Summary of Year 2010, regrets?...

Today is 1.1.11. Happy New Year!

It's another year again! Now let's rewind my life back to the year 2010..Happiness, disappointments, sadness, stupidness, and more I had in year 2010...Not to forget failures and proud moments I had, in M'sia, not China...

To have this post showing my milestone is an inspiration from my brother's blog. It's good to spend some time sitting calmly and refreshing back what have you gone through for the whole year. Here is the pathway that I've gone through in last year, divided into 3 different semesters:

1. January- April: my Philo sem when I start to have this nickname- Philo Lee (actually named by myself ^.^)

I experienced a very different kind of teaching style from Mr. Eric.

I was full with passion in swallowing the textbook and burning midnight oils to make my assignments perfect!

While everyone was advising me to stop spending time in my video production, I did not! And, at the end, we got the highest marks! =) Proud 1~ proud of my passion, not marks..

I got scolded by Ms. Lim in front of the whole class harshly because of my "special" answer for the question "Are we the prisoners of the culture?" Everyone was answering YES while I gave a NO.

I did not feel sad, in contrast, I worked hard to improve myself. And, at the end of the semester, I got praise from Ms. Lim for improving a lot! Proud 2

But, there were also sadness and disappointments.

Due to the side effect of Philosophy and my roles in STACT Club as Vice Chair and Program Coordinator, I questioned a lot and caused many people to be pissed off! Trying to be a thinker like Plato huh, Tian Xin? It all came to an end when my brother told me," It's good to ask but before asking, ask why do you ask the question?" SORRY GUYS! Failure 1

And, my grandma left us...

2. April - Aug: Peak of my life?

I had many of my first times in my life which I never thought of it before.

I became the Internal VP of 21st Community Service because Jack insisted to have the 21st CS!

I took over the role as a Discipline Master and failed badly in playing it nicely! 3A- Action, Attitude, Appearance -.-" Thinking back now, I feel funny!

I acted as counselor of the juniors in encouraging them to take challenges. haha..(a junior even said I'm her idol)

I cried in front of my clubmates for first time, the night before starting the adventure of 21st CS.

I gave a speech during the camp closing ceremony.

I scolded people for the real first time, not because of my frustration, I swear!

I became numb on feelings, comforting others in facing stress! -.-"

I got hated by people! (but, all misunderstandings were clear by themselves after everything came to an end.It was just an emotion)

I did influence on people. ^.^

My sharing got appreciated. =)

So, at the end, I actually want to thank Jack for insisting it!

My favorite quote of the sem:

The greatest achievement is to stand up from failure. -Jing Si Aphorism-
Life sometimes might knock you down, but it's your choice to decide whether to get back up. -Karate Kid-
It's ok to fall down sometimes as long as we rmb to stand up again..this is what I call SUCCESS! -Tian Xin-

21st CS BIG FAMILY!

Really a spiritual semester! THANKS, PEOPLE!

TRIPSSS =)

I had the most enjoying trip in my life ever with them! Perhaps it was because of not sleeping the day before to rush work with mom. Played crazily! Wee~~

the crazy trip to Sungkai in Perak- the hot spring

As many were leaving, Ah chen & King to UK, QQ and Kiet to US, and me to China, we had a few trips.

First is known as the short sem trip. (Movie at Sunway Pyramid, Games at Cassian Kitchen, Pasar Malam at Connaught, visiting Lookup point, conquering Broga Hill, and lastly having dim sum as breakfast at Connaught)

reaching peak of broga hill with just a mini torchlight and a GPS to get our route in the midnight. hahaXD

My fav dim sum shop..5 plates of fishballs..Mei Wen Ti! =P

Second- just back from 21st CS and to Bukit Merah for waterpark..I guess 3 days before departing to China..Mom was gonna KILL me XD

3. Sept - Dec: Journey in China

A rush prepare to start my 4 months' journey in China. I didn't event get a chance to calm myself down to think and prepare for this trip. But, I couldn't say it's wasted. I would just say I did not do my best here!

