Black Friday shopping

Was lepaking at Gylin's place after we makan and karaoke-ing. The guys mentioned that they wanted to go to Birch Run for Black Friday shopping. Ping's first reaction - gila! Drive until so far, line up in the freezing cold weather...where got worth it wor. Somemore Ping got nothing to buy also and already plan to go to Frankenmuth with the girls on Saturday mah...so wait until Sat lah. Why want to go 'khek khek' with other gila people. Then first Wei Yi offered to drive us there so Ping mah okay lor...got people drive, why not? But kong lai, kong khi, Ping end up driving all of us there. Haha..even BK was surprised Ping actually drove all the way. 自己都還有點奇怪為什麼會做這麼無聊的事. 可能是因為那晚不太想回家吧.

*Black Friday is like Merdeka sale in Malaysia but 10 times worse. You have to line up to get into the store, then sio chiau with people to get the stuff you want, then line up to pay...

So we drove there at like 12 mn...got there around 1am or so and shop till 5am. Think we bought lots of stuff? Nope. The longest we spent was at Columbia where the line to the cashier is like super long but the winter jackets were very cheap lor - less than USD50. But then Ping didn't buy any...hehe..only bought a pair of gloves. Just teman the girls to get it. 無聊? A bit ler...but 都一起去, 當然要一起走馬. Just for the fun of it.

The one Ping really wanted to get from Thanksgiving sale is a Samsonite luggage. Already thought about it since Ping got her air ticket to go home. Her luggage is super old and has lots of cracks edi...probably can last one more trip home only. So that is actually where we spent the majority of our time - at Samsonite. That is also because Ping cannot make up her mind if she should get it, and which one should she get. So we kinda lepak there for while, called mummy, then think think think somemore, and finally decided on one. Was glad Ping bought it 'coz Ping really do like it. It is very easy to move it around.
But Ping was most satisfied with the stuff the got at Nike. Got 4 long pants and they are all very comfortable! Love Nike pants! Their quality last much longer than most. Ping got one before Ping came to MSU and still look like new!! Haha..but you know what, almost all of the stuff Ping got at Nike are Made in Malaysia!! Well, at least Ping can say she supports Buatan Malaysia!! Keke... Also bought some clothes for ahdik. Not sure if you can wear the white one but you so san kiu kiu, should be okay I think.

Got home close to 7am, took shower and KOed straight away until 12noon. Gila right? Aiyer,久久才一次吗. *bleh*

But Ping's best deal for Thanksgiving is actually something more awesome! That is definitely a luxury...but but but....a bit hard to resist lah. HEhe...wanna know what? Will post pic soon...now wanna go home and eat orange!

Thanksgiving Dinner

This year's Thanksgiving dinner is at Gylin and Boon Keat's house. It will also be one of the last few gathering we will have at their place for this year as they will be moving to Indianapolis soon. Will definitely be meeting the two little kids - Jayden and Chloe - soon. So we gotta find more 機會 to play with them!

Inside of the usual Malaysian food potluck during our gatherings, we decided to have an American style Thanksgiving dinner instead. So what does American have for Thanksgiving?

Turkey! That's the most important dish during Thanksgiving! It's the symbol of Thanksgiving Day! TT and Jo were the main cook for the turkey stuff - the turkey itself and the stuffing.
Besides turkey and stuffing, the other traditional stuff are green beans and mashed potatoes, which were prepared by Lin Pei. Jo also prepared the sauces like the brown gravy and cranberry sauce to 'poey' with the turkey. Ping likes the brown sauce more; never really did like the cranberry sauce when Ping first tried it. Wei Yi also made spinach dip which was really good! We definitely did get a little full on it before everyone else starts arriving and while we (mostly TT and Jo) were preparing the food.
What did Ping made leh? Blueberry bread which actually didn't turn out as well as Ping wanted it to but it was edible so okay lah. Ping also made a chicken almond rice casserole. Ping got the recipe from Rachel Ray's site. Ping quite like it. It has no cheese like most casserole has and it uses cream of mushroom rather than milk. Ping also decorated the top with the broccoli tree to make it look not so plain. Zhi Thing and Pei Hua also made spaghetti but Ping just realized that Ping didn't take picture of it!!

The uncle and aunty who manage the one and only Malaysian restaurant in town - Suria - were also invited. But as we had expected, they brought mee goreng! Malaysian food! Kinda spoil the 'traditional American' theme but everyone was glad to get to eat Malaysian food....Malaysians mah...go until where also will end up looking for Chinese/M'sian food wan.
One of the great dish is the dessert. Bread pudding! (by Gylin) Pumpkin pie! (by Ming) They were both really good! Not too 甜 like the ones you get from the stores. Have to get the bread pudding recipe from Gylin edi since Ping really like bread pudding!
It is definitely one of the best Thanksgiving Ping have had in the States. Will definitely be missing the Chui family when they leave but that also means that we now have a reason to go to Indianapolis! Keke...

Happy Thanksgiving!

The first snow fall on Thanksgiving Day! Isn't it lovely?

Ping went to bed when it started snowing. When Ping woke up, the view outside the window is all white. The weather is kinda gloomy but the brightness of the snow cheers you up...makes you wanna run out there and just feel the snow! Love days like this!

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrates it and have a great break to those who celebrates the holiday!

Jet Boating!

Yippee...finally got the Jet Boat pictures scanned! Wanna guess where we are?


Haha! We're all the way at the front! Ping is all the way to the left corner side of the front seat! Very chi kek!! Awesome ride! Love the splash of the water! and....the cute Canadian captain! Haha!!

colors of Fall

The days are getting shorter...weather is getting colder (snow is started to creep its way into the forecast)...mood gets gloomier..but no matter what season, there's always something out there that makes you feel better...makes you wanna treasure 'this moment' more than brood about the gloomy weather.

