5 things that make me a happy bee 2

 I gain positive energy when I'm constantly reminded on the little things which make my day so peaceful yet blissful. :) It's not hard at all to find things that will lift up my mood every day, simply because there are just so many events taking place in every second, every minute, and every hour. Thus, I decided to make positive writing as a habit and share the happiness around.

July had been a great month, both leisurely and academically. I tried to manage my leisure time wisely to make sure that I did not rot at home for some meaningless activities only. It's always about achieving the balance between soul and body to me, and this appears to be a continuous learning process in my life.

1. We revisited Deep Cove to picnic with friends in mid July. Learning from the last lesson, we decided to bus this time to eliminate the possibility of not getting a parking space. Deep Cove is my new favourite because it is spacious, less crowded, and it gathers all sorts of outdoor activities in one place (hiking, picnic, kayak/paddleboard, sightseing)

Highlight of the day fell on the 4 brave girls who took up the challenge to hike for 2 hours with sandals. It was absolutely unintended but hiking was a spontaneous idea we came up with upon arrival, and we didn't want to let go the chance of hiking the Baden Powell Trail. So there you go, challenge accepted!

I had to say, it was crazy but quite fun at the same time, because we saw some people doing the same thing along our journey. But I felt worth it after watching the view on top. It was simply spectacular and breath taking.

  Feels so good getting close to the Mother Nature once in a while.

2. Shopping for cheap deals has always been my hobby because I'm not a branded person. I prefer getting various clothing styles for the same price.

 I can't keep things to myself when it comes to getting cheap deals,  feel lacking for not sharing my achievement :P

I was doing minor shopping for my Hawaii trip today because I was short of sandals. Every time when it comes to buying accessories, Adrene is my first place to go because of its price, wide variety and sizes along with acceptable product quality. I knew this place wouldn't disappoint me, got 2 sandals and 1 beach bag for $15. No Frills should consider sharing its motto with Adrene. Seriously, such a price can't be beat, even for online shopping!

2 phone cases for $8, thanks to ebay! 

3. Apart for all the social activities, I didn't forget to fork out some time for beneficial thing. Company sent me to first aid training last Saturday. It was an 8-hour course, primarily teaching basic skills to help an injured person at first hand. 

I used to join Red Crescent Society when I was in high school, and attending this course kinda made me reminiscing those time when my friends and I would go for extra-curricular activities on Saturday to learn all sort of first aid skills, let alone the nasty marching session under the uber UV-poisonous sun lol. Can't believe that was 7 years ago! T_T

 

4. Went back to UBC for paid studies, and I took this opportunity walking around my former school to witness the changes since I left school. So my tuition fee was spent on a new fountain, student union building 2 and other endless constructions. Nowonder I heard a new motto coined to UBC- 'a place of construction' instead of 'a place of mind'. Based on my observation, it can't be a false statement at all lol.

Anyway, July is the rose-blossoming season :), as you can see in the pictures already. Although I'm not fond of flowers, seeing the garden being coated with multi colours still lifts up my mood.

5.  July was also the month of catching up with good friends and chit chat till the end of the day :). I'm glad we took advantage of the good weather and spent some time at the beach, since I didn't really get to step foot on the beach this summer. 

Lovely Xin also brought me to a new cafe- Panda Cafe, which incorporates reading manga and eating in one place. Food was average there, but the quiet atmosphere and private rooms catered for individual gatherings made up for it. :) Definitely a good chit-chatting place and an ideal hangout place for Otaku.

With the end of July, I shall welcome the eighth month of 2013 in a slightly exciting tone :) Hawaii, I'm coming!!!

Done with school!!

God, how long did I not leave a footprint here again?

It has been so long that I almost forgot I had a blog. Just joking…. but it has been a while since I last blogged.

My life has been so happening in these two months, so happening that I probably would need 10 posts to properly write about these events. Nevertheless, I’m glad that most of these things are positive and have added significance to my life.

