Shame Shame NUS!!

Ok for most of you who didn't know i was away last weekend from the 20th noon till the 22nd night. I was in Singapore for the 1st inaugural IChemE games organized by NUS. Soooo wat on good ol' planet earth is IChemE??well its a organization for chemical engineers which is all over the world.

So 55 of us chemical engineers from the University of Nottingham Malaysian Campus packed our bags and boarded the train in Kajang KTM station on the 20th. Our train was at 2.40pm and the journey to Singapore took us 7 hours++...I KNOW TELL ME ABOUT IT...The moment i stepped into the train, I recognized a very familiar odour...the odour of a BARBER SHOP...like wat the hell right hahaha...the train's toilet...(shakes head) never seen 1 soooooooo bad before. KTM really damn sad case. The day they decide to do something about this, PIGS WOULD FLY. So traveling for 7 hours in a train wasn't much of a problem for me. So after 7 hours++ of traveling we finally reached Singapore, however it took us quite some time to actually reach our hostel. We were picked up by this ang mo dude, his name is Joe. We got onto a CHARTED bus, best part is its a public bus with the words CHARTED displayed on its sign. So the hostel we stayed in is called, Tresor's Tavern. Its a hoStel not a hoTel but it was pretty cool. All my years of traveling i've never stayed in a backpacker hostel before. Sharing a room or should i say floor with 15 other guys, sleeping in bunk beds spells.........INTERESTING INTERESTING INTERESTING in a good way of course. The moment we settled down it was about 11pm and we haven had our DINNER. In the train i got hungry and so had to go to the trains canteen, cafeteria, makan place watever u call it to get something to eat. Here is the MENU

Maggie Cup - RM3.50
Nasi Lemak - RM4.50
Nasi Goreng - RM3.00

Like WAT THE **** right....Maggie cup for RM 3.50....crazy ah....the stupid thing is there was a list of food stuff there but SEMUA TAK DE....=.=....Derick, Graeme and Me had to just settle for the RM 3.00 Nasi goreng which tasted like ajinomoto only. So as i was sayin, after settling down we headed out into the streets of Singapore and it was pretty dead. There was a makan stall just around the corner from where we lived so me, graeme and a whole lot others headed there. DERICK WEEEEEED ditched us the moment he stepped foot onto his MOTHERLAND....hahaha....The food was pretty good i must say. Other than that, that was pretty much it for the first day. Oh and after makan we got back graeme went into the toilet came out and said:

Graeme: Eh Mark... u got bring shampoo and soap right? They dont provide la...
Mark: (cock stare)....Then laughs his ass off.....

well graeme wasn't the only one, 5 other clown friends of mine must have also thought it was a hotel. hahaha....

21st - So after getting a good night rest, got up fresh and ready for BREAKFAST hahaha, the hostel provided us breakfast and it starts at 7am. So as usual la...the early bird catches the worm...breakfast that morning was. Sausage, with egg sandwhich and milo...=)...the egg sandwhich was AWESOME!!! n since its a HOSTEL we were required to wash our cups and plates. So after makan...we got our things and got ready to go to NUS. From here forth. things was CHAOS CHAOS CHAOS....I damn lazy wanna type everything out. All i can say is that, the Chemical Engineers in NUS didn't do a very good job in planning this event. Another thing i would like to criticize is the mentality of Singaporeans.

If you would have watched the movie - MONEY NOT ENOUGH 2 - you would understand. There was a scene in the movie where the Security guard was fussing about the fire engine parking in a VIP spot or something and in the end clamped the vehicle. Well yeah SINGAPOREANS are sooooo like that, they are not willing to compromise even when there is a FREAKING FIRE. There were no fires that day but we traveled all the way to SINGAPORKKK to end up playing with UITM. Nanyang Tech Uni (NTU) didn't sent any teams and NUS had only teams in certain sports and even so can be counted with 1 hand. The IChemE games was planned right on the SPORTS WEEK of NUS and living up to their true blue nature, neither the campus nor the Chemical Engineers gave in. It really baffles me, this ppl either has no brains or are really FUCKING self centered. They organize a international sports meet, invite ppl from afar and the treatment we received was HORRIBLE!!!!! Communication between every party FAILED...I've been to so many sports meet, events and things like tat and never have i been in a situation as BAD as this. When i spoke to one of the helpers later that day, i found out that NTU didn't wan to join due to some reasons. If i didn't hear wrong NTU n NUS have been at each others neck for 17 years and because NTU dont friend NUS they dont wan to come...like WAT THE ****....so ******* childish....GROW UP LA *** *****.....then i also asked how come there is no Chemical Engineering Volleyball and Frisbee Team. The answer was equally as infuriating..."Chemical Engineers normally dont play Volleyball or Frisbee cos of some...social reasons" and i really wished i heard wrong for both cases. Cause this is just plain RIDICULOUS. Not only that, the volunteers are not all chemical engineers, some are civil engineers blah blah blah. When asked why? " NOT ENOUGH MAN POWER FROM THE CHEM ENG FACULTY". (shakes head) and the other LAME **** *** reasons given for their horrible planning.

