When in Doubt, Trust your instinct .

I love doing random , impulsive things . Really , I do . When you do an impulsive stuff , the adrenaline surge that comes from those sudden decisions are unbelievably exciting . In my life so far , in all the times I did something random and impulsive ( no matter how stupid , selfish and devoid of rational or logical thoughts ) most of the time , I never regret doing them . In fact , more often than not , they turned out to be very fulfilling experiences in the end . Today's journey doesn't disappoint either .

***

I woke up to at 9.00 am to a clear , blue sky , without any idea or plans for today at all . The stark contrast between the crystal clear sky and the humid, cooling atmosphere forces me to choose between waking up to reality , or shut the curtain and continue indulging in my sweet dreams , accompanied by the cool weathers . In the end , the glaring sunlight won me over . I had too much sleep already anyway .

Though it seems like another nice day ( it finally stopped raining ! ) , my heart was still troubled with some annoying problems . The root of this problem started two days before this . Two days ago , I went to a Leadership / Service Workshop at National Community Leadership Institute ( NACLI ) as a part of the program organized by my Temasek Foundation (TF LeaRN) scholarship , that was responsible for making my exchange to Singapore possible .

While it was a nice experience being in a 2 days / 1 night workshop , there are some inconveniences that we have to live with , the major one being difficulties to wi-fi access . However , at that time , I thought that it wasn't a major problem as what harm can 2 days without Internet connection do right ? Wrong ! Dead Wrong ! 

Life have a strange way of trolling people . When I was with my internet connection 24/7 and having the luxury of checking e-mails and keeping in touch with others most of the time , nothing important that requires internet happened . Right when I did not have that connection for just a night , a very important e-mail came . 

The truth is , for the past few weeks , I have been eyeing for the internship position at Microsoft Malaysia / Singapore and thus have applied for them both . Although I did not have the opportunity to work with the Singapore branch , I was still waiting for answers from the Malaysia counterpart . They did not reply me for the past few weeks , until the day that I did not have my Internet connection .

Long story cut short , apparently , I was lucky enough to be selected for an assessment event in KL , but UNFORTUNATELY , I was also unlucky enough to miss that event because I was unable to read that email until when I came back from the workshop and have access to internet . By then , it's already too late , as it was like around 1 hour left till the event in KL , and I am still in my hostel here in NUS . 

Ray of hope

However , it seems that fate has another thing in store for me . As I always believe , if anyone really wanted something very badly , somehow , the universe will conspire to grant him/her their wish . And indeed , there seems to be some glimpse of hope left for me . As one of my seniors were working for Microsoft already , I consulted him and he told me that there's a same assessment event going on today ( 27/2/2013  ) . However , I have to bear in mind that I wasn't invited for this event , so I need to confirm with the authorities concerned . 

So , I tried various ways of contacting the people in charge ( spamming by emails , calls , messages ) , but to no avail as none of my attempts were responded . Finally , the day of judgement came , today ! 

Question : 
What will you do if you have no confirmation , invitation or any form of acknowledgement whatsoever but you just know that there's this important assessment interview that will be going on this particular venue , and you know that if somehow you got the job , your life will change , forever ?

***

At this point , I was still being very hesitant . I checked up on the net and consulted my   friends who are studying in Johor ( THANKS ZHAO WEI ! ) and  found out that a bus ride to Johor from Singapore would only take 1 hour       ( factoring a moderate traffic condition ) . But , obviously , it wouldn't be only 1 hour if I take into account the travel time needed to go from my campus to the bus interchange station and hundred other complications that might occur .

First of all , being the realist I was , I have to consider the worst case scenario and weigh in the pros and cons . Given the bad reputation of safety and other negative images that Malaysia have been portraying , it is a bit intimidating even for locals like me to go there alone . What if I got robbed in the journey to or fro there ? What if I lost my passport ? What if I cannot find the way there ? And the thousand what ifs fears continue to cloud my mind . 

Nevertheless , all of those are mere possibilities . Though ,I was still safe and sound after coming back from there , but at that time , possibilities made it hard to make a decision . So , I was sitting in front of laptop , still waiting for a reply from the person in charge or any signs or indications from higher authorities in the universe to give me . It was quickly approaching 12 noon . Decisions have to be made . And then the sign arrived . I told one of my friend ( THANKS BOON SIONG :D ) about my case , and he said something of this line : " Ai yo , you only live once ma , why so scared ? Try la , no harm ! "  

This , coupled with the "gao bin pui" ( Thick face or shameless in hokkien ) and YOLO advice by my other friend , I mustered the courage to act and Hola , I decided to go there ,without ever being there before , not knowing how to go there ( I just have some instructions from then net and my friend ) , not knowing where exactly is the place located ( Johor is a really big state in Malaysia , and the place I am going to isn't exactly the easiest place to find ) , and the biggest question of all , not even knowing whether or not the people there will allow me to go in for turning up uninvited .

