Arrival of the Long Repose

The End of a part in Life, Thy Kingdom Come!

I have been looking forward to this moment for a very very long time, not exactly but since the last time I posted a few months ago! The somewhat two months long holidays are finally here and the end of exams which spanned from Monday (13 August 2018) to Tuesday (21 August 2018). The journey towards the current moment is a very tedious, sweat inducing and tough one to endure, even for one who have been prepared to face such a treacherous journey which I have went through like all other Ngee Ann Polytechnic students. Like many other posts I put this sentence of assurance that it is going to be quite a long tale of journeying the difficulty in life, "much have transpired since I last posted". The good news this time is that I believe I have fully (somewhat) became friends with some of my classmates as I have began talking to them slightly more. From my experience with them through the semester itself, they have been nothing but nice people who would lend a helping hand when necessary knowing that all of us is suffering the same fate and path towards the diploma in which we seek at the end of this course. They are not like the ones that people usually tell that Polytechnic students are huge bullies to ITE people, in fact, I would like to rebut that fact that not all of them are like that. I have seen more bullying in a week spent during my days at ITE College West than me spending my first year in Ngee Ann Polytechnic alone. I would definitely share some experiences if I remember as I am typing. Now, with that said, I would like to share what are the good things that have happened, the bad and the ugly. I feel that it was an overall experience, not too good, not too bad, balanced as all things should be. It would be quite dumb to say that everything was completely perfect with no arguments, no disagreements or little bickering which causes the said animosities to erupt from the bowls of the better life which I have gained. Of course, most of the problems caused are by the rigorous revising rituals required of us all in order to actually be slightly prepared to sit for the examinations which was just last week and a few days ago.

Lastly before I begin, I would also be sharing my experience during my Malacca Trip with my family during my two weeks holidays after the common tests where the trip was from Friday (22 June 2018) to Sunday (24 June 2018). Also that is the time I have spent with my friends during the period of stress revising for the final exams, and like I always say, it is important to always have a rest ad take care of yourself. It is suicidal to revise everything in one sitting, very life shortening. Sharing the good things also come the bad as I also would like to share how things have gone downhill with me and ST. This post would probably be the last mention of this issue and even ST herself. The fact that I just said that just goes to show how crappy our friendship have become over the month. Sad but yet again, it is very enlightening and a few tonnes of worries have been cast out from my life, or should I say my priority towards her well-being as my close friend have been renounced as I allowed it to happen. More details will be given in its own part so let's begin!

1) My Malacca Trip 

"I'll be back!"

To start off, I would actually like to share my Malacca experiences first as I believe it is long overdue in my part, or the school's project deadline part. As I have mentioned before, the trip was from Friday (22 June 2018) to Sunday (24 June 2018). I would say it was quite suddenly planned out on the second week of my two weeks holidays back then. I accepted of course and I mean, why not right? Life's too short to worry about school work for the last three days of the holidays. Besides, most of my group mates got it covered or are busy with their own things as well. The timeline of the short getaway actually started with meeting up WY on the night of Thursday (21 June 2018) as he wanted to "send me off" before I went to Malacca. We had a good talk over for a few hours like we always have, talking about how life is for the both of us and how it transpired to be this peaceful which we have both been wanting since we have been tortured by the horrendously satanic behaviors of both ST and JW, plus the rest as well. Anyways, I accompanied him back to Woodlands Bus Interchange before we both went our ways home. I remember arriving home at around 01:00 am when I had to wake up at 05:00 am to 06:00 am to prepare and go off with my aunt and uncle in their car to reach Malacca at about 10:00 am. I swear it was extremely tiring for me, it was not very difficult for my eyes to close every five minutes after catching a glimpse of the air around me. We were set that morning and off we go to the custom, and away to Malacca.


1.1) Day One (22 June 2018): Road Trip and First Day Frenzy 

"Roads? Where we're going we don't need... roads"

The highway to Malacca.

When we passed the custom, we were on the way there with my uncle driving. It was slated to be a three hours drive away which is very long and thankfully I have already peed before I went out of the house. It was warm and we were on the highway which is a good time for most of us to catch up on more sleeping due to the fact that it was very scarce for us the day before as we had to do quite a bit of preparations which cost us at least two hours of sleep. I was able to recharge a little bit, at least lasting me till I become awake after showering at the hotel. I did not know this beforehand but the hotel we were slated to stay in for the two days was called The Pines. Now back to the short road trip. Half way through, we stopped by a small food court in the middle of the highway to grab some lunch and probably walk around if possible like we usually do for such trips. Time check, by the time we reached the place, it was in the wee early morning of 08:32 am. You'd normally expect the place to be quiet, less people and to some extend, some parts of the area which is kind of creepy especially the toilets which are huge and like a maze of concrete floors and porcelain toilet seats. However, the sunrise gave quite a good view on the plains outside. Looking out at the plain outdoors was as relaxing as one can hope to have that kind of peace on a daily basis. But alas, this kind of thing is better to be not so often as having too much of a good thing could cause it to go stale.

The rather quiet place.

Surprisingly, the place outside was quiet until we entered the food court. It was quite crowded in terms of both people and flies, lots and lots of damn flies. There was a lot of flies, you usually would get mixed feelings about how they are able to operate food stalls infested with flies which treat the food court like their own country but then again, it's quite an isolated area of Malaysia. Families having their usual meals there and friends having coffee with each other in the morning, it was surprisingly lively there. Much like the usual food courts in Singapore, we were unsure of what to eat there. While my dad got the Malay version of the mixed economic rice, the rest of us decided to get the western food which looked rather decent among the other stalls we feel were not of our taste. Many of the dishes from that store were already put on displayed being heated by the extreme warmth from the lights above them. So everyone else ordered the chicken cutlet while I ordered the chicken chop as it was the most appealing to me over there with the mushroom sauce on which was over on a stove. There's not much to expect as the food was already precooked despite it being warm from the light and to my surprise, the chicken cutlet along with the other chicken chop my family members had was actually flattened chicken drumsticks which we couldn't tell by the first sight of it. Its taste was average but not too bad as well although the sight of the extremely huge amount of flies around the area turned me off very quickly. All of us went around for a walk to look around and see what kind of stores this place has, it was not much so we just went to the toilet one last time before hitting the road again.

The chicken chop, looks more appealing than it tastes. 

The food court of man and flies.

Back to the road again we go and time check, 09:06 am. It took us roughly another hour to finally reach the area of Malacca and we reached The Pines. The thing is, we were too early as we tried to check-in. We could only book-in at around 11:00 am if I was not wrong. The place looked really well polished although I seriously have no idea what stars the hotel was, probably 4? Apparently it was a really good time to become Dora the Explorer so we took off and the first order of business was to try the local cuisine there for lunch, which we headed off to find. We planned to eat the chicken rice balls  which was well known in Malacca but we decided to leave it for either dinner or for lunch the day after. We went to Bee Bee Street to look around as there was where the fabric shop was located at. First stop was a store selling bags which my dad and bro got their things at followed by a shoe store. It was kind of a miracle as I needed new pairs of slippers due to the fact that my old ones were going to break and smells like shit. everyone got their shoes and guess what, I got three pairs of slippers of which two were the exact same for spares. So the last stop for the few hours was definitely the fabric shop which both my mom and aunt wanted to check out so badly for their low prices for the amount that they can buy. It was nearly two hours spent in that shop before we headed out for lunch and they bought sizable amounts of goods for themselves each to which I did not really take photos of.