1) they (IChemE) only gave us 1 month notice
2)We were some what FORCED into doing this
3)Its the first time this is being organized

I wish not give further comments on the above answers. You, the reader shall decide what kinda attitude or image they have protrayed. Personally i would say, using number 3) as an excuse is just plain LAMEEEEE!!!!!

ok i've ranted enought bout that...hahaha...Despite what happen, we still went for the after party and there was BOOZEEE there so minum la...hahaha...and most of us just let the whole CHAOS pass us cause we were in Singapore with a whole lot of friends and we didn't wan to spoil our adventure.

Leavin Singapore was a real relief, when we reached kajang every1 was so happy to be back. Our volleyball team got silver but we really didn't even bother cause everything was already so SCREWED UP...The next IChemE games would be held in UITM, hopefully it wouldn't be as bad as it was in NUS....

thas y SHAME SHAME NUS...la la lalala...SHAME SHAME NUS...la la lalala =)

Thats all from me, but i must say i traveling has been my 3rd love after lee *coughs coughs* and music. =) and i did have and adventure in Singapore. Our last day there, a group of us lugged our bags across Chinatown to hunt for souvenirs and Singapore aint that small when you have to carry your luggage around hahaha...Train for MAS was at 2pm and all of us got on board and then that WEEEED dude came out of no where when we thought he goin to find his own way back....hahaha...thus our adventure came to an end at about 9.30pm when the train screeched to a stop in KAJANG STATION...=0 so until next time...Cheers mate!!!! and always keep an open mind when traveling...=)

How Deep Is Your Love??? = )

Have you ever written a love letter or poem?
Yes, love letter and poem....=)

Do you believe in love at first sight?
Nope really dont

Do you swoon at the sight of a perfect red rose?
No i'm a guy i GIVE roses instead of RECEIVING any. But i will swoon when i see that 1 'rose' =)

Do you dream of candlelight dinners with your partner?
dream...well not really...thinkin of making it happen...more likely

Do you like surprises?
Who doesn't hahaha..be it good or bad...

Do you like romantic novels?
no not really...

Do you kiss with eyes closed?
YES!!!its rude to stare...

Do you look forward to Valentines Day?
i surprise my love randomly, i sometimes buy her stuff, i bring her out for dinner or lunch sometimes not all the time. We go for movies. Tat all sounds like Valentine's day to me...=)

Do you sometimes find yourself daydreaming?
Yes, especially during modern process chemistry, engineering thermodynamics etc. etc

Do you mind kissing in front of strangers?
honestly no, but i dont believe in making out infront of others...=) that has to be OUR little private time together hehehe

Do you like to cuddle under the moon light and have quiet talk?
yes yess yesss

Would you give your partner gifts such as flowers, perfume rather than books, CD, shoes?
I'm tryin to learn how to fold origami roses so that they wont die and a certain some1 can keep it a little longer...;-) but i would go with practical sutff to. I feel proud that my partner would use something i buy for her...=)

Do you give him/her flowers in a normal day without any specific reason?
No...NOT YET hahaha goin to start making my own garden patch so i can just pluck flowers hahaha

Do you always keep your partner photo in your purse or wallet?
YUP!!!

Lastly, have you ever been in L-O-V-E?
Yes i have and i have learnt and gained a lot out of it too...thanks to that special some1...=)

6 Lims and A Whole Lot of Finns

Note ~ Dear readers the following post was written on the day the events took place


DAY 1(Kitilla,finland)

We arrived at about 11.00am and the moment we got out of our plane we were welcomed by SNOW. YES snow falling from the sky it was such an experience. It has been eluding us for 6 years now and finally FINALLY we manage to experience it. For the pass 6 year during the year end holidays, we have been traveling overseas and in those 6 years most of the countries we traveled to were during the winter season. The first time we experienced winter was in Korea and there were snow on the ground but we didn't see or felt any falling from the sky. Then our second best bet was when we were in Beijing. However luck wasn't on our side AGAIN and so we still did not manage to feel snow falling from the sky.HERE oh boy have i to tell you, its all snow hahaha...nothing but SNOW. So from the airport we headed straight for our cottage in yllas (pernounced as ullas) the cottage is freaking chun k...(pictures coming soon) other than that the we just lepak in our cottage...rest...a very much well needed rest for all of us. The cottage has basically all the basic appliances. The washing machine, dishwasher, dryer,etc. The dishwasher and dryer was pretty interesting as we didn't know how to use it hahaha. We had heater problems so had to call the guy. He fixed our heater problem and also showed us how to use the BASIC appliances...hahaha...so much for being BASIC.

