A mish-mash of an update.

Prologue: Oh dear, it's already 30 August! Gosh, it's going to be exactly a month since I landed back in Penang! A month's passed just in a blink of an eye. *sigh*

Since it is already the end of the month, I guess it's about time to come up with a proper blogpost that details my current situation in details. It will be a mish-mash of photos and such so keep on reading!

I think ever since I properly settled down in USM that I haven't really properly introduced about my hostel. So let me introduce to you, block H7 (and H8, the next block) of Desasiswa Bakti Permai! *clap clap clap* Originally, these two blocks were under Desasiswa Fajar Harapan, the adjacent desa but it was under renovation last semester. After it was completely renovated before the current semester commence, its management were shifted to Bakti Permai instead.

Looking towards Bakti Permai. The green building over there is Bakti Cafe (in which I mentioned a few times in my previous blogpost as the cafe that always closes during weekend and public holiday hence starving its *lazy to come out* occupant to death) as well as Management Office. The inclusion of H7 and H8 under Bakti Permai makes Desasiswa Bakti Permai one of the most diverse Desa in the whole campus in terms of the building itself as well as it occupants. Its domain stretches a few hundred metres along the main road and went deep inside reaching the Cahaya side of Desasiswa Cahaya Gemilang. Besides consist of the usual square blocks (the orange building in the picture), Bakti Permai also claim to have the tallest hostel block in campus (before being taken over by RST Complex in year 2004) which was nicknamed Hilton block as well International House, the purpose-built apartment style tenement with half of them equipped with Air-Con to house international students but since then has opened to local postgraduate student. At the furthest end bordering Cahaya is another two blocks which are identical with the current block that I am in right now. Most importantly, the two blocks that I am currently staying right has been reserved exclusively to house male postgraduate student (while I think the other two block at the Permai side are for female postgraduate) and all of the room here are single room. YEAH FREEDOM at last!

Another view towards from my block to beyond. Took this picture because it was once of those rare moment that I actually see a clear blue sky in Penang. It rained the night before and the air was so much fresher. Usually the whole island of Penang will be layered with smog and haze just like what I saw today. Two days of drought and my body is feeling icky all over! I need rain now! Meanwhile, lets move on to MAH CRIB!

So here you go, my current workstation and my sanctuary. As this block that I am in now is newly renovated, everything in this block is still spanking new. However though if compared to what I had in Tekun (and the whole RST for that matter) for the last three years, the size of the table actually feel smaller than tekun. Maybe its because the cabinet is attached to the table (as a set) hence closer to table. Not to mention smaller cabinet size too. My biscuit can has to settle on top of the cabinet not on it. As for the bed, I do miss the hidden cabinet under the bed which is the common feature for all RST room: no place to hide random rubbishes and such! Nevertheless, being in a single room means excess space at the other side of the room to dump other random stuff. And oh talking about my new bed: the middle leg of my bed is a lil shaky. Loose screw I think. And I have the feeling that its renovation work on crack ground was just a paste: it already started to crack/flake! Exactly like what I had before back in Tekun during my 3rd year! *crap*

Even though I am currently in a single room, they provide us with two closets with full length mirror. And as you can see the way I perched my daily wears, it seems that I haven't fully utilized the closet yet haha! The positioning of the closet is not exactly good though which is right in front of my bed. Why?

Here's the window of my room. One particular downside of this room is that the direction of my room is directly facing east, where the sun rises everyday. So every morning (if I forgot to close my curtain), the glaring ray of morning sun will be blasting straight into my room, reflected off the full length mirror right in front of me straight into - AHHH THE SUN!! *wither in heat* So usually I will close my curtain right after I woke up and leave it for the rest of the morning. Thank god my room is in the shade during the evening cos it would've been worse if its evening sun in its full scorching heat.

