By this morning, within a week after my exams, I've had four new friend requests. Out of these, I only approved one cuz he's the only one I know. The others either had no connection whatsoever (not even third degree) OR are those, you know, just adding people for the sake of making their "friends" network hit hundreds and, if they could, thousands. I don't know why they do that. Maybe to appear popular or likable or glamourous. Not saying that everyone with gazillion friends on their account are definitely like that. Maybe they do sincerely like to make friends. If none of these reasons are it, then they probably have itchy fingers on the mouse, itching to click "add as friend".
But *sigh* if you are likable or popular, you don't have to prove it or show it. Or start a forum thread in your school network account entitled "who know me?!?!" to see how many respond. People would know. It's like a person's character. A person might be able to hide his/her flaws or pretend that he/she is someone else. But after a while, people can see right through you. And they can tell between fake and real deal. They're not that blind. God may have given us physical eyes to see the physical. But He also gave us another set of eyes, i.e. discerning mind and heart, to see right through the physical.
It's kind of a tug-of-war. I used to put sentences that state and imply that I don't simply add people I don't know under the "Who I'd like to meet" column. But then, that would look too cold and unfriendly. Which I admittedly am not comfortable with. When I take that off, strangers come adding. For me, and I think for most of us, we like to keep our network between our friends only. I mean, isn't that what it should be? To keep in touch with friends? For all you know, these strangers adding you could turn out NOT to be the pictures they post or the nice, charming persona they adopt. I hesitate to click "no" to friend requests because that would seem so rude.
Argh. I must learn to say no.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Three Four years. I am exhausted.
I sat for my last of my finals yesterday afternoon. It was not a tough paper but I had a tough time going through that paper. Know why? I had to have stomach cramps for the first hour and 10 minutes of the 2-hour paper. Talk about tough luck. I was even contemplating just finishing the MCQs and essay, then walk out of the hall cuz it was so unbearable. But I didn't lah. Can't even enjoy my final moments of my degree in a high note. Hmph!
Come to think about it, I spent four years here. Four years! Four freaking years!! Can't believe it has been four years since the day I first step foot into this place. The campus which I have gotten used to, and the people whom I've gotten to know. Sigh. Won't I miss you all. And I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'm gonna miss this old campus as well. After all, it has been four years. Despite the suffering we had to put through with, we had our fair share of better times. So fair enough. Out with the old, in with the new campus!
Foundation Year...
I remember the first day of MUFY in Sunway College. Unlike most of the others in MUFY, I knew nobody and I mean NOBODY. Nobody from my school, church, other places was doing MUFY the same intake as I was. It was a really tough first week. Knowing nobody and wandering about by myself. I don't know if it was the wisest thing to do then. I don't know what made me do it. I must be mad, I admit. I am always doing things out of the blue. Ask my mom. But I don't think I would have changed anything. Things gradually took a turn for the better. It took a while to settle in but it was way faster than I thought it would be. All of us in MUFY became good friends all the way until Monash.
Soon enough, I made many good friends - one in particular was Pranati, partly due to the fact that we had ditto timetable and classes. And I mean DITTO. Then from there, we switched from Physics to Math B in the second week. There, I met Madhu and Simrit. Now that was the last class of the day and it was the fun-nest class ever. The one class I've always looked forward to at the end of everyday. Mr HC Lee is still one of my favourite lecturers. English was fun too. All the mad people in there... Dayaa-bear, Juwin, Justin, Louis, Jasdev, Christopher... to the point that Ms Angela assigned their seats at opposite corners of the class. Then few months later, assigning seats didn't work anymore because the whole class went equally nuts and loud. She sighed, "Lord, I know there are many crazy and interesting characters in this world. But why did they all have to be in the same class?? My class???"
I would do anything to relive MUFY classes.
Freshman Year...
I think entering university life was a culture shock for me. The amount of work doubled, classes were different, even more interesting characters came in (and then left after one semester.. I think most of you know who I'm talking about) . Then there were reports after reports, late nights after late nights typing up reports, tests after tests and yada-yada. Man, if we knew what was coming in year 2, this was nothing to complain about. The batch began with about 130-150 people (can't remember precisely but I remember it was a large crowd). By the time it came second semester, it was down to probably just below 100. And there was peace. Hahaa. Just kidding.
