Adapting to New Environments

We are pretty adaptive beings.

Personally, I have a lot of experience in moving house and usually, upon receiving news of relocating yet again, I would feel quite sad- especially when I moved from a bigger house to a smaller one. However, I got used to the new surroundings pretty fast and it was like I'd been there forever. Here's a list of the times I've moved (plus the countries I've moved to). The years are an approximate.

1. (2000) Moved to Shanghai, China:
2. Moved house once

3. (2003) Moved back to Malaysia:
4. (2005) Moved from BU ->KD
5. (2007) Moved from KD -> SPK
6. (2012) Moved from SPK -> AD
7. (2013) Moved from AD -> AD (Different compound, same area)

[(2013) Moved to Beijing, China (2 1/2 weeks)]

8.  (2013) Moved to Alberta, Canada alone

And here we are. In 13 years I have moved 8 times, well 9 if you count the 2 and a half weeks in Beijing. Technically only my parents moved there and I was just staying with them for a month (until my visitor visa expired) but then things didn't work out and we all moved back 2 weeks later. Funny stuff (they brought so much luggage over).

So, let's just keep it at 8. Honestly, even if I lived in a house for 3 years (4 is my max), it wouldn't feel any more of a home than if I had only lived there for a year. Granted, I would have more memories, but really, I adapt to new living spaces quite quickly. And I think this isn't just me; its all human beings.

The fact is, even if we moved every year, its not the house that makes it home, its the people living in it. So even though I moved 8 times over the past 13 years, I have always had my family with me along the transition thus, home was a portable intangible concept.

But now, I have moved and am living alone. My mom did help me transition to this new environment though, so that was a big help. But sometimes, I get horrendously homesick (especially since Chinese New Year just passed) but I know I'm going to be fine. I've almost completely adapted here and making new friends has always been a hard thing for me but it's coming along great.

Anyway, the point of this post was to say that no matter what life-changing moments may come to you (like moving house/migrating), they aren't as scary as they first seem. We are highly adaptive and with time, you'll be living as if you own the place.

Good luck to everyone facing the un-see able future! (which is literally everyone)
=D Peace

The baby bird has left the nest

So two weeks ago, my mom and I arrived in Canada. A week ago, she went back to Malaysia. I have now lived on my own for the first time, on opposite ends of the world from my family, for a week. To be honest it was scary at first; you might not know this about me, but I'm a cry baby. During primary I would cry at the start of every new year, with a new class. This stopped about when I reached secondary, or maybe earlier. I remember crying for only that first day of Year 4, for a short while. And by crying I mean tearing up a bit, I wasn't bawling.

Anyways, when my mom left, we were both crying. But then I was OK. Over the next few days I teared multiple times though. They come at the most random times and when I least want them. For example, I'll start tearing up whenever I'm talking to people. I went to talk to this lecturer after the class (I had just registered for it so had missed it) and halfway through I can feel my eyes starting to water, and it's so embarrassing and awkward because I have to turn my head so she won't see that I'm crying. *Input frustrated groan*

I know I've said that I'm an introvert and that I'm proud of it, but being a newcomer to a whole new country and having no friends whatsoever is quite intimidating. On the first day of class, when everyone had come back from holidays, the campus was filled with crowds of people. I don't do crowds, thus was really feeling very intimidated.

Another thing is that now I'm living alone (well with a flat mate), I have no idea what to eat every time (yes, my mom cooked back home). Breakfast is easy, and lunch is not so bad (I'll eat at uni or eat a salad or something), but dinner is very troublesome. My cooking skills aren't so bad, but I've never really had to cook like every day before. In Malaysia, it's very easy to go out and pack food back. I can't do that here since everything closes so early, plus its cold out and I'll have to change to go out.

So now I have to cook. I've spent a lot of money already just buying all my kitchenware and regretting buying them so early because I hadn't been to Wal-Mart yet and seriously, they have the cheapest stuff. But now I have cooked twice this week! So proud. I'll probably cook about 4/5 times a week, unless I go out and manage to pack something back. Looking forward to becoming a masterchef!

If you are in a situation like me or would like to start cooking your own food, I would recommend you to get a rice cooker. I bought 2 pans and a pot, but I all I need really is the rice cooker. Just wash your rice, put water in and then on top of that put whatever else you want, like meat and/or vegetables. Close it and press the cook/start button and 30 minutes later, your meal is done! Makes things so much easier and healthier.

Now that I have my dinner plans sorted, all I need to do is to keep busy with school work, make more friends, join clubs and enjoy my life at university. Bring it!

Crazy friendly

So I've just moved to Canada for my studies and though I was prepared for a very different culture and lifestyle, I was still shocked at how friendly the people here are. I've been here for about a week  and during that time I've ridden a lot of buses, that's where I experienced how polite and friendly Canadians are.

Being a total newcomer to the local transportation and the routes they take, my mom and I had to constantly ask the bus drivers for directions. Apart from the first bus we were on, all the drivers would readily tell us when to get off and some even chatted with us along the way.

