When The Waves Scare Us

I'm in Venice right now, and I'm enjoying it. The rest have gone out shopping today, so in order to keep myself from spending, I've stayed in the apartment.

I haven't got much to say, really. Just that I like it here.

I like this.

Signing out

Over and out

Narrow Streets

I'm walking through the streets of Venice, along the riverbank, overseeing the gondolas. And then I see a bridge.

The bridge is larger than the other bridges. But that might just be because I haven't seen all the bridges in Venice.

I don't know.

I have never been to Venice before.

The wind is cold. The sun is shining. The streets are narrow.

And then I realise, we're stuck here for another three days.

Two Hundred And Fifty Reasons

I was expecting a half-asleep day today, considering that I got back from London at around midnight (five fuckin' hours to get back last night), that I barely had any sleep the day before, and that we were basically standing for four hours doing nothing in the meet-and-greet.

But then, things are looking up. For my double english, I only had ten minutes till my teacher decided to let us go because too many of us were off to interviews. So today, I only have a grand total of two lessons. My other English lesson with Doc Law might still be a beef, since we finished Shakespeare for the term. And I've got 1st Leagues to look forward to this afternoon.

But I still have this minor headache that's ever-present. Sometimes it just manages to take my attention away from what I was doing, and for about a minute I'd just be totally detached from everything.

I've got an e-mail from UCL asking me to write two essays for them by next week. It's a particularly hard essay, but I've got such a busy schedule this week, I probably can only start once the holidays start, which is this friday. I'm still partial to whether I'm gonna go to Christmas school dinner. It should be worth going, but...

I need this holiday really bad.

Signing out

Over and out

This Ride Is For All Ages

After Warwick's most anti-climactic e-mail (we will consider your application after blah de blah...), I was feeling a bit wary of the UCAS e-mail I got last night when I was in Headington. Urm, yes. I was in Farah's school :D It was a surprise visit, and I spent a few hours there going around the school. I even had supper in their dining hall. It did feel extremely weird being the only guy. And oh, I happened to be in the same room as Emma Watson and did not fucking notice her until Farah pointed it out much, much later. Hahahahahahaha.

Anyways, what I wanted to talk about was that I got an offer from York last night. My first offer so far, and it's not bad. The grades are ABB, and it says nothing about getting an A for English, which is a bit of a relief.

By the way, I'm staying at Hanif's place at the moment, and I've got his place all to myself for the night because he's gone to London. Hahahaha. Oxford is too claustrophobic for me. It just feels so gloomy and... Enclosed... Maybe it's because it's winter, and maybe it's because I'm so used to the wide open spaces in Shrewsbury.

I woke up at 6am. I hate it when I wake up early during the holidays. Usually I just grab some breakfast and then go back to sleep, but I've decided against it this morning. One, because I don't fucking know where I can buy anything at 6:34am in the morning. I know there's a Sainsbury's somewhere, but it's not exactly next door.

I'm tired.

Signing out

Over and out

The Sun Thought I Had Something To Do With It

I don't know why I'm having trouble uploading this year's house singing videos. It's a shame too. The singing is brilliant. I'll try again soon.

Anyways, life has been not too bad in Shrewsbury, but it's getting a bit too frosty at the moment. We've been reaching the minuses in terms of temperature for the past few mornings and nights. It's bloody fucking cold, and I've abandoned my flip-flops and three-quarters because it's fucking freezing. I need to buy gloves. Red gloves.

I'm going to Oxford tomorrow, right after breakfast. Risky move, since it's almost certainly flippin' chilly. And oh, for the past few days, the hot showers are - simply put - not hot at all. Imagine, coming back from a hard-fought match against the staff, the horror of having a cold shower. Fucking outrage, I tell you.

And oh, what a match we had against Ridgemount. We were 3-0 down at one stage, but we managed to win 6-5, yours truly scoring the final equaliser in the last ten minutes, minutes before our winner. Of course, Ridgemount were taking the piss, to be honest. And it didn't help that some of our players had already given up by the third goal.

I need to get out of here for a few days. Oh, wait. Tomorrow is coach weekend. Yippee.