The other factor which made the first semester such a nightmare was Chemistry Part I. Couldn't understand a word from that part-time lady lecturer who spent only 4 seconds per slide on an average. Her part took up half of the paper, and I could do nuts. I was surprised that I passed on first attempt because it was soooo soooo soooo bad. Second semester was a breeze with Business Statistics as elective. Probably the most relaxed subject I've ever taken - from all aspects.
Sophomore Year...
Then there was THE crazy year. The workload quadrupled and the standards went up like crazy! When we were not at lectures, we were in the laboratory. When we were not in the laboratory, we were at tutorials. When we were at neither of those, we were in front of the computer typing out butts off. Fighting against time to finish up this torture tool called reports in laymen's term, stopping at nothing. Not even to breathe. Sacrificing sleep. Hectic! This was the year when we all wished for 25 hours a day. It really took a toll on me - physically, mentally, emotionally and socially. To the point when exams arrived, none of my brain cells were not exhausted and not tired. Which explains my first semester results. And I sat the exam, looking less human-like and more racoon-like.
I hereby declare that I will forever hate second year. Period.
Final Year...
And then there was light! Third year was a lot, a lot less stressful and less busy than it was in year 2. I just felt that I had just shifted from riding a bullet train to an MTR (not LRT lah.. too slow :P). Less work? Yes. But the catch was each report and assignment carried a heavier weightage in the final marks. Subjects were definitely more interesting but more difficult lah, of course. So there, you can't ask for too much right?
By this year, the batch size shrank even more. Everybody knew everybody. Everyone who was close since the beginning became even tighter-knitted buddies. And by now, everybody was friends with everybody. Even lab sessions became fun. Well, sort of lah. Hahaa. I even had my first outstation trip with my university buddies which was a BLAST! I would jump at the chance to do it again. Hopefully the group will be bigger. But not too big :) Among all the three years in Monash, I would say that this final year was probably the best. Really. Am I mad? Hahaa.
Hard to believe that it's over. It's all finally over after three long and full of hardwork years. Hard to believe that I won't be seeing most of these guys anymore after graduation. I would miss all the conversations we had in the cafeteria or lecture halls after classes. I would miss lepak-ing in Adillah and Mahani's room whenever I wanna kill time. I would miss the jokes cracked and exchanged during lectures and lab sessions. I think I would definitely miss listening to the 4 homies talking. Hahaa. Sure laugh until jaw pain. I would miss sneaking into Suzan's lectures and smuggling her into mine (don't think we can do that anymore can we?). I would miss the lunches with Ka Yin. I would miss QiaoQiao and her batch... nobody would be calling me Ying Ying anymore :( I would miss my lab partners-in-crime.. you know who you are. I would miss making yoghurt in the lab.
But I won't miss the reports. Haha. What lah. Spoil mood only.
Anyway. My life would have been boring without you all. Thanks for being part of my life - big or small - all the same size. I will miss you guys.
Come to think about it, I spent four years here. Four years! Four freaking years!! Can't believe it has been four years since the day I first step foot into this place. The campus which I have gotten used to, and the people whom I've gotten to know. Sigh. Won't I miss you all. And I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'm gonna miss this old campus as well. After all, it has been four years. Despite the suffering we had to put through with, we had our fair share of better times. So fair enough. Out with the old, in with the new campus!
Foundation Year...
I remember the first day of MUFY in Sunway College. Unlike most of the others in MUFY, I knew nobody and I mean NOBODY. Nobody from my school, church, other places was doing MUFY the same intake as I was. It was a really tough first week. Knowing nobody and wandering about by myself. I don't know if it was the wisest thing to do then. I don't know what made me do it. I must be mad, I admit. I am always doing things out of the blue. Ask my mom. But I don't think I would have changed anything. Things gradually took a turn for the better. It took a while to settle in but it was way faster than I thought it would be. All of us in MUFY became good friends all the way until Monash.
