LuMphAAARR!!
MAN my run of bad luck never ends. Just today when i was getting my uni card done - getting my photo taken and the card printed on the spot - the whole school network went down just as i got my photo taken. A freakin hour of waiting for nothing. Gotta go again to the panorama room tomorrow lor...
The delay in my student number also extended to a delay in processing me thru on the engineering department - my name wasnt on the list yet, and i'm still waiting for my timetable and tutorial group. After i went to the UG office to check it out, they were also about to enter me on the records when the network went down.
Seriously - this is getting a bit too far maaan.....did i step over someone's grave or something?
Man its gonna take me a while to get freakin used to freakin westwood. Its freakin far, and everytime i come back a different way i get lost within the westwood campus itself. Oh well - fingers crossed on that transfer.
Monday, September 27, 2004
aaAalrighty then ...
I meant to post last thursday because i was in SUCH a good mood - explanation to follow - but then a chain of events started, further extending my ridiculously good run of bad luck . Here's a quick breakdown of what happened
Saturday - flew into London with my dad
Monday - Stayed over at Coventry
Tuesday - Signed up for the orientation program, dad buggered off to london for meetings
Weds, Thurs - fun fun fun on the orientation program
Friday - went down to London - met up with Darren, Fong May,Lim, Lu and Jac. Stayed over.
Saturday - Still in London. Stayed over again
Sunday - Made it back to campus
Now to fill in the gaps....
Of course, being in close proximity to my father for extended periods of time, especially travel, can be highly stressful- nuff said about the first coupla days then. When i got to the orientation registration, i still didn't have a student number because the UCAS clearing info hasn't gone through yet. I was given keys to Claycroft, a nice hall near the center campus, and i was told it was gonna be a permanent fix but the paperwork comes later because i wasn't on the system officially yet. I later found out that i'd get my student number the next day, so i can enrol online in time to make the actual enrolment friday ( you had to enter your details online first) .
soooo i proceeded to participate in the orientation program. Malaysian # 1 - a cempakan junior who somehow recognized me - shivers. Malaysian # 2 - a random postgrad. Then it picked up - a whole whack of people from Taylors and many others too. Of course, there were the international students too. A buttload of exchange students from Eastern Europe and Germany especially, and India Indians who spoke better english than the local indians. Amusing reminder of IC - a bruneian called Lu ( Lutfi) and another German Kristina.
The programme basically consists of meals around campus, tours , speeches and parties at night in a massive marquis with performances like salsa, african drums and the like. There was also a tour of Stratford-on-Avon ( Couldn't get on the Oxford one cause it was overbooked and i was late because i forgot my ticket) . The really fun bit was the International Society's clubbing do at the union on thursday - loads of great music ( well by my account anyway) - arabic, bhangra, latin american etc etc. Let's just say i made up for the last few months of really bad clubbing aaaAAiiii! Haha some people thought i actually had dance training. Kembang giler!!
After my legs cannot tahan anymore i wernt back la - i was just about to blog after checking my mail when i got an email confirming that the accoms office had made a mistake - i was actually in another hall - catered with horrible food and the furthest from the main campus. cOCKS. So the next day i had to move out to the other hall -
Problem 1 - i had already stocked up on food for the next week
Problem 2 - the accoms office couldn't get me any transport that day
After a couple of hours of suffering i finally managed to shuttle everything over and i joined a couple of the guys in Coventry before bouncing off to London to see the jokers up there and pick up some of my stuff. I was ready to crash for the night - got a quick overnight bag but i ended up staying till sunday because of rail works on the Euston -Coventry route. At least i didn't have to come back again Sunday cos only then we could get access to Ee wen's place.
After repacking and resorting my stuff i got on the train back carrying bout 70-80 kg of my stuff. Needless to say, i was in pain by the time i got back to Westwood. Furthermore, i missed some little orientation things on the weekend, and also a hall meeting earlier today - haven't met too many of my hallmates as most of them came over the weekend. Got some major socializing to catch up on.
