It's got to be the PJs...

There I was locked out of my room, Wonder Woman comic in hand, dressed in my PJs at 6 in the morning. Brilliant. I've locked myself out of my room after taking a dump with the keys in my room in the 1st 36 hours I've been back here in Notts. Wonderful. As such, I've no access to all my instant noodles or any goodies which I brought with me. Excellent. 13 hours later which I spent by polishing my shoes, doing some housework, reading Simpsons and Philosophy, watching Police Academy on VCR and a day-time talk show about a 31 year old man who wants to marry a 17 year old girl and a kind hearted housemate to drive me all the way to Derby to pick up the keys from the landlady and I'm back in my room.

The last time I wore to PJs to sleep in Notts when I first moved in to halls, random people barged into my room (I didn't know how to lock the doors then, you see) in the middle of the night. Bleh. It's the PJs and doors I tell you.

That aside, I managed to survive travelling with a 7kg backpack on my back, dragging a 10kg hand luggage bag and exactly 29.7 kg check-in bag. All thanks to my mother's impecabble skill in packing bags.

I had travelled a total of 24 hours. 2 hours to Bangkok. (Thai Airways food sucks btw.) Transit in Bangkok for 3 hours. (You know it's a Thai airport when at almost every corner they offer you a foot/body message. It's also the only airports where you can possible enjoy a coconut...)

A flight of 12 hours to Heathrow. (The food sucked yet again but breakfast was ok. They showed THE SENTINEL, starring Micheal J Fox, That 24 guy, Eva Longaria.. but it was a below decent film. The Manchurian Candidate a much more better film with a similar storyline) Although, I did sit next to this fit Aussie girl who was travelling with her partner. It's amazing how much you can learn about a person when you just casually ask, "Where did you get that toothbrush?"

Oh. Those travelling back to the UK? Liquids/Cosmetics are a BIG no-no. That explained why most of the women on board looked rather haggard.

Arrived in Heathrow. It was a rather long line at immigration. I had to wait another 2 hours for the coach to Notts.

I was a 3 hour ride on the coach where I sat next to a plump 67 year old Tanzanian. Talked to him for awhile at the beginning of the trip. One great thing about travelling alone is the amount of people you can meet and the interesting backgrounds they have.

*sigh* And here I am. My brother's away in Malta but an exchange student, Marco from an Eastern European country (I can't remember which atm) is staying in his room and Alex, my bro's coursemate is around.

Weather's quite wet, typically British.

Well, here I am. Although I have to say, in mind I am, but it's true what they say. Home is where the heart is.

Blogging may be hazardous to your personal liberty...

Slight exaggeration? Perhaps.

But someone should come out with a caricature with AAB pointing his finger with the caption," Bloggers, Pak Lah is watching you!" (Old new I know but still mention-worthy)

Read the article from reuters here.

Oh. And in other news, Dell is recalling it's batteries coz of their tendency to blow up due to overheating. My Dell laptop is one of the models affected but thankfully, my batterys in the clear. If your laptop is a Dell, get the battery serial number checked.

Read about it here.

Thanks Edwin for the head up here.

An old love revisted...

It's been a year since I've last saw her. After all those evenings and saturday mornings I've spent with her over the years, I decided to pop by and visit her yesterday evening. I can't remember exactly the first time I met her but I don't remember having a good first impression of her. Can't say it was 'love at first sight'. Rather than desire, it was more out of necessity. I guess like all loves in life, you tend to lower your standards and settle for less.

I've got plenty of memories of her... Dating before my days in Stella Maris. Friends from my S.M. Bukit Bandaraya (SMBB) days would know her well too. Not many from Stella have met her although I've introduced a handful of my college mates to her. That's how long it's been. A love affair lasting 7 years. But I had moved on... Yet, I had to go back to her. Just for old time's sake.

When I finally met her, I realised the years haven't been kind to her. She had withered away and she didn't get the response she used to.

Ahh Yes.. Bangsar B'sar Basketball Court. It's right in the residential park next to SMBB and a lush jungle surrounds -it which explains the frequent visits by monkeys.

Strange. When it's over and you've moved on.. (Taman Desa Bball court that is) then, do you realise the faults you closed your eyes to. Maybe it's the familarity of it all over the years. I never realised how low the rim was, or how small it was or how hard the backboard was. Taman Desa Bball court has a better rim, better backboard, bigger court (making full courts games a rarity and unfortunately, I do miss full court games) but slippery ground I have to say. Not to mention, you might get people more on the Ah Beng (AB) side rather than the 'trying to be black' type of people in Taman Desa. Which I have to say, is a lesser evil I have to say IMHO. (the writer had nothing personal against such people, just what they wear and talk and finds it hillarious)

My dad, my bro and I used to spend our weekend evenings and saturday mornings there. My dad famous for being the martial artist training near the monkey bars, doing his over head kicks and drawing admiration from passer-bys. Its not rare to have a kid or two run over and start punching and kicking his punching bag/hanging bottle.

