Today's adventure!

I woke up to a repeated honking. Feeling panicked, I looked at the time on my phone. It says 5.41 am. With my heart pounding hard against my chest, I called the second last number on my speed dial. It rang and rang but my call wasn't answered. I ran to get the house keys and to open the front door. My heart sank when I don't see a maroon or white Proton Wira car outside my gate. At this very moment I hear my dad calling out my name in a worried tone. 

"Michelle! Michelle!"

I went inside my parents' room and vaguely see my parents' confused and worried *with a hint of annoyance look. They asked what was I doing. 

I said "Uncle's car is not here anymore"

Mum : Today is Sunday 

Me : ............... 

I thought that it was Monday and that I was late for school. I called uncle (the man who drives me to school) to inform him that he doesn't have to wait for me and that I'll make my own way to school. [This is what I do when oversleep either because I didn't set my alarm, or my phone switched off by itself from no battery or I turned off the alarm and continued sleeping - all of which happened before]

I was so blur at that moment that I even got confused with my timing. My alarm is set at 6.00 am from Mondays to Fridays and uncle comes and fetch me at 7.00 am. At that time, I was asking myself if I normally wake up at 5.00 am or 6.00 am. I panicked thinking that uncle always fetch me at 6.00 am. 

Conclusion : Waking up in the wee hours really does damage to your brain. 

And yes, I take an hour to prepare for school. Just doing basic things like brushing teeth, bath and have breakfast. Oh, and also poop.

Dad told me that he got worried because he thought that I was sleep walking and that I was trying to leave the house. He thought it was funny when I told him that I even called uncle.

So, this is my little adventure early this morning. I'm feeling sleepy and tired as I'm typing this now. Lack of updates before and after this because the big day is soon approaching! I should be spending every minute I have now studying, but I think I have ADHD. One second into studying and I'm either looking at the wall or thinking about something else. In. Desperate. Need. Of. Help!

Kthanksbye

Meaningless Graduation

"Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become graduates." - Google.com

Yeap. Directly copied and pasted from google. And somehow in Malaysia, there seems to be a different definition of graduation. Today was supposed to be my second graduation from high school. My first one when I was in Form 5, in 2011. That wasn't that bad because at least it has a little meaning to it. I'll elaborate more on that later. And this year, I ditched graduation because it seems like a very bad plan. Bad in terms of everything. From the last minute planning to the ridiculous attire rule to the venue to the date and eveything. 

I would've gladly participated if it was planned and executed differently. Here is the issues I have with this year's graduation :

a. Lack of experience in planning
This year is the first year that my school is planning an event of this sort. Never in the history of High School Klang have ever held a convocation ceremony (I think) and this freaking year is the year they want to start this event. 

b. Last minute planning
The idea of this graduation came up about 1 month before the actual date and of course, everything was a rush and it obviously wasn't a very well thought out plan.

c. Venue
School hall. Sounds okay, but you haven't seen and been to my school hall. Bad ventilation. Fans - only a few and only at the side of the hall. Imagine if you're sitted at the center plus considering that it is summer in Malaysia all year round and that we have high humidity here. It means that your sweat glands are actively producing beads of perspiration even more so if you sweat easily even if you're just sitting down doing nothing. Oh and there's no air conditioning in our hall.

 d. Date
 Date is yesterday, 26 October (Saturday) before our big exam. Yes, before BEFORE B-E-F-O-R-E our exam! So tell me, who "graduates" before getting their results or better yet... taking the freaking exam??!!!! #onlyinmalaysia #malaysiaboleh

d. Attire
Baju kurung (a traditional Malay attire ; long sleeves, long top with a long skirt) for girls and light coloured formal shirt and a tie and a formal pants for boys. And again, consider the venue and weather. [You want me to dress up and then sweat though my clothings? Uh uh. Ain't never going to happen!] There's a plus point here too! For the photography session, there's also graduation robes to wear. And no, we don't buy our own personal robes. It's loaned to us for the day minute depending on how long your class takes for the photography session. So imagine, after one class finishes posing in them, they pass the sweaty, smelly and damp robe to another student from the next class. And then this goes on and on until each and every student in the hall has taken class photo with the robe. 

