Mingshern’s Blog

    Well well… lets see… It snowed today in Manchester… =D So i guess the weather forecasts guys are right… haha… well… this is my first experience of snow, and therefore im a little ‘too excited’ about it… hehhe… =D

    Well… it snowed a few times today… not continuous snow from morning till night… The first ’snow’ is about 12.30 noon… I was in my room getting ready for my practical workshop lab at 1 pm, when i suddenly hear things like stones hitting my window… i took a look outside and, it was ’snowing’ ! Well, i guess it wasnt’ really snow yet at that time, just some ice… probably some hail or something… but you can really see white thingy flying down from the sky… and the wind is really strong outside, so u can see them flying around really fast… but it lasted for just about 30 seconds… hehhee.

    Then later, after i finished my workshop at about 4++ pm… I went out to the city centre for a while… =) on the way… it rained ice again… so this time i get to experience it live… =D And… it was not really pleasant… really… it’s actually kinda pain… hahhaa… with the strong wind blowing them against you… you feel as if tiny needles piercing ur face every second! Well… its not really snow… i guess… hahhaa… but still close to it… This wan lasted for about 15 minutes… =D

    Then at night… me and my friends decided to go watch a movie… =) We watched Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street… I personally like that movie very much… I think its a nice and sad story… =/ Then after the movie… about 11 pm… it snowed… it really snowed this time ! =D Hehehe… And it looked real pretty at times… Not when the wind is really strong and everything is just like a storm, but the time where it just fall softly and slowly… floating in the air… hahhaha… too bad i cant get a picture of it… even if i had a camera, i doubt i can snap a nice picture in that situation… its dark… and… cold… =P also, the snow is probably too small to show up in the picture anyway… hahhaha =D

    So… thats my first experience of snow here… =D It snowed for about 20 minutes or so before it stopped… Most of it melted on the floor… But you can still see some snow forming a layer on the roof of parked cars… =) The snow here isn’t that thick to play with or whatever… Hahaha… just hope that it will somehow snow throughout the night and by morning, there’ll be a lot of snow… xD

    Hi there… again… after such a long break… hehe… Sigh… I’m such a bad blogger… this is not the first time that i’ve neglected my blog and just left it to rot… But well… can you blame me? I’ve been busy over here (what a lame excuse…) Haha… Well… also… i lack motivation in continuing my blog… its like… well… noone reads it anyway… so why update? and also… im not obliged in any way to update it regularly… =P

    all rite… enough with all the excuses that i come up with in an attempt to make myself feel better about neglecting my blog… =) I’ve decided to revive it again… (wonder how many times have this kinda thing happened? hmmm…) Ok… so as a start… Lets just take a brief look at what that has happened since my last post… =)

    All rite… err… I’ve finished my first semester… (Woahh… ) I’m currently in my first week of my second semester… I had my exams last two weeks… =) Things are ok… hopefully i’m able to pass all of them… =) err… i’m fine over here… gotten used to the cold weather here i guess… hahaha… well… so far i haven had the chance to experience snow… but guess what? Today’s evening… it was raining ‘ice’ slightly… yeah… ice… im not sure if its snow… but i guess its just ice… it just melted once it touches my clothes or hand… In fact, i didn’t even noticed it until i looked at my jacket which is dark blue in colour and its white… hehehhe… hoping that there will be some snow during the next few days… =D

    hmm… guess thats all for this time… hope i’ll be able to update more regular… yeah… thats what i always say anyway rite? xD

   Hie there… Sorry for this late update on my whereabouts… I have just arrived here yesterday after about 13 hour flight from Singapore straight to Manchester… reached here about 6.50 in the morning… Well, in case you wanna know, my flight left Penang at about 9.10pm and reached Singapore at about 10.00pm… From Singapore, our plane departed at about 11.50pm… =) when i arrived here, me and farhan waited until about 7.30am for the Manchester University airport collection service to come and collect us and bring us to our university accommodation… then from there, my cousin came and bring us to her house in Irlam, Salford… well, we spent the night yesterday at my cousin’s house… since my accommodation contract have not started yet until today… =P And today morning, we’re supposed to go to the university and register our accommodation and stay there… =)

