It's snowing. Yes. Now.
I don't know whether I should be jumping up and down celebrating, or I should be cursing that I am in the Math Department Building without a coat or jacket with me.
Hard to imagine that just on Sunday it was 'officially' the end of the summer time zone. Cue daylight savings and turning the clock back an hour. It's still technically the start of autumn for God's sake, and I'm having ice raining down on my head already... Good to know that whoever is up there has a sense of humour. It was sunny this morning. It was summer about three weeks ago?
I don't really expect this to last though. Maybe through out the night until tomorrow morning or something. Then maybe we can return to normal autumn weather where I can go out without a jacket or a coat or a hoody. The leaves haven't even all turned brown yet, much less fall from their perch amongst the branches. Blame global warming, I thought the temperatures were suppose to go up?
Oh well.. 'lil Nunu suggested building a snowman. I might do that if I can find the time. Nothing like a little festive spirit to warm the cold nights eh? And it's about time I broke out that Milo in my cupboard =) Here's for a white Christmas, IN TWO MONTH'S TIME!!~Zhongy~
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Saturday 25 October 2008
I think I'm starting to become a fan of Coldplay. I just like their brand of soft rock alot. I know I'd come under alot of flak for listening to what some people amount to 'emo music', especially with my sentimental emotions, but oh well, since when did I care anyway.
My laptop died a few days ago, and now I'm in the library (on a Saturday!) using the computers there to help fill up some of the technological void. I got it checked out at my uni's IT services department and apparently the motherboard died. My guess is that some part probably melted because of over-heating but I'm really disappointed nonetheless. It's been with me for only a year and 3 months and I've kinda grown attached to it. To add insult to injury, Dell UK can't repair it for me because they don't carry the parts for the Inspiron 1420 here. To repair it would mean sending the laptop half way across the world back to Malaysia or across the Atlantic to the States. I'd probably send it back during December and get it sorted by Malaysia. THEN I'd probably pass it on to my sister. As long as it doesn't act up I'm quite confident that the laptop is sufficiently good enough to last for a few years more. And I got it covered under warranty until 2010 anyways.
Which brings us to the question of which replacement I should get in the UK. I've set myself a budget of 500 pounds, but surprisingly it's yield some good choices. Am currently still contemplating between the Toshiba A200-28P, HP dv6800 and HP dv6908em, but I think I'm leaning towards the Toshiba more, rather than the two HPs. Anybody has any opinions or prior experience to share about either three? Would probably put in an order this Sunday or Monday as soon as I get some feedback from my hometown 'experts' and hopefully it'd arrive within the next week. Figured that I can't really live without a laptop now that my current phone can't surf the net. Not being connected has really been a pain, and it's these times when you really appreciate the advantages of mobility.
I woke up today feeling some sense of belonging to my room. It might just be the fact that I slept in until 10 am today, but I think I'm gradually adjusting to the uni life here now. The tests and assignment marks are not looking very healthy at the moment, but I just can't really be bothered to care now. I guess it'd pick itself up at the end. And no, despite all the social events, it does not need to revolve around drinking and partying all night long (despite what people might think or say). You can still get along fine without drinking or clubbing and I'm honestly glad that it's that way. I was just talking to Nathan, my half-British, half-German flat mate the other day and he was saying just how glad he is that all six (ok, maybe five) of our flatmates have been gelling perfectly well together, and I agree. It's starting to become like KTJ, where people can just go into your room and talk, laugh or have coffee together. The kitchen has become the most regular meeting place though, but it's always nice to have a good chat sometimes.
Probably the only thing I regret here is not really being able to play much tennis. It's just too windy to play outdoors nowadays and to book the indoor courts are a pain. Not to mention that since I don't really know any players around here, practice partners have been really hard to come by. There's a coaching programme running but I don't think I'm picking it up. There's just too many things to do at the moment to have regular coaching sessions.. Oh well... It's all about give and take I guess. But on the bright side, I'm starting to get the hang of aikido, which I'm quite proud of. The first few training sessions has been really strenuous, to say the least, but I think after one month of conditioning, my body's adjusting well to the constant abuse of falling on mats. Granted I still wake up the next morning after training feeling sore all over, but it's becoming easier to take now.
