First Times

The 14 months i had in Glasgow will definitely be one of my most unforgettable experience in my life... There were a lot of first times in Glasgow

Stepping into the European continent for the first time

(Wearing the bloody expensive + useless blazer made compulsory by JPA... zzz...)

Experiencing Scottish hospitality/Scottish food for the first time

(Note: The famous Scottish food Haggis in the bottom middle)

First time I've seen so many types of bank notes issued by different banks in a country
(Note: FYI, England has 1 type of banknote, Scotland has 3 types of banknotes, and Northern Ireland has several version of banknotes as well. All of them are pound notes accepted across UK... @@@)

Having an awesome house party for the first time

(Halloween Party in my unit)

First time experiencing that taking a flight can be cheaper than bus/ferry/train!

As a result, I've taken about 20 flights during my 14 months stay in Europe!

Visiting so many places in a year for the first time (in UK & outside UK)

Inverness, UK

Stockholm, Sweden

Paris, France

Lyon, France

Monaco

Brussels, Belgium

Manchester, UK

Portsmouth, UK

London, UK

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Edinburgh, UK

Prague, Czech Republic

Berlin, Germany

Hamburg, Germany

Lucerne, Switzerland

Athens, Greece

Santorini, Greece

Venice, Italy

Rome, Italy

Stirling, UK

Belfast, UK

Dublin, Ireland

Been to no less than 10 countries in a short year... I've only been to Japan when i was 2 years old and i remember nothing at all! I've not even been to Singapore, Thailand or Indonesia!

First time to Disneyland!

Strictly speaking, Disneyland Paris is not the first Disneyland i've been to, I've actually been to the Disneyland in Tokyo when i was 2. But i can only find memories from the photo album, so this is basically a first time!

First time watchin a football match live!

Watching a live game in the Theatre of Dreams is a dream come true for a MU fan. Unfortunately, MU loss to Aston Villa in this match, it's a shame that we weren't able to witness a goal celebration from the home fans.

Experience four seasons for the first time

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

Play/see/feel snow for the first time!

We had a lot of fun when the snow is thick enough... But i wouldn't want to live in a snowy place for like lifelong bcoz it really brings alot of problem when things were frozen n slippery....

Had festives & celebrations away from home for the first time (Birthdays, CNY etc)

CNY function with the local lecturers and students.... N my BD...

Went clubbing for the first time

A club in Glasgow called Corinthian (i think). Well, clubs r not my type of thing....

Watched a musical for the first time

Watched Wicked, one of the West End Musicals in London... Straight away, i fell in love with musicals...

Acted in a movie (or rather a homemade video) for the first time

Yes, this is me... I know i look stupid here, I'm acting as a demon called Lamiya... lol, fun times...

Got drunk for the first time

This is taken during Giri's belated BD celebration. Yes, i look damn happy here, bcoz i'll get very happy and talkative when i got drunk. This is the only time i got really drunk-drunk, puked n then went to sleep...

Ate space cake for the first time

For those who doesn't know what is a space cake, it is a cake made with weed/marijuana/cannabis. Yup, where can u get weed legally? The Netherlands of course. What is so special about this colorful cake? It's not about the taste, nor it is about the color, it's about the effect. It makes ppl feel happy, n my my, laugh becomes contagious after eatin this small piece of cake!

Travelled alone for the first time

I always wanted to try backpacking alone, so after most of my friends have left Glasgow, i decided to try backpacking alone in Ireland. Although everything have gone smoothly, i found that i still prefer to have company while travelling...

Bought something online for the first time (ebay/amazon)

I mainly buy books and stamps from amazon and ebay... Occasionally some gadgets...

Earned some cash/cash vouchers online for real for the first time

These are real cheques and cash vouchers I've earned online.. I'd earned the cheques by playing on an online auction site www.bidsaving.com, whereas the vouchers were redeemed from points accumulated through doing surveys online

I might have left out some first times for my stay in Europe, nonetheless, all of these first times have made my 14 months in Glasgow (Europe) a very memorable and exciting one! I'll miss Glasgow...

Photoshop

Since I'm so free now,
as requested (or nagged) by my gf,
I've started to try n learn a bit of simple photoshopping....

The art to enhance ordinary or dull photos....
My very first few attempts, trying to add bit of lomo feel to photos...
It might not b good, but im still learning
so gv me some time to improve ya...

Sample 1

Original Photo

Photoshopped Product

Sample 2

Original

Photoshopped 1

Photoshopped 2


Sample 3

Original

Photoshopped 1

Photoshopped 2

Photoshopped 3

Photoshopped 4

Back in Malaysia

Like a lot of my batchmates,
When we came back to Msia, the first impression was: nothing much has changed....

