Monday, September 22, 2003
Ah, Orientation. A time of misty-eyed nostalgia when one remembers his own time of wide eyed innocence, wandering about lost and confused with 1000 other equally direction-less people. Watching all the new first years come in makes me feel like a veteran, a warrior, one who has 'been there', and I can't help but get a warm glow as I yearn to help all these people, to share my extensive experience of one year with them such that their orientation might be that much smoother.
This is how I attempt to justify my being an Orientation Leader and spending the first 6 hours of Saturday morning humping Godzilla-sized pieces of baggage up the Shoreland. Yup, Saturday was move-in day for first years and - oh lucky me - I just had to be assigned to move-in duty at my very own dorm. Now, I love my dorm, I really do. The rooms are huge and the people are social. Some people, however, seem to confuse 'large room' for 'mansion', and accordingly lug their whole house over. The sight of a truck piled high with stuff pulling into the dorm driveway, I can assure you, is a bone-chilling one, particularly when you know that it somehow, with YOUR help, of course, has to make it into and up the building. The Top 5 list of things that I saw moved in on Saturday:
5. Armchair
4. Full-sized Fridge
3. Tea Lamp
2. Filing Cabinet
1. Goldfish
You would think the dorms were unfurnished or something.
After move-in day, however, Orientation activity has subsided to a dull roar, which I guess I'm quite thankful for. Yesterday I had to deliver my spiel on Living in Hyde Park (our Uni neighbourhood), which I had to train for. Now I looked at the material I had to deliver, and basically my agenda contains stuff about Living in an Urban Environment, which is things like What Buses to Take Downtown, Do Not Openly Display Cash or You Will Get Mugged, Look Both Ways Before Crossing the Road and It's Not Nice to Push Children onto the Street. Now, tell me how you can train someone for 6+ hours on how to disseminate information like that. Anyway, its all done, and most of my group was still awake by the time I was done, so I guess that's an encouraging sign, unless they all snuck in Gameboys which I didn't see.
Ok, it's getting quite late and I need to go. Besides, I think the goldfish is getting hungry.
nayko |9:34 AM
Thursday, September 11, 2003
It's not that stuff isn't happening. Hell, I haven't even written anything about Hong Kong yet, and I really want to. It's just that saying goodbye is a time and energy consuming process. In all honesty though, I'd much rather spend the time with a good friend and simply enjoying his/her company than writing this thing, and God knows that there's not much time left.
Blogging can always wait.
nayko |11:40 AM
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Ron is complaining that his name doesn't show up on Google, so here goes:
Ronald Chan Kaho
Hope you get your 15 minutes (seconds) of fame buddy. =)
nayko |6:05 AM
Monday, September 01, 2003
This place hasn't been seeing very much action lately, and I apologize. But I swear it's not my fault. Blame my computer and/or my modem if you will. It seems that every time I have the inclination to write (which, admittedly, isn't striking me all that often these days) they contrive to make my online experience as miserable as possible. For instance, ICQ or IE will suddenly start consuming like 96% of my computer resources for no apparent reason. With my extensive computer experience and skill, my reaction in this case is usually to scream, hit the keyboard, turn off the computer, and then find bandages for my bleeding hand. Given that computers usually neither listen to reason nor take bribes, the above method is the most effective one I've discovered so far. Suggestions are welcome.
On the nights that I haven't been lacerating my own limbs against my computer, however, I've actually been doing stuff that's rather fun. Last Friday night, for instance, Peishan and I went over to Serene's for our oogly-googly exciting sleepover. It turned out to be pretty fun. For all you hopeful people out there, I regret to report that it was a very chaste experience, but nonetheless its something I would recommend. One thing to take note of, however: There tends to be as much sleep in a sleepover as there is ham in a hamburger. Just in case some of you *coughprincess!cough* might have misunderstood.
It also managed to draw some very amusing remarks.
Situation: Allan is spending the night with 2 girls.
Reactions
Serene's Dad: Allan is a very lucky man.
Friend: Enjoy yourself.
Mom: Two girls? They treat you like one of them? Are you gay?
I always knew I had very supportive parents.
At least they're letting me go to Hong Kong. It is quite a miracle how I am actually leaving in about 6 hours or so, considering that as of this morning I didn't even have a plane ticket or any Hong Kong dollars. I swear this was not for want of planning. I had reserved a ticket the week before, only to be informed that due to some problems I could not be accommodated and my reservation had been cancelled. And so I had one day to put together a trip. My personal experience today as to how this feat was achieved was so enriching and educational that I felt it had to be shared. And now, mujers y caballeros, without further ado, let me present my extensively researched
Guide to putting a trip together in a day
12 midnight: Set your alarm clock for an early time (say, 8:30) and ask your parents to wake you up as an extra precaution. This is important since the day is short and you'll need every minute.
8:30 am: Be woken up by parents. Mumble that you're fine and will head downtown in about 1/2 hour. Once Dad leaves room, fall asleep again.
10 am: Wake up.
10:01 - 10:05: Wash up, while swearing a lot.
10:30: Rush out of house to head downtown, where the travel agency is.
11:15: Find out that travel agency that you had in mind has nothing for you.
11:16: Swear some more.
11:30. Run into friends in town. Have long and leisurely lunch.
2 pm: Realize that, as of 2 pm, you still have no ticket.
2:03: With new-found sense of urgency, head for Mambo Billiards in Lucky Plaza. Shoot a few rounds of pool.
3:15: Go to House of Condoms to buy a present for a friend. Admire new displays.
4:00: Start to panic over lack of ticket. Call your father about this problem.
5:00: Head home and take nap.
7:30: Wake up. Watch Gensomaiden Saiyuki on AXN.
8:00: Wonder where Dad is.
8:04: Watch Almost Famous on VCD.
10:30: Dad returns with ticket.
And all is done. Of course the above guide is based on the assumptions that a) you have a really nice Dad and b) like me, you are one lazy ass. And so my advice for all you aspiring travellers out there who wish to plan your own trips: don't.
nayko |11:54 AM