***

The whole journey turned out to be one of the best , most liberating journey I ever had in my life . Not only was I accepted for the assessment interview event ,  I had the pleasure of meeting a few great people along the journey . On the way from Singapore to Johor , I met a good , middle-aged working man who was more than willing to guide me to into Johor , since he was coincidentally going back to Johor too . When you put two Malaysians together , chances are , you will most likely get an interesting conversation regarding the political bickerings and the effectiveness of the government ( more like condemning all the mistakes and irresponsible actions of the government and discussion about how bleak the future of Malaysians will be in the future ) . I had fun hearing perspectives from someone who have moved on to the greener pasture at the other side . According to him , almost 20% of the Malaysia workforce are working in Singapore , and obviously , the number is not gonna decrease any time soon . 

Being in a foreign place without knowing any people nearby is scary , much more so if you're alone . Usually , being the stingy guy that I am , I wouldn't even bother with the taxis . This coupled with the really bad haggling reputation of Malaysian taxi drivers , I have decided earlier not to take any cab . However , with the lack of time and inability to discern directions in a foreign place being the problem , I have no choice but to turn to the taxi drivers ( the one with vouchers , where I only have to pay a fixed , flat rate , so it will be safer ) . It was quite an expensive ride , but I guess it was worth it in the end , since the place I was supposed to go to ( University Technology Malaysia ) , is really huge ( I later found out that it's the 2nd largest local university in Malaysia ) and I would definitely die walking or getting lost should I try to walk and find the place . 

Taking the taxi there made me realize that some of the taxi drivers will actually go for an extra mile for you , granted that you speak to them in local dialect ( The taxi driver was so happy when I spoke to him in BM and he continued to talk to me the entire 30 minutes about his life, when we reached the university , he went the extra mile to fetch me to the particular venue instead of only leaving me at the main gate , which is what he can do , given that the destination only specifies the University and not the faculty inside the university ) . However , the same could not be said for their attitudes towards foreigners . I saw first hand , how some of the taxi drivers try to coerce the foreigners into hiring two taxis because of their big luggage bags .

Finally in the end , I managed to get to that particular venue and successfully participated in the assessment event . Along the way , some kind souls volunteered to guide me to the venue in fear of me getting lost in that awful big campus . And it turns out that RM 30 taxi fare was worth it too , as I end up hitchhiking back on the interviewer's car ( Talk about how shameless one can get ! But ya , I was really desperate and the interviewers are freaking awesome ! ) .

The super cool intern team of Microsoft MACH , POWER TEAM :D

The kind soul ( riding the motor ) who was willing to guide me to the particular venue even though he could just offer me directions . Thank God for Good people !

I guess I have to say that , I am really LUCKY after all . Somehow , I made it back safe and sound . I went to somewhere completely foreign to me , not knowing what to expect , alone and somehow I ended up coming back with a very fantastic experience ! I guess the lesson here is to believe in your instinct when reasoning fails :) Obviously , doing something without putting any thoughts in it is stupid . However , sometimes , even with all the calculations and reasoning justifying some action , they can only take you so far . Often , the best results often come with the course of action that came from your natural instincts . Therefore , I would say , hone your instincts , and trust them , for they can take you to unimaginably , exciting places . Don't always be bounded by rules and regulations , confined within an imaginary box of logical and rationality , there are always alternatives to something , as the proverbial think out of the box suggests . 

May all of you have the courage and opportunity to do something impulsive , and hopefully they turned out to be great too :) All the best , people ! :) 

* Thank Lord for Good People ! To all the kind souls today that helped me , may all of you be blessed with abundant bundle of joy , happiness and prosperity ! Keep on doing those random act of kindness , you guys rocks ! *

Microsoft's USB Hub Gift :D

Level 5000 Monster Master Module

The freshness of the morning breeze , the gentle light of the sun , it's a new morning , a new beginning once again . I had a nice surprise when I found out that Chinese Fried Rice + Hash brown are being served from the Asian Corner of the Dining Hall this morning , a usual deviation from the normal noodles + veges set . A few hours later , after attending an awesome philosophy lecture and having a fantastic meal of Katsu Curry Chicken Rice  + Honey Lemon Tea for lunch , it seems like the most wonderful day of my life . Everything is perfect. 

Heaven in disguise . 

