It's not broken, just dented. I believe that after the dust settles following any bumps in life, I will say "It's not broken, just dented'.

So Belinda saw this photo of me, where I had my hood up and I was pretending to be a Dementor. U know, all scary like, thus the hand positions. Here’s an excerp of our msn chat:

 Marina-hahah c i like the one where i put my hood up and did my stupid monster pose by the blue door!

Belinda:omg me too!! that was so funny hahahah like kitten pretending to be dementor.

Too much! I looked fierce and scary ok! Like I could inflict despair! Kitten my foot.

And then another line:

Belinda- omg c, you have an identity crisis! you are torn between hilary duff and dolly parton!

I give up.

‘Irreverence is another person’s disrespect to your god; there isn’t any word that tells what your disrespect to his god is’ Mark Twain.

So hey, let’s have a chat about religion. No second thought, let’s not have a chat on religion.

I find religion a private thing. It doesn’t matter to me what your religion is, if I like you as a person, then we’ll get along just fine. If I don’t like you as a person, no matter if you are from my temple, that isn’t going to change a thing. Don’t call me sister. Only 3 people can call me sister, and we usually call each other ‘oi’ or ‘lousylah you’ instead. Let’s keep it that way.

I have friends of many religious affliations. Some never fail to  pray for me when I whine to them about my exams, which I am very honest to goodnest appreciative of. If you don’t eat pork/beef/seafood you are still welcomed to order food with me, I don’t mind not ordering pork/beef/seafood. I don’t mind, actually quite enjoy going to all religious celebrations, there is no way it would offend me.

All I ask, is that you extend the same curtesy to me.

Don’t ask me about (ok, see here I have a problem calling a religion ‘MY’ religion, as if it’s an exclusive thing and I don’t like this ‘my’ and ‘your’ religion connotation it will inevitable imply) the religion I profess, if all you want to do is mentally put down the religion I profess, or pat yourself on the back while reassuring yourself that your religion is so much superior. All while smiling at me as I go to great pains to tell you and try my best to avoid implying any sort of superiority as to be polite. I seldom realise that people have other motives when they ask me questions on anything, so I tend to have an honest chat. I may seem like easy pickings for manipulation, but make no mistake I do see through the manipulation in due time. After the compulsory feeling of hurt and shame following any form of manipulation, I grow wiser.

And I’m not the Dalai Lama/ a  nun. So chances are I won’t be able to answer your questions. Plus, it’s hard to explain things, when we are on completely different planets on understanding certain meanings.Comparison among religions is at best confusing, and at worst misleading and heavy with judgement.

This line from the Buddha sums my religious perspective up

‘May all beings be well, may all beings be happy’.

I use to be very afraid of taking the bus. Well maybe not afraid…I just never had to. You see, I use to live in Indah Villa, where I could walk to Sunway Pyramid to shop, and walk to Uni. If ever I took a bus, it was with Amy, who would tell me which bus to get on, and which stop to get off.

Now, as I have previously mentioned, I take the bus to Uni. The blue and Yellow Bas Mini 66. And it’s actually quite fun, because Iwould take a slow stroll from my apartment to the bus stop, stopping at the bakery to buy a scone for breakfast even. Then I’d get on the bus, which because of my 9am-after-the-going-to-work-rush classes, isn’t usually full. Then in the bus, I’d plonk on a bus seat and stare out the window as the bus vrooms along (seriously you can hear the vroom, not cos it’s fast, it’s the tekan minyak until maximum but the bus is still moving at one speed kind of vroom sound). In the mornings, it’s generally quite cool in the bus, and I like looking out the window.

Of course, that was the first 2 weeks of taking the bus. After that, I usually run to the bus stoplah. And I haven’t had time to buy a scone since. And the journey home is abit more stressful, cos my for Monday and Thursday, my classes end at 5pm and 6pm. That’s when everyone gets off work, so the bus is usually full, and people are sweaty after a long day at work, and the traffic is usually bad, and the bus is usually very hot. Before the bus stops at my apartment, it stops at the KTM station. I usually get off there, and take a walk to Carrefour and then go through Carrefour to my apartment. Its faster and much cooler that way, cos of the breeze and Carrefour’s aircond.

I like walking in the evenings especially, cos everyone  has finished work and there is just something very pleasant about finishing work/uni. I like the feeling of the end of the day, when things come to a close. I like walking along the sidewalk in the evenings, going home. Everyone is in a good mood, and the weather is mellow too. I think I whistle or hum when I walk towards Carrefour from the KTM station. After being in the hot bus, it’s a release to get out in the fresh air, and to walk at your own pace.

