Unsettled

Finally went back to Shenzhen. It was a long day today spent with two of my best friends :) 

Got a lot on my mind lately and today was the perfect distraction especially since I was taken to a Chinese massage parlor in Shenzhen. At the end of it, I've made up my mind that I really don't like Massages. I tried Thai massage before when I was taking my friends touring around Bangkok and Pattaya but now that this is my third experience with getting a massage, it's definitely something I've come to not enjoy.

The good thing about getting a massage however is that inability to think whatsoever. When you try thinking about a certain topic, your mind just keeps wondering on and on non-stop about something else when your body is being kneaded like a dough. It helped clear my mind a lot, even though it was just temporary.

Birthday is coming up and I don't know exactly what I want to do with it. I'm trying my best not to over-think so much about something and that ends up keeping my mind blocked. I wouldn't say it is a writers' block because I'm writing right now but I sure want to know why I can't shake it off at all.

Funny thing is....Part of it is jealousy, I'm sure of that. Not of anything, but I am jealous that someone I know is able to go that extra mile and just step out of the border without looking back. I am jealous because I know I can do the same but I have never taken that step yet and I am scared. What I need to do right now, is to not be so jealous anymore and start getting inspired. Easier said than done so let me just stay unsettled for tonight.

It's not you. It's me.

"I'm sorry I ignored you ok? I'm sorry I'm not good enough...but I can't just give all of my time to you.

Please stop...Don't make it any harder than it is....I'm here now aren't I?

Let's just make up Blog. It just happens...cuz Sitt Happens".

Wow...that actually sounds worse than I thought it would. But hey it has been a dark period for me cuz it was Final Examination time and technically I still have one more to go...which is called Engineering Management...and I don't really care too much about that course compared to my other hard ones that I got over with.

So what's been happening? Well...Life has been about studying lately, so it was quite uneventful. I am trying my best to steer away from the social side. Spending most of my time studying in the computer lab because the library at HKUST was so full all the time. I went to lower-ground 4th floor today and could not even find a place to sit down. Final examination period really is a busy period for all the people because if you have lived on-campus before, then you would know that it is an impossibility to study in your hall-rooms for many many reasons. One of which is because...the bed is right there. 

So besides studying...since I was done last night, after an epic meal of Indian food from Jojo's Bar& Restaurant, who my friend while talking on her phone had left him waiting outside in the cold for 30 minutes straight and got him super pissed at me... I ended it with a bang at the 1st Silent Dance party @HKUST library last night.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150447219756236

It was an epic thing and a lot of people showed up. I'm making a medley of all the vids I can find now and hopefully can put it in my next blog post. 

And then today...my Chill day...I drew this. I kinda find drawing relaxing and it was a good way for me to let go of everything else. 

Studying hard, playing harder.

Best part about being done with exams early....SLEEP!!! And that's what I'm doing now. Good night, World!

For the simple things

When you look at things in a different perspective, you tend to see it completely different from what you thought it was. And that of course includes not just objects, people, or ideas around you but yourself and your ideas as well.

May it be, the little things that change your perspective or an important landmark in your life that turns your head,  it is important to refresh your values every now and then. And recently, I got a chance to reflect on my whole life, and one of the biggest part of it right now is my University life. It is a struggle to find out exactly who I am and where I belong and from past experiences, as I grew and looked back at it...I'm a mess.

Though I'm not a psychopathic serial killer(yet), when I look at myself, I can't say that I'm the least bit normal. Over the past year, I have made many friends from many countries due to my circumstance here studying in Hong Kong. These are the people who, since the first day we met, knew that we would split ways one day and might never meet again. However, our friendship still lasts today and the little sparkle of hope that we all would never forget each other and keep in touch brightens every day. This has been a common occurrence in my life now. Since I have traveled around to many places, changed schools and have friends changed to different schools, I grew to know that no matter how much you want things to be the same forever, change is inevitable.

I like being made fun of by my friends as much as I like making fun of them. That's something that will never change. I made this 'Meme comic' last week for one of my friend from a true story that happened to us (mainly him) one time when we were out and about. He's a close friend of mine in my university life ever since we met last year. An international student like myself, we became friends quickly. It was a struggle for me last year whether to only hang out with international friends or try to reach out more to local Hong Kong and mainland Chinese students as well. I tried my best to keep them both at bay but ever since I got heartbroken that one unimportant time, I got drawn into my international friends quickly.