However , things weren't like that for the past few days . In retrospect , the past few days have been an emotional roller coaster trip to hell back and forth for quite some time . " Dude, you are abusing the term emotional roller coaster ! You're using it way too muchh, SF ! " , you whined . Yes , I admit that , but I just can't help it . My life is really full of those roller coaster trips . Nothing just seems to stay still . Anyway , back to the story . Past few days have seen me burning midnight oils ( the Singaporeans call it mugging here ) , studying things way past my normal level of comprehension , struggling to understand things that are very complicated and abstract .





Why , you might ask ? It wasn't the noble reason of wanting to learn more , attaining knowledge and etc . Neither was it because I am competitive and adapting to the 'kiasu' ( not willing to lose to others ) spirit much practiced in Singapore . And obviously it wasn't for the purpose of killing time ( studying would only be high in my priority list if I am having insomnia and trying to find a way to sleep ) . SO WHY in hell am I doing it ? The reason is simple . For the sole purpose of solving one damn assignment .

And it's no normal assignment I assure you , for even after nights of mugging and consulting Dr Google , I STILL HAVE NO IDEA about how to even start doing it at all ! And desperate times calls for desperate needs . This is when networking ( people networking ) comes in handy . I had to reach out with some masters students in my faculty here to ask for help . But it was awkward. Super awkward . Imagine going to someone you never talked to before and weren't close to at all and say " Help please ? " . Of course , the actual situation wasn't as dramatic as this but well , close enough I guess.

And that's when I realized it . After looking at the assignment question , he started scratching his head and with a puzzled look , inquired me " Hmm.. aren't you an undergrad  ? " , to which I said yes . After that it hit me . He told me that this module I am taking , CS5321 to be precise , is a module that are meant for masters or phd students . I was stunned , stoned even . Apparently , the first number on the left ( 5 in this case ) indicates the level of difficulty of the module , and this is a level 5000 module , which are taken only by masters and phd students . Subsequently , I inquired further and consulted with other local students , and all of them said the same thing  : Level 5000 modules have like 90% failing rates , even for masters and phd students . Their responses upon learning that I am taking it ? " Extremely Insane " , " Crazy la you " , " Suicide case " , " CONFIRM FAIL WAN LA " and of course , the ever so popular " LOL " . Yes folks , it's crazy , a level 5000 mod , with an extremely high failing rate , difficult even for masters and phd students , and  I , me , a mere undergrad is challenging it and hoping to get at least B ( for the sake of maintaining the scholarship ) . Nuts.

I was offered a few advice from various people. But most of them fall in between these two categories , I could either " Challenge the status quo and be the genius who scores " or " Drop the module and get another one " . I chose the latter . In a way , I am running away from this and I am not afraid of admitting it . I know that if I chose to stay and challenge it . I might actually be one of those rare genius and succeed , subsequently being much more wiser and stronger after this episode . But I know myself well enough to know that I would be put under tremendous stress and pressure , with only a slight chance of succeeding . I hated that . I have never been the studious type and I believe that there's a limit in pushing yourself to be what you are not . I trust that should I continue to challenge it , inevitably I would fail and end up falling deeper into the pit of darkness and embarrassment . Thus , I ran . And it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.

***
The first thing I did immediately was to check for a new module to enroll in , because there's a minimum of 3 modules that I need to take , and if I were to drop the module , I would only have 2 modules left. And it wasn't an easy decision . Since this is already week 6 , enrolling in a new module now would mean that I have already skipped 5 weeks of lecture and need to catch up . But I thought , what the heck , it's much better than having a guaranteed fail right ? I remember there was this module called Introduction to Philosophy that caught my attention last time , recommended by a friend.

So , I chose that module. Nevertheless , it wasn't so easy once more . It's not like if I wanted this module , I could easily add it , no . Seeing that it's already week 6 , I need to find the lecturer in charge , have him/her endorse my enrollment and pass it to the departments concerned.  Now , at this point of time , I was frankly , quite desperate , nervous , and scared altogether . The fear of failing and having to pay back the scholarship was slowly swallowing me up whole . So , I did the craziest thing ever.

Now , usually when it comes to formal application like this , the standard textbook procedure calls for a proper appointment with the lecturers concerned through email , and then consultation with department heads , then only handing in of the applications to the Registrar's Office . However , as I mentioned , I was quite desperate , so I skipped all the proper procedures and just went straight to the lecturer's office after looking up his office address . 

It was so exhilarating ! Bloods are rushing to my head , my heart skipping a beat or two , and adrenaline are no doubt , pumping . As I knocked on the door of the lecturer's office , knowing nothing about him at all , thousand thoughts raced through my mind . What if he thinks I am rude ? What if he rejects me ? What ifs .. There are so many what ifs . The only emotions that I had at that point of time were trepidation and anxiety of not knowing what to expect .

