Golden Floor

It's 3am and I'm struggling to stay awake to finish my assignment. It is only a 1500-word dissertation but I've spent the entire day on it and I'm not even half way through it. And it's my first time doing citation, I hope it's correct or else I'm screwed when I send it to Turnitin. I really am trying to not do last minute work but looks like this is taking up more time and effort. Perhaps I should go back to being a last-minute finisher.

Every week, I try to do something different, something life-changing, crazy, fun, whatever. Last Wednesday, I attended the talk by Mr. Yeoh Chen Chow. The way he spoke, you can feel the warmth in him, he's like one of your mom's friend's son who can mingle so well with anybody and everybody. I've definitely learned a lot from his one-hour long sharing session. It's sometimes hard to believe what these successful people went through in order to stand where they are today because a huge part of you really want to believe that you too can be like them. I dare not have expectations or at least high ones because I'm afraid of disappointments. But this man said we should always stretch ourselves to do, learn and give more. Perhaps what I should do more now is to learn.

It's a very satisfying feeling when you do something that is just you and people thank you and appreciate you for that. It's as if you are a contribution to the society with your mere presence in their lives. Everyone is someone else's treasure whether you know it or not. And for me, people who have helped me to become who I am today are my treasures. :) Good day.

P.S. Happy birthday to your mom. Hope I remembered correctly. :)

You're the reason behind those smiles.

Howdy amigos. What better ways to welcome the weekend than doing something meaningful away from your thick heavy books and stressful timetable. Went for can-washing yesterday right after lecture with the whole gang from the class. Although it was raining, nobody complained but worked so diligently trying to get the work done as swiftly as possible. It's such an amazing feeling to obtain such contentment from doing something as simple as washing cans with your fellow friends in the cold drizzle. After that, attended a super last minute potluck party at the twin's apartment. Though we had simple, not-so-fancy food and take-away's but everybody enjoyed with endless joy in the company of awesome people. Playing Mafia was probably the biggest mistake for some of them especially Jordan. Haha face problem betul the whole night.

Today, woke up earlier than usual for the Educating children in Rural Areas (E.RA) Project in Pahang. It was an initiative by one of the groups in LEAD Programme in collaboration with the Reading Bus organisation. I've always wanted to do this, going to the rural areas, reaching out in whatever ways I could to help the aborigines. As you would've imagined it to be, twas a dismal sight with shortages in so many aspects. The first thing I saw when I stepped out of the four-wheel-drive was a pair of miniature slippers on the uneven yellow soil. I broke into a crooked smile before entering the hall where the children were. There were about 50 to 60 of them and they looked so innocent and ignorant of the lives they have yet to know exist if they would only reach their hands out to it. Or if they only knew it existed. It's 'heavy' to imagine myself being in their shoes and imagine not being who I am and where I am right now.

So we started off with a short ice-breaker. Then, it was free reading session. The kids were allowed to come up to the shelf and pick whatever books they like. You can clearly see there was a relatively big gap between the ones who are able to follow and the younger ones who are merely pushed by the current. Next, we distributed the new books on 'Bugs' and narrated it to them and they repeated after us. I never taught I would ever had the chance to do this, seriously. I went around trying to converse with them but obviously, their strength is in the Malay language. So I took a different approach and we did manage to understand each other. I saw their smiles when I high-fived them. Irreplaceable. And Pastor Charlie was really awesome in teaching the kids and getting them to be responsive and interactive. He shared a little about himself in the car, he's been doing this for 30 years now. It's just amazing.

It's been a really eye-opening experience. What I've realised and share would never be the same if you do not live it yourself for real. One thing for sure is that, if we have never seen something, we wouldn't have the desire for it. If you do not open yourself to the crazy amount of opportunities out there, you wouldn't know what suits you best or in the first place, what you would even have to ponder upon. It's pointless to be afraid, all you have to keep in mind is the precautions in case things go bad, which should be nothing surprising. I appreciate the love and care from everyone around me and I love you too very much.

Keep trying unless you're completely paralysed! Good day. :D

Five peas for peace.

It's been an enjoyable week. Getting busier with classes and hanging out with AIESECers whenever there's break. I wish I joined AIESEC earlier though 'cause there's just so much to discover and so many inspiring people with priceless stories to be heard from. Now I get how these people bond together so closely in such short period of time. It is because they shared the same feelings and went through the same intensity of transformation that made them feel like they have grown to become better people with each other's support.

