A Bus with A View III

Fro

In the struggled sobriety of the morning, having roused from a scanty sleep, I scanned the sun-kissed valley, looking for the building that has long been a landmark of sort. Disappointingly, I couldn't locate it. Two years worth of stay didn't necessarily mark the site as a beacon...

Back

Whose funny (or rather, foolish) idea to arrange the seats in a fashion of a lounge?? Far from being comfortable, the cabin ended up imitating a stinking belly of a junk. Stuffy, sweltering, and cramped, I would have considered other options but I was too drained to think let alone acting. Ended up dozing for the major part of the journey...




Commuting by bus has been my main means of travelling since I entered ASiS. I decided against taking the train yesterday so as to pay tribute to the journeys I've taken on any number of occasions before. By bus of course.

You Brightened up My Day like a Multicoloured Parasol!

Some good things are better left unexpressed. Because even words can fail to capture the essence of happiness. Ah, wth! The sleepover at ASiS (yes, I've been there on Friday and there I was again on Tuesday night!) was the best evah!!

Reason #1: I've toyed with the idea before Ramadhan came and thought that, given the amount of time left here, it wouldn't have a chance of happening. But heck, I got to buka puasa at the school for the fifth year running! It's a ritual I hope to keep.

Reason #2: The Ramadhan bazaar, although noticeably reduced in size this year, hadn't failed to instigate the well trodden memories. There's also a nice briyani stall there. The Ayam Madu Istanbul was a counterfeit, a substandard imitation of the original, I think.

Reason #3: A chance meeting with Erul and Pak Wan.

Reason #4: Met with Ustaz, C. Ghani and Mr. Allen. Paying homage is very close to coming to a full circle now.

Reason #5: Got to jump the queue at the Visa centre. Thanks Ajah!

Reason #6: Reunited with many AKYUEM...

Reason #7: A rather fine day at VFS. Hopefully, my application is approved *prays hard* and ready for collection in time *prays even harder*

Reason #8: Saw Wall-E. Pidah, I totally agree with you; it was just soooooooooooooo cute!!! I won't run a review. It'll just be too cliched. Said by too may people already.

Reason #9: A Good School was in my possession, finally. All thanks to Ikram!

Reason #10: Got this!

And a pair of this!

BUT THE BEST REASON OF ALL IS ...

THE TIME I SPENT TOGETHER WITH LAWI AND IKRAM!!!

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!!!

Adieu, great friends. May our paths intertwine again.

Visitation...

So, I once again visited ASiS last Friday. Before you people start brandishing your contempt in my face and calling me a school-obsessed prig, I would like to state that the visit was the first since eons and I was there for the sole purpose of bidding farewell to the teachers and whoever whose paths intersected with mine. There were a few things, changes obviously, that begged the attention of my scrutinizing eyes. Here's a list for a long passage on this is bound to become arduous.

1. The first building that one will pass after passing the main gate is the library. Although I have no idea whatsoever of the current status of the place (previously, it was, for a greater part of the year, inaccessible), I saw a promising addition to the block. I think it's a computer lab. Students were filing out of the room when I arrived. Promising because a computer lab is a surefire recipe to attract students (oh well, librarians mostly) to use the library. The place has been in a sorry state for a long time. It’s about time for a change to occur.

2. Puan Rohaiza’s room, my personal haunting back then, is now equipped with a fridge! Wonder why the idea didn’t hit her when we were still around. It could have been a splendid place to stash food for use in the time of ‘crisis’ (it being free period). The introduction was a wee bit too late for any students to appreciate. Not that she grants entrance to just simply everyone…

3. There’s now a little Aladdin! Of course the real guy was still there, having returned from Seri Puteri where he wasn’t too keen of staying. The girls must have frightened him… Anyways, I miss the banters we shared over food pricing and quality… The best thing was, he still remembered most of my batch mates.

