busting my butt

you know you're busting your butt and stressing yourself up too much when office appliances start to break.



anyway, i woke up this morning at about 10 to finish up my reference list. decided to add in a couple more journals in text as well as on the list. so i've got enough sources now. :)

for the better

whoa...5.23 am.

yup, i am finally done with the CB102 Take Home Exam. I have inadequate sources but what the hell. I tried. I can't say i agree with the whole assignment slash final exam concept. It stresses me twice as much and works me twice as hard. Yet the results are under par. I seriously think i can do better with a proper final exam.

Anyway, the completion of this assignment/exam marks the end of all written assignments for the semester. Just pure studying-required exam papers next. 3 to be exact. Once again i'm caught aback by how quickly time flew. Upon completion of this semester, i'm half a year closer to pursuing my own dream.

Over the course of the past 6 months, I've gone through a lot more than any other 6 months of my life.

I suffered a terrible loss when my beloved grandmother passed on. I went so many nights crying myself to sleep, unable to really accept the fact.

I made a lot of new friends, the ones in Camp 5 as well as the ones who went to Mt Kinabalu. And all of them, in one way or another, made a big impact in my life.

I went on a trip with my college friends. That's an improvement for the anti-social loner of Metropolitan College. Made college life a tad more interesting after that. I remember something Ms Choong, my econs lecturer in sem 1, said to me : tertiary education is nothing without friends to support you along the way. She can't be any more true. :)

I crawled and hobbled through one of the worst heartaches i've ever been through. I moved on and that's all that matters.

I had(still having actually) the worse running stage of my life. Only to discover a medical flaw in my body - something i never thought i would find out. Now waiting for the day i am fully recovered.

I bridged a hidden gap that i had with my brother, making me feel so close to him now, eventhough he's so far away.

I had earned several paycheques in my name before settling on a steady income while having a great time on the job.

I paid for two (actually still paying for one) of my major expenses which includes flying across borders.

I cooked my family lunch! Ok just my dad, my brother and my maid. but heck, i cooked!

I read 2 books. From cover to cover.

I drove to A Famosa and competed in the sprint all by myself! and gave my dad a shock...make that several shocks.

I got to know my other grandmother better when she stayed here for a couple of weeks. Got a lot closer to her and my aunt who comes daily to visit.

I went to a house party with my dad and my little brother. A wine drinking party. How weird is that? :)

I choreographed and am going to perform a hip hop number SOLO.

And finally....

hehe...no i actually don't have a 'grand finale' to end the list. It was tabulated in random order. But you can see how i've lived the past 6 months. I actually think I've changed.

For the better....:)

on the road to recovery

I have been fairly satisfied with my running performance these past few days. I think the pills i'm on are sending me on the road to recovery, slowly but surely. I no longer pant when i run up hills, i no longer feel like giving up halfway, i'm still afraid to time myself but i can feel that i've picked up a faster pace. I'm doing a mileage of approximately 25 km a week, which is far more than i have ever done, even back then. I even managed to slip in a Bt Gasing climb on Saturday, coz my gim classes are taking 2 weeks off.

But the pills are not the only thing i owe it to. There's this other thing. Among all the words of advice i've ever gotten from runners all over the place, the best one is that given by Isaiah Kee. He's been a very encouraging and supportive friend of mine, i believe that he understands my predicament. He told me, just a couple of days before the 15 km run:

"Let your legs run by themselves"

These 6 words strung together isn't much to brag about, and it's pretty much understood when people tell you to "enjoy the run", you just let loose. But it doesn't work for me. I love running but fail to enjoy it in someway or another. I still bombard myself with expectations and hope and pressure. So by letting my legs run by themselves, i take my mind off the steps im taking. i take my mind off the distance im covering with every second that ticks by. i just...run.

Well, i hope this holds up. If i take my pills daily, and play my cards right, by next year's 15 km run i should be able to make a comeback. The doc says its a 12-18 month course. I'm hoping it takes me 12 months.

so i'm still burning with competitive drive...sue me. i've been racing since i was 13. i don't just quit.

I go about my business, I'm doing fine

Besides, what would I say if I had you on the line

Same old story, not much to say

Hearts are broken everyday

- Jewel

the crazy take-home exam

so you see, the Curtin University Business Faculty's Consumer Behaviour Unit Controller thought it would be funny to tease us students. You know, like...