Ahh yes my three dreadfully HUGE boxes. Thanks to Chan Pao and Birdie Chuah's help (transport as well as manpower carrying the box up to my room), I finally retrieved my box from my cousin's place. The transport of the boxes was an adventure of its own with the bonnet of the poor kancil being unable to close because the box can't fit in. Hence, Birdie Chuah has to support the back bonnet physically to prevent it from flung open while Chan Pao had to drive gently. To make it all worse, it was drizzling. Thank god it didn't go heavier than that and all three of us reached Bakti safely! Haha, with these three boxes with me which contain various important amenities as well as reference books, I am officially settled down in USM! Woohoo!

Last but not least though about my room: the rental fee was calculated differently compared to undergrad student. The hostel fee is counted MONTHLY (as opposed to by semester) and every month, the Bakti management will sent me this neat little invoice regarding my rent and I need to go to Bendahari to pay for it. And since I am staying in a SINGLE room in a NEWLY RENOVATED block, it was quite expensive by university standard: RM 240 per month. Comparable to outside rent but least I have my own privacy, everything is brand new, utility bill all inclusive and USMhotspot (despite all of its ridiculous shortcoming such as blocking Youtube and various filesharing website) is available 24/7 for FREE. The only thing that I wish right now: MY JPA SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION TO BE APPROVED BY NOVEMBER. Otherwise I will not be able to support my fees and rental anymore by next semester! Money running thing! ONOZ!

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This graph explains aptly of my current situation. Gah reading up journal and making any substantial progress in writing up my proposal can be so grating on our mind that I have come up with a conclusion regarding academic journals: Acedemic journal are made of 5% stimulant and 95% sedative. The moment you found anything exciting which is useful for your thesis, the sedative affect kicks in right away, rendering your brain immobilized for further thinking except feeling sleepy.

see more Funny Graphs

And the graph was SOOOOO true when I encounter this flash game: Infectonator! World Dominator. I remember a junior of mine, Wilson of ELLS talked about this game before and I was totally hooked the moment I play it up to a point that I have to save it into my lappie itself instead of going back to that website again. lol Destroying cities all over the over by releasing zombie plague and creating bloodbath of screaming innocent people. lol. Now the addiction towards this game has worn off after I completed it but still from time to time when I started to feel bored, I will open this game again and unleashed zombie apocalypse. Mwahaha!

Anyway, with everything settled down and research (sort-of) under way without going to class and such (the best and worst thing about being a Research Master), everything that you did, inside or outside your room seems to be reduced into routines. One way or the other, I do somewhat miss my undergrad time, going to class, doing discussion, hanging out with friends and such. Now, everything is about yourself and that's it. *sigh* But luckily there are occasional random stuff every now and then especially those courtesy of Chan Pao and Birdie Chuah! I am so gonna be alone after both of them graduate next semester!

Talking about surprises! The other night (around 11pm liddat), that Birdie Chuah called me out of my hostel saying that she got something that she wants to pass to me. I got myself a pleasant surprise when she gave me this: croissant from La Boheme! (Jusco's Bakery division) How thoughtful of her!

So the next morning, I had croissant and milo as my breakfast instead of the usual six pieces of cream crackers dunk in milo. Definitely a small deviation from my otherwise bland breakfast routine.

The other day, I went to Ivory Plaza (for my usual B&O) when I saw Majujaya, the minimart that I frequented during my time in Tekun open. Went to buy a few bars of bathing soap to stock up but my heart decided to feel itchy when I passed by the shelves full of different brands of instant noodle. Then one manages to catches my eye. Rasa Sapi/Beef flavour!? Gosh, instant noodle these days. I am familiar with the word "sapi" itself because we have Mi Sapi/Gu Bak Mee over Sarawak. So how did it tasted?

I use my usual way to immersing the noodle in boiling water inside a metal mug to prepare the noodle for consumption. Verdict: bland. Could've been more flavorful like duck noodle or something.

Lunch and dinner time for me over Bakti is equally bland. Remember what I mentioned before in my previous post about cafeteria food. This is what I usually eat for lunch and dinner almost everyday without fail. Fried rice, coleslaw and some sort of chicken. The reason I didn't take white rice and other dishes because the rest of the dishes really looked unpalatable for me for some reason. And I mentioned before how the price has no standard? For this combination alone, I get around Rm 3 and such but today, it went up to RM 4. Unbelievable. These nasi campur people have really no standard in estimating the price and it can get even higher if I go out to Lida or ShuangXing or Bali-Bali.