We took off for lunch and went to a shop that sells Laksa and their version of Yong Tau Foo which most Singaporeans should know, if not all Singaporeans should know what it is. The first instinct upon entering was to go to the toilet as in that area, toilet facilities was very scarce and to me, the toilet in that shop was good enough. So then we ordered our food, all of us had Laksa and the Yong Tau Food pieces was two bowls shared among us all while having drinks such as lime juice and their surprisingly delicious sour plum. Apparently there were fruits other than sour plum in it but I forgot what it was but it made the drink taste fantastic and refreshing, almost as if it could cost a lot more to be honest. As for the Laksa I ordered, it was scrumptious and the level of spiciness was on top, spicy but not too overly spicy like the Korean Spicy Noodles people used to go crazy for. There was a wonderful amount of spices in it and not to mention the ingredients as well such as Tau Pok, fish cakes, eggs and even fish balls which really is quite uncommon in a Laksa dish. Further adding wonderful appraisals was the Yong Tau Foo dish which each of the ingredients were fried to excellent perfection making every bite produce a crunchy sound of satisfaction! Afterwards, we ate Durians which we brought in ourselves with the owner allowing us to eat outside food there before we finally headed to The Pines to check-in.

God damn, it looks damn good even as you look!

Everyone knows what a Durian looks like, but I just wanted to take a photo of it.

Time check, 12:54 pm. The next destination was a mall called "The Shore" which was actually a walk away from the hotel itself, which was very near for us as we decided to go to the mall first. We stopped by at one area and walked to the mall which was not very far but we had to brave the scorching hot sun and we also walked across the Kampung area, where houses could actually be rented from there to live and the place was fantastic sight-seeing also due to the beautiful plants they have there as well. When we reached the mall, I was quite taken back that it gave me the feeling that it was empty just by going in through the main entrance, not a lot of people especially on the first floor. The first thing I notice was the Toy Museum on the second floor just right above us. Of course, that meant that I would want to go due to the fact that I collect those kind of things and it would be nice to look around. The ticket was only at RM20 and a free fridge magnet was also given for free alongside as well.

While the rest of my family members went around the mall to look around, I went into the toy museum alone. Seemed like an excellent idea but it was quite hard to take photos of myself inside so I had to find people around to help me out. I was awed by the sight of the extreme number of toy collection once I went in, god damn it was like a paradise to me as there was collection of toys from almost 20 to 30 years ago with many of the different characters as well, such a Mario, Ultraman, Dragon Ball and much more with classic such as cars, planes and even those toys you get every time yo visit a fast food restaurants. The place was also filled with camera booths which had filters on according to the character's game or theme, which I did not really use much as I was too distracted at looking at the displays. There could easily be about a few million toys inside the museum itself which is quite awesome. The display cases were glaring as well which proves that it was quite hard to take good photos of the display simply because of the reflection it produces in my camera.

The toy museum and I.

Choo Choo~

The wide variety of characters. There's more not shown in this blog.

The mentioned planes display.

What caught my eyes was in the Mario section, which had an old NES console on with various games such as Contra, Super Mario and various other titles with all their games put into their own section. Best of all is that we actually got to try out the games however long we like it, to which I tried a little bit of Contra and I spent much more time on Super Mario Bros 3. Ahhhhhh it brings back the good memories of when I had my first handheld console, my GameBoy which I still have it with me although I lost the Mario cartridge years ago. I moved on to the other section with the bat mobile in the middle after playing about two levels in the game and then playing Candy Crush and Fruit Ninja (super classic game) on the big screen provided there over at the other area, bringing yet again more fresh memories for a mind that needed to be at ease. After playing, I moved on to my favorite section as it was all Marvel superheroes where there was also the Iron Man collection which I also have myself where in-between. I also took pictures of the First Order Stormtroopers there while I was heading to the Marvel section. I spent quite some time admiring the huge amount of figures they have there before moving on. As I went further, the kinds of toys would be from the collectible ones to the ones where kids use to play. I walked back and forth in excitement as this was the kind of heaven for me. I got to see all the wonders of collecting figurines, some of which not seen before or is too old that it is out of production. At the end of the small museum visit was a big display area for different sets of Lego of different franchises where some of them were just build ups of famous landmarks of the world.

After the museum trip and everyone else were done with what they were doing, we finally headed to the hotel to finally get settled in our rooms as there was not much else in the mall except a huge store that was comparable to H&M or Metro from Singapore, which we actually bought things from the store from the mall we were in. There was an area unnoticed as we walked to The Pines (our hotel), a small little farm area where chickens were being raised and a swan was in the middle of them all. Quite adorable as this is one of the sights which is very rare in Singapore. It kind of distracted me for a few minutes but alas, time was of the essence. Reaching The Pines in another 10 minute, we settled down for at least half an hour and some of us showered in the hotel rooms which was quite large with every essentials even with an extra sofa bed along with the queen-sized bed we had, it was very comfortable in my taste. My aunt and uncle shared a room while I shared a room with my mom, bro and dad. You can probably imagine how big the room would be by now.

The NES console with the classic Super Mario Bros 3 on.

It was a necessary photo, for the First Order!

Isn't such a sight wonderful?

I have some of these at home!

The famous landmarks of Lego!

Korea and China?

The area which I talked about with the chickens and the swan. Perhaps the video below would make things easier? You can see the swan and chickens clearly that way. They are very cute!

How the hotel room looks like. Spacey especially with 4 people! 

A desk and a seat which was used for a bed. We used the desk only when either of us were drinking coffee or charging our smart phones.

Time check, 03:11 pm. Yes, apparently we spent quite a bit of time in the mall. Why the hell are we resting on such a rare occasion of a family trip together? Those were my actual words a I was sitting on the bed thinking where we are going next after I took a shower. I got my answers and we were off to Jonker Street the next few minutes we were resting. Jonker Street, one of the highlights in which my mom constantly told me about before we took of for Malacca, the place offers non other than their famous or at least well known varieties of street food cuisine. As it was on a Friday, you could guess how crowded it could be, with only a space to take a step and breathing would cause you to smell what shampoo the other person was wearing. It was an extremely lively place. Of course, it was not exactly the time yet as it was still in the afternoon.

As we reached there, the first place we actually went to was a famous store called "San Shu Gong", which apparently is somewhat is Cantonese name which I have no idea what it meant. The store speaks for itself, selling a wide variety of coffee and a huge selection of different snacks and complimentary ingredients used to either cook or even drink. One of which was a drink  tasted like plum juice but I do not know exactly the fruit itself. As I have said before, it was extremely crowded and walking freely was not really an option. We looked around and everything was quite cheap, we bought sauces, biscuits, kaya, durian flavored kaya and much much more which was related to coffee as that was one of the main things being heavily advertised for, or at least well known for. If I'm not mistaken, two of the bags were as large as 3 of me combined, which speaks so much about how much we bought in addition to it not being our last destination for the day!

The signage for San Shu Gong! Chinese style!

Their display of traditional Chinese wine. You can probably tell how Chinese they are by their entrance signage and display of Chinese wines. Wait! There's more!

Now this display doesn't seem Chinese to me. They're mixing Chinese and Western culture? Confusing. It's kind of a nice touch to it though.

Oh god... Isn't this a beautiful sight? The wonders of the everyday morning necessities, in different types and flavors, all nicely packed into a Styrofoam cup much like cup noodles, except this is somewhat healthier I guess? I'm not an health expert but it definitely is!

The drinks I was talking about, but we bought one of the flavors in bottles instead of the ones in packets.

Milk candies, one of the different treats offered by the store.

