Paths

They say that life is always about sticking to the path, walking the straight line until we get to where we want to be. But every now and then, our curiosity often makes us stray from the path that we've always been taught to stay on. While most would believe that this is a bad thing, in my opinion, before curiosity killed the cat, it must have very well skilled the cat. So, really, go ahead and stray from your paths. You never know just what you might learn and just who you might meet.

Photo Workshop

I went for a photography workshop today. It was held at the STAR Tower and it was hosted by one of their resident photographers, Glenn Guan. I had a good time taking pictures and learning some very useful tips from him. Plus, I made quite a few new friends over there. Here are some of the pictures that I took from the STAR Photography workshop.















"A photographer takes the picture, not the camera."

K200D / Redang

Here are the pictures from my new Pentax K200D. I only wanted to upload a few, but I ended up uploading quite a bit more. I hope you like it.

Redang

I'm back from Redang and needless to say, I had loads of fun. Here are some of the things I did and swam with!!



I took a picture of this Black Tipped Shark while snorkelling in the bay. Not bad for my first attempt in underwater photography.



That's Richard and myself in our snorkelling gear.

I'll upload the rest when I'm less tired.

Breath

I see nothing in your eyes, and the more I see the less I like.

Is it over yet, in my head?

I know nothing of your kind, and I won't reveal your evil mind.

Is it over yet? I can't win.

So sacrifice yourself, and let me have what's left.
I know that I can find the fire in your eyes.
I'm going all the way, get away, please.

You take the breath right out of me.
You left a hole where my heart should be.
You got to fight just to make it through,
'cause I will be the death of you.

This will be all over soon.
Pour salt into the open wound.

Is it over yet? Let me in.

So sacrifice yourself, and let me have what's left.
I know that I can find the fire in your eyes.
I'm going all the way, get away, please.

You take the breath right out of me.
You left a hole where my heart should be.
You got to fight just to make it through,
'cause I will be the death of you.

I'm waiting, I'm praying, realize, start hating.

You take the breath right out of me.
You left a hole where my heart should be.
You got to fight just to make it through,
'cause I will be the death of you.

Tagged

Rachel, as I promised.

You have to type the 1st thing that comes to mind whenever you hear these things.You can’t think and go back and change your answers.

1. Beer: Vijay Mallya
2. McDonald's: Killer Food
3. Relationships: It is everything. No relationships equals to no existence.
4. Purple: Oprah Winfrey
5. Power Rangers: Red Ranger
6. Weed: Kurt Cobain
7. Steroids: Idiots
8. Cartoons: Dexter
9. The President: Barack Hussien Obama


I..

1)...am obsessed with: Getting the perfect sunset shot.
2)...can't live without: The basic needs for survival.
3)...am proud of: My accomplishments and all the people that I have with me.
4)...really need to: Start expressing myself and feel less guilty about it.5)...don't get why: Sometimes we have to wait for the best things.
6)...relax by: Doing something that I enjoy.
7)...am excited about: Getting my Pentax. Jon's dad should be here soon.

My..
1)...fridge usually contains: Food and drinks.
2)...teenage years were: the years I learned alot and found some of my biggest passions.
3)...family is: my family?
4)...biggest regret: Being indecisive at times.
5)...friends don't understand why: I'm obsessed with things that I enjoy and would go all out of my way to do things for others.
6)...attitude to exercise: Indifferent.


8 random facts about myself

1. I dislike cluttered spaces.
2. I don't like 9-5 jobs.
3. I'm not a traditionalist and I don't share most of the views that my parents expect me to have.
4. I live life the way I want and not according to what others tell me to.
5. I've always wanted to bring water and basic amenities such as schools, job opportunities and hospitals to Africa and to other impoverished parts of the world.
6. I don't really enjoy the typical corporate atmosphere. I'm more of the Richard Branson type.
7. I enjoy travelling
8. I don't usually have first impressions.


1. who is your all time inspiration?
Anybody who has tried and defeated great odds to become successful or to do what they have always dreamed of doing. They don't have to win but it's the trying that inspires me and to me it speaks volumes.

2. have you had a crush on me?
Who's me?

3. if you were to be stranded on a deserted island, who are the 3 blog buddies you would take with you and why?
3 wouldn't be enough. I need more.

4. place that you wanna go to the most?
Europe. But I enjoy travelling the world and its one of my dreams that I get to travel the world.

5. if you have one dream to come true, what would it be?
To have a genie who will grant me as many wishes as I want.

6. do you believe in seeing a rainbow after the rain?
Scientifically, it should happen.

7. what are you afraid to lose the most now?
Everything that I have.

8. if you win $1, what would you do?
Keep it. Or give it to someone who happened to be one buck short on that day.

9. if you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him or her?
Why not?

10. list out 3 good points of the person who tagged you.
She's intelligent, punches above her weight and entertaining (she can never stop talking).

11. what are the requirements that you wish for your other half?
To be the same as my other half. Otherwise, I would be deformed. I don't enjoy having one leg longer than the other.

