Despite the risk

Wow it's already a NEW YEAR 2012, finally I come back to write! So this winter I've missed, and I miss my last winter, my last last winter as well. I remember the freezing weather, chilling wind, snowing night, snowman, snow fight, slippery road, shiny white scene everywhere. The most unforgettable is downhill skiing! Why? It's so.. wonderful, great, cool, awesome~! Okay I'm not describing specifically, please try it yourself. IMAGINE that you ski down from mountain top, the wind, the speed, the view, and not forgetting some falling. It was 2 years ago, my first time skiing, I didn't think but...

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Yes, meet again..

Woonam Dojang I was thinking just take a break because of my studies and not very convenient, but after some time I decided to go and have a try, it turned out to be unbreakable.. Every Saturday I went for Aikido training and the memory is still vivid whenever I think back.. I remember every Saturday afternoon, sitting in the bus, passing-by where, going off at which bus stop, walking through a university, where was the training center, and after that another an hour route by town bus back to my dormitory. I remember my first time looking for the exact place was confusing, even though I...

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On the way home!

/ AirAsia X The time has come to go home! I had made one terrible decision by mistake, but then somehow I have made a pretty lucky decision ever just by chance. There were happy moments, there were special moments, and I recalled of the HAPPY and SPECIAL one (luckily I still have one) when I was heading to Incheon Airport. Moving my luggages (made up ~50kg) and a wooden sword  to express bus terminal was extremely challenging! Imagine that you bring a 30kg big luggage (with wheels), a 8kg hand carry, a 7kg backpack, a 6kg souvenir bag, and a 1 meter long wooden stick.. All with two...

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Late stage Homesick

Finally, I have to return all the books to the library and says bye-bye to the only place that can provide me a lot of English books because I can hardly find elsewhere (Thanks~). Although usually only librarian and I were there, it is my favorite place (yet a little lonely) and I always had a little rest there while trying to borrow some books. I started missing the book stores in Malaysia! It is the final week before returning home country. I celebrated a little with some friends, not for my leaving (initial intention though), but rather importantly for the effort we have been putting...

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Quick and Simple Meal

Q.S.L.N.T. meal Finally, I found it~ A guy who don't know how to cook well but can make food himself in less than 5 minutes. It is not easy to be away from home (studying or working), especially without mum's cooking (more...)! One, hard to make time to cook (but surely will have time to eat); Two, lack of experience in cooking (but really love eating). That's why I need quick and simple... Happened to be here for a not long yet not short period of time, I have been eating something that I had never eaten before. These are new food, new sauces, new style, and also new term such as kimchi,...

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Drinking in the Campus

Beer vending machine~ One day I was walking around the dormitory looking for vending machine. I went to the one that I had never gone to, hoping to get other choices of drink. Okay, something different.. didn't expect though, it was 'Beer', about 4%.. Before coming here, I had never drunk more than one cup or one can at a time, just a few sips occasionally for testing the taste. How much I have drunk in less 2 years here has far exceeded the summation of all sips that I happened to take in about 25 years. So, it has been record-breaking! Now I can take one or few cups of beer in an...

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Hibernation for better..

Snowmen X'mas 2011 Finished defense, finished thesis, finished Master's! But I'm not finished.. I need to hibernate because the weather is colder and it snows heavier than last year here. This winter we have more Malaysian to make 2 better-looking snowmen and have fun.. The last month of the year, now indeed last few days we have.. Looking back the year, after adjusted what to achieve in year 2010, (sadly) lowered my expectation to a more reasonable due to unbelievable encounter (not very bad, not so good neither), while widened my exploration to find new niches (the interesting part).....

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Screaming 'Wait' at the 'No Wait Mountain'

It seems I have missed a November post.. realizing I really had nothing to write whenever I tried to squeeze my brain to at least start some words.. It was really a final month to actually put an end on something. Looking back to my November, I recall about 'No Wait Mountain' translated from 無等山 (무등산, 'Mudeng-san'). I took a local bus from the first station to the last station early in the morning to meet a few quite important people I ever met here. We do Aikido 合气道 together including my beloved teacher, and we challenged the 'No Wait Mountain'. It was my first time to do hiking in my 2 years...

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The Zen Feeling in University Campus

Buddha in the Campus  Last week I went Seoul for a quite important English exam (IELTS) which I think was well done, perhaps.. The exam was held at a hilly, different looking university which has a big Buddha statue at the center of the university campus.. When I was entering the campus, not only students but a few monks and nuns coming in and out, thought I was going in a temple. Hah, no wonder a strong Zen feeling there! Haven't had this kind of Zen feeling after more than a year living here, also haven't involved myself in charity and volunteering activities like I did with Tzu chi...

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A Milestone for Practising the Art

'WHAT?! Don't fight?', 'No competition?'.. These were a few of my first questions when I started the training of this Martial Art, which initially thought I could kick some butt. No, No~ Have you ever come across with Martial Art that says to you don't fight? ..and even it has to be one, still you want NO fight? There are some other martial art too though.. So then I asked HOW, and in fact I have been asking the same question of how until now..  even though knowing more about the WHY~ It has been so lucky for me all the time to have met passionate teachers (sensei) and  many practitioners...

