One Fxxked Up Semester...but I Ain't Giving Up Yet Cos I Don't Lose Easily

Phew...the finals are finally over and I guess it's okay to say that I'm done for the semester. Not only am I happy but am I also glad that 4 months of university hell in Canada is over. Despite living by myself without the supervision of my parents in Canada for 4 months is difficult, I'm amazed with the fact that I'm still in one piece. Before coming to Canada, I thought that my mum was right about me not lasting for a week in Canada by myself ever since I reflected on my lazy and dependable lifestyle back in Malaysia. The fact that I failed to do something as simple as closing a birthday cake box really freaked me out and even convinced me that my mum was right. Nevertheless, seeing that I'm still alive and in good shape, I guess I can feel proud of myself because I manage to proof my mum and myself wrong. Although I managed to take good care of myself, the first 4 months in Canada haven't been really enjoyable for me.

One of the reasons behind this unpleasantness is my mum's call. Having her to call me is great actually...in fact it's marvelous knowing that someone from my family still actually gives a damn about me. But the fact that she calls me almost everyday can be very annoying. During our conversation, she'll be going through the same lecture on what to do, how to do and what not to do over and over. She'll often repeat the basics that I'm already aware of and no matter how many times I tell her that I'm aware of it, she'll still insist on going through the lecture one more time. I truly understand that she's concerned about me, I mean which parent wouldn't be worried about their child living all alone in an alien place but there's a line between being concerned and assuming that they're hopeless. Considering her usual routine on our phone conversation, I think that she over crossed the border line of being concerned and started to venture into the assuming-that-Shenji-is-hopeless line. I'll have to admit that I'm hopeless at time since I just said earlier on that I couldn't even close a birthday card box but I have been telling my mum over and over again that if I'm practically having trouble with anything I would ask her for help. I really appreciate her concerned but sometimes it can be really annoying to be going through lectures like these. Apart from the routine lectures that my mum gives, the fact that we often get into an argument over the phone irritates and sometimes anger me. Petty issues that we discuss over the phone usually turns out into an argument where all the 18 and above verbal abuse are traded among one another. I still clearly remember that I got into an argument over the phone with my mum the moment I told her that I thought about getting a PS3. A small thought of mine which clearly hasn't been a solid confirmation of buying a PS3 is sufficient for my mum to assume that I was eager to buy the expensive video game console. Knowing that I wanted to get Sony's third generation console, my mum blasted me with remarks about how spendrift am I and threats about cutting my allowance if my spendrift behaviour continues. Hearing those assumption really offended me and angered me which consequently tempted me to argue back all in the name of standing up for myself. Getting calls from my mum and arguing with her over the phone was one of the reasons that made my stay in Canada unpleasant.

Besides that, the group of people who I usually hang out with is another reason why I conclude that the first 4 months in Canada have been horrible. Unlike my group of friends back in Malaysia which mostly consist of girls, my usual hang out group in Canada were mostly guys. The change in my social life didn't really bothered me at first since I thought it would be adventurous to try another side of friendship. However, the moment I was exposed to the true side of the guys in the group, I realized why I prefer hanging out with girls. The guys here can be described in 2 words: self-centered assholes! ( okay that's 3 words). Everyday, they'll be bragging about the sports car they have, the girls they court and what "cool" (which I find most of the time stupid) things they did back in their country ( they're all non Canadians). These egoistic jerk offs will dominate the entire conversation by talking about themselves and they always expect all attention on them. Just imagine how self centered these bastards are. Another annoying part about these boys is that they think that their social life back in their country is more superior than mine which I can never understand why they think so. How can their lifestyle filled with illegal street racing, clubbing under the heavy influence of alcohol and sleeping around with girls can be much better than my lifestyle which consist of daily Muay Thai training, news surfing, book reading and paint balling with good friends? That is one heck of a mystery. Furthermore, the fact that they think its so cool to cheat on their girl friends back in their country really sickens and embarrass me to be associated with these bunch of idiots. The way they justify they're acts by claiming it as an open relation ship with their girl friend just disgust me. Sometimes,I even wonder how bastards like these can even get a girl friend. Its really ironic seeing that all of them think that they are better than me when they can't even take good care of themselves. I remembered one of their parents called me up to make sure that I take good care of their son, not to mention these so called better-than-me guys even paid me to do their university assignments. The most pathetic experience with them was the moment they compared races. The incident where these two Indian guys were constantly reminding me that the penis of Eastern Asian men were relatively the smallest in the world and because of that they thought that Indian and Pakistani males were more superior than Chinese, Japanese and Korean males couldn't be forgotten. Judging from what they said, it wouldn't be exaggerating to conclude that these "gentlemen" are nothing but a bunch of good for nothing brainless immature dick heads. Of all things that they could have compared, they decided to compare dicks. What kind of ignorant shit is this? So what if we Eastern Asians have small sexual organ?The reason those thing are small is because most of our muscles went to our brain instead of that part. That clearly explained how China developed into a super economic power in the 21st century, how Japan and Korea became an Asian icon for technological progress. They failed to realized that they're so called "pride" didn't help India and Pakistan to overcome over population, high rate of unemployment and poverty; yet they still argue that their race is superior than Eastern Asians. Even though China has a high rate of population, at least the Chinese government was brilliant enough to convert the excess population into armies which makes China the second strongest military power ever since America. If they think that they're race is more superior than those of Eastern Asians, they're race would have thought of using a condom to control their nation's overpopulation in the first place. Geez...what a bunch of ignorant shit. Reasons like these clearly explain why I hate mixing with guys most of the time.