Maybe 1 year is not that long after all...
I don feel unfamiliar with the town, my house, my room...
Everything is still the same, like I've never left this place...
Of course there are a few new flyovers n roads in Sban,
But the Siew Pao town is still producing good Siew Paos.

Getting use to the weather n insects here is not something difficult too,
since i've been living here for the past 20 over years...
But the weather in Glasgow is still something to be missed....
Unless u do some intense exercise in the gym or the day is extremely sunny,
u don get sweaty n sticky there....
Here? Without aircond, u'll b soaked in sweat within minutes in a hot afternoon or evening...

No irritating insects in Glasgow (except midgets in the wild, n rarely flies), like mosquitos n cockroaches...
You can always have peace in your room, toilet and kitchen...

Malaysians always label themselves as 'friendly people',
Is it still applicable now? i find most Scottish friendly as well,
with the political chaos, religious and racial problems tensing the country,
are we still as harmonious n friendly as we were?
I am more afraid to walk alone in the night here than in Glasgow,
i feel more insecure walking with my laptop bag, handphone in hand here than in Glasgow...
1 Malaysia is not going to come true if some idiots don stop bullshiting in the public...
n instead try to use their brain to tackle more important things like crime, transportation system, education system, telecommunication technology etc.
Streamyx sucks btw! N so is KTM!

Speakin of KTM, i like the idea of a ladies' coach. But i c quite some guys in the ladies' coach the other day... zzz.... U dah potong ke? Atau u tak tau baca?

The happiest thing to be back in Msia is that you r welcomed by loads of good food...
U have shops that open till 10pm, u hv food stalls which open 24 hours...
This is heaven is someway.... This cannot be matched anyhow by Glasgow or any European cities...

To make Malaysia a true paradise, there is a long way to go...
when u had the chance to live in a truly developed country,
U will noe wat r the differences between developed and developing countries....
the key thing is the mentality....
Malaysia may have one of the world's best airport, one of the greatest twin towers,
tht doesnt make us a developed country...
simply having the best facilities is far from enough.. too superficial i would say..
civilize ppl don fight for food or free gifts in a function,
civilize ppl don abuse others for no reason, etc...
(add on when i can think of others)

To my dear

The moment u left, i tried to hold my tears...
It was juz too hard to c u leave, n we can only meet ag after a month...
I know i have not given u a perfect holiday, there were issues here and there all the way,
not an ideal holiday i know.
but i'm really happy that u came and i really had a wonderful time with u.

Now i felt all alone ag.
I know i have disappointed alot of ppl,
n now i hv to pay for the consequences of failure.
it never should hv ended this way,
but not everything ends with a happy ending.
Now i understand.

Although it's not the end of the day,
n i tried to be positive always,
still i feel bad sometimes.

The hardest thing is to keep u waiting for longer...
i know u hv suffered,
and i'm very sorry that i couldn't b at ur side sooner,
but i'll b bck very soon to your side,
n hopefully, no more long distance waiting...

Glad that u were here dear, eventhough only for a short week
I'll miss u dearly, and i'll b bck as soon as i can
i promise...

Shitty things

Sometimes, shit happens...
When it did happens, the most important thing is to keep an optimistic view...
Well it may be shitty today, but tml will b better.
Definitely.

That is what i tell myself when shitty things happened.
It feels bad at some moments, but you'll get through it somehow, and it doesn't seem that shitty after all...

Things can't go according to your way every time,
you know, things get out of control sometimes, and u can't possibly control everything in everywhere.

So be positive! everything will go into place eventually

Berlin - A Lesson of History

What do you know about Germany? About Berlin?

I was in Berlin few days ago.
To be honest, i knew almost nothing about this country and this city prior to the visit,
other than the Berlin wall, their involvement in both World Wars, Adolf Hitler, Nazi, division of Germany into two blocks, cold war, and of course their advancement in the automobile technology...

Germans were known for their punctuality, efficiency and no-nonsense principles.
They love beer, and they are rather rough or rude...
Of course, these beliefs are not entirely true, and it's not fair to stereotype all Germans as such.
What i did find impressing about the Germans is their ability to bounce back from the setback of the two World Wars and the split of Germany into two blocks...
And most of all, the courage to admit their wrongdoing during the war time, and did what ever they can to ease the pain of those who suffered during the war...

The major cities in Germany, suffered heavy bombings during WWII; and Berlin, the capital of Germany, was extensively damaged particularly.

