a post about many things

pardon the hiatus. if you haven't found out, a few friends (nellie, yoke ching, khai ren) and i went to germany for a lil competition called rubicon. sponsored. oh yeah IJM if you're reading this, WE HEART YOU. TRULY. seriously, you guys are too kind. not sure if you'll be disappointed with our performance but we bought a nice wine for you guys :D

no prizes for guessing whether we won or lost.

being typical tourists, we started snapping pictures at literally EVERYTHING in sight once we landed. maybe it was because it was for most of us, our first time being in europe, that we became so jakun. (i mean, imagine if tourist started snapping pictures upon arrival at klia!) i had to admit, it started to get embarassing pretty soon as Tobias (our driver) just stood there and let us marvel around like kids in a toy factory.

one thing to be remembered is (for me) the train system. it's so darn complicated! yet so efficient! the train arrives EXACTLY at the time stated. not one second earlier, not one second later. you come half a minute later the train says goodbye to you. malaysians living with malaysian time would have problems here. no offence but the train system there is like the exact counterpart of our ones here. and their older trains are fast.

and this, my friends, is the largest cathedral in germany. it's in kohl (cologne). and just next to the train station. me and nel exited the train station wondering how we're going to navigate our way to the dom when we realized it was just next to us. it was HUGE. and TALL. and the tower pictured is the shorter one of the two. my camera couldn't even take all of it at once. (but then again my camera couldn't do a lot of things. gahhh) and we climbed all the way to the top. took us nearly half an hour to climb all the way up. should give you an idea of how tall it really is.

anyway i think i'll talk about germany more next time. there are just too many things to talk about, too many pictures. and i'm lazy. very lazy. and germany was awesome. so one post by a very lazy me would not justify.

and so we arrived at the airport a few hours ago before the return flight. and i just found out i would be on the plane when MIT results are released. and nellie just found out she got into Washington University in St Louis (congratz girl!). and we shopped. duty free. (chocolates!!!) and we bid farewell to the biting cold. and dryness. and all the wonderful food we've had. and all the amazing people we've met. and all the friendly germans who despite their lack of command of the english language, were always eager to help us out whenever we asked for it.

and i found out i got rejected by MIT. unsurprisingly.

and i got accepted by University of Washington, Seattle.

and i (finally) removed my braces.

and i got waitlisted at University of Chicago.

and i got rejected by Northwestern University.

but i got accepted by University of California, Berkeley!

OMG I'M SO HAPPY AND SO GRATEFUL

i am really really really THANKFUL that you accepted me, berkeley! i forgot to give you my phone number, and you so kindly mailed a letter all the way to my house to remind me. i submitted your application 5 mintues before the deadline. yet you accepted me T_T thank you thank you!

and to all those who've congratulated me. thanks! i hope you all get what you want too! april 1st. the anxiety!

ok so this isn't a post about a lot of things anyway. see, i told you i'm lazy.

it's written in the stars

click it.

hypothesis proven

the walls in our dorm are not smell-proof.

'nuff said.

oh the horrors

you know what's worse than calculus 2?

saturday classes.

nooooooooo you just ruined my weekends mr koong T_T

FIVE saturdays for that matter.

argh

and this saturday is a test 1. worth 25%. hurray.

*

random fact of the day:

(if i'm not mistaken) Ng Hui Lin's mother went to Yale! woohoo!

do you believe in faith?

do you think hope keeps you alive? you know that tiny voice somewhere deep down that tells you to always look at the brighter side of things and hang on even when everything was on the verge of falling apart? the thing that perches on your shoulders when daily grinds keep them hunched, whispering words of comfort into your ears while your body tires and wears out. could you live without that? or couldn't you?

how about faith? what is faith? is faith a matter of opinion? a belief? or is it just a choice? perhaps like in those darned multiple choice questions with options A to D? so is there a right answer? is there a wrong one? so is faith the answer to the question? or is it the question that begs for answers?

what about belief? is it another word for faith? or is it just an opinion subjected to personal view? so does that mean everyone is entitled to his or her belief? then how does faith work then?

but then again, what is dream? what is hope?

if you're into annoyingly addictive mini games

The Red Square

very annoyingly addictive indeed.

and my record is 40.5 seconds hohoho

things i've been doing

- helping out with JPA magazine

- oh i still have the newsletter layout to do. aiks

- practicing Rachmaninoff Moment Musicaux no. 4 and Hungarian Rhapsody no. 6

- hating moral

- scrabble

- studying for econs test which is in less than 10 hours

- accounts test

- freaking out on college confidential

- frisbee

oh and the best part is, of all the things i've forgotten to bring, it had to be my wallet.

money settled, but all my cards and driver's license T_T

ok back to econs and chemistry

some cartoons...

... never get old :)

a little too not over you

i think i'm the biggest procrastinator. ever. i sit around and waste time doing practically nothing until it isn't possible to put things off anymore. good example: all my applications were sent in hours or even minutes before the deadline with the exception of stanford.

i never really liked packing. i'll either have too many stuff to bring, or i wouldn't even know what to bring. finishing MIT at 4am, i stoned in front of the laptop and realized i haven't packed a single thing, and in hours i would be going back to nilai. sigh.

ok, i know resolutions don't always (never) come true. but here goes:

1. manage time better

this should be a challenge.

i don't quite get people who like to have people around them 24/7. sometimes, it feels just so... liberating to break away and be by yourself, ignoring calls and smses. my timetable has been generous to me. no eight o'clock classes to bug me from my sleep. ahhhh sleep, words just couldn't describe the wonders of being asleep.

i think the best thing about being in nilai is that it is so ulu, you tend to be more creative in whatever you do. just to avoid having to eat in the cafeteria and in the shops outside college (most of which were closed down before because of hygiene problems), you bring rice cookers and can food. and somehow you manage to survive for another day. yipee.

also, when you have nothing to do, you dust off the cover of that monopoly or scrabble set that has been hiding under your cupboard, and invite a few friends along to play. then because of lack of good letters, you ruin a good game of scrabble. or because of pure bad luck, you don't manage build any houses or hotels on your territory, and you end up bullying others into paying measly rents. swell.

this is inti, folks.

damn you people with no friday classes! *sulks*

I spent

christmas doing applications

birthday doing applications

and new year doing applications

but if it means new year in the States next year, it's worth it

have a great 2009 folks :)