Friday, August 31, 2007
Condensing August 2007
Finally... After almost a month of inactivity on this blog, I've finally updated! Isn't it ironic that the more there is to blog about, the less time you have to actually blog about it? But now that I'm finally without anything to do tonight, here's a friggin long post from me (and this time I mean it!).
Frankly, I thought that the Week was an unnecessary temporal investment on MNSM's part, but the decision was made before I became president. Then again, it's a learning process; even as president now, I am prone to lapses of judgment that require much advice from my peers and subordinates. Darren, I forgive you (heh)!
Well, enough with that, on to the pictures:
How the booth looks like from the entrance
Water Day = Dressing up in blue
First, we went shopping for the food and other miscellaneous materials
Then we set up the BBQ pits...
...and registration booth
All MNSM members were required to wear nametags...
People! Lots and lots of people!
The chefs hard at work
It's durian season, yo!
Entertainment: Air-band to the tune of Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer (his best song ever, in my opinion)
We even managed to get a lot of people dancing to clubbing tunes and all, but that's all on video
Hmm?
Uh oh...
Flee!
I wasn't the only victim that night. NOTE: He did not pose for this
The peeps who stayed back until the very end
I ended up sleeping at almost 2am that night; cleaning up was killer!
The only problem was that the concert was held at UE3 shopping mall in Cheras, a place that's ulu like anything. The overall execution of the event was terrible, from the location to the stage setting to the program booklet. At least the seats were almost sold out completely for both shows, though. And we did earn some money (a grand total of RM40 per person; semi-professional choristers are good examples of struggling artists).
Before the fourth guy came in, we seriously considered calling ourselves "Sopranos, Altos, and Them", "Them" being the obviously outnumbered males in the chamber group
Us on stage!
Us with the SyncTones, a choir of high school students. They're pretty good!
The Kuen Cheng girls, the SyncTones, and us
Random: We had our weekly choir practice after the performance at Kuen Cheng, where Swee Ling gave me that stylish tie-looking thing for my (belated) birthday gift. She made it herself! Xie xie ni!
On the first night, MNSM sold drinks and tried to sell balloons (there were supposed to be outsiders coming, but too few actually bothered to come). We also had a game where contestants dipped their forearms in a bucket of ice water. Prizes were given according to how long you could keep your arms inside... Let's just say that I underestimated the fortitude of Monash students, and as a result, our club almost ran into a loss on the first night.
*Slaps forehead*
SMK Subang Jaya peeps; that's Peck Yun the playboy, Madana the terrorist, and Matthew George the comic
My club vice-president, Leanne. She was also an ASEAN scholar, my junior back in SAJC!
The successor to my old post, club treasurer Cze Wien. That's her trademark hunch-towards-one-side pose, and that's me imitating it.
The ladies of MNSM
The first group of victims to go under the ice
Ice ice baby
The aftermath... another reason why we discontinued the game
Chee Hoe and Cheng Wai won with a time of 24 minutes (I forced them out). Later, a group of international students came, played, and refused to remove their hands until the 30-minute mark had passed
This guest band only had two fans... So sad
Ben's Bitches, on the other hand, had an entire legion. They sang Tensyen, Aku Suka Jolok, Cha Cha Ska of Amber Chia, and Peter the Pirate to name a few. Later they came off the stage and sang Kotek Berbulu a capella with about 10 of us spectators. Those guys rucking fock.
Another MNSM shot
Mr Jason Chan Hwa Khang must be the poorest creature at the carnival; being a member of the civil defence (not RELA), he had to help out with traffic. Here's us saluting him for a job well done
I took no pictures on the second day because I was emceeing the event. MPAC had a dance performance, and a few in-house Monash bands went up to sing with three groups performing Chris Daughtry songs. Besides that, there were food eating, Cokesnorting drinking, and burping competitions, as well as a lucky draw with a DiGi-sponsored handphone as the top prize.
It wasn't because I didn't eat; apparently, I stuffed myself too quickly that the food got stuck on the way to the belly, causing the impatient gastric juices to start feasting on my stomach lining... or something like that. Painful as hell, even worse than the time when I vomited (isn't it weird that my previous post was about food problems, too?); like having an Alien chestburster claw its way out from within. I had to be rushed to a clinic where the doctor injected me with something to stop the stomach from cramping.