Suddenly , a light baritone voice replied " Yes ? Who's there ? " . I replied with a slight quiver in my voice " Prof.. Prof Michael Pelczar ? Can I come in ? " . " Yes " comes the stern and confident reply . And there he was , an unassuming and confident looking figure , a middle-aged man sitting comfortably on his chair staring at me with a piercing glance . I was still very nervous and with whatever courage I could muster , blurted out my predicament in a stuttered manner , with a lot of urms and ehh in between the pauses . It was miracle he managed to understand me .

One of the coolest , steadiest lecturer in NUS ! 

After the entire awkward situation , he let out a hearty laugh and told me that it's okay , he will endorse my application and do something about the past lectures that I missed . It was so amazingly surreal . Normally , you would expect a lecturer , a PHD Doctorate holder , a person at that stature to be more .. how should I put it , formality conscious ? more suspicious or even doubtful and not endorse something so easily . But he , he just laughs it off and say something that goes along this line " Sounds like you are having quite a lot of trouble there . This is a bit of an awkward situation but alright , I will endorse this application first and we will see what we can do with the past few lessons that you missed " . If angels do exist , he must be one of them in disguise . 

At that point , I kept on repeating in my mind these words " Thank Lord for Good people ! " . And with that , I am officially enrolled in his lecture of Intro of Philosophy , which is an amazingly thought-provoking course in its own right , coupled with this exuberant and charismatic lecturer , there was no doubt in my mind that I made the correct choice ! 

The heaviness and stress of studying something that you are not that passionate on , complicated beyond your level being replaced by inquisitiveness and eagerness to learn something new that you are interested is. That experience is priceless . Also ,this whole episode has just strongly reinforced my belief that if you truly wants something very badly , somehow , someway , the universe will conspire to help you achieve it , GRANTED that you actually go out and reach for it of course ! :D . Nevertheless , it was still just a new beginning and there are bounds to be more obstacles and challenges ( as well as more emotional roller coasters I guess ) that will be present in the near future as well . But for now , I am just glad and grateful I survived this episode . Hopefully , it can only get better from now on . Wish me luck , peeps ! 

Of Steve Jobs , Amway and Seniors

These past few days have been another huge emotional roller-coaster ride for me . I expected that much . The initial high of reaching a new foreign country with a lot of expectations , led by outburst of tears due to the realization that my life is never gonna be the same again after this ( I will not be able to stay with my same roommate , living in the same hostel with other friends and  attend classes with my present coursemates ) , subsequently followed by the mundane routines after finally settling in . It has been one hell of a ride out of my comfort zone , that's for sure . 

But then again , isn't that what I asked for at the first place ? 

***
In the recent days , after finally settling in NUS , another train of thoughts began to arrive . 
Great , now I am in most prestigious university in Singapore , now what ? 

I always believed that if you want something so badly , the universe will conspire to make it happen . And of course there's a quote that tells you to be careful of what you wish for . This is the best case in point that proves my belief . I used to think that if given a few months of solitary life , with me fixing my own schedules and timetable for at least 3 months or so , catering the schedule to my whimsical demands to be as productive as possible ( Think back of the old school timetable that every hour is filled with a subject , e.g 10 am to 12 am : Maths , and so forth , replace those subjects with the things that you want to learn ) , and adhering to that strict schedule , I could achieve ANYTHING . So , I asked for that freedom of time and space . And I got exactly what I wanted .

Well , not really that perfect . The fact is , I still need to allocate time for my studies , which isn't too bad because I was partly still interested in the subjects I am taking . Nevertheless , besides my schooling days and having the need to complete tutorials , assignments and studying for exam , I still have a lot of time left , I reckon . So what do I did with those freedom of space and time ?

First of all , readings . A lot of readings . I am not really a studious type by nature , but I am really interested in non-fiction books , especially biography books about successful person or books that offer personal and practical insights that will help in my self-improvement journey . On that note , I would like to highlight that the Central Library in NUS is such a amazing treasure trove of knowledge . They have all the most fantastic books that you won't expect to find in conventional Library . Case in point : Steve Job's autobiography by Walter Isaacson ! I literally wanted to scream when I saw it in the library . Immediately , I borrowed it without hesitation and found out that even us , the exchange students are allowed to borrowed up to a maximum of 20 books , and we can literally borrow them forever ( provided that we keep renewing them and no one reserved the books ) . 

