Coming Nearer and Nearer!

I've got to go to school AGAIN to get more of my certificates' copies certified! I didn't know that I had to photocopy my other certs like leaving school ones, activity certs, competition certs, etc. My classmate even got her parents' birth certs certified! I mean, that's a little too much right??? Haha! I hope my parents' birth certs aren't needed cos I didn't photocopy them!

Yesterday, my sis drove me to JPJ to renew my license. To upgrade from a P (Percubaan) to a permanent driver's license. My father suggested to renew for 3 years. 3 years ma 3 years lah! Hehe...

However, when we got there, the computer system was OFFLINE. So, we had to wait for a quite a while. I could see other people looking bored, tired, or just plain frustrated! Can't blame them!

And my stupid second-hand Proton Tiara is giving 'alarming' problems. Each time we tried to start the car, the alarm goes off. Irritating-nya... Hope the mechanic will do something about it or just tell the right way to go about it!

Plus, I need to drive more with the Tiara so I'll get used to it, like what my mom and sis are always saying.

Ah....chooo....alamak! Sneezing non-stop now. Gotta go!

6 More Days To Go....

On Monday, I need to go to my old school and get my photostated IC certified as well as dad's paycheck. Well, the paycheck needs the Headmaster's 'cop' it seems! I'm quite terrified at this idea. I've never even spoken to the headmaster before let alone asking him to certify it for me. I think I'll ask one of my teachers for help on this.

Now that I think about it, I don't have much to prepare because if I need anything, I can live without it for a few days, then when I'm free, I can just go back home anytime and get it. So, I'll only worry about packing next week. Got to be there at uni early in the morning on 30 June.

It's also ridiculous that all girls are required to don scarves during the one-week orientation. Knee-length skirts, long-sleeved blouses and shoes, no sandals, no slippers. We also have the option of wearing a baju kurung or baju kebaya too, of which I have neither.

AND I have quite a number of books waiting to be read! Only 6 days left! I couldn't possibly finish them all. Hope there'll be time to read them when I'm in uni. Oh, I hope there'll be a television set too and I hope that other students like Smallville. Haha! Season 5 will be shown on TV3 starting from July 15th! My mom said if I wanted to watch, then don't need study already. Sigh...got to make some sacrifices.

Make the right decisions. Follow your heart. Have no regrets. I'm talking nonsense now. G'nite!

Preparing For University

It really feels like a big step for me! It feels like going to school for the first time. But this is not regular primary or secondary school. This is UNIVERSITY. (No more uniforms! Though, I like them at times.) After university, it’s time to enter the working world. Yeah, the infamous big, bad, world! And I guess university helps you survive it.

Anyway, the question is: Can I survive university in the first place? It’s too soon to think about it. I’ll just live day by day and see how things are.

Being in university also means no going back home to complain to mummy and papa about how evil friends were. No more home-cooked food. No more washing machine (hopefully there are those paying machine ones!). No more comfy bed. No more television! I think got television lah. Erm, what else huh?

Ten days more! Wah, so scary…

I’m lucky my future university is not far from home. If I need anything, I can always go back anytime and get it. What about those having to study far, far away? Yes, there’s the adventure! Good for them!

What essential things to bring? What not to bring? Which stuff that I’ll need the most? Looks like it is time for shopping again. For clothes, stationeries, etc. I’m afraid clothes and other stuff will get stolen. We’re going to meet lots of people from different backgrounds and habits.

Nevertheless, after six months of leisure and relaxing, the thought of going back for classes again seems ‘un-refreshing’. Haha! I’m so happy going online, blogging, reading books, and watching movies and TV.

I think I can survive it. I can do it! I’ve just Googled ‘preparing for university’ and now going through the different websites. Here are a few useful ones:

University of Bolton - Preparing for University

Preparing For University

Practical Steps To Prepare For College

Preparing For University - Sweda ------>cool site! Good questions to ask yourself.

