Water Ski Weekend Getaway with Ole Miss Dudes

18-19 April 2009: Ole Miss Guys...Khai Sheng, Evan & Tony

Bro & his Taiwanese friend, Tony followed Evan back to Huntsvlle over the weekend. Bro was lucky to know Evan, that was how he managed to come over to Huntsville to meet up last winter & this time...hehe!! They knew each other coz he's a Chinese major in Ole Miss & bro was helping to tutor some of the Americans who are learning Chinese. He was a good host for inviting 3 of us 'foreigner' to spend the weekend at his family's house. We all had a great time hanging out together and also tried water-skiing for the first time ever with Evan's family...it was soooo much fun!! Wished the weekend was longer!! 

I was really surprised to know that so many 'ang mohs' are also learning Chinese...we're definitely very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn 3 languages in school. Being Chinese ourselves...we'd better know our mother tougue...no offense to 'bananas' though. Before coming here to US, I've never realized that we are very 'multi-lingual' and it was such an advantage. When people asked me what languages I know...I just listed out without even thinking...English, Chinese, Malay, Cantonese, & Hokkien...5 languages. Then they'll give me a surprised look...and said...wow, so many languages?! 

First stop...Bridge Street. I finally had chance to take day picture here...good timing coz I'm leaving Huntsville soon.

Their house is nice! We are sooo 'Asian'...not enough kaki so taught Madison to play mahjong. Surprisingly they had mahjong at home...hahaha!!

This was what we did when we were 'eat full too free'...posing on the trampoline...hahaha!! :)) Look at bro's interesting poses!!

Row row row your boat.....

We were like having a vacation...soccer, trampoline, hot tub, kayak...with such a beautiful view!!!

Went to 'I Love Sushi' for dinner...oh gosh...sooo goooood!! :)

My first water ski attempt...the water was cold but it was so much fun!!

This 'process' repeated several times....hahaha!!!

Me in action...pretty good for a beginner! :)

Bro learning to ski

Now look at the professionals...Madison & Evan!

Evan's family was our water ski teacher for the day....yeah!! Their boat is cool~!! 

Awesome view at the surrounding....wish I can own a house like this in the future!! 

Helped bro to take some 'sarong' photos...haha!! He asked me not to upload these pics...but I don't care...itz my camera...muahaha!! :p

Thank ya'll so much for the hospitality & a great weekend!!! :)

World Learning 2008-2009 UGRAD Re-Entry Workshop

National 4-H Conference Center, Maryland: 20-22 March 2009

I was supposed to post this update a month earlier but I was thinking of waiting till the end of this UGRAD program as a wrap up. But I've been taking so many pictures lately and I'll have plenty of farewell pics to upload so decided to just update about this workshop first.

We attended this workshop during Spring break...right after our trip to New York City. This Re-Entry workshop was organized by World Learning to gather all UGRADers from Asia Pacific & Western Hemisphere scatterred in different universities all over the States together. A total of 66 UGRAD academic-year scholars from 18 countries flew in to DC and the main reason for this workshop was to prepare us for "Re-Entry"...simplified...going home. I've uploaded a lot of pics here (p.s. click on it for larger pics).

We took a bus back from NYC to DC the night before this workshop and stayed at HI DC before heading to Chevy Chase, Maryland the next morning. Finding our way to the conference center was indeed a 'challenge'. Bro and I got off the nearest metro station and with all our super heavy luggages, we walked 2 miles for about an hour to get to the conference center...pheww!! We could have taken a bus or cab but we thought it was just a mile away and we didn't see the bus so decided to walk...bro's 'brilliant' idea...hahaha!! I was sooo happy when I finally saw the 4-H building...what a 'good' workout for us!! Most of the others were already there earlier and mingling with each other before we arrived. It was my first time meeting Ms Jessica, Ms Lee & all other World Learning people in person...they've been working hard behind the scenes all these while and we've only 'met' them through emails. We dropped our luggages, got our folders then headed to the cafeteria for lunch. The last 2 people who arrived late was Htet & Uyanga...hahaha....pride of UAH!!

After lunch, we got into groups to work on our community service posters. I was trying to find my name on the grouping list and surprisingly...I was the 'lucky' one who were left out on the list...hehe!! :p My groupmate was Jose (Dominican Republic), Khuslen (Mongolia), Nirle (Venezuela) & Magdelena (Uruguay)...we used our 'creativity' to design our posters within an hour...hehe!!

It was then time for welcoming address by Ms Dorothea. We were then asked to introduce ourselves country by country. It was funny when bro mentioned that we are twins...everyone was so surprised...haha!! Within half an hour...we got to know friends from China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Filipines, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos, Indonesia,, Mongolia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Panama, Thailand, Uruguay, Venezuela & Vietnam...cool huh!! We are the pioneers from our countries to get the opportunity to be part of this program.