And that still didn't prevent me from being hit by another wave of pain after sleeping the afternoon away to allow the drugs to take effect. Needless to say, I couldn't really enjoy my uncle's birthday party.
But then again, I didn't train for the Big Walk either. *Sigh*
RELA civil defence fella), Cze Wien (the aforementioned club treasurer), William, Desmond and I were to head down to Putrajaya park for a picnic (with homemade sushi and spaghetti) and to catch the fireworks competition (without paying) to celebrate Merdeka.
Mana tahu, on the LDP, a car in front of us braked all of a sudden. Desmond slammed on the brakes completely but his car just couldn't slow down quickly enough.
*WHAM!* There goes Eleanor.
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This, my friends, is Eleanor. Desmond's wife of only three months. The lights were gone and the radiator completely crushed; along with Desmond's heart.
.jpg)
The other car was also a MyVi, and even younger than Eleanor. WQD carplate, man!
.jpg)
Thankfully, no one was critically injured. Cze Wien got an injured thumb, Jason got a sprained ankle, Desmond's spine, wrist and neck hurt, and William (as of today) was beginning to feel the ache. After the initial shock and confusion, we soon regained our composure and decided that the only reasonable thing to do now was to follow our original plan of picnicking.
By the side of the highway.
What a way to celebrate our nation's 50th anniversary. Merdeka! Malaysia boleh!
And I guess that's about all for my condensation of August 2007. But before I go, here's a shoutout to Ms Carrie Low, who was monumental in aiding me in the completion of my Television Studies assignment. Carrie, you rucking fock! A thank-you gift is coming to you, soon.
Stole this from her Friendster, but I bet she won't mind. Say hi to Carrie!
And also, an advertisement. The Young KL Singers (the choir I perform with) will be having a full-scale concert from 27th to 30th September (Monash will be having their mid-semester break here, so don't give me no excuses!). Ticket prices are RM35 for side seats and RM45 for centre seats. We've been having practices two to three times a week (sometimes four!) since , so you can expect one hell of a great show from us.
Click for details
Pointless Fact of the Day:
The way that social systems work in certain parts of the world scares the shit out of me. Click here to read on how a woman was sentenced to be gang-raped.
7th to 10th August 2007 - Environmental Week
MNSM organised this in conjunction with Monash donating RM15,000 to WWF Malaysia. Each day of the Environmental Week had a theme ("Air", "Earth", "Water" and "Green") and we had photo-laden boards for each of those days (e.g. a board with photos on turtle conservation and water pollution for "Water Day"). We sold some WWF merchandise, too.Frankly, I thought that the Week was an unnecessary temporal investment on MNSM's part, but the decision was made before I became president. Then again, it's a learning process; even as president now, I am prone to lapses of judgment that require much advice from my peers and subordinates. Darren, I forgive you (heh)!
Well, enough with that, on to the pictures:
How the booth looks like from the entrance
Water Day = Dressing up in blue10th August 2007 - MNSM & MEX BBQ Party
Now this was pretty fun. MNSM and MEX (Monash Expression Club; it's anyone's first guess what is it exactly that they do) did a joint barbeque in conjunction with the new influx of members to our clubs, especially MNSM which ballooned from 70 members at the beginning of the year to almost 240 now (who cares if 75% of the club is inactive, that's still 60 people to mess with!). At one point, we had a total of about 90 people (conservative estimate) at the party, requiring four-and-a-half BBQ pits to feed them all.
First, we went shopping for the food and other miscellaneous materials
Then we set up the BBQ pits...
...and registration booth
All MNSM members were required to wear nametags...
People! Lots and lots of people!
The chefs hard at work
It's durian season, yo!
Entertainment: Air-band to the tune of Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer (his best song ever, in my opinion)We even managed to get a lot of people dancing to clubbing tunes and all, but that's all on video
Hmm?
Uh oh...
Flee!
I wasn't the only victim that night. NOTE: He did not pose for this
The peeps who stayed back until the very endI ended up sleeping at almost 2am that night; cleaning up was killer!