(end of day 1)


DAY 2

So day 2, we got up had our breakfast and decided to go for a walk. It was our first time walking in snow and it was a great experience. We have never walked on soooooo much of snow before and it was fun but cold...hahaha...i would blog about the things you would need to do to live through a winter like this and also how to survive a long long distance flight. If you fly first class all the time then dont bother. So we walked to lapvillage and got more info on our activities. The one thing here we wanted to see is the Aurora Bureolis. Well just a few minutes of walking burns up a lot of calories and we needed our energy back so we walked to Jullis (pernounced as Ullis). Apparently their burgers there are really great and so we decided to give it a go. So while deciding what to order, the waiter came by, a man roughly in his late 40's, but we weren't ready so my dad said give us 3 more minutes and he left but only to come back in a while with a menu in Japanese....hahaha...like WTH...hahaha..he thought we were Japanese and couldn't read the English menu =.= . I had the burger topped with reindeer meat and YES it was DAMN DAMN GOOD = ) . So after a good lunch we walked back to our cottage and it was back to playing and watching tv again hahaha...I dont know why but some how we don't feel bored. I mean with such a weather out there all you wanna do is hibernate. LITERALLY. All the walking in the snow have pretty much made us immune to temperatures of -7 or so.

At about 6 pm, Henry and Annarita arrived from Ohlu. (Henry is the finnish dude we know and annarita is his girlfriend). They came with groceries enough for a whole army hahaha...He brought ham and bacon and wine and vodkas with the S and beers and juices and milks. So without wasting any time we started on the.....ALCOHOL....hahaha....no need to chill in the fridge. Just 1 or 2 minutes out in the patio it was good to go. (pictures coming soon) So we stayed up and chatted till about 2am and then we were hungry AGAIN. Henry decided to use the fireplace and yes being the SAMPAT Malaysian it was so interesting. I mean how often do u get to light a fireplace...hahaha...It took a while to get the fire going but it was worth it. Henry and I cooked sausages over the fire and it was delicious. Like one of them smoked sausages. It was 3 am when we finally got into bed and thus the end of day 2.....

(pictures coming soon)

(end of day 2)


DAY 3

Ahhh day 3...slept in till about 12pm but have to get up d cos Henry was leaving later in the noon and since he had a car we needed the transportation to move around a little get some stuff find out more about the activities around here. Since Henry would be leaving we would need our own set of wheels and so with a few phone calls Uncle Gill manage to get us a car. After shopping for groceries (again???yes again cause the supermarket would be closed for 2 days and food depleted pretty quickly..hahaha) we headed straight home and it was about 3pm. Henry didn't stick around much cos the car was heated up and daylight was dying out already so it was best he hit the road ASAP. We were suppose to collect the rented car at a nearby hotel at 7pm. The hotel wasn't that near also...hahaha...it was a 4km walk for me and my dad. So at about 6.10pm my dad and I ventured out into the dark and cold wilderness....hahaha...well it wasn't that cold but it was DARK.

(end of day 3)


DAY 4

Well day 4...since we had a car dad decided to move around a little ok make that a lot more. We headed out to this place, some educational center. The scenery there was pretty good so the whole fly took pictures after pictures after pictures after pictures...(pictures coming soon). Then after that we headed to the ski slopes to find out more about their rates and also the ski classes. The whole taking pictures at the educational center and ski slopes took almost the whole afternoon and by the time we got back to the cottage it was about 4pm or so. I was so tired even thou I barely did anything, i think its the weather and environment hahaha...everyday we get about 3 to 4 hours of daylight and even that its not that bright. But it has been brighter and brighter as the days go by cause summer is approaching. This place gets about 7 months of snow and once its summer it is almost 24 hours of sunlight. Pretty screwed up huh....hahaha....So after getting some shut eye had to get up and prepare for X'mas dinner. YES X'MAS DINNER hahaha...our first Finnish X'mas dinner...it was a buffet and the spread consisted of herrings and beef and reindeer and turkey and pork and salmon and salmon roes....yum yummmm....it was a feast and the food wasn't that bad also. The dessert oh i tell you it was SWEEEEEETTTTTT....the cake and the pastries were awesome....and of course Santa Clause came along. He greeted us and the first thing he asked was if we came from Japan...=.=...well he did that cause most of the Asians here are Japanese. I mean even their supermarkets have signs in Japanese. After the dinner we headed straight home and called it a day.

(end of day 4)