University has been hard on me . Unlike my days in ICPU, I had to take up to 5 subjects for my first semester in TRU. Having to balance my time for studies and to take care of daily chores was difficult for me. Sometimes I would spend a day not studying if I've got chores to do or not working on my chores if I've got assignments to do. I haven't been doing well in my subjects and come to think of it I'm really angry with myself. Every time when I reflect on the B and C's I got for my subjects, I feel awfully guilty as I have disappointed some of my ICPU juniors who look up to me and my Strike Team who never thought less about me. Nevertheless, I will strive harder to perform better in the upcoming semester to redeem myself . I noticed that the instructors at TRU are all hard markers which I find them very unreasonable. Petty mistakes in my assignments often result a massive lost of marks that really make a big difference between a C and a B or a B and an A. I guess they're doing that in the hope of getting TRU into the prestigious university rankings...which I believe is a harm on the student's marks and self esteem. The fact that TRU conned me also explains my unpleasant stay in Canada. In the early days of my stay at TRU, the new students were informed that the education process that takes place behind the class room doors will be guaranteed to be hyper interactive. There will be constant in class group discussions, group presentations and a tight communication between the students and the instructors...just like the good old days in ICPU. The moment I was informed about that, I was very delighted as I knew I would be reliving my glorious and wonderful years in ICPU. However, 4 months in TRU and all I can say is: bull shit. There isn't ANY of those said earlier on through out my stay in TRU. The learning process is exactly like secondary school back in Malaysia---chalk and talk. I feel completely ripped off and right now I'm opting to transfer out from this deceptive university. University isn't very nice to me for the moment being but I'm definitely not going to give up because of that.

Overall, this semester has been really screwed up, yet I managed to survive. Despite all the bad things I experienced in Canada, I managed to pull off a couple of good stuff. I managed to make a new best friend. Her name is Summer and she's really a nice girl. She has been looking out for me and the fact that she volunteered to cook dinner for me everyday the moment she knew I've been eating unhealthily due to my insufficient funds really touched me. Besides of making a new best friend, I managed to survive the utmost traumatic nightmare of my life---Precalculus. The Maths I took this semester was no different from the twisted and terrifying Add Maths I took when I was in form 4 and form 5. I remembered failing Add Maths constantly back in form 4 and form 5 which scarred my child hood and started this whole phobia of Maths for me. Nevertheless, with my constant practice, I managed to pass my Precalculus . Anyway, the Summer semester is in 2 weeks from now and I'm all gung ho to do better. Wish me luck guys.

Now That's just Plain Ignorant and Stupid

When we come across the word "ID", what comes into our head? The first thing to pop up is a photo of the owner followed by the owner's birth date and home address. These are the general features of an ID regardless of the ID's country. What surprises me is that not everyone knows that there is a home address on an individual's ID. What surprises and even shock me more is that some people from a first world country like Canada are not aware about this. How do I know? My visit to a local video game store today tells it all.