   Well… i’m currently in my cousin’s house over here… I’m using her PC to come online and type this post… my hostel haven had any internet access and, err, dont ask me why i’m staying at my cousin’s house again today… =P So today morning, me and farhan went to settle our accommodation stuffs and attend some so called orientation touring programs… they bring us to a supermarket tour… its to a supermarket called Asda… i’m not sure if anyone from Malaysia has heard about but, to give you the general idea, its something similar to Tesco… or Carrefour for that matter… =) Err… yeah, then later my cousin came over at noon and brought us around shopping for essentials, try to set-up a bank account, try to get a mobile for us and later in the evening, brought us for dinner… =) err… sorry for not elaborating it further… i’m kinda tired actually… its currently about 11.00pm, which is about 6.00am over there in Malaysia…

   hmmm… time difference is about 7 hours… time in Malaysia is actualyl supposed to be about 8 hours ahead, but due to something called Daylight Saving Time (i think), the clocks here are adjusted and its now only 7 hours behind Malaysia… =) err… the weather over here is really nice… its like Genting in Malaysia… cool and cloudy… not much sunlight… sometimes its windy a little… and the best thing is, you dont really sweat and you can walk and walk and walk for hours and dont really feel that tired like how you’ll feel in Malaysia just after walking 5 minutes under the sun… =)

   well, there’s many things to be sort out still… i have to do my student registration… then i have to register for my hostel internet service… and after that probably get a mobile over here… and of coz, find out about my study timetable and stuffs… ><! its kinda hectic actually… and also… There’s still a lot to explore around the campus… Oh ya, for one, the campus is not exactly isolated from the city and have the perimeter walls or fence around it… nope… instead, it sorta like integrated or merged in with the city… so you have one building here, another building there, clusters of accommodation buildings here and there… all within the city… =)

   hmmm… i guess thats all for now… sorry for the really brief update… I’ll probably talk and elaborate more on here next time… till then… have a nice day and do take care… =)

    Tonight, I’ll be leaving to the UK through flight… Which makes me think of this song by John Denver, Leaving On A Jet Plane. Its an old song, but its still nice… And somehow, this song just seem to fit my current mood so much… I dedicate it to my loved ones… =) To all my friends out there… Do keep in touch and take care… All the best to all of you… =)

YouTube link: John Denver - Leaving on a Jet Plane

Leaving On A Jet Plane

All my bags are packed
Im ready to go
Im standin here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin
Its early morn
The taxis waitin
Hes blowin his horn
Already Im so lonesome
I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Theres so many times Ive let you down
So many times Ive played around
I tell you now, they dont mean a thing
Evry place I go, Ill think of you
Evry song I sing, Ill sing for you
When I come back, Ill bring your wedding ring

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time
Let me kiss you
Then close your eyes
Ill be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I wont have to leave alone
About the times, I wont have to say

Oh, kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

But, Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

- Words and music by John Denver

    Hi there… been a while since i last
posted something on my blog… ><! Well, I’ve been kinda busy
lately… been rushing to KL and back and then to Kl and back again
because of my visa application stuffs. Well, for those of you who
might have not know it yet, I’m leaving to the U.K soon for my
studies. What am i studying and where will I be studying? I’m going
to the University of Manchester and will be studying Mechanical
Engineering for 4 years over there. =)

    Besides rushing for my visa
application, I’ve also been kinda busy lately, meeting with friends
for farewells and such. This makes me think of a point. Why do we
only want to meet up and get in touch with our friends when its
almost time for farewell? Why do we have to wait until someone have
to ‘go’ or going to leave before we want to meet up with them? Why do
we all seem to ‘forget’ about our other friends on our normal days
but ‘remember’ them only when its time for farewell? Why? Do we take
them for granted that they will always be there with us? Or is it
that we dont really care about them at all? Perhaps, some farewells
are even ‘fake’. Perhaps some of them are just there just for the
sake of a farewell. Just like a ‘give face’ kind of thing. Who knows?
Only the person itself will know his/her own intention.

