Life starts again

So I've arrived. Not exactly the best arrival I've experienced (flight delayed for two and a half hours, having to buy a new bus ticket, dragging my suitcase to my room at one in the morning) but I've managed so far. Oh, and I've noticed Heathrow does have wi-fi connection, though I haven't tried it yet.

My new room is across the river Cam from my old room, which makes it further from busy roads, but also from Sainsbury's. To tell the truth, I kinda liked my old room better. I think those fellas at the Accomodation Office have misled me about my room. It's not exactly much bigger than my old room and now I have to share a fridge with one other guy and there's no oven in the kitchen (though there is a microwave with grill functionality). It's fine in other respects, though, so I'm not bothered that much.

Entering my room, viewed from left to right:

Behind the door are my closets and the shower





A week or so before the term starts so I will have some free time to loaf around or shop or welcome first years when they arrive. If there are new Malay first years then they 'll make great addition to our weekly cook out.

Until then, I'll post again after I'm done with enjoying the high-speed internet that I've been denied for so long =)

Yaz.

Flight delay

HI, I'm at the airport right now. Should have boarded the plane half an hour ago but didn't because the flight got delayed, for ONE hour! Sigh.... I guess this is going to happen sooner or later to me but it sure is frustrating. Especially when I'm not sure if I'll be able to catch the bus from Heathrow to Cambridge which I've already bought the ticket for.

Heathrow may be old and not as nice or modern and not have a wi-fi internet access (which I'm using right now at KLIA) but it sure have lots of power points dotted aroung the place. So now I have to post this post quickly before my laptop ran out of battery.

More when I get to Cambridge.

Yaz.



Update: Okay, so it's delayed again, this time to 2:35 p.m. Drat, now I'm gonna miss my bus! That's a two and a half hour delay altogether. I'm soooo frustrated!

They gave us all lunch coupons (which is the least they can do) but I'm a bit embarrassed about eating in front of other people in this month of Ramadan. Oh well...

The coupon's unlimited, by the way.

The day after tomorrow

I can’t believe that it totally didn’t cross my mind to tell my sponsor what my exam results are. Not my fault really (yeah, right!) since I’ve probably became accustomed to AC ways. When I was in AC, they automatically send student results and teacher’s comments to their respective sponsors and, embarrassingly enough, to the students’ old schools. I was told that my report graced MCKK’s notice board for quite some time and people could read every bit of it, the good, the bad and the ugly. Eeek! Oh well, I guess I’ve taken it for granted. I only realised this when my sponsor in an e-mail said jokingly (I hope) that they consider suspending the scholarships of student that intend to keep their results a secret.

I also got the reply to my query of the prize money issue, and am glad to be informed that they “wouldn’t dream to deprive me of it”. Yay! That one’s settled means another thing less to be worried about before coming back to Cambridge. Now I only have one day left to do some last minute shopping, get a haircut, pack and do whatever else I need to do. Will be off on Sunday from KLIA to Heathrow.

Hmmm, rearding the title of the post, it’s amazing how two things with the same meaning can give totally distinct impressions. A friend once told me that he saw the film in Malaysia with subtitles, and when the title of the film came up, the sub simply read, ‘Lusa’.

Bwaahahahaha!

Smiles,

Yaz.

Another week to go

Hiya! It's been awhile. My holiday's almost over now, in fact, I'll be boarding the flight to Cambridge next Sunday. Have quite a few things to do before then. My accomodation letter had just arrived recently, informing that I'll be living in a set (a bedroom, a living room and a shower) for next year. Isn't that great or what? For those who live quite near...ahem ahem... do come and visit me sometimes. What's the point of having such a room if you can't show it off, ha ha.

Just found out that there's an Aquatic Centre near where I live and it's open to the public. Drat! If only I had known earlier. Oh well, guess I just have to wait next year to swim to my hearts content every day. I'm still not sure whether I want to join the pool in Cambridge. Maybe I will, we'll see. I don't get enough exercise as it is.

One thing about the holidays is that you don't hear from your friends that often. Mailing list is silent, blogs went on hiatus, that sort of thing. So I'm glad that it's not quiet any more. Here's something that's forwarded by a friend in the ministry mailing list:



BREAKING NEWS BREAKING NEWS BREAKING NEWS BREAKING NEWS BREAKING NEWS

Terrorist School Teacher Arrested, as reported first on CNN

NEW YORK- A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy
International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession
of a ruler, a protractor,a set square, a slide rule and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez said he
believes the man is member of the notorious Al-gebra movement. He did
not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons
of mathinstruction.

"Al-gebra is a problem for us," Gonzalez said. "They desire solutions by
means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute
value. They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to
themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common
denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As
the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, "There are 3 sides to
every triangle."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God
had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have
given us more fingers and toes."
--

Update: Grrr...it's a bad habit to take something from the web and not quote its source, should tell my friend that. Anyway, I think I've found the original article here

Until then,

Yaz.