Uni of Chicago - Graduation 2009

p/s: I am still in Taiwan now, enjoying my favorite Taiwan variety show... It feels rather awkward while watching the shows live in Taiwan... All these while, i have been watching them via Youtube, and to watch them straight from the TV is really an interesting feeling...

Anyway, i am not going to talk about Taiwan Trip yet, since i am still here... So, i will talk about University of Chicago Graduation 2009.

This year graduation was pretty wet, because it rained for the entire morning. Those poor graduating seniors had to sit under the rain for 4-5 hours before they were allowed to receive the graduation certificate.. Poor them... Parents were not very lucky either... They also had to sit under the rain, and cheered for their kids when their kids were up on stage. (Raining might be a good thing for them, so others can never know if you are tearing or it is just the rain.. =P )

Happy Graduating , Gerald!

Graduating seniors are the prettiest and handsome-st.. no?

That is also why i am contemplating to graduate a quarter earlier in Winter. Why Winter?
-The convocation will be held in Rockefeller Chapel instead on Harper Quad. Rockefeller is probably one of the prettiest chapel in Chicago. So, i am sure that graduating there will be a sweet and memorable one.

Rockefeller Chapel

OR Harper Quad?

-It is winter. Who will want to graduate under the hot and blazing sun when they can graduate under the soft and tender snow flakes? (ok, i am probably the only person who wants that.. ) And with that, my parents will get the chance to witness the winter in Chicago. Killing many birds with one stone ya?
- Most important part is that, the convocation is not really affected by the weather. Regardless of snow storm, thunder rain or hot sun, the convocation will still be held indoor, inside the stunning chapel. so, my parents dont have to fly all the way from Malaysia to sit under the hot sun or under the rain..


Ok, back to the topic... After the ceremony, we walked the the reception tent and of course, started taking pictures, non stop... Sobs sobs, I might not see some of these graduated kid anymore for the rest of my life. Haha~

With my future colleague.. Mr Sim..

Malaysia Boleh....

2 more years to graduate, damn scary... To be very honest, i do not want to graduate... LOL.

In Taiwan now..

I am in Taiwan now, with Jerry beside me...

LOL.. Taiwan is nice, and it is gonna be my favorite Asia City soon..

I already spent so much on shopping although i am only here for 2 days..

Pretty much thanks to Jerry and Adrian...

The food here are crazily good....

Wait for more updates...

I did ok for my last quarter, much better than expected actually... :)

MASA Graduation Dinner

Is time again for me to say goodbye to seniors who are graduating this year. Bye to Sin Yi and Sim who will be graduating next week. Sin Yi is going to Northwestern to do her PhD while Sim is going back to Malaysia to start his journey with BNM (not to mention, be our guinea pig =P)

Anyway, kudos to both of them. With them graduating, MASA now is left with 9 members *so pathetic* Compared to other nations, Malaysia is so sad with only 9 students in the super duper prestigious University of Chicago *rank number 8 in the world kononnya~* We really have to recruit more honarary members into our clubs in order to keep this club running! LMAO...

After many times of postponing, we decided to go to Bubba Gumps in Navy Pier for this dinner. * It is the very first time for a kampung boy like me to go to Navy Pier* *shy shy* There will be no more embarassing moment for me when people ask me , "Hey, Jay , is Navy Pier worth visiting? Is it fun?"... In the past, i would never get to answer that question, but now, i know the asnwer very well! *as if i have explored the place* LMAO~

From left: Khi, Sim, NJ, Sin Yi

Group picture before Khi appeared

My entree.. Steamed Shell Fish... :)
*i said too fast, and i actually said i want " steam selfish"*
*the waiter laughed cynically* :(
*i paid him 18% tips* :( x 2

Strawberry Tropical bla bla.. made a sweet end for the dinner!

Finale Picture - NAVY PIER

*******

I am seriously done with all subjects besides Economics. I really got a bad feeling about this paper. I did ok for my midterm, but i basically don't understand a single shit after the midterm. How how how? The finals will be on Wednesday. I know i still have time, but the more i revise, the more i go "gan jiong" (nervous)...

I really can't afford to fail this class, because oh well, i am an "Economics major"... *Sigh* ... How how how? Solow Growth Model, Unemployment, bla bla bla bla...

I am damn worried lar~ Why economics can be so difficult? Is it because i have no interest? Or is it because i am just too stupid to understand the content? Or is it because others are too clever? Of course, i hate to choose the second options, but it seems like all three options apply to me! WTF...