As you all know, I have graduated from university! *applause*

It’s only till graduation that I realize how much I miss school and really love UBC. Forget about the tuition fees, UBC gave me a comfortable learning environment to enjoy my university life, which was one of the main reasons I chose it initially. I love how the campus combines convenient facilities and amazing studying atmosphere in one place, so much that I always call it a ‘UBC town’ instead of ‘UBC campus’, simply because it has been expanding so immensely that supermarkets and new residential areas are blooming around the campus. It even has a farm and several museums that you can venture into, in which the farm amazes me because it gives some emphasize to students in land and food systems. Yes, I feel so pathetic about our faculty building and lab, at least the UBC farm does us justice slightly.

If you were wondering, UBC didn’t pay me for this advertisement! It all comes within a heart of an alumnus you see. Thank you UBC for the great 4 years!

Congregation was a special moment, despite of the previous experiences in high school and elementary school, this time was slightly different because it would be my last graduation ceremony in life if I didn’t pursue my master degree. Thus, it marks an end to my academic life, and at the same time, a new chapter of my life to get in touch with the working society and slave myself for a job. Most importantly, family was as anxious as me for this very moment to come. It has been 4 years, 4 years of striving and pushing hard on myself in gaining independence to reach this stage. I was not a smart and promising student, which was why I put in a lot of efforts in everything I do to compensate with my shortcomings. I never expected myself to outstand the others academically, but one thing I wanted to make sure was that, I took full responsibility for my own acts and I worked hard for the outcome. Despite of all the challenges, both ups and downs, I made it this far and it was this accomplishment that made me feel proud of myself. Apart from the book knowledge gained, I think I have also matured quite a bit, personality wise, and drew the power to withstand pressure positively. Responsibility and pursue to happiness, it is.

And now, it’s time to chase my musical dreams and gaining some hands-on experiences in the food industry! I can foresee an amazing life awaits me already =)

4 years of effort to this

I can't believe that there are only 3 more months left to the exact convocation day, as I'm still working extremely hard to get to the final stage. Taking graduation pictures has definitely induced my feeling of being a fresh grad soon, which also means a step closer to the jobless phase. As much as I'm uncertain about my future, the anticipation gained from graduation still excites me a lot, and I can find no word to properly describe my 4 years of effort in reaching my ultimate goal- ending my student's life. However, with so many blessings from you guys, I know I will persevere.

Preseverence is not an option this time, it is a necessity. =)

楽しい夏

3 weeks of summer felt like 3 months, probably it was because that I went out almost everyday for the past three weeks, that’s why everyday seemed to be happening to me. I’ve never gone out that frequent before since I came to Vancouver, there would usually be a reason for me to stay in the dorm last time,if it was not because of assignments, then midterms would be the bomb. Since I’m only taking 1 course this summer, it’s undoubtedly the best time for me to hang out now.

Summer course is a little rushing and intensive considering the amount of materials to grasp within 6 weeks, but that does not make me stay in the dorm for any longer. Okay, I admit I feel slightly bad when I see my friends who are studying so hard for Chemistry when I don’t, but I also understand that I’m just not a person like that. I enjoy the thrill and freshness of studying everything when I’ve fully conditioned myself into studying mood.I know when to do it and how to make it work for me.

No, I’m not a genius, but I’m an efficient ‘camera’. I actually found out my good memory skills a few years ago, when I could write out the whole page of history like how it appeared in the textbook, and I can remember my 16-digit credit card number after looking at it for once. Those things are like photo after photo in my head, and I can actually decide the period of remembering it (long term or short term). I don’t know if you get what I mean, but there’s actually a difference in memorizing things for short term or long term purpose, so you have to decide it before you start remembering things.

For instance, if I just intend to remember some concepts for an exam which will take place on the next day, I will remember the keyword of the sentence and then read the sentence for a few times. If a question which is related to the keyword appears on the exam, I’ll first remember the keyword, and then within a few minutes, the rest of the sentence will just pop out automatically and I can link it with the keyword again. However,90% of these materials will go into trashcan after the exam.

If you want to remember something for a long term, then you may have to start memorizing it a few days earlier and ‘sing ‘ it to yourself everyday just to remind yourself about it. Ask yourself a few concepts everyday and then have all the answers ready in your head. Eventually, all the materials will appear like a nice song on the examination day. Also,70% of these materials will be locked up in your brain for a few years and it will become so familiar to you after that, just like a habit.