The whole experience was fantastic , and this book was a good read for sure . Turning into such books for my entertainment , I found great joy in partially living Jobs life through Isaacson's narrative . After reading it , a lot of thoughts raced through my mind . While I enjoyed the charismatic salesman side of him and also his infectious passion in getting things done , his way , I am not really a fan of his fastidious personality , especially when it concerns an trivial matter such as the colours of machines in his factory . Jobs' reality distortion field especially is a very noteworthy ability that is a recurrent theme that contributed to his stellar achievements . And then there's his binary mentality where everyone is either a hero , or a bozo ( US slang for someone stupid . or in Steve's word , piece of shit ) . 



In reading this book , there are times where I would really feel he's a jerk , and there are times where I would unceremoniously be blown away by what he did .However , after finishing this book , no matter how much you read about his misdeeds and his jerkish attitude , there's no way anyone can deny that Steve Job has indeed leaved a lasting legacy and in his own words , has " put a dent in the universe" . It's an amazing journey and I am deeply touched by his life story . I can't help but to ponder and draw comparisons between our lives . He achieved his first millions around my age , and has been able to live out his dreams and stay true to it throughout his entire life . What am I doing ? or a more abstract question would be , what are we doing with our lives ?

This leads us to the second thing that I have been doing of late : day dreaming . It's in most people's nature to day dream , to ponder and wonder about everything under the sun when given the time and space to do so . I happened to be one of those people . With the newly acquired freedom of time ( only 2 schooling days per week ) and space ( each of us live in a single room in our hostel )  , the more imaginative and creative side of me took over whenever possible and I indulged in my dreams , ambitions and all sorts of imagination possible. Reading books like the above mentioned ones just served to intensify and flourishes those thoughts . I would be thinking of how to leave my own mark in this world , how I would be able create my own reality distortion field,  and many more silly and too embarrassing things to be mentioned in this blog .

But I relishes every second , every moment spent in this solitary confine in between four corners of the room . The solitary moments spent here gave me ample time to reflect , to learn , and ultimately improve myself to reach a greater height . In the previous posts , I have posted before about the power of introvert . And I strongly believe that only when an introvert's alone , he is at the peak of his creativity and learning capability . Yet, sometimes I would be itching to use those extra time to go out and work , earn some money and hopefully learn something .

This brings us to my first foray into business in Singapore ( sort of ) . I was introduced to this business by one of my good seniors back in my home university . He was telling me about this great business opportunity and he has a partner in Singapore that is eager to meet me to explain about this business . I asked him is it multi-level marketing (mlm) ? To be more specific , I asked if it was Amway . He did not reply me but merely hinted that it was a nice opportunity . Oh well , when facts and figures failed , I guess you just have to rely on trust . Trust I did . Being the opportunist that I am , and tempted by the prospect of earning some part time income ( in singapore dollar , no less ) , I went for it.

And it turned out to be Amway , or more specifically Amway Global . The moment that supposedly very successful businesswoman started dishing out the standard operating procedure (sop) , I knew it straight away that it was a mlm . For the uninitiated , the sop of mlm basically goes something like this : 
1) They ask you about your dream , coaxing you to think about the prospect of having your   
     dreams fulfilled , without trading your precious time for money 
2) They tell you the "reality" of the working environment now , harsh ,retrenchment , insecurity , 
     etc 
3) They tell you to imagine how their mlm can help you , by introducing you the concept of 
     passive income , buying from your own stores.. and etc. 

Or something similar . You see , the less adept mlm salesman sells products , while the more capable , adroit ones sell dreams . More often than not , the salesman that sells dreams and knows how to manipulate the mindset of the customers are the one that are successful.

Even I was nearly coaxed into their trap . But then again , I wouldn't say that mlm is a scam too . In fact , I myself have been a mlm marketer , an Amway distributor in the past  . I was first introduced about this mlm concept back in 2010 by a distant friend . Eversince then , I knew it wouldn't work for me , not at this age at least .

You see , in order to succeed in a multi-level marketing business  , which works like a pyramid scheme , you have to achieve either one of these 2 things :
1) Be on top of the pyramid , i.e be one of the early pioneers
2) Get a lot of downlines that will continuously fund your income.

No matter how much they sugarcoat and disguise the mlm as a "beautiful" business , and telling people that they are doing a "noble" job to educate people to buy from their own stores ( amway case ) , the reality is this : This is a business , and a business's core function is to be profitable . There could never be a win-win situation , where everyone profits and the company itself is hemorrhaging money . No , this is a business . So , this being the case , what are the sources of revenues for mlm then ? In the case of Amway , their main source of revenues are the weekly seminars , meetings , and monthly gathering of all hardcore pro-Amway supporters in a luxurious venue , showcasing all the already successful pioneers . 