I joined clubs: Green Society and Student Career Development Association. But, I was kinda disappointed on the system and the people.SO SAD..Sigh

I thought I could mix with my Indonesian housemates. But, nope. We have age gap!!! -.-" haha..actually, it should be communication gap. But, I'm glad to stay with them also. =)

My classmates? Nope..I even got frustrated in their attitude of doing assignments!

I got a close, really close friend! It was really surprising because we were from different university. Our first meet was at Jinji Lake when the seniors brought the juniors for a visit at Jinji Lake.

Still, my male friends are more than female friends. -.-" Whenever I got gifts from them, the little girls would think much! I just got a birthday gift and 2 Christmas gifts. that's all!

I SLACKED ON my life! But, I also GOT A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE in life!

I MISSED my family, STACT Club, friendss..missing badly!

I felt SORRY to mom for not utilizing this opportunity well! But, I realize this guilty feeling will only worsen my remaining days here. So, I stopped!

I started to get excited with photography! haha..

I got an INTERNSHIP in Shanghai because of my corrected attitude! >=) I have finally chosen a route I want!

I had a few trips in China

1. Shanghai Expo with Kai Jia & Meng Fan

2. Han San Shi & Hu Qiu with Zheng Yi

3. Xi Tang by myself

4. Nanjing and Changzhou with Chen Huan

I experienced the FIRST SNOW and became sick! I dared not to take any risks of getting sick anymore and so I cancelled my Christmas trip to Nanjing. But, at the end, I was enlightened! haha.."Life is full of risks. So, why should we be afraid of taking risks?" And, I enjoyed my trip at Nanjing! A memorable Christmas trip, visiting universities in Nanjing, travelling tourist spots by myself, visiting Fu Zi Miao, sleeping at McD on Christmas eve, having Christmas dinners, and laughing at the jokes by his relatives on Christmas Day at KTV~

Since I got "enlightened", my days are exciting everyday, maybe because I'm going back to M'sia too!

My new year eve was special as well with so many sudden plans!

11am: I got a phone call to attend a BBQ party with my club

4pm: I went to Carissa's house for Tomyam "steamboat"

7pm: We went to Times Square out of sudden! Visited Secret Recipe and recalled that it's actually a M'sian restaurant! Taken a lot of photos! haha..

10pm: We went back and watched 3 Idiots from year 2010 to 2011! haha!

1st activity on New yr eve with my clubmates!

Tomyam meal! =P My closest friend here. =)

Then, it came to the end of year 2010! Regrets? Yup, perhaps! But, let's make a better year in 2011!

I'm really excited with my future days!

As Tian Xin always says," Every end is followed with a new beginning!"

Wishing all my friends sincerely to have an inspiring year ahead! =)

HAPPY 2011 YEAR!

First trip by self- to Xi Tang, Eastern Venice

Xi Tang 西塘,东方威尼斯

Before the trip, I was very excited preparing and planning! I even spent time looking for a tripod to allow me to take photos of myself since I planned to go ALONE! One day before, I was so excited and was looking at photos taken by Zhi. I slept at 3am to finish up my cover letter for internship application an set alarm to wake up at 5am as I planned to capture some morning photos.

Zzz..I woke up at 8am as my clock showed! I was considering whether I should continue with my plan because I would reach there at noon. I heard Zhi's voice, "Not accepted as excuse!" So, I decided to wake up! And, by the time I got ready, I only realized it was just 7.30am, meaning I saw wrong time. Luckily, I did not give up my trip! Happy ..

Then, here, my journey started at bus station, to train station, the opposite way! Then, thanks to the people, I got my right way, from train station then to bus station, and finally reached Xi Tang after 2.30 hours. It was stupid to make such mistakes because Zhi had warned me, I had done research but wrong info I got, and Zhi had even made marks on the map! STUPID 1

But, I finally got my way and reached Xi Tang SAFELY! Yay! So, I took a photo in front of the entrance using my new tripod to show my success! haha XD

yay! finally!