But since then in order to add a little variety in my stay over Bakti, I went over to the Nasi Goreng Stall for a few times and so far, I am satisfied of what I was offered. Their nasi goreng daging merah and nasi goreng pattaya was very feeling and for RM 3 only. Looks like they themselves a new satisfied customer. And usually during the weekend, they are the only stall that open during dinner time so I do appreciate their effort in taking care of Bakti-ans's diet. haha!

As for off-campus food, I think I spent a lil too much money over McDonald in this month alone and a few times are off the Birdie's (Chan Pao and Birdie Chuah) doing! haha you know I can't resist having lunch with friends as well as Western pop culture. While most of the time I went there are for the lunch promo, there's this one time we go there for the breakfast with ChanPao and SzeSze. Ordered Big Breakfast. SzeSze quipped that it's basically McEggMuffin disassembled and scrambled egg instead of sunnyside.

An usually whenever I go to McDonald (to have lunch or not)...

...I have to brought along my lappie. McDonald is my new official hang out place for unbridled online experience. Even though from time to time the connection will suck and the power point is at premium (and that's why I always brought along my extension!).

There's one surprise though the other day when I dropped by McDonalds to online: Ronald McDonald was there. For no apparent reason. He went around the premise distributing balloon to kids while high-fiving others who greeted him.

Besides that, went to KFC twice too, once with fellow SISTAHS after convocation and once...for lunch. I already ordered the Jom Jimat Set to save money but then ordering another side of Cheezywedges canceled out any attempt to actually save money. And to make it worse, their so called Wi-Fi is a LIE.

Thank god though there are still a few member of the SISTAHHOOD around Penang island (besides Chan Pao and SzeSze of course who's still fighting their very last semester). There's Lawrence who (I mentioned before in a few earlier post) who graciously let me stay over his house for about a week.

And of course Chan Pap and Birdie Chuah. We had dinner over Papa Rich at E-Gate, yet another Kopitiam-esque franchise and as usual, they're staffed by mostly immigrants. Tsk. This picture was taken the day they went to pick up my humoungous boxes from my cousin's home! Again, thanks them a bunch and I did belanja them their roti bakar as an appreciation for their effort!

And the very next day, we went to have McBreakfast. All of us brought along our laptop because the two ladies over here are prospective E-Business Women! I think both of them are still scouting for items (to be precise, fashion wear) as their merchandise online such as from Taiwan or HongKong. Good luck in their E-Business yo!

Whenever ChanPao has a car to drive, all three of us will escape the confine of Sungai Dua in search of better food. This one is over Taipei 101.

Their specialties: Taiwanese street food and cuisine such as Bento/BianDang 便当. This shop was known as Wang Mama but for some reason, they decided to undergo rebranding exercise and end up as Taipei 101. But they still sell the same foods and drinks like 珍珠奶茶.

However, one of the best food item for Taiwanese cuisine is actually its sweet potato fritter in spices. 正!

And when you don't have transport (to be precise, ChanPao not having private transport), we have to settle down with what USM offers. Like Anjung Budi! Gosh it has been quite a while since the last time I came here. The view toward Selat Pinang is still as spectacular as always.

Had Ginger Soy Sauce Chicken Rice from the Red house tauke's stall at Anjung Budi. They're the only proper food stall open (the beverage stall has to open while the other stall is burger stall) due to Ramadhan month.

And these two are my lunch mate again.

...which then go on to become dinner mate. Over McDonald. Again. I seriously can't imagine how bored my already boring life would be without both of the birds around me and drag me out from my self-imposed seclusion.

And these two was my dinner mate last nite. The Burung AhBui is very hard to ask out during weekdays because she's now a working woman instead of a student like SzeSze and me. Having a dinner together is a privilege for all of us especially those who had already started working. For the dinner, we went to Winter Warmers new branch over Queensbay, an English style teahouse!

