Einstein Tag

15th August , Monday -- Had to wake up sooooooo early to catch the train to Aarau to meet up with my class. Y? It was Einstein day and the whole school had to go to Bern to the Einstein Exhibition in the Bern Musuem. AKSA, Alte Kantonschule Aarau is so proud that Einstein used to study here--my current sch. As we were students of AKSA too, the musuem officially invited the whole sch for this exhibition! I wasnt looking 4ward to it coz 1) I've been there b4 with Mami and Anja 2)I hafta pay 4 da train despite I haf da GA!!!!!!!!! GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

About 1000 students arrived in Bern, where the weather was so bloody cold coz it was raining! Rain here and rain in Msia are totally different.Rain here is so cold n it gets even worse when the wind comes! Ur teeth can clatter, literally.

Tried out the physics stuff in the Erlebnis park, optic illusion, etc....went in the musuem for da exibition too. It was interesting.Really.I'm not being sacarstic.It really was. Malaysian musuems should learn the Swiss way of musuem-ing....hahhaa....how 2 organize interesting exibitions coz the students enjoyed themselves.

At about 3 something, our whole class went to a restaurant for a drink as it was raining.Our class teacher belanja-ed us --again!!!! She's mega sweet lah, I tell u!!!! Eating out and drinks here in Switzerland is not cheap. I wonder if the teachers here are really well paid or it's just that she likes our class so much, coz this is not the 1st time she belanja us stuff. Sometimes, she bakes cakes and bread(mega fein) for the whole class! not to mention bought us ice-cream too!!! SHe's so sweet!

After out drinks, it was free time. I wanted actually to go home at first coz 1) I was having a headache 2) the weather was just so SCHEISSE!!! However, a couple of my classmates decided to go to the bundeshaus, which is the official parliament house in Bern or rather Switz for a tour. Well, since it was free and it seemed interesting to haf a look and since I was in Bern, I decided to go along too. Emptied our pockets, just like at the airport. No cameras, no hp, no keys, no nothing .......

Our guide spoke in Bern Deutsch, and I understood!!! YOO HOO!!! I'm so proud of myself.!!!! hahaha(perasannya.....) anw, she gave us a tour of the bundeshaus, etc. It was cool, not to mention really beautiful too. Went to both the parliament halls, sat in those thick leather chairs,etc. It was a good experience.=)

1 hour passed by so quickly. We ended up walking around the Altstadt, despite the rain. Surprisingly, I had fun with my classmates! N I thought that this day wouldnt be fun¨=P We did stuff which may seem childish...hehe.....but when u r in a group, u wouldn't mind. THese are the stuff where u gotta do it in a group and not alone.....alone...too pai seh lah......hahahahha

Walked to the Barengraben too, but there were no bears. Of course lah, raining mah....if I am a bear, I would also prefer to sleep than to come out in the rain.! =p

Took group pics, walked around again, waited under the huge clock(which btw I've seen it 3 times liao) together with other tourists. Japanese tourists are so easy to spot. Huge chunky cameras haning on their necks, round hats, bermudas, catching every scene that can,....it's so stereotyped.......even my friends haf stereotyped the Japs--Phototakers. Bcoz of that, they think that all Asians r too.....someitmes me oso paiseh to use my cam in front of them...ahahahah =P

Anw, turned out to be a fun outing with my classmates! Really enjoyed myself. I really did, despite the headache. Looking 4ward to out Turkey class trip in September! =)

Alles in Ordnung

Zurich Street Parade

13th August 2005, Saturday -- On Saturday was in sayang's house coz I slept over at her place. In the afternoon, walked around Solothurn, despite the fact that all the shops are closed by 5pm! Aiyaya.....Unlike Malaysia, u can hardly find a shop which is open on Saturday nites and on Sundays!!

Took the train to Zurich coz it's PARTY TIME!!!! It's the Zurich Street Parade!!! Well, heard tons of negative comments on that Street Parade, but well, as we will only be in Switzerland for 1 year, we thought we should check it out! On the train itself we could see many ppl already 'dressed up' for the street parade. To us, it may be wierd, but to them, we might seem wierd to them coz we werent dressed up like them. Also in the train we could hear many languages spoken.French, English(which is NOT common in the German part. Ppl actually turn to look at u when u speak English!!!Literally turn their head and look at u even u are at the back!), German, SwissGerman(duh!)...yeah....tons of ppl from Germany, France, Holland purposely come to Zurich for this Street Parade.