    I’m not saying that all my friends who
met up with me recently are fake. In fact, I’m really happy to see
all of you guys at least once before I leave. For some who really
cant make it, its ok. Its the heart that counts. =) Some of my
friends even met up with me a few times. Really appreaciate you guys.
=) Some of them arranged for times that are inconvenient for me,
as I have been rushing up and down to KL and return. Really sorry about
it. Sigh… I’m feeling so sad now that I’m going to leave here soon.
When exactly? Next Tuesday, 11^th September 2007. Haha.
Whenever i mention my flight date, almost everyone told me something
similar to this line, “Cant you choose a better day to fly?”.
Haha. Well, if i can choose, definitely I will. The thing is, my
orientation starts on the 13^th September and I cant get
any flight on the 12^th September. So, 11^th
September is the best that i can get. =)

    Ok, back to the title, Separation
Union. I choosed this title because it sounded cool (dont it?
Hahaha… Ok, maybe for me it is =P) and also that it sorta reflect
on my thought, didnt it? By the way, if im not wrong, Separation
Union is also a song from O2jam. Hehehhe… =P Anyway, the whole
message is that we should not take our friends for granted and we
should appreaciate our friends when they’re still here with you. To
all my friends who read this, thanks for being my friend and hope to
see all of you some time again. And do forgive me if I had done
anything bad both intentionally and unintentionally to any of you…
=) And to those that I may have ‘forgotten’, i apologise once
again… Do take care and all the best… =)

    Procrastinate… To those who are not familiar with that word, according to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, to delay doing something that you should do, usually because you do not want to do it. I’m sure most people, if not all, will at least, procrastinate something at some point in their life… Me too… in fact, i think i procrastinate a lot of things… (this post for example… first thought about it… months ago?) I’m quite lazy actually… ><!

    Procrastination eventually leads to last minute works… How many of you have not done last minute works before? Of all the people i know… i think… 90% of them are people who are last minutes… This can usually be seen in studies… I guess its normal for people to study only when exam is really near… Its like, thats the culture… our way of studying… hehehe… Hey, don’t get me wrong that i’m insulting them or what… In fact, I’m also one of them… I’m one of those who really study only when exam is near… And, by near, i dont mean like 2-3 months before exam… By near… i mean… 1-2 weeks before exam… or maybe even just a few days before… ><! It happens every time… every exam… every test… Which leads me to think of the next point…

    If (almost) everyone last minute… and they take only, lets say, 1-2 months to STUDY the whole syllabus of 1 or 2 years to prepare for the test… Could it be possible that the whole syllabus be conducted and taught in only that short period? Maybe add an extra month… Say, 3 months to teach everything and get ready for exam? I dunno if its possible… however, i noticed that… sometimes… or most of the time… when i do my ‘last minute revision’, thats actually the time where i force myself to understand and learn it… in fact, some of the topics and notes… Its like thats the first time I’ve read them… So, it virtually makes no different that I’ve actually learn about it before or if I was taught that topic before rite? =)

    Imagine… If its really possible to shrink the time of our study courses into only a few months… That would have shorten our studying time by A LOT rite? A 2 years course would take only 3 months… A 3 years Degree course would only take half a year… You can finish your studying up to your Masters level in only a year!! Maybe PhD would take an extra half a year or so… Hahahaa… Then we’ll all graduate and start working even before we’re 20!! ><! Don’t think I would want that… Hahaha… =P

    9th August 2007… Today is the day where my A Levels results are released… I’ve sat the exams about two months ago… ended a month ago… and now… the results day… =)

    Morning… i woke up about 9.30 am… do my normal stuffs la… i cant leave straight to college to get my results because i have to wait for my friend NiYi to finish her work at about 11 pluss… so… at 11.45, we left home and headed to the Jetty…

    We took our ferry… reach Penang island side about 12 pm… and… we decided to try the new Rapid Penang bus service!! hmmm… i think i’ll blog on that separately… hehehe… its kinda out of place if i talk about the bus service in post about my results… ><!

    Anyway… we reached college about 1.00 pm… we went to our office to collect our results… However… its lunchtime and most of the lecturers went out for lunch… So, we just took our results from the clerk, Kak Ros… =)

    Arrggh… I lazy wanna describe wat we do all la… this post is just to tell my results rite? Why talk so much? hahaha… so… for my results… well… I took four subjects… Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics… and… I got A for all of them!! ^^ I got AAAA, straight… hehhehehe… so happy so happy… =P

    Okla… lazy wanna continue talking about anything else ade… maybe i’ll post it in another post… some other time… hahaha… =D

