My Say

Saturday, 14 November 2009

  • Untitled.

    I know, I've neglected my Xanga for ages, but my Xanga hiatus is not over just yet. SPM examinations starts next Wednesday.

    I've said this many times before, but I'll say it again, because this time it's on a whole new level.

    I'M STUDYING LIKE CRAZY!!!

    It's a huge feat for someone who hitherto only studies the day before an exam. Yesterday, I studied and neglected to eat breakfast to the point of puking (My blood sugar went LOW). But that was my fault.

    Still, I cannot help to have this feeling of alarm + jealousy when I compare the way I study with the way some of my friends study. (How do they manage it!)

    My last year of high school is almost over. True what my teacher said; one will miss high school. I'm starting to. It's a mixed feeling; I want SPM to be over, but not high school. Hmm. (I don't think Form Six is an option, but we'll see.)

    Lots of things has happened nowadays.

    Everytime I sign in, I will firstly note the last time I blogged. Then I will be reminded of the many things that happened in between then and now. And how I've come a long way since first signing up.

    Lots of things have changed. It's always nice to be always reminded though. I'm a reminiscent sort of person.

    ~~~~~~

    CURRENTLY READING
    SPM syllabus, especially Sejarah. (Sejarah is History. )

    It's a wonder how exams are such huge motivators in making me study. I'm reminded if a donkey made to move forward with a carrot bait at the front and a whip at the back. Carrot is the good results, whip is the feeling of dread in knowing that SPM is that near and that important, and donkey is yours truly. (See how the donkey fits me, with both of us being so stubborn?)

Friday, 04 September 2009

Wednesday, 02 September 2009

  • In midst of studying for SPM trials - Biology.

    I am a very nostalgic person. I just read back some of my previous entries from a few years ago. It made me feel somewhat ... happy? I forgot some of those things that happened which I blog about. It is a good reminder of the kind of person I was. They say one will miss high school like crazy. I think it is true, but I have an online journal to read about how I went through the majority of my high school years in the future.  It would be wonderful. Many people don't have that advantage. (Sarra and Nick, thanks for persuading me to get a Xanga account!)

    So yeah. I'm (sort of) studying right now. Biology. It's been really hectic, and I've been neglecting to write more entries. But I've been thinking about my PMR year and wondered how I had went through it. All I have to do is to read back, and I did. One thing I had hoped for for my SPM year is so it would be like my PMR year, and sadly it isn't. But I'm not going to revel on that too much. I'm just gonna do my best, score in tough subjects and get 12 A1's!
    (I DO envy those who are able to study for long periods of time. How do they do that???)

    ~~~~~

    What strikes me when I read about the old me is that, we are quite different now. I'm not sure whether I really liked it. Note to future me - We All Change.

    CURRENTLY
    Studying. For the sake of SPM. There is alot going on right now that I would like to write. But I should not waste time! So bye.

Wednesday, 05 August 2009

  • A Day with My Sister

    I've been scarce, I know. But I warned, didn't I? Anyway...

    Much has happened during my hiatus in blogging. The most significant event today is that my kittens are going to a new home. I've been saying my goodbies since a few days ago. But anyway...

    My topic of ramble today is my sister. My youngest sister had just came into the room with white eyelashes. It looked as if she had splattered some liquid paper all over it. It turned out that she had sprinkled her lashes with glitter (I think the reason I didn't recognise the glitter is because I am not wearing my glasses). I commented that she does the darndest things; the glitter could irritate her eyes. To which she replied, "What about the time you used mum's makeup and made yourself some panda eyes?" To which I replied, "The makeup wasn't going to go into my eyes!" For the record, I was just fooling around with the makeup. I was bored.

    And then, she said, "Iman, this is so weird!" 

    "What is?"

    "It feels as though this sofa has a heart of its own. I can feel it beating! Like, dub dab, dub dab. I can feel it with my butt cheek! And the other one's just fine!"

