Scribbling thoughts (feat Paramore)

It was a great week, a one which I really felt like home for the first time.
I was really happy and thrilled, to be able to see so many familiar faces which I did not expect to see.
To be honest, I would be hugely disappointed if I did not make it there. I was not supposed to be there at the first place anyways as I did not manage to put my name in the bus list when it was completely filled up. Thank god, Harrith had registered me before I even realize.

It was all so nostalgic for me, whenever I passed by someone I know and had a quick convo with them, images of how we met for the first time kept flashing at the back of my brain. (Power of the temporal lobes, haha.)

Anyways, I will just start with the events before the Nottingham games, Exeter "Onning the Christmas Lights" event. Well, the only thing I can say about this event is, I didn't know Christmas celebration lasts for 2 months her in the UK. LOL. It is only November and the trees and snowflakes decorations were up everywhere. I would have to go back to the Christmas Market some other days though, it was crowded the first day and my focus was more on my pathway than the stores they had.

City Centre

Me and the giant bauble

With Jon and Alex

Well, didn't get to take photos of the market. Like I said, human traffic was bad.

Okay the Nottingham games.

So being in Exeter, we had to take off at 2 a.m to be able to arrive at Nottingham at 6.30 a.m. 

Didn't get enough sleep on the bus and still my friends  from other universities are complaining that they were tired although coming from a shorter distance. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

When I first arrived at the University of Nottingham, it was fucking cold. Literally fucking. I was shivering and my limbs went numb and painful seriously. I was so desperate to find somewhere warm to stay but I didn't know the place at all. So, I had to stick to the crowd.

Well, I didn't have any first year friends to stick to.. so I was pretty much alone, in the cold for the whole morning.

It was not only til I reached the sports hall, after a long journey through the woods and accommodation of the Nottingham students, I met my first acquaintance which was Sora. It was good knowing somebody back home man, although I was not really close to him. 

The next person I met was one of my close buddies from SASA, we met on Skype before but seeing her in-person was a whole different feeling.

Vicky and I

It was not only until the 7.30p.m mark that I saw more and more familiar faces. I met the peeps from Cardiff, Han Rui and also Rachel.

Rachel and I

Then I saw people like Kelvin who disappeared for a sibeh long time and then Jun Wei, Jay Vern, Hui Peng, Yenn and Junn and Yu Jia. Wow, I just realized the list can go on for the whole night. (It's already 11.30 p.m. here and I have tutorials at 10 tomorrow.)

Well, seeing most of my friends were participating for something, I felt bad that I didn't make it to the Exeter badminton team or the basketball team. The ones representing our badminton were players from last year and to be honest my individual skills weren't even as good as them. For basketball, our form submission was rejected because it was too late. Man, I really hoped I could play something back there.

Anyways, the main reason for me to go to the Games was to meet this guy.

Yi Zen A.K.A Lemon Horse

Hahaha, the first thing I thought when I saw him, was about the Dota matches we had the day before which went ridiculously funny. Anyways, we knew each other since 14 in a gang called [GAY] in our class. We were still very close until now, however only 2 of us came to the UK and the rest of them stayed in Malaysia. 

Anyways, he came to Nottingham alone without following the Malaysian Society of his university. Well, we had the whole morning together, ate some shit Char Kuey Teow which is not even Kuey Teow, in fact it doesn't even taste like it. We sat at the railings of outside a nearby hall and talked about lots of stuffs..(One of it was how Yi Zen uses his laptop as power bank LMAO), occasionally filled with complaints about the food for being too spicy, salty and shit. HAHAHA. Not to mention, it costed a bomb.

Then, we walked out to the main street and found the Warwick bus by accident which had Jing Wei on it. Then we asked the driver whether we can board it, and we did. LOL.

Well, for the whole day, it was more about sightseeing and eating than watching the games. I think the only games I had watched at that time was badminton men semifinals, which my uni's team were playing.

Hmm.. well, can't wait for next week which I will be travelling to Bath to meet Chuan Jiet, Vicky and Ken. It feels good to meet up with people back home when you have not many here in Exeter. Especially those who speak Chinese man... great feeling man.

