Something fishy

This is just to let you know I’m still not dead yet = )

Well, it’s been pretty silent for a while. Know the one about the loud whiny kid whose quiet trigger switch is ice cream or candy or whatever? I guess you can have the same effect on me with books. Went to the National Library the second time the other day. Harry Potter is still as elusive as ever but at least I got hold of some Terry Pratchett. Should keep me docile for another two weeks or so.

Nothing much going on. It’s the school holidays, so my parent thought it would be a good idea to bring my siblings places. I tagged along with them to the Aquaria (which isn’t as big as we thought it would be). That explains the fishies below. We’ll be going to Sunway Lagoon next. I’m playing the oldest brother part where I’ll keep cool and nonchalant about the whole thing, ha ha.

One month to go before I’m back in Cambridge. Can hardly wait.

Yaz.

The books and I

I found a treasure trove!

Well, that’s sort of it, except it’s not very accurate. Imagine some intrepid explorers getting the treasure trove before you and they had the luxury to take their pick. They can’t possibly carry everything (luckily!) so whatever is left are the things that you’re able to salvage. Oh well, still, a treasure’s a treasure, right?

I suppose I should start from the beginning. I like to read, and contrary to the stereotypes (or expectations?) of Cambridge students reading deeply intellectual mumbo jumbo, I only like to read fiction. Yup, no self-help motivational books/ get rich quickly books/ anything that doesn’t involve an interesting storyline for me. Back in the old days (not that I’m saying I’m old, he he), being the secondary school student with low pocket money that I am, my book sources are the library and my friends. Doesn’t stop me from reading a lot, though. I still remember this one time when my entry in the reading competition was totally IGNORED because I’ve won too often, ha ha. This was in 2000, if I’m not mistaken.

Lately, I’ve acquired the habit of going to Borders (which was conveniently located within metres of my room) to check for new releases and bestsellers and then going back to my room and buy them from Amazon. Hey, they’re often cheaper and not to mention you can get nectar points as well. I’m sure it must be frustrating for the manager to know that people like me go into the bookshop, fiddle with this book, touch that book, browse along the shelves for some time, then leave and buy the books somewhere.

Anyway, I bought two books from the Pendragon series at KLCC the other day. Turned out that I finished reading both in four days. Then I thought, if I keep this up, it’ll burn a hole in my pockets. That’s how I eventually ended up at the National Library with Adam, a friend of mine. Just wanna see how the place is, and get hold of a few books that I can’t be bothered to buy.

To be honest, the place is well-equipped… if you’re looking for reference books. Sadly, for fiction books, the ratio of books and empty shelves is about equal. Although in their defense the books must have been lent out. Found some pretty good ones in there… Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time (although book four, the one I’m looking for, is missing so I can’t read any further), the Pendragon series, some Terry Pratchett etc etc. Ended up borrowing Going Postal, which I’ve now finished half already (have to go back there soon). Tried to look for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince but I can’t find any, even though the OPAC system said there are three available. I haven’t read it yet, and it felt wrong to buy the book when you don’t have the first five in the series.

So yeah, the library isn’t stocked up as much as I liked, but oh well, at least it’s something. Furthermore, I don’t think they can stock up too much lest the bookshops’ going out of business, heh heh. Certainly not a grand scale hidden ancient Tut’s treasure, but a treasure trove nonetheless.

Until then, happy reading!

Bibliophilic Yaz.

House arrest??

Went to an AC’s friend’s house for dinner yesterday. Apparently, it was a get together of some kind. The friend invited her friends from her university and previous schools. Unfortunately, I know none of the people there so it’s kinda hard finding common grounds to talk about. However, most of them were quite nice, though. There were some who gave me the look when I told them I’m in Cambridge (you know, when they go where’re you studying and you go Cambridge and they go oh). Found it difficult to explain to them that the week at Cambridge starts on a Thursday. They wouldn’t stop laughing about it.

Found out that a few AC students coming back this year were stuck at the airport because of the incident at Heathrow. What’s up with that?

On another note, I planned to go to the PC fair at KLCC today. However, my parent left for work earlier today and they locked the house (with a big Solex padlock, nonetheless). Now I can't get out! Holy sheet, did they forgot I’m here???

(Home alone) Yaz.


Edit: Okay, so they came back shortly after and opened the lock for me. I was even able to go to the PC Fair early. But still, I don't want to experience a house arrest anytime soon, even if it's unintentional.

Time to invest

I never really give much thought to investing before. Reasons include the fact that as a student, I don’t have that much money that I can spare to begin with. Now I’m a bit more well off, but I still didn’t think about it until recently, when two different people pointed out to me that you can benefit a lot from it.

Went to Midvalley the other day…errr, by myself. Not that I can’t find people to go with, just that sometimes I like exploring on my own. So there I met a friend of mine who attended AC together, and we chatted a bit. The topic of investing came up and it piqued my interest. I remember staring incredulously at my HSBC bank account in the UK, wondering why is it that my interest is only a few pence. I mean, that’s absurdly low, isn’t it? And my savings isn’t really that little.

So on Wednesday, out of a sudden my mom suddenly jumped me with the idea of going to ASNB (to invest). I swear, that’s so out of the blue. So anyway, we went to the bank first and I changed my money there (they were still in pounds, no point in changing all of them to ringgit and then pounds again when I go back to the UK). Didn’t go to the money changer because we’re in a hurry. Guess what the person at the counter says.

“Tak boleh terima duit ni dik, buruk. Nanti orang tak mahu beli.” (I can’t accept these notes, they’re in horrible condition. People will not want to buy it).

I was like, what?? Okay, the notes are obviously not in mint condition, but nor are they horribly torn or whatever. A bit worn, but they’re just fine! In fact, that’s the condition that I got them from an ATM in Cambridge. If they’re good enough for an ATM machine, then I can’t see why not for a bank.

We went to another bank, and they accepted the notes just fine.

*gives the first bank the evil eye*

So yeppers, I opened my ASB account that day. Somehow I have this daydream of being rich and getting periodical large sums of money from the account. I know, I know, not gonna happen, but hey, everybody dreams of being rich from time to time.

By the way, I checked, and the pounds-RM exchange rate is higher than the last time. Yay!! Yaz is happy.

(Thrifty)Yaz.

Ian Knot

Want to save time tying shoelaces? Then learn this knot. Amazing, it takes only, like, two seconds. And the original site has lots of interesting tidbits about shoelaces. Found it while browsing through Digital Inspiration ’s archive.

Yaz.