We have spent about nearly two to three hours there. It was just a chance we could not miss in buying what we could especially the ones that could not really be found in Singapore and as such, we spent quite a lot of Ringgit there alone. Time check, 06:02 pm and we were already on the entrance of the Jonker Walk, where most of the street food stalls were opening as the time reaches nightfall. The first thing that attracted us was the coconut drink serve with the full meat of the coconuts within a plastic bowl with a spoon and also a straw for us. Every now and then though, there would be a performance by a Malay guy tossing the coconut in style with two of the plastic bowls after the coconut shell is removed. It was really fascinating to see as he was very skillful and elegant in his movements, certainly something lots of people do not possess in this generation I'm afraid. I did not really manage to capture a proper video of his performance but a short moment of his tossing which were incredible and accurate. Very well done, as good as the coconut drinks they served. We walked right into the market where both sides have several stalls each as we walked further in. There were many stalls around and most of them sold delicacies, food which were fried on the spot as people bought them for their enjoyment, I mean who would not want food right? On another country and with cheaper prices, it was definitely something which was sold out quickly once they were done being cooked, with the exception of stalls which sold trinkets such as bookmarks, key chains, small little figures for keepsake and much more. The food included twisted potatoes, fried chicken (basic need for a market), burgers, Dim Sum, Char Kuey Teow and many more. What really surprised me was that the fried bird eggs were also sold which I thought only Thailand sells them. Being an avid egg lover, I definitely went in for the kill and bought three sticks of it, with each stick containing three small fried bird eggs. Alas I only buy three sticks as those things are bloody high with the cholesterol. Oh and I forgot to mention, the eggs were fried along with sliced sausages inside, adding to the taste which was already incredible! Truly a delicacy which must be tasted by all who venture there.

We walked pass several interesting stores which is not on the road but in buildings as shop houses. Examples of these shops was one of the brand called Mamee which I assume a lot of people should be familiar with and it is very popular in Malacca alone. The store included cup noodles and also biscuits of the brad but we did not stay in there very long and the one of the things that is attractive there is a small display of the process of making the snacks. Another store would be one which sells a variety of souvenirs and some rather special cook wares such as bowls with holes to place chopsticks, wooden bows, small nicely hand decorated lamps and quite a number which is quite unique in terms of their appearance. There were way too many things to see and each stop took us at least 10 to 15 minutes to look around, most of which we looked at were those on the road and we bought quite a few things as well. It was very lively, and it felt quite relaxing to keep an open mind and squeeze along with people to look at things around here and there despite having to suffocate the ability to walk around more freely though. As we walk, so did the time we had with us. The skies were getting darker and it was getting more crowded for some reasons, we went in a bit more and we got hungry. Towards th end, there was nothing much we could see anymore, so we decided to turn around and walk back to where the car was and look for a place to have dinner together. Alas, we have to bid farewell to the place for now as it was also getting too squeezy for us to walk around.

Looks unique does it not? This kind of thing never happens in Singapore. You'd probably get fined by NEA for selling this and they will make you apply for a license. You probably want to see the performance I was talking about right? See it below but it's only a brief moment towards the end of the performance though!

Definitely one of my favorites. They should really sell this here! It tastes awesome! Yet again, it won't be allowed due to defying the laws of healthy living here and it would probably cost a bungalow made by hipsters trying to tie in with a trend and calling it "Armani Bird Eggs".

The process displayed in the Mamee store. Step 1: Mixing

Step 2: Rolling, Step 3: Slitting

Step 4: Steaming, Step 5:Scutting

Step 6: Seasoning Shower, Step 7: Frying

Step 8: Cooling

Step 9: Packing. Feels like revising for your exams doesn't it? I like how detailed each of the process is in this display.

This was one of the unique wares I was talking about. You will never often see the bowl with holders for a chopsticks anywhere!

Look at how crowded the market is (on the left), I was on the inner walkways where it is usually where the stall owner walks and communicates to each other. The main road is just too crowded for us! We had to resort to finding another path!

It was finally time for dinner and we were being driven around, discussing what we should eat for dinner. As we were quite new to this place, either our guess is as good as the other's. However, the discussion was not very long as we looked out the various shop houses and restaurants, looking for the perfect place for food and dinner. We finally came across this store called "Ee Ji Ban" Restaurant. That's one of the reasons why we came to Malacca right? In desperation due to our hunger and our curiosity made us go there and try the food there. Time check, it was around 08:03 pm as we were ordering, most of which was facilitated by my aunt. What we exactly ordered were 20 chicken rice balls, a full chicken, a plate of fried egg, a plate of vegetables along with drinks as well. Our focus was on the chicken rice balls. The food came and it was time to dig in. One bite of the chicken sold me that this place was good, as the chicken was very flavorful and it was not very dry like some chickens sold in Singapore. It was as if the chicken rice balls themselves were the side dishes. Apparently, the chicken rice balls were as equally good, but quite oily for some reason. I can say the same for the fried egg as well, hot and bloody delicious! The vegetables, well seasoned and cooked to the levels of spiciness which everyone can enjoy.

We enjoyed ourselves with the food, ordering a few more chicken rice balls before we headed back to the hotel to rest before lights out. Time check, 08:42 pm was the timing we reached the hotel. You could probably wonder how fast we ate and imagine how hungry we were. Back in the hotel, each of us did the usual bathing, and we checked out the things we bought for the day! My aunt and uncle helped buy us supper half way while we were organizing our things, and it was not immediate as the queue was imposingly very long. It was 11:41 pm by the time we got our food which was a big packet of fried rice and fried noodles. Well, we took our time as we were more tired than hungry. It was lights out after finishing and brushing our teeth!

The menu and name of the restaurant we had dinner in.

The main stars of the show. Wonderful! Delicious! Muack!

Simply just scrumptious!

Spicy but not too spicy, hot like the fried egg. Delicious yet again!

Fried rice supper in the hotel. It was good as well. Still hot as it was packed away a distance away from the hotel.

Let's not forget the fried noodles as well!

The view from my room's window. The bustling lights of the city shining its beauty upon the night skies. The beauty of it, will make you wish that what you see would be something that follows you, something which touches your soul, something which would connect with you through its sheer culture of the night life there as you stare and wonder at its glorious phase of bringing life into people.

1.2) Day 2 (23 June 2018): Why Won't The Rain Go?

"Rain rain go away, come again another day"

Time check, 08:21 am. It's the morning and what an exciting day to get out and explore more of the wonders of Malacca. I did the usual brush my teeth and took a shower before heading down for the hotel's breakfast with my family. However, each room was only entitled to breakfast for only two people free, to which the others had to pay. My mom was smart enough to sneak in with my bro while my dad and I queued to register, which my aunt and uncle did way before we woke up. So we did and ate together inside with quite a few selection of breakfast to select. There was the usual eggs, hot dogs and the common bread which is what all the hotels have in the morning. The breakfast experience there was very average, nothing special. Although it made us all full a bit with a couple of coffee for me along with some orange juice. We went back up to our hotel rooms to wash up before we headed out to our next destination which was the previously mentioned Bee Bee street. Yes, the fabric and shoe shop again. Apparently we spent nearly another two hours there.

Afterwards, my aunt decided to get her hair done in a saloon and god knows where my uncle went around to. It was pretty normal for us to think where to go on our own. So we decided to hit the Jonker Walk again, this time we walked there which was not really near there. Time check, it was 12:14 pm as we entered a shop selling old souvenirs and trinkets which was based on wood. Literally everything made inside were wood except maybe the small blackboards there. The wind chimes there giving off their sounds to the wind outside. Furthermore, as we were looking around in the particularly quiet store, it started to rain. What a downer right? It kind of ruined the mood a bit but we persevered on a move ahead to where we wanted to go. As we got nearer, the rain got slightly heavier and we had no choice so we went into the "San Shu Gong" again to look around for anything we missed out in buying the day before. We did not spend so much time there so we went forward to the red market area which we wanted to go, which we found out there was nothing much and the market stalls were closed due to the rain. We took a few photos there before going to the Jonker Walk path again. 

The average hotel breakfast, not too bad.

Her apron says help. Is that a secret message? Cook the eggs!

The shop of trinkets, unique and not overpriced. Quiet and serene feel to the place.