Their specialty is teatime meal but they do serve full course, filling lunch and dinner too. But still it feels weird when I saw what SzeSze ordered: Waffle topped with chicken. Can't really imagine how was the flavour.

I choose to play safe and ate something which guarantee to be full: Fettucine Carbonara. Thick and rich.

Ah Bui ordered Deep Fried Chicken with Garlic sauce with pasta salad as sides. For some reason, hers look much more appetizing than mine!

I want to have more lunch/dinner outing, ChanPao and SzeSze. I am almost certain that without both of them (as well as other member of the SISTAHHOOD), I will definitely stay in my room not going out from USM for the next two or three years! Destined to be a hermit!

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Last but not least, random sights of my Kampus Tercinta. USM di hati yo!

The newly renovated Dewan Tunku Syed Putra, the place where I graduated.

The main throughfare of USM, stretching from top of the hill over Pusat Bahasa/Canselori right down to Sungai Dua gate. Walking down can be a breeze but walking up there (such as after having lunch over Sungai Dua before going to language class) is a hell, especially under scorching evening sun. Had that experience so many times back in my undergrad days.

One of the most picturesque place in USM: Permatang Pelajar, a tree-lined boulevard between Dewan Budaya USM and Pusat Pengajian Seni, making this stretch of the world the artsiest place in USM with Fine Art student sketching or exhibit their sculptures and such. And there're so many Arts Exhibition and musical recital over over School of Fine Arts further enhancing the relaxing ambiance over Permatang Pelajar.

Permatang Pelajar had a new addition as well over the Student Co-Op building in the form of Anjung Semarak, a new cafe which is totally run by students like ourselves! Right now is closed though because its Ramadhan month but I can't wait to go there and try it out after it reopens!

Persiaran Sains, the main throughfare going along Bakti and DK STUVW. And the red gazebo thing there is actually the guardhouse for Stor Kimia as well as bus stop to go to Foyer DK. Went through this bus stop so many times for the past three years in uni. Now ever since staying in Bakti, there's little need for me to take the bus anymore unless I am going to Bukit Gambir side/I am lazy to walk.

And the other day when I marched out of campus again to go to McDonalds, saw a lot of people gather over Tasik Harapan aka Tasik Biawak USM. Why?

It's Tasik Harapan Clean-Up Project, yet another environmentally conscious and sustainable project initiated by USM-ers, staffs or student and sponsored by CIMB Foundation.

Here's their banner promoting their event. And as you can see, the organizers are goes great length in promoting their event of Facebook, hyping it up in attracting environmentally conscious USM-ers!

Another shot. How they do achieve the goal of cleaning up the lake? They used mudball. Yes, mudball. To specific, mubball mixed with special solution that contain microbes in which the microbes will disintegrate pollutant in the lake naturally. They really wanna let nature to take its course and let's see whether the lake will become much cleaner after a few month...

USM has had enough with illegal parking that tend to block up roads in campus. And this is yet another method to counter illegal parking: Wheel-Clamping! It is so going to be annoying for the people who got their wheel clamped because of parking outside of parking space. But sometimes I do wonder though: do USM guards have enough wheel clamping to make this work? You know Penang drivers are unbeatable in parking and breaking traffic rules!

Lockers outside library. While the locker looks nice and such, I have the feeling the wear has starting to show for these lockers. For example: this locker ate my 20 cents. How the fuck did the lock spoiled?! And one annoying thing about lockers (and students) is that too many students are using the locker without paying the Rm20 cents. Hence whenever anyone wants to find a locker, the person has to open the locker one by one just to check for any bags inside the locker!

A random shots of the USM unofficial mascot: The Biawak of Tasik Harapan, spotted right outside my hostel. How did he get here!?

That's all about my life for now. Stay tuned for more new post!

Epilogue: Phew long post was long! And tomorrow is 31st August. Trivia: what's the significant of that auspicious date for me and and for Malaysia? Stay tuned for next post!