Just today in the evening, I thought about paying a visit to the video game store not far away from my apartment. One thing amazing about the video game store around my place is that you get to trade in your old games for store credits where you can then use them to purchase other stuff in the shop. Seeing that I've already completed several PSP and PC games, I thought about trading them for a new PSP game. Consequently, I decided to visit the video game store.

The moment I arrive at the store, I saw a young lady behind the cashier's counter. This was my first time seeing her so I realized she was new. I wasn't really bothered about the new cashier as all I thought of was what new game to get. There were a couple of new games for the PSP that came out recently and because I'm only restricted to buy one game, I was in a big dilemma on which game to get. Half an hour later, I still failed to decide which game I should get; therefore I thought about knowing my trade in value of my old games first in order to save time. I took my old games out and I presented them to the new cashier at the counter.

I told her that I would like to trade in my games for a new PSP game and like the recent cashiers, she asked me for my British Columbia ID and driving license . I explained to her that I'm not a Canadian and I don't have a British Columbia ID and driving license instead, I have a Malaysian ID and driving license. The minute she knew that I didn't have those required Canadian IDs, she decline my request to trade in my old games. Shocked, I asked her how could this be possible seeing that the previous cashiers and store managers have been accepting my Malaysian IDs all the while whenever I wanted to trade my games in. Although I reminded her that I am a regular customer here and I did not experience procedures like these, she still refused to allow me to trade my games in. She added that nobody told her anything about accepting foreign IDs for trade in transaction before so she refuse to allow me to trade my games in. I asked her where was the manager and she said the manager won't be here until the next day. Feeling a bit angered and disappointed with my current situation, I told the cashier that I'll be back. However, I did not left the store. Instead, I went back to decide which new game to get.

I couldn't concentrate on deciding which game to get not because I was in a dilemma only but also because I was irritated by this new procedure. Feeling unssatisfied, I went back to the cashier and demanded that she call her manager right there and then to inquire about my situation. Just as predicted, she told me that the manager cannot be reached at the moment until the next day. Knowing that her excuse was bull shit because a store manager must be always available at all times to ensure that the store is operating flawlessly; I knew she was just being a lazy bitch. Since she won't call the manager up for me, I had to use plan B.

I then asked her what are the requirements for a foreign customer to trade their games in and why are they not given a reasonable alternative seeing that they do not posses Canadian IDs. Like earlier on, she said that she had no clue about it. Thought that she would said that, I then asked her how would her boss react if the store loss a regular customer all because of her ignorance and her lack of protocol knowledge. As usual, she did not reply because she was completely clueless and slightly shocked with the questions I asked. I could tell that she was angry about the fact that she couldn't answered back because I was right. Few minutes after the staring battle with the cashier, she then told me to let her see my Malaysian IDs.

After browsing my IDs, she said that I could trade my games in. She then told me that I should have inform her earlier on that my ID had my home address on it. The moment she said that, I knew I was dealing with someone who's stupid and ignorant. Of course, IDs are printed with important individual details including their home address. That is a general knowledge and the fact that she doesn't know it just show how stupid and ignorant she is. Not to mention, I completely felt insulted as she thought that my third world country was too stupid to include home address as one of the ID details. After trading in my old games for store credit and purchasing a new PSP game with my remaining store credit, I left the store in disbelief thinking that some first world people can be damn stupid and ignorant.

Today's visit to the store really taught me something---white people are not as smart as we think they are despite the kind of country they're living in. No wonder Michael Moore came out with a book called Stupid White Men . I'm not trying to imply that most white people are stupid...No I wouldn't dare to say that after learning the achievement and contribution to humanity of some famous white figures in history. Its just that its ironic to know no matter how advance a civilization is, there's bound to be a couple of ignorant individuals since such individuals think that there is no need to explore and learn from much inferior civilizations.

Kicked in the Balls by Irony

Arrrghh!....getting kicked in the balls by irony...please tell me I still have it...wait...wait...yeah, I still have it.

