Speak of Common Sense.

After nearly a month of sleeping at 3am, and waking up at 1pm. Today I had to wake up at 8:30 in the morning JUST for a dental appointment that's at 11.... Man... did I struggle hard to get up this morning. And then I drove.... and drove.... and looked for a parking... and looked for a parking.... and pop~ I was at the Luyang Clinic by 10:40. I handed in my appointment card, and then waited for my number to be called.

About 30 minutes passed. I was sitting down patiently and read the clinic's version of their "Ten Commandments" stuck on the wall..... 1. We will serve our patients with kind, grateful and good manners..... 2. We shall have your registration done within 15 30 minutes time..... ... ... ... ... ... etc etc... and then I came to one which stated "You shall be called for your treatment in no more than 30 60 minutes."... ... I guess all the strikeouts are because of them suddenly realising they worked too slow and needed more "budget" time-wise.

I sat, and sat... and sat... .... day dreaming my boredom away.... I was dreaming I had some super powers which was the ability to distort time... which made me seem to have god-like speed and always appeared to have time to do everything... I could dodge bullets by slowing down time whenever I wanted... ... or speed it up if I felt I had too much of it...

... ... not knowing how long I sat there... or was it I fast forwarded time with my ability?? *Ting....*cyborg woman's voice goes * .... 3.... 1..... 3..... 7.... bilik... 43*... About bloody time now isn't it? I looked at my watch. 12:36; I looked back up at the clinic's "Ten Commandments". "Screw it", I thought.

Well.... and what do you know?? I was in the treating room for like 5 minutes, and they're like "Okay, our next appointment should be.... .... about 6 months from now." ~!? Was that compensation for my lost time or what? Oh for God's sake, I waited one and a half hours just for 5 minutes of seeing some random doctor's eyes only??? Seriously, I didn't even see her face with her wearing her mask since I entered till I left.

No kidding. These people should really use some common sense in queuing people. I waited for nearly 2 hours, for a 5 minute session? Who's gonna gimme back my 2 hours? Besides, unless they count their numbers the opposite way, I reckon that 3143 comes AFTER 3137... whom I saw some other girl who waited much less than me walk into the very same room 43 after that number was called.

So much for being patient.... AND common sense. Some people just have too much of them.... or nearly none.


Anyway, that topic aside... here's a pic I took for today.

 Say "No" to Racism

Somehow, for some reason, I dug my chess set out of the pile of that's been sitting in a dusty room ever since I moved house a year ago. It seems we still haven't unpacked. Haha.... we prefer it that way I guess.

I wanted to have a bit more dramatic lighting to it, but I just didn't have any equipment here and had to use window light.... which was kinda soft for such a photo. Might try another when I'm back in Miri. At first, I thought there was something wrong about it. But then I realised that it looked kinda... racist =.= .... but I still liked the photo... so... ... Say "No" to Racism. ^^

A Bloody Mess

Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting at home trying out some new experiments. I didn't sleep well the night before. And I had to wake up early this morning for Chua's Brother's wedding ceremony. I was very tired, but was determined to finish the experiment quickly and then only catch a nap for the wedding dinner in a few hour's time.

As I was meddling with my apparatus... I was feeling kinda disappointed with the results of my experiment. "Ish... another failure...." I thought. But all by accident, my mind went blank for a few seconds because of exhaustion; my hand slipped. My mind exclaimed "Sh*t!" but I heard my mouth yell "F*ck!". All too soon, the damage was done. And on the floor.... ....

Laid a bloody mess.


I sat there stunned.... .... eyes fixed on what looked like a crime scene....

But my eyes sparkled at the thought.... that it seems the experiment was quite a success after all... ...

Sailing into the Rain

Been more than a week since my last update. Well, it's not that there's nothing to update, but I've been out quite often recently that when I sit at home... I can't think of anything else except about going out again. So pardon my in-activeness, hehe.

Ever been to the islands when it's raining? You should try it ^^ It's really a refreshing experience.

Last Thursday, it was raining so hard... and the winds were so wild I was afraid my windows would shatter. I was getting ready to sleep... and that was when when... "Riiiiiinnngg~~~!" My house phone rang. It was slightly past 12am. "Who would call at such an hour of the night?" and it's my house phone... not many people knew my house phone number. I walked over to it and snatched the receiver, ready to put it down if something didn't sound right...