DAY 5

MERRY X'MAS ppl...so its x'mas day finally...so the day started off with a visit to the Lainio Snow Village. There is a hotel there that is made out of snow and that is apparently the selling point. We went in there to look look see see and it was pretty cool, but its damn cold. I dont know how you're suppose to live in there seriously...you would probably freeze your butts off. After loads of photo taking again... we went into the restaurant to warm ourselves up and while waiting for mom to come out of the WC (toilet) the lady at the counter came up to us and said "you can buy the tickets into the snow hotel..." We were like wat the hellll...you have to buy tickets?hahaha...and its 7 euros per person...so multiply that by 6 you get 42 euros multiply that again by 5 (convert it to Ringgit Malaysia) you get RM 210 just to visit some ice hotel...NOT WORTH IT...its seriously not worth the money.(pictures coming soon) i mean its pretty cool and stuff but its empty as in its just good but not great kinda thing. PLUS ITS NOT OUR FAULT, i mean we were just 6 nice Asian people arriving at the doors of the ice hotel...no signs...nothing so we wouldn't have known we needed to pay...=)...So after the snow village we wanted to head straight back to the cottage but dad read about a place where they have Huskey Sleigh Rides and so another few more phone calls to Uncle Gill, Daddy manage to find the place with the help of Daniel the navigator...They were fully booked but thankfully a few groups didn't show so when we arrived there were available slots. Shaun and I 'drove' one sleigh and the rest of them were in the guide sleigh. It was fun i tell you...hahaha...Shaun went first and he had difficulties maneuvering the sleigh and yes the sleigh turned over with ME in it hahaha...but its not a problem hahaha...Shaun lost his footing and thus the sleigh turned over. Then it was my turn apart from the cold everything else was FUN FUN FUN. I mean we finally manage to touch and be close to Siberian huskies. They are seriously very very nice dogs (pictures coming soon) so after the Huskey Ride we headed for Lapvillage which is just 200m from our cottage to walk the Northern Light path. After that it was cottage, dinner and sleep for me...hahaha...Dad and Mom went out for walks to look at the sky hoping to catch a glimpse of the northern light. Its 11.30pm now and thats all i have to write for day 5 so thats all for today ciaoozzzz.....

(end of day 5)


DAY 6

Sooooo day 6 here in Yllas, Kittila and today spelled SKI SKI SKI and more SKI. We got up earlier today to go get our ski outfits from Arctic Safari and then we headed for the slopes. Of course we needed our ski boots and our skis so yeah we had to get those too...we have made arrangements for ski classes at 10am so after getting all the stuff it was just nice 10am and we met up with our instructor and THUS THE SKIING BEGUN....=)....Shaun,Daniel and Celine skied the last time in China whereas i snowboarded so i needed the lessons to refresh my memory hahaha...so we were 'tested' on our basics in skiing and we did okayyyyy...hahaha...so it was on to turning left and right. It looks easy (they always do) but it wasn't. So the falling begin and the rushing down the hill making only a few turns...hahaha...So after 90 minutes we were left to fend for ourselves. It was us against the hills (oh mom n dad didn't ski it was just the 4 of us). So before we could hit the hills on ourselves we went and makan first. Dad ordered 1 humongous burger and 2 pizzas . Lunch was over, our bellys were filled and it was time to face THE SLOPE...........after we gotten our ski passes from dad...=) My first run down the hill wasn't thatttt good. My left turns weren't good enough cause my technique was OUTTT...so before i could hit the trees (yes there were tress around us) i choose to fall n not make George of the Jungle: Winter Edition. The rest of them made it down the hill without falling. Shaun and Celine decided to just zoom down the hill and break before reaching the end. hahaha...Daniel was slow and steady but he did all his curves...So determine to NOT FAIL AGAIN i got up the ski lift and up we went again. N with all the confidence in the world at the middle of the mountain i headed down...and this time i.....had to fall AGAIN...once again my left turn just wasn't working for me. So falling twice back to back...wellll not so good for the confidence...so the 3rd time i decide to take it real slow as i was starting to be afraid of the speed. Thankfully i manage to survive this run which meant a little bit more confidence. Then the runs continued and i slowly got comfortable with the speed and the slopes and the turns got better. Daniel also slowly got more confidence on going faster and before you knew it crashing into trees were a thing of the past and we were zooming down the hill and getting back on the lift almost immediately. We skied for 4 and a half hours which is a lot more than we have ever skied before. Other than that, it was a beautiful day,good weather, the wind was a lot stronger in the evening thou but nothing could deter us from skiing (except for a avalanche or a blizzard la) so thats all for day 6 just a few more days before we leave for Helsinki and then back home....=)....thats all for now CHEERS!!!


(end of day 6)


DAY 7

AHHHH....achess....yes i woke up to aches in my hands and feet. It wasn't that bad la but they were aching thanks to all the skiing and since i have not been very active its no wonder my body ached. Anyways today we didn't really do much. After breakfast we hopped into the car and off we went to i-dont-know-how-to-spell-the-place and initially dad thought the place was a brewery where we could perhaps learn a thing or two about our favourite beverage...ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES...hahaha...buuuuuutttttt it was just a shop in the country side that sells home made wine...=.=...so sad. Nevertheless the scenery was superb as usual. The temperature wasn't that cold and the sun actually came up this time. The days were much much brighter and longer as compared to when we first got here. So as usual after taking a LOT of pics we then headed to another shop at this intersection after getting Intel that there are reindeer rides there...weeeee....hahaha...Once again i dont know the shop's name but 1 thing i do know is that the 2 ladies that ran the shop were VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY friendly. We initially didn't had intentions to buy anything and the two old ladies still spoke to us to entertain us (well cause there was no1 else there also la,but u could feel they did it cause they wanted to)hahaha...and we also found out that we were the first Malaysians to ever step foot into their shop. They have a book there where you can write stuff in it and so we stamped our mark there BIG BIG some more you know hahaha...all the talking and chatting were just to buy time cause we were waiting for the reindeer man to come by. hahaha....We didn't really wait long then this tall Finnish dude who looked like he could finish you...hahaha...get it finnish finish hahaha...=.=...never mind....the reindeer ride was okkkkkkllllaaaaa i preferred the huskey. The dude walked for 4km pulling on the reins of the reindeer. He did not ride them horseback style as that was pretty impossible to do and he did not ride in a sleigh himself while whipping the asses of this deers. After the sleigh ride we were offered coffee,tea and cranberry juice...oh the cranberry juice is AWESOME MATEE...other than that nothing else happened on day 7 already. We headed home makan pack cause we leaving tomorrow...HOME...HOME...oh Malaysia such a distant land...sigh...thats all for day 7 Good Night...