Now that I have reflected on that, I am changing my directions a little bit. Since I know that these international friends of mine are already my friends and they won't abandon me (that easily) I now look back at the locals and mainland students. Maybe it is time to finally return their kindness that I have always received and the smiles which I have always seen.

Hello Old Friend

You know that your old friend, winter, is knocking your door when your running back from the rest room at night to go get tucked in under your blanket again seems like an eternity.

Winter in Hong Kong is quite chilly and it is the time when my midterms got over. All the results came out as well and to my surprise, I did quite bad in one of the subjects that I am confident with, but I guess that is just part of learning as well. It is nonetheless a confusing time for me, when I am starting to see behind the facades of things and people. Perhaps, I am just breaking free from my own mask.

Had Thai food with friends last night :) We went to our favorite restaurant in Sai Kung, the one which many do not dare enter because of how not-so-appealing it looks. Unlike how it looks, the food never tasted better ... and spicier since we ordered extra spicy this time around. I almost cried at the end and going to Honeymoon Dessert later to get some nice and hot Taro Sago pudding was a great idea.

Halloween is for the crazies

Halloween is not for the ghosts, it actually is for the Crazies and this year I was one of them.

I decided to join a Halloween party this year in Lan Kwai Fong, so I went out of my way to Mong Kok last week and bought this costume. Poko poko~ It was surely one hell of a night and the costume served me well.   Many more things to share, but after that night, I must take my focus back on studying and tonight is no exceptions. I will cut this one short by summing events up like this:

1.) Dinner out with friends, Paneer Makhani with rice at Tsim Sha Tsui's Eberneezer's!!! Normally I would order their awesome Falafel kebab, but I thought Indian curry would be a nice change of pace for the night.

2.) Went out to Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival, got no Wine and got no Dine, though my friends seemed to enjoy it, I did run into a friend of mine who happened to be working there that night and he was nice enough to let me try some of the famous mini cakes from his booth :) That was yummy~

3.) Headed to LKF, planned to meet with my Thai friend from HKU but with all the people, and not just ordinary people, PEOPLE in costumes crowding up from ends of street, it was hard to just stay in a group and walk up to Likuid, a club which was holding an event by ISA, which as a subcommittee member I was meant to promote. It was a successful night so I'm glad for ISA.

4.) A lot of me, dancing in unbelievably HOT Chicken costume. 

Ventilation: Non-existent; 

Awesomeness: Off the chart;

5.) Planned to meet up with someone else. Through bad communications, that didn't happen either.

6.) Came back with an Emo Roommate who went to experience Hong Kong clubbing for the first time and it did not end well for him. He was all depressed the next day.

Before the storm hits

It is weird of course saying before the storm hits when this post is being written after the big Typhoons, Nesat and Nalgae. It was a stormy night then and I spent it in my friend's hall room at HKUST since it was too scary to travel back after studying there until late. The wind caused minor damages and broke down many tree branches but as far as I know, no one was hurt.

The storm that I am talking about here though are actually the MIDTERMS. Having three midterms next week, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, I am going crazy just from studying. I could not sleep at all last night after 3 hours of studying ELEC2200 because my brain just wouldn't turn off like a capacitor slowly discharging...see what I did there?

Atsushi nosebleeding in the library...don't worry, it was not from caused by the typhoon

Having finished one midterm last week, I feel like I am prepared to face the rest of the midterms but if I take a better look at the stuff I still need to revise on, it is clear that I am not that ready just yet. It is affecting my life a lot though since I am spending so much more time in the library than usual now and it is a very depressing place in my opinion. Going out on the weekend is not as much and since I started tutoring, that is going well as well.

NOTE TO SELF: Spend less and pay more attention to class
NOTE TO OTHERS: Midterms are bitches

One if by land and two if by sea

ARRRRRRGHHGHGGHHGH Midterm is in less than a week TT_TT

Comp2711 or formerly 170 is the class with one of the earliest midterms I have since it has 2 midterms during the semester and it is going to be 25% of the total grade. Even though right now, the material is no where near hard, it does get a man like me to freak out a bit.

And what have I been studying?

Siapa nama kamu - what name you = "What is your name?"