"Ui~ Hey! It's Jordan."
=.=" *exasperated look*
"What... do you know what time is it?"

*question ignored*
"Do you wanna go to the islands tomorrow?"

"Huh?? Tomorrow you mean like.. tomorrow?"

"Yea... Duh..."

"Who else is going?"

"Some other friends of mine, wanna come along?"

"Err... but the weather... I think..."
*Rain threatening me to say 'no' outside*
"I think not... I'm also kinda short on cash btw..."

"Nevermind about it, just come along..."

"Erm... aar.... K then... what time?"

"Not sure... maybe 6? 7?"

"SIX?? You're kidding?"

"Ahh~ I'm not sure, 7 maybe"

"Okay then... ..."

"See ya tomorrow morning then"


Friday, the next morning... we left at 8:50 for breakfast. And at 10:40 for the islands... ...


The rain hadn't stopped from last night. Besides the fact that it lessened into a drizzle... but the sky remained just as threatening.

This Rooster head couldn't seem to care less that the sky looked like it could capsize the boat.

The rest of the trip was mostly the same... we did what we'd usually do on the islands...

Played the banana boat....

Got dumped into the water...

Went swimming...

Buried friends....

Meh... nothing out of the ordinary this time... except the fact that it was drizzling for most of the time, and the water was icy cold.

Until~! We were on our way home.

The sky was like "Rooaarr....~" and I'm like "Oh Gosh...~".... We heard our boat driver shouting "Aparu~ Aparu~" (It was the name of their company) hurried onto the boat... and set off on our 'acupuncture' trip back to the Jetty.

Imagine traveling at 60 miles an hour.... ON Water... with waves going sideways and in opposite directions at 20 miles an hour.... You're literally sitting on a Rodeo Bull that has a flat saddle to flatten your buttocks. And the rain didn't make things better! Raindrops hitting your face at 100km/h speed feels like needles penetrating your skin. And my bath towel that I wrapped around my neck turned from slightly wet.... to SOAKING wet. Seriously, haha, it was a fun ride... but I'm not gonna do that everyday.

The trip back was about 10 minutes... but everyone was going "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? What's taking so long? I can't see anything! How far are we?" lol... While me... ... all the while I was worried about the boat overturning... ~.~

I guess some things are worth experiencing... although they might seem stupid and just don't seem to serve the purpose. But sitting on a speedboat under the rain... ... I guess it was pretty soaking speedy. You should try it once in a while though ^^

Intermission

Hey there. So I've actually been meaning to post something since quite a couple of days ago, but my internet just won't seem to allow me to upload photos and stuff that I wanna use for my post. So I think I'll just have to postpone my solid updates till later.

Things have seemed to settle down a bit lately. The yam-cha's are getting less... our ridiculously sudden plans are slowing down... we've eaten most of the good food we've known of... and people are starting to go back to their studies...

I've also been feeling kinda bored lately. So today, I spent my time surfing around this cool site, called "DeviantArt". It's a site, for whoever who thinks themselves as artists, to gather, to upload, and it's virtually one of the biggest collection of artwork on the net!

Basically I go there to get inspiration on my own photography and miscellaneous other stuff. It's just a site I use to kill time though at the moment. I haven't any REAL artwork that can compare to what they have out there yet. If you're interested, go have a look. They certainly have photographs that make you go "Wow..." Or if photography is not your interest, I'm sure you can find something else that'll keep you busy still.

Anyway... that's all I have to say for now... until my Internet let's me upload my stuff.

p/s: Planning to go for some Light Painting photoshoots one of these days~! Should be sometime during Midnight though. Anyone interested??

2009: Pushing the Limits

In the blink of an eye, 2009 is now already history.... 10 years ago, I never would've imagined myself actually being 20 years old and studying in a Uni. But it seems sometimes the future is far more unpredictable and unimaginable than possible.

Looking back at my 2009 New Year's Resolutions:

1. Make as many precious memories as possible - checked
2. Look at the world in a different view - checked
3. Be a different person - somewhat... checked
4. To come out, step up, and enjoy this world - eh.... don't think I fully fulfilled this one yet.