Help me someone.. please help me... By saying FAIL, i meant it seriously, fail as in an F. I am not the typically Asian where fail is measured by "not A" or a B= Fail... Dear Benji (my instructor), if you happen to read this, please be nice to me.. I will give you two packets of Maggie Mee if you are not too harsh on my grade. Thanks~

p/s: Again, i can really understand how annoying i used to be back in HSBP when i said, "Gosh, i failed my history paper" and ended up getting the highest in class... That is really annoying.. BOO~

p p/s: back to study time..

p p p/s : Why it seems like the whole world went to Redang for their breaks? LMAO~

p p p p/s: Mummy, i am fit like a bull now. No worries anymore, k? :)

Last day of Class for Sophomore Year..

Taada.. Today is the last day of school for my sophomore year. Next year, i will be going into my junior year (third year if you prefer) , and i am really damn excited about it. I will do a sophomore year "review" post some time after my final exam, because there are so much things to say.

Anyway, i would like to thank everyone for your comments, msn messages, calls , and etc for your concern and care. I am better now, and i have regained my voice!! I even performed this morning for my work place year end luncheon! It was fantsatic and i really love to go back there and work. *it will depend if i get any other jobs*

I am still coughing and sneezing tho. But i think i will be fit like a bull in one or two days time. Here's the stuff that i used to cure my throat, cough and fever. I don't know if they are really useful but i ate them like how i ate my tidbits. *non-stop eating*

• Golden Throat Candy - Really good, strongly recommended by a lot of singers too.
• Honey + Lemon Juice - I drank half bootle of honey in 3 days. :p
• Pi Pa Kao - Half bootle in almost 3 days too.
• Water
• Antiobiotic - for throat inflammation *dont try this, i think it works on me, i don't know about other people*
• Garlic pills
• Vicks Cold + Flu pills
  
• Flu pills from Malaysia

Ha ha.. Ok, that might sound crazy, but hell yea. I ate all of them from morning till night. And i regain my voice back in 24 hours! Again, i am not sure which one really enhanced the healing process, so, i "hentam" only. To be fair, i think one should really consult a doctor if he has the same symptom as i do - slight fever, flu, cough, throat inflammation, totally lost my voice. But well, as a super cheapo person, i reallt dont have extra money to see the doctor. Even if i do, they will schedule me to see the doctor like two weeks later. By then, i will be .... *dead*.. *touch wood touch wood*

And i am also a nice house mate. I am so worried that i might spread the virus to my hommies. So, i use surface disinfectant and air sanitizer to "clean" the air. Hope it helps in killing the germs.

Ok, time to sleep. I am dam tired after eating 2 more pills. *nightz*

Sick...

Friday
After i am done with the horrendous final SOSC paper, I am totally dead... I struggled for 30 hours to complete the freaking not-so-cool paper,and ended up having very bad throat inflammation... Instead of sleeping, i decided to have a mini celebration in Belmont with Greg and Lemon.. I was almost dying of tiredness, but i still decided to dress up nicely and go for a dinner with them..

The worse part of this dinner is, i accidentally ordered fish and chips despite knowing very well that any more fried and oily food will kill me!! T__T Yes, i ordered, ate it *well, it tasted really good* and now, i am really sick!

Greg's super duper big lamb chop..

After dinner, i went to watch a play - The Piano Lesson. Because i was just too tired, i couldn't even understand anything about the play. To add to my misery, the play is supposed to be 170+ minutes. I quit, i left after the first act... I believed i need to rest, so i went back home and sleep..

Saturday

I woke up feeling worse. Sore throat, coughing like never before, sneezing non-stop *NOT SWINE FLU* .. But i still went to downtown for some community service project. Haven't been to downtown for a long time.

Love Chicago Downtown..

Vincent decided to get something for this art project, so i followed him. And as usual, i ended up buying more stuff that he did.. Kill me for that!

And at night, i went to sing K with my SAMSU friends.. And in order not to disappoint them, i tried my very best to sing despite knowing very well i should not sing that night. My voice was in a very very very bad condition.... But still, i did not listen to my own advice and still went to sing..

This morning i woke up feeling even worse... Still coughing and sneezing... And i could not even utter a single word now.. I have totally lose my voice.. Thanks to the singing session yesterday, i am an idiot... Although i have a great tendency to lose my voice, this is the very first time i completely lost it... I felt like a useless being without my voice... I even have to end up texting Vincent instead of calling him because i really cant talk now...

ARGH.... hate this feeling...

*again, i believe i will be fine soon.. No swine flu, ok?*

** i promise to go see a doctor if i have fever tomorrow, ok?**

Work And Work...

I am now in OMSA Office... yes, i am on my shift, working from 7pm till 11pm..

But i am not working on any project, because i have completed all projects thrown to me yesterday...