    On the way back from school today, we had stopped at the grocer's for some canned drinks. My sister chose a cincau drink. She drank it but kept a mouthful of the black jelly in her mouth. When I looked at her, she pointed at her cheek with her free hand and then made an inquiring gesture with it, the kind that sort of says, "I don't know," or "What?" I hope you know which, I'm not sure how to describe it. But I misinterpreted it.

    "What? Your cheek's missing?"

    "Mmmf. Mmmf!" Again she repeated the hand gestures.

    It didn't seem likely, but I said it anyway. "You want me to guess what's in your mouth?"

    "Mm-hmm."

    "Cincau?"

    She swallowed. "How did you know!!!"

    "... Well, you're holding the can in your hand."

    That's so like her.

Thursday, 25 June 2009

  • Currently
    Lionboy
    By Zizou Corder
    see related

    My Observations : A Scene in a Hospital

    If some of you might remember, I had admitted a while ago that I have this habit of observing people whenever I have nothing to do. Recently, some business required me to be at a hospital, waiting for my doctor (who is also my father's cousin) to call us on my mother's phone. He was a tad busy at the wards, so we waited for about 30 minutes. In that period of time, (no prizes here) I was observing people. (I was slightly sleepy, I hadn't yet eaten any breakfast, it was almost 10 a.m. and I had finished reading the day's paper.)

    So there was this young Malay couple sitting right in front of me. Usually I don't even bother to look at ordinary-looking and -behaving people, but they stood out because (a) the guy kept somewhat playfully nudging the woman on the side of her head and (b) she didn't seem to mind it. And I thought, Interesting.

    About 20 minutes into the wait, I saw a woman in her thirties was escorting a much older man (presumably her father) who walked very slowly across the lobby. I remember looking at the father-daughter team's journey across the lobby. So patient, was the woman. So determined, was the old man. And then, I noticed something else as well. The young couple in front of me was also observing - actually staring was a better word - the slow-moving team. Then the daughter asked her father to sit (I think that's what she said; she said it in Chinese, but one gets the idea) awhile and she left. But by then, my attention was fully back towards the Malay couple. 

    The guy was stealing glances at the old man once in a while. The woman on the other hand ... she had straightened her back, leaned forward, craned her neck for a better view, adjusted her position on her chair, and continued staring at the old man. It was so obvious she was looking at him that one wonders what about the old man had interested her so much. The old guy was just sitting there, waiting quietly, and he could NOT have behaved more normally. All the while, I was looking back and forth, trying to see for myself what was it that had caught so much of the woman's attention. But there was nothing, zero, zilch.

    Apparently the guy also noticed it. He started nudging the woman again, still on the side of her head, but this time more seriously, and using a rolled-up newspaper. He must have sensed my thoughts, She is so rude! But as before, the woman took no notice, and kept on staring until the daughter came back for her father 5 minutes later, and continued their slow journey out of the lobby.

    It got me thinking, am I rude to stare at these people as well? Yeah, I did not crane my neck just to get a better look, but is there really a difference between observing and staring? Is it only wrong if you are making the subject uncomfortable? Do any of us have the right to watch other people? Is it okay to look if no one knows it? Was it fair for me to think the woman was rude when I was also doing the same thing she was, albeit more discreetly?

Tuesday, 26 May 2009

  • Mid-Exams 2009 (This is a break from it.)

    I've never studied as hard as I did for Biology exams today. I'm not even sure what subject is it tomorrow. I checked yesterday, but I must have pushed it outta my head so I could fill in more of Biology rather than exam schedules. (Or, in other words, if you prefer, I just forgot.) Gosh I should be studying right now.

    In event of a spelling competition nationwide organised by a local newspaper, I've been thinking that English is rather complicated in terms of spelling. In fact, it may be trickier than grammar, I don't know. But English words are certainly trickier to spell compared to Malay words, which are rather straightforward (or, if you prefer, are pronounced as how it's spelled, Missy!) Many a times the pronunciation of a word in English does not give a clue on how it's spelled. Which makes it much trickier to win a spelling bee, especially if one isn't familiar with the words given, as is the case of many participants of the competition I mentioned.