(end of day 7)


DAY 8

It was the end of the week and we began our journey back home to Malaysia, a land not known by most of the finns...SERIOUSLY its that sad. Our flight to Helsinki was initially at 12pm but due to some unforeseen circumstances it was delayed to 12.30pm but no matter in Helsinki we were picked up and driven to our hotel, Radisson Sas, the hotel got INTERNET!!!! FUHHHYOOOO....hahaha...after checking in and washing up a little we headed for the streets on our quest to search for FOOD...food in Helsinki is FREAKING EXPENSIVE even if we don't convert to Ringgit Malaysia. There is this place called market square and dad said there should be food there cause thats what it says in the brochure. So to Market Square it was for us, buuuutttttt NO FOOD...the restaurants there spelled EXPENSIVE EXPENSIVE EXPENSIVE. While walking around this so called square (i didn't see or notice anything that suggested it was a square also...=.=...) we stumbled upon a chinese restaurant so we thought ahh ok la chinese or finnish makan only...saw the menu outside the restaurant...we hung our heads in disappointment. A set meal for 6 (some what of a 8 course dinner) is priced at 110 euros if I've not mistaken convert that to Malaysian Ringgit you have a 500 bucks chinese meal for 6...WITHOUT SHARK FIN OR ABALONE...tsk tsk tsk...so nvm Dad said 1 plate of fried rice each can ah...CAN PA CAN!!! anything as long can makan...price for 1 plate of fried rice 9.80 euros...=.=....nvm la Pa we go eat fast food k...so we walked back to the street just outside our hotel, there is this place called Chilli yeah Chilli without the 'S' as in Chillis. Its a middle eastern fast food restaurant. The owner (or so i assume) 1 man show. He takes orders, he prepares the meals and he even serves them...Price for 1 middle eastern fast food meal...9.80 euros also but with DRINK ahhh take that...hahaha...so we chowed down on our meal and headed back to the hotel. 2 reasons...1 cause GOT INTERNET WOOHOOO...2 cause it was cold outside and its Helsinki...imagine Kuala Lumpur...got nothing to see...i mean besides shopping and Dataran Merdeka and ahh you know la...nothing...nadaa...i dont think they have a Freedom Plain in Helsinki so yeah hotel was the best choice. Oh and lunch was at 3pm so yeah dinner could wait a little longer...just a little...hahaha...we spent most of our time in the room...watching tv got disney channel k...=) and also onlining (NOT A WORD i repeat NOT A WORD...i think) Then at about 7.30pm or so mom n dad headed out again to walk walk and ta pau food. They came back at 9pm which was just about time for dinner...and they brought back hesburger (its like burger king but better) and also this big packet of fried rice. Oh, cost of Fried Rice...10 euros...but it was big la perhaps for 2 ppl (2 ppl as in me and 1 of my bros) but each of us had a burger so the fried rice was like side dish for the whole family hahaha...their burger as usual big ass...which is about the same price with the fried rice...Cut throat man i tell you eat in Helsinki...after dinner me and Shaun headed for bed but daniel he stayed up all night playing...hahaha...well it wasn't really all night also la our flight to Rome was at 7.50 am so that means we have to be at the airport at 5.30 AM...that would be day 9 d so thats all for day 8 pls do read on...=)

(end of day 8)


DAY 9
So day 9 was basically travelling and i have nothing much to write about just watch the videos k...thanks for reading i know the post is very very late hahaha....so thats all from me CHEERS!!!

A Notice and A Happy New Year??

ok so i know i still you ppl a blog on Finland, that would have to wait till after my exams which are going on right now and also pictures of Rome and Finland all must wait till after exam. However i do have something to share with you ppl.

Its about the new year. I find it weird how ppl feel so happy ushering in the new year its as thou whatever happend in the past year would miraculously disappear. Not trying to be a pessimist or anything but i feel the new year is soooo overated hahaha...the new year means you are 1 year older and supposingly 1 year wiser. NOW if that was true....nvm you do the math yourself. Then you also hear ppl complaining aiyoooo old d la...this la that la...but when new year jolly like nobody's business. Another thing the new year resolution thing...how many actually follow all the way thru to the end...its a bit funny to set a goal for the next 365 days, a little unrealistic i would say...For me i have NEW WEEK RESOLUTION...hahahaha...i mean seriously la New Year Resolution, Happy New Year....Pelly would just tell you what's so damn happy about the new year...hahaha... do we really need to wait till its the new year to have a resolution or is the new year there to remind us how we failed to live up to our previous resolution and start making another one? WE dont need to wait for the new year to do something new or to be REVITALISED....start tomorrow la whats the difference. Anyways thats just what i think you can beg to differ...once again i'm not trying to be negative but sometimes i feel some ppl over exaggerate this one celebration...new year....hahaha....thats all for now...CHEERRRSSS MATESSS!!!!!



upcoming post - 6 lims and A Whole Lot of Finns

Do As The Romans Do!!!!