Reading Malaysian news in UK has left me feeling quite distant from my motherland. In a way, even though I'm still keeping myself updated everyday, it just doesn't feel the same when you don't really feel the effects on every day society. Maybe this was how Philip Larkin felt atop his ivory tower looking down at England in the mid 20th-Century; but unlike him, I don't have the poetic talent, nor the critical tongue to criticise what is happening now in my country. To me, everything seems to be moving in a perennial loop of politicking. While headlines in the States and the UK are dominated by the looming economic recession (or God forbid, depression), Malaysia seems oblivious to probably the biggest economic crisis since 1997. How our economic market is going to survive this I don't know, but probably the most disturbing thing is that nobody seems to have a plan to soften the effects of this impending credit crunch on the regular rakyat. Hopefully, somebody will come to their senses and get down to drawing plans soon. Heck, it may already be too late now, as the UK people are already feeling the pinch of the credit crunch...
Just finished listening to the entire Coldplay 'Live In Munich' Concert on internet radio and it was immensely good. Maybe I'd find time to watch one of their gigs in UK before the 3 years are up. On another note, I'm off to Nottingham Games on the 8th of November to play Scrabble (of all things...) but it'd be good fun to meet up with tonnes of Malaysian friends I guess. Other than that I still have a date to keep in London and hopefully I'd be able to find time for that. Hopefully the next few weeks will unravel nicely and there wouldn't be any hitches on the way.
Anyhow I need to go off for lunch now. I hope everything is going well for all the readers of this blog. Hopefully we'll see each other soon.
I'm starting to feel nostalgic again...~Zhongy~
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Saturday 18 October 2008
很久没写华文的贴子了，我的母语引用也大概生锈了吧。。。 好久也没听华文歌曲了。这首歌还得感谢毓芷介绍与转载给我。听过了他的新专辑，感觉上周董的歌曲旋律都还没什么改变，但这首歌给我一种有所突破的感觉。加上我现在身处异乡，所以听了也可能特别有所感触吧。多说无益，让你们自己来品赏吧！~翼/翔~
稻香
周杰伦
对这个世界如果你有太多的抱怨
跌倒了就不敢继续往前走
为什么人要这么的脆弱 堕落
请你打开电视看看
多少人为生命在努力勇敢的走下去
我们是不是该知足
珍惜一切 就算没有拥有
还记得你说家是唯一的城堡 随着稻香河流继续奔跑
微微笑 小时候的梦我知道
不要哭让萤火虫带着你逃跑 乡间的歌谣永远的依靠
回家吧 回到最初的美好
不要这么容易就想放弃 就像我说的
追不到的梦想 换个梦不就得了
为自己的人生鲜艳上色 先把爱涂上喜欢的颜色
笑一个吧 功成名就不是目的
让自己快乐快乐这才叫做意义
童年的纸飞机 现在终于飞回我手里
所谓的那快乐 赤脚在田里追蜻蜓追到累了
偷摘水果被蜜蜂给叮到怕了 谁在偷笑呢
我靠着稻草人吹着风唱着歌睡着了
哦 哦 午后吉它在虫鸣中更清脆
哦 哦 阳光洒在路上就不怕心碎
珍惜一切 就算没有拥有
还记得你说家是唯一的城堡 随着稻香河流继续奔跑
微微笑 小时候的梦我知道
不要哭让萤火虫带着你逃跑 乡间的歌谣永远的依靠
回家吧 回到最初的美好
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Tuesday 14 October 2008
Now fades the last long streak of snow,
Now burgeons every maze of quick
About the flowering squares, and thick
By ashen roots the violets blow.
~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson
And as the third week of the term passes by, I am still not really settled down into a proper routine in Warwick. Sure, Orientation week was fun, the first few weeks of studying were hectic, and London was wonderful, but amongst it all, there are still doubts of whether I really belong here. I question whether I've made the right decisions, taking the steps that I did. If I knew that it was going to be like that, would I have come here to where I am now?