Ok, end of my secret sharing. Share with you guys something else next time.

Too sad to come back to UBC

I’ve been enjoying my time with friends so much that I feel sad to start school tomorrow. I spent 4 nights with Isis and what I did in the past week wasn’t very productive and it was nothing more than biking, movies and girls talk with her. Apparently we also created this foursome movie gang (with Isis, Wayne and not forgetting the baby dog Chrona) whereby we watch movies together at night. Frankly, I haven’t been feeling this comfortable in a while and I suppose that’s a refreshing start for my first summer in Vancouver.

Thank you friends.


We tried on the tandem bike. Fun but shocking was all I can say since the wind was so strong that day. An accident nearly happened to us when we were biking along Stanley park, there was a small tree trunk which was just within 3m when it fell down from the rock.

I think that was the only time I biked so fast and screamed for so long.
PHEWWW. Thank god we’re still here.

^.^ Alright, enough about some surprise, summer school will start tomorrow at 9 a.m.

I know what you're thinking, having class at 9 a.m for 6 weeks must be very boring, but I can do it. Dekimasu! See you guys in K.L 6 weeks later.

Over the hurdle

Despite of the declaration of my 4th exam war in UBC, my life has been fantastic so far. One reason I can think of is because I’ve stroke a balance between mugging time and fun time and I know I’m catching up with my own pace. Coming to the 4th term in university, I’ve known more than enough on the only way for me to survive in uni- make me happy so that I can study harder. I gain motivation from motivating sources, like my buddies’ happiness. There are so many juicy stories (mostly exciting)from them this term which keep me alive and persevere till the end with their blessings.

Term 2 is like a mountain to me, I’m just at the hill climbing towards the top. I believe that everything is worth a sacrifice; therefore I’ve to bear with the patience and energy consumption in order to enjoy the panoramic view from the top. I like the feeling of conquering my fear and obtaining the key towards my life.I’m still on my way with a slight improvement but infinite determination within myself, but one thing I never stop believing in myself is that I won’t give up on myself so easily despite of anyone.I may tumble and fall but I will surely walk myself to the top one day.

This term is also about knitting friendships and eliminating unnecessary qualms to me. Dealing with human relationships was my biggest task apart from studying this term. I’ve just brought myself closer to some friends and letting myself all out for them, while eliminating some and being distant with them. Good thing is that I’ve finally found an intimate friend here who cares for my everything and makes me feel comfortable revealing myself to her. Finally, I’ve some sense of belonging here.

Speaking about eliminating unnecessary qualms, I just went over the hurdle and rebound again. I’ve done all the things needed to be done and I just have no reason to stay anymore. I’ve no intention to stay either, I think I deserve a better person, better life and better treatment. There won’t be any regrets because I gave myself a chance, and that’s it, failure or success, that’s just the end of it and I'm simply not bothered by it anymore.

^.^ As for now, I’m just anticipating for my rejuvenated life with more new faces showing up.

Gloominess is leaving.

“Happy angel lost her way in finding you, but I’ll remind her. So don’t worry, be happy.”

I don’t want to sound so melancholy from this blog post onwards, it makes me feel sad when bestie reads my blog and tells me that my blog has become so gloomy nowadays. The previous post is just a minor problem of me, and the only healing potion is time, so just let me walk through the stage myself because I understand that no one can help me with this.

Don’t worry because it’s not the first time, therefore I can do it.


So, this is my recent life.

Cooked a hearty dinner for Eu’s birthday. We had a simple but chatty dinner session together, and this was definitely the most relaxing and content birthday celebration ever.

Why? Because we were all in pyjamas.

She rewarded us with a super-good-looking fruit platter which she made it by herself.



You know what? This platter also marked the first official banana I ate in Vancouver. Before that, I always had the illusion that bananas in Vancouver weren’t nice. After living here for almost 2 years, finally I know that they taste good.



Paralympic Opening



Dyed hair on my own for the first time. It’s reddish brown now, but I can’t seem to take a good picture with obvious hair colour in it, so more pictures next time.