Ping's favorite thing about Fall...the colors of the leaves - the change from various shades of green to various colors, from brown to yellow to orange to red..lovely! Was upset over some experiments earlier this week and the best remedy - take a walk! So Ping took a walk to get a cup of bubble tea and snapped some pictures on the way back. This one right below is by the Red Cedar River - the river that separates the campus into North and South side. Not entirely clean based on bacterial and chemical load but definitely way better than Sungai Pinang since you don't see any visible solid wastes. See how the colors range from green to red and yellow? Nice!
It is nice to get a book and hang around by the river - something that Ping have yet to do - or feed the ducks that roam around there. The rocks were not placed there for aesthetic purpose, but to increase the aeration of the river so that more oxygen is available for the activity of the high load of microbes in the river. However, it turned out to be a very nice spot as you can hear the water rumbles through it.
Here's Ping's favorite color combinations....(not for clothes ya! just for leaves...*Grins*).

Today's weather is still pretty nice. It gets much colder at night but Ping likes it...makes her wanna cuddle into bed, hugs her Elli-O and escape to Fantasyland...haha.

This is as much as they could do????

Awards for non-Malay scholars

KUALA LUMPUR: For the first time, Wanita Umno is presenting gold medals and a RM1,000 award each to non-Malay university students in recognition of their academic excellence.

The three non-Malay medal recipients will join the 18 other exceptional Malay students getting the annual award.

The three are from the Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Universiti Teknologi Petronas and Universiti Malaya......

Seriously, is this all they can do???? Three!! Chinese consists 26% of Malaysia's population of 22 million (as far as Ping can remember). That makes the number of Chinese people to be 5.72 million...so 3 people out of 5.72 million???? That's like 0.00005% of the Chinese population..AND that's not including the Indians and the other races yet!!! First, we had to compete with the quota system (yeah, not with other smart people BUT with the quota system) to get into a university. Then, we have to pay if we wanna study higher than a bachelor's degree (not because of no funding from the professor but the school doesn't care, they just want you to pay). Worse, for those from less-well-to-do families, they can't even apply for scholarships no matter how smart they are. Sad..

Now, they are proud enough to report this in the nation's newspaper? Geezzz....

“We thought, since this is the 50th independence year, we will present the gold medals to the non-Malays in recognition of the other races.

Oh wait, they were not really thinking of awarding the outstanding students, it was because this is the 50th independence year. Doesn't that sentence sounds like the non-Malays are placed in a different category?

Well, maybe I'm just missed out some facts and I'm reading this all wrong. So if I am, why don't you tell me? coz all I see is 'racism'. Seriously, why should the 'race' be a fact in awarding scholarships? Just because the one who forks out the money is UMNO? Hmm...why don't we all pay tax differently then? and RM1000? Three months of rent and it is probably gone.

Ping is in a foreign country. No special status - just simply an alien. But hard work as an undergrad pays off with scholarships sufficient enough to pay tuition fees AND rent. Would I have gotten this in M'sia? Why don't you tell me? Ping could have not read the article. But Ping knows a few people who had bad experience with local unis and they deserve way better than what they get. Is this what M'sian education is teaching us? That if you're not 'their people' no one is gonna back you up?

Don't get me wrong. Ping still loves Malaysia. Given a second choice, Ping would still choose to be born in Malaysia. The rich culture and the life experience that Ping have gotten there is what makes Ping today. But there are times when the country just shouts out disappointment.

Disappointed.

it will never be the same...

Steph left this morning. For good. She's moving on to better science and a new stage of her life. Ping is totally happy for her that everything worked out fine despite the hard start she had. But it also means that Ping will have to get use to not having Steph around.

Being an international student, trying to find a friend whom you can get really close and call her/him your best friend was never easy for Ping. You always feel that they are superior to you because you're in their country living within their culture. It was pretty adventurous for Ping to adapt to their culture but it is impossible to lose your own culture within theirs. What does that mean? That means that to be your true self, the friend does not only have to be willing to share their culture with you, but also be able to accept your own culture. Steph is the 2nd person whom Ping totally clicked with here in the States. It took some time but when Ping felt comfortable enough, Ping knew that she's someone Ping will always be friends with, and not someone whom you meet, hang around for a while and then never contact at all. She patiently taught Ping a lot about what and why they do some stuff here, about all the fun stuff, about stuff that is a no-no, about words and terms they use, and all the little things...she was also caring enough to ask about Ping's life in M'sia, how Ping maintain Ping's own culture and she's curious about other cultures.

Being in science, it is also not easy to find a friend who is willing to listen to your 'hit-the-wall-moments', a friend whom you feel comfortable discussing with and not feel like you're being judge, someone whom it's okay to ask a stupid question that you should have known but did not, someone whom you could tell your ideas to, someone who could be a mentor. But with Steph, that was all possible. Grad school was much harder than Ping had expected. It wasn't just like undergrad research, it was not just research, it was also learning to deal with times when research does not work. There were times when the thought of quitting and going home to get a job crossed Ping's mind. But because of Steph's encouragement, Ping had gone through her pre-lim and is now having a pretty cool project to work with. Okay, that's also thanks to the boss but without Steph, grad school would be much much harder than this.

Daniel Powter - Bad Day. It was Steph who introduced this song to Ping. Steph, there can never be enough thanks for all that you've done for me - both in and out of lab. You've been a great friend and mentor to me. You totally fit into the 'hard-to-come-by' category. I will be missing you!!! Not only when I'm having a bad day (and having to get yogurt parfait or bubble tea all by myself) but also when I'm having a great time (and getting weird glares for my excitement)....I'll make sure it'll transmit over to the land of Tattoine (I wonder if they are much more environmentally friendly there? Don't forget to recycle the papers!).