Chasing

I chased HR to get started on my work permit application, who chased their lawyers. A lawyer chased me for transcripts. I chased my registry for transcripts. The lawyer chased me for more information. I filled in the blanks and then chased them back to hopefully get it in time for the Singapore trip. They chased me for transcripts again. I chased the guy doing the transcripts for my transcripts. Now that the transcripts have finally been sent and they have all the information they need, the lawyer and the HR person are on leave for the next week.

We're also chasing flats, but it's more like: Chase the agent, make an offer, wait with baited breath. Get out bidded.

Premenstrual

I should probably apologize in advance to everyone I might speak to over the next few days.

Up the mountain, down the mountain

We went running today on the hill in Taman Tun. 'Running' was a little over ambitious, we ended up walking most of the narrow tarmac road as it wound through the rainforrested hill.

The whole forty minutes or so was very much based on the motto 'What goes down, must come up'; my thighs welcomed the downhills, but my mind was very much focused on the fact that there would be another uphill bit soon after. I think my body was also a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of fresh air and oxygen.

Mr. "I'm so fit, prepare to lose" couldn't keep up with us or many of the groups of aunties that passed him, and we lost him around a few bends, so Mum kept calling his name really loudly to try and get him to walk faster. The whole hill and all of its daily walkers now know who Bryan is.

Early in the morning

I made dinner for my dog yesterday, a wholesome blend of canned dog food and white rice, and then I dropped her bowl and it landed the wrong way up. My dog sat there and looked at me, refusing to touch it until I had scooped it all back into her bowl. It's impossible to scoop mush off the floor and she's a dog.

The house hunt is getting exciting. We're getting there, I think. Weng is getting stressed and tired, Cheryl's washed her hands of it and has started her manufacturing course, and all I have to do is get up early for the report every day.

My brother beat me in Scrabble yesterday, although Dad still beat us even though he was trailing most of the way. A late game rally saw him pip Bryan by one point. So anyhow, my brother now has bragging rights. Not like anyone needed to give it to him though, because his ego's kind of self inflating anyway.

My back muscles feel a little battered, but it's so great - goodbye back fat! I <3 yoga. I'm so hungry, going to find something to eat.

Good pain

There was a yoga class this morning where I basically subjected myself to muscular torture for 60 minutes, discovering that all my tendons and ligaments feel two inches too short. I staggered to the car to get whisked off to a massage, facial, and pedicure.

The lady giving the massage was crazy strong, and I was involuntary tensing whenever she pushed too deep into a muscle, which only made her push harder. It was a downhill battle. I chose a nail colour in a state of exhaustion and relief that the massage part was over, but when I next convinced my abs to tense enough so that I could see my toes, they weren't that colour. The colour choosing part must've been some sort of formality, but they did have pretty tiny flowers painstakingly drawn on. I felt really bad that someone had invested so much time in nail art when I'm probably going to be a clumsy oaf and chip the paint in a few days' time.

I could, though, really get used to this sort of life.

Here and there

I'm so jet lagged. Averaging five hours of sleep a day and I've been back three nights already. The water retention is pretty bad too, I feel like one of those desert toads. Or at least I hope it's all water weight, which is a lot easier to ditch than fat weight. Just waiting for it to fall off. Anytime now. Just waiting. C'mon.

My first night back, I sat in front of the TV and watched an entire hour's worth of E! before realising that our old boxy thing is now a super sleek flat screen. I can't wait for football to start. Dad complained that since E! started as one of the free channels, that's all they watch when mum has the remote. Yesterday I must've watched the same entertainment news cast three times, and I've established that their target audience can only understand things in lists of ten.

It's pretty funny watching my mum and dad try to arrange our trip to New Zealand. My mum is uber proactive, we think she'd be CEO of something or other by now if she stayed in the work force. My Dad on the other hand is pretty laid back.

It's a little confusing coming back to so much random food in the fridge, which is very full, only I can't seem to find anything to eat, like bread.

On my first day, I got boxed in. I can still parallel park, which I'm pretty impressed with, but some auntie toting a massive LV concoction parked her Harrier and locked me in.

Running with my dog is pretty fun. She gets really happy. My mum came too, and Perdy was so paranoid about being left behind, she didn't want to stop and take a poo, which is usually why she's so desperate to go out in the morning in the first place.

I'm really enjoying life at home. Not once in the last three days has someone asked me "So what are you cooking for dinner?".

My brother will start driving soon

Me: Where do I turn? You have to tell me in advance! Do I keep left now?
Bry: Nah, not yet, don't worry.
Me: How about now?
Bry: No, not yet
Me: Now?
Bry: Nooo....okay now.
Me: What now? You expect me to go through the kancil?!
Bry: Go left! go left! What are you doing?!
Me: There's a car!
Bry: Now! Oh, there's the turn! You missed the turn! Now you have to go all the way up to the u-turn!
Me: -_-

Don't step on the scales

Prawn mee and milo peng at TTDI. Check.
Nasi lemak and teh peng at Damansara Utama. Check.
Fish head curry at SS2. Check.
Fresh water prawn noodles and honey fried squid. Tonight.

In hindsight: On how much you know

At 18, I thought I knew everything.
At 21, I laughed at my 18 year old self for thinking I knew everything, which in no way compared to what I know now.
At 22, I know nothing and it's a little scary.

KL driving

I had forgotten how closely people will follow in their cars here, every inch of road gained towards your destination is a closely guarded treasure, regardless of whether you're halfway up the backside of the vehicle in front.

I had forgotten how no one gives way, diving into the sliver of sunlight that separates the back bumper from the front of the car behind.