No, I did not try to talk dirty or touch a girl name Irony which resulted in my ultimate pain a man could ever experience. And yes, I still have my "gun" if you're just curious. So based on the given picture, what caused our poor Shenji to be forced on the ground, struggling in excruciating pain while holding his crotch? As weird as it may sound , it was the doing of irony that caused me to suffer in pain. No damn it! For once more, it's not a girl by the name of Irony, it's irony--a self or general predicted outcome of a given scenario that occur differently or opposite from what was predicted. How can the influence of irony be so...painful? Well, just imagine you're in a position where you have worked so hard day and night to achieve something and at the end of the day, the results was just not what you wanted, in fact it was the least you expected. Yeah...BAM! There goes irony's leg right between your nut sack. As you crumble to the ground in disbelief and pain, you'll start to doubt that hard work pays off.

My final exams started a week ago and today was my Critical Thinking paper. Knowing that the subject was slightly difficult, numerous effort and time were spend on study and revision session few days before the exam. Although, there were much to cover in the subject, nevertheless, I managed to finish studying two days before the exam. In fact I even had the time to browse through the entire text book just in a couple of days. Seeing that I finished studying the subject twice, I was confident that I could do well for the final exam. As it was the day of the exam, I confidently march to the computer hall ( the exams questions were posted on the internet) telling myself that today was going to be my day.

10 minutes before the exam, I found myself a computer and started logging into the exam program. Since patience was not really one of my virtues, I was eager to get over with the exam and take the rest of the day off. The moment the instructor said we could begin the exam, I excitedly answered the first question.

Questions by questions I answered them with utmost confidence and caution. Some of them were really tricky, therefore I told myself it would be a big mistake not to go through those questions later on. The moment I finished answering all the questions, I decided to go through the entire exam one by one to make sure that I did not make any silly mistakes. Fortunately, I was careful enough to spot a couple of mistakes that could mean a big difference in my final grade. After I finished checking all of the questions, it was time to click the "submit" button.

I dragged the cursor to the "submit" button and I took a deep breath. This is it; the moment of truth. As I clicked the button to submit my results, a new window popped up onto the screen of my computer. In the window, there was a link that allowed me to view my results. Feeling nervous and worried, I clicked on the link after taking in another deep breath. The minute the window completely loaded up, my results were on the screen. At that point I felt a strong invisible force that rushed something hard up between my legs. Irony just kicked me right in my balls

67.2%!? What the fxxk, do you mean 67.2%? After all the studying and revision I did, the damn computer gave me 67.2%. I felt completely disappointed and devastated. Instead of scoring an A, I scored a C+. Ain't that a bitch? Not only was I disappointed but I was also angered and frustrated with the ironic outcome. Fate has not only discriminate me but also made me felt like a fool and failure considering all the effort and time spent on getting an A for my Critical Thinking subject.

That's how it feels when irony kick you right between the nut sack. Ever since then, I experienced massive devastation in my self esteem and I felt like a completely big loser. All those effort and time spent to improve myself...just went down the drain. Damn...

Honor Movie Review

Title: Honor
Director: David Worth
Starring: Jason Barry, Russel Wong, Linda Park

Honor tells the tale about 2 neighborhood friends ( Russel Wong and Jason Barry) who must decide which side of the battle to join in a world where street gangs collide with the law. Returning to the streets where they call home, both friends are now armed with the expert combat skills they will need to face the deadliest brawls of their lives---the battle of best friends. Judging by the short synopsis of the movie, Honor is a martial art flick packed with a meaningful theme of good versus evil and friendship. As interesting as Honor may sound, nevertheless it is unfortunate that this movie is just a mediocre.

In terms of content, Honor deserves two thumbs up. The theme of the movie was simply meaningful as it illustrates the never ending battle of good versus evil taking place in our everyday community. Furthermore, the friendship theme of the movie deeply reminds the viewers that companionship should never be underestimated. The plot of the movie was well arranged which allowed the viewers to understand the entire story of the movie without scratching their head wondering off in confusion. Although there were several flashback that seem unrelated to the movie, nevertheless the detailed explanation on those flashbacks later on managed to clear any confusion in the story line.

