I don't know why I'm posting this in the dead of night. But whatever.
Those are the only photos I have during my stay at the college so far. It has been two weeks since I first registered. I was ecstatic to start on a new journey and everything is going well. I'm happy with what I've been blessed with thus far, although I'm keeping a safeguard on not getting too complacent with what I have.
It was like boarding school all over again. I went without knowing anyone at all except some from my group mates during the interview. I get to know the place, I get to learn new things and best of all the people around me without clinging to anyone. It was a fresh start. The one which I love the most. Not that I wanted to be hypocritical or anything. But it was nice having a clean profile. Meaning I still don't have any reputations to maintain, or social taboos to restrain myself from. I was myself and still am.
Over there, being a Middle East Programme student (or MEP for short) has it pros and cons. I knew form the beginning that people are gonna be stereotypical towards us. Felt underestimated at first. But as I get to know my course mates and friends, I learn an important lesson I'd like to share.
Never ever judge a book by its cover. Beyond that the long hijab, the sacred songkok and white robes, there lay beautiful souls. Enthusiastic, powerful souls. That which I admire and envy much. I have a girl from a well-known Islamic school as my room mate. I have good friends from religious background as my desk mates. And I have big-hearted smarty pants from various states as my classmates. To which I'm feeling grateful to have the chance to meet. And if you think they only spend their times reciting Quran and preaching and study all the time, think twice. They are fun people and have good sense of humor as well! I'm impressed. :)
You go around speaking English and you're cool? Look, they can speak English too. AND Arabic. That's way cool-er.
So people, please don't be shallow. Never label people without knowing them first hand. And for those who got labeled, just ignore what people say. What's important is we know what we want and our sole intention. And when people asked me why I picked Middle East as my first choice. I'd say I have the answer waiting for me in the future. InshaAllah. Wallahualam.
The Internet suddenly has some issues lately for some out of the world reasons. Somehow the only webpage I can browse properly is Blogger. Haha. Very Funny.
ANYWAY.
So just now I called the TMNet operator and spoke to her in hope of obtaining some technical guidance. Apparently after over 40 minutes of conversation, it still doesn't work. But that's not the point.
The point is.
The kakak was so funny. She didn't even sound formal to begin with. Like not at all. Haha. Unlike your typical operator who are in fact supposed to be so monotonous and scripted. The latter being extra annoying. But, this kakak was different. She seemed like a quirky, awkward, funny lady. And surprisingly I didn't really mind her being that way at all. It finally feels like talking to a person, rather than talking to a robot who instructs you on what to do next.
"Kak, tak boleh pun."
"Laa yeke? Eh pelik nya. Ce try sekali lagi. Haa bukak command prompt tu lagi. Eh pelik betul ni. Ish."
"Same je kak. Tak boleh bukak pun."
"Try camni plak. Awak bukak kat situ tu. Ade tak kus-toom?"
"Ha? Apa tu? Oh. Custom la kak. Custom."
"Oh ha. Apa2 lah. Lepas tu awak right click belah kanan kat butang tu."
"Right click belah kanan ye kak? Ohhh OK. Right click belah kanan ye. Ok2."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Ok now. Despite all the hard work and troubleshooting over the phone, the problem is not near solved. So the kakak said, somebody will come over tomorrow to take a look. I hope that somebody can fix this because I need to watch YouTube. Like, need. LOL.
Woke up early to the sound of my text message alert. Got a text from a girl friend saying she's not gonna make it, unfortunately. The plan has to go on nonetheless. I got ready, picked up another friend and off to Kuala Terengganu. We stopped for some refreshments in Besut and changed drivers. The route we took, which was coastal road is really amazing! Beautiful, picturesque scenery through out our journey. Tiba-tiba rasa macam Jason Mraz. In addition to that, the road was relatively empty. The traffic was being nice to amateur drivers like us and we sailed along without any obstacles. Alhamdulilah :)
About 2 hours and a half from KB, we were already approaching KT and friends over there has already ran a texting fiasco. Lols. Everyone was asking what is the approximate time of arrival, what's our plans for today, etc. Obviously we were super excited to meet each other and of course to have fun.
