Tale of Two Plates

Now at the job-searching stage, I try to make myself useful and do some simple house chores such as cleaning the dishes and folding the clothes. (Well, my family members will strongly deny that I did any house chores because I spent most of the time at the computer.) Today (it is passed 12midnight I know, just assume it is 11pm) I helped to wash the dishes after my parents settled their lunch. My mum left her plate on the sink. Hers is totally clean except for the oil stains or else I could not find any reason to wash the plate. However my dad’s is on the kitchen table. His plate is totally different from my mum’s, totally opposite. You can tell what he ate and what food he doesn’t like by looking at the plate. Both of my parents come from a not-so-rich family background. Food is definitely scarce. Why both of them have such opposite behavior? My conclusion is that both of them have different way of expressing “thank you for the abundance of food”. Her way is not wasting a single grain of food. His way is that leaving some hint of food behind is a blessing (it shows that he is no longer at the time of biting of near rotten apples). I was trained by her not to leave single grain of food at first, then learned from him not to fill my stomach more than it needs (that’s the time I starts to reject extra food).

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Event 1:

It all happened when I came back to my own hostel after “shift house” day. I’d received news from hostel management that I and my housemate (JC) could not stay at our own rooms after 31^st of May.

Event 2:

We asked for help from my course mate (SC). She generously provided us a place to stay. So, I and SC help JC to pack up her stuff (as her “shift house” day was planned on one week later) to SC place. I helped to carry to one of the gigantic luggage. The luggage handles snaps as I just step out of front door. “@#%#!” I muttered to myself. Lucky thing is that the luggage has rollers. Unlucky thing is that I was at the third floor and how am I going to drag the bag with rollers down three flights of staircase? Not wanting to destroy the luggage rollers as well, I literally “clawed” the luggage up with my finger nails sinking into the luggage materials and “snail”- down the three flights of staircase. Once managed to chunk the luggage to SC’s car, my fingers were sore, very sore.

Event 3:

I and SC shift the first round of “shift house” stuff to SC’s house first. I carefully shift the gigantic luggage inside the house. When I thought that the danger was over, the box I just lifted off suddenly snaps. Its bottom opened out and all the contents just slide down. Oh God.

Event 4:

I and SC drive into the hostel for the last round of “shift house” process. At the gate, I flashed out “my” tenant card (actually I borrowed it). I was hoping the security guard could just let us pass. However, the security guard seems to refuse to let us passed. He said the vehicle is unregistered, and not allowed to move further into the hostel premises during night hours. We argued that was ridiculous. JC’s room is right at the other end of the block! I refused to demand for visitor pass as I had not memorized the real card holder details. Strangely, the guard insisted us to call the tenant (JC) down to verify that we are her friends. I called the unit number to announce the bad news to JC while SC tried to get to her through hand phone. We took quite a well to contact her as she was busy shifting her remaining stuff down. Once she arrived at the guard house, looking furious, asked the guard what the hell was happening. The guard asked for the tenant card and both of our identification cards. (Why did I need to leave my ID there? Unreasonable, I flashed the tenant card already!) Furiously, JC slams the tenant card on the table and asked us to leave without leaving our ID behind.

Event 5:

Once completing the “shift house” process, we had our dinner. Once returned to SC’s house, we had another dilemma. Where were the keys? We searched the entire car. We searched the area nearby. No keys. Lucky thing is there is a spare at SC’s parents’ place. However we fear that thief had picked up the keys. We put one extra padlock at the gate. We crammed at one room. We set up a mechanism so that the thief or whoever who sneaked in the room needed to make a lot of noises and effort to get in to our room. We place mosquitoes spray, pepper spray and two pairs of scissors nearby our bedside. We change another new set of padlocks right away next morning.

Door Setup


Pepper Spray


Mosquitoes Spray

Event 6:

I accidentally rubbed my eyes with the tiny amount of the pepper spray contents. Ouch! The pepper spray will be very useful for self-defense alright.

Event 7:

It had been couple of days without any unfortunate event. I was careless then. I fell and sprained my leg. Good thing is my managed to recover before the Cameron trip two days later.

Event 8:

At Cameron, it suddenly rained when I convinced my friends that it wouldn’t rain. Great, me and my big mouth.

Event 9:

No hot water when we need it the most, during the rainy night at Cameron where we soaked with rain water.

Event 10:

I let the taxi driver took the longer road distance to an extremely near location. Baka!

Event 11:

Spilled my medicine second time, this time I’m at 2 hours drive to get my medicine. How am I going to get a refill? Argh~!!

