
- for being an Arsenal player and captain

For Ramsey!

Guess what, we traveled to Stoke, expected to have a tough match, we got one and dug deep to beat them. But, it came at an extremely heavy price, an injury to young Aaron Ramsey. It's not just a normal injury, it involved his lower shin left hanging. Can't imagine? Look up on Eduardo's injury on Google or any other sources on the net and you should have a better picture of what happened. Is it dejavu all over? Edu was injured in this fashion, we went on scoring twice but got a completely wrong penalty call against us which caused our season to go downhill until recently when we got going again. This time, we got the win as we're more mature, but what effect is it going to bring to the team? More so to the promising Aaron Ramsey?

The tackle was not as bad as the one on Edu, but the outcome was the same. The plus on this, it that the team got a player with similar experience so he could guide the young man. Ironic right? Such a horror experience can actually be a plus for the team. That speaks volume on how the team is being treated by other teams. 'Kick Arsenal to stop them' has to stop!!

On the league table, we cut the gap on the top to just 3, remember my previous post? See what I meant now? Its just a bitter sweet day, but Man City was the key this week, they tire Stoke in midweek, and beat Chelsea. It would be better if Ramsey did not get injured. Come on you Gunners, if there wasn't enough reasons to win the league, here is one more. For Ramsey!!!

UPDATED

I just decided to add a few images to this post, just to tell how the Arsenal players are being treated by other players and the media. The media even blame ourselves for getting injured as we play too fast and with quick feet...WTF!?!?!

*First, Diaby. Ankle injury, out for 9 months.

*Two years ago. Taylor on Edu, 9 months out. The contact, high, no attempts in playing the ball what-so-ever, pure assault.The tackle that cost us the title. For the outcome of this tackle, check it out yourself in both images and videos alike but prepare a strong tummy.

Lastly, as for Aaron Ramsey, I decided to upload the picture. Be prepare as it might be disturbing to some:-

*Just now. The aftermath of the tackle....Horrible. Full marks to Gleen Whelan (no.6), unlike other Stoke players and fans.

Hope you can recover and lay your grace on the pitch in the future. Go Gunners!!!

Here is a link to an article that I find sums up everything for the Arsenal. Click here.
As for the blog itself for previous and future post, click here.