Soon enough, I made many good friends - one in particular was Pranati, partly due to the fact that we had ditto timetable and classes. And I mean DITTO. Then from there, we switched from Physics to Math B in the second week. There, I met Madhu and Simrit. Now that was the last class of the day and it was the fun-nest class ever. The one class I've always looked forward to at the end of everyday. Mr HC Lee is still one of my favourite lecturers. English was fun too. All the mad people in there... Dayaa-bear, Juwin, Justin, Louis, Jasdev, Christopher... to the point that Ms Angela assigned their seats at opposite corners of the class. Then few months later, assigning seats didn't work anymore because the whole class went equally nuts and loud. She sighed, "Lord, I know there are many crazy and interesting characters in this world. But why did they all have to be in the same class?? My class???"
I would do anything to relive MUFY classes.
Freshman Year...
I think entering university life was a culture shock for me. The amount of work doubled, classes were different, even more interesting characters came in (and then left after one semester.. I think most of you know who I'm talking about) . Then there were reports after reports, late nights after late nights typing up reports, tests after tests and yada-yada. Man, if we knew what was coming in year 2, this was nothing to complain about. The batch began with about 130-150 people (can't remember precisely but I remember it was a large crowd). By the time it came second semester, it was down to probably just below 100. And there was peace. Hahaa. Just kidding.
The other factor which made the first semester such a nightmare was Chemistry Part I. Couldn't understand a word from that part-time lady lecturer who spent only 4 seconds per slide on an average. Her part took up half of the paper, and I could do nuts. I was surprised that I passed on first attempt because it was soooo soooo soooo bad. Second semester was a breeze with Business Statistics as elective. Probably the most relaxed subject I've ever taken - from all aspects.
Sophomore Year...
Then there was THE crazy year. The workload quadrupled and the standards went up like crazy! When we were not at lectures, we were in the laboratory. When we were not in the laboratory, we were at tutorials. When we were at neither of those, we were in front of the computer typing out butts off. Fighting against time to finish up this torture tool called reports in laymen's term, stopping at nothing. Not even to breathe. Sacrificing sleep. Hectic! This was the year when we all wished for 25 hours a day. It really took a toll on me - physically, mentally, emotionally and socially. To the point when exams arrived, none of my brain cells were not exhausted and not tired. Which explains my first semester results. And I sat the exam, looking less human-like and more racoon-like.
I hereby declare that I will forever hate second year. Period.
Final Year...
And then there was light! Third year was a lot, a lot less stressful and less busy than it was in year 2. I just felt that I had just shifted from riding a bullet train to an MTR (not LRT lah.. too slow :P). Less work? Yes. But the catch was each report and assignment carried a heavier weightage in the final marks. Subjects were definitely more interesting but more difficult lah, of course. So there, you can't ask for too much right?
By this year, the batch size shrank even more. Everybody knew everybody. Everyone who was close since the beginning became even tighter-knitted buddies. And by now, everybody was friends with everybody. Even lab sessions became fun. Well, sort of lah. Hahaa. I even had my first outstation trip with my university buddies which was a BLAST! I would jump at the chance to do it again. Hopefully the group will be bigger. But not too big :) Among all the three years in Monash, I would say that this final year was probably the best. Really. Am I mad? Hahaa.
Hard to believe that it's over. It's all finally over after three long and full of hardwork years. Hard to believe that I won't be seeing most of these guys anymore after graduation. I would miss all the conversations we had in the cafeteria or lecture halls after classes. I would miss lepak-ing in Adillah and Mahani's room whenever I wanna kill time. I would miss the jokes cracked and exchanged during lectures and lab sessions. I think I would definitely miss listening to the 4 homies talking. Hahaa. Sure laugh until jaw pain. I would miss sneaking into Suzan's lectures and smuggling her into mine (don't think we can do that anymore can we?). I would miss the lunches with Ka Yin. I would miss QiaoQiao and her batch... nobody would be calling me Ying Ying anymore :( I would miss my lab partners-in-crime.. you know who you are. I would miss making yoghurt in the lab.
But I won't miss the reports. Haha. What lah. Spoil mood only.
Anyway. My life would have been boring without you all. Thanks for being part of my life - big or small - all the same size. I will miss you guys.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Broken
Tell me how do you concentrate on your studies when there are just one million and one freaking problems and thoughts going through your mind all at once?
