Some Days are Crazier than Others

It began at 12.30 a.m. on Thursday morning. Yen and I had a really long conversation which only ended at about 4.00 a.m.

I barely slept and woke up at 8.30 a.m. with a semi-blocked right ear which, I discovered just now, was blocked for the most ridiculous reason.

The adventure only really ended at 6.40 p.m. on Friday when I accidentally fell asleep halfway through my tuition class, only to wake up at 3.00 a.m. on Saturday morning and realise what had happened.

What follows is a series of snapshots of some of the events that transpired between Thursday morning and Friday evening (record is of the time the photos were taken). The record is by no means complete, but it is a glimpse on which I will reflect at the end of this entry.

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2.04 p.m. I joined the Wednesday Science Care Group (CG) at the Science Café. Adelene and Ai Wei were dressed nearly alike! Shannon later drove Victor, Jia Hui and me to DTC, where Pesta Ko-K (the Extra-Curricular Courses Festival) was held. Among other things, we looked at Adele's Chinese watercolour painting of dragonflies and photo montages by Victor and Melalyn, and tried our hand at Chinese brush painting.


5.40 p.m. Kee Aun and I paid a half-surprise visit to the Arts CG (half, because Hazel knew I was coming) after tea at the Arts Café. Hazel shared from Psalms 95 and 100, asked us to describe the semester in a word. She also brought up the matter of coming up with a name for the CG.

There's Enbina (Engineering & Alam Bina) and Econica (Econs, Business & Accountancy) but nothing for 'Arts, Linguistics and Pusat Kebudayaan' so far. I suggested 'Budaya LiAr'. I don't think they'll use my idea. :-P


7.24 p.m. Hazel dropped me at the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FSKTM or FCSIT) where I joined Jia Hua and Li Theen for CG just past 6.00 p.m. Jia Hua shared from Ephesians 3:16-21 and we talked about experiences working with different groups (Jia Hua's Project Management course and Li Theen's groups for various assignments) and sharing our faith with friends.

Both Jia Hua and Joy described the semester as 'crazy'.

I was then supposed to meet Rachael and probably Titus for follow-up with Titus's friend at Dataran Sastera. Rachael couldn't make it, but due to an SMS typo ("I prob can make it" instead of "I prob can't make it") I ended up waiting for her at Dataran.

My watch read 7.45 p.m. once I'd clarified with her. I could still pay a surprise visit to KLPac to meet Kee Aun, Suit Lin, Jon and Ai Wei. Perchance I might even be able to join them for Passion. Having called up KLPac and finding out that there were only 10 tickets left and they weren't entertaining last minute bookings, I decided I wouldn't regret the journey, even if all I could do was have dinner there.

Dinner with Rachael and then a slow, relaxed night... or a mad trip across town? I made my choice and hopped into this taxi driven by a (daytime) baker at La Bohème, Jusco Mid Valley called Salam. (The Chinese uncle in the first taxi didn't want to go to Sentul).


8.36 p.m. I arrived at KLPac at about 8.15 p.m. and met Jon and Kee Aun outside the Box Office. Suit Lin and Ai Wei were inside. Apparently they hadn't bought tickets earlier and couldn't get any now. It was a toss then, between going for a movie and watching Actorlympics at The Actors Studio, Bangsar.

With barely enough time to get to the Bangsar Shopping Centre, we chose to watch The Water Horse at Mid Valley. It was a horse-y night, what with transforming Kee Aun's car into a horse-drawn carriage and spotting the shop above on our way out of Sentul.


9.14 p.m. We swapped jackets while Suit Lin was in line. Kee Aun put on my brown Seed jacket, Jon wore Kee Aun's black Adidas, and I did what only the Ben would... squeeze into Ai Wei's purple jacket!

En route to Mid Valley, we dubbed Kee Aun the 'changing lanes' driver, and the night bore us out!

Met Adrian, Qiu Mei and Say Siong there. Adrian was there with Jee Haw, Jimmy and Wei Lun, while the other two were with Steven (if I'm not mistaken).