11th August 2007 - A Capella Fest
The very next day after the BBQ Party, I had to perform at a concert; A Capella Fest! It was the second public performance for the YKLS Chamber Choir, and along with five other choirs, I think we delivered a solid performance.The only problem was that the concert was held at UE3 shopping mall in Cheras, a place that's ulu like anything. The overall execution of the event was terrible, from the location to the stage setting to the program booklet. At least the seats were almost sold out completely for both shows, though. And we did earn some money (a grand total of RM40 per person; semi-professional choristers are good examples of struggling artists).
Before the fourth guy came in, we seriously considered calling ourselves "Sopranos, Altos, and Them", "Them" being the obviously outnumbered males in the chamber group
Us on stage!
Us with the SyncTones, a choir of high school students. They're pretty good!12th August 2007 - Kuen Cheng Girls School Performance
And the very next day, we went to Kuen Cheng Girls School in KL to perform at their little choir festival; many of those from the A Capella Fest made their reprise over here. There's not much else to say about this, though.
The Kuen Cheng girls, the SyncTones, and us
Random: We had our weekly choir practice after the performance at Kuen Cheng, where Swee Ling gave me that stylish tie-looking thing for my (belated) birthday gift. She made it herself! Xie xie ni!17th and 18th August 2007 - Monash Street Carnival & Motorshow
The following week, we had the Monash Street Carnival, a little outdoorsy carnival kinda thing with booths selling food and games and all. I didn't go for the Motorshow portion of the event (too busy manning the MNSM booth on the first night, and too busy emceeing on the second), but there were cool cars and hot chicks all over the place. There were a ton of criticisms levelled at the event, but I'll leave my post devoid of the negativity, aite?On the first night, MNSM sold drinks and tried to sell balloons (there were supposed to be outsiders coming, but too few actually bothered to come). We also had a game where contestants dipped their forearms in a bucket of ice water. Prizes were given according to how long you could keep your arms inside... Let's just say that I underestimated the fortitude of Monash students, and as a result, our club almost ran into a loss on the first night.
*Slaps forehead*
SMK Subang Jaya peeps; that's Peck Yun the playboy, Madana the terrorist, and Matthew George the comic
My club vice-president, Leanne. She was also an ASEAN scholar, my junior back in SAJC!
The successor to my old post, club treasurer Cze Wien. That's her trademark hunch-towards-one-side pose, and that's me imitating it.
The ladies of MNSM
The first group of victims to go under the ice
Ice ice baby
The aftermath... another reason why we discontinued the game
Chee Hoe and Cheng Wai won with a time of 24 minutes (I forced them out). Later, a group of international students came, played, and refused to remove their hands until the 30-minute mark had passed
This guest band only had two fans... So sad
Ben's Bitches, on the other hand, had an entire legion. They sang Tensyen, Aku Suka Jolok, Cha Cha Ska of Amber Chia, and Peter the Pirate to name a few. Later they came off the stage and sang Kotek Berbulu a capella with about 10 of us spectators. Those guys rucking fock.
Another MNSM shot
Mr Jason Chan Hwa Khang must be the poorest creature at the carnival; being a member of the civil defence (not RELA), he had to help out with traffic. Here's us saluting him for a job well doneI took no pictures on the second day because I was emceeing the event. MPAC had a dance performance, and a few in-house Monash bands went up to sing with three groups performing Chris Daughtry songs. Besides that, there were food eating, Coke
25th August 2007 - Family Trip to Melaka
An uncle of mine just turned 70, so we went down to celebrate. Nothing too interesting about this trip, oh, except for the fact that I got hit by a severe case of gastritis.It wasn't because I didn't eat; apparently, I stuffed myself too quickly that the food got stuck on the way to the belly, causing the impatient gastric juices to start feasting on my stomach lining... or something like that. Painful as hell, even worse than the time when I vomited (isn't it weird that my previous post was about food problems, too?); like having an Alien chestburster claw its way out from within. I had to be rushed to a clinic where the doctor injected me with something to stop the stomach from cramping.
And that still didn't prevent me from being hit by another wave of pain after sleeping the afternoon away to allow the drugs to take effect. Needless to say, I couldn't really enjoy my uncle's birthday party.