Let's say that it really was an eye opener for us.It really was.U can nvr see something like that in Msia,not to say that I would like to go.The whole Zurich Bahnhoff was transformed into a huge disco! Tons of Bikini cladded gals, walking around, tons of wired dressed ppl, Tarzan and family, flowers and the bees, ppl from the future....these r one of the few I'm naming of what I saw. This street parade is mostly for u know, the techno fans, music freaks that kind of ppl.Or rather Punks.

Ladies wearing thongs, as in thongs, not flipflop thongs, where u can literally see their asses hanging off that little piece of string and a pathetic looking piece of transparent cloth covering their asses.I mean, y waste the effort of covering ur ass when all u cover it is with practically transparent cloth?!

Guys walking around in their boxers, 1 was walking around with his pants half way around this thighs and u can see his underwear. The most eye-catching costume for me was the gal in the fish net.Whao! She just wore that over her bod. Could see both her boobs, including nipples and a nipple ring!!!! Talk about nude art!!!!

If there's anything more interesting than guy fight, it's cat fight--girl fight. We were stading by the road, and dunno what happen, these 2 gals starting fighting. Name calling. Scratching. Hair pulling....hahaha...interesting

Tons of ppl were smoking pot, in specific, Marijuana.Could see and smell everywhere. Tons of ppl were pissed too. Pissed as in drunk. Interesting leh?

Well, we didnt stay THAT long coz we had to catch the last train and also the party was SCHEISSE!!!ahahahah..!!!! =P Went to another fest in Kriegstetten.Much better. Ate kebab 2am in the morning! cost me Fr8 for that kebab!!

Anyway, it was a good experience. An eye opener.

Haze

Heard about the terrible haze back home in Malaysia from a good friend from CHS. Heard it was so bad that schools had to be closed down. TO all Friends and Family: Plz do take good care of your own health!!

It guess it's true. That it is THAT bad. Why? Coz it even came out in the Swiss papers!!! Not only 1 Swiss paper, but other Swiss papers too.REally! Had pictures of Malaysians wearing the mask to defend the haze. Descriptions in Deutsch. I guess I'm lucky. Lucky the fact that I'm now in Switzerland. Really clean air.NO haze. Everything's pure and natural. Wow, suddenly realised that the ammount of $$$$$$ my dad paid for my exchange year includes also a guarantee haze-free environment. Healthy.....

Anyway, gtg now. English lessons. Wrote this blog in sch, after my friends showed me the artical printed in the Swiss papers about the haze. Guess sometimes what the Chinese sayings are true. U can get bad news from afar, but good news stay at home......

Chao

No Wonder The World Think We Live in Trees

10th August 2005, Wednesday -- After a 5 week long summer hols, it's back to school.Not to say that I don't look forward to it, but still I would appreciate it if I had longer hols.Really. 5 weeks is just not enough! 6 more weeks to autumn hols! Turkey, here I come!

Yeah, geography lessons! Finally learning about south east Asia!!! Our teacher distributed travel books on Thailand and Indonesia, but no Malaysia.Haih. Learnt about their culture and stuff. I was so proud when finally the teacher distributed an South-East Asian book with the Petronas Towers as the cover. I felt so proud at that moment coz finally, people will get to know more about Malaysia. My Beloved Country. The Swiss know about Malaysia and Petronas Towers coz Petronas sponsors the Swiss F1 Team - Sauber Petronas. Btw, that's the only thing the Swiss recognize. Not even KL Tower.

Finally, stuff and culture of Malaysia. Unfortunately, my proudness quickly turned to embarrassment and not really anger, but yeah, a bit of anger. Why? Here's the story.

Flipped open the book. The most eye-catching picture of that page was the 'Kleiderordnung', which is the dress code in Malaysia. All dress codes like baju kurung with tudung, or any clothing which covered the whole body except for the face and hands and feet were given a huge TICK, and all the dress codes revealing the hair and arms were given a huge CROSS!!!!!!!! My classmates were astonished by what the Malaysian culture is!!! I mean, according to the pictures, ladies were not allowed to where normal Tshirts with sleeves!!! Mind you, its not sleeve-LESS, it's short sleeve!!! & that was considered WROnG!!!

Next, there was a text regarding the dos and donts in Malaysia. Boy.......I was angered by what it stated. Apparently Barbie dolls or dolls in general are banned in Malaysia, coz it's considered 'mengungkit nafsu'. Yeah Rite. And other stuff too. The next text was an interview with our ex-PM -- Mahathir. According to him, we are a democratic country. As usual, students here express what they think and will say it -loud. When they read all these texts, they laughed and said so-called democratic coz it really doesnt seem democratic --at all.