It was sad to go back to find the court deserted. There wasn't a single soul on the basketball court. Back in those days (Yes, I say this at the risk of sounding old), you would have to wait for a game on a weekend. A bit later, an old friend from SMBB, Andrew turned up and then, there was the three of us. Me, my dad and Andrew. I asked him whether anyone plays anymore there and where's so-and-so? Do they come back often?

It turns out... Everyone's moved on. Me and my dad went back out of curiosity. It was more intiative on my side rather than his. I mean, why drive 15 minutes all the way to B'sar for some bball when we could take a 5 minute walk down to the court in our hood?

I've got memories of losing lots of stuff back at the B'sar Court. I lost a number of basketballs and I once lost like several weeks of allowance worth of Star Wars Episode 1 TCG Cards.. Back in Form One. *sigh* I had foils of Darth Maul, Darth Sideous and many others! ARGH!! (for the unitiated, foils are basically shiny cards and are very rare.. odds finding one in a pack are like 9:1 and a card's geek equavilent of hitting 4D)

Ah yes, well. I can easily think of the good times there. Had many with my SMBB friends in Form 1. I realised I actually never hung out at shopping centres then.. perhaps that courts was the closest place I had to a 'hang out'. Many an incident there. I remember my bro being threatened by some gangster after school hours (the park was near the school you see), my dad telling off this one cracked up lady who was practicing her golf stroke with cars parked in the carpark and kids running around the park! WTH! Plenty of jerks play basketball there.. Usually bullied most of the younger ones. One great thing in T'man Desa Court is everyone gets a game. Yay for Equality.

Mm. Well, this post's dedicated to B'sar Baru Bball court. If you ever pass SMBB, look out for the park. You won't see no Bballers but you'll still see families bringing their children there or people just taking a jog there.

Oh, and remember. Don't feed the monkeys.

I'll like to thank the little people...

Lest ye forget the people.

Remember this, at the end of the rat race, guess what?

You're still just a rat.

Kuching and back.

If there's one thought in my head after my trip to Kuching, it would be:

" I don't remember salt water being that salty..."

Our stay in Kuching comprised of 2 out of 3 nights stay at Damai Beach (one night being at a relative's place). Damai is kinda like Port Dickson except it's not polluted, no ships in the distant, there's a nice tooth shaped mountain (Santubong) facing the beach and yeah, it's probably much nicer than Port Dickson... Well, its name conjures up thoughts of peace and tranquality rather than ships passing you while you take a dip in the sea. (Don't mind the East Malaysian bias-ness here.)

Besides the beach, trips to Kuching are always formulical and involves trips to visit family and gorging on Sarawakian delicacies. It's practically the homebase of my dad's family on both sides. The Leong and the Chan family. The former more renowned for it's rascal-like ways (in a good manner, think Han Solo but not your local street thug rascal way) and the later more renowned for it's scholarly ways.

I've never got to know either of my grandparents on my dad's side with my grandmom passing away when my dad was in his early teens and my grandpa passing away when I was just five. My parents tend to make up for that by visiting my granduncles and grandaunties. These visits usually invoke memories of my dad growing up in Kuching with his cousins and also memories of me and my bro being being brought up here.

Apparently, my stubborness was evident ever since I was a young child. Each time my parents used to drop off me and my brother at my granduncle's place to drop by the Sunday market, I would cry my head off and nothing would stop me. Chocolate or a bottle would temporary shut me up but I would continue my resolve to cry till my parents came back. Greatness in the making, I'll say. Heh.

A few days after Kuching, I was hit with some viral infection. I was down for the count with headaches and a fever but not with the usual output of mucus and snot. The doctor suspected it was dengue ( but I didn't have bodyaches or spots on my skin and I got better)

Thinking about this, maybe each time we get a flu or stricken with something.. it's like God saying,"Here, son. Take it slow, take a rest."

But looking back on the last two months, the opposite's probably true for me. Haven't done much to my name in the time. Now, I've got 3 weeks left in Malaysia till I go back to Notts early. Time to speed up on the gorging, building up some muscle mass, improving that basketball, catch up with an old friend or two.

A new chapter begins in 3 weeks. A chapter where Joachim is thrown into the deep end... home-alone and has to fend (to be more precise, cook) for himself for a few weeks before he can attempt to freeload off his unsuspecting friends. Will his skeletal remains be found in his room as it dawns upon him too late that a diet of bread with Nutella and maggi-mee does little good for the body? Or will he rise above to establish himself as one of the better cooks in all of Dunkirk, Nottingham?

Tune in next to find out folks!

Till' next time. Go with God.