So i am working on my SOSC paper which is due tomorrow at 5pm.. *i am being paid to write my paper here* LMAO.. Love OMSA job so much!


I really do not know how to even start the paper, but thank to Benji (my ECON prof), i roughly got the idea on what to write... *this will be my last SOSC paper for my entire life... i really need to do well on this paper to ace this class. If not, i will be crying in the toilet over my grades during summer*

And also, thanks to Linda for not giving me new projects to work on..

Looking forward for this weekend

Friday night - Watch "Piano Lesson", a play
Saturday night - Dinner and Karaoke Session in C-Town
Sunday night - Malaysian Student Association Graduation Dinner

******
Heard from Papa that my new room looks pretty cool, although it is really dark...

New room? Yes, this summer i will be shifting to Taman Bukit Perdana 2. Saying goodbye to my super convenient and strategically located house in Taman Kurnia.

I no longer have the luxury to ask others to fetch me anymore.. T_T

*******
After this week, i will be done with 3 out of 4 classes i am taking this quarter.

So happy, and really looking forward for Summer...

Ok, back to work... i mean work on my paper.. =p

Memorial Day Weekend

I am supposed to be in UIUC now for the Midwest Games 2009. However, it was canceled at the very last minutes, thanks to the hoo hah by *they shall not be named*. There goes my chance to obtain 3 gold medals in 2 different sports.. LMAO, as if i am going to win even one medal... However, to be really fair, i do see the point of canceling this Midwest Games, despite knowing pretty well the effort that was invested for this games from my peers in UIUC. Here's some summary of what happened that led to the cancellation of the game.. *again, from my knowledge only*

1. Everyone is damn excited about the game. It is said to be the best Midwest Game ever. *ok, i do agree that if this game were to go on, it will be the best.. just look at how responsive the committee were, and also the official website is a just fantastic*
2. Out of the sudden, Mr. Swine Flu attacked the world.
3. Malaysia has its first confirmed swine flu case, and the patient is a student from America.
4. After the news of the first confirmed case was published in media, The Star reported that the Midwest Game will still go on despite stern warning from sponsors.
   
5. When the government knew about it *well, it appeared as one of the headlines in The Star*, Malaysia Student Department(MSD) in Illinois was asked to cancel the game.
6. MSD told UIUC peeps to postpone the game.
7. MSD told UIUC, well, the game is now officially canceled.
   
8. Everyone unhappy, everyone cried, everyone angry, everyone felt the pain - there goes my money for tickets and etc...

Well, no Midwest Games for me... And thus, i decided to use the long weekend to STUDY! *but oh well, i am still blogging now... LMAO*

******
Friday

I decided to work at night to earn more money, making me earning about usd 110 this week!! And i really love my work so much, because i was paid to sit there, take pictures, and listen to a talk.. The talk was about "how do you define maturity?" I really love the talk as i guess that is something that has been circulating in my mind for a while. After the talk, it realy gave me very good insights on how to be a mature person but at the same time, maintain the childishness in me... Sounds profound? Well, it is!

And after my Friday shift, i was officially re-employed again by the my boss. To make things sweeter, i am going to have a pay raise this time. However, i might reject the offer if i get a new work position next year. I prefer to work in my room, rather than spending 9 hours a week outside my room. But again, a higher pay now is really tempting me to work... I am cheapo, so i need the money... And it is quite an easy money, although i need to waste some time doing the job.. But anyway, i am glad that i am giving the job offer again.. This re-employment clearly indicates that i am a good worker... Hee hee~

*******

Saturday

Paintball Trip. Ok, this is not the first time me playing paintball. And not the first time using a gun. Played for a few time before in Malaysia, and trained for shooting before in Batu Pahat. So, i am not really excited about this paintball trip actually...

But i was wrong.. The fields in America are 10x more fun than in Malaysia. In fact, the center that i went to in Malaysia only have 4 fields, but the one that i went to in Chicago has like 10-15 fields. And most of them are really really cool...

Again, i managed to kill quite a number of people yesterday.. We played open game, so we basically played with other random people (including those who looked damn pro)... I am happy that i killed quite some of the pro people.. Well, actually i killed them because i cheated.. Instead of killing them upfront, i killed them from the back... Ha ha... I actually walked the whole circle *like an idiot* , and shot them from their back... And yes, they yelled "fuck" everytime i did that.. :)

No pictures for the game, because we were so lazy to take pictures! LMAO..

The wound that i got from being killed by people..
*right in the middle of my chest.. looked like love bite.. LMAO*

As usual, we love group pictures..

p/s: i know this post is really dry.. but i really don't know what to post anymore.. Too emo post will invite a lot of concern emails and calls, too dry post will cause losing readership.. Haiy, really don't know how...