Tell me is there a way to just simply erase them from your mind to make space for the most important stuff right now called exams?
Tell me how can you not feel like a puppet when you really feel like you're being treated like one?
Tell me how do you tell someone that you're just not interested in this study field called "genetics" or "embryogenesis" because you're just not into that area and you don't give a damn about whether you'd one day become a pioneer or some big shot?
Tell me how do you do it without breaking his heart and then feeling guilty to tears about it?
Tell me how do you make somebody else shut up?
Tell me how do you tell someone that you don't care if something brings all the money in the world because you're just not a business person and would just wanna have a career of your own choice and work by your own effort?
Tell me how do you tell the person that I'll be happier that way, although we don't know for sure, I just know I will be because it was my own choice?
Tell me how do you tell someone that while I appreciate his advice and encouragement, you are your own person in spite of everything and you're not a child anymore who doesn't know what you want in life?
Tell me how do you tell someone that you just don't fit in to that one certain place, and that you're sick of "jumping" and "hopping" around because it is not doing any good to me?
Tell me how do you tell someone that I'm just seeking stability in life which I found in that one place without him being furious?
Tell me how do you make him see?
Tell me how can you get over feeling emotionally-divided and depressed?
Tell me how do you make it all go away cuz they're making my head hurt really bad?
Tell me why does it have to be this hard?
Tell me why does it have to hurt so bad?
Tell me is there a way to just simply erase them from your mind to make space for the most important stuff right now called exams?
Tell me how can you not feel like a puppet when you really feel like you're being treated like one?
Tell me how do you tell someone that you're just not interested in this study field called "genetics" or "embryogenesis" because you're just not into that area and you don't give a damn about whether you'd one day become a pioneer or some big shot?
Tell me how do you do it without breaking his heart and then feeling guilty to tears about it?
Tell me how do you make somebody else shut up?
Tell me how do you tell someone that you don't care if something brings all the money in the world because you're just not a business person and would just wanna have a career of your own choice and work by your own effort?
Tell me how do you tell the person that I'll be happier that way, although we don't know for sure, I just know I will be because it was my own choice?
Tell me how do you tell someone that while I appreciate his advice and encouragement, you are your own person in spite of everything and you're not a child anymore who doesn't know what you want in life?
Tell me how do you tell someone that you just don't fit in to that one certain place, and that you're sick of "jumping" and "hopping" around because it is not doing any good to me?
Tell me how do you tell someone that I'm just seeking stability in life which I found in that one place without him being furious?
Tell me how do you make him see?
Tell me how can you get over feeling emotionally-divided and depressed?
Tell me how do you make it all go away cuz they're making my head hurt really bad?
Tell me why does it have to be this hard?
Tell me why does it have to hurt so bad?
Friday, June 8, 2007
Final Invasion of Penang
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Sorry. Necessary post-bioactive chemistry paper frustration blow-out. Studying past-years didn't help. The questions were totally different. Not much on mechanisms and processes. Asked too much about other small, little stuff. I'll be grateful if my B.S. turn out not to be B.S.
Where were we? Ah yes, Baba Mansion. That was probably the highlight among all the places we've been in Penang. We wanted to go to Batu Feringghi's pasar malam after that but decided against it, knowing that the taxi fare would be a killer. Then, we thought of the pasar malam at Jalan Dato' Keramat which a kakak, whom Adillah met at City Bay View, recommended to her.
Calling her for directions, she offered to drive us there. Which we hesitantly accepted. It's not really safe to accept ride from strangers these days. Who can we trust these days, really? Thankfully, the kakak turned out to be really nice and friendly. Seriously. All the Penang people we met on the streets were super-nice and super-friendly. If I encounter these kind of people on KL streets, it would be one in a million if the person does not have other sneaky intentions playing at the back of their minds.
The pasar malam was seriously not well-litted and over-crowded. I think the main reason why it seemed over-packed was that half of the crowd there were on motorcycles, not on foot. And it wasn't really safe because half of the motorcyclists were unlicensed and underage. Seeing the way they "balance" and manoeuvre their machines, nobody in their right minds should allow them on the road.