It looks like I couldn't get all my resolutions achieved... hmm... well, but at least I made it up to most of them =) Stepping out and enjoying the world as it is however... isn't something easy to be done... sometimes there's just so many things you wanna shout and scream and curse about... so... pardon me, haha.


So many things happened in 2009... There's been many fun and memorable stuff, yet also tiring and saddening times, most of them pushing the limits of what thought I already knew or thought possible. But all in all... that's what life is, isn't it?. I can't manage to list them all down, but of some of left a deeper impression in me than others... namely...

Having moved house TWICE in the First Week of the year.... was definitely a tiring job...

Went to KL for 2 weeks, ate nice stuff ^^

and spent 3 days in Malacca...

And had the BEST cendol I've tasted so far...

Had a blast on my Birthday getting drunk ^^


Learned the Consequences of missing a flight


Found out Frisbee isn't just for dogs


Realised what loneliness feels like.


Found out boredom drives you CRaaaaiiiizzzieee...


Had SIX bloody units in a sem.... and nearly drove myself MAD because of that.
So I had to throw in my all just to PASS my units. Thank God I did.


Tried Paintball... twice... and got a couple of bruises...
but forgot to take photos... in risk of my camera getting shot =.=


And lastly... Climbed to the Highest peak in Southeast Asia

-------------------------------------------------------------

2009.... truly another meaningful year. Even though there're times when I feel I could do better... I guess... you can't always do it all can you...

Most Satisfying Experience of 2009:
Reaching the Summit of Mt. Kinabalu of course~!! It's tiring, cold, mentally draining... but at the very end, it's all worth it!

The Hardest and most Painful times of 2009:
I guess there were two times. The first was during the first few weeks of my second sem.... where I had to get used to staying without my old housemates... and cope at going to campus alone.
The 2nd was studying for 3 units on 3 consecutive days... which nearly had me give it all up.

Lesson learned in 2009:
You never know until you try.


New Year's Resolution 2010:
1. Challenge myself to take a blind leap once in a while. (Instead of my usual 'surefire' methods)
2. Try something.... different... (but what haven't I tried... that's different?)
3. Love myself more.
4. Chase my dreams.


Till 2011 comes...

Trip to the Summit

The next time someone tells you Mt. Kinabalu is a trip through Hell. Believe them. Except this hell is a freezing Hell.

So I've actually been back from my Mt. Kinabalu Trip for quite some time now. It's just that I was too tired and uninspired to blog anything about it yet.

As Sabahan's, I bet nearly everyone of you have been asked the question "Have you climbed Mt. Kinabalu before?" at least once. And from now onwards, I'm proud that I can actually say "YES!"


So what's so special about this Mt. Kinabalu, for those who HAVEN'T climbed, you might ask. Well, first of all, the peak is 4095.2 meters high; the journey to the peak and back down would take you 2 days and 1 night; it cost me a bloody RM550++ (price as of 2009); and lastly, if you ain't from some country that snows.... lemme just say you could keep your fruits and veggies perfectly fresh all the way up to the peak if you brought any.


My trip however was a 3 days 2 nights one. That very morning on the 21st before I left my house... I looked out my window, and saw

and I looked back at my 12-kg packed backpack and double checked my jackets....... and I said... "nah... It can't be that bad"... ... ... I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

The first night was a stay at the renowned Kampung Mesilau!! Where we spent most of afternoon time having a foot-massage in the blisteringly cold river....

which made your toes feel like they were missing, and your feet feel like... cold penguin feet....

But of course... us little children couldn't care less about having our feet frozen and kicked off our shoes to the side.

Owners at Play

Just to take pictures...

Well... after about an hour and a half of getting our feet numb, we trotted back for a cold shower 0.0 ... .... Cold + Cold = Hot ^^ just like negative + negative = positive ^^ ... ... ... okay... nevermind me...

The cold shower after a cold leg dip was seriously a WRONG idea. Having a 10 degrees celcius shower would practically make girls scream and guy's balls shrink into nothingness.


Having paid more than 500 bucks to freeze our asses in some wet river though... there IS... of course... something good that comes out of that. And that is buffet meals~! We had a filling steamboat dinner that night, and an even more stuffing breakfast the next morning. I have to say that the most enjoyable thing about this trip I had...... is that I did not have to worry about FOOD!!