Nama mu terdengar lucu - Name you sounds funny = "Your name sounds funny."

teman pendek saya - friend short me = "My short friend"

Berapa umur kamu - how old you = "How old are you?"

from my Bahasa101 class...which happens to take place at the same time as my ACTUAL class, Electronics2200.

Right now, I'm cramming up for my class, Comp2711 which is about Discrete mathematics. One of the topics include Cryptography hence the blog post, "One if by land and two if by sea" :)

Ukuran mu senang. : You are funsized.

WTFUDGE!!!!

I was running today after I saw a bus that looked like mine from afar. I ran as fast as I could and actually caught up to the bus but it seems that it was parking in a different spot today. It was probably the other one I guess so I stopped running just in time before I almost fell down on my face with the slippery floor at the bus stop. I held my balance...in the funniest way possible and felt stupid seeing all the normal people around me. The bus left and I looked again at the signs at the bus stop...they changed position. I remembered then that today was "Information day" at HKUST and so many people came to visit the campus so that the bus stops were swapped around to increase efficiency. The bus that I just ran to catch, almost falling down in the process but at least managing to catch up to it and let it go away...was actually the bus I was supposed to be on.


..after a few seconds of feeling extremely stupid, I decided to walk back all those way I ran through to go to the toilet inside campus again. I met with some of my friends walking down to 7/11 there so I just joined them, had two bottles of chocolate milk and now I'm back writing this blog peacefully. Guess it wasn't that bad after all.

A little bit less civilized...

Well, it's been almost two weeks since I came back to Hong Kong and though life has been busy, I always find time to do useless things along the way as well. 

I decided that nightlife in Hong Kong is something worth a try and have been finding interesting friends that way. I'm not just talking about clubbing here since just a few days ago, I was walking around Kwun Tong station at around Midnight looking for a Hotpot restaurant called HiPot to join my friends for "DINNER"

It was a lot of fun and the food was delicious. As a non-meat-eater like me, Hotpot might not have been the best decision but it's the Good company that makes just about anything Great.

 Mid-Autumn Festival Carnival at Victoria Park, Causeway Bay was also a nice experience too. Even though all plans there were made failed epicly and we ended up having someone vomit in the toilet after doing sheesha... I liked the light shows and we went downtown to LKF afterwards. It was not crowded at all that night, and the MTR was open all night because of the festival, we took it back to UST and I waited until morning there for the first bus to take me back to my hall.

 
So what is up with all the charades? Nothing really, since I am just trying to do things a little bit differently. All I think really matters is remembering who you actually are and don't ever lose that. And since I'm a nice guy, awesome in fact, I think I'll be just fine.

My Favorite Tree at HKUST in the morning

Sitting on the MTR going back to Hang Hau station before I walked back from there to HKAC which took 45 minutes...uphill. Holy shit, that was a long night.

First Week Back

I came back to Hong Kong for the third time on August 31st. It's been a week since my second year at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology started and life has been great.

There's this little bit of fooling around....heterosexually

and also a lot of settling in and going to classes. After my first few days of going to classes, I slowly realizing how summer break is over, but I am not sad one bit about that since I know I had a great one and now I finally get to come back and see all my friends at this crazy place we call XiangGang Keju Daxue.

I also run into people all the time now, both old and new and it has been interesting. I ran into a girl today whom I used to spend so much time emoing about and I met a guy today who talked to me on Facebook about coming to do masters at UST. I got to catch up a little bit with her and I got to know that guy better in person. He later recommended me to go watch a movie called, "Delhi Belly." It was so random, but I guess a part of me reminds him of that movie. What can I say? My belly is one of a kind.



What I like a lot about university life, especially the one I have here in Hong Kong is that I get to meet a lot of people. And the more people I meet, the more I get to write about them on this blog, like this guy from Thailand who everyone seems to say looks like me named Arthit.

...I don't see any resemblance at all.

What else is going on? I'm trying to help the new kids coming into UST to feel more comfortable with the place and all, but just like me from last year, they don't need much of a help since this place is awesome. I signed up for Peer Mentorship Program and now have 3 mentees under my care. They are enjoying the life here and starting to find their own places in this uni so I don't worry about them one bit. Except my Malaysian mentee whom I haven't actually met yet though.

 Ain't that sexy?

A snapshot of a sign I liked in Central Area of Hong Kong after coming back from touring around new students.

So it is true

We are back. As hard as it is to believe for many of us, we are back already. Right now, sitting next to my new laptop, I'm in Hong Kong after being back in Bangkok for the past 3 months.