Amar's Bad Luck Checklist
Lets see what hit me in the last couple of weeks -
1. The whole visa fracas
2. The major fuckup by the Warwick accoms office
3. Despite informing the bank in advance of my address change, my bank card still got swallowed
4. had to go mangy for the weekend because of the totally random railworks.
5. umm.........cannot remember.....
6. I seriously swear there were 6.....just a bit tired to remember now.
There had better be a whole fuckload of good karma coming my way. If i semangat i post some photos soon from the orientation. Till then i'll just brace myself for the next wave of bad luck.
I meant to post last thursday because i was in SUCH a good mood - explanation to follow - but then a chain of events started, further extending my ridiculously good run of bad luck . Here's a quick breakdown of what happened
Saturday - flew into London with my dad
Monday - Stayed over at Coventry
Tuesday - Signed up for the orientation program, dad buggered off to london for meetings
Weds, Thurs - fun fun fun on the orientation program
Friday - went down to London - met up with Darren, Fong May,Lim, Lu and Jac. Stayed over.
Saturday - Still in London. Stayed over again
Sunday - Made it back to campus
Now to fill in the gaps....
Of course, being in close proximity to my father for extended periods of time, especially travel, can be highly stressful- nuff said about the first coupla days then. When i got to the orientation registration, i still didn't have a student number because the UCAS clearing info hasn't gone through yet. I was given keys to Claycroft, a nice hall near the center campus, and i was told it was gonna be a permanent fix but the paperwork comes later because i wasn't on the system officially yet. I later found out that i'd get my student number the next day, so i can enrol online in time to make the actual enrolment friday ( you had to enter your details online first) .
soooo i proceeded to participate in the orientation program. Malaysian # 1 - a cempakan junior who somehow recognized me - shivers. Malaysian # 2 - a random postgrad. Then it picked up - a whole whack of people from Taylors and many others too. Of course, there were the international students too. A buttload of exchange students from Eastern Europe and Germany especially, and India Indians who spoke better english than the local indians. Amusing reminder of IC - a bruneian called Lu ( Lutfi) and another German Kristina.
The programme basically consists of meals around campus, tours , speeches and parties at night in a massive marquis with performances like salsa, african drums and the like. There was also a tour of Stratford-on-Avon ( Couldn't get on the Oxford one cause it was overbooked and i was late because i forgot my ticket) . The really fun bit was the International Society's clubbing do at the union on thursday - loads of great music ( well by my account anyway) - arabic, bhangra, latin american etc etc. Let's just say i made up for the last few months of really bad clubbing aaaAAiiii! Haha some people thought i actually had dance training. Kembang giler!!
After my legs cannot tahan anymore i wernt back la - i was just about to blog after checking my mail when i got an email confirming that the accoms office had made a mistake - i was actually in another hall - catered with horrible food and the furthest from the main campus. cOCKS. So the next day i had to move out to the other hall -
Problem 1 - i had already stocked up on food for the next week
Problem 2 - the accoms office couldn't get me any transport that day
After a couple of hours of suffering i finally managed to shuttle everything over and i joined a couple of the guys in Coventry before bouncing off to London to see the jokers up there and pick up some of my stuff. I was ready to crash for the night - got a quick overnight bag but i ended up staying till sunday because of rail works on the Euston -Coventry route. At least i didn't have to come back again Sunday cos only then we could get access to Ee wen's place.
After repacking and resorting my stuff i got on the train back carrying bout 70-80 kg of my stuff. Needless to say, i was in pain by the time i got back to Westwood. Furthermore, i missed some little orientation things on the weekend, and also a hall meeting earlier today - haven't met too many of my hallmates as most of them came over the weekend. Got some major socializing to catch up on.
Amar's Bad Luck Checklist
Lets see what hit me in the last couple of weeks -
1. The whole visa fracas
2. The major fuckup by the Warwick accoms office
3. Despite informing the bank in advance of my address change, my bank card still got swallowed
4. had to go mangy for the weekend because of the totally random railworks.
5. umm.........cannot remember.....
6. I seriously swear there were 6.....just a bit tired to remember now.
There had better be a whole fuckload of good karma coming my way. If i semangat i post some photos soon from the orientation. Till then i'll just brace myself for the next wave of bad luck.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Bonjour mes amis, comment ca va?