    It also got me wondering, is this why spelling bees in Malay is practically unheard of? This is because, anyone who has even a slight idea on how the Malay language is spelled is almost guaranteed to ace a spelling competition. Unless that particular individual has a serious case of stage fright and could not spell a simple word right in front of a huge crowd, though they will say afterwards that they do in fact know how to spell it. In which case is perfectly understandable. (A survey revealed that many people fear talking in front of a huge crowd more than they fear death itself. Or in other words, they do not mind being the one in the coffin as long as they are not the ones delivering the eulogy.)

    In the car on the way home from school today, my youngest brother (whose English is quite poor, mind you; he can speak little, but understands more), he commented that he faced an impossible fill-in-the-blank question in his English test. The question was, My father's brother's son is my fill-in-the-blank. The choice answers given were, in his own words, "Nepheu, Kusin..." At which point my sister and I laughed out loud. Rather mean, I know, but he was laughing too, so technically, we were laughing with him, not at him. But, see what I meant by Malay language being straightforward?

    P.S. My cat's pregnant again, this is the fifth time. I think she should be having her kittens by now. It felt like it had been too long. I've been very impatient these past few days.

    CURRENTLY READING
    SPM syllabus.

Tuesday, 07 April 2009

Monday, 30 March 2009

  • Currently
    The Miserable Mill - Book 4 of A Series of Unfortunate Events
    By Lemony Snicket
    see related

    Meet the Mac Person - Moi.

    First, a question.

    Q : If there is a race between a crab and a squid, who'd win?

    ~~~~~

    For some reason, my dad got a new computer. I discovered I was right about one thing - I am a Mac person. I'm still getting used to Windows. Hm...

    I haven't been online for ages. Partly because I am busy. And partly because something went wrong with the old computer. (But.. all my stuff are in there. I can't lose them! My pictures, stories, songs, works of art. Repair-it-oh-please-oh-do-oh-repair it-oh!) At least I have Photoshop now.

    ~~~~~

    Now, the answer for the question.

    A : Neither, because the crab would go sideways and the squid backwards.

    You can't imagine the look on my face when my bro gave me the answer to the question.

    ~~~~~

    I'm rereading the series.

Wednesday, 25 February 2009

  • Post-Sports Day

    It was Sports Day last Sunday. It was a rather sunny afternoon. I was sunburned.

    (And because I wear a headscarf, there are tan lines running down both sides of my face.)

    I was in a game of tug-of-war. The game was rather rough for some of us; Soni had hurt her shoulder. I thought I was unharmed. A few hours later, I suddenly understood how people with stiff joints and painful backs feel. I complained about it to my mum like five times on the following day. Unsurprisingly, she launched on about how I am so fragile and wimpy. She massaged my back for a bit though.

Thursday, 19 February 2009

  • Currently
    The Mysterious Benedict Society
    By Trenton Lee Stewart
    see related

    Craze in Biology

    I had so much fun using the microscope in Biology today. Aside from observing eosin-stained stem and roots of a balsam plant, I also observed other things related to it -

    1. The flower's pink petals
    2. The leaf
    3. The lamina (I think that's what it's called)

    And also things unrelated to it-

    1. Some graphite from a pencil (the small Ikea pencil )
    2. Some pencil shavings (from the same pencil)
    3. Rach's hair
    4. My eyelash (I think it was mine. I found it on my palm.)
    5. A metal ruler
    6. Some blood, though I won't say precisely the source, because no doubt some people would practically throw up if they knew. That was not an exaggeration. All I can say is, it was human blood. (I could mention a name, but I think it's better if I just keep a secret.)

    Perhaps it wasn't appropriate to use lab equipment like that, but I was curious. Besides, the flower's petals and the pencil shavings look very interesting, especially the initial. The hairs look like a really thick cable. The metal ruler showed as a HUGE '0'.

    I love microscopes. I love Biology.

    ~~~~~

    See the book I'm reading? It's my new favourite book.

    ~~~~~

    I just feel like typing this down -

    I'm rather unsettled yet happy. Strange feeling.