Our first stop was Shafiq's house right in the heart of the town. Whilst waiting for the other party, we met Shafiq's parents and lazed around his house. And then we had lunch at a restaurant. After performing our prayers at Aunty Yatt and Uncle Nasha's office, we headed to TER for bowling. But little did we know that it was under constructions.
Went to Taman Tamadun Islam instead and by coincidence, we decided to ride on a river cruise. Since we have nowhere else to go, so what the hell, river cruise it is! We were acting like a bunch of insane kids making so much noise inside the boat. HAHA. We were snapping photos and laughing like crazy over everything. Along the river, we saw a group of little kids on a little jetty and swimming by the riverbank. So, us, being so-called "friendly tourists" wove to them and greeted them. Tourists la sangat kan. And they wove back and replied with the friendliest gesture ever. THEY FLASHED HAHAHAHAHA. The whole boat roared with laughters. And of course ours were the loudest and longest. It took so much time to calm down. Lols how can I ever forget that. And the greatest part is... Shafiq snapped a photo of them doing that! HAHAHA.
At night, we had a marvellous dinner slash partayyyy. Thanks to our host for preparing awesome food. We spent the night talking and chilling out. Everyone went to bed really late that night. The fact that we had to wake up early that morning did not made any difference. But prior to that, we went out to run an errand. Actually it was only a packet of curry powder, but everyone wanted to follow Alia buying that. Pegi sampai 2 buah kereta kot, haha. The boys drove one and Alia drove one.
Being adventurous, she drove us around KT to see the city at night. It was already late, so there were not many cars. We were being random and decided to stop at a roundabout and took pictures at the replica of Batu Bersurat in the middle of KT! HAHA. When else can you do that, if not now, right?
DAY 2, May 5 2011
Konon2 nak bangun awal tapi memang never gonna happen la. Haha. We were a little bit off from our schedule but managed to depart quite early. Almost everyone slept in the van that took us from KT to Kerteh. So we could catch up on our sleep and save energy to hang out in Mesra Mall. The plan is to actually meet up with our friends over there but apparently not many that came. Lunch at the food court and went to the movies. We watched Thor 3D. The cinema was empty. There were only a couple of boys and us in the cinema. We owned that place babeyh. HAHA bising gila kot. Saje nak wak daghak hihi.
After Thor some went to watch another round of movie, but me and some of my clan were not too keen on that idea. We decided to karok out hearts out! This is definitely my favourite activity thus far. Haha. Bukan suara sedap pun. Saje nak galok. We karaoke-ed for an hour and a half! That's a record, even for me. Lama gila duk dalam tu. Habis lagu, habis suara dah nyanyi. Sampai lagu Khatijah Ibrahim pun nyanyi.
We hung out at Burger King after that. Eating and talking. Again, the loudest bunch in the restaurant. We were talking like there's no tomorrow. Amazing people. We can talk forever. Haha.
And its time to head back to KT. Dropped Dibek off on the way. So that left us with only five people. That night, Alia treated us to dinner at a restaurant. And we off to Waterfront Kampung Cina. It was a chilly night. Loved the sea breeze blowing. We walked on the bridge and snapped photos.
And just as we thought that we might be really drained that night and wanted to sleep early, I found the guitar tuner in my car I was searching. We jammed all night long with Alan's guitar, which according too him, has never been played. Haha. Actually, konon nya nak tunggu check UPU. Tapi katanya 12 tengah hari nanti. So I played the guitar and sang songs at the living room until the dead of night (or morning). Oh and until my fingers and left arm hurt like they never did before. Lols.
DAY 3, 6 May 2011
So, it was time to head back home. After breakfast at Alia's place, we said our goodbyes and thank her mother and aunty for their hospitality. They were truly lovely through out our times in KT. This I say it from the bottom of my heart. Thanks for everything!