4. Bendahara, the house that I belonged to, tops the house system ranking. We’re, or rather aptly put, they’re leading by 2000+ points. Bendahara, I think, remains as the only house whose points went below zenith before making a meteoric rise to clinch the House of The Year award (whoa, exaggeration!), all in the same year. Of course we had to slave away our much treasured freedom on weekends, doing all sorts of gotong-royong imaginable to redeem all the lost points…

5. Cikgu Bad, my Form 4 Physics teacher, had defected to a new school. Cikgu Azwan, my Form 4 Chemistry teacher, is now a dad!

6. The oh-so-nice-and-friendly makcik cleaners were replaced by Indonesian workers. I see it as a highly dubious action. I know that the pay is cheap but to give way to them over local makciks who wish to earn something (or perhaps, they are the sole breadwinners in the families) is just ridiculous! There’s also a question on the security of students’ belongings.

7. For some strange reasons, I didn’t know that there was an expansion of the Staff Room until this visit. The renovation, which included the banishment of the adjacent Physics lab, was completed early this year. Teachers now sit in low-hedged cubicles, replete with a sitting area. In short, the place was far less scattered and disorganized. Again I was wowed by this improvement.

8. The place was still abuzz with the success of forging a partnership with some boarding school in Thailand. An envoy, which was consisted of teachers and selected students, visited the school last June. Last year, they invaded Indonesia. Again, I became a little envious and perhaps greedy. Why didn’t we have all that before??

9. The installation of air conditioner units in the hall hopefully helps in the school’s mission to scale the top spot in the next SPM. In my years, the stuffy hall could be a gauntlet to one’s olfactory system as well as a steep challenge to keeping attention. Even the stage background was adorned with pua kumbu.

10. Another addition in the hall was also noted. All I can say is I’m happyhappyhappy for it. It’s long overdue, but it’s there. It completed my visit. In a way.

Many things remained the same though. Kak Ton hadn't lost her chattiness (as well as her unrivalled obsession with SAS alumni), 'Diva' Norzila was still as blunt, 'Datin' Rohaiza hadn't lost her touch of class (she bought an induction cooker on the day of my visit), Cikgu Azwan with his furtiveness, Teacher Wan remained boisterous, Tuan Haji now sported a grizzlier look, Pn. Tuan Norma was still a ball of energy, and even a certain counselor was as dour as ever!
I sorely miss Pn. Hazilah and Cikgu Rose (one in Perlis, another in Melaka) … InsyaAllah, if conditions permit, we’ll meet up. A lot of catching up needs to be done.

That’s it for now. In the next post, hopefully, I’m gonna divulge certain consternations regarding my visit and beyond..

A bus with a View II

Sensational sunset. The blistering, molten planet slowly descended into wisps of varying colours at the far horizon. Unimpeded, the view was to die for.

Oh joy! What's that airborne contraption?

The plastic cover of the engine decided to alight from the bus as it coughed and spluttered in its way uphill. The complex mechanics of the engine were stripped for all to see.

God, what a journey!

Blahblahblah!

In these past few days, I have:

1. Gone on a holiday at Langkawi.
2. Bought a bagful of chocolates.
3. Purchased bags meant for hand and checked in luggage.
4. Sat in the car for a boring stretch of 12 hours.
5. Attended a kenduri
6. Stayed in KL.
7. Met with my sponsor.
8. Paid the spanking new East Coast Mall in Kuantan a visit.
9. Bought a laptop.
10. Visited my uncle and his supposedly 'liberal' KISAS daughter (wth?!)
11. Started compiling necessary documents particularly from my sponsor.

A week of events awaits...

Cosmic!

A confession to make: I’m a roller coaster junkie. Had I stayed for a few more minutes with them, I would have taken another ride on it. Having tried all the roller coasters at Genting, I must say that the one at Cosmic World comes in second after the Cockscrew.

