So you have an exam in 2 hours…

   WARNING: LOTS OF BITCHIN’. In fact, this post is all about bitching and complaining and whining

   … do you:

a) study your darndest to try and get the last byte of info into your head, or
b) read online comics

   If you choose (b), then congratulations, your thought processes work the same way as mine did.

   See, I have this pretty serious problem; I know I have the exam coming up, and I know that my knowledge of the subject is pretty shallow. But nevertheless, I just can’t marshall the necessary willpower needed to seriously read up on the subject (in D&D terms, I failed my Will save and must spend 10D10 rounds reading online comics).

   But then again, “despair” seems to be the season’s new fragrance in the air right now. How many ways can Life piss me off? Let’s start the countin’….

a. I’m hopmeless – at the start of the term, I am absolutely flabbergasted by the high prices they’re charging for a place in Cyberia. Being true to my (apparently) xenophobic nature, I’m blaming this squarely on the foreign students, since they are rich, therefore they can pay good money, therefore sending the prices up.

b. Finance forced me to bend over as they extracted 2000 bucks from my bank account. I don’t know which pisses me off more, the fact that my bank account now is about as fat as Ms. Beckham, or the fact that I am burdening my parents. I’d write a strongly-worded rant against them, but just in case they’re reading this…

c. I’m going to the Philippines on a shoestring – yes, another debate thingie. While the opportunity to clash heads is always welcome, I question the wisdom of me going — especially since my financial portfolio has been thoroughly razed by MMU. Yesterday, it looks like the whole thing will actually be cancelled, but alas, no such luck. Guess my luggage will consist primarily of FOOD (although in restrospect, this could be fun… I gotta remember, it’s RM1 = 13 pesos)

d. PTPTN is being colder than a witch’s teat. I mean seriously, why can’t they release the funds, oh, I dunno, WHEN PEOPLE ARE STARTING THEIR SEMESTER? You know, when there are fees to be paid and rent deposits to be settled? But instead, they’re gonna delay the whole thing to August because — get this — “to synchronize with the payments made to the public university students”. Yeah, I guess NECESSITY loses to bureaucratic fuckwit-ery

   If I am a drinking man, I would’ve ended this post with “I need a good, stiff drink”.

Good Will to All!

   One of the shop owners down the cafeteria in my block serves the best Malay food within the 30-mile radius; and apparently, today is the last day of business for this semester… so she invited everyone to a free buffet! Rice, noodles and a variety of other victuals flow freely, plus bananas! Everyone is in high spirits (since for most of them, their exams are over), so all in all, today is a good day. One of the few things that can cement inter-racial ties between all is the prospect of free food, and even a few foreign students are dragged in for the festivities.

   Even though I’m feeling a bit restless, even I cannot help but feel infected by this show of good will. I hope she’ll be tending the shop in this block at least until I leave MMU. Parting is such sweet sorrow (her fried chicken is the juiciest I’ve ever had — and it’s cheap, too), but God willing, we shall meet again in 3 weeks.

2nd Year!

   WHOO!! I have returned for the second year of my course. Wow, to think that I’d last for more than 8 months; it’s quite an achievement. God willing, I will graduate from this place, instead of hopping to yet another institution of higher learning. Two universities is enough for me, thanks.

   Here’s my report card :

Mathematical Techniques II – FAILED. NOOOOO!!! Well, seriously though, I don’t expect to pass this, I can barely answer the exam questions and everything. Oh well, will face the supplementaries on the 20th, hopefully I’ll do better then.
Data Structures and Algorithm – PASSED. Well, no surprises there… my strong subject. Failure will be deeply embarrassing, although with me not handing in my assignment, I do get worried a bit.
Logic Programming – PASSED. Ugh, I hate this subject and to a lesser extent, the lecturer. Thankfully, my prodigious programming abilities mean that I do managed to scrape through.
Ethics and Professionalism – PASSED. Seriously, this subject? Who can actually fail this? Yes, I do recognize the irony.
Introduction to Machine Architecture – PASSED. Hohoho.. I’m pretty proud of being able to pass what arguably is the hardest subject in the year (except maths… okay, so it’s the hardest subject that I like). Guess that last-minute revision on floating point numbers did pay off, after all.

   On a more sombre mood, my best friend is away for her industrial training… *sobs* What will become of SPARC? Do we even have a 2007/08 high committee? I worry about the future of the society…

FCMers and Their Wooden “Boxes”

   So… for some reason, alpha FCMers in MMU are constructing wooden boxes… well, they’re not exactly a box, more like a frame of a box (i.e., there are no sides, so you can’t store anything in it). So… what’s the deal with the box-wannabe?

   Still, I saw pretty nice work of arts around… there’s with a spider’s web in it, and another with a fake bonsai… it’s all very nice, and very creative, but again, I ask you, what’s the deal here? Man, if it’s an assignment, then I have newfound respect for ‘em.

Art Exhibition!

   There’s going to be an art exhibition in MMU tomorrow (4th of May) and the day after that. I think it’s primarily organized by the FCM students… and I, for one, am going. It’ll be interesting, I hope I can get some culture and sophistication to rub off into me, and let’s face it, it’s a thousand times better than the stupid “break the Malaysian record” events that MMU seems to be delighted in doing. I mean, seriously, who the bloody hell cares? You played congkak or Saidina the longest in Malaysia, boo-fuckin’-hoo. You want some XP for that?

   Anyway, as far as I can tell, the exhibition is free, so yay.

MMU Next Top Ambassador, part I

   By the grace of God, this event is FINALLY over. Now let the bitc… uh, I mean constructive criticism and autopsy begin! Each facet of the event will be listed in alphabetical order.

Atmosphere – it’s okay. I wish we can rent out a smoke machine, but it’s a last-minute job and there’s none available. Plus, it will cost an extra RM300. I’ve been running around pretty much most of the time, so I can’t comment much on it. B

Door Gifts – didn’t get any, so I don’t care. And I’m too lazy to ask the audience what they think.

Emcees – surprisingly, it’s Gaya and that “Will Smith” guy. Appearance-wise, they look fine, but I haven’t been paying attention (running around, etc.) so I don’t know how well they managed the event. Let me just give ‘em a B

Food – well, it’s no cuisine, that’s for sure. The menu consists of fried rice, some sort of vegetable soup, chicken curry and fried mee hoon. Personally, it’s good enough for me — I depend on bread and butter for sustenance on most days. But for a glammed up event of this magnitude, the menu is a downer. Also, the appearance of the caterer doesn’t exactly shout out, “hey, I’m a professional! Respect me! Be at awe!”. For most people, the food is probably not worth the RM25 admission fee. I wish we can use the original caterer… C-

Hospitality – nothing bad I can say about ‘em. The security team looked GOOD; Andrew looks like someone from the Mafia, and the rest of the guys played their parts with aplomb. And have I mentioned that they looked so damn good? It’s like someone took all the best-looking guys in MMU, dressed them up in suits and made them guard the entrance for us.

   Also, the ushers, WOW. They look awesome. Special mention must be made of Laura (Shea’s friend), with her absolutely STUNNING red cheongsam. She’s seriously hot, I can understand if people mistake her for one of the contestants. She looked *that* good. A

Performances – Young Hustler and V.E. Couldn’t care less. No grades given ‘coz I don’t give a crap of what they did.

Up next : some other aspects of MNTA, and my disagreements with some of the committee members.