Its been a mildly interesting week. Boring ass weekend though. Most of the outings we planned for friday and the weekend never happened to i was stuck with my parents again. arrRRGh.
Saturday - a boring boring blur
Sunday - foolishly remarked about my not playing golf for a long time in the prescence of my dad. Got hauled off to RSGC - luckily it has been raining like, every other afternoon so we were stuck at the driving range. 300 balls and a square metre of divots later i was sooooo bored. Despite slicing , topping and hooking half my shots i still outdrove my dad. yay. Food at the club worse than ever.
Monday - dinner out with parents, followed by more freakin dota later.
Tuesday - the real fun begins. Went to VFS to check up on my still pending visa after a week. Couldnt call because the lines were seriously impenetrable, and the high commision didnt take calls on visa matters. Waited for 3 hours to find out thats its still pending, no other explanation. Fired off emails to VFS and the high commission .
Wednesday - got a reply from someone at the high comm. Apparently they told VFS on monday to contact me and ask for my original unconditional offer. Funnily enough, the officer i dealt with last week said that the copy was fine and they didnt want my original. Yet when i went on tuesday they didnt say anything about that. Obviously i was rather pissed. A few assertive phone calls and emails later and the high comm agreed to let me bypass VFS and deal with them directly. Went down to the high comm and dropped off my offer letter.
Man i swear British immigration must have some personal vendetta against me. I hope some guy goes postal at the tiny VFS office and hoots the fucktard officer who handled my case. If they don't get this done by friday, there's no point in even just picking up my passport to make the flight because they dont issue student visas in the UK anymore - you cant even apply at the immigration place in east croydon like i did last year ( 12 hours, 250 pounds and the bitch gave me just one year) . Judging by my current luck i better write in advance to the bank so the don't swallow my bank card when i use it after 3 months of silence like last year.....
On another note, after reading charl's account of the IC freshers thingy, i suddenly remembered again how much i'm gonna miss all you crazy hall people. I'll be definitely swinging by london now and then to catch up - I'm sure going down from warwick to london will be a helluva lot easier than going down from KL-singapore with my frickin parents watching my back.
For now, i guess i'll just scream at more paper-pushing syncophants over the phone and get a head start on my packing. Fingers crossed on my visa!
ps. - will somebody help me get that freakin Franz Ferdinand 'matinee' song outta my head?
Its been a mildly interesting week. Boring ass weekend though. Most of the outings we planned for friday and the weekend never happened to i was stuck with my parents again. arrRRGh.
Saturday - a boring boring blur
Sunday - foolishly remarked about my not playing golf for a long time in the prescence of my dad. Got hauled off to RSGC - luckily it has been raining like, every other afternoon so we were stuck at the driving range. 300 balls and a square metre of divots later i was sooooo bored. Despite slicing , topping and hooking half my shots i still outdrove my dad. yay. Food at the club worse than ever.
Monday - dinner out with parents, followed by more freakin dota later.
Tuesday - the real fun begins. Went to VFS to check up on my still pending visa after a week. Couldnt call because the lines were seriously impenetrable, and the high commision didnt take calls on visa matters. Waited for 3 hours to find out thats its still pending, no other explanation. Fired off emails to VFS and the high commission .
Wednesday - got a reply from someone at the high comm. Apparently they told VFS on monday to contact me and ask for my original unconditional offer. Funnily enough, the officer i dealt with last week said that the copy was fine and they didnt want my original. Yet when i went on tuesday they didnt say anything about that. Obviously i was rather pissed. A few assertive phone calls and emails later and the high comm agreed to let me bypass VFS and deal with them directly. Went down to the high comm and dropped off my offer letter.
Man i swear British immigration must have some personal vendetta against me. I hope some guy goes postal at the tiny VFS office and hoots the fucktard officer who handled my case. If they don't get this done by friday, there's no point in even just picking up my passport to make the flight because they dont issue student visas in the UK anymore - you cant even apply at the immigration place in east croydon like i did last year ( 12 hours, 250 pounds and the bitch gave me just one year) . Judging by my current luck i better write in advance to the bank so the don't swallow my bank card when i use it after 3 months of silence like last year.....