Signing out

Over and out

To Us, This Is A Truthful Tragedy

I know everyone's sulking over the fact that half-term is over, and truth be told, I'm bummed out of my mind trying to figure out how the ten days went by so fast. Damn it, it was a good half-term.

So many things happened.Urggh, I don't even know where to start.

I went to Cardiff for my cousin's 22nd birthday bash. That was awesome. Made some new friends, and had some crazy moments that was unforgettable. Hahaha. Mel, if you're reading this, thanks for inviting me :D And wow, Eric. I know you're not gonna read this, so god damn you, you lucky bastard :P

The next day we had to go to the Dorchester hotel for the BSUnion Raya thing, which wasn't too bad. I won a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates for answering the quiz, which got wiped clean before I even got on the bus.

Deylah and Desiree were two people I spent much more time together than I would have thought. Never mind they called me Mu Mu (huh?) most of the time. Hahaha. We stayed up late doing practically nothing telling each other we should go to sleep. That was stupid, I guess :P And oh, when Farah wasn't in London, Deylah was my Sainsbury companion. Hahahaha.

I'll post some pictures of half-term soon. Wait for it.

Signing out

Over and out

Ironies In Indefinite Intervals

She sees it. The swirl of colours, just above her, strokes of bold, primary tones. It is only a dream, she assures herself. Yet she has never felt anything so real before. The way the gust of wind just brush past her. The blinding explosion of colours. And the sheer confusion of it all.

This is one of those 'real' dreams, she says to herself. It is a dream. It must be.

What else can it be?

The ground shakes and trembles as suddenly a ball of light crashes onto the earth. The trees shiver in terror and the birds leave their nests in fright as more descended from the sky. The surface crumbles into pieces, cracks travelling from one end of the horizon to the other. The sky grew darker as the light fade and descend into destruction.

In horror she retreats under a fallen tree which has been overgrown with mushrooms. Cowering, she starts praying for her life, wishing to herself this is just a nightmare.

Now she waits for the chaos to stop. She waits and she waits, but the longer she does, the more violent the tremors become, and as the sky turns into complete darkness, she cries herself to sleep, the ground still shaking, and the light and the colours no longer there.

------------------------------------------

It's half-term. Well, almost. Still have two(-ish) kessons to go, and house-singing to go to. For unison we're doing four songs from Les Miserables, and for the part song we're doing Bohemian Rhapsody, which looks and sounds absolutely incredible. Our unison isn't bad either. The sheer energy and volume, and the pace of the piano and the urgency of the voices. I think we're in for a chance for top spot.

Tomorrow we're going to London. Looking forward to that. Looks like I'm not going to Manchester to see Capdown after all. Oh well. I didn't get a ticket for the Dorchester raya thing, and I'm quite pissed off. Well, not really, but just a little bit disappointed. One thing left to do is go to my cousin's 22nd birthday in Cardiff. That is if I still have enough dosh by then. Heh.

Signing out

Over and out

The Dead Live By Love

We went to Alton Towers yesterday. And by hell, it was awesome. Of course, let's be honest, some of the rides reminded me of Jerudong Park. Hahaha. But rides like Oblivion, Ripsaw and Air made the difference. And the sheer size of the place.

Aside from Ripsaw and Submission, I thought Disneyland had similar but better rides. Rita: Queen Of Speed was similar to Aerosmith Rock 'n Roll in that they started from a stand still to a big tub of speed, but Rock 'n Roll was longer, and it was dark and a lot more twists and turns. Oh well. I shouldn't really compare it to Disneyland. I had fun on them. I really did.

Adry, Mubin and Chiao also went with us on the same bus, but we didn't go on the rides together. I went with my own housemates, Loco, Fudge and Clive. We felt sorry for leaving Yang Lan with Lauitt, but really, if you know Lauitt, you don't want him following you around at Alton Towers where we're supposed to have fun.

Anyways, I gotta go.

Signing out

Over and out

P.S. The title is from an album from Mendeed

In Time The Inconsequentials Will Become The Inevitables

So tomorrow is my flight back to the UK, and my feelings are terribly mixed about it. On one hand, I can't help but feel I haven't spent enough time with all of my friends, especially Fee and Yumnie. On the other hand, I simply can't wait to go back.