Hey guys i finally manage to find time to blog. Well its 1.10am here in Finland and my flight is 9.55 am. So we are camping out here in Helsinki International Airport. Its fun k...the whole domestic flight area is empty and the 6 of us are the only ones here hahaha. Anyways its the 4th day of our travels d. This post is about the first 3 days in Rome.

DAY 1

Well day one, we left Malaysia at 2 am (malaysian time) and flew to Dubai first. There we had a transit time of 4 hours before flying off to Rome. The journey from Dubai to Rome was about 6 and a half hours and the flight was tiring (as usual). I always found it hard to sleep in airplanes. We reached Rome at 12 pm (italian time) and went straight to our hotel, well it wasn't really like a hotel also la. I have pictures and videos and will upload them in due time. We settled down and the lady there gave us a map and she gave taught us how to get about Rome using the bus or metro (subway) service. Fr Julian met up with us around 3pm and it was good to see him. He then took us jalan-jalan. Our first stop was St. Paul's Basicallica which is the 2nd biggest basillica in Rome, I cant find words to describe it. So pictures it shall be. =) Then we went to trappist monastery. This place used to be where St. Paul was executed. The dungeon he was kept in was there too. According to legend, when his head was chopped off, it bounced three times and at those three spots water started to shot out. Now of course got no water la but that was the story. So after that place, we crossed the street to the another church and we kinda forgotten what the church name was. (ehh dont blame us k there are like 170 churches ++ in Rome alone). The significance of this church is that during the World War 2, Mother Mary revelead herself to a pastor who never like to acknowledge her existance. That place was pretty cool, there is this tunnel where people have been placing photos and items of their loved ones since the 1960's. After that we took a bus to Cavour and Fr Julian brought us to this pizerria for dinner. I tell you the pizza there is so so so so so so so so so so so so so damn good. You wouldn't wanna eat Malaysian pizza d hahaha. After dinner we called it a night cos we were super duper tired. The jet lag and the walking, not a very good combination.
Fr Julian actually asked a very interesting question when he saw us. He asked if we had our lunch already. I couldn't give him a definate answer here is why.

1. We left Malaysia at 2am and flew 6 hours to Dubai. In the air they served us supper and also breakfast.

2. We arrived in Dubai at 4am. So we basically travelled back in time.

3. Our flight to Rome was at 9.25am so in the plane they served us lunch and also afternoon tea.

4. BUT we arrived in Rome at 12.45pm. So technically we had lunch and also afternoon tea but when we reached Rome we didn't eat till dinner. So......i dont know, this time traveling thing can be pretty confusing at times hahaha.

So that is the end of Day 1



DAY 2

Day 2 we woke up at about 8am, today Fr Julian had class so we had to go on our own. But it wasn't much of a problem. Our main mode of transport was walk, metro or bus. We had to wake up early cos we wanna make it into the long long long line to get into vatican museum. That museum is so damn big, the museums in Malaysia is not even 1/4 of the Vatican Musuem. There were a lot of interesting things there, but the most important of them lot is the Sistine Chapel where Michaelangelo's masterpieces are all around the chapel. Their chapel i dont know why they call it a chapel is as big as a church d. The dude painted the book of Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and also the Final Judgement on the wall behind the Altar. His paintings are seriously mind blowing. Its really quite impossible to do what he did and i would say he really did the impossible. He finished his paintins in just 4 years and that is considered a very short period of time. We spent about 3 hours in the musuem and by the time we got out it was already 2pm. Then LUNCH....the food was good. Authentic italian food...yummmyyyyy....After makaning, we walked to St Peter's Basillica. This Basillica is the biggest in Rome and seriously la i cant describe the churches. All i can say its nothing like the ones in Malaysian. All the churches and basillica in Rome are painted FULLY. Like every square inch of them and i'm not exaggerating. Since its winter, it gets dark pretty fast here and by 4pm it was already dark. We travelled from the Vatican City to THE Colloseum. It is my 2nd time seeing and touching the Colloseum but i'm still in awe when i see it knowing its rich history and things that took place there. Then Dad missed Chinese food...=)....so we went to this Chinese restaurant in Cavour also for dinner, one of Fr Julian's recommendation. The food was ok la, Malaysian Chinese food better...hahaha...we were suppose to get Gelato's after dinner but every1 was very very tired and full not to mention so Gelato's would have to wait.

