Christmas Eve 2006

Christmas has never been a dreary occasion for me. I LOVE Christmas. Every year, my friends and I will come up with something; be it a countdown, party, or gathering. My parents are just too lazy to go out anywhere. They rather watch TV or sleep at home. They always come up with the same old excuse by complaining that they're too old for all these things. Hehe. Christmas 2006 is no different. Oh wait! I think it's slightly different this year: My parents volunteered to countdown in a restaurant-The Ship! They probably want to spend more time with me since I'm back for only 2 weeks. That's the advantage of being the eldest i.e. the first one to be away from home. Everyone will be delighted to see you when you're back! =) Anyway, they chose 'The Ship' for a very splendid reason: it reminisces the good ol' days! We (as in my lovely parents, Heng Yong, Jessica and I) will normally countdown for Christmas in 'The Ship' during our childhood days. That place really mean a lot to us. As for Caroline and Adeline, it will be their first time. They were really hyper and excited. It's really pleasing to see them brimming from ear to ear.

Flashback: Christmas Eve 2005.
I had friends visiting me, everyone wearing the 'Santa Hat', a Christmas cake and the usual Christmas present-exchange thing. Below are some of the pictures:

See the Christmas cake with 2 tiny marshmallows!

Christmas Presents

Christmas Eve 2006.
As mentioned earlier on, it's slightly special. Initially, I assumed my parents would be in their "Ahh. Christmas, I'm lazy to go out" mood, so I've already planned and promised a dinner with my friends. Hence, I went for dinner with them and then countdown with parents! =) Cool huh?! lol.

When I met my family in 'The Ship', they all had their party packs ready; waiting patiently for the clock to strike 12. Immediately when the clock struck 12, people started singing the Christmas Song and my sisters (the 2 younger ones) were squeaking and squealing away. The rest of us stood up; trying to join the crowd and looking at our dear sisters enjoying themselves. For that, yes! We are too old for it. We can't be squeaking like them. It'll be really odd. Hehehe. We really enjoyed ourselves though!

Gathering at Miin Lyn's place after the dinner

My Christmas Present!

My Family!
Top -> from left: Jessica, Me, Heng Yong
Bottom -> from left: Adeline, Mom, Dad, Caroline

Caroline suggested me to take this picture :S

Look at the amount of soft toys my sisters have! Crazy :S

And, of course....

My Christmas gift for my sisters!

P.S. There are some other 'interesting' things which happened in between of course but due to lack of time and laziness, I shall not elaborate further. Hehe.

Home Sweet Home

At last! After 3 gruelling months in Imperial, I'm back home =) Initially, I thought I would regret coming back since it's only like what?! less than 3 weeks for me? Thankfully, I made the right choice. Life is good for now. Beit Hall was really empty on the day after the end of term. I guess I'll be really homesick if I'm still there.

I'm really good now. The 12 hour journey from Heathrow, London to KLIA didn't bore me this time. Surprisingly, I didn't really sleep throughout the journey. I guess it's the rush of adrenalin through my body which makes me feel awake. The excitement of being home and meeting everyone I've missed for the past few months was building up in me.

Upon arrival, I've received SMS-es from my friends welcoming me back to Malaysia. I got really agitated then. As I had things to do, I did not reply them. First thing, I text my parents telling them that I've arrived safely. At that time, they were still at home and were surprised that my flight arrived early. Hastily, they rushed to the airport (They arrived in the airport before I collected my luggage!). Dad drove really fast according to my siblings. They were really excited to see me. And, I tried to be at my best so as not to disappoint them when they meet me.

And, when I met them, my mom said she couldn't even recognise me! At that instant, doubts flooded my mind, "It is something really good or bad?" I knew she was going to say I look thinner. I've already tried my best NOT to look thin before I came back. No matter how hard I try, people (parents, particularly) will still think that I look thinner since I'm back from a foreign country. I don't understand why they think that I stint on food; which I didn't! Weird huh?

Interesting Things that happened

There are just too many things going on recently and I'm really too lazy to blog about each and every one of them. I'll probably just include pictures and describe a wee bit about it =)

Friday(8/12/06)
Attended the "eat all you can" lunch at Pizza Hut with my friends. Supposed to beat the record held by the members of the Outdoor Club last year. This is how jobless we get. lol.

the 4 of us in Pizza Hut.