So what has the first two months back to Brunei taught me? I'm not quite sure. A lot, yet so little at the same time.

Things change. People change. Unexpected new relationships blooming. Unexpected old relationships staying alive or breaking off. This side of the world has changed during my absence, and it feels weird. I'm not thinking country-wise. I mean my friends. It's strange to think that for the past ten months I haven't been directly a part of their lives, and they in mine.

It's unbelievably weird - and incredibly selfish of me - to see and feel envious that these people are doing well without me. Heh. I know. What did I expect. Not that I'm self-centred or anything. I think most would understand what I'm trying to say, rather than intepret it as self-centred.

It's raining planes and helicopters, and one of them is my flight HOME.

Signing out

Over and out

A Mention For An Amendment Decades In The Making

For the second day in a row, I'm having breakfast at De Royalle Cafe, here in Bandar, with really not much to do than go online, check Facebook & Multiply, and recently, starting to read blogs from Brunei's very own Blogging Nation. But in all honesty, going online isn't always unproductive. Just by a few random clicks and and BAM! You find out something you didn't even imagine could even be true, likely or possible. That's literally how I ended up being a vegan. A few random clicks and there I was, pondering over the ethics of animal exploitation.

[skip this part if you get bored easily. Hahaha]

With creativity though, there's a lot you can do online. There's this Wikipedia game that people play, where you have to link two seemingly unrelated topics. Here's how it works:

Choose two totally unrelated topics. Eg. Mitsubishi, and Anne Frank

Then choose a starting point. I'll choose Anne Frank as an example. Enter it on Wikipedia

Then read the article, looking for any links for articles that might get you one step closer to achieving your final goal, Mitsubishi, in as few clicks as possible.

I've gone from Anne Frank to Germany to Japan to Mitsubishi. Accomplished!

Hahahahaa.

I know what you're thinking. This is the saddest game I've ever heard. And yes, it kinda is. But it's still good fun.

[Yes, it's safe now]

Anyways, so I'm bored here. I'm not gonna say I'm bored out of my mind because the truth is, I'm not THAT bored. Facebook is a good companion. BBC News is on the telly, so you can't really say I'm not learning anything while I'm sitting here sipping my Caramel Latte in De Royalle.

The rain is soothing. It's a soft drizzling delicate shower. And unlike when it rains in the UK, the sky is still bright. Makes for a good walk under the rain. Although since I've got lunch later at somewhere else, I don't plan to get wet here and now. And since I've been spending much more time in Bandar (no, don't call me a Poklen. Hahaha), I've noticed there are loads of tourists around. And they all look the same, with their khaki shorts and oversized camping bags. And oh, a big-ass camera hanging around their neck. I guess it's some kind of tourist uniform rule that all European/American tourists wear when going to a tropical country. Hoho. Ha. A lot of them hang out at De Royalle too, apparently.

By the way, there's an Education UK / British Council exhibit going on tomorrow at Rizqun, the Mall. Fourth floor, Sutra Hall. I'll be working there as a promoter for the feedback survey. Sounds fun. Ish. The task, though simple, seems a bit daunting. They're aiming for 200-250 people to answer the survey, and I'm supposed to get those 250 people. A bit of a struggle, I predict. It'll be from 1pm to 6pm, if anyone's wondering. Be there. I'll be at the entrance. And do come in hundreds. Makes my job easier to get those survey forms done. Hahaha.

I guess my holiday isn't as unproductive as it seems at first glance. So far I've been to two pre-departure briefing for new scholars, and is expecting another one this Friday. I've looked after my grandfather in the hospital, essentially learning how to take care of the elderly. I've looked at universities, courses and grade requirements. I guess this amounts to being (somewhat) relatively productive, considering I've had three attachment applications unreplied and ignored.

And oh, being in UK for eight months, you gain new insight to how Brunei is, against how it seems to be. I don't intend to elaborate on that point, because it could get too tedious.

Signing out

Over and out