Fifth Stop: Penang Hill
I think this was the earliest we got up in the three days we were there. Adillah, as usual, got up the earliest for her sembahyang. I got up probably slightly before 7, and Suzan around 15 minutes later. We've been getting up in that order every morning. Hehe. No pulling of hair or catfight over who gets to use the bathroom first.
We got on the first tram up to the peak of Penang Hill. It was so early that our sleepiness were quite apparent on our faces and our lack of chattiness on our way there and up. Well, it was also the last day of our trip. Who doesn't get tired?
There was nothing much to see though. The view (as you can see from the picture) was rather blurry. Don't know if it was due to the haze or the early morning mist. It was kind of lonely up there too. Not many people on the first tram.
Of course, there was the breezy and cooling climate up here which was a welcome change to the hot, humid and ruthlessly scorching weather down there and back in Kuala Lumpur. Maybe next time we'll escape to Cameron.
Final Stop: Kek Lok Si Temple
From Penang Hill, we walked to Kek Lok Si Temple which was nearby. We were looking for the entrance, imagining it to be a huge 20-feet-tall gate with magnificent, detailed gold carvings from top to bottom on each pillar and a huge signboard written "Kek Lok Si" in gold. Well, no. You make your way up the steps to Kek Lok Si through many, many sidewalk stalls with really, really aggressive saleswomen who tells you, "First morning business is good luck". Hmmm.
Adillah and I only walked outside in the gardens, admiring the view while Suzan was the only one who went inside the main hall and up the pagoda. Not that our beliefs and religious teachings prohibit us to enter other religion's worship sanctuaries but it was our own personal choice :)
The forecasted weather was rain and thunderstorms everyday. But not a single drop of rain came down until two hours before we were heading back to Kuala Lumpur. God is good, isn't He?
Goodbye Penang. We had a great time there. We'll definitely do this again. This as in going holiday together. Just not sure if we'll come back to Penang so soon. Our next destination... Langkawi? Terengganu? Bali? India? Haha.
But for now, home sweet home.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Sorry. Necessary post-bioactive chemistry paper frustration blow-out. Studying past-years didn't help. The questions were totally different. Not much on mechanisms and processes. Asked too much about other small, little stuff. I'll be grateful if my B.S. turn out not to be B.S.
Where were we? Ah yes, Baba Mansion. That was probably the highlight among all the places we've been in Penang. We wanted to go to Batu Feringghi's pasar malam after that but decided against it, knowing that the taxi fare would be a killer. Then, we thought of the pasar malam at Jalan Dato' Keramat which a kakak, whom Adillah met at City Bay View, recommended to her.
Calling her for directions, she offered to drive us there. Which we hesitantly accepted. It's not really safe to accept ride from strangers these days. Who can we trust these days, really? Thankfully, the kakak turned out to be really nice and friendly. Seriously. All the Penang people we met on the streets were super-nice and super-friendly. If I encounter these kind of people on KL streets, it would be one in a million if the person does not have other sneaky intentions playing at the back of their minds.
The pasar malam was seriously not well-litted and over-crowded. I think the main reason why it seemed over-packed was that half of the crowd there were on motorcycles, not on foot. And it wasn't really safe because half of the motorcyclists were unlicensed and underage. Seeing the way they "balance" and manoeuvre their machines, nobody in their right minds should allow them on the road.
Fifth Stop: Penang Hill
I think this was the earliest we got up in the three days we were there. Adillah, as usual, got up the earliest for her sembahyang. I got up probably slightly before 7, and Suzan around 15 minutes later. We've been getting up in that order every morning. Hehe. No pulling of hair or catfight over who gets to use the bathroom first.
We got on the first tram up to the peak of Penang Hill. It was so early that our sleepiness were quite apparent on our faces and our lack of chattiness on our way there and up. Well, it was also the last day of our trip. Who doesn't get tired?
There was nothing much to see though. The view (as you can see from the picture) was rather blurry. Don't know if it was due to the haze or the early morning mist. It was kind of lonely up there too. Not many people on the first tram.
Of course, there was the breezy and cooling climate up here which was a welcome change to the hot, humid and ruthlessly scorching weather down there and back in Kuala Lumpur. Maybe next time we'll escape to Cameron.
