But what have I for all of you today? Well, some bursts of excitement (as some of you who know me might have grown familiar with), and, unfortunately, some sour rants.
My day started with a new note; waking up early (8am) on a fine Saturday morning having slept at 2.30am. Now, that’s something rare – doesn’t happen very often to me :p“But why?” you ask. Today, I accompanied my very good friend (or “da jie” (big sis) as I consider her to be) to a talk in my university (hereafter referred to as “uni”).
I was late (we were supposed to walk there from our accommodation, hence leaving – or planning to – an hour before the talk). getting ready was a mess too, and I fumbled for my things before rushing off. Of course, the plan changed and we took a taxi there instead.
There, she told me about a dream she had about the talk (my, my, isn’t someone exited? LOL!). In her dream, we were the only two people dressed formally (almost turned out to be true). And, the speakers were Thais, giving the talk in their native language. Confused, she turns to me for explanation, only to find that I am on the other side of the room, busy chatting away with my former lecturer and tutor (well, some of THAT came true, too!). We laughed it off as we exited the taxi.
We were surprised to find that the foyer of our uni was not bustling with activity as we had expected it to be. Instinctively, we went to the “reception” at the Student Services office to enquire. “L1-6” they said. We quickly rushed there, thinking that we were late.
Blink. Blink. Stare. Blink. Blink. The room was empty!
“Aiya, don’t tell me we are the only attendees!” exclaimed a nervous Da Jie.
“Uh-oh…” was all I could manage.
We went down to the “reception” again, when we saw the lecturer who was to chair the talk inviting the speaker to L1-6.
We followed quickly. There, thankfully, were already two other attendees. We sat down, waiting…
“Good morning, sir!” Da Jie chirped. I followed suit. He replied with a very welcoming smile that beamed through my half sleeping mind. “How do you say I in Malay?”
We had some more small talk (well, it was more of him talking, as we did not know what to say). Finally, as more and more people trickled in (literally; not many showed up… close to twenty, maybe), and the laptop and projector were set up, the kind looking European got the ball rolling.
“What do you know… and what does it mean?
Knowledge Management & Strategy”
The words splashed across the screen from the projector, and below, in smaller fonts, “Dr. Alan Eadley, Faculty of Computing Engineering & Tech, S.U.” (I hope I do not get entangled in court procedures of any kind by revealing the details…)
I consider myself VERY, VERY lucky to get the privilege of attending this talk. It was interesting, informative, and very useful, not to mention fun – the man sure has wit! LOL!
I would like to point out something that he had stressed throughout the talk – Knowledge itself is NOT power, unless there is action, hence the need for Knowledge Management. (very BRIEF gist, that one…)
Hehehe. Now for the “bursts of excitement” part…
1. I was the only undergraduate there. There were postgraduate students; and the part of my friends’ dream coming true – Ms. T. and Mr. J. (I use initials so that they do not sue me… kekekeke)were there (Hahaha! I was as a student WITH them! And they were BEHIND me! LOL! Talk about equality... or something else? hmm...)
2. Indeed, there were more who wore casual than formal (including Ms. T. and Mr. J.!)
3. Mr. J. was late! (If people find out his identity and tell him about this blog entry, I’m so DEAD!)
4. We would have won a million dollars each, if only we were answering the same questions as J. Campbell (I think) who had won it on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”, or on “QI”.
Oh, and,
-Panama hats are from the Equador,
-Camel-hair are squirrel fur, and
-Canary Islands were named after dogs
-Citibank America had the first ATMs; they originated from ticketing machines.
Just to mention a few facts we have acquired during the talk (I’m a fan of Dr. Alan already!)
So, at 12.30pm, the talk was over, and our tummies were growling… Da jie and I eagerly headed to the car park Bukit Jalil Stadium. It was the KAMI road show, and I was so excited! For the first time, I was about to see with my own eyes, my favourite Malaysian English bands rock the house down (alongside newbies and lesser-known bands – which were ALSO awesome, mind you)! Of course, we first filled our stomachs with food that would make a nutritionist scream! The Chicken in Pita Bread was heavenly (today is my first non-vegetarian day after a month) but the rest were… well… never mind…
There we were, enjoying the food and music, when it started raining.
Rain? Bah! We whipped out our trusty umbrellas and continued enjoying…
(The band Jeopardise is worth a mention, by the way…)
At some point, I had to answer nature’s call, and the mobile washrooms set up were packed with rain-fearing people. Since the band that was performing at that time was less tuned to our tastes than the others, we headed out to find a washroom.
Lo and behold! There is a stunt-biking exhibition on the other side of the sports complex! We saw some really cool European dudes dressed up like there was a stunt-biking competition! (I think they were going to see what the KAMI road show was all about…)
When my “business” was over with and we headed back, the rain gave way to HOT sun, and that band was still playing (the bands performed four songs each). We went on to notice how polluted the air was; filled with the smoke of cigarettes… I estimate that 8 out of 10 people were smoking there. We wished that it would start raining again so that the smokers would find cover to continue smoking; while we enjoy a smoke-free concert. Unfortunately, that remained a wish, and we opted to stay outside the concert “ring”, watching the bands playing from far off. Eventually, the clocked ticked to almost four-thirty, and da jie had to leave to get ready for her friend’s birthday celebrations. As we walked away (the stage still visible; from the side) Dragon Red started performing! Oh man! But I did not stop da jie, I just followed, as I did not want her to keep her friends waiting… wow, Dragon Red!
Pop Shuvit, Estranged and OAG were slated to perform somewhere in between that time to midnight. They were also bands I so badly wanted to see in action, among others, but could not because I had no one to accompany me after da jie left…
I was so crushed… I do know that they may not be as good as American or British rock bands, but they do entertain… the worst part was that none of the friends, (all non-malays, by the way) that I called to accompany me, supported them. The words “Malay bands” and “boring” or “what is there” or “don’t like”appeared in the same text message. I was devastated! Our own home-grown gems neglected. Oh well, it may as well be that only I have the “taste” for these musicians, while others prefer the more commercially-acclaimed music… oh well, oh well.
So here I am, on a sad, quiet night, writing a heavily detailed post of how my day went today, on MS Word no less, thanks to the absence of Internet connection.
I refuse to end this post in such a heavily, seemingly grudge-y note, so I will mention something that makes me as eager as I was this afternoon… The Charity Concert in conjunction with the Global Peace Carnival! YAY! Cant wait cant wait!!!!!!! Okay, I better sign off now and get some sleep… I want to be full of energy for tomorrow! Jac, Nikki, Ella, Ning and the lot, here I come!
--This post was written that night itself... i want to add that i could have called thivaakar! oh man! i was only thinking about bukit jalil residents to accompany me to the KAMI roadshow --