The Bumper Car was also FUN with capital letters throughout. I still can’t get the image of Fatin reversing in circles waiting to be hit out of my head. That spinning thingy was OK. Fiqry threw a question at me. Frankly, I don’t know. Am I scared of height? Do I experience vertigo at great height? Why did we have an absurdly calm conversation on BTN while dangling a few hundreds feet above ground?

The trip was a blast through and through even though I had to excuse myself early. It would have been out of the world if I stayed for lunch. And a ride on DNA Mixer. Frankly, it’s pretty pointless to spin around at one position. But I can’t deny that it’s far more dizzying than any roller coaster rides!

Thanks Kak Pah for the dorayaki and keychain from Japan. Thanks to everyone who was present; Fiqry, Kamal, Wong, Pam, Kak Pah, Soraya, Ju Vern, Fatin, and the latecomers (Topan, Serap, and Haziq) for this amazing outing!

I’m not surprised if Times Square closes down soon. The layout of the building is just haphazard. Locating escalators can be very tricky. Vienna Bagels was kind enough to dispense free bagels at its newly opened counter, a consolation after a frantic search for an ATM.

Hope that I can manage to join them for the next outing.

P.S: Life’s a rollercoaster ride, jump on one and you’ll make better sense of your life. Nah!

The Gathering... Storm??

Mood: Confused still...
Listening to: Bleeding Love – The Wombats
Still reading Crime and Punishment…

Despite missing the first bus to Seremban due to my oversleeping, I did attend the gathering last Sunday.

And my notion prior to coming to the gathering turned out to be true. How people have changed over the years.

I don’t know what to brand the changes with. If I say that it’s for the better, I am lying through my teeth. If I say that it’s for the worse, I might come across as judgmental. In the end, I resort to leaving all to God to judge them…

I endured stilted conversation, complete apprehension, and the inferiority associated with being underdressed. They are now active members of the social scene with credits at numerous parties and gatherings. I am still the stiff conservative that I was then, having done not so much of venturing outside than catching a flick at a cinema.

We watched Wanted and I must say that it was as disappointing as the meeting itself. I was fooled by the promo, thinking that the movie was not just like any other summer blockbusters, slick but with no substance. It turned out that the film fit exactly the typical Hollywood mould, slick and unsubstantial. The build up was nice what with mind-bending bullet projectile, freeze motion technique, which was abundant and a hot chick hell-bent on taking out people, but halfway through the movie, it was apparent who the good guy was and who was not. Heck, even the many carefully done reviews in the newspaper could not conceal the spoiler from the readers. How many times have we read that when a movie character gained the trust of an organization and vice versa, it turned out that there is more than meet the eyes about the organization? I was expecting that the movie would break away from this clichéd storyline but boy, was I wrong. To top it all, the movie decided to snuff the light out of my biggest celebrity crush. The goodbye letterings engraved on the exotic looking bullet at the end of the movie promo in the television is a dead giveaway of who I’m referring to…

I was disoriented when I came out of the cinema. And this was when my greatest fear was confirmed. I shall not divulge one bit more here but suffice to say that I was shocked beyond reasons…

After parting ways with them (in God’s honesty, I was thoroughly relieved, much too my displeasure), I made a few detours. The goal was to buy A Good School, a novel by Richard Yeats. After much hassle queuing up to withdraw money (the security alarm installed in one of the ATMs went off, extracting curious glances from the crowd) and buying Kit Kat from a newsstand so that I could get a plastic bag to carry my paperback safely into the mammoth MPH, I was met with another disappointment. The price was marked up to a price that I decided was way out of my means. I left the bookstore without the book.

I missed the last bus to Jelebu later that evening so I had to ask my dad to fetch me. Another hour was spent at arguably one of the biggest bookstores in Seremban. As expected, it didn’t carry the book that I longed for. I couldn’t find Freakonomics too!

I concluded that the trip was a disappointment through and through. The only consolations were the hearty offering from Carl’s Jr. and the sinfully delicious Dark Mocha Frappucino…Oh, I didn’t mind the company of Brian, Im, and Dio too.