On that same day, I was supposed to attend my department's Christmas Dinner but tickets were all sold out :( couldn't go. Had curry for dinner in a Japanese Restaurant instead. Well, of course don't expect it to be as nice as the one back home. The curry tasted a little awkward but it's not too bad!

Curry Chicken Rice!

Saturday(9/12/06)
Had our first full dress rehearsal for lion dance. It was kinda cool really! Unfortunately, with the costumes, it's really difficult for me to perform the stunts. What more, the head is not exactly THAT light you know!!

Me doing the "2 leg stand". Cool right?!

Lion Dance Team

Later that evening, met up with Cindy and Yin Mei. Since Cindy will be flying back home the following day, we decided to go Harrods, have dinner and oh! I have to give Yin Mei the credit for this: She made red bean soup for the 2 of us and invited us over. That's awfully sweet of her.

Yin Mei, Cindy and I at a Japanese Restaurant (forgot the name, AGAIN!)

At a funfair in Leicester Square. Reminisces my childhood days.

Cindy and I

Yin Mei and I at her kitchen

Hmm, I think you'll get sick of us if I continue posting more pictures. Okay, next...


Tuesday(12/12/06)
My hall had a Christmas Party at 8pm but I had to stay back at college to do some programming since I'll be having test the following day. How sad right? :( Anyway, when I got back around 10pm, my hallmates cheered me up! They seriously made my day. I expected them NOT to know my name honestly since most of the time I'm out. By the way, they call me "Heng". Some will call me Heng Kai.

What happened was, when I actually stepped into the kitchen, they went "HENG!!!!! Surprise! Christmas present for you!" I stood frozen to the ground. I was astonished!

Nice right? Christmas tree in my kitchen!

My hallmates and I

My Christmas Present! :D

Wednesday(13/12/06)
Went to Oxford for a musical theatre - CATS! Since we had a test in the morning, we couldn't go there early and hence, arrived late (3.30pm). It was almost dark already by then :( Oh for those who don't know, in UK, when it's 5pm, it's like Malaysia's 8pm! Yes, it's THAT dark! Sun sets early here. Because of that, we don't get to take a lot of pictures in Oxford. We didn't get to go in to see the Radcliffe Building and others.

Me in Exeter College, Oxford.

In Oxford!


CATS Musical Theatre

Top (from left): Ambarish, Me, Stella, Shi Chian, Deng Wei
Bottom (from left): Audrey, Siew Ping, Jee Wayn

Hope you like what you saw! =)

And, FINALLY! I'm going back TOMORROW! Can't wait to meet up lots of people seriously. I miss my parents, relatives, friends and everyone related closely to me!! Hope to see you people soon. I'm excited.

Nintendo Wii

Some would probably think I'm insane. Here is what happened: I thought of getting a Nintendo Wii for my family and since they will be releasing it at 12am, I decided to go Oxford Street (hoping that I would be the lucky one) to get it. And, common sense tells you that it's merely impossible to get one if you are going to go there at 12am. I reach at 12.15am. That's even worse. Some people had been queuing since 7pm or even earlier than that. Silly me. When I've reached Oxford Street, HMV was closed already. Sigh. Couldn't even go in to have a look. Some people were still crazy enough to stand outside (they just LOVE the Wii) to wait.

HMV in Oxford Street

Anyway, I predicted that I would not be that lucky either. I just want to go out. No idea why. And, my purpose of going there was to have dinner as well. I slept in the evening and skipped dinner. Anyway, should I get a Nintendo Wii? Part of me tells me that I should but the other part suggests that I shouldn't. Being indecisive here.

On my way back (in the bus), I met this Chinese couple who managed to grab a set. According to them, they bought it for £180. Is it worth it? Should I get it for my family as Christmas present?

Busy Week

Sorry for not being able to blog for the past week. I was seriously tied up with tests, projects etc.. (using it as an excuse to get away lol).

