OHAIYO (good morning in Japanese) from SARAWAK. I'm currently in the city of Kuching, Sarawak. And it's true that there are plenty of cats you can see no matter where you go (cats are kucing in Malay language which sounds the same as the name of the city). But, that wasn't the first thing that I noticed when I reached here. As you know, I'm a KL-ian, I came from a very hectic city where traffic jam happens all the time, people rushing to work and school etc. So, when I first arrived in this city, it was a weekend and guess what, you can barely see cars on the street. Most of the shops are closed as well (on a weekend?!). Kuching is the capital city in Sarawak ... therefore, this somehow doesn't make sense to me. However after sometime, I came to understand that people living in Sarawak usually stay at home or go for vacation during weekends. They love going to the beach, according to some locals. Anyway, Kuching is a beautiful and peaceful city. I love its serenity. I love how it's not as hectic and busy as my hometown back there. No doubt, you get to relax yourself in this big city.
Alright so ... let's talk about the university I was enrolled in - University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). The first word to describe it would be "huge". The buildings are kinda new and there's a lake in the center of the campus. They have awesome facilities as well. It's the only university with a bowling arena and I've been there for more than 5 times in just 1 month! lol you can see how much I enjoy bowling already. Besides, I'm glad that my hostel room is spacious enough (not really enough actually.. I wish it could be bigger, though). But, yeah at least it's bigger than most of the other rooms. And thank god, it's at ground floor which means that I don't have to use the stairs to reach my room. (I have phobia to stairs since I was in Form6 ... I had to reach the 8th floor using just stairs! haha just kidding it's not really a phobia to me but who loves stairs?)
I have 2 roommates - one of them came from Johor and another one is a Sarawakian. Both of them are sweet and nice girls. There's no problem staying in the same room with them at all. And one of my roommate - that girl from Johor - has become one of my closest friends here. She somehow has a lot of things in common with me, such as attitude. Seriously ... haha she's just as sampat as I am. (did I just admit that I'm sampat? haha) But then, of course, I still miss my friends back in KL. I have their photos beside my bed, by the way. Although we seldom contact each other ever since I came here, I know our friendship bonds ain't that fragile 'cause I know when I get back to KL we can still chat and have fun like how we used to. :)
By the way, I've learnt one thing new here - modern dance! And this time, I totally got out of my comfort zone. The first performance was a competition. Although it's not my first time dancing on a stage, I still felt excited and nervous. But anyway, I did my best! I felt so good after the dance. I was so happy as I finally did something that I've never thought I would do. :D Besides, that was the first time I put on such heavy make-up. (thanks to my senior and dance-mate) I was kinda satisfied with it, especially the eye brows hehe. But then, someone told me that I looked scary and fierce with make-up on and I look better without make-up. Okkaaaay. LOL I thought so too actually. Anyway ... dancing is fun! After uploading the video on Facebook, I received a lot of positive comments about it. Most of them was surprised to find out that I can dance lol. I just went to the audition, learned about the choreography and then, I got chosen as one of the main dancers. Despite that I didn't memorize the whole choreography, I got all out doing some random moves and I felt really ... how to say ... really different. (did I just dance like a mad lady in front of so many people? ... WHAAAT?! hahahaha) It was a great experience, even though we had to practice until midnight every single day. All those sleepless nights were worth it. The second performance was a flashmob and it's not that stressful this time as it's not a competition. I enjoyed myself a lot more in this performance!
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| me putting on make-up for performance |
By the way, I've learnt one thing new here - modern dance! And this time, I totally got out of my comfort zone. The first performance was a competition. Although it's not my first time dancing on a stage, I still felt excited and nervous. But anyway, I did my best! I felt so good after the dance. I was so happy as I finally did something that I've never thought I would do. :D Besides, that was the first time I put on such heavy make-up. (thanks to my senior and dance-mate) I was kinda satisfied with it, especially the eye brows hehe. But then, someone told me that I looked scary and fierce with make-up on and I look better without make-up. Okkaaaay. LOL I thought so too actually. Anyway ... dancing is fun! After uploading the video on Facebook, I received a lot of positive comments about it. Most of them was surprised to find out that I can dance lol. I just went to the audition, learned about the choreography and then, I got chosen as one of the main dancers. Despite that I didn't memorize the whole choreography, I got all out doing some random moves and I felt really ... how to say ... really different. (did I just dance like a mad lady in front of so many people? ... WHAAAT?! hahahaha) It was a great experience, even though we had to practice until midnight every single day. All those sleepless nights were worth it. The second performance was a flashmob and it's not that stressful this time as it's not a competition. I enjoyed myself a lot more in this performance!
I have no regrets joining modern dance. At least, my uni life wasn't that dull after all. Besides that, I got to know a lot of new friends! They are really nice and friendly. We could communicate well even though I had to speak Malay and English to them. ^_^ So ... no matter where you are, go ahead and learn something new. Make it different. Yes, it takes some courage to get out of your comfort zone, but then you wouldn't know how far you could go without stepping out of it. Take a step, if it isn't what you want or like, just step back and look for something else. Just follow your heart.
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The next thing I like about here is that my course-mates and lecturers are nice. I'm glad that there are quite a number of Chinese students in my course (mostly girls). We all come from different states and backgrounds but can still mix with each other well. When someone is in need, we would help her out indeed. Thank god I don't have to be alone in uni, in class, having lunch and dinner, doing grocery shopping etc. I've known some new friends from other courses too. Most of them are the friends of my roommate's. They're really nice and they could be as crazy (in another word "sampat") as my friends back in KL! Before I came here, I thought my uni life would be boring 'cause I wouldn't be able to find friends with the same attitude as me ... but then, it turned out there're quite a number of them who are just like me. hahaha
Time flies ... it's the mid-sem break already. I've been here for almost 2 months and I'm starting to get used to the life here already. I can say I'm more independent now hehe. I think life in uni is going to be another turning point in my life. I'm so excited about what is gonna happen to me in the future! Am I going to be a graphic designer? Am I going to be a more outgoing person? Am I going to live happily ever after? (haha life is not a fairytale) Anyway, I will try my best to live every day happily and live to the fullest. I will make every single day count instead of just counting the days.