e. Costs
RM30. This amount of money for an event held in our own school. Ridiculous! Food would cost at most RM10 each student. But I don't know, could be less since I have no idea what they served. Another RM15 allegedly for the felt file *another case of embezzlement? (used to store/present certificates - but in this case, no certificates were given out) So yeah, they just handed out empty files which costs so much. 

f. Execution
In the beginning, this graduation was said to be optional, like we could decide to go or not to go. And since it is before (I can't help but to stress the word before again) our exams and that is less than 2 weeks before out big exam, the response was really bad. Poor teacher's in charged of this event has a hurt ego and then decided to force students to go. 

They began actively collecting money for the event and then when some of us still persisted not to go, they begin threatening us that if we do not support the school, our Sijil Berhenti Sekolah (School Leaving Certificate) will show a bad report in terms of disciplinary grade and also that they wouldn't certify our photocopied results cert. Way to go school! 

And also, friends from another class had complained that our headmistress herself personally went to their class to lecture them about not going. Results? Everyone in the class reluctantly paid for the event. 

After that, our class got a visit from the school's counsellor. We tried to reason with her that we didn't want to go but she attacked us. Urghhhh and she even lied! She mentioned each class one at a time and "read" from her "list" and said that every class in the Form 6 has either full attendance or 2 or 3 absentees (with solid reason - according to her) *roll eyes* We checked with friends from other classes, blah blah blah blah. Conclusion : our counsellor lied. 

Some of us then felt frightened with the threats and just decided to pay up and we were told that we didn't have to go anymore. Our sources told us that it's because or school hall couldn't fit in everyone. Indirectly speaking, the organizers are relieved that we aren't going. Excellent! 

Okay, I'm almost done ranting. If you're still reading, I think this event has one an only one good side to it. Spending time with your friends. But since my classmates aren't going, I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything :D Looking at pictures friends from other classes posted on Facebook shows that at least they have had a good time with their fellow classmates. Rightfully so, since that's a Saturday spent in school and also RM30 spent on bad food. 

One thing I can't stand seeing. "Officially graduated" No, honey. You haven't actually graduated. You just participated in a "graduation ceremony that has no meaning" *I feel like a mean person bursting little kids' balloons with a needle* And seriously? This is not the end... yet. Not when you still have to go to school on Monday and come back a week later to take the exam! I mean who graduates and then still have to attend school? Jeez

Hi Land

Hi land as in High land as in Bukit Tinggi. Yeapppp that's a super cold joke. *wind blows* Anyways, I finally went to Bukit tinggi, Pahang after looking at so many pictures of friends going there and taking pictures at the French Village. We went on a Sunday, which explains why there's so many people. #ihatecrowds

Oh, anddddd I didn't vomit!!! I have the tendency to vomit when I go up to higher grounds (ie Cameron and Genting Highlands) during the windy roads journey when I was younger. No nausea achievement unlocked!

Smug face. Hahaha

Surprisingly the journey wasn't too long. Took only about 2 hours from my house. And we reached! :D Entrance fees is RM12 per head for adults I think (I can't remember). Children rates are cheaper. You have to pay this entrance fee at the blue dot area there.

 Stole this photo from Google.com

Ootd

Me and my older sister. I like to believe that I'm taller *tearsofjoy*

Girl power! Our elder sister. Nah, I'm just kidding. That's my mum

Mum : Michelle! Michelle! Wait! Let me take a picture of you with the rocks as the background

Me : Turns to see that the rocks are too far away

Hence that -_- face

The rock background. Was tempted to climb on them, but I was wearing a dress/apron?