Not that my week was mundane, really! It was rather exhilarating, indeed. Ah, if I were to blog about every event which happened last week, it'll be too lengthy. I shall provide a summary:

27 Nov: Kavitha had her birthday celebration. Food was great. Met loads of cool new people!
28 Nov: Christmas Test. Screwed.
29 Nov: My sister, Caroline's birthday! Too bad I can't celebrate with her back home :(
30 Nov: Cheryl and Anita's birthday. We had a gathering at Starbucks; Cheryl and Anita had their own plans, so we planned to meet up and hang around! lol. That night, went for my first musical theatre: Les Miserables.
1 Dec: LSE's Malam Bakti. Gosh! No one should miss it. Really had a good laugh that night.

And now, as for this week, my personal tutor-Prof Peter Cheung, was kind enough to bring us(his tutees) for a dinner at an Italian Restaurant in South Kensington. (can't recall the name of the shop)

Prof Peter Cheung (the one sitting next to me) and his tutees

Oh! Not to forget, my hall's Christmas Party! It will be on this Saturday and I seriously got no idea of what to get for my hallmate. By the way, it's a guy not a girl unfortunately. Lucky draw! Any suggestions people? Something different, preferably.

What?! A Bomb in Imperial??

I seriously hate to be in this position. Yes, I did not sleep the whole night AGAIN. argh! I slept TOO much on Saturday night and couldn't sleep at all on Sunday. This is terrible.

Anyway, I got up at 7am(obviously! I didn't sleep). Did the usual stuff that I had to do, and blogged. Then, I received a call from Megan: lectures might be cancelled! For one second, I almost shrieked with joy. That was before I found out what happened. Apparently, Imperial received an unusual heavy package from elsewhere. And, there were no sign of identification of sender. They suspected it was a bomb and everything went haywire. I wasn't at college that time, so I missed the "best part", according to some of them. Guess what I was doing? I was busy packing breakfast since I knew lectures will be delayed, not cancelled. My intuition tells me that Imperial will NEVER cancel their lectures :(

I packed bread only. I know it's something simple and nothing to shout about but still, it's unusual for ME to pack breakfast! haha.

Happy Birthday Cheng Chun!

Yesterday was the birthday of a dear friend(senior), Cheng Chun. Just incase you guys were pondering about who he is and how we became good friends, here it is. To Colin especially, you're the one who always brings up this question, "What's with you and Cheng Chun?" Believe it or not, we're BLOOD RELATED! Cheng Chun's my cousin! lol. Anyway, here is how the story goes:

Remember the period when I was DEAD bored and had nothing to do while awaiting for my A levels result? That was the time when I actually joined ICUMS(Imperial College Union Malaysian Society) forum and added every senior who displayed their MSNs. And, ah! There it goes. I think the FIRST person I chatted with was Colin; if I'm not mistaken. Then, Cheng Chun. Anyway, that doesn't really matter. I added both of them and had a good chat with them. Colin was rather quiet(I think he had something to do that time) but Cheng Chun, on the other hand, was remarkably talkative! Hence, I actually talked to him and asked him more about life in IC, London, etc. And, being the patient one, he actually entertained and answered every single doubt I had. However, the amount of questions I had were incredibly a lot! My parents were bombarding me with TONS of questions that I couldn't answer! As a consequent, Cheng Chun and I decided to meet up (can't remember who came up with that idea). So, he's actually the FIRST senior I knew :)

We planned to meet up at Mid Valley, since it's nearer to his place and I know how to drive there. And, my goodness! When I first knew him, he told me he was VERY PARTICULAR about punctuality. Being me - the one who's always late, honestly, I was afraid that I would be late and he would be pissed with me. To be honest, I almost banged a car on my way there(Don't worry Cheng Chun. It's not your fault. Don't feel sorry about it. I shall blame it on my clumsiness). For those who wished that to happen, sorry to disappoint you. =P I seriously tried not to be late, but in the end, I still went late. This time it's due to the jam. Really!! Not my fault :(

Anyway, it was my first experience in meeting up with a stranger i.e. someone I've not met before. Therefore, I decided to bring backup - Jade! hahahaha. jkjk =P
Since Jade told me he would be at Mid Valley too, I thought maybe I can meet up with him as well.

And, what actually triggers my curiosity is the statement made-up by Cheng Chun when he first met me: "You look EXACTLY like one of your senior, Colin! Look out for yourself during Freshers Camp and remember what I've said". And, honestly until today, I still don't seem to see the resemblance between Colin and I albeit many people acknowledging it.

