Chilling in Cameron - Part 1

With the Raya holidays around the corner and me getting some days off from work, I was obviously not going to spend my days at home suffocating under the city heat and haze. Fast forward, I am currently in Cameron Highlands, enjoying a cup of tea and the cooling atmosphere of mountain air. I need to cleanse all the hustle and bustle stress I endure in the city.

Cameron Highlands, in short, is a series of valleys connected in one long stretch, covering the states of Pahang accessible via Perak. There are several districts here and one of them is Tanah Rata, my current location. So far, I have spent two days here and I'm glad that there are few more days left to go. In this two-day period, I have relished the sights of butterflies, the myriad colours of flowers and the picturesque view of a tea plantation that stretches from valley to another.

In the name of photography, I would like to share my experience with a few out of many photos that I have taken:

 

Le Rose

Malaysia's National Butterfly: Raja Brooke

A pot of Pitcher Plants

A panoramic view of a tea plantation

Lastly, this would not be a LEGO blog without at least one picture of a LEGO minifigure. Here's Cyren buzzing around in a bee suit. Yes, he is my companion for this trip (I wasn't gonna go alone).

So, I gotta get back to enjoy the rest of my trip. I will update soon with more of Cameron adventure. Stay tuned!

Donning A Mask

I seem to have a habit to write my blog in the depth of the night even though I've lost my nocturnality since I join the workforce. Nevertheless, sarcastic writing must persist to prevent my blog from falling into forgotten disgrace.

While that was my usual antics of starting a new blog post, this paragraph is my actual opening. So, June has passed and we are in the midst of July (to be honest, it's way past mid-July now and I told myself to write this at the start of the month). Those of you who follow my blog (thank you for spending your time reading my LEGO-filled life...no, serious, I'm thankful), you would know that comes the start of a new month, I would feature a post reviewing my mundane yet seemingly interesting life of the previous month. Thus, I'm going to review the June 2014 that I have spent.

As you can see from this photo, there are optional masks that I must choose to wear. Now, back in old days (from ancient Japan to Greek Empire), masks were used in theatrical setting to express the emotions of the actors and actresses on stage. Changing a mask usually means changing an expression or the personality of the character. June, for me, was full of switching personalities.

In a nutshell, I am working at a center, teaching personal growth to kids. I admit that I used to behave like a immature brat even though I'm technically an adult (the word scares me). I thought having a career in a field involving children would maintain that part of me. Oh boy, was I wrong. Not only do I have to be serious, I have to be...inspiring *gasp*. Well, I get to goof off once in a while with the kids.

Therefore, I have to constantly change 'face' or masks. Different situations call for different emotions and mindset. When kids are having fun, I have fun with them. When kids are being hell spawns, I need to become the devil. When kids are being angels (a rare moment indeed), I would be the god almighty *whahahaha*.

Anyway, I'm still changing personalities as of now. I realized one mask is not enough given the volatility of teaching and life. A mask is apt under certain circumstances. When circumstance changes, so does the mask. As an educator, I would say I'm struggling a bit to balance out the constant changing for the fear that I might end up with multiple personality (Harvey Dent style).

Needless to say, I still enjoy teaching and masks ARE used for entertainment and enjoyment.

I Hate My Bike

As blunt as it is, my bike has given me more troubles than it has with benefits. Firstly, the gas meter is no longer functional so I can't tell how much petrol I have left. Secondly, the whole thing is falling apart and right now, it's rickety as an old rickshaw. Next, some jerkface knocked my bike at the back, shattering the glass behind. Lastly, the keyhole is loose like a hipster on drugs that the key occasionally fell back, shutting off my bike, especially when I'm at the traffic light.

To make the rain pour heavily, the tube that connects the gas tank to the engine at the front came off today and my full tank of petroleum was leaking...no wait, pouring out of the tank. Foreseeing my circumstance, I knew I was going to be stuck on the highway. Yes, I was on the highway when I noticed this. Subsequently, I find myself stuck on the highway with my class starting in 15min times. I was devastated to the point whereby I could just jump in front of the speeding highway and hoped that a car would knock me into confetti.

Thank goddess almighty, a kind old man passed by with his bike and fetched me to my work place without expecting any compensation. It's rare to find helpful people these days especially within the city limits. Nevertheless, I was really thankful for him.

However, for the whole day, I was praying to an unknown entity that my bike would remain intact and that no thugs would think of stealing it. Honestly, it was an old bike with not much to show for. I was kinda glad about that. So, after work, a buddy of mine fetched me to my bike and ta-da, it was still there (I'm beginning to wonder if that's a good thing).

In closing, it was a hectic day that I do not wish to repeat. Yet, through the dark clouds, some of the silver linings I found was catching up with the buddy of mine and installing my hope that people are not money-hungry douchebags.

Now, let me curse my bike for today mishap.

What happen to kids these days?

I better start writing something to prevent this blog from spiraling into oblivion...again.

Never fear though, I do have an interesting topic to lament about. As the title indicated, something doesn't seem right with youngsters these days. Those who keep peeled would notice that kids nowadays tend to be a bit...obnoxious. Now, I know that obnoxious is one of the common adjectives to describe an individual prior to adolescence years but kids are becoming more than that. They are outright rude and simply dreadful. I spoke of all these entirely out of my experience with current line of work.

Fine, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. Perhaps, not all kids are of such demeanor. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, some of them still retain a degree of adorableness and traits that make one goes "awwww~". However, these are minorities. While the obnoxious ones can be cute too, their attitude and misbehaviour quickly overturn that feature, indirectly portraying themselves as mini spawns from the depth of the earth.

Again, maybe I'm overstating the facts. It could be that kids have always been this way and I'm the poor sap that's getting too old to tell the difference; another possibility is that kids have changed and this is the current norm, leaving me the poor sap as well that just couldn't keep up with time (age has gradually become a liability of my life).

While I'm always opt for a more placating method to deal with kids, especially when it comes to education, I often find myself shouting and shrieking in frustration when these supposed 'future hope' refuses to listen to instruction or do their assigned work. Not to mention that they possess the shrewdness of deception and excuses, giving me the most unbelievable excuses to elude work (while sometimes, they ended up telling the truth...SEE! SHREWDNESS!).

Of course, looking at the amount of studies and tuition they have to go through on a daily basis (most Malaysian parents are fond of sending their kiddies to tuition centers), I do empathize them with the workload that they experience. I myself detested tuition when I was their age.

Hey, maybe kids haven't change at all. Maybe it's just that the tables have been turned and I'm the one conducting the class now. It sure does look different from the other side of table (more frustrating too). Given this new experience, it becomes a silent humor when I reminiscence an old memory of mine when I was that naughty.