Farewell, Willie.

Another fellow friend has just left to continue his study overseas for another couple of years or so.

Recently, a few friends have left KL in pursuit of degrees or for job opportunities.

Jinqyi had just quit her job and will be moving to Singapore for a job opening.

There goes one of my movie buddy.

On Sunday, we had a farewell lunch for William who is leaving for New Zealand to continue his study.

[Farewell lunch @ Italiannies]

[Jimbo and Willie.]

The Shidio gang went to Italiannies for his farewell lunch. 12 of us officially attended the gathering. Those were James, Sammie, Eve, Julie, Ben, Cal, May, Chrystal, Chin Hou, JT, moi and the guest of honour himself, Willie.

[The Shidios @ early period]

Food was great, atmosphere was great. Everyone had a great time mingling and joking about. It’s the last time in the next few months or years that we can make fun of William. And no matter how often the Shidios see each other, we always have something to joke or talk about. Things never gets old.

[The later part of lunch]

Willie will always be one of the most outgoing and funny guys to be friends with. His humour and (sometimes lame) jokes can have you in stitches and possibly rolling on the floor laughing.

Willie    : Kuli!!
Ben        : Chibi!!
Willie    : Kuli!!
Ben        : Chibi!!
Willie    : Ta kao arr??? (Wanna fight?)
Ben        : Chui fu la!!! (Take off your pants lah)

Yes, the good ol’ days. Where we will always have something to laugh about in class because of his antics.

[Eve with nice posing smile]

But, everyone needs to fulfil their own desires and ambitions.

[Us drawing on Willie’s gift.]

[Willie with his original Shidio-designed stationery pouch gift.]

So, this year, there will be more leaving and some possibly leaving. Therefore, the number of friends around me will slowly decrease until they someday finally return home.

[More of the Shidios. Eve wondering what else to photograph.]

Those on the list who’ll be leaving are Sammie, JT and possibly James. 3 more great friends in the Shidio gang. Going off by the end of this year. (I think Ashlei left also)

[Sammie, who arrived late that day.]

Less 3 birthday celebrations. Less Shidio gatherings. Increase in farewell gatherings.

Monday, I went with James and JT to KLIA to send William off.

[Willie looking happy to be leaving Malaysia.]

Savoured some last moments of jokes and playfulness before he goes off.

[Take care dude. Best of wishes for your studies there. Don’t let the All Blacks trample over you and make sure the sheeps aren’t extinct by winter. And don’t accidentally shave off their nipples.]

I wonder when will it be my turn to go overseas to pursue my ambition.

Happy Valentines

Valentines.

The time for endless spending in this festival of romance. For most of you, at least.

For those who’re single, I do understand that some find this the loneliest time of the year. What more when it coincidentally falls on a Saturday.

For those of you who can still find a date to spend the day, great for you. For those who didn’t, like me, there’s no need to be feeling down or lonely.

I only asked one person out. But since that person wasn’t free, I was lazy to ask anyone else. Most of my close friends have partners or have other plans or are too far to meet up.

On the bright side, I saved heaps by not spending on flowers or chocolates or gifts that you schmucks think is a MUST have. Too many of you have been eating up commercialism, if you haven’t noticed it yet.

Okay, back to the topic.

It’s not all about romance and gifts and whatnots on this day. Sometimes people go so overboard with this day and forget the whole meaning of it.

This day should not only be about dating or being with your other half. In my opinion, it should also be a day to remember and acknowledge the people who loved you.

[Saint Valentine was a Roman who was killed for his faith on February 14, 269 A.D. He had refused to worship pagan gods, and some stories say he was a priest who would marry young couples in secret who loved each other but who did not have parental permission. In 496, his 'saint day' was established. He is associated with love because he fell in love with the daughter of his jailer, and would pass notes to her. His final note, before he was executed, read 'from your Valentine'.]

There are people who do bring their girlfriends or boyfriends home and celebrate Valentines. Sure, they may buy individual gifts for their partners. But for dinner, they bring their partners home to have a dinner with their families at nice restaurants. There’s nothing wrong with it.

So, for those of you who are single, dateless and have parents around, why not spend some time with them?

On a totally unrelated note, I was dating a China national woman on that day. And she gave me a great massage on our first date.

Okay, fine. I went to a massage parlour. And, no, not that type that you think. Even my parents went. And I got myself a nice, relaxing massage for my tired back.

The lady even pants me and massaged MY ASS.

I don’t know it but I may have just been sexually violated.

Vacation plans

Well, 2 months into a new year and I’m glad that I’ve been able to fulfil some of my resolutions.