CMS: Preparing for Uni -------->Provides lists of important things to bring along with you.

ACCEPTED!

I got a pleasant shock this afternoon when I received some SMSes from my friends asking me what course I got and which university I was accepted in. Then, I called Miss Advent Child if it's true, whether can check the university results already or not! She told me her good news and I can't wait to see if I'll be getting good news too! I quickly switch on my computer and went straight to the website.

Guess what???

I got my FIRST choice!!!

I read the whole thing twice to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. Yes, it's real. I saw the word (the name of my course) and then (name of my university). Hahahahahahaha..........!!! Then, I got over-excited and told the good news to my parents. My little nephew saw I was excited and happy, so he himself got excited too!

Before today, a few people mentioned that it's hard to get accepted in my uni. Boy, when I heard that, I was feeling almost hopeless. And for some time, I really wanted to study my preferred course. But then later, I got fed up with everything and just decided that whatever course I'm given and whichever university I got accepted to, I'm happy. Sometimes, I worry I won't get a place at all! So, it's better to get accepted somewhere than not being accepted anywhere at all!

Oh, and many of my friends were offered places in universities that are quite far away! KL, Johor, Sabah, and Sarawak! So far! Now, I only know that 3 people got accepted to my uni.

Only less than 2 weeks left at home. Then, it's a whole new adventure for me.

Pronouncing the word 'delicious'

How do you tell a 7-year-old kid that her English teacher at school is wrong? And she still insists that it is right to pronounce 'delicious' as deh-li-cious?

I've told her (my student from my tuition class) that the right and only way to say it is di-li-cious but I guess she doesn't believe me!

The teacher (from school) is always right when you talk to small kids. Can't blame because they see their school teachers almost everyday and think the world of them. Even when their teacher is wrong, they still say that teacher is right.

It's kind of hard teaching small kids. They get restless easily. But 2 hours of English is quite enough. Enough for me and enough for the kids. I also like to teach when the student is paying attention and willing to learn. It is going to be tough if the student is a difficult one.

Well, I think I'll only be a teacher for a couple more weeks since future varsity students have to register at their universities on the 1st of July 2007. The university results will be out by the middle of next week! On Thursday, 2 days ago, my friend sent me as SMS saying that we could check the results on Friday. It's a false alarm actually.

Anyway, good luck to all students and teachers who are right and wrong!

2nd time at Chowrasta Bookshops: To Sell My Old Books!

Yup. That's what I did. I browsed through my bookshelf and plucked out those books that I don't read anymore, for example, the Dawson's Creeks, Sweet Valley Highs, Goosebumps, Fear Streets, and more. I only read those when I was in lower secondary school and I certainly don't read those now. Now, I'm discovering more fantastic fiction books! Even my dad gave me a few books to sell off.

When I got there, one of the shop owners saw me with my bags and asked me if I wanted to sell the books. I said 'Yes' and he immediately took the bags from me and went through the books, one by one. Finally, he set aside 18 books and offered me RM10 for all of them. I asked him how he set the price and he said that each book costs RM0.50. Well, the price seemed fine so, I accepted.

I was left with a magazine and 3 books. The 3 books were in quite a bad and sad condition but still readable and not a page missing. Only the front cover was torn a little but still, the shop owner did not think they were worth buying.

I then went to another shop, the shop with the brightest lights. This shop owner looked at the books, flipped them, and offered only RM2.00! I asked why so low and he said that they were in bad condition. Well, I was hungry then so, I just said okay.

Now, I've got some kind of theory ever since Reader's Shack announced that they are giving the chance for people to trade in old or unwanted books. If the books were published 7 years ago or less, then credits will be given. If the books were published more than 7 years ago, then the books would be considered a donation to Reader's Shack. So, that's why all my old books that were published more than 7 years ago, I packed them up and headed off to Chowrasta.