The 'honeymoon' period's over. It's time to sit down and work, for real. When at times I just want to push away everything and just lie down to enjoy the clear blue sky, I find that I have already filled up my diary with classes and things to do to divert my attentions from these feelings. When everything's all gloomy, sometimes it's better to just keep yourself occupied with one thing or another before I sink into depression. But the workload I have now just overwhelms me. I guess rushing to classes every hour or so is just not my style of studying, but it was my own decision to take up so many modules. They all sounded so interesting and warranted a try at least. And now that I've been to the lectures, I can't bear not knowing more about these optional modules. Instead I'm wishing that I could drop some of the core ones. Some of the things are just repeated A Levels stuff and are just so boring to go through again. I miss Mr. Finch. I miss sitting in his office doing math questions together and having an intelligent conversation. I miss my double math class where almost every lesson was a joke, AND we still got the grades. University life is just so much more hectic then what I'm used to. 25 hours a week of lectures now seems so much compared to the 40 I use to do back home.
I guess university life is just another learning process (which incidentally, it should be...). There are stuff that you just need to take care of yourself, and I don't mean household chores. I don't mind cooking, doing laundry and cleaning out my room. But I mind not having time on my own for myself and for people close to me. E-mailing and Skype seems a pain now compared to last time when it was easy to just pick up the phone to make a call or we could just talk face-to-face. Now I have to check my schedule and make appointments. It seems so difficult just to do something random, like out of the blue... when I feel like it... Sure, I have the freedom to skip lectures and all, but somehow you'd feel obliged to go for them, even if I know I'd most likely fall asleep half way through the lecture... I miss being able to curl up in a big arm chair to read an exciting novel, or just laze in bed all day thinking about nothing. Maybe I should just go catch a movie some time. I need to release some tension and stress... that is, IF I can find the time to catch a movie. I'm envious of all you people in London who have the time to catch plays and theatre and stuff... I'm so near Stratford-upon-Avon but can't find the time to visit the Royal Shakespeare Company... Ishhh... I guess I'll catch one the next time I go to London or something...
I know I'm being sentimental again... I like to say that it's sentimental, which sounds so much nicer than 'emo'. I wish there would be time where we could just sit around a table in Starbucks and sip ice-blended coffee while chatting about the good 'ole times. I miss lying in someone else's bed and just enjoying the presence of the other person in my company. I miss the times when I could just do something when I feel like it. I don't want to be trapped by petty things such as schedules and timetables. I feel like re-decorating my room so that it feels more cosy.
I miss feeling invincible. I really do, and I miss you...
、
。
For winter's rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.
~ Algernon Charles Swinburne
~Zhongy~
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Sunday 12 October 2008
I realised today that I can probably never be a clubbing sort of person.
Don't ask me why, but the fact is that to bring myself to 'let my hair down' so to speak, involves breaking a few psychological barriers within which have probably been there for, well ages. Call me chicken, but I think that I lack the courage to pull down these walls that I have put in place for myself. Maybe it's just a part of me that I am not ready to face yet, or that it's just a part that I'm not ready to reveal to other people. It's just Zhongy being himself I guess, and no amount of loud music or alcohol will change that. Either way, I'm sorry if I spoilt the clubbing mood today. I was really happy to see all you guys enjoy yourself and it was really good to meet up again after so long =)
It was equally nice to have finally met Ash, 'lil Nunu, Debbie, Wen Yao and Hui Ming in the morning for brunch too haha. None of you have changed any bit since we left KTJ, and I hope that it stays the same. Special thanks to Wen Yao for letting me spend the night at his place and of course, for great company. Going to meet Azlan tomorrow before I go back to Warwick, and I think that should turn out fine as well.
Went shopping at Oxford Street today. I didn't really expect to buy anything and was just looking out for stuff that I might need. End up buying a GAP hood which looks damn nice and keeps me warm for 38 pounds. It wasn't that bad considering the quality of the material and the fact that it was GAP. Quite pleased with the purchase that would add to my winter wardrobe. Going back there again to see whether there are other bargains available. Saw some nice long-sleeved shirts in T&M going for only 10 pounds but I was too lazy to try on for sizes. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow... Hahahahha.
I thought the trip to London was very successful this time round. It was good to meet up with KTJ people today and I am extremely pleased to see people that I have missed a lot. Maybe there were a few others whom I didn't meet on this trip, but I guess there will be a next time. Back to slogging in Warwick tomorrow, and I think the only time I would go down to London again would be during December since I'm so busy much of the time. Other than that there's still an appointment with Amira to keep in Edinburgh, but we'll see how that goes. Anyhow I hope to see everyone again at Nott's Games at least, IF I decide to make the trip amongst my busy schedule.
