Another new year :)

It's been a while since the last post but hey it's 2015 now! So this shall be the first post for 2015. :p

And I am officially older yesterday. It's the first time that my sister and I got to be next to each other on our birthdays after 4 years. :)

We started our day in my grandparents' place as the whole family have to be involved with our grandpa's prayers which happened to be on our birthday. It's not that he passed on our birthday but according to the Chinese calendar, it's the anniversary of the date which he has passed.

Later that day, we went to the salon to get our hair done. My mum got her hair dyed and my sister had her hair shorter. My sister persuaded me to get red highlights and for some reason, I went along with her idea and I ended up with purple highlights on my hair. I think it looks nice but perhaps it might be a little too much for the office work environment? But oh well, I shall try my best to embrace this color even there will be stares on my hair for a while haha! If this was Instagram, I will probably hashtag #yolo. Sorry, that is my attempt to be funny :p

Jalan Ipoh Ain't Going Away

Hey, my home street made it to the headlines recently. DBKL decided to change its' name to Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah on the 26th of November 2014, along with other 7 roads in KL. Very familiar names like Jalan Duta, Mahameru Highway and Jalan Semarak are all going to be changed to other names. Don't get me wrong by saying that I don't like those new names. Being a Malaysian, it is an honour to know that your home street was about to be named after a royalty. I understand the reason to uphold the names of our rulers. I also understand the reasons for the rakyat to express their disagreement regarding the change of names of the common roads in KL. It really will bring about change in our addresses, name cards and signboards.

Being someone who was brought up in Jalan Ipoh all her life, I feel sad that it would no longer be called Jalan Ipoh. It's just a name of a road but unknowingly, my feelings for Jalan Ipoh meant so much more than I thought. The people used to call it by its' Batu's or miles. Batu Satu till Batu Lima, that was how long the road was. Many places were also named after Jalan Ipoh. The girl school by the name of SMP Jalan Ipoh, the restaurant called Ipoh Road Yong Tau Foo and Jalan Ipoh Club are all going to cause confusion in people.

Maybe the road was too long to have the same name so now at this moment, only part of it remains as Jalan Ipoh. I think it's until somewhere along Batu Tiga. Batu Empat and beyond remains Jalan Ipoh. Still it is a sad thing isn't it? I still feel as if the name carved some sentiments in me. It's like taking away your childhood memory of the really long road you've known.

My family called it Ipoh Road. It used to be a small road with shophouses along the long road. Then, came the Mutiara Shopping Complex and not long ago, River City was established right outside of my home. The HSBC and KFC never fail to be the landmark of Jalan Ipoh since I was born. The ever famous Uma Rani chain of shops will remain as prosperous as usual. The Batu Tiga market will still be as busy as ever.

Despite the change in the name, the people and the food will stay the same. The delicious Hokkien mee, Bah Kut Teh and porridge will still stick around as long as the business is still running. The busy food street in front of red/orange building will keep lighting up the street in the dark. Pak Halim's nasi lemak is not something to be forgotten as well! Some people say the Dim Sum but I say otherwise. Lol.

And whenever anyone ask me where I live, I'll still say it's Jalan Ipoh. :)

When life is a cycle, the mind wonders

-picture taken in a restaurant between Atlantic City and New York, 2012- 

I have started working for almost 4 months. Getting to know how others work and trying to adapt to the working culture, I think I have a good start. For me, my work life is not as tiring and intense as my student life which is something I thought I will be happy with or at least satisfied with...until I realized that most of the fun is taken away as well.

Like it or not, I am starting to miss my life in Michigan. Even though I have to juggle between studies, projects, time with family (on Skype) in the weekends and my social life, my days were filled with excitement, anxiety, stress and discovery. Everyday is unlike the other. At that point of time, I didn't really like it because I could not be certain of what could happen next...but after having to work and knowing that my life is filled with the same cycle everyday, I realized that I didn't like it either.. In that case, I can only agree to the statement, "we just have to feel it, to know it".

I guess it is sort of a trade off (fun and stress vs. mundane and content). Work, work, work. There is really nothing much to look forward to besides lunch time and getting off work unless there is something interesting going on in work. Life goes on.. no complains, just thoughts :)