    Man… look at me… I’ve been so eager to update my blog when i dont have my internet connection, yet now that my connection is restored, i havent update at all! Andd… its August already… sighh… time passes so fast… =)

    Anyway… I realised that i’m becoming lazy and lazier by the day… ever since i finished my A Levels in college… every day (almost), i just stay at home… and waste the time away… What have I been doing lately?? Let’s see… I’ve been playing this MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) Trickster Online… Hahaha… Got addicted to it… Before that, I’ve been playing Virtua Tennis 3 almost everyday… Its so addictive! I’ve played it till I’m currently ranked World No.1 and can be considered to finish the game… hehehe… however, I still cant beat the SPT (Sega Professional Tennis) Doubles Finals… ><! And more recent, I’ve just installed Counter-Strike 1.6 in my PC and have been playing against bots on my computer non-stop for the last few days… (stopped TricksterOnline for a while =P) Oh ya, my friend, Mugun, had also just passed me this game, Warhammer 40,000 : Dawn of War… which i’ve just installed last night… Its a Real-time Strategy game (think Command & Conquer : Red Alert) that is pretty cool although i must say i’m still a noob in it… (don’t really know how to use all the units and play it well yet…)

    Well, apart from playing games whole day, of coz, i did some other stuffs too… for example, i’ve finished reading the whole Harry Potter series… (something which im kinda proud of… hehehe). I’ve read up to the fourth book during my schooling days and stopped halfway at the fifth book… So, after my exams, i start reading the fifth book again, and progress to the sixth book and finally the seventh book which is the last in the series… hehehe. =) Well, I’ve also watch finish some anime series… watch finish the whole season one of Heroes… can’t wait for the season two… I’m still currently waiting for Prison Break Season Two from my friend Farhan… hehehe… Watch a few movies here and there… and… guess thats how i spent my ‘holiday’ time… Real productive huh? =P

    Anyway… I’ve been really lazy to blog on stuffs lately… ><! hahaha… anyway… my A Levels results are coming out this Thursday, 9th August 2007… (o.0! What??? So soon?? I thought its still a month away???) Sigh… Hope I’ll get good results, so that i can get into the university that i applied to… and… I’ll update when i get my results… Hopefully… hehehe…

    Hi there… I know i’ve not been posting anything for some time now… Well, its not i’m lazy or what… In fact, i’ve been wanting to update my blog… However… I’m not able to do anything… because… currently…until just now… at my home… I dont have internet access… Something went wrong with the StreamyX line… and make me cannot use the internet at all! The last time i’m able to online from my home is on 25th June 2007… Hmmm… Almost a month ago… so, imagine la… stay at home… do nothing… disconnected from the internet… It really feels like you’re disconnected from the world… This is different from choosing not to online… Previously, due to exams and all, i too, did not online for some time… however, if i really need or want to access the internet, i can… but this time… i’m unable to do so! There were times when i need to use the internet so badly but i cant… Ahh… Nvm… those days are over now… i hope… =)

    Theres quite a lot of things that i wanted to blog about during my disconnection from the online world… However, now that i got my internet access back, i suddenly feel lazy to blog on it… Will try to post it soon… Now, i wanna just enjoy the internet again… haha… =)

    Hi… haven’t been posting for some time ade… Nope, its not that I’m lazy… just that… my brother have been using the PC to do his assignment for the past few days, so, i don’t really have the chance to use it and go online… And if i cant go online, i cant blog… simple as that… hehehe… =) Anyway, today my brother went out, so i’m free to use the PC again! hehehe… =)
    Short update on what that happened over the past few days… I was sick… yeah… down with flu and fever and sore throat… Don’t worry, not avian flu or anything near there though… Just normal flu and runny nose… and slight feverish… Probably due to the weather… Its been raining for a few days, and next, hot scorching sun for the next few days… and today morning, it rained again… ><! With this type of change of weather, its probably easier to fall sick… and my body have been kinda weak lately… been staying at home doing nothing… like some people might say, rotting at home and growing mushrooms… hahaha… =)
    Anyway, I’ll be going to KL this Wednesday… Purpose? To visit my grandfather… He kena stroke… and since I’m sorta free now after my exams, i guess its a good thing to go visit him… I’ll be going with my brother… How long? For a few days i guess… Probably back by next week… =) Hope to be able to update my blog more often in the future… =)