Bad Semester

I remember posting about this semester during the sembreak with much vigor and excitement. I felt burnt out by the time Christmas break started. I thought I would be reinvigorated by the Christmas break. I was wrong. Every thing I have done these past three months have resulted in failure. I’m doing badly in theology, philosophy, and french. I thought my french class would be challenging but not very hard since I was able to get a good grasp of it last semester. It feels like I’m way behind with the lessons. I missed a couple of meetings early in the semester because of an illness and it feels like I can’t catch up with the rest of the class. I expected our business project for LS127 to be challenging but not like what’s happening right now. Actually, I’m not sure what is happening around me anymore. I’ve misinterpreted instructions from my groupmates recently. This project now feels like such a heavy burden. There are so many things to do for this project but the requirements from the other subjects get in the way. I’m scared that I might actually not graduate this March. Everything is going wrong right now. I don’t know what to do anymore. 😦

Kuala Lumpur December 2011

This Christmas we went to Kuala Lumpur. Last year we went to Kota Kinabalu(a different part of Malaysia). That was probable our worst vocation yet. I’m not saying that the place is terrible per se. It just didn’t fit us. I think that is a place for outgoing people. There’s mountain climbing, pretty beaches, nature trails, and other great outdoor activities but our family tends to stay in malls and other indoor areas. My only complaint is the terrible plumbing. If I thought the public toilets in the Philippines were bad, I was surprised when I arrived in Kota Kinabalu. Aside from this minor nuisance, the trip was pretty boring. I wasn’t even able to take some great photos. My most memorable moment was spending an entire afternoon sitting under a tree on the beach reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse on my iPod Touch because it was my book report over the Christmas break.

Anyway, this year my parents picked the capital of Malaysia, not some far away province again. I had higher expectations this time. I have no complaints about the plumbing I’ve seen in most places here. I didn’t really enjoy this trip unlike our travels to other countries. The place just doesn’t suit me. Strong rains were not very frequent but we experienced drizzles every now and then. I think the place is famous for its many street foods. I don’t eat street food so I was not able to enjoy what this place had to offer. Since it’s also a Muslim country, I don’t see pork being offered very often. In Hong Kong, asado (BBQ pork) is my frequent order. I just love the asado in Cafe de Coral. With regards to the women here, they’re just not my type. This made me miss Hong Kong and Japan. In those countries, I could notice of a pretty girl once every few minutes. Over there, I could hardly spot any. I think this might be because of my preference for white skin. I think this is also why I take notice of Chinese girls more than Filipinas back in the Philippines.

Day 1

We arrived at Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal at around 1150pm on Thursday, December 29, 2011. I consider December 30 to be day once since we didn’t do anything that night except go to the hotel. We stayed at the Shangrila Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The place is really great. The free fast wi-fi is my favorite part of this hotel. We arrived at around 2am. After settling in, we slept at around 430am. We woke up at around 10. My dad and I bought sandwiches at a nearby Subway for lunch. After eating lunch in the hotel room, we just waited for my dad’s uncle (Aku-kong) to arrive. After he finished his sandwich, we went to the Petronas Twin Towers. I didn’t have time to take a lot of shots since it started raining. I then went inside Suria KLCC mall for some shopping. I was only able to buy a single bag from GAP. I didn’t buy anything from Uniqlo, Zara, or Topman because the style didn’t suit me. I don’t understand why they are selling so many jackets and long sleeved shirts even if was not very cold there. We went back to the hotel afterwards to store the groceries that we bought in Suria KLCC. That night, Aku-kong brought us to some kind of street food market. The food was okay but the cuisine wasn’t really my style. We visited passed by Lot 10 mall. Actually, we didn’t even know that this was Lot 10 until 2 days later. We weren’t able to explore because the mall was already closing. We went back to the hotel to rest up for the next day.