Time check, 12:39 pm. You can imagine how fast we were spending time on the red market plaza before we headed out to the Jonker Walk. The purpose this time was yet again to explore the souvenir shops we did not have time to really go and look around due to the lack of time we had the day before and it was the perfect opportunity for us to take our time. The first stop however was to get a cup of cold cappuccino near the entrance of the market walk way which looked quite specialized in its own theme and design. As said, I got a cup of ice cold cappuccino which was only RM8. It was quite good too. The journey into the market walk was shorter than the previous day, with us walking into souvenir stores one by one to buy what we can which were lesser, but it turned out okay. I bought a few key chains with Chinese characters which alludes to my Chinese name, a small signboard and a umbrella as it was raining. What was particular about this part of the trip was the eats, where we found a particular store for lunch as we tried to find another famous chicken rice balls. What we ate there was some form of foreign Laksa, I forgot what it was but it was yet again delicious. The dish itself contained a classic egg, with specially topped cucumber strips to add on to the flavor to the spiciness which was adequately flavored. Along with them was the classic addition of the tau pok as well. The portion itself was substantial and the soup, wonderful. After that was dessert, Gula Melaka Chendol, much like the original Chendol but with the addition of jelly and tons of Gula Melaka poured over the ice ball shavings than just different combinations of colored flavorings. Delicious, the food in Malacca was just wonderful, better than the time we went to Penang. We had all of it while it was still raining quite heavily outside the walkway.

The mentioned coffee place alongside Jonker Walk. Is it not a beautiful set up? A theme fit for a coffee place for people to sit and relax, although there is not much space within.

Keychain of the Ox zodiac. To all my friends, is it true to what they say in the packaging? Because I bought my keychain of the rat zodiac.

The wonderful array of decorative signboards.

The Laksa. Gosh, it was delicious and spicy. A good mix with the dessert which came afterwards.

Does the amount of Gula Melaka not make you savor for some?

This Malacca Trip was where we ate a lot to the point of going fat in a matter of hours, but it's kind of impossible for me isn't it? We met up with my aunt afterwards to have lunch somewhere, that somewhere was a drive away which was not too long. It took us 30 minutes to reach there. I forgot what the place was called though. Time check, 04:51 pm. We made our way up to the second floor to order after accidentally mishearing the staff and went to the third floor. There, we took and our seats and started ordering the dishes. Oh god, sambal fried rice, the normal fried rice, another plate of sambal vegetables again, fried noodles and fried egg. What can I say? They were delicious as well. However, the popiah was not so nice to me. If you guys don't know what a popiah is, shame on you. If you're not from Singapore, I apologize. The rest of the dishes were wonderfully cooked especially the vegetables being very well seasoned. We also ordered Laksa from this store as well. However, I preferred the Laksa I had previously simply due to the fact that it was spicier, but I like how this one have a bigger portion and using the cucumber strips to dd on to its flavor. Oh my, I even think we had two bowls as well but I think I shared the second one with my mom as we still had the dishes around plus we were quite full. Afterwards, we had Chendol as well. Much like the previous one we had, it was poured with excess amount of Gula Melaka. Holy shit! It was even better than the previous one due to the burst of flavor that follows after every spoonful of it. I believe it is safe to say I had at least three bowls before we left because it's cheap and it was just worth it, plus it's near impossible for me to get fat so, yeah.

Stairway up to food paradise #02!

The amount of dishes. Goodness! Each of them were delicious in their own way. Their elegance of flavor flowing through were worth all the wait and money. 

Malacca Laksa! One of the best things to come out of the trip besides having to try chicken rice balls!

The not so nice popiah.

I honestly believe this deserves to be sold at a higher price. It was just that good, yet they come out quite fast but still can maintain how each of them tastes.

The next place we went to was a mall near Hattan Hotel, or right next to it to be more specific. As the car was parked a bit further from the place, we took a 5 minutes walk there across the road. Time check, it was 06:10 pm when we reached the place and the first place we went to was this sports store selling a wide variety of sports gear, equipment shoes, shirts and so much more. What's so special about this place that it is extremely large equivalent to the factory shop at Ang Mo Kio. As you know, sports stuff doesn't really interest me that much so I left after awhile to explore the huge mall on my own. Despite it's size, it is actually quite empty and not a lot of people go there for their daily needs. From where I explored, at least 2 whole floors are very empty and to some extend, creepy especially the last floor, like an abandoned pool place above the movie counter area. There was not much there but I still walked around, looking for at least something interesting there to which I did. There a store situated around an empty area selling some specialized things like music boxes and some other things you would find in stores like Hako Box in Singapore. I bought a miniaturized version of the poker cards. From there, I just kept walking around. This was one of the low points of the entire Malacca Trip. Everyone else was finished with buying their things from Mr DIY, a store selling tools and home fixtures, and we set off to finding dinner after a rather long and mixed day partly due to the rain as well. We went out of the mall to walk to the car, and then driving to a place where it was said to sell their specialized cheese bee hoon. Time check, 09:46 pm and we started queuing all the way to around 10:50 pm before it was our turn to get our seats and order our food. Gosh. It was a very long wait. Another short amount of time was used to wait for our food which actually came one by one. We of coure ordered the cheese bee hoon, a couple of vegetable dishes and also chicken and pork dishes. I had a small bowl of white rice as usual. This time, the food here was alright, not too good nor too bad. The cheese bee hoon itself didn't really have much of the strong cheese taste, but the rest of the food was hot and fine so we let that go. Each of us got the chance to drink their mango drink which was actually really nice and smoothing, the taste was great! We went back to the hotel to settle down and sleep after dinner. End of the day.

A look at the Hattan Hotel, and probably mall.

What the insides of the mall look like.

The sports shop situated at one of the entrances. Huge right?

This display was at the second last level which was quite empty despite there being a few people walking around here and there. I should have went into the 3-D Art Museum though, which I did not.

The area outside the eatery we went to.

The rather good tasting mango drink!

Woohoo! Spiced long beans!

Every food got to have its moments right? Even plain white rice which everyone is definitely familiar with.

The chicken and pork!

Onion omelette. Ever since the omelette experience at the chicken rice balls place we ate for dinner the first day, we've been craving for omelettes like this ever since and this one was not bad as well.

1.3) Day 3 (24 June 2018): Goodbye Malacca

"Time really does fly"

Rise and shine! It was the last day of our trip and from 10:30 am on wards. We had to pack up and check out of the hotel already, and our destination was to go to Tesco before going back to Singapore. We woke up at around 08:00 am and started packing up after refreshing ourselves where my aunt and uncle is already having breakfast downstairs. We left our rooms, checked out and pack our things into the trunk of the car which at this point is very loaded and some of the things had to be placed on our legs. Time check, 11:00 am. The first place we visited for the day was the fabric shop which we visited quite a number of times as my mom and aunt wanted to buy some cotton, and what they bought was quite big. We spent roughly about an hour there together with the shoe shop as well. Afterwards, we went back to the Jonker Walk again to look around at San Shu Gong before we had lunch at the chicken rice ball store next to San Shu Gong. We ordered different dishes as usual but lesser this time, with chicken rice balls, chicken and fried cabbages.The chicken rice balls were limited order for one family so that was quite the turn off point for me, and which is also why we bought two plates, with twenty pieces on each of the plates. Furthermore, the chicken itself was a bit drier than the previous one we had from the first day's dinner which was well seasoned with oil and sesame. I didn't really have the cabbage as I do not really like to eat vegetables (still) which is kind of a downer as well.

The amount of cotton that was bought.

Inside of San Shu Gong with the usual crowd, making the place rather squeezy and uneasy to move about freely.

Inside of the store where we had the chicken rice balls.

The amount of  dishes we ordered. Not much, but sufficient as brunch.

Why not do an after brunch shot right?