26th August 2007 - Subang Jaya 10KM Run
And yet, after spending so much time suffering, the very next day I was back in Subang and running in the annual SJ10KM Run. I totally sucked. Took me 1 hour 13 minutes to complete the run. Compare this to the 1 hour 32 minutes to walk 10 kilometres back in the Malay Mail Big Walk, and you could guess that I was very disappointed. But then again, in my defence, I didn't train for the event.But then again, I didn't train for the Big Walk either. *Sigh*
30th August 2007 - MERDEKA!
We had it all planned nicely; Jason (the aforementioned Mana tahu, on the LDP, a car in front of us braked all of a sudden. Desmond slammed on the brakes completely but his car just couldn't slow down quickly enough.
*WHAM!* There goes Eleanor.
.jpg)
This, my friends, is Eleanor. Desmond's wife of only three months. The lights were gone and the radiator completely crushed; along with Desmond's heart..jpg)
The other car was also a MyVi, and even younger than Eleanor. WQD carplate, man!.jpg)
Thankfully, no one was critically injured. Cze Wien got an injured thumb, Jason got a sprained ankle, Desmond's spine, wrist and neck hurt, and William (as of today) was beginning to feel the ache. After the initial shock and confusion, we soon regained our composure and decided that the only reasonable thing to do now was to follow our original plan of picnicking.
By the side of the highway.
What a way to celebrate our nation's 50th anniversary. Merdeka! Malaysia boleh!
******
And I guess that's about all for my condensation of August 2007. But before I go, here's a shoutout to Ms Carrie Low, who was monumental in aiding me in the completion of my Television Studies assignment. Carrie, you rucking fock! A thank-you gift is coming to you, soon.
Stole this from her Friendster, but I bet she won't mind. Say hi to Carrie!And also, an advertisement. The Young KL Singers (the choir I perform with) will be having a full-scale concert from 27th to 30th September (Monash will be having their mid-semester break here, so don't give me no excuses!). Ticket prices are RM35 for side seats and RM45 for centre seats. We've been having practices two to three times a week (sometimes four!) since , so you can expect one hell of a great show from us.
Click for detailsThe way that social systems work in certain parts of the world scares the shit out of me. Click here to read on how a woman was sentenced to be gang-raped.
Zhen was here at 11:08 pm,
0 comment(s)
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
A crash diet that bulimics and anorexics alike could dream of
I find it so ironic that after going on a bit about celery and diets, on the very same Saturday which I used to write about the aforementioned topic, I found myself an unwilling adherer to a crash diet that bulimics and anorexics alike could dream of.
It all began with a meal at a seafood restaurant. The plot thickens after midnight as I struggled in my bed trying to sleep with an incredibly bloated stomach. Then wave after wave of pain of the indigestion kind came crashing on mine poor little foodsack. This was accompanied by four hours of extremely erratic slumber; I couldn't remain asleep for more than 20 minutes at a stretch before awaking from the pain.
And finally, it happened. At around 4am I felt as though my throat was about to leap right out of my mouth. I ran to the kitchen sink and proceeded to unload about 3 litres worth of partially-digested food into it. I've possibly never felt more relieved inmy entire life the past year... so I went back to bed.
And then I woke up with a fever, more indigestion pains, and a backache from lying in a foetal position all night.
Since Sunday, I've had no appetite whatsoever to eat. Any strong, oily smell of cooked food reminded me of the pungent stench of the vomit on Saturday night. As a result, I've only eaten two apples and two nectarines since Sunday morning, losing
Pointless Fact of the Day:
The Yangtze river dolphin is now extinct. Says a lot about the state of our environment, innit?
It all began with a meal at a seafood restaurant. The plot thickens after midnight as I struggled in my bed trying to sleep with an incredibly bloated stomach. Then wave after wave of pain of the indigestion kind came crashing on mine poor little foodsack. This was accompanied by four hours of extremely erratic slumber; I couldn't remain asleep for more than 20 minutes at a stretch before awaking from the pain.