I had forgotten how motorcyclists dodge and dive between the more cumbersome four-wheeled vehicles, seeming to appear, as if by magic right in your path.

I had forgotten how people double park with no conscience, park on a blind corner with no second thought, or create a blind corner by parking in an improvised parking space.

Heroes

Every episode is jaw dropping. Tim Kring = pure genius.

Packing, again.

We've lived a fairly nomadic life since leaving Singapore, never staying in the same house for more than two years. That's about as long as my mum can sit still before she starts calling our housing agent and the boxes. Always packing, throwing half the stuff out, moving, and unpacking.

But once a year is a little bit much, especially when you can't hire a moving crew without donating a kidney. I hate being a student. So now I'm procrastinating on the packing and I've suddenly found direction in my life again.

Fun and stupid

With it being Friday night and everything, end of exams, and all that, Weng decided he wanted to do something fun and stupid. So we decided to slip Weng a half bottle of cider and play 'Stop the bus' otherwise known as 'Categories'. The categories for tonight were: Bands, six letter words ending in -al, biblical characters, Disney characters, and types of birds. He began to cheer everytime he managed to find a Disney character or a band. By the end of the bottle, he started to lose track of the biblical characters also.

And it's a wrap

Four entire years of my undergraduate life ended today with a mumbled 'Thank you' as I made way for Godwin to give his presentation. I'd been dying to finish as soon as I started fourth year, but today, I actually felt sad.

The night leading up to the presentation was stressful. I didn't realise how hard it was saying "particulate-filled polymer", and I kept getting lost halfway through my dry-runs trying to think of a better way to phrase things. I couldn't recall anything I said today, so I can only hope it made some sense. There weren't many questions after that so I might have convinced them that I knew what I was talking about, or maybe they were just too stunned by the babbling to think of a good question other than "What the hell was that?". Anyway, it's all over, and I feel completely and utterly lost.

At least I have a good book, or several good books rather. I've been splurging for summer reading, completely set on enjoying this break. Getting a parcel is always so satisfying, but Cheryl has taken the initiative to open any thing that comes in a brown box or padded envelope as soon as she gets her hands on it. Half the fun gone, like that.

I can finally sleep in tomorrow. It's a Saturday, meaning no one's going to start drilling into our skulls at 8am. We fight to try and stay in that perfectly cozy place you can only find when you have to get out of bed, which is until about 9am before giving up. Then the drilling and hammering stops as they take their midmorning break. Five days a week of utter frustration, but we're going soon. Thank goodness.

Mundane matters

It sounds like everyone's on a house hunt of some sort. A couple of 1st years came with their agent to look at our flat on Saturday morning. I was torn between wanting to tell them outright that what they were expected to pay for this place was exorbitant, that the quarterly charges would empty their account, and that after the management turn the heating off at the beginning of spring, you'll be left to shiver uncontrollably through the random cold snaps. But it is a big flat, lots of space so you don't get in each others' faces too much and they've just replaced the windows so they're new and beautiful.

I'm not so ready to go home yet although I know my time back home is limited. Maybe its because I'll be leaving on my own, which always sucks, and my first week back will probably involve struggling to 'teach' Bryan A-level Economics, which I largely fluked through myself. Four years on and I can barely help Cheryl with her first year subjects in a course I'm still doing. As for A-level Economics...right. Time to call in the cavalry: Joel.

I've also discovered Ugly Betty. It's like an extended version of The Devil Wears Prada, only the ugly duckling doesn't seem to have a fat hope in hell of becoming a swan, which only makes her even more endearing. I'm addicted, but going back soon, and we're all fighting over bandwidth anyway. So I turned to Amazon.com, which was completely wrong, and left the site with another delivery of books coming in about ten days' time. I guess I'll be eating bread and jam for the rest of the week, which is slightly better than Cheryl, who'll be eating air. I don't starve my sister, her exploding budget has brought it upon herself. Financial control is not a skill that runs through us siblings, it seems. Maybe it's the kind of thing that jumps a generation. Thank goodness for Weng and his spreadsheet though, it could've been worse.

Doing absolutely nothingish

I've realized that flat hunting is exactly like the way I shop, and yes, despite the fact that I wear pretty much the same jeans and/or hoodie to school every single day, I do actually buy new clothes. Sometimes. Okay fine, so I'm really fussy, and I guess it doesn't help that when I do go shopping I only have a vague idea of what I want, which infuriates Weng (who actually likes shopping, just not so much with me). I'm very much a 'I'll know it when I see it' kind of person.

Anyway back to the point of this. Basically we went to see a flat on Friday evening that I totally fell in love with. I loved it for its cream carpets, its bay windows, and its price. I walked in and it grabbed me and now I can't imagine living anywhere else. It's the same way when I try on something new that's perfect. Funnily, it's not an impulse at all, even if it does sound like that. I think that's what I wanted to say for now. There's a flat that I absolutely love and if we don't get it, I'm going to be gutted.

That, and also that I'm feeling really lost now that there's nothing to push for or stress out about. The presentation is far away enough to not feel it yet. There are things to do, like book flights and pack I guess.

I don't know what it was, maybe I wasn't totally in the mood, but yesterday when I went to the British Museum, one of the most renowned collections of historical artefacts in the world, I was more impressed with the outside of the building. That's a little harsh, I'll admit. I thought the Egyptian mummies were really very interesting, and some of the exhibits looked exactly like the pictures in my primary school history books, but other than that, it was kinda like: statue, statue, statue, vase, statue, statue, sword, statue vase, vase, vase, statue, statue, statue. Except for the Asia rooms which were more like deity, deity, deity, deity, bowl, deity.