In fact , I was really shocked by the cult-like status that Amway have gained with their brainwashed zombies lookalike supporters when I first attend an Amway meeting . An even more surprising fact is that there are highly educated people such as doctors , lawyers and other trained professionals supporting this business . I can only conclude two things based on this observation , people who are doing Amway are either one of these two types :

1) Naive , young people who have been brainwashed to genuinely believe that MLM type of 
    business is the best business to "help" liberate others and themselves from their suffering  
    and dependency of money .
2) Realistic business people who have no concerns for their conscience or guilt feelings 
    whatsoever who are willing to preach the wrong things and coax them into joining the 
    business and continuously "maintain" them to fund their living .

Don't get me wrong . I am not condemning the mlm or saying that it's a scam or anything . It's a real , legal business alright , and one that can return a handsome profit if being done correctly too . However , I would just like to point out the fact that a business is a business , and mlm is a business of coaxing people into paying for your living . No doubt some Amway products are nice and of great quality . If you're a great fan of its products , it's perfectly fine to buy them and use them for your own sake . However , it is when someone started selling this idea to others and coax them into taking money out to buy those audio cds , books , attending seminars  , meetings and etc , all that under the false pretext of "helping them" , that is when things get ugly . Personally , I find it disgusting and sickening . The true nature of this business is after all getting people below you ( downlines ) to pay for your lifestyle . Otherwise , how will the money come about ? 

The "motivational" cds , books , seminars , meetings and other miscellaneous events are merely clever marketing gimmicks which are meant to take the money out of your pocket and put it into theirs.  Personally , I feel that if you truly wanted advice and motivations , you can just find them in the web , or go confide with a close friend or so . You don't really have to waste money attending talks to "empower" you temporarily . Oh well , but that's my opinion anyway.

In one of the lectures that I have attended lately , my lecturer pointed out a very important point in doing business , that is , we have to understand that everybody have different operating ranges . For example , one person who is ideal for managing small start-up companies may not be ideal in being the CEO of a multi national company . Similarly , someone who is already born to be self-motivated might not understand why people needs to attend talks to be motivated .

On a separate note , there are some silver linings behind the cloud . If it wasn't for this business proposal , I wouldn't possibly be meeting a direct senior of mine ( senior who already graduated from the same university who took the same course as me last time ) who are working in Singapore now . And this meeting would be the trigger of a chain of events that will lead to me having a kick start of fulfilling one of my dream of interning in a multinational company here . 

Dang , I love good people . I love great seniors . Ultimately , I love how life seems to already have a good plan for me , just waiting for me to really set my mind on it and shows me the road that I am supposed to walk on . In a way , I am crafting my own future , by passionately wishing for what I want . That being said , I am loving every single moment of my life now , and I have no doubts that it would only be better . For now , I can only keep on waiting and wishing that my dreams and ambitions will be fulfilled , and the universe will do the rest , I guess ?

Here's to a brighter , better future . Oh yeah , to all of you beloved readers , Happy Chinese New Year in advance ! Gong Xi Fa Cai , Hong Pao Na lai * give me your red packets ! hehe * ! Here's a fancy video to brighten your day :) Thank Lord for good people . :)

My NUS journey

I woke up early to the sound of the pouring rain . It was 7 am in the morning , and I was supposed to have breakfast provided by the compulsory meal plan here . The night before , after I have come to terms with my home sickness , I have decided to wake up early today and have the breakfast . But , it was raining . So , I did what most average people in their right mind would do : Go back to sleep . 

***

The next time I woke up , it's already 12 pm . It's amazing how fast time could pass by when you sleep . It's almost like a time-travelling tool , to the future . Just one nap and bang , 5 hours gone , just like that ! I raised the curtain up the window and looked outside .

The view from my window.

The view across my window is yet another condominium-like hostel , complete with balcony that was filled with a barbell set , a coffee table and other miscellaneous equipment . This wasn't the standard of living you would expect an university student would have , though my friends told me that it might be a professor's house or a married couple's apartment .Such is the luxury of accommodation that they offer here.  Of course , the price does not come cheap . I am staying in a single bedroom apartment that costs around $500 per month .. in that respect , one can only imagine what would the cost of the apartment , fully furnished , and come equipped with balcony would be . * $hudder$*

Since it was a weekend , and I haven't officially started my schooling term yet , I decided to explore nus by walking around the campus .The love of walking and exploring new places was ingrained in me since young . Since walking is the  most ancient means of transportation from one place to another , and also since it's the most cost effective one ( i.e FREE ) , I love it . It would be the best way to explore and get to know every nook and cranny of NUS. Though , life seems to always has a way of messing up with my schedules , and this time it did it by raining , again . Still I was obstinately persistent . So, I went out , with an umbrella and still by walking . 