When the clock struck 12am into 1st of January, I made several resolutions/tasks/to-dos that I would fulfil within this year. And now, I can cross off some.

1. Improve myself physically and mentally
2. Face my demons
3. Save some money for a rainy day/investments
4. TRY to be punctual for work
5. Complete all undone tasks
6. Contribute more to things that matters
7. Try to mend some broken friendships
8. Improve my cooking skills
9. Vacation to AT LEAST one good holiday destination

The most recent achievement would be a vacation to a nice holiday destination. And I finally mapped it out yesterday.

I browsed several websites online, surfed into Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia for flight rates and travel periods and finally made my decisions.

I booked a 5 days, 4 nights trip to Phuket on the 1st of May.

This trip costs me RM406 for a two way flight and RM530 for a five nights accommodation. Not bad considering this is one of the hottest tourist destinations. With MAS’s Low Fares, tickets are now more affordable. It was even more affordable than Air Asia…for the time being.

I opted to stay around the Kata Beach area rather than Patong because, it seems that Patong is normally the more crowded beaches in Phuket.

After looking up several (super expensive) hotels, I came across a hotel which looks great and at an affordable price. Very affordable.

Anyway, why bother for such a high class hotel when, at a place with so much activities available, you should be out enjoying the vacation and not be cooped in your room half the vacation.

If you wanna do so, just get a room at your local hotel and stay there. Why bother going away for a vacation to live in a room?

The highlight of this vacation is that I’ll be travelling alone.

Yes, ALONE.

Some already asked me why I’m travelling alone and not with friends or family. Some gave me a suggestion to quickly get another girlfriend and bring her along for the trip.

Well, the answer is simple. Because I wanted to go by myself.

See, first of all, this is not a matter of just a 200-300 Ringgit trip where I can easily pull someone to tag along. This trip costs almost a thousand. And that’s not including spending money. Unless I’m surrounded by millionaires, anyone would find it hard to commit to travelling with you. Or unless, both or more parties had been planning together for this trip.

Secondly, I wouldn’t have to synchronize my travel period to suit the other person. Almost nobody’s schedule and plans are perfect and I don’t want the hassle of “I’m sorry, something came up and I can’t go with you. Find someone else.” or “Sorry, my girlfriend grounded me in my OWN house.” It’s irritating and frustrating to deal with those situations.

Thirdly, I can do almost anything I want. And with no one to cramp my tempo. I like and do tend to do things that I want to do quickly and I don’t really prefer to sit around in the hotel room relaxing, while waiting for dinner time. Relaxing can be done at the end of the day once most of the shops in town are closed. And when you’re finally burnt out for the day.

As I’ve Googled and surfed around the net, I found that there’re tonnes of things to do in Phuket and not just water activities. There were also jungle trekking, elephant tours, ATV rides, kayaking, Thai boxing matches and many more. So, yes, I don’t want anyone to slow me down. I paid for the trip and I am going to enjoy it to the fullest. At the expense of my wallet and bank account, though.

But I think this would be a worthwhile trip. It’s not like I have millions in my account and can come and go whenever I want. Since I am able to go, I better make the best of it. Hopefully with tonnes of photos (anybody can loan me a water-proof camera? Doubt my DSLR or my C905 is water-resistant.)

Any of you with experience going to Phuket, I do hope you can spare some tips and maybe some recommendations.

I don’t guarantee souvenirs.

Think I’ll go to Boston…..

Everyday that I continue living here, I get more and more frustrated.

Frustrated with some of the people around me.

And every time those frustrations pop up again, my priority of moving out of my house goes higher and higher towards Top Priority. I’d probably move out at the first chance I get.

And what’s my plan if I DO move out?

First possibility : Move to another house, away from my family.

Second possibility : Move away to another country to either study or work.

I’m just so sick being here. Some people here are so FUCKING stubborn that I’m through and fed up with seeing them everyday.

Why should I have to suffer anger almost everyday when I could risk just going away to live a lonely,PEACEFUL life. Best of all, I can do whatever the heck I want. And I wouldn’t have to face some pain in the ass everyday.

At least when I’m lonely, I won’t be going around with a sulk on my face and anger in my heart. The least I can do there is find one new friend. Not an impossible thing for me.

What’s the point in living in your own home and not feel happy being there?

I think I'll go to Boston...
I think I'll start a new life,
I think I'll start it over, where no one knows my name

I think I'll go to Boston,
I think that I'm just tired
I think I need a new town, to leave this all behind...
I think I need a sunrise, I'm tired of the sunset,
I hear it's nice in the Summer, some snow would be nice...

That’ll just be great.

Isn’t moving out part of growing up?