Here are the sceneries that I had taken from my trip there.

All is well.

One day, all of a sudden, the idea of scribbling thoughts and emotions came to me. After all, my journey in the UK til now is fascinating and definitely an eye-opener. I can vividly remember the time during the release of A-levels results, it was quite disappointing for me. Despite the amount of studies and work I put in, I could not manage a chain of straight A's, heck, not even 3As which was UoE's minimum offer to me at that time. I ended up with 2As and 2Bs, with a score of 479 overall for Physics.. which I could not comprehend at all. Mr Lim's classic sayings came to me at the sight of the paper, 'Your A confirm already'. What a joke I thought.. how could it end this way.

I remember what I did at that time, I ran around asking where I could apply for a remark for my Physics. I didn't want to end up in Cardiff. (Am still glad I didn't). Panicking, I stumbled upon Jun Wei - my lifesaver for that day. He told me to check my email as some of the Universities already accepted their offer holders. I did, and I could hardly believe my eyes when I realized UoE sent me an email of congratulations. A burst of emotions ran through me, and the first thing I thought in my heart was 'Mom and Dad, I did it.'

I have a confession to make, which is I am the eldest child in my family, and probably due to the fact I am a July baby, I can be very emotional sometimes. Having 2 younger siblings, I can see a gleaming potential in both of them, which I hardly speak of it at home. (My family hardly praises anybody, criticizing each other seems more fun I guess). Among them, I discovered that I am the weakest in performance. Both of my siblings were top end students in their class respectively, but I was always the mid-end ones. They held positions and played great roles in their high school. Meanwhile, I was just a student, who can't be bothered by joining any clubs and societies in the beginning of my years in high school. This is something I have always regretted. To be able to come to UK to study, it was a great statement and turning point of my life.

So people often asked me, 'Why Exeter?'

Well, to be frank, it was high on the ranking list, and you can't DENY that. I have no idea why UoE hasn't been a well-known name in Malaysia. I didn't know the existence of this University as well actually, but apparently my flatmates from the UK told me that this University is highly regarded among students here. Before that, I had 2 choices, Durham or Exeter. I was so shallow at first that I just blankly based my decision on the rankings. 'So Durham is 5 places above Exeter in Psychology, I guess it's Durham then.' Then, factors came in, such as University style, Collegiate vs Campus; Location, South West vs North; Weather, Cold vs Very Cold, and distance between my friends and I, closest Universities, Bath or Newcastle. In the end, UoE was much appealing to me.

Also, there was another factor that influenced me, which was knowing anyone who was going to those Universities. One of my ex-classmates were supposed to go to UoE with me, but unfortunately, she didn't meet the requirement. It was a huge blow for me as well.. as I realized I would be going to the University ALONE, without knowing any Malaysians.

Fast forward.

I am already living here for more than 2 months and have settled well in the UK lifestyle and my course. After coming to UK, the first thing I realized was how small the value of Malaysia's money. 1:5. That's a crazy ratio. Whenever I think of this, it just makes me want to secure a job here rather than back in Malaysia, where the country is governed by  .

My flatmates helped me settle in wonderfully as well and I am grateful of that. Just in case you are wondering, I have 5 UK flatmates and 2 from Singapore. They are nice people, never party too hard, so everything is just fine.

The specialty of UoE is its hills. I don't give a fuck about what other people say about climbing hills in their University, JUST COME HERE AND TRY EVERYDAY, so maybe their words would make them look dumb. You have to climb 2 hills to reach the Lecture hall, and 3 hills to reach the Sports hall. The next friend who complains about their University is hilly can just eat themselves. Zz.

I found a nice life here, having joined the Exeter Esports and Badminton Club. Dota 2 has been my passion so it's great to find people that has a common gaming interest. We tried for a competition as well but unfortunately lost a game we should've won.  I am truly disappointed in the Malaysian society here, it's so inactive I have never heard a word from them a long time.  In my Psychology course , I always run as a solo player, having only around 5 friends or so there.

Overall, life here is not too bad.