Xi Tang is a nice place to take photos because with my lame photography skills, the photos taken by me could be so nice! There are many motels, restaurants, pubs, and small shops selling souvenirs. There are 2 streets which one with many dogs, and another with many cats! The residents own them as pets! Oh, by the way, Xi Tang is actually a village, a water village with villagers staying there so I could actually get free entrance if I dared to explore ALONE by walking through sideways! The food is normal! The food specialties are steamed fish, "chou toufu", beans, dumplings and some "kuih".

most famous dumpling shop

Honestly speaking, Xi Tang is out of my imagination, below of my expectation. It was not as big as I imagined. I kept on repeating the spots. I had walked for about 3 times not because I wanted to repeat the places so that I could notice better scene but it was due to TianXin's poor sense of direction! I couldn't recognize which way I was heading to because there are many corridors, and places that look similar. But, now worry, Tian Xin was still able to find way back by tracking back the route I used although it might have other shortcuts.At first, I planned to stay till 5pm so that I could take some photos during sunset but I was bored of keep on repeating the spots. So, I decided to leave at 4pm.

And here, sad case happened! The time I arrived at bus station, the last bus just started to depart, which meant I could actually stop it easily!!! But, I didn't because I remembered from the websites, it is shown that the last bus should be 6.30pm! STUPID 2 for not buying ticket when first arrived! Besides this, I could actually catch up the bus if I didn't purposely ignore the guy asking where I planned to go! Because I was ALONE, so I dared not to speak to anyone. As you know, there will be many people trying to con you , especially at tourist spots and also especially here in China.

When I reached counter, the girl told me I just missed the last bus 1minute ago and there was no way to go back! The guy followed me to the counter and offered to send me back at RMB 180! At first, I was considering to stay one night but I was afraid it would be dangerous as Xi tang has a lot of bars as well and I have no sense of direction! Also, I did not do sufficient homework on accommodation so I didn't know which one is CLEAN! I felt like crying!!! The main reason was not due to no transport to go back but was due to my STUPIDITY!

Finally, after negotiating with the guy, he promised to send me directly back to my apartment at RMB 150. It was 4.30pm, and the journey took us 1 hour. I felt quite sorry to him as China people had their dinner early around 5pm. His wife even called him during the journey to ask why he was not back yet for dinner. It was really a long, long journey..We reached at 5.30pm and then, he needed to spend another 1 hr to get back!

STUPID MISTAKES and MISSING the CHANCE GIVEN at the ONE MINUTE, I caused so many troubles!

Really felt like banging wall! But after having chat with QQ & Yong Lee, I can now accept it as part of my life and it doesn't matter to tell my family about it anymore even they will surely nag me! because it was seriously dangerous to take private taxi by a guy for 1 hr journey! You can't imagine what will happen!

LUCKY me, I arrived SAFELY but SADLY!

To describe my "unfortunate" incident, Yong lee's quote suits best,"自找的，活该！"

To conclude, this Xi Tang trip could be described with these words

“Before going, feeling excited..during the journey, so so only...but after, quite fun to see the photos..”

Enjoy！

streets confusing me

bridges where you can actually capture nice photos even with your lame photography skills

more photos, visit my facebook!

Redefine...

It has been nearly 3months since I arrive in China. Honestly speaking, life during these few months were nothing to me. It has no much meaning to me compared to my busy life in M'sia, mainly because I used to think that only busyness defines how meaningful one life is. What I refer busyness is having many things to deal, like joining a big group of friends to work together, having club meetings, etc.. I was busy till the extend that I was afraid that I'd miss out anything everyday. So, my calendar was full with tasks to do, my file was full with sticky notes, and even my handphone showed reminders. Everyday looking at those tasks awaiting me, I felt my life was meaningful. Till now, I still miss those moments.