Moss Garden leading to the Japanese Tea House

Candid shot. Oh my parents are shoooo cute

Fishes from the Japanese Tea House giving us a warm welcome

Saw a very nice bamboo background. This is how I normally pose #dorkface

This is what happens when I get posing advices from my sister *fingersallcurledup*

What's the main attraction when go to the Japanese Tea House here in Pahang? Rent all the kimonos/yukatas and camwhore! It's RM20 for 20 minutes, they recommend 10 minutes inside the Japanese house and another 10 minutes outdoors, in the garden. So it's like RM1 for a minute. Chop chop! Let's go! Time is ticking. And the weather seemed like it was going to rain, so the lady there asked us to take pictures outdoors first, and then only indoors, but we took too long outdoors, and when we finally came in, time was up and we didn't get to take pictures indoors :( boohoo

P.S. it is expensive, to my standards, but the pictures make it all worth it :D 

They have many many sets of yukatas, in many many colours, so you can just tell them what colour scheme you're looking for, and if they have it, you can wear it. There's costumes for both males and females, and also for kids. Super adorable I tell you. 

Huh? Watcha doing here? This is my blur face if you haven't see it before

Don't worry if you don't know how to put them on. They'll help you with that.

She looks like a Japanese girl right?

Mum says I look like a ghost. If I was any fairer, I'll scare myself when I go through the photos. Hhahaha That's exactly why she had my hair cut short my entire childhood. Says my face is too small and that I'll look like a ghost. Thanks mum

Full length photo! No feet because we were wearing shoes. 

Tip : Bring your own slippers or wooden clogs and white socks because they don't have any to rent

Mock shocked faces because a guy asked to take pictures with us because he says we both look like foreign people. Awww what a sweetie

Pinning up my hair because I look like a ghost. So say everyone aka mum and sis

Absolutely love the big bow at the back

She's so cute :D 

Japanese eyes -u-

Did I already mention how much I loveeeeee the bow???

Seee??? What did I tell ya??? It's shoooo cute on little kids!!! :D

*ghost in the Japanese Garden* 

Behind the scenes. Hahaha I look scary

This shot just makes me feel like the world's best photographer. Lol

Hmmm a DSLR would make this shot look better

Mum always scolds me for making faces like this :(

We met this cute little girl named Felicia. We thought she looked cute so we asked to take photos with her. Hope she doesn't think that we're both creepy big sisters :O

Did I mention that I freaking love the bow?!!! Yes I did. Mum's scolding me for taking pictures of the back only. She's like "Why you want to waste money taking pictures of the back only?"

Because smiling and tucking your hands demurely is too mainstream. I'm a hipster like that

Btw, the girl behind my mum wasn't taking pictures nude. She's wearing nude colour clothings

It's hard to walk in the yukata

Time was up wayyyy long ago, and so we went to change out of it... reluctantly. The lady explained that they set the time limit at 20 minutes because its hot wearing the yukata what with the layers (imagine yourself being a ba zhang). Then we continued to camwhore around the garden.

Almost there.....

Finally climbed a rock! #likeaboss

Snack stall (by the Botanical Garden entrance)

No pictures of the food we ordered (not that I remember what's the name of the dish) but I think we ordered french toast sandwiches. It's very delicious from what I remembered, but maybe that's just my stomach talking because we were so hungry that we ate them faster than I could take a photo. Oh well. 

Yes, this sign was found in Malaysia *loud sigh*

Extremely steep slope. Can you see how many degrees that is?

And then off we go to the French Village! Bonjour. There's no parking already inside, so we had to park real far and walk there. But it's okay since the weather was cooling.

Can you see it?? Can you see it??!!!!

And boom! We're standing in front of it

No, we didn't get Mcd. Someone just left it there. Tsk tsk tsk. Littering in Malaysia has gotten way out of hand. Even starting to spoil pictures!

Cue magic dust background music. This place looks magical :))))))) and the swans! or are they goose or geese?

They're so pretty I wanted to take picture with them but I heard they bite :O

Now she just looks cute. I just assume it's a girl because she's so beautiful

Waiting... waiting... tadahhhh!!!

And then I turned and saw black swams. 2 of them!!! So it's 2 white and 2 black swams <3 <3 <3 But they were separated by an iron fence.