Inevitably , the atmosphere was anything but comfortable , walking on a rainy day on a muddy road , where splashes of waters bouncing off the floor would hit your leg as you walk . In retrospect , it was my fault because I was wearing a short pants with a slipper rather than long pants and covered shoes . Oh well ...

***
Anyhow , here's a summary of what I have found out in NUS after a 2 days of exploring it.

First thing's first . Singapore is a super modern country . Seriously , the technology that the normal people are using here is way more advanced in Malaysia . However,  I got no complaints for that because it made my life a whole lot easier and convenient . 

Tap the room card to the little sensor device below the door knob to open your doors .  It's time to throw away your keys people !

 From top to bottom : Room Card , Student Card , Bus Card

Case in point : Access to nearly every facilities here is granted by using a card . Here , I don't even have to bring any keys out because the cards act as key to everything . You want to borrow a book in library ? Use the card . Want to get some food in the dining hall , use the card . Want to go in your room ? Use the card . In fact , this room door key replacement concept is so abstract to me that I have no idea how to go in my room the first time !

Next, the lighting system in my residential colleges uses a smart motion sensor to detect any movements of people. It will only light up if there are people nearby , otherwise it will always be switched off . Cool huh ?

Also , they have a vending machine for nearly everything that you could think of . Even electricity !

The Central Library .

Photo credit to Soon Vin

Equipped with nice , soft-tone lighting and state of the art facilities . This library in NUS here looks and feels comfortable . They provide a lot of books here ( obviously , duh ! ) as well as study rooms and computers with internet access . Kind of the same with the one in my home university , except that it just looks so much nicer and modern .

Photo Credit to Soon Vin.

I was amazed that even a non- graduating exchange student like me could borrow up to 20 books . And there's quite great amount of fictions , academics and non-fictions book which can never be found in my home university library I guess . I borrowed Steve Job's biography by Walter Isaacson ! :D






One of the convenient tool here is this Library Book Drop point . You can find this book drop point available in many place strategically placed around the campus as to ease the return of a borrowed library book . All you have to do is just place the books that you wanted to return to the nearest Book Drop point near you and that's it ! You don't have to purposely go to the Central Library every time to return books . Convenient huh ?

Food

Another thing I notice here is it will be hard to find any traditional hawker centers ( imagine sitting nearby a tree , in an open air environment, without the comfort of air-cond , replaced instead by only the breeze of natural wind , waiting for your hot steaming meals to be served by the waiter ) . In Singapore, they are increasingly being replaced by food courts, which are indoor, air conditioned versions of hawker centres located in shopping malls and other commercial venues. In NUS , you don't have to worry about food as there are many choices of food ranging from Western, Chinese , Indian, Japanese , Vietnamese , Korean , Japanese and many more type of cuisines . 

My Hostel's Dining Hall . 

I was lucky that the Residential College that I stayed in provide a compulsory meal plan that gives me the choice of meal between Western , Chinese , Muslim and Indian cuisines . Oh , these set meals also come with free flow of mango juices , coffee , milo or just plain water too ! :D And did I mention that the meals are quite nutritionally balanced too ? They provide the caloric values and other nutritional information of the meal for those who are more health conscious . Amazing . 

In the case that you get tired of eating the normal food over and over again , and you happen to have a bit more spending power , go ahead and indulge in Starbucks , Sakae Sushi , and many more restaurants and cafes which are conveniently located IN my residential college . Seriously , they are all just a stone's throw away from where I stay . Sometimes , it made me wonder if I am really in an university campus or a mall .

Transportation
The transport system in NUS is infinitely more efficient than that of my home universities . The bus comes on time and at a commendable frequency of every 10 minutes during schooling days . There's a MRT station inside NUS too so you could get outside through the MRT . ( MRT connects to nearly every places in Singapore ) . Then , there's still buses and taxi . Even if everything else fails , there's always your reliable legs to depend on :) 


*PS Thank you very much , Sheng Di for being my tour guide in nus , and for accompanying me despite the rain . ( P.s never knew you read my blog too lol . Hope you see this ! Haha ) Having a presence of a familiar Malaysian friend certainly did ease my home sickness more :) * 

That's all for now folks , there will be more to come in the future , hopefully ! :)

The Night before & The Night After

*This post will be a series of short posts mashed together as I wrote each individual posts in different time and place . Enjoy :) *

17/1/2013 - 10.00 pm

Ah.. it's finally here. This is it . The time , to move on to another chapter of my life . Every time I am going to somewhere far away or going back to my hometown , the night before it , I will usually be feeling nostalgic and start blogging . Tonight is no different  , save the fact that I am going somewhere that is further away from anywhere I have ever been before ( excluding where I went during my childhood time , because I don't have the slightest memory of it ) . Yes , tonight , or rather , a few more hours later, I will be in Singapore , the Lion City . 