Anyhow I'm in Wen Yao's flat now, signing off. Take care people. Cheers =)~Zhongy~
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Friday 3 October 2008
It's another 20 minutes to my next lecture so I'm hoping that I get this done by then. If not, I'll finish it later haha. For those of you who have not popped that question yet, yes Warwick is fine. It's a huge place (750 acres!!) with fantastic sports facilities (apparently the Olympic tennis team for 2012 is going to train here) which is splat in the middle of nowhere. Sounds familiar? Well in a way it's like KTJ extended, along with sprawling fields and a lot more walking to do if you want to travel to places. My room in Tocil is almost as big as the room at home, and I'm sharing that with my brother! It doesn't have on suite bathrooms though, but there's a shower and bathtub that six of us in the apartment share, so it's not that bad. For those of you who still DON'T know where the University of Warwick is, it's 20 minutes off Coventry and Birmingham, and about two hours' drive from London. No, it's not in Warwickshire, so don't bother looking there. You won't find it haha.
Coventry is basically the nearest town, and there's regular bus services there everyday for people to do their shopping and stuff. Almost everything is available there, except for the Chinese/Asian stuff which is available in Birmingham. Usually we do shopping at Tesco's or Costcutters though, which is located on campus. The living halls are self-catered, so people usually group together to cook up gastronomic delights (or disasters if you prefer). Seriously it's not that bad. Nine of us Malaysians whipped up bah kut teh the other day and it was authentic enough haha. So far fried rice seems to be the most popular dish, but maybe I'm going to try my hand at curry tonight? Any takers? Haha.
The lectures just started and I guess it's not bad. They're still revising some A Levels stuff and so there's not been much excitement now. Apparently some people in math course can't integrate or differentiate to save their lives, so yea, we're revising. I was quite pleased actually that there was a topic on the Theorem of Infinite Primes, which we proved (if people can remember) in Further Math class last term or the term before. That was by far the most interesting topic so far and hopefully the other lectures will start to gather up speed and get to the exciting stuff. I'm taking something like 171.5 CATS now, which apparently is suicide (the minimum is 120 and maximum is 180. 1 CAT is equivalent to about 3 hours of study). Oh well, blame it on my broad range of interests. AND I'm actually trying to pick up some French this year, which counts for 24 CATS and have nothing to do with my course. I have a nagging feeling I'm going to drop some of those option modules if I find them not to my liking or that I have a tendency to doze off half way. Lectures are conducted in one hour sessions and rarely continuously, making them compact and easier for students to concentrate, which is a good thing. There's also support classes, supervisions and tutorials but they've not started yet.
So far the company here's been great. Everybody (who are not Asians) seems to be fascinated at the Malaysian weather. It's not been that nice here though. Imagine the sun shining down on you but you feel that your hands are freezing, not to mention that the wind seems bent on blowing you away. I'm waking up with cramps in my legs some days when it gets too cold but well, nothing too serious. Probably will get an extra duvet to make it feel more cozy and roomy in bed haha. Other than that, the weather's been good to my skin and there's no sign of any eczema outbursts anywhere. Quine you should come here, solves the problem for once haha. Either way, the climate's still bearable so I'm not complaining... yet... The Asians are nice too. I have a group of Malaysian friends whom always hang out together for food and fun so it's kinda nice, though none of them are doing math. I think most of the Asians here end up doing courses in Warwick Business School more than anything, especially Accounting and Finance, Law and Economics. Haven't met a local accountant or financier yet, so you can imagine. Despite only making up only 20% of the student population, there's actually a pretty diverse mix of foreigners here. I've met people from places like Germany, Lithuania, China, Mauritius, Bulgaria, India, even Israel. It's interesting to hear groups of people suddenly breaking out in conversation in a language you can't understand, and it really adds to the cosmopolitan atmosphere in the uni.
I actually completed this after dinner of curry and grilled chicken with rice, which was not bad. Looks like I'm picking up some culinary skills along the way here, or maybe it was always in the genes haha. Either way, I'm happy to cook for people if they enjoy the food so much, and are willing to bring in the ingredients for me to work on. I'll try my best to keep this blog posted among hectic classes and replying various e-mails, so do watch this spot. Maybe some day I'll write an article in French, who knows? Haha. Oh well, until then, take care and please let me know how you're getting on. Cheers =)~Zhongy~
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