I love horses. Ever since I read and saw pictures of them in the Peter and Jane storybook series

There's tall, colourful buildings, arcades and games and a fountain and so many restaurants and bakeries inside this village. Andddd!!! I saw the huge teddy bear!!! And of course, it's the grand price, which is impossible to get. I think it'll be cheaper to just buy it rather than trying to win it. So I could only see and touch the bear.

Taking a picture with Mr Teddy because I couldn't bring him home.

Next! To the rabbit farm! I don't know if there's a name to this rabbit farm, but this is the place where we buy the tickets and rabbit snacks.

Donkeys! :D They're really sad btw, so make sure you go and pet them

These are... um... mousedeer? Idk

Helloooooo there... This little one wouldn't come near us or let us go near him/her. We tried using food to lure it our but it just ran and ran and ran. T.T

She/He is just tired. Fyi, I'm not hurting it. 

 See? Prove! She's just sleeping zzzzzz

Then there's this corner where the rabbits are caged up. And the worst part is! They're sooo hungry!!!

Mr Bunny says "Feed me! Feed me!!!"

And then at another corner, you can feed the rabbits running around, pick them up, take pictures and take them home. I'm kidding. The saddest thing about this is, some naughty kids chase the poor bunnies around. Hopefully they don't get stepped on because we almost did. ALMOST! Thank god we didn't ><

Meeting the parents. Hhahahah lol

Awwwww so cute

My little baby

We noticed the white rabbit looking at us, so picked it up and camwhore with it

I bet he's regretting that. Like "Mum told me it's rude to stare, no wonder lah! This is what will happen"

Panda coloured bunny. Or maybe oreo mcflurry coloured?

Okay. Last stop before we head home

No, we're not in a dog farm

What does the horse say? 

Photo credits to my sister because he loves her :'( 

Here he is looking at her

The beginning to a new love story. He just sniffs or breathes loudly when I pat him. Or her. Not that I know its gender

We went for the 'Lead Ride' because we didn't have much time. And the 2-hour trail sounds fun but tiring

Contender #1 Mum

Contender #2 Me

Selca with the polo hat. If that's what's it called. Idk

With the horse I rode on, her name's Bonny

I'm up!

Finally off we go!

At first, it was kinda scary because 

a) the horse is so tall, and when you're up there, you're higher up and its so weird. 

b) and when the horse starts walking, it moves left and right (a little)

c) and that's scary because you have only one strap to hold on to.

d) and there's a possibility that you can fall to the left or right or front or back if you pull the strap only. 

And my sister said "stop gripping onto the strap so tightly" No, I'm not choking the horse, I'm just choking the strap. Hhahaha Okay, so I tried to calm myself down and get used to the rocking left and right feeling. Then I was fine and enjoyed the whole walk with Bonny. Oh and there was a moment there when I thought Bonny was angry and was going to run around like a mad horse because she suddenly stops in the middle of the road. Even the trainer was patting her and nudging her forward but she just didn't budge. I have super wild imagination, yes I know. Turns out she's pooping. In the middle of the road.

So this 10 minute lead ride is just basically riding a horse which is lead by a trainer on the road. I was actually hoping that we could walk on the grass and lead the horse myself and run wild in an open field. But baby steps yeah? Hopefully one day I'll be able to ride a horse myself. I need riding lessons first! Before I fall and break my skull.

With the main trainer, Margreet. I think she's from Sweden? I can't remember ><

According to Margreet (I don't know if her name's spelled correctly or not, but it's spelt that way on the board), the blue thing covering the horse eyes are to protect their eyes from flies. Because there's flies flying all around them.

This is the board where they keep track of the amount of exercise each horse get a day.

Saw this beautiful brown horse with white socks. Omaigod too cute

Holding the horse ride ticket at Bonny's stable

The RM2 entrance fee is to see the horses. If you're riding the horse, you don't have to pay RM2, just pay for the ride

Horse ride ootd. I was wearing this under my apron

Sayonara! Until next time!