Final Stop: Kek Lok Si Temple
From Penang Hill, we walked to Kek Lok Si Temple which was nearby. We were looking for the entrance, imagining it to be a huge 20-feet-tall gate with magnificent, detailed gold carvings from top to bottom on each pillar and a huge signboard written "Kek Lok Si" in gold. Well, no. You make your way up the steps to Kek Lok Si through many, many sidewalk stalls with really, really aggressive saleswomen who tells you, "First morning business is good luck". Hmmm.
Adillah and I only walked outside in the gardens, admiring the view while Suzan was the only one who went inside the main hall and up the pagoda. Not that our beliefs and religious teachings prohibit us to enter other religion's worship sanctuaries but it was our own personal choice :)
The forecasted weather was rain and thunderstorms everyday. But not a single drop of rain came down until two hours before we were heading back to Kuala Lumpur. God is good, isn't He?
Goodbye Penang. We had a great time there. We'll definitely do this again. This as in going holiday together. Just not sure if we'll come back to Penang so soon. Our next destination... Langkawi? Terengganu? Bali? India? Haha.
But for now, home sweet home.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Penang Invasion (Part 4)
I am supposed to be studying Bioactive Chemistry right now. Reserved last 4 days for the protein sequencing, DSP, protein design and engineering. Today, tomorrow and the day after were, according to the timeline I scribbled in a piece of rubbish paper, booked for CYL's part.
Very oddly, I actually finished all his topics today. All in one day alone. Think I'm going too fast. Maybe I'm fast because I went through all his topics a month back. So maybe it's the revising mode now. Good for me. I hope. But will have to practice nucleophilic attack more to familiarize myself so that I won't get lost during the exam. and to save time as well.
Anyway!!! Back to Penang. Yes, I'm not done with pictures just yet. Looking at the rate I'm going, there's gonna be at least one more Penang post after this one too. After Fort Cornwallis, we walked to nearby hawker centre at Padang Kota Lama to eat. Not many eateries in Penang are open during the day though.
This ismee soto penang mamak-style fried mee (correction by Adillah.. hehe). Of course it was about 10% eaten when this was taken. We did have every intention to snap photos of what we ate while we were in Penang. After all, Penang is supposed to be the food haven right? But of course, being the hungry active and energetic young girls women that we were (and since we walked all day), we only think of eating when the food is set in front of us and remember about the camera after they've gone down to our stomachs. So these are the only pictures of food. Don't they look good?
And they taste just as good!
Penang and their variety of ABCs! Hehee. I must have ate at least 3-4 different kinds of ABCs while I was there. Some gave more red beans, some gave more corn, and some gave ice-cream! Yum. Happy.
Fourth Stop: Baba Mansion
Via trishaw. Courtesy of two really friendly uncles who was really nice to send us all the way to the mansion from Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (we missed the tour time for that one), OFFERED to wait for us while we tour the mansion and sent us back to YMCA for only 20 bucks per trishaw. Despite what we heard about Penang being dangerous and all, we were pretty blessed I would say because all of the people we met there were a really, really friendly and nice bunch. Maybe like Adillah said, we probably have muka kesian (pitiful face) that everyone feel compelled to help the pitiful us.
Aha! Senget pictures.. guess who took them?
This is the Baba's bilik pengantin (newly-wed's room?? or bridal suite? tak tau). Apparently the Peranakan in Penang spoke Hokkien, not Malay like Malacca's. So that was the difference, according to our guide. This mansion once belonged to a Kapitan who controlled tin mining in Taiping back in those days. He had not one, not two, not three but eight wives. EIGHT WIVES!!!
And if it wasn't for the tour guide who told us, I would have thought "Man.. these Babas need to eat so much har?" due to the dozens of dining rooms and thousands of eating utensils we saw on display there.
Before that, I thought that this family actually had these many dining rooms. After all the Kapitan had eight wives and goodness-knows how many children all living under one roof. One wife per dining room perhaps. So that cat fight and food fight can be minimized. Hahaa. Our guide said that they were all merely exhibitions of different dining rooms among Penang Peranakan. Thank goodness. If they really had these many plates, they don't need to wash their plates for a year!