Before dyeing my hair, I actually chopped a bunch of hair off because I couldn’t bear with its super complicated tangling. The daily task of untangling my hair annoyed me, so I decided to put an end with the annoyance. A scissor, 5 seconds, and it was settled.



Went to take pictures with WX and Eu on the second last day of Paralympic. It was so hilarious when we were busy taking pictures while the volunteers were busy clearing up the banners and flags.


Prom with the girls.
P/S: We shall go to a more decent prom next time.


Became Eu’s temporary Maria and cheered for her on Storm the Wall. I actually wanted to participate in this year’s Storm the Wall, but couldn’t find enough people to form a group. However, I’ll definitely climb that 12-foot wall before I graduate, that’s for sure.



Invented 莲藕汤板面. I never expect soup and noodle to blend together so well.

In a good shape

I've promised myself to study hard this term.Luckily, everything has been going on smoothly and my performance is definitely the best out of the 4 terms so far. Thank God, 80s and 90s midterm results are coming back to me again.



Last term, housemate WX told me that sometimes it’s not that you’re not capable of doing well, but you just lack that bit of time to grasp the materials properly. Come to think of it, I really lacked the time to revise for every subject equally last term, aside from my weak grasp of materials in certain subjects. It was difficult for me to jungle between assignments and midterms flood, until I truly felt the need to take summer course.

If I could, I really wouldn’t give up but it’s really beyond my control to decide about this anymore. When my mind says yes but body shakes head to me, I know it’s time to re-arrange my course registration.

Mom advises me not to push myself too hard and just take summer course if necessary.

“ You’ll be sitting at home for 4 months if you don’t take summer course anyway, so why not just study for another 1.5 month.”

So that’s the reason why I’ll be back in late June. If not, I can’t imagine myself taking 7 courses for every term next year, I know it’ll be a nearly impossible task for me to do well academically.

Although everyone will be going on a vacation when I'm still burying my head in between books, I'm really not in a holiday mood now. The joyfulness I had gained from the Vancouver winter games was as exciting as going on a vacation.I feel so energetic after seeing all the fantastic people and fabulous events around me.



Too bad it was gone too quickly.

Olympic Torch Relay in UBC!!

Halo people!

I’m back again after dealing with 3 midterms. So, I’m pretty much anticipating for the long-awaited Vancouver Winter Olympic Games 2010.

And guess what, the torch finally arrived UBC today! Tell me, how could I miss it?

OF COURSE NOT, NO WAY!!
CANNOT, TAK BOLEH, BU KE YI, NG HO YI,NG DEK, DAME DESU.

Although it was pouring rain, but nothing could stop me.So my friends and I started waiting since 3+ p.m, all the way till 6 p.m when the athlete finally began his journey and ran the torch along the torch relay route which was planned prior to this.



The wait was definitely worth it because I've never seen a huge crowd at UBC after 7p.m. It sparked up some lights on a Thursday night in UBC.


Living in Vancouver for almost two years, I feel like I’m on the same boat as the Canadians for the first time for being excited over the Olympic games. Frankly, I don’t watch winter games at all, but I’m just feeling special that I’m in the host country for an Olympic event for the first time, and probably the only time in my life. The transformation of Vancouver in terms of infrastructure(especially public transportation) is witnessed, and these changes keep knocking my head that something big and exciting is going to happen in the city.It makes me start wondering how spectacular is it going to be after throwing chunks of money on it.



I even applied for the volunteering job, partly to gain the rare experience, besides being obsessed with the superb nice turquoise jacket the volunteers get. =( Unfortunately I was not offered a job.



The uniforms are so nice okay!! Those volunteers who wander around the campus everyday make me feel so jealous.


I got some freebies today, although there’re of not much use, I was just too excited to join in the crowd.

My biggest reward of the day was the tattoo on my left hand!!!And it was totally free.


Reading break will start from 13th February. One thing I’m sure of is that I’ll turn it into an eventful Olympic break and update you guys on Olympics as much as possible. I’ll ensure that my 2-week break will not go into waste and every second of it is filled with air of excitement, contentment, and happiness.