Honor not only prevails in terms of content of the movie but it also performed well in terms of style. The acting was simply magnificent despite that not many Hollywood celebrities were used seeing that the play was very natural and casual. The dialog of the movie was casual which was gave utmost authenticity for the settings of the movie that takes place in the urban streets of America during today's period.

On the other hand there were several flaws that truly brought this whole movie down to a level of just being mediocre. First of all,the cinematography in the movie was slightly below average. The camera shots and angles were not clear and it hardly focus on the fighters during the fight scene which is a big mistake for martial arts flick. Furthermore, the fighting choreography was not as good as it was expected. The fighting moves were repetitive and it was so predictable. In addition to that, there were not many fight scenes in the movie which disappointed the audience.

Overall, Honor is just mediocre. Nevertheless, the great theme, the well arranged plot and remarkable acting prevented this movie from crashing intto a bad rating. In a martial art movie, camera angles and fighting choreographing plays a very big role in determining whether the movie should be watched or not. Although Honor did not manage to prevail in such important aspects, it is still worth the time and money to watch this movie due to its good side. Honor has great potential and if it manages to spawn a sequel, the audience would definitely watch it that is if the movie improved on its fight scenes and camera shots.

A Song that I'll Sing to My Girlfriend

I was randomly listening to some songs on Radio Blog.com and I came across this very sweet song from my favorite country singer, Brad Paisley; it's called "The World" and it's a love song. Although I'm not a big fan of love songs as they make me emotional and they make my eyes watery, somehow I was hooked on this song and I've been listening to it often. The lyrics was simply sweet, mesmerizing and touching. This is one song I would definitely sing to the girl who I love the most.

Sometimes It's Best to Just Shut Up

When a person runs his/her mouth spilling everything that is offensive without noticing that there could be people listening to him/her, it can be very devastating...for his/her pride. Moments like these, they just wish they can go back in time to undo the past. Just today, a similar case like this happened to me but what surprises me is that I didn't regretted at all; in fact I found it hilarious.

As my Critical Thinking classes ended, my classmate and I decided to go back to the apartment for some rest before our next class. I had a couple of huge files and textbooks to carry so my hands were fully occupied. Thankfully, the apartment was just a stone's throw from the campus.

As we reached our apartment, we had to swipe our student card on the electronic panel in order to unlock the door so that we can gain access into our quarters. Seeing that my hand was filled with books and files, reaching my pocket to grab my student card was impossible. I asked the receptionist to buzz us in since my hands were full but she refused and insisted that we used our student card. Feeling angered due to her inconsiderate behavior, I told myself what a jerk that pig ( she was a fat girl) was. Initially,I thought about asking my classmate to reach for my card in my pocket but seeing that he was a boy instead of a hot girl, I thought about doing it myself. So I had to lay down all my books and file on the floor just to reach my student card. Upon swiping my card on the electronic panel, my classmate held the door for me while I picked up my books and files. We then took a lift to our own floors.

Since it was just the both of us in the lift, I thought it would be safe to express my dislike about the receptionist. I started off saying, "Eh you know arr...this fxxking Canadian damn cxxai. Ask her to buzz us through in also so lazy". "Yalah!" my classmate replied, " Know we already have a lot of books on our hands still ask us to open the door by ourselves" continued my classmate. " Yalah, this fat cxxw hxi damn fxxking lazy...damn cxxai larr". My classmate then interrupted me, " Eh, you look up there...oh sxxt!". As I look at what he pointed, we were shock to see that there was a security camera on the ceiling recording what we said. We then remembered that the security cameras provide the receptionists audio and visual activities in the lift " What the fxxk?...Oh sxxt!" we shouted before laughing at each other thinking about what we just said earlier on.

As I exited the lift after wishing my classmate goodbye, I walked back to my apartment room giggling at what I did earlier on in the lift. Ever since then, every time when I walk pass the receptionist before exiting the apartment, the big fat girl will be giving me this vicious stare indicating that she's dying to eat me up on the spot. Come to think about it, sometimes its just best to shut up.