When I first arrived, I used to tell myself and my friends how nice is here, how aggressive people are here, and it'll be a really great eye-opener for me. I'd tell them I got selected by the Student Career Development Association and I need to deal with companies, etc.. This sounds like I'll really be active and sociable, and BUSY. But, now, I want to say:" It's not really like that actually, here is still Asia." Nothing much different. I'm the one who planned outings. I'm the one asking to play sports. -.-"

Here, life in China was not as busy as that, sometimes even making me to feel depressed because I have only 6hrs' class per week while others have full schedule. I join clubs but the clubs are not as active as STACT Club. I planned for trips but every weekend, there must have something stopping me, like club tasks which required you to face your laptop for hours, house moving, assignments, midterm, etc.. Nah..These are all excuses, you surely think and I do not deny. I really hated myself for having so much time but doing nothing much (means NOT BUSY= NO MEANING)!

Nooo....This period in China has actually slowed down my pace and allowed me to think. I suddenly understand what Chen always says "Understand yourself". Now, it doesn't matter anymore whether I can mix around with the people there, as long as I've tried. Tian Xin is trying to figure out more things, exploring more things...

Since now, every day in China will be meaningful to me as long as I know what I am doing and why I am doing..Let's redefine my life again..

Have a nice day and more posts to share in coming days..

End of my STACT Club life...

My journey in STACT Club has finally come to an end after my last project- the 21st Community Service Project. It was really a tough one with so many challenges given the clashing class schedule, members quitting, conflicts occurring among members, local people not supporting, etc.. Everyone was so stressed and got pissed off easily with any changes. For my last project in STACT, I tried everything at one time that you couldn't imagine, e.g., taking up the role of DISCIPLINE MASTER, giving speech on a closing ceremony, scolding people, and even being hated. Nah..all these are actually unimportant.

The most meaningful part for me is the changes by every single member throughout the period, from joining as new members, attending trainings, and till enjoying themselves very much during the campfire. As I said, it was tough so at first I greatly disagreed on having this project. Yet, at the moment I said "OK!", I told myself no matter what happened, I'd be there as a supporting role. Because of this concept, I was allowing things to go easily and I became afraid when things were going too easily that members might not learn anything and really enjoy the true CS. The spirit was not there as well, especially when members were quiting one by one. I did not know how to support anymore yet I was pretending to support by comforting them and making promises which I didn't know how many promises had I kept. sorry, guys..

As time passed, the only fear I felt was not members quitting but members giving up since I strongly believed that "no problems can't be solved". One week before the CS, from 30members, it dropped till 22 members. One by one, I called and talked. for those who couldn't make it, I just felt sorry to them. But some who couldn't pass their own obstacles, I felt sad because it was just one more step to announce success. However, while convincing these people, they reminded me," Is it only considered success for us to go through that 7days?" To Tian Xin, it was a "Yes!". But after this, I will answer, "It depends."

I really got inspired by seniors and juniors.

At the end of the 21st CS, I was glad that many improved in attitude aspects or skills, like Adrian who didn't like dancing last time, Sou Eei who talked very softly last time, Penny who had no patience, etc.. And during this CS, Adrian encouraged the students of his group to dance , Sou Eei became the MC of our last event, and Penny who became patient even though she needed to take 2 MC roles.

I'm really glad to announce a SUCCESS of this 21st COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT. As Tian Xin always says, "CS is really magical as it brings us laughters and cries when being touched by everyone's growth,change and improvement."

22ppl was nvr a worry for me to make this 21st CS a success because I know we'd have 100% support frm everyone!

p/s: Before ending,there's a sentence I would never forget. A sentence which was spoken by the Maintenance Group Leader to comfort everyone one night before departing to PEKAN NANAS:

" No worry! I promise everything will be packed nicely by 6pm!" A simple sentence, a simple promise but did a great impact to the whole team!

THE END

Every end is followed with a NEW beginning...My clubbing life stops here and more for me to explore.

1st Stop: Suzhou, China for 1 semester

Ur meaningful presence,,,

After struggling for 2 weeks, she's finally physically gone but I believe she's still with us in our heart. I felt sad when seeing my uncles and aunties cried. I really hoped to walk to them and comfort them, telling them that Tai Ma has not gone; if they miss her, just say hello in heart because she's in our heart. Was her life meaningful? Yes, it should be as her presence brought 40 over of us together in this one big family.

hmmm..dunno what to write d..

May ur life is peace now!

We love u!