On another note, after reading charl's account of the IC freshers thingy, i suddenly remembered again how much i'm gonna miss all you crazy hall people. I'll be definitely swinging by london now and then to catch up - I'm sure going down from warwick to london will be a helluva lot easier than going down from KL-singapore with my frickin parents watching my back.
For now, i guess i'll just scream at more paper-pushing syncophants over the phone and get a head start on my packing. Fingers crossed on my visa!
ps. - will somebody help me get that freakin Franz Ferdinand 'matinee' song outta my head?
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Lo and behold, i have returned!
Where have i been for the past month or so? Well pretty much in and out of home. Whenever i get online it isnt for much except to do mail and read comics so i never bother to turn on MSN either - what more to sit down and blog. Apologies to you, my loyal readers/really bored people. Still kinda on hermit mode when it comes to checkin up on friends who arent in town - sorry IC people!
Lotsa little things to recap over the last month - so lets start with the important ones first:
The big stuff..
After goin through a messy coupla of weeks sniffing out places for clearing, i managed to get a place doing Mech Eng in Warwick. I got offers from Kings and Queens in London, but after ages of weighing the pros, cons and merits of each decision i settled on Warwick . Man...i'm gonna miss soo many things in London, especially you crazy IC people - don't worry though i AM gonna swing by every now and then. As for the status of my scholarship , its pretty much a " keep in view" case over the next year - corporate talk for "see how first". I'm flying off on the 18th to catch the orientation programme.
Well thats pretty much the ONLY important thing.......
A month, in bullet points
- Too much Dota. Dota Dota Dota. Seriously guys is there nothing else?
- Darren, Lionel and Fong May came down for a coupla days. Lotsa fun. Haha FM you didn't think i'd forget about your quote of the day hmnn?
" I didn't come today with a sign that says 'poke me'"
Don't ask....
- Cooked dinner twice for the dota gang back home - an arabic dinner ( lamb tagine, grilled chicken on hummous, briyani-ish rice and tabbouleh salad) and a crap spanish dinner ( soggy Paella, bad gazpacho and tortilla y fritatas- NO it wasnt telor goreng with potatoes) . Apparently Adrian was the only casualty after some "results" from the paella.
- Caught AvP. Great for a typical summer flick - thumbs up on the viscera but hideous plot and character development. The silliest part has gotta be when.... SPOILER......the only human survivor casually teams up with the predator. At the moment, cant remember what other movies i've seen...
- Made to play secretary to my dad for a coupla days. Since i had to tag along to settle my bank account, flight ticket and Warwick stuff with MABECS here he made me do a whole shitload of other admin stuff for him too.More on this in the section to come..
- Applied for my student visa the other day at the new UK visa center at Wisma MCA. Tiny place, bad service - people were being turned away for little things like not cutting off the borders on their photos and stuff. I myself had to get my photo redone and come back later as they stricly needed photos with a white background.
- Of course, more Dota. A pox on you , Blizzard!
Back to good 'ol ranting and the like...
A particularly stressful period was when my dad made me follow him around running errands. Long term exposure to his habit of narrating everything and saying redundant things can be bad for your blood pressure along with his insistence of doing everything his own convoluted, archaic way. Among my oh-so interesting jobs was syncing up stuff from his secretary's computer with his computer. For some reason, while i was away he got a Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop with a 128 meg GeForce and a gig of ram, an ultraportable Fujitsu Lifebook and an HP iPaq PDA. All were pretty much in mint condition except for being taken out of the box and moved around. Big, pretty paperweights. RrARRRgh. At least i might "commandeer" the iPaQ after he forgets about it. Eeexcellent.
I'm sure at least a coupla of ya have heard of Jojo - an upcoming 13 year old (!!!!) R&B songstress. Not only is her voice quite the powerful but she's pretty...ermm...developed for a 13 year old. Short of sounding like a freakin pedo ( FiNE Alex, at least Emma Watson's almost legal) she could really be worth watchin out for in the next coupla years.....