Dark Moments of Year 2002

I recall that there is one old man in a Japanese drama suggests to a teen to hide the thing (for this case is the picture of the girl whom he likes hugging his best friend) ,that he wishes not to see and hopes it is not true, inside a jar of fermented soy beans (very smelly one). The old man tells the teen not to open the jar till one day he can look at the picture and laugh about it.
I unconsciously followed the old man advice. I have the habit of writing my darkest moments of certain period in a diary or any piece of paper and hide somewhere out of reach (but later I found out that no one bothers to spy at my diary so I don’t bother to hide it). As I clear up my room (I’m leaving the hostel, graduating soon depending on my final results), I found the diary of year 2002 when I first started my university life at Malacca. In year 2002, when my social activities is near zero, assignment is easy and projects are scarce, I had plenty of time to write something on the diary. Below are the two excerpts of my “darkest moment” on year 2002 which had been “fermented” properly.

Dark Moments 1

During the AGM meeting, one girl fell unconscious. Few boys tried to carry her (clumsily – they are so weak) till one strong fellow carry her to the clinic. I never know that she’ll pass away. This incident scares me more than any horror movie because it is real. I never thought that death can come out suddenly with no reason at all. To me, this is a shocking realization. I used to think this way: people die only when you’re really really old or with serious disease, but not just a “snap” then oh you’re dead. This thought haunts me and I wish to tell someone about it. But this topic is so “suey” (undesirable, dark) that I couldn’t bring the subject out. Especially, now meningitis is on the loose. I shouldn’t go to the AGM or maybe that’s the way god tries to tell me life is precious, treasure it. I have so many dreams to archive, I’m not ready to “leave”, and so do that poor girl. My IT Math lecturer joke didn’t cheer me up either. She had spoken a deadly truth: “one alpha engineering and one alpha management gone, what about alpha IT?” (alpha stands for foundation studies, there 3 foundation studies available: Engineering, Information Technology and Management). Geez, adult just don’t give teens a break, don’t they? My life in MMU is great fun, challenging and in total control (except for life and death). Strangely, I prefer to be in class with my course mates than be with my room mate. I don’t know why I just can’t talk to her. I seem to be out of topic. I began to look ‘cold’. We used to say a lot at the beginning, what happened now? I missed my home at the same time (who don’t?). I missed talking, really missed that. When the semester break started, I’m going home and talk as much as I could.

Dark Moments 2

Do you fell like talking but you just can’t find a topic to begin with? What do you feel when your own house mates became your stranger? It’s strange to dread for the weekend and hope for lecture days to start as Saturday and Sunday looks like an eternity. It is because of age? It is because I’m only younger by one year in the group? Why I can’t communicate with them or they can’t communicate with me? If this keeps happening, I better leave because if I don’t I will need to visit the psychologist. Who can stand the pressure? I wish that I wasn’t a girl so I can stroll during the night and eat somewhere far a way without a company. I wish I was with my course mates, ex-school-mates, they are more considerate, don’t mind if I kept quiet and will not think that I’m proud when I’m in a silence mood. Maybe my house mates don’t understand me compared to them, or maybe it is my quiet syndrome who causes the “gap” between me and my house mates. My quiet syndrome causes me to suffer for two years during secondary school. I guess I have to keep on praying for a best friend to appear to guide me. I’ll keep on searching though. Maybe she/he is not at Malacca. But then I would to thank god for sending an angel (my way of calling those people who had help me) to take care of me. Although angel can’t be my best pal but I’m happy to find one. Angel needs to help other people too so I can’t be so greedy. Sometime, I regret of rejecting XX friendship but then I couldn’t help feeling that she was making use of me like she did to anyone else. That’s not a friend should do. Friend don’t pressure or criticize his/her partner over small matters. I really missed my old friends. Though if I met them again, we probably have little to talk about but just to see them and to be with them it will truly make me happy.

Thoughts after three years later:

1. I still don’t know how to react to death issue.


2. I have stayed on the same room for two years. Me and my house mates had a sea-side BBQ together where we lied on the sandy beach watching the starry skies. We too traveled to Perhentian Island together and had a fun and unforgettable vacation. Now, I and two of my house mates are going to graduate this year.


3. I do not dislike Saturday and Sunday anymore.


4. I do not regret on rejecting XX friendship as I found true new good friends now.

Last Scene

This is the last scene of my faithful study table on my last day of my final examination (25/5/2006). Piles of tissue paper boxes on the left (exceptionally higher than anyone else). My laptop, which sitting on the right, brings me any type of entertainment available online to save me when I was almost drowned with facts and details. And of course like any normal students who struggles to study the examination subject last minute, a pile of notes on the table. The picture you see now no longer exists. Most of the stuff there are packed and shifted back to my home. I don’t manage to bring my bookshelf (on the left). I found it missing when I return back to my room three days later after the “move house day”. It must have found a better owner somewhere.