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The 'Moment' of a Graduate Student

It is a very hot summer, ..tasting a cup of my favorite White Coffee, Old Town hazelnut flavor (instant packet I brought from Malaysia), it is like calling me to take a break and feel the home taste and then I will be writing something here.. Not until the white coffee, which I make once a month due to limited stock~ Just realized that I have been experiencing the 'Moment' of doing research I guess.. around 2 months it seems to have taken.. A period of time a graduate student have a bit hard time that you are surrounded by questions about your...

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Found my GOAL in World Cup!

GOAL~  4 years of a forgotten game, 1 month of news about the game everywhere you can see, 90 minutes of sitting around, listening fans screaming crazily, and occasionally I shout madly when getting a goal! That's world cup I used to think, and now still anyway.. as I never have watched the game seriously, I play basket ball, okay.. BUT for the first time, I watched world cup 2010 last Saturday night! It was pretty nice play~ and, the excitement of watching through big screen with the crowd, over some nice drink.. (though world cup is also HOT in Malaysia). Yeah.. Now...

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What's the Next..

A long freezing season has come to an end, a season with the least colorful, but white snow, or just brown soil and leaf-less trees.. and, due to the freezing weather, despite the most standard life of a science graduate student (work hard in the lab), my brain has been 'frozen', and hence have lesser writing ~ A more colorful season has begun and I gain more exposure to warm sunshine, and every where are flowers for some photographing, also feel more energetic and the sun 'wake up' especially early (5-6am) here in Spring.. and, due to early 'morning call' by the sun, have to start my day...

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Realizing what I don't know..

..got to remember my new experience, it was a HAPPY weekend trip to Seoul, for two days Aikido Seminar, and a party! My friendly Aikido sensei and cute senpai and I used 'creative' combination of the languages we learned before, mixing English and Japanese vocabulary with Korean grammar structure and vice versa, for optimum conversation, (though in kind of amusing way) which sometimes burst into laughter. Never have realized that it works (sort of).. During the training (seminar) and party, I felt so great to meet people (of various backgrounds) who were willing to communicate at least, even though...

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Skiing: the dreamed and the reality..

..finally had experienced skiing since my home country has no winter, and it was awesome! As a first timer, I got to have some short lessons on the spot by an assigned coach from High1 Resort before stepping in the slope that lead to the bottom of the mountain (well, not all the way down). Basically, I already knew and quite confident that I can ski down the slope (of course unpredictably low survival rate), however, I needed very much to learn the most useful technique, how to brake and the most effective learning path to become an expert, to FALL! After gaining enough skills.. how well I can...

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My First Snowman ever made

This is first time seeing snow, and my first winter! White color, light and fine ice-like little things falling from the sky! Okay, keen observation... It was quite a heavy snow shower in the weekend, exciting of course, and well, finally got my snowman ready. It took me an hour of exhausting ‘skillful’ activity and really ‘creative’ thinking to make this snowman-like ‘creature’ (above photo), under an extremely freezing morning like this. Its name is.. whatever Anyway, looks good the snowman, though a little deviated from the image of a typical snowman we has been expected.. hey, good job...

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What is Malaysia? He doubted..

A few quite big exams are coming in this week, but he still went out for an unfamiliar yet worth going dinner party held by again unfamiliar yet worth knowing non-profit organization - UNESCO. A cultural party which many people from many countries (in Western, Euroasia, South Africa, Asia Pasific region) attended.. and everybody were given a chance to briefly introduce their own country! A young Malaysian Chinese he is, away from home for some months in Korea, realized that he has not really had known much about or had that much desire to...

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The fate of cells determines my fate in exam!

..have been struggling with a series of question that is going to come out on an exam paper! It is about what determines the FATE of cells in our body.. how the embryo cells later become our brain, our body, our limbs, our skeletons, our organs.. I mean how they (the cells) know what to get into? Well, just look at the brain (my interest), what makes the young cells to gain the FATE of becoming various type of brain cells? This can take many complicated yet flexible processes or changes, depending on the location of cells in the embryo, time...

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The spirit of a battle...

The photo.. a familiar background in many Asian kung fu or battle movies. For some reasons, I like those kind of stories, and do learning some kung fu.. and have been thinking of, one day, I would see, even to try wearing the armors of ancient (probably unique) warrior such as samurai, knight (Europe), gladiator (Roman Empire).. Perhaps it was the SPIRIT that is more attractive, instead of the understandable problem-solving method in the past - the bloody massive battles in the history, which shall not reoccur, of course (but occasionally does..). Last week, an opportunity for a trip, where...

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A Mooncake Festival without mooncake…

Lunar calendar August 15th.. a full moon day.. the Mid-Auturm festival, a Harvest festival celebrated by Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese (on the same day, but in different ways, and stories). ‘Zhong Qiu Jie’ 中秋节 is also called lantern festival or mooncake festival in certain places (in my hometown) since we eat mooncake 月餅 with family, and many lanterns we can see.. This happens to be similar to Vietnamese way of celebration, but they have another story about the festival and is mainly for children, like a children day. The Mid-Autumn festival was...

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