A Day Out with my Acquaintances and Friends

The week enders. ( From top left to right) Sidhu, Akane, (From bottom left to right), John, Summer and me

Saturday is the long awaited day of the week for most individuals seeing that it's the beginning of the weekend and it's a day where people can actually spend time doing what they love the most. Unlike most people, my Saturday is usually restricted in my apartment for most of the day due to university assignments and quiz preparation. Despite I spend most of my time at my place on Saturday, I'll still go out for a movie or a hot chocolate with my university acquaintance. However my recent Saturday ( which was yesterday) was a special one for me as I spend almost half a day outside my apartment with my university acquaintances and friends. This was the most active Saturday for me ever since I came to Canada.

Yesterday, in the middle of my Maths practice, I was visited by my Pakistani university acquaintant, Umar. He invited me to hang out with the rest of his friends as they planned to take some photos around Kamloops. Initially, I was so tempted to reject his invitation seeing that I was in the middle of my Maths practice and I don't like to hang out with guys but when I was told that two of my female friends were going, I considered Umar's offer. In addition to that, considering the nice warm weather compliments of the up coming summer season, I thought it would be nice to go out and breath the fresh air; therefore, I accepted his invitation. After taking my shower, I went over to one of my acquaintant's room who was also going for the outing. Some of them were already waiting in his room while the others were at their own place getting ready. As everyone was ready, we left the apartment and started walking.

In the middle of our walk, Sidhu's roommate, John thought about playing Frisbee. He went to his car and grab his Frisbee before playing it. We started playing off in the car park of our apartment. Frisbee was a bit challenging to me as I find it difficult to catch and throw the flying saucer. Nevertheless, after few attempts I got used to the game. Frisbee really got me sweating since I had to run up and down to catch the flying Frisbee before it hits the ground. Although Frisbee looks like a simple game of throw and catch, enduring the challenge to catch the saucer before it touches the ground can be difficult but fun. As we walked further on, we continued to throw and catch the Frisbee until we reached the busy Saturday streets of Kamloops. We strolled further on until we reached a small nice garden.

Over there, we took a couple of snapshots of the scenery in Kamloops. We also took a group photo and one of my acquaintant , John who was a Filipino illustrated his great photography skills through the group photos and scenery pictures he took. We stayed in the garden for a while before moving on as we were wanted to enjoy the great scenery of Kamloops from the mountain. After half an hour over there, we continued our walk to downtown.

The walk to down town from the garden was around an hour. Despite the long walk to downtown, we didn't feel tired as our conversation with one another on the way there removed the fatigue equation from our mind. The moment we reached downtown, my friends, Summer and Akane wanted to grab a coffee ; therefore, our first stop at downtown was the Starbucks coffee house. We sat down there taking a short rest before we started taking photos around downtown. During our short rest, we decided where was our next stop and what to do later on in the evening. As everyone felt energized again, we began strolling around downtown snapping more photos. Half an hour later, John felt hungry so we began looking for a restaurant to dine in. Fortunately for him McDonald's was just around the corner so our second food stop was McDonald's.

John and Umar were the only one eating where else the rest of us decided to save our stomach for dinner which was in 3 hours time. While waiting for John and Umar to finish eating, the rest of us were practically fooling around trading jokes and nonsense. Akane challenged me to a hand wrestling match and the whole match was recorded by my camera. We challenged each other for three rounds and I was on a winning streak for the first two rounds. I lost the third one to Akane as I was distracted by one of my acquaintants before she use both hands to smash my wrestling arm to the table. Ever since we started arm wrestling, the rest of the guys decided to go around challenging each other. I had a right arm wrestle with John and during the match I had a bad start as John was fast enough to press my arm down to the table. I managed to push up my arm but as I struggled further to balance the competition,I felt more tired; consequently I submitted and I lost the round. On the other hand, I managed to win John in our left arm wrestling competition which made the match equal. As Umar and John finished their meal, we left McDonald's and head for a huge park just a few blocks down.

The park was very spacious and next to it there was a nice lake. We took the advantage of the spacious size park by playing Frisbee again. The girls (Summer and Akane) on the other hand, decided to snap more photos of the park and lake. The lake was simply gorgeous as the evening sun that shines behind the hills of Kamloops illuminated the shadows of the hills on the surface of the waters which made the scenery looked like a masterpiece painting. We took another group photo at the lake before we went back playing Frisbee. In the middle of our throw and catch game, Akane and I started to feel bored of the repetitive process of Frisbee; therefore, both of us did something different while the rest continued their game.