We were full and ready to hit the road. We walked along the road towards the car sightseeing while we were on the way, where we visited several shop houses where we did buy one or two things. The way the shop owners try to convince us to buy is like they don't really have customers every day and they are struggling to make a living. This makes me wonder about my life back here and thankful about what I already have. Time check, 12:40 pm, this was after we reached the car and drove off to Tesco, stopping halfway at a gas station to pump in some gas into the car. At this point, I was already thinking how time flies really fast when we're all enjoying the sweet mellows of relaxation in our lives before going back to having responsibilities which makes you have to communicate and work with people. I just find that really tiring sometimes.

Anyways, we went off and finally reached Tesco at about 12:55 pm. Like every other Tescos around the world and the one we always use to visit at Johor Bahru, it was huge with several other stores inside of it selling various home wares and most importantly, gardening needs as well. This was the part of the trip which was fun as well because we spent at least four hours there. We walked the entire place bit by bit, looking at th things we need, discussing at every section such as gardening, home appliances, cooking wares, but more importantly, the vegetables. I'll be frank, I had the most fun there helping out my mom and aunt weighing the vegetables they were going to buy and look around there myself. Furthermore, the vegetables section there was large as well, we could also choose from the kind of vegetables we want and take how much we need like the markets in Singapore, just that it's more fun in Malaysia for some reasons. We went back to the car afterwards to load our purchases and headed to Restaurant New Lucky in Johor Bahru for dinner.

The stretch of shop houses along the empty road. 

Took this photo of the primary school next to the gas station. I was kind of sad that it was already the last day of the trip and that school would be starting the next day. Gosh.

Woohoo! Tesco!

Outside the entrance of Tesco. Huge isn't it? The wide open spaces with already a variety of things being available for sale.

The path towards Tesco. As you can see, there are many other shops around as well. Furthermore, eateries which we didn't go to.

This was another store next to Tesco. This was like its own subsidiary or something selling similar kinds of things like lighting etc. However, it was much smaller as compared to the Tesco store.

What did I tell you! Big right? It gets exciting from here!

This place just feels endless. Aisle after aisle of things for daily uses.

The different kinds of vegetables being sold. Few of the many available.

Like I said, few of the many.

The amount of items we bought. Feels like a lot. Damn.

On the way to Johor Bahru already. It was the time where everyone napped (except my uncle who was driving) awhile due to the fact that everyone was damn tired. I snugged a photo of this as I woke up and we were still on the highway, having the sad thoughts of how fast it was, how fast things can go and how time can be really unforgiving sometimes.

Time check, 07:02 pm. We reached Johor Bahru and Restaurant New Lucky and were rather hungry. It's been years since I came to this restaurant to have dinner with my family where we would always come here after our one day trip to Johor Bahru for dinner. Not much have changed to the place, not even the interior nor the staff. Actually, I could only remember the managers there, I'm not sure whether the staff have changed or not. The atmosphere and the feeling is still there. This feeling will be there every time I come to Malaysia and spend my time there, with it being a relaxing sensation where my problems would be completely washed away temporarily. I still can't really explain what it really is though. Anyways, chrysanthemum tea was offered to us along with peanuts and prawn crackers as we waited for our orders to arrive, the usual style of the restaurant. There were quite a number of dishes that we ordered which were much special this time. Steamed chicken, shark fin soup, square tofu (which we order all the time for dinner last time), mayonnaise prawns, hor fun, fried noodles and a plate of vegetables again. It is safe to say for me that the taste is still quite the same but then again, it have deproved since the last time we have been here although the sauce for the tofu was still nice but not very fried this time. The mayonnaise prawns were not so nice though as I feel that there were a bit too much flour used, leading to the large amount of fried parts everywhere. After dinner, we headed back home towards the usual route leading to the former Sheng Shiong area which is always dangerously jammed at night time where everyone is going back to Singapore.

The signage for the restaurant.

The familiar set up every time we come for dinner here. See the peanuts and the prawn crackers? Woohoo! Exciting!

Chrysanthemum tea. Always served hot. Warms the guts and the soul. A drink to cool although hot.

The classical dish much like the ones served at hawker centers in Singapore. 

Shark Fin's Soup! You hardly find anything like that anymore in Singapore ever since the likes of NTUC and Sheng Shiong banned Shark Fin products. Even if you do find it, it does not even taste like shark fin's soup, rather more of thick mushroom broth, not even close. This one definitely takes the cake in giving back memories.

This was one of my favorites there. Delicious but not so well fried this time. Still, brings back memories from the times we always go to Johor Bahru for a short one-day vacation.

Never tried this mayonnaise prawns before. Not very nice. 

I think we order this chicken every once in awhile when we come to Johor Bahru quite often last time. A classic.

The fried noodles. A bit bland. Meh. Not too bad though.

Still dislike vegetables.

I always look at this display before I go in to have dinner and after I have dinner. It's just so nice looking them swim around. Sad that they're all to be killed though.

Time check, 08:22 pm. We were already in the car as we waited for the huge amounts of cars to go into the custom. It was quite a stretch from where we left. As mentioned, it is dangerously jammed and it would be impossible not to wait and stop every ten seconds as cars try to cut you in hopes of getting to the custom faster. We waited for a very long time and a few of us (not me) was actually quite urgent from the dinner despite no drinking the chrysanthemum tea. Through the use of the data roaming given to me since the first day of the trip, I just checked through my social media and such and stopped as my battery was extremely low. 3% to be exact. It gave me time to think of what I was about to do when I got home, definitely pack up and prepare for school. How time flies right when you're enjoying right? I know I said this countless times throughout my sharing of my Malacca Trip but it seems as if that way. You'd definitely have moments where the concept of time was irrelevant to us as we have fun and enjoy ourselves. Little do we know that time, like all other things, just runs away from us and never giving us the chance to get it back ever again. Within a blink of an eye, it's gone. i had thoughts, but I also spent my time looking out one last time before finally reaching the customs at roughly about 11:00 pm. Things went on quickly afterwards and we were able to reach home by 11:30 pm if I'm not wrong. Well, the trip's over and I'm fully recharged, but tired from the entire day itself. I must say that this was one of the best trips I have ever had with my family although some of my family members were not present. Saddening how it's school the next day, a dreadful but compulsory thought for a drained out student. I hope that there would be many more trips like this over many more years to come!



2) Oh My God! School! The Unforgiving Term!

"Carpe Diem and Sieze the Day!"

Well, it's the start of school. Monday (25 June 2018). I cannot express enough how stressful that term was and it was not just how fast the exams were coming towards many of the unprepared students which included me. For that week alone, the common test results were being given back to us. This was one of the biggest things that troubled me the most. What a way to start school after a good relaxing trip right? Thankfully though, I found out I managed to pass Financial Management (FMGT), Enterprise Creation & Development (ECD) and Business Analytics (B-Aly) and the week was somewhat still bearable at this moment. I only found out that I marginally passed my Cost & Managerial Accounting (CMA) the following week as my lecturer for that module, Ms L, have hinted me on that and scaring me by letting me know that she wishes to see me about it in a tone that definitely sounded as if I failed the paper, much like what she did to the others who actually failed the paper. However, I got high fever for the day after spending two hours in the lecture hall which the air conditioning was bloody cold due to the fact that it was raining heavily that afternoon as well. So I could not turn up in class the next day which was Wednesday where she wanted to see me about my common test results.

The week that followed onward were pretty much hell for me as the newer topics for both FMGT and CMA were extremely complicated, but I could not focus really well due to how tired I am each day. Adding insult to injury would be the amount of projects I had to do every day with each of the deadlines coming closer and closer without any certainty that the work we did was, accurate without any mistakes. Days felt extremely numbered as weeks go by where not even the weekends were spared by the needs to finish up the projects relentlessly due to the upcoming deadlines furthermore with presentations with each of them. I nearly broke down several times as it was really difficult, the thought of failing the exams flooding through me as I could not even revise properly during those moments as I got tired really easily, it's either doing it excessively or going home very late after meeting up to do projects in school without any forms of progress sometimes. For most of my Saturdays, they were literally used to meet up to do projects. More of a reason why it was difficult to revise for me, or to actually rest.