And you can also try selling your old books on eBay though it might be a little bit slower. If you have the patience to list your books over and over again if they don't sell, then good luck in eBay. There's also eJunction anyway if eBay does not work for you.

Happy selling!

I Went to the BookFest@Malaysia 2007!

Ever since I got back home yesterday, I couldn't wait to write about my Kuala Lumpur trip. It was a long trip, slightly more than two weeks! Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed it though I got bored sometimes.

Last Wednesday, my cousins and I went to the KL Convention Centre to check out Popular's BookFest@Malaysia 2007. The theme was appropriately called 'Joy In Reading'. I hope you do feel the joy when you read and not something else - like boredom, for instance! If you are bored with reading books, then it's either the book is boring or you are not reading books that REALLY interest you! Go figure it out.

I went to KL with my mom to visit my grandmother who was admitted to hospital. She's around 90 years old but she's still pretty strong! She's a wonderful woman.

Anyway, since I was already in the city, then there's no excuse why I should miss the BookFest. All the books were given discounts so, it's definitely a not-to-be-missed shopping trip.

Well, I only bought 2 books. The Devil Wears Prada and A Walk To Remember. My sis already has a copy of Devil Wears Prada but the print in her book is way too tiny for me. I like the words to be quite big (not very big!) but big enough so that I don't have to strain my eyes. And I bought A Walk To Remember because I've watched the movie twice and liked it.

When I went in the hall(s), I was like, 'Wow'....

It was really huge. The place, I mean. And there were so MANY books that I didn't know where to start first. I just wandered around first then I started from the right side of the hall where the English fiction books were.

There were 5 halls. Hall 1 is for all things China and Hong Kong, Hall 2 for Singapore and Malaysia, Hall 3 for sponsors, Hall 4 for Taiwan and finally, Hall 5 where the English books are with CD-Rama, stationery and goodies from One-2-Buy. Huge, huh? You'd be overwhelmed if you were there. Well, the BookFest ended today anyway. I'm sorry I didn't write about it earlier but unfortunately, I was deprived of Internet access when I was at my grandmother's house. I was also too tired and busy yesterday to blog.

One stall was quite popular as it sold and made beads jewellery. The kind of jewellery with small, colourful beads and even letters on them? Yeah, that kind. I just hung around and looked at the various beads available. The cheapest bead was RM1. Small and with alphabets on them. Nah, I'm not going to spend so much on the jewellery.

My cousin wanted to apply for a Popular card. While she was applying, I waited. Later when she told me that she got some free stuff after applying for the card, I also decided to apply one for myself. It's only RM5 for students, I thought, so I went ahead. Alas, I'm too old to be considered a student. You are only eligible for the Student card if you are 18 and below. My card cost RM10/year and I did get a plastic bag of goodies. The goodies were a box of tissues, a copy of the Pop Club magazine, an ink pen, and some Ayamas vouchers.

When we were done at the BookFest, my cousins and I walked to Suria KLCC in search of food! We were so hungry and we had to depend on the guide boards to find the eating outlet we wanted, i.e. the 1901 hotdogs. Well, I told them the hotdogs were nice so they wanted to try it too. We found it in the end and quickly ordered. I was right. It was absolutely delicious!

After that, we headed off to Kinokuniya. I brought along the Harry Potter cutout coupon from StarMag. I would get a 25% discount if I presented the coupon when purchasing a Harry Potter book. No, I haven't read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince yet so I bought it.

I was also looking for New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. I totally forgot to look for it at the BookFest. But, I didn't see it anywhere at the BookFest or I would have bought it on the spot. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer was so interesting and I'm dying to know what's next.

Since I couldn't find it at Kinokuniya either, I asked for the help of the staff there. One of the staff was helpful. Well, I asked him so he should be the one finding the book for me. I had to wait for minutes when he came running back to tell me that the book was out of stock and he was very sorry for keeping me waiting for so long.

Guess I'll just have to find the book at Popular or at Borders.

Ah, it should be enough for now. Good night!