A lot of buildings that we see in Berlin, were built or rebuilt after the war. Imagine how much time and money wasted to raise this city back from ashes and ruins.
Because of the 'brilliant' mind of a psycho - Hitler.
He was in fact, happy to see Berlin destroyed by the fire of war, because he didn't like this city.
and he decided to build another new city to replace Berlin as the capital city.
Of course, he did not succeed.

That was only 1 of the crazy thoughts of Hitler.
His most infamous ideology is of course the Nationalsozialismus, or Nazism.
He believed that the pure blooded Aryan people (Germans) are supreme against other races and Germany should only represents the pure German people.
This leads to the establishment of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, located north of Berlin, a prison to torture and murder political opponents, antisocial elements (eg. homosexuals), prisoners of war (PoW) and most notably Jews.

It was a depressing experience to walk on the paths where these innocent souls were tortured and murdered, because of some insane fantasies and beliefs of the Nazis.

Plan of the concentration camp

Main gate into the camp

The phrase 'Arbeit Macht Frei' which means 'Work makes you free' on the gate where prisoners marched in and out to work knowing that they will never be freed. How ironic.

The Neutral Zone, or 'Death Strap', where the prisoners can be shot without warning if they trespass this area, approaching the camp's wall

The Jewish Camp

Prisoners were executed here, shot.

The infamous gas chamber

Soviet soldiers were executed here, in this what it used to be, a fake clinic

The bodies were cremated immediately after execution

Bodies with valuables, like gold tooth were brought down here, to the pathology lab to have their valuables removed

I felt kinda upset to realise that, what humans are capable of to harm one another. It's like a butcher slaugthering a goat or a cow, but worse, beacause the killing is not for survival (for the meat in the butcher's case) it's just for fun or for some crazy reasons.

Who can deny the rights of survival of another living soul? Who can claim that they are more superior than the others? Disaster will surely follow when power is entrusted to the wrong hands... But when people are living in devastation, in desperate measures, they'll grab anything that can offer them hope, and Nazi, offered them hope at that time.

What is important now is that, people learn from the history, and avoid repeating the same mistakes that our predecessors have done. Now more people have chances to receive education, and the advancement of technology have allowed the expansion of imagination and vision, therefore, open your eyes and use your brain to decide the leadership that we need to lead our country towards advancement, and not further downfall. A leader with ability not only to bring us up, but also bring us together, unite us as a nation, to bring peace between races and religions. No more Malay, Chinese, Indians, and any races, no more disputes between Muslims and Christians, only Malaysian, a truly 1 Malaysia. And by saying 1 Malaysia, there should be no boundaries and differences between the democratic rights and status of all citizens of Malaysia, which is the ultimate meaning of '1'. May peace be with all of us.

Music

Every time the Orange advertisement was shown, it made me missed Chopin's Nocturne in E flat major... They played the music in the ad...
I find this piece of music nice..

It had been one whole year since i touched a piano...
The truth is i am never a big big fan of classical music,
although some pieces are really nice, and classy haha...
and i never manage to play piano impressive enough to make me proud of myself.
I'm juz not talented in that. N mayb i'm not hardworking enough as well.

I tried practicing Chopin's Nocturne sometimes ago,
well, i don't think i have done a good job...
i could barely play the whole piece without mistakes..
when i am focusing on the notes, i'll miss out the expressions,
when i am trying to understand the piece, i miss-hit the notes...
sorry Chopin..

Anyway, i feel sorry for my dear...
she had been asking me to play some songs for her for the past few yrs...
i never managed to do it well....
i either fucked up, or had some reasons not playing it...
sighs...
honestly, i really feel nervous when she is looking when i'm playing, or when someone else is looking...
my standard is not high already, then when i get nervous it will b more sub sub standard...

sighs..
mayb i was too young when i learnt piano,
i don't really understand everything tht was taught to me,
i've forgotten most of the theories stuff (which can be very useful when i wanna compose a song or watever)
i would hv appreciate the lessons more if i hv the lessons now...
but seriously, those stuff can b boring at times...
repeatedly playin the same piece of music everyday for a whole yr (well i muz confess tht i don't practice every day) is mentally torturing...
Not all the pieces are nice, some juz doesn't connect..
if u don't understand the piece, u won't play it right...
n practice makes perfect...
n all the scales, sight reading (i suck at this), oral tests (even suckier)...
it would be fun if i hv perfect pitch n photogenic memory...
but i don't, so kinda struggled for these things (although i'm not the worst)

Anyway, i'm very grateful tht my parents sent me for music classes...
at least i noe 1 more thing, 1 beautiful thing...
it is nice to know to play a piano, a way to express yourself with music...
Awesome.