So, stay tuned guys!

'X-Men' in ubyssey

Last Friday, when I was walking out from Buchanan building with my friend, he told me an unusual thing happened on that day. He saw a military tank coming into the campus and there were someone setting up background just outside the building. I doubted his words initially, thinking it would be some sort of jokes he usually tells.Then he brought me to have a look.

'Okay.....Okay.... Why were there trucks and all these lightnings???? We both looked at each other with even more clouds above our head.'

We headed to McD to grab some food without any conclusion to be drawn.But still it wasn't a bad day to end up with after seeing something interesting that night.

A few days later, I was told by another friend that there was movie shooting in our uni.After confirming with her on the location, I WAS SURE that what I saw the other day was actually the movie shooting place.

This is definitely interesting to me because I've never seen the filming of a movie before, let alone the fact that it's a hot blockbuster which even surprises me more.I haven had the chance to meet any leading actors/actresses in the movie yet, although it's unlikely to have such an opportunity, let's see if I could bump into them when wandering around the uni.Also I'm trying to figure out the reason of choosing UBC as part of the filming place because I can't tell the speciality about Buchanan building. To me, there are much more panoramic views scattering all over the campus which deserve better attention than Buchanan.

Anyway anyway anyway.

It's still exciting to have seen all these as it stimulates my hyper-ness after the dreadful assignments and tests.

How grand it is the view to have seen buses of mobile dressing rooms queueing in line.

How lively it is to see a crowd outside student union building after 6 p.m on weekdays.

How interesting it is to watch students taking photos at Buchanan building without being stared like a lunatic.

Also, how often can I see a tank on my way to lectures!!

Let's zoom into the pictures then!!








Seems like I now have a reason to wait for the latest 'X-men' to be back in action.

My living place

I just moved into uni residence exactly a week ago, I was sorted into the Walter Gage residence. It's quite a big surprise because usually Walter Gage residence offers place to second-year students onwards, so there's a possibility that they sorted me wrongly.

Anyway, I just got myself here. Moving into campus also indicates the end of my off-campus life.

I took some photos before leaving the room I was renting for the whole September.

Let's start the picture talk then!

Here's the park nearby the house I was living.


The walking path.



The House



It's a 3-floor townhouse. First floor is the door with a staircase going up to the second floor.There's a bedroom on the right just before the staircase.Second floor contains a living room and kitchen, then there goes a staircase up to third floor which has 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.

My room






My private bathroom



I was so indulged in the environment that I walked back to my house leisurely everyday at that time. Supermarkets and restaurants are easily accesible till it's not a problem to be a choosy consumer at all.However, that's just one thing I've been grumbling since the first day I live in Richmond, it's the distance from my house to the bus stop.

Let's measure it this way.

3 streets+ 2 traffic lights+ Passing by a Petrol Station and an Old Folks Home

It was so painful to reduce my 1.5 hour of sleeping time to prepare myself and catch a bus on time, for an 8 a.m lecture !That's the main reason for my shift.

So I decided to move into Walter Gage on last Sunday,where we had a long weekend (Monday was a holiday). I'm just excited with the thought that I'm gazillion steps closer to the uni from now onwards.

Walter Gage residence

I live in one of the 3 towers of Walter Gage, where I own a room with shared kitchen and bathroom. Apartments and studios are also available in here with very limited space.








I know, I like to stock food because I usually do grocery shopping once a week.
So " buy all you can" becomes my motto (lol,joking of course)! Food storage is important if I don't want to stuff myself with fast food everyday.

I'm proud to claim myself as a "loyal" Malaysian food products' consumer that all of my Milo,instand noodles and Tom Yum paste were brought from there.

Let's see...



Most of them are available here actually, if I don't mind buying a 400g of Milo pack at the price of RM 18. Considering the fact that I'm a "Milo Queen" , I think that doesn't work on me at all. I'll still carry packs and packs of Milo from M'sia yearly.

All the above pictures just make good explanation about my previous and current living place. =) I met all my housemates finally, there's really a diversed culture among all of us, having Canadians, Asians and Asean.

I feel, it would be a good start of my first year.