And finally, it happened. At around 4am I felt as though my throat was about to leap right out of my mouth. I ran to the kitchen sink and proceeded to unload about 3 litres worth of partially-digested food into it. I've possibly never felt more relieved in
And then I woke up with a fever, more indigestion pains, and a backache from lying in a foetal position all night.
Since Sunday, I've had no appetite whatsoever to eat. Any strong, oily smell of cooked food reminded me of the pungent stench of the vomit on Saturday night. As a result, I've only eaten two apples and two nectarines since Sunday morning, losing
Pointless Fact of the Day:
The Yangtze river dolphin is now extinct. Says a lot about the state of our environment, innit?
Zhen was here at 8:54 am,
4 comment(s)
Saturday, August 04, 2007
More Optical-Sensory Assaultory Goodness
I'm trying my best to prevent ly4444.blogspot.com from degenerating into a lousy photoblog (because I post lousy photos; I'm not saying that photoblogs are lousy). I'm much too busy to rant lyrical about stuff these days that I only have time to post up pictures and parade my perpetually-packed schedule for all to see. And thus, here it goes:
20th July 2007 - Orientation Party Semester Two
The theme was "Fright Night". I'm still wondering why the heck did Hui Ling (the Activities Chairperson) pick this theme when Halloween was more than three months away. It didn't really matter in the end, though, as the party became an excuse for people to come dressed up in outrageous Halloweeny costumes.
Because I lacked any proper costumes, I just took out the most emo-looking shirt I had in my wardrobe (never wore it before; mom bought it from Bandung), slapped on a crimson tie, got the helpful Ms Kit Wei Li to rig me with some eyeliner and voila! you get Gerard Way:
When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city to see a marching band!
Here's some pictures of the rest who dressed up that night:
From left to right: Darren Ng Peck Yun in his Japanese 20th World Scout Jamboree happi, Jimmy Thoo as Anakin Skywalker, me being emo, and the belle of the ball, Dahlia Martin as a corpse bride. The one standing is our pro-vice chancellor, Professor Merilyn Liddell, dressed as, uh, a Chinese.
And here's the Monash Performing Arts Club (MPAC) gang! A bunch of pirates, a devil, a pontianak, and a ghost.
We later adjourned to McDonald's, eliciting a shitload of stares from passersby (duh!). I only went home at 2am that night. In fact, during the first and second week of the semester, I only ate dinner at home four times, and I went home after midnight six times... such is my life, and I'm lovin' it (pa-dap pap pap pa!).
24th to 27th July 2007 - Clubs and Societies (CnS) Week
Back to back heavy events make Zhen a very tired man. On the previous week (the one with the Fright Night) I met up with the MPAC crew every other night to prepare a performance for the CnS Week opening on Tuesday the 24th. Because I was also in Malaysian Nature Society, Monash (MNSM), I had to help set up the booth for the CnS Week too. By virtue of moving around a couple of my tutorial slots, I managed to free up time to aid Darren in the morning. Here's the booth being set up:
Once the clock struck 12, it was time for the MPAC performance. We sang and (tried to) danced Summer Nights from Grease. Guess who took the lead male role?
Yup: The geekiest, nerdiest Danny Zuko that ever existed. Moi.
And here are the sexy ladies...
A lot more people than I expected showed up for the performance. It was really motivating to see such a large audience.
Oh, and because I was a school representative in the student council, immediately after the performance I had to join Peter in introducing the concept of Monash Voice Out aka MVO aka complaints box to the students. Once that was over with, it was back to manning the MNSM booth for the rest of the day (until my classes came along). Since it was a Tuesday, there's choir practice that evening, too; I can recall falling asleep at traffic lights as I drove to TTDI...
I'm a bloody glutton for punishment.
The booth-manning continued until Friday, too. Fortunately, the hard work paid off when we were awarded best booth by the CnS Division; a prize of RM100 to the club! It's not much, but we take everything we can get, heh heh.
29th July to 4th August 2007 - The Week That Was
The past week had been so much less hectic than the weeks before, except for theoccasional relentless requests from certain Monash Admin that sent Mr Ng and I running around campus performing errands.
Oh yeah, during MNSM's AGM (Annual General Meeting; a blatant misnomer) I got elected as the new club President! Bwahahahahahahahaha!