Another bizarre thing for me was that passengers (not all, but enough) getting off would say 'thank you'. I know that its manners and I shouldn't be surprised but really, how many places do you know where people actually say thank you to bus drivers? Even this one dude who was talking on the phone and you know swearing the way some teens do, shouted 'Stop please', after the bus driver missed the stop, and said 'thank you!' after.

Another thing that I am not used to is how handicap friendly everything is and how people are so accustomed to handicapped people. I sat near the front of the bus multiple times and noticed that a lot of people in the front got up at one stop. I had thought they had gotten off, but they had just moved to the back because either a senior citizen, a handicapped person or a person with strollers was getting on. The front is reserved for priority seating and can be flipped up to make more space for those who need it (picture).
Furthermore, the first time I saw the chairs pushed up was the same time I noticed everyone moving back. This woman came on board, pushed the row of empty seats up and went to sit on the other side of the bus. Then when I was wondering what in the world these people were doing, a person in a wheelchair comes in and takes the spot that was vacated and it all makes sense. Shockingly. Really, this renews my faith in humanity.

But that's not the most shocking thing. The most shocking thing was that the bus drivers themselves said good day or thanks to the passengers getting off. The first time this happened I was wondering who the driver was talking to and what he was saying. After a few stops I figured out that he was saying "good day" to the passengers getting off, even when the passengers didn't say thank you.

Seriously it kind of reminds me of the film The Invention of Lying, where everyone is so honest at the beginning of the film (not sure if it's the same throughout, did not watch the rest of the movie).

Oh and their LRT stations. There are absolutely no security measures, in the sense that you could literally just walk in and get on the train. There are no turnstiles, no barriers, nothing. And they supposedly do random checks and if you hadn't followed the proper procedures (E.G. a validated ticket) you'd be fined $250. Maybe that's enough of a deterrent for people to refrain from cheating the system, but that's a hell of a lot of trust the government has in its citizens.


Though it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm pretty sure I'm going to love living and studying here. It really is a beautiful country (even through its coldness) and the people are just as beautiful.

7 months of being a couch potato

Since mid-May I've been waiting to transfer to Canada to continue my studies which was supposed to happen in August but when that didn't happen, 3 and a 1/2 months became 7 months. And for all those months all I mostly did was stare at my computer screen. I feel really guilty and useless, because now I'm going back to university and I don't know if my brain can even remember to study.

Even as I'm writing this now, I feel a writer's block. I have no idea what to write about. How will I survive...oh gosh.

So during high school, my friends and I all thought that holidays were the best. But we would then get bored because we had nothing to do. And now after 7 months of holidays, I officially declare that holidays are great for a resting period but any longer, than say, 2 weeks and it would just be time wasted.

When we're busy we are not only keeping the brain active but our bodies as well. Plus bored people tend to do stupid stuff. Take celebrities, they get famous so fast and make so much dough that they don't have to work anymore for the rest of their lives (the top ones anywho) and the fame and fortune gets to their heads and they do reckless, stupid things.

For example, Lindsay Lohan and Justin Beiber, both got famous pretty early on, well Lindsay way earlier than Bieber, which is maybe why she is a lot worse than him. She hasn't done anything of late that could compare to her earlier famous works. Except maybe her courtroom dramas. And Beiber was much better as a newbie cute kid than what he has turned into; a 'swag' wannabe who spits on his fans, drives a Ferrari and who is thinking of retiring at the age of 19.

So, although I still like holidays, I also like to keep busy or at least have something to do, which is a good thing because I am in Canada right now and will start classes soon. Wish me luck!

Being an Introvert

I am an introvert. I like being an introvert. So why are people constantly looking down on my preference to bury my head in a book instead of someone's ass? Sorry, that was a bit crude. I meant that when you're with others, you'll always feel the need to be liked, thus the sucking up. It's better to just stay alone so you won't waste time trying to make someone like you which they probably won't once they find out that you're an introvert (unless they are one too). Not to mention the small talk.

What is with this general view that introverts are below extroverts? I would like to know who keeps coming up with these ridiculous hierarchies. I guess the answer to that would be ourselves. Society has put the 'cool' label on people who party, who get wasted and who get laid. But how is that at all cool? Have the images of celebrities become so powerful that even when they are publicized negatively, the people will follow?

In this current competitive world, extroverts are favoured because to be successful you need to be able to speak in front of people. You'll need to be liked by people in order to expand your network. If no-one likes you then you're not going to get very far. We promote winning. Being on top. Because if you're on top, you've fulfilled your life's goal right? Frankly speaking, I don't think we were put on this Earth to stress our lives away. Introverts too can be successful and we don't need to party or be in large crowds to achieve success. Quality, not quantity.

Let me put it this way. To all you extroverts who have friends who are introverts: treasure them. Because we are not like others. We will tell it to you straight, or otherwise euphemize our words to tell the truth. You don't need to be afraid whether we're using you because to do that would take too much energy and time. Our time and energy is precious. It is saved for our reading and napping schedules.

However, we are not entirely robots; once you get close to us our weirdness comes out. Do not be alarmed, we are just coming out of our shells for a little while because we enjoy your company. You should consider yourself blessed.