Let's fast forward a couple of months to 26th November 2006: Cheng Chun's birthday. Honestly, I felt extremely bad for accepting the dinner treat from him and not buying him any presents. I seriously think I should but I don't know what he likes! :S arghh. Anyway, we(me, Cheng Chun and Kevin) had dinner at Mandarin Kitchen. Food was SCRUMPTIOUS! I love it a lot. Thanks Cheng Chun, once again. I think the meal was rather expensive: I would estimate around £60 to £70. Cheng Chun didn't wanna reveal the price. Worst of all, I was the one who ate the most! Now, I seriously feel very guilty :(

Birthday boy and I at Mandarin Kitchen.

Jee Wayn, Cheng Chun and I (at Deeparaya Dinner:an old event) I thought of putting it up since the picture I had with the birthday boy is rather vague.
And, FINALLY

My clone! The senior(Colin) who looked like me apparently

What a relieve

Looking on the bright side; I'm happy and relieved for once and for all: I've completed my 1200 word technical report and presentation! Thanks Joanne for helping me out towards the last bit of my report. You're really sweet!! :) And on the dark side, I've screwed my presentation and received really sarcastic feedbacks from a PG(postgraduate). But this time, I'm not going to grumble about anything. I admit that I deserved to be chided for not putting enough effort to prepare for the presentation. Perhaps, since I knew it was a non-accessed presentation, I took it too lightly. My fault. I perfectly acknowledge that.

Apart from that, nothing special for the week. Oh, wait! I've changed my lab partner. Deng Wei (a Malaysian as well) is now officially my new lab partner :) He's probably one of the most admirable person around due to his politeness. He cares for the feelings of every single person and tries not to hurt them. Really nice guy, unlike me. I can be really mean and obnoxious at times. I know.

Anyway, I've decided not to blog so much this time. Words just can't seem to flow because I've just completed my report and I'm too tired to think of what to write.

Deng Wei and I


Cheryl commented that this picture is quite nice, so I decided to upload it :)


The rest of my friends

Imperial is insane! help!!

Guess what?! It's already 4.40 am (UK time) and I'm not asleep yet. Before you people jump to conclusions of your own such as "Wah, study until so late. Crazy!" , allow me to clarify this: I've jammed (played o2jam) for 4 hours, and NOT study! lol. How pleasant life is, for once and for all :) I completely forgotten about all the things that I have to do. (which is something really distressing)

Now that I think of what I did, I feel rather flustered. I'm perfectly aware that my course is rather demanding, yet I'm still being ignorant about it.

Below are the list of things that I have to do: (before I can fly back to Malaysia peacefully)
week 8 - Slide Show presentation, 1200 words technical report deadline;
week 9 - Christmas Test, Driving Test
week 10 - (not sure what they're gonna do in this week either)
week 11 - Driving Test, Design Project deadline

The bolded ones are the ones which will be counted towards our degree. :(
Thankfully, the Christmas Test is not accessed. But still, I wouldn't want to completely screw it and make my personal tutor think that I've not been doing anything at all :S He has high hopes for me; perhaps it's due to the fact that I did quite well for my "Maths Diagnostic Test" in the 2nd week of this term.

And oh! For your info, 'Driving Test' is a programming test : We will be given a question paper WITHOUT pseudocodes; only words in English, and we're supposed to write out the codes in a program called Delphi. And, trust me. It's not that easy!

Arghhhh! I seriously don't know. I'm just worried of all these "petty" little things, as some would say. As far as I'm concerned for NOW, I'm really looking forward to returning back home to see my dear family, friends and all the people I miss.

Oopss. I think I shall stop here. It's already 4.53 am and I have a lion dance practise in the morning (10 am). Adios people! And, do wish me luck for the final 4 weeks :)

MNite Dance Rehearsal

Had my first dance rehearsal for Malaysian Night (which will be held somewhere around March next year) this afternoon. Most would probably think: "WHAT?! Malaysian Night is next year and you're practising it NOW itself? It's only November!" lol. We know we are a bunch of enthusiastic and fanatic people. And, not to forget, we are always proud of our own MNite. We claim that we produce one of the best shows compared to the others. That's what every Malaysian Society in different universities would say anyway. If I'm not mistaken, survey showed that we, indeed ARE the best!! *wide grin* That probably explains why we are really into it.