2.1) The First to Go: Human Capital Management

"The better end"

Blood, sweat and tears were ensured as we did the report for this project and the submission was on the week beginning 25 June 2018. I do not really remember the exact day we submitted this project but it should be on Monday (25 June 2018) itself. The most problematic thing about this project was using the right interview to be placed into our report. We met on Friday (8 June 2018) to settle the interview for the X0PA company. Sadly, I did not contribute much that day as I was still coughing very badly, making me very tired and not talking nearly throughout the whole day as a result. I felt kind of bad but the interview was a success. I think this was before the common test started as we did the report over the two weeks holidays, which was a bit of a pain as well as it was difficult to find the day where everyone was free. Each of us did our parts and also took turns while the other was not free. Difficult for me as I had bad rashes for the first week of the holidays as well. 

Us with Ms Durrah of X0PA. Gosh I look sick! The end of the interview. From left to right, me, JC, Ms Durrah, CL, PM and EA.

We had our presentation on Monday (2 July 2018) and HCM was the first lesson for the day. I forgot the order of presentation for our group but we all presented this quite well despite me and PM having to use our scripts from time to time when we were presenting. The huge project for this module was over, but what about Discovery & Share that covers 10% of the module grades? I did this one with EA and JC. We only did research on this on the week itself and it was extremely tiring. I remember the week beginning from 16 July 2018 was extremely difficult and annoying for us as we also had to focus on our individual B-Aly assignment which was 25% of our total grades. Friday (20 July 2018), I remember staying back quite late with EA to work on it and research on Industrial Relations as that was the topic in which we have to present on, further working on it at home after I had to go home and have dinner. We managed to present with a short skit on Monday (23 July 2018) although I had to continuously use my script and kipping some slides as I focused a bit too much on it and did not realize I had to work on those slides. At least it's over with a good comment by our lecturer, who gives good comments either way.

2.2) The Next End: Financial Management

"Huh?"

This module was a bit less painful than the rest. The team members and the group for this actually thought up who do to which part quite well although the method to deciding that was a bit off. Group members was of course with JC and EA along with three of the girls from the group of girls whom were always seen with each other, even giving some people the impression that the large group were extremely scary. The three of them were A, N and ZQ. They are very work-oriented people although they were not as serious or extremely conscious about how well the work should be unlike EA which is not a bad thing. Honestly though, we were not even sure if the things we did were correct or just on the right track. Our presentation and submission was on Monday (2 July 2018) which was after our HCM presentation that day. Yes, two presentations that day! Thankfully the slides was the only hard copy we had to print out. The Sunday (1 July 2018) was the day where we spent adjusting the slides, making it look nice and some of us just went on to prepare for the presentation anyways. No point in changing the information as there were slight alterations to be made on it. We were the second group to present and as tired as I was, I tried my best but I ended up reading from the script anyways as I somehow kept forgetting on what I needed to say partially because I did not prepare for it and I did not have the time to do so. The rest did okay but when it came to the Q&A from the teacher itself, it was extremely confusing but we manged to pull through although I did not really answer any questions. I did not really talk much to the new members in this group though except maybe N. I don't know why. A sigh of relief was assured by everyone after it was over.

2.3) The End for Enterprise Creation & Development

"The good, but never really too good"

This was the project I actually enjoyed doing the most among every other projects we had. I did my part quite well despite finding several mistakes in the end. We did a lot of research and adjustments towards the end of this project and where we had to present our product as well which was a mock-up of a language app called CAYYS. Group members were two members of the large girls group who were LW and EK. It was really esy to communicate with them and the times we were all at JC's house doing the project, it was all laughs and all of us talked about our life stories from time to time as we continuously did our parts which was assigned as we went through the brief together. Times at school were also spent as often as time at home and going home late was not uncommon even when we met up at JC's house. Sometimes me and EK talk about it as an inside joke, but I've talked to her more as we went home via the MRT red line every time we went home late meeting at JC's house to work up on the research and doing up the report. So, I knew her more than the rest of my new classmates at that time. The presentation was on Tuesday (26 July 2018) and we just prepared the slides for that first. I replied on the script heavily for this presentation as I did not prepare at all for it as all I could prepare in time was the script, but we still did well anyways although EK had to sacrifice one of her slides for mine due to the lack of time, but she was able to go back as there was still a few more minutes left. The following week was the submission for the report, strange isn't it? Wednesday (25 July 2018) where there was no school for some of us as there were no more lessons, there was only the revision lectures left and no more tutorials. LW was able to submit that day as she had to go to school for consultation for her ISSUES IS Module. We did a lot of adjustments for the report on Tuesday (24 July 2018) until at least 09:00 pm onward and we rushed to have the report printed after checking with the font sizes and alignments etc. Submitted on time the following day!


2.4) The Unwanted and Disliked: Business Analytics

"Somethings are just there to make you suffer"

This is probably the most hated module out of every other as it was irritating to everyone due to the insane amount of changes needed to be adhered to for the second part of the group work. As each of the parts were assigned differently, changing them was a bit difficult and a lot of us did not have full knowledge of he module and the tools to effectively counter what was needed of us to complete the task at hand. The group members were two girls which did not turn up for any group meetings except for the first one and the last one where we did the recording as part of the requirements. JC and EA did most of the work on the Tableau itself while PM and I helped out with the report more. We stayed back a lot for this project, to nights where it caused the impossibility of ever trying to revise for the exams. We managed to submit the report and the required files by 12:00 am on Monday (6 August 2018) after working on the report and recording on Sunday (8 July 2018) which we have no idea whether we were late or not. What follows was the individual part for the part of the project which carried 25% weightage for the total grade of the module. I started as soon as I can as the week before the submission date of Thursday (2 August 2018), it was extremely busy as I had to work on the projects of my IS modules, finishing both of the presentations and the debate as well, which left very little time for not even a small brink of rest. This part of the 25% was extremely tedious and I only managed to get past it thanks to the help of ZQ. However, I managed to finish it all without letting the lecturer check as I wanted to start on revising for the exams already. Gosh! Hell! I submitted the report on time on Thursday (2 August 2018). However, the printing of this report was very expensive. It totaled up to nearly $20 due to a printing error which I did not realize, and I had to reprint due to the extreme confusion, leading to the loss of $8 instantly.



3) Ageing Circle of Friends

"Rosebud"

Among those stressful periods, there is also times where I could relax a little bit from all the damn projects. One of these times would be JE's 21st birthday celebration which of course deserves to be mentioned as I also got to meet my dear close friends for that event, despite JE and RM having their differences during that period which I think they still have now. Her birthday party was at Friday (13 July 2018). It was perfect as for that day, most of my project mates were busy and the meeting got cut short, allowing me to have the time to go there early. I was way too early that when I reached Chevron at Jurong East at around 02:00 pm, it was only QS and JE inside the chalet. So basically, we chatted a bit and JE had to go meet up her friend to get her cake which was baked for her, and I followed QS to JEM to buy some plastic cutleries and drinks for the party later while also meeting his friend at the same time. On the way back, QS and I had a talk about life and such, learning of the many things which he does in competitions and overseas trips which he could go on due to said competitions. Time check, it was about 04:00 pm and we were all alone, with the TV in front of us and having our laptops, we just started chatting away and when one of his friends came, we started decorating all the way till around 06:00 pm where guests have started arriving. Throughout my time helping JE decorate, I became friends with this fella who is now in the Singapore Police Force, sharing with me his experiences there. It was such an enlightening experience as I might also be going to join the Singapore Police Force as my National Service for two years in the future. People started coming and the party started.