So to all of you who have ever made me feel for even a second that my introvert-ness is a bad thing, I say, 'good-day' to you. Good-day.

Driving in Beijing

Not that I drove in China or anything, but if you're a new driver on the road in Beijing...it must be hella scary. Malaysia was ranked #1 as the world's worst drivers. I know our driving isn't Singaporean good but seriously, did they exclude China and Indonesia from the list?

First of all, there are so many cars on the road in Beijing and to make it worse a lot of them swerve here and there without signalling and without notice. It's like the norm for you to change lanes constantly like you're being tailed and need to lose your trackers.

And then there's the horrible blaring of horns. If you think Malaysia is bad with their holding down the horn, Beijing is worse. True, they don't hold it down but every minute you can hear about 3/4 beeps. I promise you. Plus they don't just beep at other cars, no. They horn at pedestrians too, telling them to get the hell out of their way.
Beeping is associated with being angry because its such a loud noise, but to be honest I don't think the drivers in Beijing horn because they are angry/impatient. It's just the norm to horn and let others know that they're there. Of course if they're impatient they will horn more frequently.

I was in a taxi once and the driver was by far the worse I had seen. He kept beeping at cars, pedestrians and cyclists but this one time he kept pressing down the horn in bursts for like 10 seconds (that's longer than it sounds). But the thing is...there were absolutely no cars in front of him. Seriously! If he wanted to let the cars in the other lane know that they shouldn't swerve, I think one beep would have sufficed. On the contrary, he would stop at every orange light when it would be perfectly alright to drive past (even I would because I'm already on the white line), but no he would stop. Until now, I am totally bewildered by that experience.

And with all the air pollution that Beijing has, why do they need to add noise pollution as well? It really is quite irritating when they keep beeping and horning especially when you're walking. Scares the bejeebers out of you. The thing is, the traffic lights are set for going straight so if cars want to turn they go whenever they can. But that means the light has turned green for the pedestrians to cross, thus even when you're clear to walk you have to look out for cars turning. Really, I know its common for them to walk to their destination and to the subway, but its life-threatening.

Protect your self-esteem. Don't go to China.

So while I was in China, I was happily walking about oblivious to the people around me and just, you know, chilling. Then my world fell apart when my mom pointed something out to me:

"Did you notice that all the girls here are tall and skinny?"

*Glass shatters*

No I didn't. Thanks mom. But seriously. All of them, (OK not all of them because obviously I didn't see all the females in Beijing) were tall AND skinny. Not the seniors but like the working class people. AND they were really quite fashionable as well- I reckon its all those markets where they can get cheap and good clothes. 

You see, I consider myself "above average" in height and that's about all I got going for me and then I'm in Beijing and feel like a dwarf. Alright, alright, I'm exaggerating. I'm not so much shorter than them, about half a head maybe. But on top of that, they're skinny as well. I mean come on! Rice is the national food of China, WHERE DEM CARBS AT?

Actually I think I know the answer to that. They walk/cycle everywhere. Considering the number of cars on the road you'd think that China has a car per family. But no, you see, there's about 1.35 billion people in China and if you approximate that the top 10% of China has cars that's already 135 million cars. Thus the incredibly astounding long traffic jams. 

Anyways the rest of the people will cycle or walk to their destinations and that ladies and gentleman is where dem carbs at. Not at their destinations- I mean, at- you get what I mean. So the solution is to walk everywhere. Unfortunately in my country if you walked to your destination, you wouldn't get there. Either you would get lost because of the lack of pavements, get hit by a car or like me, take one step out of the house, start sweating buckets and run back in.

I don't know if China is becoming the next South Korea, in the sense that plastic surgery is becoming the norm, but it's insane that about 90% of the young females I saw were both tall and model-like skinny.

All jokes aside, this is actually a serious issue. China and America are probably the biggest two countries where conformity is the number 1 rule, regardless of how America promotes individuality. Just take a look at their models, their celebrities (though they're diversifying more) and the stereotypical high school life depicted in movies.  

I would just like all you females out there to take time to watch this video.

 

 

At first I was flabbergasted, thinking that she was contradicting the very point she was trying to make. In the video she says that "[She's] comfortable with her body", and of course she is, she's fit and beautiful, regardless of those idiots calling her a pig. But then I watched it again and understood that, though it sounded a bit arrogant, it wasn't. She has paved her way into a modelling career even when she wasn't skinny enough to get in and even when she got called a pig, she still held her head high. She's setting an example and making people wonder, if she's a plus-size, what does normal size look like?

 

I know I need to work on this as well, but we need to feel beautiful no matter our body size. We are after all, individuals and so cannot objectify beauty as a number on a scale. Be healthy, be strong-minded, know yourself and be content with how you are. Don't give in to the stares, or ever let people tell you that you're not good enough, because if you're good enough for yourself, then that is all that matters and who are they to say otherwise?

 

So I take back what I said. Go to China.

 

P.S. Just found out about this video depicting the truth about the media and what a lot of girls are striving for: an impossible 'perfect' body.