Obviously they have been mislead by the author, by everything. Being THE patriotic Malaysian, I of course spoke up to say the truth. Yeah, we do have some extremists with the dress code, but that doesnt mean that all Malaysians are. Of course they are some open ones too. I spoke and spoke, what the Malaysian culture is, most importantly that we are NOT that reservetive and KOLOT minded. I too added that it is more of the religion than culture. As Malaysia is an Islamic country, the religion too does play a role in influencing the culture.

However, come to think about it, how did the author get the idea that Malaysia is such a reserved and KOLOT country? Did the Malaysians really display such extremism till the extend that the world actually believe that we are that reserved and so 'undemocratic'? Come to think about it, we may be at fault too, not we, but maybe SOME extremists.

Really, we do claim that we are a democratic country. However, sometimes how democratic are we? Not to mention there was even once a case in Malaysia where a Chinese couple were fined --for just having hold hands in the park!!!! U call this democratic?? I wonder what would happen to them if they had kissed. More fines? Prison?

Anyway, at least I cleared things up--hopefully. Yeah rite, for feeling so proud that the Petronas towers were on the front cover. The inside was just the opposite. No wonder the outside world doesnt know much of Malaysia, or rather thinks that Malaysia is SUCH a country. Given a choice, I would prefer them not knowing Malaysia than thinking negative of Malaysia. After all, Malaysia is my homeland. The place I grew up in. My family and friends. Everyone. This might sound lame and so not me -- I love my country.

No wonder the world think that we live in trees.

Locarno -- Tessin

My last week of summer hols were spent in Locarno, Tessin. The Italian part of Switzerland. Lets just say that I had a pretty good time there.Really hols where didnt do any studying...hehe =P

From St. Moritz, we drove directly to Locarno on the 30th July. As papi and Anja say, 'Die Auto ist deine Schlafsmittel.'(The car is your 'lullaby') Yeah, I slept the whole way till Locarno.The same when we went to St. Moritz. Cant blame me. Was trained back home in Malaysia. The 2 hour journey back to Ipoh. What can I do than sleep?

Locarno, another touristish part of Switzerland. Tons of Italians. Feels just like in another country. Leopard prints could be seen all over the arey. Why? It's the 58th International Locarno film Fest! That's their logo.

For the whole week, spent my days watching beach volleyball, sunbathing(its a Swiss thing, will nver find me doing that back home in Msia, wanna get skin cancer ah? ) , swimming, tennis (damn cha), mini golf(Love it!), going around Locarno and Ascona, 'wanderning' at Gambarogno. If there are better looking guys than Swiss guys, they are the tanned Italian guys. Man, they're hot! So are the beach volleyball players too...hahah =P

1st AUgust. The Swiss National Day. 714 years old. On this day, watched fireworks at night in Ascona. Rained a bit. Pretty surprised that there wasnt any big celebration here, unlike Malaysia where every1 would gather in Stadium merdeka for concerts or parades to celebrate the country's independence. Somehow, I actually missed Msia's atmosphere of these kind of celebration where for once, Malaysians put down their differences and gather all together for the memorable day.

The weather was great when we were in Tessin, except for Tuesday where it rained the whole day! At night, we went to the Film Fest , watched a documentary of Maria Bethania, some Brazilian Samba singer -- in the freaking cold rain and wind! On Wednesday, that was the official opening of the 58th International Film Festival. It was an open air cinema with a mega screen. could seat 6000 people for 1 film. A good new experience. The film we watched was The Rising - The ballad of Mangal Pandey. It was good. The same main actor as Lagaan -- Amir Khan. Same plot, based on history though. Indians fighting for their rights and independence, how the British mistreat the Indians then & stuff. Was entertaining.

The remaining days, visited the small villages in Tessin, was at the authentic 007 Golden Eye Bungy jump too. About 220m high. An extreme sport not suitable for ppl like mami, who has hight phobia. Fr255 just for 1 jump. Would I do that? personally, if it was free or a christmas gift from some1, I might. If i gotta pay just for that 1 jump, definitely not. But, boy, that is really high!!!

Watched Dimitri theatre. Not bad, Kinda funny, had some pretty funny scnens which made me laugh like mad. However, sometimes different humour appeal to different people. sometimes, dunno what some ppl can laugh so hard although I find it not funny at all. As someone once told me, sometimes they have no choice but to ' Pei xiao' ! hahaahahahah !=P

Wow, 5 weeks gone liao. Gotta prepare for school. Nah-ah. My friends came over for a sleepover on Sunday, and followed me to school on Monday. I was the only 1 who had to go to school! Geramnya!! I went to school while they explored Aarau. A good day though. =)

Alles in Ordnung.