Day 2

We woke up early because a car service was going to pick us up at 9. We ate breakfast at the restaurant in the lobby. The food at Lemon Garden Cafe was excellent. I wasn’t able to eat much because of a rumbling tummy but the food that I was able to try was delicious. The driver picked us up at 9am. He brought us to a place called Batu Caves. We weren’t given a lot of time to explore so we didn’t climb up the steep stairs. We only took pictures of the giant golden statue. I’m not sure who he is supposed to be but I think he might be the Hindu depiction of Buddha. After that, he bought us to a place that showcased tin mugs and onyx necklaces. I think it’s a tourist spot that showcases the tin products and the onyx jewelry that Malaysia produces. There were a lot of tin items such as cups, plates, etc. There were rings, earrings, and other stuff that contained onyx. There were also some other products such as the resin paperweights. We then took a long drive to Genting Theme Park. My upset stomach could have negatively impacted my mood that day. I was so disappointed when we arrived inside the theme park. It could be that my mom hyped up this place too much which was why I was easily disappointed. The place looks like a standard amusement park. I wasn’t impressed by anything. Hong Kong Ocean Park, Hong Kong Disneyland, Universal Studios Japan, Tokyo Disney Sea, and Lotte World are in my opinion better than this place. The rides and the park in general looked old. It reminded me of Enchanted Kingdom which we visited a couple of months ago. I was very bored the entire day. To be fair, we only explored the outside theme park. My mom didn’t pay for access to the indoor theme park. We were able to glance at what was inside the indoor theme park and it looked nice. Maybe I would have viewed this place differently if we were able to go inside. Luckily the driver picked us up early. He then dropped us off at BB Plaza. It’s nothing special. It was like the malls we saw in Kota Kinabalu which reminded me of 168. I bought a pair of t-shirts in Bossini. Many other stores also had sales but I wasn’t in the mood to shop. We ate dinner at Outback Steakhouse. After dinner we explored the nearby Low Yat Plaza. My eyes lit up when I went inside. There were multiple floors selling different kinds of electronic gadgets at lower prices once converted to peso. I felt like a little kid in a candy store. In the end, I wasn’t able to find anything that I wanted. I only bought a single gift for a friend back home. I was planning on looking for a Kindle Fire or Nook and some headphones. I wasn’t able to see Sennheiser or AKG headphones. Most of the headphones available were for gaming. I saw a lot of accessories such as gaming keyboards and mice but I don’t really need one any time soon. My parents bought a laptop for my baby brother as an advanced graduation gift. This really pissed me off. They asked me for my suggestion in picking out a laptop yet they completely ignored me once my baby brother pointed at a certain laptop. The funny thing was, all he knew about that laptop was that it had loud speakers. He didn’tknow anything at all about that particular laptop. What’s even more annoying is my dad is an enabler. He always tells us to buy something if we want it. He doesn’t give room for careful thought and consideration. For my first phones and laptop, I spent about a month each looking for information online about my top choices. I then weighed the pros and cons to decide which one to choose. This method has so far proven effective. I have no regrets with my Nokia N73, N85, Acer 4920G, Canon G11, Samsung Galaxy SII, and MSI GT683. I only had about two weeks to pick out a new laptop because my old one broke and I needed a new once soon for “school-related matters” aka the release of NBA 2k12. My brother on the other hand chose his Nokia 6300 after seeing my parents buy my sister one. The annoying thing was my dad simply agreed to buy him a new one out of the blue. It wasn’t near his birthday, Christmas, or any other holiday. I spent New Years Eve typing part of this blog post alone in the hotel room while the rest of the family went to the sidewalk to watch the fireworks. After my bath I ate some chips and drank a can of Carlsberg Special Brew. It was a bit stronger than the beers the I’ve tried before. The alcohol percentage in the Heineken and Budweiser that I’ve drank is only 5% while this one contained 8%. I like it even though the taste is very strong. I noticed that my face turned very red. My head was pounding and my pulse was beating very fast. I lay on my side of the bed then fell asleep.

Day 3
I woke up feeling light-headed. After breakfast, we stayed in the room because we were still tired. We watched Step Up 3 on TV. We walked to KL Tower after the movie. We didn’t go up the tower anymore because it cost 55 Ringgit per person to go up. We just took pictures from below. We went back to the hotel afterwards. It was so hot so we stayed there until 230. We went to another mall to grab some lunch. We ate our late lunch at Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken in Sungei Wang Plaza. We all ordered 1/4 chicken with rice and soda. The chicken was pretty tasty. It tastes better than the Peri-Peri Chicken in Promenade. We went inside the Plaza after our meal. There were 2 sides to this mall. The Parkson department store and the rest of the mall. Parkson looks like an SM department store. The rest of the mall reminds me of the malls in Kota Kinabalu. We got tired after a while so we went inside OldTown White Coffee. At first I thought it was a popular local version of Starbucks. I’ve seen its branches in most of the places we’ve been to. I was surprised that they also served meals aside from the usual breakfast meals and pastries. There are rice meals, noodles with soup, and sandwiches. I ordered the cold regular flavored milk tea. There are other variants but I can’t remember them. I found its taste to be a great balance between the sweetness and the taste of the tea. The milk teas that I’ve tried in Moonleaf (Honey Milk Tea and Tiramisu Milk Tea) taste a bit too sweet. We were planning to go back to the hotel after we finished our drinks but then my mom saw the Lot 10 mall. Upon entering, we saw that this was the mall that we passed by the other day. It was like a smaller version of Greenbelt. It had Zara, Debenhams, Adidas Originals, etc. We did not spend a lot of time looking around before we went back to the hotel. We wanted to rest for a bit before dinner because our feet were already very sore from all the walking. On the way back to the hotel, I noticed that it was still bright outside even though it was already 7pm. Around 8 pm, my parents and siblings went to the nearby KFC to buy dinner. I stayed in the room because I was already too tired. I slightly hurt my ankle on the first night and it was a nuisance throughout the trip. I was still bothered by what I saw in Low Yat Plaza so I looked for information online. I saw Beats Pro being sold at a converted price of around P6,000. In the Philippines it costs around P20,000. I was a bit skeptical about it. Good thing I didn’t listen to my dad even though he was telling me to buy it if I really want it. I found a lot of information online about all those fake Beats being sold in Low Yat Plaza. Fortunately there were only a few other brands there. If the AKG or Sennheiser headphones were there, I might have been fooled. In case the laptop they bought had problems, it’s not my fault anymore because they are the ones who decided to buy without any prior research.