I taught Akane some Muay Thai basics. Teaching her was difficult but at the same time it was fun and hilarious to see her perform some of the basics. I thought her the proper Muay Thai fight stance together with some hand striking methods like jab, cross, hook and uppercut. I even thought her some basic self defense and the fact that she learned very fast impressed me. She managed to throw me over after a giving me an arm bar simply scared the rest of our friends. Overall, she did great for a beginner learning Muay Thai and self defense.

As the day was getting late, we decided to have dinner. We took a five minute walk from the park down to a Mexican restaurant to have our dinner. At first I was reluctant to have Mexican food for dinner seeing that I never tried Mexican food before and the restaurant looked a bit expensive. Nevertheless after persuading myself to be adventurous and generous on my spending budget, I decided to go for it. To my surprise, the price of the food was affordable and the meal was simply great. Some of my friends couldn't finish up their food so knowing that I had a bottomless pit for a stomach, they gave me the honor of finishing up their food. Practically, I was eating more than what I was supposed to pay that night which was a good thing. After dinner, Umar, Akane and Sidhu decided to go for a movie; the rest of us on the other hand decided we should just go back home. We departed from the guys who wanted to watch a movie after paying the bill.

John, Summer and me decided to go back home by bus. On our way home, we traded cameras to view the photos and we started sharing our experience for the day. Summer and I were happily talking to one another where else John was awfully quiet as he was dead tired. The moment reached home, all of us went on our own ways. Thinking that it was too early to end my Saturday, I asked Summer and my Hong Kee friend, Robin out for Tim Horton's later on. Lucky for me, they all agreed to go out and we told each other to meet up at my room at 12 in the morning. Since I had 2 more hours before 12, I thought of giving myself a rest before going out for Tim Horton's.

In my room, I continued practicing my Maths. Time really passes fast when I was occupied with my Maths and the next thing I know it was 30 minutes before 12. Robin called me asking me if he could come over to my room earlier. Being a nice person, I told him he was more than welcomed to come over. When he came over, I told him to occupy himself with the Counter-Strike game on my computer while I finish up the remaining Maths questions. 20 minutes later, I was done with my Maths for the day and I played a bit of Counter-Strike before going out. Summer came over to my room at 12 but all of us didn't leave then as I was caught up with the game while Summer and Robin were cheering me on encouraging me to kill more. After winning the round, we went out and started our walk to Tim Horton's.

At Tim Horton's we had more than hot chocolate; we had our supper. I ordered a hot Raspberry smoothy and a couple of Tim Horton yogurts while both Summer and Robin had hot chocolate, brownies and muffins. During our early morning at Tim Horton's, we had our long conversation sharing what we did for the day and how were we doing in university. After everyone finished eating and drinking, we left Tim Horton's and call it a day.

This was the most active Saturday for me ever since my stay in Kamloops, Canada. That day was tiring but fun. That was the first time I got the opportunity to explore Kamloops in a deeper extent. I'm looking forward to this again after my finals.

Learning how to play Frisbee with my acquaintances


Beginning our walk

A nice view of Kamloops from the garden


John's professional photographing skills


Learning how to fly

John's creative idea of a shadow group photo

Taking a small break in Starbucks


Trying on Summer's sun glasses. Don't I look hot?

A beautiful scenery at the lake

John and I on our way back to our home by bus

Chilling out with Robin and Summer at Tim Horton's at 12 in the morning

My First Tattoo

Getting inked.

My recent internet surfing has led me to the exploration of body tattoos. Just 2 weeks ago when I was surfing the net, an interesting pop up about tattoos appeared on my computer screen. Mesmerized by the interesting pictures and colors of the variety of tattoos, I entered the website. Through out my exploration, I learned the purpose of having a tattoo and the meaning of certain animal tattoos. Ever since I got exposed to that tattoo website, I started surfing for more tattoo images and learning the meanings of the animal tattoos as well as the Chinese characters. In addition to that, one of my friends recently got a tattoo on her back of her neck which looked really nice. Telling me that the procedure of getting the tattoo on wasn't painful and unhygienic, my friend convinced me that having a tattoo would be okay. The next thing I knew, I thought of having one.