We had a dinner reception and met representatives from the US Department of States, Mr Thomas Ingalis & Mr Tim Marshall, and also all the World Learning staff...they were the ones that looked through all our application forms and gave us the chance to be part of this amazing program. Thank ya'll soooo muchie!! :)

Clockwise: Ms Jessica Mead, Ms Lee Nguyen, Mr Colin Davies, Ms Irina Cheptanari, Ms Deanna, Mr Thomas Ingalis, Mr Tim Marshall, & Ms Dorothea.

The 2 dancers from UAH...busy posing for pics all night...haha!!

Beautiful girls representing UAH from 3'M's...Htet (Myanmar), Uyanga (Mongolia) & Me (Malaysia)

We just can't get enough pics with our traditional costumes...

Fashion show...my kebaya & bro's batik...Malaysia Boleh!! Bro looked like 'politician'...hahaha!! :p

Our cultural performance...Rasa Sayang (Feeling Love) & "用马来西亚的天气说爱你" (Saying 'I Love You' with Malaysia's weather)...yea...always soooo HOTTTT!!!

Other performances during the cultural night...ended with a group salsa dance...what a blend of cultures....Love it!!

During the cultural night, we had fashion show and cultural performances from several countries. Bro & I was involved in both...proud to represent Malaysia! Earlier on, we were thinking what to perform for the cultural performance...it wasn't compulsory though...juz for fun. I came up with the idea of singing Rasa Sayang (coz that is the most 'well-knowned' song in Malaysia)...so I looked on Youtube for some ideas...then saw Ah Niu's version of Rasa Sayang. I edited the song a lil' then sent it to bro and asked him to practice singing while I came up with the dance. We didn't had time to practice this performance at all until the night before the cultural night. I still remember practicing at HI DC's cafeteria at midnight...and they had CCTV there...the security might be laughing his ass off watching both of us acting stupid...haha!! But overall, our performance was pretty good...thumbs up...hehe!! :)

Our sumptuous breakfast at the cafeteria...I think I ate too much...oops!!

We were in the conference room from morning till afternoon. There were talks on Re-Entry, reverse culture shock (I didn't know about this earlier), joining the State Alumni, & leadership. We had the chance to interact with other scholars and listen to some of their experiences during this program. I was really impressed by everyone there...no doubt the potential future leaders of our countries!! This program had been a very valuable learning experience for every single one of us...being here in a foreign land as international students had change our lives, perspectives, and made us all a better person in life.

Each groups then took turns to present about our community service experiences.

We also wrote answers for different topics...there were some pretty interesting ones.

Everyone was busy taking pictures while waiting to board the bus for our DC tour. We just knew each other for less than 2 days but everyone bonded so well like we've known each other for a long time. It's amazing to see that even though we all come from different parts of the world with different cultures, speaking different languages...there seemed to be no barriers between us. Despite all our differences, this UGRAD exchange program has brought us all together to share one thing in common...which is the amazing UGRAD experience that we will remember for the rest of our lives!

We were split into 3 groups for the DC tour. We visited Albert Einstein's Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Capitol, & The White House. It was my 2nd time visiting all these places coz I've been here last December. But it's still nice coz I got to see the night view of this attractions this time around. As usual, we were busy 'playing' with the 'toothpick' (Washington Monument)...hahaha!! I really love the awesome camera from my baby...that's the best gift for me!! :)

After the tour ended, we all went back to the hotel and grabbed the opportunity to chat and share our stories before we flew back to our universities the next morning. Jessica, Deanna & Lee joined us and we all sat at the corridor of our rooms to chat. It was really nice that we finally had some time to sit down and chat. We all wish the workshop was longer so that we can know each other better.

It was time to say goodbye. We've enjoyed ourselves during this workshop and met lotsa amazing new friends here. This workshop was short but fulfilling. We've accomplished a lot from this UGRAD journey and it had been a life changing experience. Our journey here in the US is coming to an end but I'm sure we'll carry everything that we've learned here with us for the rest of our lives. We are all going back with sweet memories that we will look back someday and smile. This is not the end...it is just the beginning of our journey to a better future!

I am so blessed to know everyone here & proud to be a UGRADer!! To all my friends from all over the world: All the best in your future undertakings!! Keep in touch...I look forward to hear about your success stories!!

If ya'll wants to visit Malaysia someday, feel free to let me know...I'll be more than happy to host ya'll!! :)

Quote to share: "Dare to Dream...even the sky's not the limit!!"

Treasure Your Loved Ones!!

The end is approaching!! I don't really wanna think about it but the countdown that has been goin' on on facebook keeps reminding me about that! 10..9..8...7... Most of my friends will be leavin' in less than a week....what?!?! Are you kidding me?? It seems like it wasn't that long ago since we first met 9 months ago and now itz time to say goodbye?? Itz sad...but the fact is...our amazing UGRAD journey is coming to an end real soon!! :(

Have been busy busy lately coz gotta study for finals and also work on projects these 2 weeks...procrastinating again...this is what happens towards the end of the semester. I keep wanting to update my blog but couldn't get myself to start typing...I admit...I'm not a good writer...that's why I'm in accounting...haha!! :p

Apr 12: Celebrating easter with Anna's family

I've been spending the past few weekends with Anna's family. I haven't really mentioned much about them in my previous posts, but in fact, they've been quite a big part of my life here in the US. As compared to bro, I'm very lucky to have Anna as my roomie. Even though she's younger than me, she's been a great 'host'...taking care of me - this Malaysian since I came here....haha!! :p 

Coming to this foreign land...thousands of miles away from home & family, their family is like my 2nd family here in US. I'm very blessed to get to know their family...Donna, Donny, Daniel, Anna, Pawpaw, Leslie, & Nana...everyone of them have been treating me like part of their family.   