"The students have been having it easy, what with bonus assignments and reference free group projects. Let's make them cite 10 journal articles minimum for this take home test and see them squirm! Oh! and let's post the question up at midnight on 3rd of June and make the deadline on the 6th of June! Muahahaha" *rubs hands in glee*

Ten Friggin' Journal Articles? in 4 friggin' days?

Seriously, can they be any meaner? what's the use of having a required quantity of citations anyway? I mean, why can't they just rely on the content of our essays and from there, see for themselves how well we've been researching and how wisely we can apply them? I mean if i have a couple of journals which totally gives me everything i need to answer the question (coz seriously, the questions are quite straight forward) then why not let me? Instead, they prefer i find 10 friggin' journals so i can cite the same idea over and over again, where they can later penalise me for repetitive answers.

But you know what did the great Santiago say when he wanted to reach the pyramids? Do you know what he did? He said "maktub!" and he reached his treasure. Because when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true.

So, Ian Phau, Unit Controller of Consumer Behaviour 102 of Curtin Business School, watch out for my essay! ID number 1324***9, coz it's gonna blow your wig mind off...

maktub!

tuna croissants!

since my mum is away at Perth visiting my brother, i took the liberty of taking over some of her chores - making sure Keith does his revision, asking dad to buy groceries, and taking care of lunch (or this particular one anyway).

and since Cold Storage had a grand opening yesterday at Subang Parade, loads of stuff were on sale! I caught sight of butter croissants going for 10 sen each! Ah...tuna croissants it is! But i was caught aback by the tremendous crowd at Cold Storage! so, i only managed to grab 4 croissants which i know for a fact wasn't enough to feed the hungry us (or the hungry me at least).

Anyway, i got everything we needed, queued for like an hour odd, and finally went home to start preparing. first up, ingredients. Now my special tuna croissant was my choice because it's so easy and simple to make. To make one, you need these things:

butter croissant, tuna & mayo, sausage, tomatoes and lettuce

one you got that covered, you need an oven. It could be your regular microwave oven, whereby you can set it to "grill" (if not it'll turn soft with the regular reheating function) but this is more of a hassle as compared to having a toaster oven. With a toaster oven, you toast the croissants making them crispy on the outside and warm on the indside. :)

Next, boil the sausages, and make sure you make slits in them. This ensures the insides of the sausages to be cooked. While they boil, make slits on top of the butter croissants and slap on some butter. When you're done, grill/toast the croissants for about 2 minutes. Remove sausages from pot.

Here's the best part, stuff anything you want into the croissants. For me, i first tuck a piece of lettuce into it. Then i put the sausage on top, and fit half diced tomatoes on either sides of the sausage. Then i pour tuna on top of it - voila!


My brother, Keith is a pure carnivore. So his is what i call an anti-veg cheese tuna croissant. then again, i'm just trying (and failing) to be creative. His doesn't look too bad either!


and that, my dear readers, is how you make Galnexdor's Special Tuna Croissants. It's fun, flexible, and oh-so-delicious!

p/s: croissants are pronounced as kwoh-song, just f.y.i. :)

bedtime stories

ever since Lifemou lent me The Alchemist, i've been addicted to reading before i sleep.

My mum used to read me bedtime stories when i was a child. Then i grew up and learned how to read, and so i immersed myself in Enid Blyton books. But after some time i grew tired of reading. I guess "outdoor activities" got the better of me. I made friends with my neighbours and its not surprising that kejar-kejar or batu seremban or whatever games we used to play behind my house became much more interesting than reading. I figured i needn't a book to find solitude. My solitary place was this tree outside my house which i would often climb up to think (or to escape spanking).

So, i became a slow reader eventually. And that made me hate reading even more. It took me almost 2 weeks to finish The Alchemist.

But anyway, since i read about 10 pages every night, it got me hooked. So after i was done with it, i went and borrowed a book from my college library. It's called Walk Two Moons. It's actually labelled "Teen Readers" in MPH. But who cares...i'm twenteen what! :)

It's a great book! I actually looked forward to resuming my reading every night. It's like a story within a story within a story. No kidding! I enjoyed it so much that i now start to think like the little girl in the book. She's a nature lover and she's one with trees, bunnies, dogs, cows and horses. Just now I almost dived in between my maid, her broom and this cute little beetle on the floor. I told her not to kill it. Well, i've always had an afinity for beetles anyway. They've got really smooth shells.

So yea, i'm done with the book now. Feeling a bit touchy cause it wasn't a very happy ending.

I recommend it to all once upon a time Enid Blyton fans. Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons is a must-read!