my house is suddenly quiet today. eerily quiet.

the moment i've been dreading finally came yesterday - my brother was busily packing his bags for singapore, making preparations for the start of a new term over there.. as usual, ma never fails to stuff his bags with biscuits - sort of a space filler whenever we felt the bags were too light - and his ears with words of wisdom ("don't play too much games", "concentrate on your engineering modules instead of japanese" etc etc). i busied myself with the task of copying my brother's mammoth library of japanese dramas and movies - i think i copied at least 10 gig worth of visual treats from his computer, in preparation of my 2 more months of whiling away at home.. at least i have stuff to do in the morning, when the tv programmes here are close to being unwatchable..

our goodbyes were pretty swift - since it's not the first time he's going back there to study, and he wasn't the 13-year old kid that first said goodbye to home ages ago.. but deep within i sort of missed him, as i had spent 2 months rotting at home with him.. i daresay his presence slows down the decomposition process of my neural systems by inhibiting the frightening effects of boredom..

now that he's gone back, i'm bracing myself against the full force of.. emptiness =S it's kinda contradictory: when i was working, i was looking forward to the days where i could slack all morning, and just busy myself with the task of killing trolls and goblins and basically any creature that unluckily happened to be in my virtual path; but when i'm slacking, i'm constantly thinking of what to do next.. part of me says that doing nothing is like a crime, while the other half reminds me that i would never enjoy such a long break anymore (unless circumstances prove otherwise in uni =).. i psycho-ed myself into buying a lot of non-fiction books last year and the year before "to prepare for the long break after 'A's" but now when i pick up a book to read, my mind just couldn't concentrate on it for long.. after like 20 minutes of reading, i would feel very restless and wander almost always to the keyboard.. now i understand why my laptop was so expensive - they installed invisible magnets under the power button that happen to only attract my index finger..

crap - it's almost 1.30, and ma would be coming back with lunch soon.. better wait near the main door for it..

i have only one word to describe the system: $crewed..

ok the scenario is something like this: i have a cheque for X ringgit, which was in my name, and i wanted to deposit it into an account (the cheque cannot be cashed).. so logically i needed to open an account..

then considering i'm going to study in uk, i did a internet search, and found out that HSBC was the biggest bank in UK - so i decided to open an account there..

bad thing is, the -only- HSBC branch in ipoh is right smack in the middle of the city, which was around 15 minutes drive from my place.. so since i dun have a driving licence (i would have chickened out driving on roads with > 10 cars anw =) i asked my pa to bring me there..

day 1 (yesterday):

me: hie, i'd like to open an account..
cashier: ok sure.. can i have a look at your ic please?
me: *digs for ic*
cashier: before that, can you tell me why you're opening an account with us?
me: umm.. cos i need to transfer money to uk when i'm studying (i didn't want to tell her that the cheque was more important).. isn't it cheaper to send money to UK through HSBC?
cashier: er.. yeah! (not very convincing, btw)
me: this is my ic.. *passes ic over*
cashier: *scrutinizes* well, do you have another piece of identification? driving licence, passport for instance..
me: *digs* umm.. sorry i didn't bring anything else.. can i come over tomorrow?
cashier: sure! and please bring your offer letter from your university.. so that we can make sure you're a student who'll be studying over there (why!? i wonder.. *dismisses thought*)

day 2 (today):

had the luck of meeting the same cashier.. so thought that opening an account would be a breeze.. i'll cut the greeting part and zoom to the important part..

me: this is my ic, and my L licence (driving licence for learners), and my offer letter..
cashier: *looks* ok.. may i interest you in a credit card? your father would like it perhaps..
me: *sees no point* um.. i dun think i need it, neither does my pa..
cashier: but it's absolutely free! and if you don't like it you can cancel it after a year..
me: *shakes head, hand* no thanks.. i dun need it.. anw my pa already has credit cards..
cashier: but it's free!
me: *irritated* well i really dun wan it..
cashier: um.. to open an account here, you need to either get a referral from someone having an existing account here, or you can subscribe to one of our services - a credit card for instance..
me: ...
brother: we dun want to waste plastic.. cos we wun be using it..
cashier: *pester pester* free.. free.. free.. free!! (i couldn't remember much besides this word.. too puzzled by the situation)
me: never mind then.. thanks.. *leaves*

i have no idea why someone needs referrals to open bank accounts.. malaysia not japan leh.. our government encourage us to save $$.. so why can't i OPEN AN ACCOUNT!?!?

so i decided to open an account with malaysia's biggest bank - maybank (short form for malayan banking).. thought such 'referrals' crap wun apply to them, since it's not a foreign bank.. and also cos one of its branches was walking distance from HSBC..

in maybank..

receptionist: you want to open an account? it's best you open one near your place, cos if you lose your atm / passbook / blah blah, it's easier for you to replace your lost stuff..
me: okay.. fine.. *thinks of a maybank branch near my place*

after lunch, i stepped into the maybank branch near my place..

me: um.. i'd like to open an account..
receptionist: open account? well please come back tomorrow, before 130pm.. you need an appointment to open an account with us..
me: *faints*

why aren't any banks swooning over my cheque?? no one wants me to deposit money is it!? it's really freaking frustrating.. 4 trips to the banks and nothing's done.. who won't be turned off by the red tape!? i really wonder why investors want to invest here - since opening a bank account is already a challenge by itself?