Last, but not least...I'm no longer a teenager anymore! I just turned twenty I am now twenteen!!! Thanks to everyone that wished me, I love the whole lot of you~
Pointless Fact of the Day:
Celery has a negative calorific value; although it is rich in carbohydrates, most of it are in cellulose form which humans cannot digest. As a result, our body spends more energy digesting the greenstick than it actually extracts from it.
Unfortunately for dieters around the world, the energy expended is so negligible that you might as well have been playing pool or foosball. Yay to all the lounge frequenters in Monash. As for the rest of you, stick to your "Tomorrow" diets; the diet which always starts tomorrow.
20th July 2007 - Orientation Party Semester Two
The theme was "Fright Night". I'm still wondering why the heck did Hui Ling (the Activities Chairperson) pick this theme when Halloween was more than three months away. It didn't really matter in the end, though, as the party became an excuse for people to come dressed up in outrageous Halloweeny costumes.
Because I lacked any proper costumes, I just took out the most emo-looking shirt I had in my wardrobe (never wore it before; mom bought it from Bandung), slapped on a crimson tie, got the helpful Ms Kit Wei Li to rig me with some eyeliner and voila! you get Gerard Way:
When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city to see a marching band!Here's some pictures of the rest who dressed up that night:
From left to right: Darren Ng Peck Yun in his Japanese 20th World Scout Jamboree happi, Jimmy Thoo as Anakin Skywalker, me being emo, and the belle of the ball, Dahlia Martin as a corpse bride. The one standing is our pro-vice chancellor, Professor Merilyn Liddell, dressed as, uh, a Chinese.
And here's the Monash Performing Arts Club (MPAC) gang! A bunch of pirates, a devil, a pontianak, and a ghost.
We later adjourned to McDonald's, eliciting a shitload of stares from passersby (duh!). I only went home at 2am that night. In fact, during the first and second week of the semester, I only ate dinner at home four times, and I went home after midnight six times... such is my life, and I'm lovin' it (pa-dap pap pap pa!).24th to 27th July 2007 - Clubs and Societies (CnS) Week
Back to back heavy events make Zhen a very tired man. On the previous week (the one with the Fright Night) I met up with the MPAC crew every other night to prepare a performance for the CnS Week opening on Tuesday the 24th. Because I was also in Malaysian Nature Society, Monash (MNSM), I had to help set up the booth for the CnS Week too. By virtue of moving around a couple of my tutorial slots, I managed to free up time to aid Darren in the morning. Here's the booth being set up:
Once the clock struck 12, it was time for the MPAC performance. We sang and (tried to) danced Summer Nights from Grease. Guess who took the lead male role?
Yup: The geekiest, nerdiest Danny Zuko that ever existed. Moi.
And here are the sexy ladies...
A lot more people than I expected showed up for the performance. It was really motivating to see such a large audience.
Oh, and because I was a school representative in the student council, immediately after the performance I had to join Peter in introducing the concept of Monash Voice Out aka MVO aka complaints box to the students. Once that was over with, it was back to manning the MNSM booth for the rest of the day (until my classes came along). Since it was a Tuesday, there's choir practice that evening, too; I can recall falling asleep at traffic lights as I drove to TTDI...I'm a bloody glutton for punishment.
The booth-manning continued until Friday, too. Fortunately, the hard work paid off when we were awarded best booth by the CnS Division; a prize of RM100 to the club! It's not much, but we take everything we can get, heh heh.
29th July to 4th August 2007 - The Week That Was
The past week had been so much less hectic than the weeks before, except for the
Oh yeah, during MNSM's AGM (Annual General Meeting; a blatant misnomer) I got elected as the new club President! Bwahahahahahahahaha!
Last, but not least...
Pointless Fact of the Day:
Celery has a negative calorific value; although it is rich in carbohydrates, most of it are in cellulose form which humans cannot digest. As a result, our body spends more energy digesting the greenstick than it actually extracts from it.
Unfortunately for dieters around the world, the energy expended is so negligible that you might as well have been playing pool or foosball. Yay to all the lounge frequenters in Monash. As for the rest of you, stick to your "Tomorrow" diets; the diet which always starts tomorrow.