WY, TK and all of my secondary school friends came at about 07:00 pm. We ate the food from the buffet which was very nice. I have never really tasted buffet food which is this good, making eat about three plates of bee hoon and the chicken cutlet that came along with the buffet packet that JE ordered. It was scrumptious! I talked to many people in that party and from this one, I have actually made new friends whom are as positive. It was great! The only thing is that I never really talked to the girls clique from my secondary school. Time came as we sang the birthday song and cut the cake at about 08:00 pm, with a speech from JE herself and everyone started taking photos afterwards. The room was small but we all managed to make it work out, especially with the decorations and all. The activities continued afterwards until some people started leaving, with me leaving with TK at about 01:00 am through the usage of Grab and WY staying over. That was when TK owed me $3.00 as well due to the extra cab fare. However, it was a great day and perfect to relax my mind by talking and hanging out with my close friends. The grinding of the project work would continue the following week once it hit Monday (16 July 2018).

With the birthday girl herself, JE. Damn we both look good, but the lighting cast my shiny features out.

It doesn't hurt to have more photo shots right?

With JE and QS, I never really did ask about her look in this photo.

All who came from Riverside Secondary School.

4) The Recuperation before the Study Week

"Go ahead, make my day"

Time alone during revision periods were extremely scarce. After the completion of all the major projects including my IS module projects which also wasted quite a lot of time, I had to revise immediately. At this point in time, it was very easy for me to break down from the pressure as there was a lot of things I did not understand of FMGT and CMA which I did on several occasions but it was not very severe. It felt as if I was journeying alone these tough few months grinding for the near perfect completion of the projects and I hardly ever see my close friends like WY or TK or any of my secondary school friends for awhile, much less even talk to them as I was too worried about the exams, having fears that I would fail and re-module. I felt very lost at that point and I did not really know how to start as my plan to revise for two weeks was destroyed by the tedious requirements of the 25% project for B-Aly. The thought of how being in NP really breaks one mind and sanity with the time flying pass so fast that the exams near everyone almost in an instant without giving the chance for us all to recuperate and prepare. CMA was one of my biggest worries due to how my lecturer talked to me about it again during the revision lecture on how much I scored for the coursework component and she did a pretty good job in scaring me to the point where I was kind of fearful and depressed for the entire day. It caused me to be dazed and also not really know how to begin revising for my exams once everything else was cleared. What really hit me hard for that module was because one day during the first week of school after the two weeks holiday, my lecturer asked me whether there was anything bothering me at home causing me to lose my focus in revision for the module, to which I replied no, thinking of what actually caused the issue which I myself already know very well the second my lecturer asked me that question. It was always the one and only problem, the vain in my life that was once my greatest strength, the one I thought I could look up to in times of crisis, the one I once called my close friend, ST.

Thankfully, I got to meet my friends as a way to clear my mind a little bit before revision of the exams could truly begin. It was WH's 21st Birthday celebration which was on Saturday (4 August 2018) at NSRCC at Changi, very near the airport. I was asked by the man himself to help out for the decorations so I agreed and met him at Sembawang MRT at 11:00 am that day. Among the ones who helped were me, RM, CQ and SC. However, RM only came at around 03:00 pm as we were already at the chalet at Changi blowing the balloons, chatting about and I played the PS4 with CQ for a few rounds. Before that, the few of us that met at Sembawang MRT followed WH to IKEA Tampines where his friend drove us there after taking a bus to his house which is conveniently at Tampines as well. There at IKEA, we had lunch and then went on to Tampines mall to receive the cake that WH had ordered for himself before we went to the NTUC at the basement level to grab several snacks and drinks. WH's friend driving us back to the chalet was quite fast and we reached there after awhile, enough time for each of us to take a short nap before reaching. From there, we just started settling down, blew the balloons, discussed on where the decorations should be and like I said, talked about life. That was where RM came and helped out all the way until 06:30 pm where the guests that WH invited started pouring in one by one. Thankfully, the buffet was already set up as well. However, much like my second day of the Malacca Trip, it rained heavily from 06:00 pm onwards.

The first of the people I knew was TK where I had to cover him from the main building all the way back to the chalet building due to the downpour. We began eating and waited for more people we know to come, and indeed they have come starting 07:00 pm. It was a blast from the past as few people from my secondary school turned up as well, one or two whom I have never met every since graduation. They've grown bigger and much more muscular while I still look roughly the same. We did not really talk much though, even the girls whom where from my class in Secondary School. WY and the rest who I met during outings with the group all came, along with WY's new girlfriend (somehow). The song was sung, the cake was cut and WH had a heartfelt speech to everyone. We all had a great time chatting and I tried different mixes of the change with KW, I kind of got drunk and ultimately spent some of my time talking about my life, after which I spent time with TK playing with his Nintendo Switch where I trashed him in Pokemon. I was surprised that JC, one of my secondary school friends, bought for me a Bandai Stormtrooper figure for my 21st birthday I think which easily costs at least $100. I was touched as she showed me while I was slightly drunk and I thought to myself, how could I have made the mistake of prioritizing the wrong people all these years. After that, I took a walk around with WY and TK to have a talk about how life were. Good old times as usual, never the fail to be one of the best parts of any day, much like the previous few years and months where times were not as colorful as it is. Time check 12:00 am, it was time for me to go, and as everyone was doing their own things while I tried to book a Grab which was impossible due to how far away the place is to any forms of pick up. Ultimately, I was able to get one at about 04:00 am after spending my time there awhile with my friends, giving love advice and such. This was definitely a day to remember, much like all the time spent with these wonderful people.

One of the moments which got captured by the photographer. Gosh, I look old here. At least the usual smiles are there.

With the pretty photographer herself! One of my close friends from my Secondary School days to the present of the Apples group.

Nothing with giving myself a little spotlight right? Look at the quality of the photo! Marvelous!

The full photo of the Secondary School group. As good as it gets, the moments spent together were unforgettable like the ones with WY and TK.

It's good to have a further shot yes? A clearer view of everyone from further away.

The photo of  WH, WY, TK and I. Seeing this photo is very fulfilling as the outcome of introducing each other was better than expected. It was truly something which I definitely do not regret doing. The outcomes? Happier days and closer bonds. The few of the many positive people I know.

With the main man himself, one of my bestest friends and the wisest person I have known to date. He never fails to give good advice or be there when you need him. From Riverside Secondary School until now, may the years of our friendship continue counting.

5) The Final Exams

"The real me"

With WH's 21st birthday over and such, it was time to finally start revising for the exams. Little did I know, I did not really start Sunday (5 August 2018) but on Monday (6 August 2018). I must be frank when I say that it was quite difficult for me to begin after such an event because it made my days felt like an holiday. Even so was the fact that I was quite lost to where and how I should really begin revising. Since I only had a week left and there was at least five days before the HCM exam, it was an obvious choice to focus on the harder papers first which was both FMGT and CMA. I was a little bit smarter this time with the way I revised, first starting on CMa first until Wednesday (8 August 2018) where I had to go to school to have a consultation with my lecturer, whom I did not really ask questions to as I still was still practicing with my tutorials. My progress was really slow and time was running fast, I had to start on my FMGT either ways already because I had to read through and practice Topics 1 to 10 which as gone through during the FMGT revision lecture. Revising like that made the week extremely tedious and hard to go through but I must endure for the sake of me not to re-module which I afraid I would due to the presenting difficulty of CMA. However, due to the fact that the revision lecture for FMGT specifying what would come out, it was easier and faster to revise for the exams, thus, I was somewhat prepared for it despite having only a few days to revise for it. Nearly no feeling in the world would match the one of the nervousness which would present itself as the day of exams draw closer, and the fact that during that period, it was also difficult to hang out with my family members or talk to any of my friends.

