Crazy Beginning

A lot had happened recently but I was a bit laid back about putting it all up in my blog. With my latest post due sometime a month ago, you could already guess the number of chill pills I have been consuming. So, I’m here to haul it all up the ocean before everything sinks deeper and fades away.

If you are someone who keeps track of my barren blog, you definitely know that I had been working part time jobs on and off throughout the previous semester break, which had earned me quite an amount of pocket money. I was coerced into putting a halt to my sudden urge of working when college reopened, which was something I actually looked forward to.

On seeing the miserable ADP timetable, I was gravely disappointed at the number of subjects offered this fall semester. However, when I gave it a slight thought, I couldn’t help but empathize HELP, as dedicated lecturers as Ms. Yap and co. had turned or are turning their backs on the institute. Leaving behind a pillar-less crumbling tower, which is not only facing a shattering end but also an imminent danger of bankruptcy, sadly to say.

4 days of waking up early and attending a full 10 hours of class each day, gave me more doubt of what not to take than a comforting assurance of what subjects to take. As an ending outcome of shopping around and choosing subjects, what I got was exhaustion instead of a decision. I sought help from Ms. Mamoorian, who is the admin of Drake University via E-mail and later found out that the only subject I could take was Accounting 2. Ridiculous ain’t it? How can someone take only one subject in a long semester? Unless that someone is as jobless as Riz.

Political Science wasn’t that bad, especially when Mr. Ho the Head of Department was the one conducting the class. A retired lawyer Mr. Ho shared many of his first-hand experience in class, which I found amusing despite the exaggeration of having to make friends with the ministers of the Malaysian government and even some former president of the United States. Frankly speaking, I was this close to registering the subject as I was pretty convinced that it would be an interesting class. I didn’t in the end after I got a reply re-confirming that it was absolutely unnecessary for me to take it even as an elective. So Accounting 2 it is.

I really couldn’t imagine me wounding up being a couch potato at the end of this semester since last semester had already made me a lot lazier than my first year in college. So I gave myself a little motivation and continued my job hunting stint! Having ample time to spare, once again I was spending time trawling through forums, searching for “lucrative” part time jobs. =)

After sending out about 10 resumes to 10 different agents, I received notifications about interviews via phone calls and sms pretty soon enough. Without further hesitation, I accepted a promoter position at the DiGi specialized store at the Tropicana City Mall outlet due to the reasonable pay and the simple job scope. Never did I know that I was being lured into a Trap of Boredom.

There was literally nothing I could do in the shop. Allow me to enlighten you. My job scope was to promote DiGi postpaid lines and that I would receive a commission of as high as RM 20 after successfully selling 4 lines in a day, the subsequent lines sold would earn me as much as RM 5 per line. Since Tropicana City Mall is a new mall and is nothing compared to any other shopping complexes in the Petaling Jaya district, the number of shoppers were pathetically low each day, even during weekends. I ended up helping DiGi users, mostly foreign workers reloading credits into their accounts.

I felt like a retarded freak who had never embraced any from of education, doing something that only required the least amount of brain work. It was so boring and a complete waste of time that when my friend invited me to a gathering the other night, I smsed and lied to my agent about a family emergency as soon as I hung up the line, ditched my supervisor who was happily playing bejeweled back at the shop, and left work an hour earlier for the gathering. God blessed the night, it was awesome.

The following morning was Fawesome when I was told that some client decided to put the store on hold temporarily, which in English means I do not have to work in that hellish place for some time. But even if I was asked to go back later on, I would reject it anyway.

So, I’m unemployed again! =)

Yuka Revisits

I was awaken from my dream to the techno rhythm of “Untouchable.” As I fluttered my eyes open, I saw the black phone, neatly covered up and protected by a layer of silicone, flickering as the deafening ringtone filled the room mercilessly.

It was August 23rd, a dazzling Sunday morning as birds gracefully flew over rooftops, chirping away. About a year ago today, I hosted a Japanese girl with the name Yuka, who came to Malaysia under the Lions Club Youth Exchange program. Hosting her was a wonderful experience and a crazy adventure as together, we explored the confusing corners of Kuala Lumpur in sweltering afternoons on foot, taking silly pictures and laughing at the jokes we made.

Yuka’s strength is in mastering languages, which allowed us to communicate with her without much complication. That made jokes more sensible to her, which I fancy and it definitely spared us ample time for more outings rather than staying home trying to explain things to her with awkward body languages. Aside from her prowess in languages, she’s an amiable person who is very approachable and friendly. So it wouldn’t be much of a surprise that she had nested an enormous network of acquaintances during her 3 short weeks of stay over here.

After receiving the call, I heard this familiar voice propagating through the headset from the other side of the line. From that moment on, I knew that today was going to bring back nostalgic moments to me and relive those wonderful memories of Yuka previously etched in my mind. Yes, it was Yuka who had arrived a few days ago. She came over here along with her friends from Japan. After hanging out in Malaysia for about 6 days, Yuka decided to leave her gang and arrange a meet up with us on the second last day of her trip in Malaysia. So nice of her to remember us.

So all the excitement started all the way in Sunway Pyramid, where a guy whom Yuka had been staying with for the past few days, put her under our care. After ensuring that her belongings were safely placed in the trunk, we strolled around and traipsed from handbag shops to boutique aimlessly. Occasionally making fun of each other while trying on trendy shades and putting ugly polka dot dresses around Yuka’s neck.

There was a farewell party specially organized for those Japanese YEs that night in Sunway, but Yuka decided to fling it for a hearty meal with us in Italiannies at the Curve. It wasn’t entirely a regretful choice for her, in fact, it was a great decision to join us at the dinner despite the hard time she had when deciding on whether to join her Jap mates or us.

My dad ordered a plate of chicken lasagna along with some meatball pasta and a plate of steamed chicken with potatoes, seasoned with some Jalapeño slices and a spicy gravy. The expressions she made when relishing those delectable dishes while sipping at her bottomless iced lemon tea was priceless. When all the food were cleared up, she had to struggle to get up from the cozy chair she had been sitting on because she was too full. Had to pay a short visit to the toilet, I guess?

That’s not the right way to call it a day. Shortly after we reached home, we found ourselves heading out the door for supper! Of course, the best place to be was at Kayu in Ss 2. She loved the Roti Canai and the Teh Tarik, so a plate of Roti Canai and a glass of Teh Tarik it is.

After supper back home, we wanted to help her out in tidying her luggage bag as she’s leaving for the airport the following morning. Too bad, she lost the keys to her luggage. What carelessness. Thankfully, she later remembered that it was with one of her friends, so there wasn’t any luggage packing until the next morning. The best part – We called off the plan, donned our pajamas, settled down on a comfy sofa in the living room, and chatted half the morning away. What a day.