I was fortunate enough to receive an exchange offer to go study at National University of Singapore ( NUS ) for a semester . It was a totally unexpected offer , as I have only applied for an exchange to Australia . Nevertheless , it was a good surprise and I would gladly take any opportunities that was given to me without any hesitation , simply because ,I wanted to go overseas . 

When I was given the offer , I thought long and hard . Do I really wanted to go ? What if the people there don't like me ? What if I have difficulties adapting there.. What if? There's so much what ifs questions that clouded my mind . But I knew I had to go , because I am growing too comfortable and in a way, complacent in UM .Complacency is disastrous . Here in UM for 1 and a half year , I am already quite well adapted to the environment and people , and have been quite comfortable in it . Do not get me wrong , UM , or rather KK7 , my hostel is great ! In fact , one of the best hostels in UM , with its nice people and bonding going on there . Yet , deep inside my heart , I feel a need to go out of my comfort zone , to keep on exploring more of the world and improving myself in every way possible . And NUS provides just the right avenue for me to do so . So , I took the offer. 


As I am writing this , I felt a great sense of urgency to bid everyone farewell , especially to my amazing roommate , who have been such a great companion to me for the past 1 and a half year . Yet , as my time and resources are limited , I can only do so much in these final few hours . I wrote a farewell letter to my roommate .




While writing that letter , a strong sense of nostalgia and poignant memories started flooding my mind . This past 1 and a half year have been nothing short of amazing . I have joined a lot of activities , met a lot of people and new friends . I have laughed , cried , experienced joy and happiness , also depression and sadness . And believe me when I say , the onslaught of emotions that came in , could reduce any toughest , baddest , most heartless guy in this world to mere tears easily . I was not spared .

Roommate

***
17/1/2013 - 4.00 am

Photo credit to my exchange mate , Vin .

I have finally arrived at KL LCCT Airport . This will be the first time I am going to ride the air plane , with conscious memories in it ( I rode one last time , but I was too small to remember it ) . Here's how my journey is supposed to go : my college in university of Malaya => KL Central => Feeder Bus to LCCT Airport => Air Asia to Singapore => Changi Airport => MRT to Bueno Vista => Bus no 95 to NUS . So , now me and my 2 other exchange mates are waiting for the plane.

As we are waiting , I reminisce back about the incidents that happened a few hours ago . 
I was so overwhelmed by the kindness and love I received when I was going out from the hostel . I met with a bunch of juniors and seniors who so coincidentally , happens to be there right when I am going to depart for what may possibly be the longest , toughest semester thus far . And they did a farewell celebration for me ( sort of ) , right there and then . I have some of the sweetest juniors and best , caring seniors in the world ! The events that happened these past few days have totally touched my heart , and further reaffirming two of my belief  :

1) Good people are everywhere . Even in the darkest , most dangerous place of the world , filled with all the criminals and evil doers, there are good people . You just have to look deep inside :)
2) Good people makes the world a better place . Their actions touched your heart , and you in turn , must touch other people's heart with your actions , subsequently creating a chain reaction that makes EVERYBODY Happy and good :D 

Thank Lord for Good People .

***
18/1/2013 - 10.00 pm

The first day in Singapore pass by just like a blur . Having a nearly one day sleep - deprivation , I was sleepy and lethargic as hell . Heck , I nearly slept when texting on the bus . That's how sleepy I was . Nevertheless , there are tons of things that must be done , on that very day itself , so we did it . Creating a bank account , buying various necessities , household items , and settling our registration in NUS , meeting new exchange mates and etc. It was one heck of a day .

Now that I finally have the time to sit down and reflect on it . The realization has finally set in . I am in NUS , Singapore now . This feeling is so surreal . Only yesterday , or perhaps should I say a few hours ago , I was there in my old , rustic hostel with floors without tiles , surrounded by familiar people that will greet me with a smiles in their faces , cracking stupid jokes and just being plain silly . Now , I am writing this in a condominium - lookalike hostel , their floors covered with nice looking tiles , and my window facing a nice view of... another hotel / condominium lookalike hostel , in a unfamiliar environment with complete strangers . 

Ironically , even though Singapore is just realistically an hour of plane flight away from Penang , it felt like I am million miles away from home now. 

I miss speaking Mandarin .
I miss seeing familiar people .
I miss having dinner in a close round table .
I miss having conversation that does not make sense with people I know .

Ah.. I miss home ;'( . 

My sleeping place in Cinnamon College , NUS