In The Now

The previous post (if you read it) was all about my past. In this post, I’ll tell you guys about my current situation and how I’m doing here in the present. As they say, the present is a gift. (pa kena mengena plak dah??) hahaha

Well, I’m currently staying in Harvard Golf and Country Club, Bedong (not US k? Boycott!!) Kedah. Pretty ulu I would say, living in a golf resort. It’s not even that fun, especially when you dislike golf. L. I used to play a bit during the day, but it was too damn frustrating, and even on days that I felt I played good golf, my score never fails to say otherwise. Even though I once got a hole-in-one in Langkawi Island’s leading golf club, (forgot the name oredi..) I actually played 120+ on that round. That was in 2007. (MSSK plak tu!) So I’ve stopped playing golf and have decided to concentrate on rugby as my main sport. It is one of the few (if not the only) sports that I’m actually good at.

Eh, strayed quite far from the topic there. I am a digresser at heart, and will often deviate from my main story, so deal with it. (Please?) Now where was I? Oh yeah, I am currently studying in Institut Perguruan Persekutuan, Pulau Pinang (IPP) or formerly known as Maktab Perguruan Persekutuan Pulau Pinang (M4P, pronounced “em pat pee”) or known before that as Malayan Teacher’s College (MTC). Personally, I like the name MTC better. It just sounds so “uuuuuuu~~”. Haha. Whatever.

Life here is a bit of a drag, thanks MAINLY to the millions of stairs present here that we need to climb just to get from one place to another. Tiring indeed it is. The institute is situated in a hillside, so as exotic and exciting as that may seem, it’s still really a drag. The cafeteria is on the foothill and our classes are on the peak. So by the time I get back to class from lunch, I’m hungry again from climbing the steps. :P

I’m studying English. More specifically, I am under the TESL(Teaching English as a Second Language) Foundation Programme here. The lessons are cool, but the workload is a bit too much for my liking. I would prefer no work at all if possible. :D The people in the course are okay too, but a little tight under the collar, contradicting with my nature of being carefree and careless. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have any friends here, not at all. I get along with most of the 61 other trainees here. I get along best with Bagan (bukan nama sebenar). He’s 2 years older than me, but I can hang around him as if he were my own age. We share similar interests in music, rugby, and humour. Some I very rarely see, some I don’t want to see. But in general, I think I’m okay with everyone. I’m not sure if everyone’s okay with me though, ‘cuz you kinda get that feeling that some people dislike you. Oh well, I know I ain’t perfect as I’m only human. But I really like being liked, so it’s hard for me to ignore the fact that some people dislike me. L. I do have friends outside my course. I’m a friendly person sebenarnya. Hehe. My roommate’s a Math major, and I have several other friends from Kedah that I met here, as well as from other states.

I’m staying in a block called “Blok Gajus”. In English, that would be “Cashew Block” (I think). Peculiar name no? I have a few friends, Mesow, my roommate as mentioned earlier. Arep, Adib, Fahmi, n Alip are the people who frequent our room. I’ll try to get some pictures of them to put up on this thing. And maybe a picture of the whole cohort. And a picture of my class. And I’ll even throw in a picture of me for funsies. Wow, this paragraph is uninteresting.

What else yeah? Aha! In the previous post, I said I loved rugby. No kidding. I still do. My first love, you could say. hehe.. I first played rugby when I was in standard 2 in primary school. Touch rugby it was. I wasn’t at all good at it mostly because of my small frame and slow legs. The only thing I was good for then was that I actually UNDERSTOOD the game. Then I entered secondary school, Sultan Abdul Hamid College, where rugby is a big sport with soaring expectations, equivalent to their past achievements. My father was actually the rugby coach of the school. His achievements in the sport, to me, remain unparalleled by anyone in the country. I represented my school, played as a scrum half from Form 1 to Form 3, and played stand-off from Form 4 till Form 5. During that time, I played for my state only once, that was in Form 5, although I feel that I deserved to get played more than that as I feel my ability is actually higher than most of the other people they pick to play. That might seem like cockiness, but to me, that’s just honesty. I am an honest person, and if I think I’m good at something, I’ll say so. The same goes if I think I’m not so good or not good enough in something, I’ll say so.

I played for the Kedah team at Sukma Terengganu, we ended up getting the bronze medal, behind Terengganu (gold) and Negri Sembilan (silver). Not bad for a team that only trained together as a whole team just two weeks prior to the event. Not bad at all. Now in this institute, rugby is not a big game at all. Many days I will find myself alone at the field throwing my own ball to myself. Sometimes a few people would come and play, but most of the time they’d spend their free afternoons catching up on their Zs. It’s so saddening. My medium for releasing my aggression taken away from me. L. But still, I have to remember that there’s always a silver lining to every dark cloud. So keep on working dude!

What else ah? I think that’s all for now. If there’s anything else that I feel needs informing, I won’t hesitate to post it for any interested readers. (ada ka dak orang had baca menatang ni?) arh, to hell with it! I’M the one who wants to do this, so I shouldn’t be worrying bout that. Thank you and Assalamualaikum!