The new semester has begun and the new students have arrived. It is funny seeing how excited they can be and at the same time, how not so excited my friends are now. Is it that we have lost that opportunity to be excited just because we have been here for one year already? the hell with that! I'm only a freshmen now technically and I plan to be damn excited about it.

UST is not going to be easy this time over,...not that it has ever been anyways. But right now, I'm just glad to be back. Staying off-campus this time makes it just a tad harder as well, but one gotta manage himself somehow.

What's wrong with you?

I added a button on the left side of this blog...Try it.

Overwhelmed

Have you ever felt like the whole world is against you?

Like there is a conspiracy that just wants to see you trip over with every step you walk?

Like whatever you do, things will never be the same?

Like it is impossible to focus on the little things because, the other little things just keep piling up on you?

Like postponing everything sounds like the best idea ever?

No? Yeah, Me neither.

Bloggin' Madness

The more I do it, the more it becomes apparent. And I have noticed it for a while now but this blog means a lot to me.

The Hongkongkook blog or "Sitt Happens" has been going on for almost a year now and so far I've gotten more than 50 blog posts with this one being the 53rd. The name, "Sitt happens" was also changed a couple of times as I remember. I once called it "Sitting here in a boring room" but that didn't stick much to me so I changed it back to "Sitt Happens" which was first recommended to me by a dear friend.

With an average of more than 4 blog posts per month, it appears that my blogging has been on a role despite my incurable laziness. But when I look more into it especially at my Blog Archive which states the month and number of blogs on that particular month, I actually saw a pattern. The first few months I got this blog starting, I tried to make it work. I blogged a lot, about many things especially my experience in Hong Kong which was why I started this blog anyways. A lot about the experiences also involve the female sex, which it still does and I'm not gonna change that...cuz I'm obsessed about them pretty much.

After my first semester at HKUST, my blogging rate dropped since that was a harsh winter break for me. And it sunk even more when the next semester started cuz I was in a deep emo-state because of someone...who looks damn good in a blue corset
after that, I picked myself up because I had good friends, and bad ones to remind me of what I'd hate to be. So my blogging pace also picked up and landed at 4-5 blog posts per month.

So that's my blogging journey so far. I gotta say, I'm going to keep doing it just because we've made such a connection now.

Something Awesome

Here I am sitting in front of my laptop making a decision whether I want to switch my major from Computer Engineering to Computer science or not. A lot of people who I talked to about having this problem don't even know the difference between the two. To tell the truth, neither do I. 

On the job listings of my university's website, they post jobs for students in different majors. Some jobs require Mechanical Engineering students and some require Civil. Many of the job postings require EITHER Computer Science or Computer Engineering students so I know that which ever I choose, it won't affect the first job I land very much...but I don't want to think about that.

I have a few friends who chose to study Engineering only because they didn't know what else to study. They told me something among the line that they don't want to go for Business so Computer science/ Mech engineering is the way to go. I'm not that guy.

I chose to study Computer Engineering because I knew very well what I want to learn. Computer science however focuses more on something I'm good at and also gives me more freedom in my electives so I can minor in Business easier if I swap.

And that's always what it's been like. I know either choice isn't the wrong one which is why it's a tough decision to make. And whatever choice I make, it won't change the course of my life.

So why do I think it's awesome that I'm making this choice? Carefully and thoughtfully.

Fudge Muffin

"Fudge Muffin," is a nice word. I like this word a lot. I sometimes use it as a replacement for the F-word while a friend of mine, Jamal, uses the word, "Fish." Of course to me, "I don't give a flying fudge muffin," sounds a lot better than, "I don't give a flying fish."

Me can haz Fudge Muffin?

However, according to Urban Dictionary, a website I check out every once in a while just had a new definition for, "Fudge muffin," not so long ago and it means something....something. So yeah, not too happy about that, but I don't give that much of a fudge muffin about it. 

Why does it matter? Well not much really...I just thought it would be kind of funny to either see Cee Lo Green or Lily Allen perform live on stage together singing, "Fudge muffin you." This is starting to sound retarded huh? Let's move on to the next thing on my mind besides this then, "money."