12.41 a.m. After the movie (which the others didn't find satisfactory, while I very much enjoyed the 'trip' to Scotland), we dropped Jon at KFC where his car was parked and proceeded inside to place our orders.

The book in Kee Aun's hand is James Joyce's Dubliners.

We talked about many, many things.


3.17 a.m. One thing about good models is that there is no end to the possibilities of new and inspiring photography. Behold Sister Kaun of the Candleflame.


3.24 a.m. We spotted this rat enjoying the scraps beneath the next table.


4.12 a.m. I don't quite know what to make of this shot. Ai Wei wanted a shot with the light behind her (like the one of Kee Aun above), but the resulting photo was a rather unusual (yet simple) juxtaposition which, I think, says quite a lot about the kind of person she is.

We proceeded to drop Suit Lin off at Millennium Court so that she could finish her assignment, before meeting up again for breakfast at McDonald's. The initial plan was to go straight to McDonald's after KFC, but homework is homework!

Meanwhile we made stops at 9th, 3rd and 12th for Kee Aun, me and Ai Wei to freshen up respectively, and then we headed to Dataran Sastera to make use of the wonderful wireless connection; Kee Aun is a genius and a human wireless antenna.

(Incidentally, Kee Aun's car windows fogged up at 9th and 3rd; in case you're wondering, there was NO hanky-panky of any sort!)


7.43 a.m. Breakfast at McD's! Somehow, McD's still has the best variety in its menu and despite being aware of its blatant commercialism, we are drawn to it. Like how d'NAers always end up in McD's at some point of virtually every reunion, despite trying to avoid it initially. (Spot the 2D lame fingers!)


7.47 a.m. Ronald's hair looks like a feather in Kee Aun's hair. (Spot the 3D lame fingers!)

At about 9.00 a.m. Kee Aun dropped Ai Wei and me off at the Taman Bahagia LRT station before heading back to UM; Suit Lin was already an hour late for her class. Ai Wei travelled to Pudu to get a set of black-and-whites printed for Suit Lin (more on the black-and-whites in a post to come).

On Ai Wei's request, we paid a visit to the VI while waiting for the photos. There we met Weng Kit, Miss Shanti and the drama boys, Pn Jayaselvi, Pn Sandra, Datin Maimun, Pn Ambigai, Mrs Lee (who commented on the 'new' VI), Mr Leong (who commented on how fast my first year has passed), Pn Kaladevi (who asked about UM), Mr Tham (to whom I waved through the glass panel of the rear staffroom door) and Pn Jaya K. Weng Kit, Shanti, Jayaselvi, Sandra and Jaya K. met Ai Wei.

Because the drama boys were preparing for the upcoming state prelims, Ai Wei was able to witness them in action and get a glimpse of the kind of environment in which I grew up.


1.02 p.m. On our way back we picked up a cup of champagne bubble tea each, but had to rush our drinks because they weren't allowed on the train.

It was a bad time to return to UM as public transport from Universiti station was at a standstill due to Friday prayers. So we walked back all the way to the Geology Department, and arrived at DKG just as Rachel was announcing next week's meeting (as I'd predicted). Thus Ai Wei was able to say a few things about the meeting in between gasps for breath. ;-)

I was too tired after the meeting to have lunch. So I just bought a 500ml bottle of mango juice from the convenience store near the Science Café. It was raining, and so it was a long journey back home via LRT, Komuter and taxi. (Many thanks to Tim for dropping me off at Universiti.)

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Closing thoughts:

Some of you have been with me since those early days. Have my pictures changed in any way? Might these pictures have been taken in those days?

When I first looked at this sequence of photos, I realised they bore quite a lot of resemblance to those I took at our numerous d'NA reunions.

And I realise it's been a long time since I've written a post like this.


Dinner calls.



7 April, 11.27 a.m.
Expanded the paragraph on meeting teachers in the VI.