Even the squirrels had to take the chance to have breakfast with us.


At 9:00 am of the 2nd day.... locked and loaded, we headed off

The first day's walk is an 8km walk uphill.... I have to admit that the road climbing up is actually very EASY.... especially for a person like me, who only did serious training 1~2 week prior to the climb.... and who usually sits at home only playing COD and O2Jam.... all it takes is 1.5 litres of water, 1 bar of chocolate, 1 lunch pack, and LOTS and LOTS of REST along the way... ... You'll feel as if your brain was going to explode and your heart would stop any minute... and if it rains, bravo~, you just got yourself some natural air-con that's pre-set to 12 degrees C and cannot be turned down.

But don't sweat it =) because there's always a resting hut within an hour's walk from where you are. And if you EVER happen to run out of water along the way.... and you're like in the middle of the whole journey and nearly half dead from thirst, and you expect to re-fill your bottle on the road... there's always this:

It really does make soOooo much sense when you're in the middle of nowhere and somewhere... with no water left... to be informed that you should've brought more water doesn't it? Thank you for your Understanding... Oh sure... I DO understand... ~.~


Anyway... it's a good thing I didn't run out of water myself. But pity the other people who thought they could get some water along the way... uh-uh.... too bad for them.


Honestly though. If anybody were to ask me where was the Best place in Sabah to have a photoshoot. In all honestly, my suggestion would be: Mt. Kinabalu.

Besides the challenging surroundings and backgrounds to take photographs with, there're still much insanely beautiful scenery to take pictures of. If you're not so interested in the scenery, you could even try some of this.... ....

Looks like some kind of album cover page if you ask me ^^

Of course... for serious photographers.... carrying your full set equipment, tripod, and lighting could break your back in 101 places. You'll need so many lenses from wide angle to telephoto to macro to cover the whole heavenly sky to the tiny squirrels and spiderlings which made Spiderman spiderman.

Cutting off from photography talk... we arrived at mid-mountain... or so-called Laban Rata in the evening.... 8 hours of climb, rest, eat, talk, photo-shoot..... I guess we did fine ^^ But the worst was yet to come....

That night. None of us bathed. We stayed in Gunting Lagadan, which didn't have a heater... so the water was like... ... 5 degrees?? But it seemed that Laban Rata wasn't doing much better =)

We continued our climb at about 2:30 am midnight. Climbing in pitch-black darkness. The darkness was one thing... the steepness of the mountain is another!! and the COLD WIND is the worst part~!

Unfortunately, since my camera flash is out of order, I don't have any pictures of the climb T.T

To cut the long story short... we climbed 3 hours in the Cold Night... walking on without a clue where we were going (of course the only clue was.... the peak)... all we did was walk along a the white rope which our whole journey depended on. In the middle of the night, 50 Meters LOOKED like a 100 meters!! But FELT like 500~!!!

Your Life Line

It was more of a test of Mentality that physical fitness I'll tell you:

"Your Body is about to collapse... your lips are nearly frozen... you are 2 kilometers more to the peak. You can choose to walk 500 meters downhill back to your warm room... or you could walk uphill till your eyes froze for another 2 kilometers... Which do you choose...."


Somehow... I managed to make it in to the peak in time for sunrise ^^ But I was already too tired to be taking photographs... so I just watched... while my face was blown dry by the icy wind.

To sum it all up... I'm pretty satisfied and proud of myself for actually reaching the peak... because it wasn't only once, that the idea of turning back and just giving it all up came to mind.... but I thought that if so many others could've made it, I can too, and I pushed on...

**I'll give a hint to those intending on climbing and haven't climbed before.. Looking at the photo on top.... and all other photos taken by people at Mt. K's peak... it seems small doesn't it?? I'll tell you that... from the place I was standing when I took that photo, to the tiny person walking there.... is about 100 ~ 150 meters of downhill walk.... which would take you about.... 4~5 minutes to walk... ^^


If you asked me if I'd want to climb again.... my answer:

I'd love to. But with better camera equipment, a flash... and a tripod.
When? Not anytime within a year's time, haha.
And this time I'm gonna train harder and further so that I won't have to be bothered with being tired while making my way up...
Oh.... and if I didn't have to worry about the price =.=.... RM600 a year.... no thanks... that's gonna blow my pocket.