I don't like money...but in the past many years of my life, I have been hearing a lot about it. I know it exists since long ago. My first encounters with money was back when I was around 6-7 years old when I actually start remembering things, I was given a small allowance everyday and always spent it. One day, I was given the wrong amount because among the coins hid an ancient one that's of the same size of one that's worth more....Coin issues are kinda hard to explain, but bottom line was, I went home hungry from school that day and actually cried to my dad about it. It was a simpler time then when the only equation was, Money = snacks during lunch break. Trading was simple, both buyers and sellers have a mutual agreement. No third hands, no stealing, no ripping one another off, no disagreements and if you're lucky, the snack you bought would have a cool toy inside.

More than a decade later, 'money' got complicated or maybe I just got to know 'money' better since the longer you know someone, the more you learn about their flaws. Because 'money' has been around in many forms since ancient times, it had a lot hidden under the blanket. I found out that 'money' means work. Woop~dee~doo! Not surprising of course, but I had to find out also that work doesn't always mean being a good guy and earn money by helping others since most of the times, it means being greedy and taking everything you can get.

I also found out that everyone wants money. I remember something I read from a book which the name I have forgotten. The book described a friendship of two people as two merchants from far away towns meeting halfway to trade with the things they have gathered along their journeys. Unfortunately, merchants nowadays would just trade with money. People trade money for things they desire and work for their desire of more things. Money seems to be in the middle of a greedy cycle and that brings forth thefts, corruptions, betrayals and any form of vices for people to gain more money forgetting the simple fact that...you don't need it.

Economic crises are the best time to see how far people would go for money. The recent one in the States is now affecting the whole world but what saddens me are not the greedy people causing it since it is no surprise that people are greedy sons of bitches. What saddens me is the guy who woke up one day so depressed about becoming poor from this crisis that he killed his family and himself to avoid living broke through the financial crisis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZiwMRvPP9A) and similar stories like this.

I wasn't born broke. In fact, I have had a lucky life being born in a  financially stable family. We're not the luckiest, but we don't care, but I can't say that for everybody. There are times that I am reminded of my financial limitations in life...especially since I start going to study abroad and make a few mistakes that took a lot of financial toll. It makes me want money. I want money, I do. But I don't need it. That much doesn't change and I know that even if the whole world goes broke, it still won't be the end. In fact, being richer only means that you get more luxury in life especially in this fast paced 21st century, but our ancestors lived just fine with sticks and stones. Not to say we move back to stone age but I think the whole money thing is a bit overrated which is why I kinda like studying Economics. I am taking a whole different approach from one of my best friends from the states who practically told me that he doesn't want to be rich.

To be continued

Leaving KL

ok, So I have a feeling that if I don't finish writing about my Malay trip soon, I won't ever finish it. This feeling is of course coming from some of the other stuff I feel a lot like writing about right now...but since I feel fine coping with them right now...let's deal with some unfinished business first shall we?

On the third day of  my trip there which was also my last day in Kuala Lumpur. Daniel and I left our hotel and headed to Masjid Jamek on foot to meet with Cedric. He showed us to a local Indian restaurant of sort and I had Roti Canai there with Paneer Masala. Seems like people there have Roti Canai a lot too and not for lunch or dinner either. It's more like either brunch or snacks for Malays. In Thailand, you can find some cart selling 'Rotis' on the street usually with lots of condense milk and sometimes banana/egg. In KL, you find these more in a restaurant type and they have it either with sugar or Dal. 

Afterwards we left to walk around KL. We walked through a natural reserve area in the middle of KL and headed straight to Kuala Lumpur Convention Center (KLCC) where you can see the Petronas towers up close. It was a hot day to be traveling on foot but it was an enjoyable day anyway. I always love exploring a place on foot rather than riding in a car since you get a lot more details on foot and you can stop for a lot of things too.

Not actually peeing

Can't believe this is actually a drink...Kickapoo
Masjid Jamek

We said our good byes to Cedric after the third day is over because Daniel and I were leaving Kuala Lumpur on the fouth day's morning. We were heading to Penang stopping at Ipoh on the way at Daniel's house. Daniel's dad was driving us and he offered to show us around Penang since he goes there quite often. Crossing over Penang bridge we began to see Penang and all its glory. Penang was a beautiful town with marvelous ocean breezes all the time. Spending a night in Penang reminds me of a trip to the southern part of Thailand I had before and walking around on the street at night was fun too. Daniel of course were admiring all the hot tourists around us as well :P