Initially, I thought of having a large picture of a Navy SEAL commando with the words, "Specially Trained" pasted on my back. However, after countless opinions from my friends thinking that they prefer my back to be clean, I dropped the idea of having a tattoo. I discussed this issue with my friend who got a tattoo on her back neck. In our discussion she suggested of having a small tattoo instead of a big one pasted on my back seeing that the bigger the picture the more expensive it can be. She was right and her suggestion made me thought about a new tattoo for myself. Instead of having a picture, I asked myself why not some meaningful words.

I thought about some meaningful words which truly reflected myself. Initially I couldn't decide which words to have since my personality hardly resembles any meaningful or virtuous words. I was then inspired by my previous tattoo idea. From that point on, I knew what words to get it inked on my body: Specially Trained. The word, "Specially Trained" was ideal for me since I'm a special forces and SWAT fanatic. However, the number of alphabets in that word which was a lot was going to cost me a bomb since that the price of having a body tattoo depends on the number of alphabets. Consequently, I thought of shortening the word. The next question that popped into my head was how?

Surprisingly it didn't took me long enough to answer this question. I thought of using Chinese characters for that word. On the other hand, I was clueless about writing "Specially Trained" in Chinese as I don't know Chinese. Fortunately, some of my friends over here in Canada knew Chinese; so I asked them to write my desired words for me . Although they wrote it out for me, I was a bit worried that the Chinese writing for specially trained might not be an accurate translation. So I went to my friend and asked for her confirmation. Knowing that she could be trusted, I gave her the writing and I asked her to check whether was it correct. The moment she concluded it was correct, I knew I had the ideal picture for my tattoo. The next question was which part of my body should it be pasted at?

Seeing that the Chinese characters were small, I knew it would look awkward to paste it on my back. I thought of putting it on my chest, but it would not be visible to others since my shirt will be covering the tattoo up. Finally, I decided that I should have it on my left shoulder. The next thing to do was to get the Chinese words calligraphed. Fortunately my friend knew how to calligraph those words since she learned it when she was young. After successfully getting the words caligraphed, it was time to get it inked on my left shoulder.

On the following day, I took a bus to downtown. I roamed around the town to look for the tattoo parlor and the moment I found it, I braced myself before I entered. Since it was my first time getting inked, I was very nervous. Furthermore, after being told several times by others about how painful the process was, I felt shaky. Nevertheless, telling myself that I am tough as nails, I felt more confident and more courageous to endure the pain. Later on, I was introduced to this friendly lady who was the owner of the parlor. She answered everything I needed to know about the tattoo process and she convinced me that the process would not be painful for me judging by how tough I looked. As it was time to get my tattoo done, I followed the lady's husband into the "surgery room".

Like his wife, the "surgeon" was also friendly. He was eager to know me and it was really fun talking to him. As he started the "surgery", he told me to relax and he comforted me by telling me that the process would not be very painful. The moment he ran that mechanic drill down my shoulder, I felt uncomfortable and annoyed. It felt like something was chewing my shoulder off and the fact that I needed to sit still for hours while experiencing such annoyance made me impatient about getting the tattoo done. In the middle of the "surgery", my friends dropped by to see how was I doing.

My Indian friend who was hoping for me to cry in pain was disappointed as he witnessed the smile on my face. As for my female friends, they were looking at the "surgery" with interest at the same time snapping photos of me getting inked.After the "surgery" ended, the "surgeon" bandaged my shoulder and congratulated me for having my first tattoo. He taught me how to take care of my tattoo before I paid him. The price was expensive as it cost me $64 for two Chinese words. Nevertheless, it was worth the price as the work was quite good.

On my way home, my friends were concerned about me as they said I looked pale. I wasn't surprised when they said that because during the "surgery", I saw the "surgeon" wiping a lot of blood from my shoulder. However, I felt much better after I rested myself. Overall, getting a tattoo wasn't as painful as I thought. Right now, I just can't wait to open my bandage and see the art on my shoulder.

The "surgeon" doing his job

Specially trained


All patched up and ready to go