I don't like the situation that I'm currently in now. There are so many tasks to be completed and deadlines are approaching. Yep. Talking about student's life - the struggle of a final year student. Stressful indeed. I'm pretty much sure that later in my life when I read this post again I would be laughing because there's going to be a lot more stress moments in the future especially in the working environment. 

Thing is, I don't like stress. Period. Regardless of the stress types. I simply hate it. At this moment, I would rather sit down and study for the coming exam. I know studying for the exam could be stressful but not as much as completing all the assignments plus few major projects. 

I have a number of tasks that need my attention: discourse analysis, life science project, literature folio and not forgetting my prerequisite "ticket" for graduation - final year project. 

Let me break this down. 

For discourse analysis, I'm collaborating with my other two colleagues and we're required to analyze a radio interview transcription according to a discourse analysis model. It's not just a mere assignment but it also serves as a mini project. Meaning, we have to come out with a comprehensive and analytical report. Definitely not an easy task to do as everything must be analyzed in details.

Next one is the life science project. I guess this is the second major project for me for this semester after my final year project. This one requires my group members and I to work on a combined project. What I mean is, this major project actually consists of three projects all together. Two projects are related to the theme of sustaining the environment while the other one is dealing with the preserving of local heritage/culture. Our group will be leaving for Terengganu for the implementation of this project. Sounds fun but it comes with an amount of workloads! *sigh*

In addition to that, I've another assignment and I think this is the last one for the literature course for this semester. It's a group work and the task is about producing a folio that is related to the teaching of literature in school. Boring stuff but I've no choice but to complete it...

To 'cherryize' everything, I have the most stressful project for the whole entire course. That is none other than my final year project. Some of you might call it thesis but bottom line is, this one is prerequisite for me to graduate. This project serves as a ticket for me to go on the stage and hold the scroll. Failure to complete my FYP would definitely jeopardize my entire 4 years of bachelors degree studies and not to forget my prior 2 years of foundation course. Yes. Six years of studying for my bachelors degree! This project is really a pain in the ass but I've to go through it anyway. 

We are so blessed today with the advancement of the technology and it covers almost everything. Technology and computer/internet come hand in hand. Agree? Aight. Ain't gonna elaborate more on that.

What I want to share with you today is how technology (i.e. the Internet) has helped me with my music collection. Almost everything can be assessed through the Internet and the best part is, with few clicks of button or links I get to download my favourite music. Easy right? I bet you do the same too!

Gone are the days when I had to tune in to the radio and wait for my favourite songs to be played by the DJ. I used to have a small radio (i.e. cassette player cum recorder) and I had few blank/empty cassettes with me at that time. I would put the cassette in the radio and pressed the play, record and pause button at the same time. I pressed the pause button because I wanted to wait for the songs of my choice to be played on the radio before I start recording it. 

Usually the DJ would give a hint of what song will be played next and I would get myself ready to release the pause button as soon as the song being played. I had to set the correct sound volume because it would eventually affect the playback. It was all about trial and error. 

Last time, I had a big box to keep all the cassettes - my music collection at that time! Everything was labeled neatly. I didn't know what had happened to all those collections after my family moved into new house. Somehow all the tapes were "vanished"! *sigh* 

That was also the time when almost every house equipped with CD player that comes together with the Hi-Fi set. Mind you, only CD player not VCD/DVD player.

Now, there's no need to do all the hassle of buying blank tapes and recording. Everything can be downloaded and burnt into CD/DVD. Better still, everything can be copied into a flash drive/hard disk and can be assessed anywhere and anytime.

Today's Monday and officially all lectures (in UKM) start on this particular day after a long Hari Raya (Eid) break. This morning I literally dragged myself up from the bed to get myself ready for that one-hour lecture. Talking about Monday blues eh? *Smile*

As you might already know, I didn't go back to my hometown during the recent break and I decided to stay in the campus accompanied by other fellow friends who were also not going back. My residential college (my block to be exact) was literally like an abandoned building. I was the only one there. Actually, another friend of mine in the college also stayed back but he was seldom to be seen in the college because he was working part-time at a fast-food restaurant. 