Aside from sharing laughs with my mother over evil, inappropiate things, and my aunty still going "pray pray pray" like a broken record, i pretty much can't wait to get away from home again. Once i get back to some quality online time i'll get with updating my photos page and spiffin up this page - probably gonna play around more with the colours and formatting on the entries. Till the next time i actually blog, keep it tight, homies!
Where have i been for the past month or so? Well pretty much in and out of home. Whenever i get online it isnt for much except to do mail and read comics so i never bother to turn on MSN either - what more to sit down and blog. Apologies to you, my loyal readers/really bored people. Still kinda on hermit mode when it comes to checkin up on friends who arent in town - sorry IC people!
Lotsa little things to recap over the last month - so lets start with the important ones first:
The big stuff..
After goin through a messy coupla of weeks sniffing out places for clearing, i managed to get a place doing Mech Eng in Warwick. I got offers from Kings and Queens in London, but after ages of weighing the pros, cons and merits of each decision i settled on Warwick . Man...i'm gonna miss soo many things in London, especially you crazy IC people - don't worry though i AM gonna swing by every now and then. As for the status of my scholarship , its pretty much a " keep in view" case over the next year - corporate talk for "see how first". I'm flying off on the 18th to catch the orientation programme.
Well thats pretty much the ONLY important thing.......
A month, in bullet points
- Too much Dota. Dota Dota Dota. Seriously guys is there nothing else?
- Darren, Lionel and Fong May came down for a coupla days. Lotsa fun. Haha FM you didn't think i'd forget about your quote of the day hmnn?
" I didn't come today with a sign that says 'poke me'"
Don't ask....
- Cooked dinner twice for the dota gang back home - an arabic dinner ( lamb tagine, grilled chicken on hummous, briyani-ish rice and tabbouleh salad) and a crap spanish dinner ( soggy Paella, bad gazpacho and tortilla y fritatas- NO it wasnt telor goreng with potatoes) . Apparently Adrian was the only casualty after some "results" from the paella.
- Caught AvP. Great for a typical summer flick - thumbs up on the viscera but hideous plot and character development. The silliest part has gotta be when.... SPOILER......the only human survivor casually teams up with the predator. At the moment, cant remember what other movies i've seen...
- Made to play secretary to my dad for a coupla days. Since i had to tag along to settle my bank account, flight ticket and Warwick stuff with MABECS here he made me do a whole shitload of other admin stuff for him too.More on this in the section to come..
- Applied for my student visa the other day at the new UK visa center at Wisma MCA. Tiny place, bad service - people were being turned away for little things like not cutting off the borders on their photos and stuff. I myself had to get my photo redone and come back later as they stricly needed photos with a white background.
- Of course, more Dota. A pox on you , Blizzard!
Back to good 'ol ranting and the like...
A particularly stressful period was when my dad made me follow him around running errands. Long term exposure to his habit of narrating everything and saying redundant things can be bad for your blood pressure along with his insistence of doing everything his own convoluted, archaic way. Among my oh-so interesting jobs was syncing up stuff from his secretary's computer with his computer. For some reason, while i was away he got a Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop with a 128 meg GeForce and a gig of ram, an ultraportable Fujitsu Lifebook and an HP iPaq PDA. All were pretty much in mint condition except for being taken out of the box and moved around. Big, pretty paperweights. RrARRRgh. At least i might "commandeer" the iPaQ after he forgets about it. Eeexcellent.
I'm sure at least a coupla of ya have heard of Jojo - an upcoming 13 year old (!!!!) R&B songstress. Not only is her voice quite the powerful but she's pretty...ermm...developed for a 13 year old. Short of sounding like a freakin pedo ( FiNE Alex, at least Emma Watson's almost legal) she could really be worth watchin out for in the next coupla years.....
Aside from sharing laughs with my mother over evil, inappropiate things, and my aunty still going "pray pray pray" like a broken record, i pretty much can't wait to get away from home again. Once i get back to some quality online time i'll get with updating my photos page and spiffin up this page - probably gonna play around more with the colours and formatting on the entries. Till the next time i actually blog, keep it tight, homies!
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