This past few days, I've come to realise that time is really not a factor in determining how well you know a person. You can know a person for a day and feel like you've known him or her for years because you share so much in common with them. It makes you feel like there's finally someone whom you don't have to explain every bit of yourself to. I believe I've found a really important friend, mentor and companion who may or may not stay around in my life for a long time. Nevertheless, it's been a great pleasure knowing him and hopefully no peas or ducks are harmed during the process. LOL.

I guess things are pretty much back to normal now. Went out for dinner together with family and grandparents today for the first time after the incident. The lil' one is officially free from whatever food-restraining order by the queen. It's just great, to be with the people you love and care the most and enjoy awesome food. Have a joy-filled and wonderfully blessed week ahead, amigos. It's beautiful if you just see it with the right mind. Peace, love and understanding y'll. :)

This is rare. I'm actually excited that it's Monday tomorrow and I have to go to uni! :D

Only you could see

The emptiness I feel

When you're with me

Only You - Ellie Goulding

Halcyon!!! :)

What's next?

Howdy folks. It has been one of the craziest week so far for me. I've never felt so occupied, so highly on demand and appreciated for a very long time. Indeed the decision to join AIESEC and the LLDS was one never to be regretted. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect at all from it. All I wanted to do was to occupy my free time with something hopefully beneficial and exciting. I didn't know anyone there but Jana and Sam but they're in the OC so they're kinda busy with  their responsibilities. I got into the bus and sat alone by the window and watched unfamiliar faces appear from the door one by one. Finally, the head count was done and the journey to Gohtong Jaya began. My plan to take a nap was disrupted when Kairat came to sit beside me. At one glance, you'll think that he's Korean. I was wrong, he's from Kyrgyzstan and he reminds me of Jia. :). We talked about many random things including politics. LOL. And he thought me his language. Privet!

We didn't take long to set our luggages aside and begin the game session. It was really fun and definitely got us hyped up for the following sessions. Next, we had a look at our accommodation for that two nights and I was in the room of six together with Xue Ying, Rachel, Renny, Yi Jing and Sam. Without wasting much time, we continued with the sessions at the activity room where we were introduced to the fellow facilitators, organising committees and executive board. Then, we had the ice breaking game which unconsciously brought us into our own groups of eight. I am glad to be in my group, F.S.B which stands for faster, better, stronger. Love our roll call :D. Fast forward to dinner and the Dream session. For certain reasons, things happen and that night, I knew for sure that I was not alone. Christina had been the nicest, most caring and encouraging person towards me throughout the entire programme. Knowing her is a privilege of a lifetime.

So we called it a night after Adrian and Jana left our room and I woke up at 5am, went down wandering in the cold dark dusk. My legs brought me to a swimming pool and I laid there watching the twinkling stars gradually disappear as the morning sunshine greets us with warmth. During breakfast, I got a cup of milo and Chipsmore from my guardian angel. What a great feeling to start your day with :). Everybody's doing the sweetest thing they could for their mortals from writing flowery notes, preparing breakfast for them to sending them massage services, it was such a beautiful concept I think. If only we all do this in real life. We'll only be happily broke, I don't mind. More exciting activities. I love the Paper Factory game the most. Like I said, everything happens for a reason. I was welcomed into Jia En's group where the funny people were. I really had fun bargaining with the tree-selling fella, making deals with other groups(thanks to MapleStory, lol), persuading the 'Mexican dude' and seeing Jin close a deal with the 'client'. So professional. Seeing that kinda hit me a little inside, I don't know why. And during Talentime, they all knew what happened. Yea some lady with weird accent won the talent show. Haha.

The second night was a long one. Everybody was writing sugar cubes till late night. I wrote till 4.30am and I slept off at the sofa outside. I got more biscuits from my guardian angel. I kinda suspected it must be from one of the EB cause he didn't give me any note. Thanks, Zee. Towards the end, we took loads and loads of photos and we had a sharing session. For me, these people really inspired me in many different ways; Christina, Elwin, Jin and Jet. Thank you. It has been a deeply memorable and amazing experience for me. The things I gained is just priceless. The people I've met are a gift from god. And the most beautiful part is, this is just the beginning. By that, the month of September was concluded and I started degree. Happy day every day, amigos! :D 

You sing, I'm killed, I'm just not the same

As I was a year ago and each minute since then

My jumper tears as we take it off

You say you'll sew me good as new and I know you will

Set Down Your Glass - Snow Patrol