To avoid boredom, I stayed at my friend's room for that whole week! Mind you, he was also alone as his room-mate went back for the break. Max's room was more like a hotel room for me during the break. My other friends also came to the room and we did organize a small-scale "social-gathering". It was fun to spend time with them rather than confining myself between the for walls of my own room. We had impromptu plan. Since all cafeteria were closed during the break we had no other choice than to go out to eat or worse comes to worse, just cook! 

Cooking and eating together with friends were more enjoyable as oppose to just go out and have meal with friends at restaurants. Agree? That was when the idea of having BBQ plus steamboat came in. Bought the necessary stuff and ta-da!! Everything was ready on the table. The preparation process was fun and often filled with laughter as everybody seemed to mock each others' cooking skill!  

The fun part was the eating part! Despite of lacking some cooking skills, we managed to prepare  satisfactory meals. BBQ-ed chicken wings, sausages and fish were all "vanished" within few minutes! Not to forget the steamboat. Everybody went back to their respective colleges with protruding tummy!

The "social-gathering" didn't just stop there. Accompanied by some of the leftovers, the guys decided to extend the 'happy-hours' in the room. Turned on the lappy. Browsed the YouTube site and searched for karaoke songs! Thanks to the uber-fast internet connection. We transformed the room into a karaoke room! 

And of course, a "social-gathering" wouldn't be complete without booze! *Grin* We've got ourselves "sufficient amount" of booze just enough to make everybody "happy"...Lol

Well, that's basically how I spent my Eid break in the campus and I'm looking forward for the next "social'gathering". *Smile*

At this point, I can only hear the sound of the spinning fan on the ceiling, the tapping of the keyboard, and soft music playing in my computer. I'm pretty much sure that I'm alone in this place: Block K16A, Room 311. The rest of the tenants are still enjoying the holidays at their respective hometowns. This time around, I decided not to go back. Wait a sec. I didn't get the chance to go back because the flight tickets were far way too expensive. Blamed myself for not booking the ticket earlier. I wouldn't want to fork RM700+ from my account just for a one-way trip from KL to KK. Nope! 

So, here I am confined between these four walls and enjoying the privilege of the 'temporary' high-speed Internet connection. I'm enjoying myself watching online streaming without having to wait for the long buffering time. Everything is fast and smooth. How I wish the Internet connection will permanently have such speed during the entire semester...*sigh*

I should be completing my assignments now but I'm too lazy at this moment. Oh! I'm so good in procrastinating my work!

*Yawning* Ok. Enough for now. I'm going to count the sheep...

ZZZzzzz....

I came across this piece of writing or rather a note posted by one of my favourite local writers - Mdm. Tina Kisil. She's a local Sabahan and has written a wonderful book entitled "Footprints in the paddy fields". I love reading the book as it was written in such a way that actually triggered my childhood memories. Not totally the same as hers but at least some of it. 

Just to prove that I bought the book and read it! *wink*

However, this post is not about the book but I just want to share with you an interesting fact or rather a note written by her (Tina Kisil) in her Facebook page. 

I went online after the 'panic-attack' incident (refer to previous post). I logged on to my Facebook account and I noticed I had one message in my inbox. I opened and read it. It was actually a forwarded message sent by my former school-mate. 

The message...

As a start, I just want to tell you that I had a terrible panic attack few moments ago. My laptop was not able to get started. I was panicking because I was thinking about my final year project's file in the hard disk. What would happen if I lost all the files? I would have to start all over again and that really sucks to the core isn't? Something miracle happened. I truly believe it was a miracle. Want to know why? As I was worrying about my laptop, Julian (a good friend of mine) came into my room and checked my laptop. He rebooted it for two consecutive times. Mind you, I did the same thing before he came in as well and nothing's changed. However, after Julian's second attempt, my laptop started normally. It was a relieved. Thank God! Thanks to Julian as well for his 'magical touch'.