Weekends with the family!! :)

Spending time with American family over the past few months has really gave me the opportunity to understand more about the culture, lifestyle, & family values here. Being an 'outsider' observing the daily life of another family and how others' family communicate with each other is indeed a great learning experience. Be it positive or negative, there's always something to learn...and it also reflects what kind of person I am in my family.

Most people tend to take things for granted...especially when it comes to family. Sometimes, we treat friends nicer than our family...we would rather show our temper to family and not friends. We might have done or said things that we didn't really mean to and hurt the feelings of our family. I admit, I've made the same mistakes too. I'm still learning to be a better person and I believe that change is incremental...coming here has definitely taught me to appreciate what I have now.

One of my friend lost her mom recently and it made me realize how vulnerable life is. I still remember talking to her mom about coming to US few days before I flew over here...itz juz hard to believe that she's gone now. I was chatting with my friend recently and she said that her mom is very proud of us and is very happy that her daughter have us as friends. These words almost made my cry. 

Sometimes, we need to stop for a moment and look back at what we've missed in life. We can't turn back time to change the past and we won't know what's gonna happen tomorrow either...but remember...everyday is an opportunity to make things better...live life without any regrets!! 

"Life's short...treasure your loved ones, do something special, give them a surprise, thank them for what they have done for you and...say I LOVE YOU...before it is too late!!"

Sweet Home Alabama~!!

Spring Break Getaway

Re-visiting New York & DC ~ 16-19 March 2009

Whoops...I'm lagging behind on my updates...AGAIN!!! :p Nothing much have been goin' on with school lately, juz usual routine. It still takes me forever to combine my pics...haha...took too many pictures. I really love my new camera!!! :) Spring break was 2 weeks ago and most people went to the beaches, but I traveled up north to New York & Washington DC for the chilly weather instead...haha!! I've been to NY & DC last December but the main reason this time was to attend the World Learning Global UGRAD Re-Entry Workshop in DC.

I am a city lover. I love skyscrappers & the hustle & bustle of city life...but of course there're still some aspects that I don't like. I've been to big cities like Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, LA...and New York City!! I love NY and I was really excited the first time I went. I don't know why but I wasn't as excited this time, I guess itz coz I've been to most attractions already. As compared to NYC...DC is a nicer city.

Me, Uyanga & Htet flew from Huntsville to DC Ronald Reagan airport...transit at Detroit.

Arrived Washington DC & walked around Chinatown.

Chinese food for dinner...we ate as slow as we could to kill time while waiting to board our bus to NY at 11pm...hehe!!

Continued 'killing' time at Starbucks...bro is like a piggy...sleeping everywhere...

Finally arrived NYC!! First stop...famous bagel for breakfast...Daniel's???

Grand Central Station at 8am rush hour...women & 'men in black' suits...looked so pro...this is NY!!

St. Patrick's Day Parade...the marching bands were much better than the ones I saw during Mardi Gras.

The supa-dupa luxurious street...Fifth Avenue!!

Trump Tower...I was 'fired'...juz took the lift down...haha!!

The Apple Store in NY...I want everything here can ar...so cool la!!

'Over-working' my awesome camera in Central Park...such a nice park in the middle of this big city...me likey likey!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=69992&id=557008610&l=c02eaa1054

"Pretty woman...walking down the streets...pretty woman...JULIA ROBERTS~!!" Oh yeah oh yeah...I can't believe we were soooo lucky to see Julia Roberts at Broadway...she was there for the 'Late Show with David Letterman'...that was sooo awesome!!

Dim Sum for brunch at Chinatown...it was sooo good!! 6 items for $36...equals RM126...for 2 person only...OMG~~!!

Egg Tarts!!!! I love egg tarts!!! The freshly baked Portugease egg tart was so yummy!!

Walking around Chinatown & Soho...killing my poor legs....ouchh!!

It took us more than an hour to walk across Brooklyn Bridge...coz we stopped every 5 steps to take pictures...hehe!! :p

Check out this link for more pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70020&id=557008610&l=bf3026616d

Breathtaking Manhattan view from Brooklyn

Walking around NYC on nasty rainy day...introducing the 'latest fashion for 2009' in front of Times Square NYC.

I've only managed to finish combining the NY pictures...still lots more updates for the Re-Entry workshop in DC. Stay tuned! :) Time flies...it is now the last month of our program and most of my friends in UAH will be flying back home on Apr 30. Feels like it was just not long ago when we 1st arrived...doesn't seem like 8-months have passed by...wow!! This month-end is gonna be filled with mixed emotions...this UGRAD journey have been a fulfilling experience for everyone of us. :)