~End Of Day 2~



DAY 3

So day 3, our last day in Rome. Day 3 Fr Julian joined us again as he had a few more places to take us to. Our journey this time in Rome was pretty religious, but in a very very good way. We learned and saw so much about the churches past. Like on day 2, in St. Peter's Basillica, we saw the tomb of St. Peter, the tomb of the late Pope John Paul the 2nd and other popes before him. Day 3 was even better i would say. Father came by our place at about 9am and our first destination was the churhc of St John Letheran(not sure of the spelling). This church is considered the mother of all church and is like the main church. Dont know why, just is. After that we went to the Holy Steps. The holy steps is the place where Jesus was judged by pilot back in the days and the steps can only be climbed by kneeling. There is a church over it now, at the top of the stairs there is a painting of Jesus apparently painted by an angel. There are a lot of sacred relics in Rome and also a lot on controversy. Like Fr Julian was telling us there are like 4 heads of John the Baptist all over Rome. hahaha....anyways after the holy step we headed to a church called Mary Major. The relic in this church is the picture of Mother Mary painted by St. Luke. Other than that its like any other church in Rome. BIG, FILLED WITH PAINTINGS and AWESOME....=)..... in this church there are a few relics. First, the nail that was used in Jesus's cruxifiction. The thors on his crown. Part of the cross of the good theif and also part of Jesus's very cross. There was also a copy of the shroud of turin. So as usual it was walking walking n walking for us for 3 days. We had lunch with Fr Julian before leaving for the airport and that was the end of day 3.


As of now i'm in the Helsinki Airport and its 2.17am here. The pictures and videos i would upload some other time. Hopefully there will be internet connection in the cottage (keeping fingers crossed). So thats all from me for now. Will try to update you folks as often as possible. Thanks for reading....CHEERS!!!!


ps - missing you crazy bunch of ppl back there. lotsa love from the lims....from Finland...=)

A Place Called Kachau

If you read my previous post i mentioned about an event in Kacau. Well i found out that their Kacau is spelled as KacHau, its with a H and its an orang asli settlement deep in the jungles of semenyih. If you find yourself saying "where the hell am i" you might have strayed away from civilisation and ended up in Kachau... hahaha....Kachau is a real place btw (2° 59' 0" North, 101° 52' 0" East ) hahaha...go google it.

So on Sunday, the youth of HFC set out on a journey into the unknown (literally) to spread the joy and spirit of X'mas to the ORIGINAL natives of this land. We were suppose to leave at 9 am but as usual our Malaysian spirits only allowed us to leave for Kachau at approx. 10am. We car pooled as that is the only mode of transport into such a remote area. It is impossible for buses to even access the areas. The other options were : Motorcycle, Walk or Sampan.

I brought 4 dudes including my brother to Kachau Dalam and yes it was FREAKING DALAM. Dalam mana I pun tak tau. Thankfully i was driving my X-trail the pot holes in the so called 'road' were not much of an obstacle to me. BUUUUUUTTTTTTT, alex's car suffered terribly. He was literally CRAWLING his way into Kachau Dalam. hahaha...i feel your pain man...While i brought the form fours into Kachau Dalam. The other group of youths headed to Kachau. (there are 2 settlements - 1)Kachau and 2) Kachau Dalam ) So after me and alex dropped them off in Kachau Dalam, both of us headed to Kachau to join the older youths. =). According to Kenny "After u pass the guard house just go straight n stick left". So we looked out for a guard house but seriously we were picturing in our minds what kind of guard house would be in the middle of no where and why.

Alex:"ehh dude, u think the guard house is just a shed ah"

Mark:"dont know la dei, this area also need guard house ah?"

Alex:"yeah la, so weird right, ehh ehh look guard house, but its the NS camp one"

Mark:=.=

continues driving.....

Mark:"ahh there a guard house"

Alex:"wahh not bad ah in the middle of no where also got guard house"

We found out that, the orang asal (they prefer being called that...dont know why) in Kachau were actually staying in a farm like place where they cultivate flowers before being sold to nurseries. They live in squatter like homes and have this community hall where we gathered. Once inside this area the both of us thought ok la kau tim d sure can find the place...but can get lost also...=.= ...Eventually we manage to find the place la hahaha...But(i notice i got a lot of buts in my post hahaha) before we reached the community hall, alex and i was just sayin....

Alex:" my gosh dude..... this place so ulu the last thing we going to find is astro here.
Mark:" yeah man"

yes that is an Astro dish...and yes it was in Kachau...

The astro people actually manage to find this place hahaha...salute them la seriously...Best part is we dont even have phone signal but astro signal can get...=.=....The activities started d by the time we got there. The whole day we were basically playing with the kids there. N i tell u....if u think babysitting city kids are bad. These ppl have 3 times more energy than them city kids and 10 times crazier. However, they are really nice kids hahaha. Alfred bribes them with ice cream and junk food. Trivial you say....trust me those items are heavenly items to these kids. The best part was when we started singing x'mas carols. These kids were in the middle cos the helpers formed a circle around them and the moment the music started these kids started a MOSH PIT...i am not kidding...they were moshing like nobodies business k. Until fall down la get stepped on la. They just stood up tidy themselves a little and then it was back to MOSHING....hahaha....WE got scared but the kids seemed totally oblivious to the danger hahaha.