Until now, I still cannot believe that I actually went for the rehearsal. Not that the dances were bad. They were brilliant actually! (thanks to colin, chloe and yih lin). It's just ME who cannot acknowledge the fact that I actually volunteered to dance without being forced to! But, seriously, I have NO regrets at all for doing that. I enjoyed myself and I have to thank a lot of people for that, especially the seniors! I think they did a marvellous job by brainwashing us about MNite, and telling us about the astounding feeling they got after putting up the show. Thanks seniors! Now, I do agree with you all. Coming all the way to Imperial just to STUDY only, is rather futile!

Dikir Barat (1st part) video during MNite 2006

P.S. We had some slightly hip-hopish and robotic sort of dance this afternoon. Not dikir barat :)

Reports, Projects, Presentations and Lab sessions

Are the things I dislike most in my course. I thought, initially, that I could depend on them to help me to gain some 'easy' marks. I'm so wrong! They're indeed more difficult to score, I think. It's rather demanding. Not to forget, they're ANNOYING because they have deadlines!! awww, the deadline of my presentation and 1200 words report is next week! And, I've not started anything yet. Sigh. There goes my free 'Saturday and Sunday'. I shall not complain and start working on it. Ranting about it in my blog wouldn't make a difference.

Lectures are alright though. Some were great, some boring (as usual), some interesting and funny! (but we don't learn much out of that lecture, unfortunately). I thought this clip is rather 'cute' and interesting in a way. Jeremy Pitt trying to juggle!!



It was taken by some student during Software Engineering (Jeremy Pitt's) class. This is what happens when we're in a busy course; i.e. lectures from 9am to 6pm on certain days. Ah! That's Imperial isn't it?

gay stalker!!!!

I seriously hate blogging. My friends who know me well enough should apprehend it. Anyhow, I think I should start blogging from today onwards to notify everyone (my friends, particularly) about my life/experiences in Imperial College. Let's skip the introduction and get down to the nitty-gritty.

As the title explains, it was about a horrifying incident which happened yesterday night in my hall (of residence).

This guy, a queer stalker to be precise, asked if he could use the toilet in my room. My room's at the 1st floor and we were at the Ground floor, so, I suggested him to use the toilet in the common room. I showed him the way there, and he abruptly told me he need not use the toilet anymore. At that time, honestly, I did not suspect anything. But, I already had the impression that this guy is peculiar. However, I pushed that thought aside, considering that I can be supersensitive at times. Then, here comes the 'interesting' part. My conversation with him was as follows.

Him: Hey! I heard that there are vacant rooms in this hall. Where do I get a form, to apply to stay here? (for your info, some of my hallmates were there at that time)
Me: er, I'm not quite sure about this. Personally, I think the rooms are all taken up. I think you should talk to the warden about this.
Him: Nah, I'm alright. I'm currently paying about £500 a week and the place isn't that good, after all. I want to have a look at the rooms here and see if it's alright or not. Can you show me your room for a minute?
Me: I'm sorry but I don't see a reason why you're allowed to see my room. Moreover, I have a roommate and he is not happy with me bringing people into our room. (I used that as an excuse!)

He tried persuading me, but I was annoyed. Finally, he gave up.

Him: Maybe you should just give me your hp number, instead? I might contact you if I want the tel number of the warden here or something.

And, I was stupid enough to give him my number!! :S I still didn't suspect anything that time, seriously. I was just annoyed with the way he begged me to allow him to see my room. After saving my number, he left and I went back to my room.

He sms-ed me right after that, and told me to call him back. Why should I? lol. My phone was out of credit! and NO way I'm gonna call him! I didn't reply his message either. So, he called.

*I guess I shouldnt reveal the details of the conversation here. It's rather unpleasant to hear. 18SX hahahaha. If you're still curious, you might consider sending £10 to my mailing address and I'll tell you more about it! hahahahahah*

How nice will it be if I receive such comments from a girl. I would really be flattered! but too bad, that's not the case. haha. sad case :( anyway, I've told him off and ignored him completely. I should be fine.

This serves as a reminder to everyone. Try not to be out alone, if you can, and always get some friends to go out with you! :) London is not THAT safe after all lol. there are stalkers around! So, BEWARE! and bring pepper-spray wherever you go! (that's what Kim Hong suggested) lol