We sent Shafiq back to his home and headed back to KB. I have to admit that it was really heartbreaking to say goodbye. I can't imagine what would we be like when we start our studies soon. Will definitely be hard to gather and hang out again. Sob sob sob :'(
Thank you guys for making this trip a wonderful one! I love you guys! Kalau ada rezeki nanti jumpa lagi. Hehe. Next trip, KB perhaps? Lols.
This post is long overdue due to some reasons. But who cares. I'mma write it out anyway. Just in case I'll be forgetting things when I'm older or God forbid getting Alzheimer, I can refer to what I wrote. Hopefully I'd still remember how to use the Internet lols. Nice plan right? Sorry, I am way too influenced by the television. Blame Grey's Anatomy. Meredith and Derek are currently working on an Alzheimer clinical trial. Just in case you don't know. Sorry can't help it.
ANYWAY.
I think this was last week. Or maybe two weeks ago? I tried playing tennis with a friend and I sucked at it. HAHA. Seriously. If there is an award for the worst tennis player in the world, I should be receiving it. Oh wait, I think that should be "The Worst Sportswoman" award. But oh well, I must thank my friend for having the patience to teach me although I was sending the tennis balls all over the court (and even out of the court). Did I just sound like a dumb blonde? =.=
We were sweating like pigs on a treadmill. But went to have breakfast at Secret Recipe anyhow. Because we are cool like that. Then, picked up a couple friends of ours and stopped by my house to change. And after smelling less like a pig. We got into the car and off to the mall.
But. Here comes the greatest part.
I have issues with the reverse gear. And so I ran into a car. Which happened to appear out of nowhere right at the back of mine. Except for a busted rear bumper and crashed lights, everything was fine. It was fine because it was in the compound of my house. LOL. It happened to be my house guard who was driving my dad's car. So yeah. All is well.
So that makes it two. I sucked at tennis and I sucked at driving. BUT. Despite all that. I bowled like a pro. ;)
Thank you guys. Thank you Dad for being cool when you came back from work just to see two of your cars busted and dented, courtesy of your pretty daughter :D
We had 3 days of weekends, not that it makes any difference to me because well, I have been on holidays since 5 months ago haha. So yeah, we decided to go down west and meet up with our recent additions of the family ; my two super adorable nephews. Brought them both to dinner at Sakae Sushi, but not that they're already eating sushi =.=''
And then Dad drove to Kuantan and spent a night over there. Even if its only a night, I used it to the full and meet up with my lovely friends. I don't intend to hang out at first because I was there only for a short time. But what the hell, I texted Nadiah and she being such a kaki ronggeng tak kesah pun. Boleh je keluar. And so we went to the movies, watched a Malay horror movie called Seru. Well me being myself don't really adore the suspense and kekurangan ajar director film itu haha, so I was clinging to Madihah through out the movie. Afiqah pun bajet je tak takut padahal tutup mata beriya hahaha.
And I think I have a thing for karaokes. My favourite activity to hang out with friends other than talking over meals, is definitely karaoke. After eating dinner, we performed our prayers and went to sing our lungs out. Lols. And of course our theme songs were sung too! Antara lagu2 wajib ialah Drowning by Backstreet Boys and Superman by Five For Fighting. :P
Photos courtesy of Cik Nadiah BS
Before I went back to Kota Bharu, I managed to squeeze a short breakfast with my senior whom I never met since he last left school haha. I think the last time I met him was when I was in Form Two. We weren't even friends that time haha. Biasa lah high school. But thanks to globalisation and communication technology (read: Facebook and mobile phones) we keep in touch and became friends. So he picked me up from the hotel and drove to TC. We had a nice McDonald's breakfast by the beach. Seriously missing the laidback atmosphere in TC. And since it was public holidays, the beach was quite packed with early risers. And so we chatted and ate and drank and share stories about high school and life in the university. It was nice meeting someone from the past. Haha past la sangat. Anyway thanks a lot Adik Mun! Thank you for waking up early even though you had a 12 hours drive that night :P