Oh i nearly forgotten, before we actually sang there were speeches by the batin's right hand man I think...hahaha a batin is the leader of the kampung. After the dude's speech he sang a song which i could barely hear and only consisted of three notes. NO JOKE. but but....the instrument used was simplicity at its best. Watch the video and you'll know what i'm talkin about. ( you have to watch the video first before reading on )

I actually have 3 videos of them playing and singing, but they are pretty boring. I think the lady was tryin to play the whole tune herself but eventually she gave the other 2 kayus to the other lady. hahaha....the kayu they use looks exactly like the one i would use to WOLAP wild dogs and will only make one sound. (dog screams at the top of its lungs) I dont know what the instrument is called but like i said...its like a piano drum thingy put together. hahaha. So the ladies in the videos are called?? piamer?? drumno?? or just orang asal playing their traditional instruments??
Well after singin and jumping and marching for ice cream...yes marching for ice cream...it was lunch time d an alfred was like Hitler preparing his army for war...hahaha...example....

Alfred: Siapa mau AYAM!!!!

Org Asal Kids: SAYA!!!

Alfred: Siapa mau NASI!!!

Org Asal Kids: SAYA!!!

Alfred: Siapa mau TANDAS!!!

Org Asal Kids: SAYA!!! (this part seriously happend...hahaha)

he had to do things like that to keep them busy and distracted while the rest of us get the food from the van...imagine 20 kids shouting at the top of their lungs with their shrill voices SAYA!!! SAYA!!! SAYA!!! As the youth were serving lunch, a man from the village spoke to Ann telling her that its been a while since they had a FEAST like this...and i tell you if i give u eat the food we ate you wouldn't call it a FEAST. It was just fried rice, bee hon with EXTRA SALT (dont know why so salty...think the price of salt went down so the catering aunty gave more), fried chicken, sausages, crabsticks, fish ball, watermelon and orang juice. The orang asal finished the rice and you could see them TA PAUING the fried chicken and the other process food. It was like gold to them and i think they felt it was a waste finishing it all there n then. During lunch time, we also had people from dont know where suddenly appearing hahaha...but i dont blame them la huh...

waiting to serve lunch...

Apart from that nothing else major happened at Kachau, as for Kachau Dalam. You would think that the people there are more ULU or more behind time. In fact, alex and i thought the same. When we joined the other group there later in the day, we were wrong. The people in Kachau were poorer and looked more behind time then those in Kachau Dalam. Even the kids in Kachau Dalam were more "civilised" i would say. But hey i prefered the kids in Kachau, they were very very interesting...hehehe...in a good way of course.

My initial plan was to put all 3 events into 1 post but i guess thats not going to happen hahaha...i shall break them down into 2 different post. So thanks for reading, if next time you wanna come with the HFC youth and help out just ask we wont reject and extra pair of hands...=)....(if we're going again...hahaha) Cheers!!!!

before leaving for KACHAU

briefing

sam and shaun

nicholas yuen...one of my passengers...
he so shy so i purposely take pic of him *evil laugh*

vivian and the entourage of cars

the other half of the entourage of cars




the community hall



Ann and a few orang asal kids
and the chinese speaking youth



Alex, Vivian, Pam, Elena, Justin and orang asal kids



the dude giving speech (he is not the batin thou)

X'mas Party

Ok so its the 13th of Dec my family are finally back from malacca and we had a small x'mas party at our place since we wont be around during x'mas. (this is a continuation from the previous post) So after sending manda, fred and sher to metro i got back home n slept till 4pm hahaha. Then went for sunset mass cos 2mr morning we leaving for Kacau (dont know if thats how you spell it) in the morning for the orang asli event. Kacau is a place in semenyih and its a orang asli settlement. I will blog about that tomorrow night and give you guys more details la huh. Mass was ok laaa, John Gomez (lead singer of After Class Stories) cantored today and have to say not bad la john for ur first go hahaha. [FYI - members of After Class Stories are all Catholics.]

After mass it was party time althought its just a small and simple one I had fun la. Laughing and interrogating daniel and bibi hahaha. *whispers* Hope we didn't scare them too much *whispers*. Also 2 significant events took place tonite hahaha...since Sandy and Glynn officially finished high school d we decided to introduce alcohol to them hahaha....(dont worry it was for educational purposes hahaha). Glynn came late so Sandy was first. Gave her try Kahlua with milk i personally like it and most of the choir members do too so it would be a good way to start = - ). [pls watch following video]

Then It was Glynn's turn, but the video is with fred so too bad, dont worry dom i mixed for ur sis with more coke in it ; - ) hahaha. Another thing i have to talk about is how Ann finished her Kahlua from the bottle itself...=)....

There wasn't much Kahlua left so ann n i just decided to drink it from the bottle la huh. Anyways that basically sumed up the night.

Ann

Listening to Reuben



Reuben telling story



Since Daniel was so shy Reu 'helped' him tell us their story...=)

dinner time

(disclaimer~no1 went home drunk tonite...not that i know of...hehehe)