It was a matter of time before the first paper begun on Monday (13 August 2018) where it was the FMGT paper. Being nervous and nearly forgetting some of the formulas I had to memorize was a near 100% guarantee thing to happen with the fear of never doing well despite the efforts being put into the exams this time. The FMGT paper was fairly manageable as I had followed the guide that was given during the revision lecture for that module and everything that was mentioned was tested. However, there were some questions which I still do not know how to do, but I am confident enough to ace this paper  with a pass at least. The next paper was on Wednesday (14 August 2018), the dreaded module which is CMA, never failing to drive fear into every student whom wishes to do well and ones who just wishes to pass. It nearly seemed impossible to score a distinction for it, not that it matters anymore. The one day where I revised for it was extremely tough especially when I try to memorize what was needed. Due to the lack of time however, I ended up writing down the formats and religiously memorizing them till the dawn of day where I slept at nearly 02:00 am partly because the CMA paper itself starts at 05:00 pm as opposed to the other papers which I had to take. As the reading time fo the paper began, I panicked as I instantly did not know some of the questions presented, but I could manage a little bit due to the rigorous memorizing of the formats and formulas, and how to derive some answers. I really hope I just pass this module and not re-module. It would be a joy of miracle if I really do just pass and move on to the next semester without any re-modules.

The final paper which is HCM was a few days away. Enough time to revise and actually rest for a day after the end of CMA. True enough, I did. Having both FMGT and CMA to end was heavy weights off my shoulders and I was slightly relaxed. However, I was a bit too relaxed as I only really began revising two days later as I was having the fatigue which also made it feel like it was already the holidays. It was not simple to shrug the feeling off but I managed to do it. I typed out my notes via Microsoft Word according to the things the lecturer said was important to revise to which I rigorously read and memorize towards the last day of revision, where I typed out at least two times to remember and write out the entire notes three times before I slept at about 01:00 am. Most people only revised the revision lecture notes while some others who was afraid that the things the lecturer did not mention come out for the exams, revise almost everything else. Anyways, I was very tired the next day and as the paper started at 10:00 am. I was nervous and afraid that I would forget what I was memorizing. What's worse is that the exam itself was held at the 8th floor of Blk 53, which is the place which easily makes anyone nervous who goes there to take their exams, much like the CSE exams the previous year. As the exams started, I was relieved, very very relieved that every exact thing the lecturer told us to revise came out for the exams to the dot. It was as if the revision lecture already gave us the answers to memorize for the exams. So because of this, the exam itself just became a writing marathon for those who have memorized the notes from the revision lecture well. My hands were sore, and I was tired from all the revision, but it all paid off as I finished the paper 20 minutes before the exams ended. I had the opportunity to check through everything twice before I raised my hands to go off early to which I had lunch with EA and MS at Makan Place before going home as ST and VC reached and finally got their order of mala. Thus leading to current times, the holidays, one of which everyone have been looking forward to, a huge weight off all our shoulders the instant we all left school. It was certain. I really do hope I get to do I want for this two months holidays before school starts and I also hope that I pass all modules without any re-modules. I will put the good news (hopefully) here when the results come out on Saturday (15 September 2018).


6) The Rock Bottom Fall: End of a "Friendship"

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

It's been bothering me much more than it should have been. Ever since I have tried settling the issue with ST under her house with no one else around on a Saturday (26 May 2018), things between me and her have been going really on and off. All my current problems now only lies between me and her while nothing else, not even projects have disturbed me as badly as this problem. After trying to settle things with her, I've decided to get her a small gift as she told me she was excited to get a birthday card from me to which I really did. It took me at least two days to get her card done and slightly longer for me to get the gift idea wrapped up and ready to go. It was a picture of us which I deleted off my Instagram hand-drawn by a friend I knew from an art event from school quite some time ago. It was perfect and I passed it down to ST herself one day, and it was the last mention of the gift ever again until she asked whether the message was thought up by my friend or me myself to which I replied me. This was not really the issue but, as days grew by, I really tried my best to just be a friend, trying everything in my power to make things right but it was not how I think it would turn out to be. It was not anyone's fault, it never really was but her choice alone was the root of everything, from the beginning until now. I don't want to sound petty or anything but I will never forget this but long ago for my 21st birthday, it was normal for me to invite who I think was close to me, and ST was one of them. She promised me way beforehand that she would go until things changed when the date for my 21st birthday party got closer. She suddenly said she would only maybe go due to having something on that day, with JW giving the same excuse and suddenly changing her mind from "not going" to "reaching in a few minutes". As I expected, both of them turned up at my doorstep together, the last of my guests. Why the sudden change of mind? A change of heart? For the food? For face? Or just for the fact of being guilty? Indeed it was guilt as only with the intervention of WY that they were willing to go as he have told me. Fast forward to today, VC had his birthday party as well with invitations being sent out as a survey (strangely) and I found out that ST was one of the first few to accept the invitation without any hesitation.

For the curious minds, this was the gift that I was talking about. Cheap ($12) and good right?

As I have said, I do not wish to sound petty but at this point, it feels as if I was worth nothing to her. My efforts were in vain, not appreciated and severely undermined by people whom she think deserves it while they did not spend as much time on her as I did. From there on, I just started thinking why I felt this was worth the trouble, to the extent of WY sacrificing his friendship with her just for the chance of us both reconciling. Even the gifts and the constant reassurance was not enough to satisfy her lack of trust in people which is also a huge lack of trust in me as well. People might say that it's just her being too overly stressed from the coming of the exams during the exam period, but I just cannot deny the fact that I felt so underappreciated by her. From then on, I never met her before the day of exams, never went home with her, never waited for her bus to come nor talk to her that much again. I just don't want to waste my efforts again. I must fail WY this one time, but it is now how it should be. Cleansing off this bit of toxicity off my life for good and giving myself the chance to focus on the people in my life who really deserve it and those people who have been there throughout my life, through my struggles, thick & thin and made me feel like I was worth something with talent, people like my secondary school friends, WY, TK and many others known through outings with the Apples. With this realization, I hope that I can be fully happy with myself and for the people around me, forgiving myself on wasting my time on those toxic people from my ITE days. If so happens that you're reading this ST, I just want you to know that you should just go back to being friends with that toxic black bitch along with your so called best friend. I hope that they can give you the happiness you so truly crave for and just don't ever come back if that black bitch ever cause you any problems behind your back again. This will be the last post in which there is a mention of ST, so look forward to more posts coming forward in the future.


Conclusion of Another Fabled Tale

"May the force be with you."

Well, that's about sums it up for this post. It was quite a lot to share especially my Malacca Trip. I've been wanting to share it here for quite some time but I did not have the chance until now due to the term in which projects and the coming exams were upon everyone. The lack of revision due to the projects caused even more anxiety, but I'm glad it's all over for now. I just hope that I make it to the next semester clean without any re-modules (Yes, I know I've said this before, but I will say it again). More importantly, I can now spend more time with my family as the exams are over and I do not really know what to do. Maybe even those on and off jobs every now and then. For now, gaming is of importance and I will prepare for a few more birthdays which I will be attending. I can also finally read the books especially Star Wars: Thrawn Alliances which came out in bookstores in between the term which did not really caught my attention until I saw it in Popular at Causeway Point. There's also many other books which I have not really start reading after I have bought them months ago. All this right after I clean my room which is probably going to take a few days to complete as some corners in my room is filled with dust burritos. Yes, that much dust. I have not had the time to clean my room as well due to the exams. Lastly, it would be a wonderful time to meet up with some of my friends and really do a proper catch up with WY and TK. I can't wait as I believe it is going to be as fun as the last few times we hang out together all the time., and this time, there will be no negativity present in this holiday with those around us whom are toxic gone, now suffering or enjoying on their own sick terms. Alcoholic free and awesome times here I come! Until I post again, probably when the holidays are going to be over soon. I am going to make full use of this holiday to become fully WOKEN!

Yours sincerely,
(No Signature Required)
Yai Kai Soon