*fumes*

it was really fun to be back in singapore after one-and-a-half month.. supposedly for a prize presentation, but in fact i made that trip down simply because i wanted to meet my friends, which i haven't seen in person for a very long time.. not just my jc classmates but also my secondary school classmates.. did quite a lot of catching up, especially since university's starting and most have finally decided on their next big step..

i had the pleasure of being treated by a close malaysian friend of mine.. he came down with his entire family - finally i had the chance to look at his sisters =) but the dinner wasn't as interesting as what happened before it.. they told me to meet at orchard's swensens at 630.. then when i reached at 635 (i'm always late) my friend told me that they just started their journey.. i couldn't bring myself to scream at him since i had a free dinner to look forward too.. so i did what they suggested i do - reserve a table at swensen's, since that place always had long queues snaking from its entrance..

surprisingly, i successfully obtained a table (actually 3 tables joined together) for 8 within 5 minutes of waiting time.. i was acutely aware of the fact that they were only arriving 20 minutes later, and i told the waitress about the situation.. again i was shocked when she said it was ok - so long there was one person sitting at the table.. so imagine how excruciating the wait was.. i could see the lengthening queue from the place i was seating, while the seats around me remained empty.. i tried to busy myself with my handphone, trying to give the impression that i was frantically contacting the missing 7 (i did sms them to bug them though).. they finally came at 720, after i had been politely asked by the waitress whether she could take my order.. really really paiseh..

the dinner was really worth the long wait.. i really had fun talking to him about recent going-ons.. think it's the last time that i could see him in person for at least a few years to come, since he's going to study in the US.. once again i feel quite blessed by the fact that MSN was invented not too long ago..

when i visited my old boarding school afer dinner (my friend and his family paid to stay there - it's very much cheaper compared to hotels), i met two of my ex-students there.. it was an amazing coincidence, since they were singaporeans and they were staying there as part of the school's "boarding school experience" (synonymous to "no parental supervision for a month").. talked about school mainly, including the new teacher.. i don't think he's as rigid as what my students picture him to be.. haha good luck to him - it's not easy teaching that bunch of people =p

afterwards i went over to sleep over at one of my friend's place.. i was so tired that i slept right in the middle of a conversation between my friends.. haha it's not the first time - i'm often the "sleepiest" amongst the four of us.. they told me they eventually slept at 330am (!) (i slept at 1230am) but all of us woke up at the same time: 10am =)

after a brunch, i decided to go home earlier than planned.. since there wasn't much else to do anyway.. so i packed my bags and left for home..

the journey lasted 10 hours =S but my trip down singapore was really, really worth it. =D

A - accelerator
B - brake
C - clutch

now i know my ABCs..

more job observations:

6. that news slots are surprisingly popular in malaysia, and frequent to boot.. all free-to-air tv channels here are REQUIRED to have a news segment at least 30 minutes long at 8pm.. it's so unlike singapore where one can flip channels and avoid news altogether.. and no one complains about it here.. does it show anything about the quality of our (other) programmes?

7. that korean and japanese shows are making waves here.. 大长今 (a 76-episode korean drama) is re-screened due to popular demand.. weird for once malaysia has shown something on tv that singapore hasn't.. wow o_O

8. that malaysians rely on singaporean dramas to fill their tv slots (eg 'holland v', episode 81 as of today), but never the other way round (i dunno abt programmes on suria though.. never watched it before).. i wonder why.

9. that tv programmes in the morning sucks.. well it's understandable considering those people high up the tv stations' echelons never expect bouliao 'a' level graduates being the target audience..

10. that the similarity between 'desperate housewives' and 'manhunt' is that it's finally being shown on malaysian tv screens.. not that i'm a big fan of 'manhunt' lah =) why should i watch something that makes myself feel 自卑? =)

had a 3-hour theory lesson yesterday.. the ENTIRE session was about the 7 most important things in the car - the steering wheel, gearbox, battery, etc etc.. well i do admit that learning about these components is important, especially about certain DIY tips that we can use to save a trip to a mechanic's.. but i couldn't stand the fact that he was dragging his feet - repeating the same stuff all over again and again and again... - so to make up the amount of time stipulated.. he didn't take into consideration our short attention spans, our obvious looks of boredom, and the absolute lack of enthusiasm on our part.. what we badly wanted were breaks in between.. but he went on and on like a broken radio with a missing power button..

but thank goodness i was sitting near the back of the class.. was happily indulging myself in 5 Ses - sit, slack, stone, stare, sleep =) really brings back memories about some of my physics tutorial lessons, where i was busy honing these 5 skills in those classes =p who said what we learnt in school is useless in real-life?

i can hardly believe that some people exist to bomb others in the name of ideology.. true some people may feel that the iraq war was a transgression by the west, but does britain deserve a tit-for-tat attack? all these senseless killings lead to nothing..

that said, i really feel thankful to be living in a peaceful country.. hopefully this fragile peace lasts..

..was no sweat =) the test is pretty lame - the computer chooses 50 questions from a database of 500 questions, and we're supposed to answer them by clicking the option and pressing "send".. since i have the book containing all the possible questions - all of the questions are mcqs btw - it wasn't hard recalling answers (since i had mugged around 300 questions =p).. finished within 15 mins (out of the 1 hr alloted time) and got 47/50 =) it's not that great, considering i have friends finishing in 9 mins and getting 49.. wadeva la, since the pass mark is 42..

what's astonishing is that at the test centre, i met people WITH the "ten-year-series" who flunked the test.. hmmm.. *scratches head* maybe they do not have enough exposure to the singaporean mugging mentality - unlike someone here =)

will have a 6-hour class on driving this sat.. previously it was a 5-hour class on undang-undang (laws).. *expects extreme sianness ahead* =S