But since last week, I have been driving a couple of times to uni. And I drove to the Monash Ball. I felt really cool, when I handed the hotel person my car keys for jockey parking. RM15 minus the hassle of parking, and right at the hotel entrance. Completely worth it. I’m glad my sister and her fiancee are so nice as to let me drive to uni. Oh yeah, the jockey parking was indirectly paid for by my sister’s fiancee. More about that in the next post.

So yes, I am not afraid of taking busses anymore! I used to think that people memorised the bus numbers and knew what number traveller to where. But it turns out, the busses have their stops on a place card at the windshield! Well well well. All these years, I admired people who took buses for their amazing memory and cleverness, when all one needed was the ability to read.

So today, I took the bus to MidValley Megamall to lepak with Esther. I took the bus all by my self. Course, Esther kindly smsed me telling me the bus number (U76), but I was on it all by myself. And I knew where to get off, nobody told me that! AND I helped an old Indian lady pick up her keys which fell down when the bus stopped. It fell from her paper bag which tipped over, to the front near the door. I got off my seat, hopped down the raised platform where the seat were, to where they keys were and gave her the keys.All those years of Pendidikan Moral lessons came in handy.

My sister kindly picked me home cos she was in The Curve. Course, she did make me have to run through Mid Valley to get to the pick up point like some budak sesat, but I guess it’s a small price to pay.

An accomplished day.

My accomplished day.

Cicak out!

For the first time ever, I attend the Monash Ball!

Well I keep telling myself every year, when the Monash Ball fever comes up in campus, that I would attend during my final year, cos it would be more meaningful as it is my final year so it could be like a farewell party with all my friends.

Unfortunately, this year none of my usual group of friends could make it! Belinda had prior commitments (her weekly consultation with God is on Fridays and I’m not going to risk a ch’ka boom from the heavens by making Belinda deviate from her path.), Jacqui didn’t want to buy a dress and go through the whole rigmarole of the Monash Ball, and Nat had Black Eyed Peas (Whose fireworks we at the Monash Ball all gawked at from the glass windowpanes of the Sunway Hotel Grand Ballroom btw).

Now, it took me 3 whole years to make these friends. I’m getting very fond of them, so much so that I might even turn off my anti social no hug policy for them! Once in a while of course. So how in the name of Josh Groban, am I supposed to go to the Monash Ball without them??

But things have changed. I use to live in Indah Villa for the whole of my Monash career, since MUFY. My sister’s used that apartment while they were in uni. That apartment has had our Tan vibe for about 8 years. I use to walk the same walkways to Monash and Sunway Pyramid. My whole KL life consists of these routes:

i) Indah Villa—->Sunway College—->Indah Villa.

ii) Indah Villa—->Sunway Pyramid—-> Indah Villa.

iii) Indah Villa—->Sri Bidara—->Indah Villa

iv) Indah Villa—->highway—->Malacca.

Now I live in Subang Jaya. It’s a very nice apartment and I like it very much. I take the bus to uni now, my Bus Mini 66 which from the sound of it has a gearbox that is about to break into pieces any time, most likely when I’m already running late for class. Touch wood it hasn’t happened yet, but I’m very alert to any new krrrunnnk sound emitting from the front of the bus. The bus drops me off at Sunway College so I just have to take a quick 10 minute walk and I’m at Monash.

My new routes consist of

Subang Apartment/Bus Stop ***> Sunway College***> Monash University.

Subang Apartment—-> Carrefour—-> Subang Apartment

Subang Apartment—->Subang Parade—->Subang Apartment.

Change.

Even my library has changed! The moved my INT section! What blasphemy. I was confidently striding to the bookshelves just in front of the staircase, and I was met with….Business books. Law books. For a second I thought some peabrained library user had simply stuffed the wrong books into the wrong shelves. Then I saw the whole shelf was not my usual Globalization, International Relations and Migration books, but stuff about Business law, Internet Law and Business Management Law.

Then I realized ohhh the librarians made a mistake. They must have misplaced an entire shelf.

So I left, and came back the next day. I went to the same shelves, but they were still there. Those horrible usurpers Business law, Internet Law and Business Management Law. Then I realized that my library feng shui had been altered. I blame the C I got for Screen Theories on this change of library feng shui. Andrew has never given me a C before okay. Of course it’s the library’s fault. Damn library, simply change when I’m in my final semester for what? I’m your most frequent user! Nobody appreciates loyalty anymore.

*Terrible* Change.

So back to the Monash Ball. Go alone? No way.

But Andrew’s inspiring explanation on Existantialist theory summed it up:

‘While you are alive you must make the best of it. You must live in a way that challenges yourself. That would be what makes you who you are.’ (Ng, 2009).

What can be more challenging than to go to a Monash Ball for the first time without your usual friends?

And so I did.

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Legends

***> driving

—> walking