Now that's just plain gross.
Baru aje makan, so fast nak cari food. Heheheh. The only reason why I'm not posting pictures with me in it is because I had become a giant red lobster due to hours boiling under the mercilessly-scorching sun. And the redness, my goodness, was bad. Really really bad.
But I'll entertain you with one - and just one - picture that has me in it where the redness was not apparent. Hahaa. Taken at the sanctuary built at the side of the house for family ancestral worship. Even with my wearing jeans, I have to awkwardly take a big step over the wooden panel at the bottom of the door... imagine the nyonyas with their nyonya kebaya. How ah?
Us: How do the ladies come in here with their nyonya kebaya?
Guide: Don't know. Just walk in, I guess.
Us: Har? But it's so high wor. Won't the skirt rip or something?
Guide: Hmmm. Then the men carry the women in lor.
Us: HAARRR??
Guide: *mischievous grin*
Us: ....... Baba men very strong hor.
Very oddly, I actually finished all his topics today. All in one day alone. Think I'm going too fast. Maybe I'm fast because I went through all his topics a month back. So maybe it's the revising mode now. Good for me. I hope. But will have to practice nucleophilic attack more to familiarize myself so that I won't get lost during the exam. and to save time as well.
Anyway!!! Back to Penang. Yes, I'm not done with pictures just yet. Looking at the rate I'm going, there's gonna be at least one more Penang post after this one too. After Fort Cornwallis, we walked to nearby hawker centre at Padang Kota Lama to eat. Not many eateries in Penang are open during the day though.
This is
And they taste just as good!
Penang and their variety of ABCs! Hehee. I must have ate at least 3-4 different kinds of ABCs while I was there. Some gave more red beans, some gave more corn, and some gave ice-cream! Yum. Happy.
Fourth Stop: Baba Mansion
Via trishaw. Courtesy of two really friendly uncles who was really nice to send us all the way to the mansion from Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (we missed the tour time for that one), OFFERED to wait for us while we tour the mansion and sent us back to YMCA for only 20 bucks per trishaw. Despite what we heard about Penang being dangerous and all, we were pretty blessed I would say because all of the people we met there were a really, really friendly and nice bunch. Maybe like Adillah said, we probably have muka kesian (pitiful face) that everyone feel compelled to help the pitiful us.
Aha! Senget pictures.. guess who took them?
This is the Baba's bilik pengantin (newly-wed's room?? or bridal suite? tak tau). Apparently the Peranakan in Penang spoke Hokkien, not Malay like Malacca's. So that was the difference, according to our guide. This mansion once belonged to a Kapitan who controlled tin mining in Taiping back in those days. He had not one, not two, not three but eight wives. EIGHT WIVES!!!
And if it wasn't for the tour guide who told us, I would have thought "Man.. these Babas need to eat so much har?" due to the dozens of dining rooms and thousands of eating utensils we saw on display there.
Before that, I thought that this family actually had these many dining rooms. After all the Kapitan had eight wives and goodness-knows how many children all living under one roof. One wife per dining room perhaps. So that cat fight and food fight can be minimized. Hahaa. Our guide said that they were all merely exhibitions of different dining rooms among Penang Peranakan. Thank goodness. If they really had these many plates, they don't need to wash their plates for a year!
Now that's just plain gross.
Baru aje makan, so fast nak cari food. Heheheh. The only reason why I'm not posting pictures with me in it is because I had become a giant red lobster due to hours boiling under the mercilessly-scorching sun. And the redness, my goodness, was bad. Really really bad.
But I'll entertain you with one - and just one - picture that has me in it where the redness was not apparent. Hahaa. Taken at the sanctuary built at the side of the house for family ancestral worship. Even with my wearing jeans, I have to awkwardly take a big step over the wooden panel at the bottom of the door... imagine the nyonyas with their nyonya kebaya. How ah?
Us: How do the ladies come in here with their nyonya kebaya?
Guide: Don't know. Just walk in, I guess.
Us: Har? But it's so high wor. Won't the skirt rip or something?
Guide: Hmmm. Then the men carry the women in lor.
Us: HAARRR??
Guide: *mischievous grin*
Us: ....... Baba men very strong hor.
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