Day 4
I was woken up at around 830. I was still very sleepy because I stayed up until 3am to wait for the gadgets to finish charging. We ate breakfast again downstairs. I noticed that I haven’t been eating a lot for breakfast during our stay here in Kuala Lumpur. Even though it’s an eat-all-you-can breakfast buffet, I’ve only been going for 1 round every morning. I could usually go for 2-3 rounds before. I tried to make my 1st round lighter that day to see if I would be able to eat more since this was our last meal here in the hotel. However, I was already very full after the 1st round. I ate a mini-donut, a waffle, scrambled eggs, and sauteed mushrooms. In the previous days I would instantly eat some meat like the sausage, beef brisket, etc. I would usually call a meal heavy if it contains a lot of meat. It felt weird that I was so full without eating a lot of meat that morning. We went back to our room at around 930. We stayed there until we checked out at 1130. Since the car service won’t pick us up until 930pm, we went to the nearby Suria KLCC again. I went back to Uniqlo to take another look. This time I bought 4 shirts and a jacket. The fleece jacket feels awesome. We then ate lunch at the food court. I ordered the prosperity meal at Mcdonalds. It consists of twister fries, prosperity beef burger, and prosperity mcfizz. I did not expect the burger to be a bit spicy. It was just enough to tickle my tastebuds. I think it contained a lot of pepper. The mcfizz was a mix of Minute Maid orange juice and Sprite. It was great. It tasted like sparkling orange juice. After lunch we explored the mall some more. I was so tempted to buy the Canon 600D package that I saw. It cost roughly 53K when converted to peso. The package contained the body, kit lens, and 2 other lenses. We went around the mall for a couple more hours. We didn’t buy anything but at least will helped burn off the fries from lunch. We got back at the hotel around 7pm. We rested here for a bit before going out to dinner so we can shave some time off the clock. At around 815pm we went to the building filled with multiple restaurant in front ofthe hotel. We wanted to go to OldTown again to try their meals this time but they were already closed so we went to Friday’s instead. I ordered a bowl of mushroom soup, 7up, and sizzling chicken and cheese. The mushroom soup was good but tasted a bit different. I detected a some spiciness. I think there was pepper in there or some kind of herb. The chicken and mashed potato were delicious but the cheese was too strong for my tastes. The fact that it became burnt after some time on the sizzling plate didn’t help. We then headed back to the hotel lobby to retrieve our luggage from the concierge. The taxi driver that we coordinated with the day before arrived on time. We arrived at the airport at 1030pm. We had to wait a few minutes at the dropoff area for the other taxi containing my dad and brother to arrive. It took about 20 minutes to check-in our luggage. We then went to the nearby OldTown cafe. Like I said before, there are so many OldTown cafes here. I ordered a cold OldTown White Coffee – Hazelnut. It was great. It’s a bit sweeter than the milk tea yesterday. I like the milk tea more than the hazelnut coffee. After finishing our drinks we went to the gate where we would be boarding the plane. After some more waiting outside the gate, we finally boarded the plane. It was now time to go back home.

Christmas Break Recap

Since this will be my last Christmas break ever, I thought I’d do a summary of what I did during my break.

Videogames
1) NBA 2K12 (finished second season in My Player mode)

2) Dead Space (stopped at Chapter 9)

3) Crysis 2 (played a few levels so far)

Hang-outs
1) Christmas Party at Theo’s New House

2) WHEJECKS Outing

3) Batch Christmas Dinner

4) Family Christmas Party

Golden Spoon Shoot

Movies
1) Contagion

2) Mission Impossible

3) Knight and Day

4) Immortals

E-books
1) Freakonomics

2) Superfreakonomics (not yet done)

Malaysia

Anime
1) The Familiar of Zero

2) Otome Yokai Zakuro

3) Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora

4) Romeo x Juliet

5) Special A (halfway done)

Blogging
I have wanted to update my blog for some time now but I couldn’t think o anything to write about. For some reason ideas popped up in succession during my stay in Malaysia. I think the boredom forced my brain to be creative in keeping me occupied. I’ve been writing a lot of my ideas on my iPod Touch using the WordPress app during car trips and shopping breaks in Malaysia. At the end of the day I finish up my posts and revise it on my laptop. Hopefully I’ll still be able to think of topics in the upcoming months when I’ll truly be busy. It will be the last stretch of my academic life. It’s going to be my last hurdle in school before I graduate from college.

School Work
I have some things to do for school during this break but I haven’t done any of them so far. School will already start tomorrow (January 4) so I have to cram everything today. I have to set aside my unfinished games and anime. It’s a good thing I don’t need to submit anything until the second day of school. For now I have to stop blogging so I will be able to get things done. I’ll write again once I think of a new topic and have free time to write.

I guess my Christmas break was not very productive but it was fun. I’m going to miss Christmas breaks in the future when I’m working. Even though the “spirit” of Christmas wasn’t with me, I still had a great time.