12. which type of person do you hate the most?
I don't hate people. I just don't fancy them. I don't fancy people who think that they know everything and everybody should bow down to them even when they are ignorant at best.

13. highlight of the week?
I am no longer a student at INTI.

14. if you have faults, would you rather the people around you point out to you or keep quiet?
I respect people who speak their minds. But sometimes, I also value silence.

15. what do you think is the most important thing in your life?
Many things are important to me. My friends, health, my future. So many things.

16. are you a shopaholic?
Not really. I only go shopping if I have something in mind.

17. what's on your mind right now?
I don't know. But I am thinking about what to do after this.

18. if you have a chance, which part of your character would you like to change?
I don't know.

19. what's the last shocking thing that you seen or heard?
Magma group pulled out of a bid to take over Super Aguri.

20. what's bothering you lately?
Not knowing what to do.

I tag......
Anyone free enough to do this.

My Last Day

So this is what freedom smells like.

As I walked out of those blue gates, into the night, I realized that this would be the very last time that I would walk out of those gates being what I have been in that place for the last two years. Two rather mixed years. Great when it came to all the friendships that I've forged, the people that I've met and for most of the things that I've done. Not so great when it came to the academics. But after a really long ride, I'm no longer a student in that college. I am now an alumni. An alumni who got most of what he hoped for when he set out on a journey two long years ago. Now it is time to move on to other things.

My day at college started at 9 am today. The first thing I did was to go to the AUP office to get a head start on my last minute revisions. I was expecting a very busy day today as I had promised quite a few people that I would tutor them in Chemistry as much as I possibly could. I pushed the glass doors open and I made a slight survey of our new "home". It was almost empty, save for a few of the AUP staff and a few students. I then put my bag in one of the pigeon holes, took out all of my books and proceeded to one of the empty tables. And as soon as I had sat down to begin my revisions, my new found friend, May came rushing in. She wanted me to help her out on a few questions, which I duly did. You see, like me, May is one of the very few females I know who is planning to major in Aerospace Engineering. In fact, her goal is to attend Embry Riddle in the Fall of 2009. About one year from now. And I truly believe that she will make it into ERAU because she is a very bright person and I'm looking forward to having her there next year.

But anyways, as soon as May joined me, Billy, a model for Loreal, joined in as well. He too had some problems which needed solving. I gladly helped him out. Afterall, these were my friends that we are talking about. If one needs help, I try my best to make sure that they get whatever help that they are looking for. And as soon as Billy came, Ashok made a rather dramatic entrance. "Eh genius, I need your help." I looked at him and said. "I'm not a genius la." He too had some equations that needed some solving. And like that, one after the other, people came in to join our group, all in the name of trying to do as well as possible in Chemistry. At one point there were quite a few people that I had the honor of solving quite a number of equations and answering a few people all at one time. The once tidy corner at the AUP office had now turned into a heap of students, paper and stationery. You really couldn't tell what belonged to whom and who was saying what. And to some extent, I did not really mind. In fact I was having a bit of fun with all that multitasking. Not to brag but, when was the last time I had that many people come to me with questions regarding Chemistry? Back in high school, you would be considered either deranged or downright desperate if you came to me for help. The reasoning was, "Why would you want to ask someone who gets results in single digits for an answer?"

But at one point, it all became a little to much to bear. Books would be presented in front of me while I was writing on another. Questions would come in while I was speaking to someone else. Not to complain but all these questions were now starting to take a toll on my revisions. I hadn't done any in almost 2 hours and I really needed to get down with my revisions. There were a few parts which I weren't too sure of and from what I understood, they bore some significant marks. So with that in mind, I looked at May and asked her if she would want to go somewhere else and study. She too was feeling a little cold. She said yes, and the both of us quickly packed our stuff and went to the concourse. I figured that I should be able to get some peace and quiet at the other side. But to our amazement, as soon as we had walked past the lecture hall, Kennard called out "Oi Senthil! Where you going?" I jokingly replied "Home." And as soon as I had said that, there was a loud "No, don't go back, we need you to answer questions." I didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing that. Sure, it was great that I would be able to help my friends out, which I really enjoyed because to see the smiles on their faces and hearing the oohs and aahs after watching them solve a question really is priceless and its things like these that I will always remember and cherish. But on the other hand, if it went on, I wouldn't be able to cover what I had intended to do. But I tried to accommodate anyways. Afterall, it was far fewer people than the ones over at the AUP.

So we went on in that fashion until about 1 or 2 o'clock when we went for a quick lunch. Lunch was at Asia Cafe. After lunch we returned and it was business as usual. We went all the way right up to about 4 o'clock when I started to get a little moody. By that time a couple of us were being overwhelmed by questions. As soon as I had tried to revise what I was weak at, someone would just come in and start asking me questions. And some of the questions which they had were very fundamental ones and some even expected me to go through entire chapters with them in record time. And looking at it, I knew it was a hopeless cause because there is no way I could ever explain such complex concepts in under half an hour while trying to keep myself on track. Its not that I didn't want to help them out but I really couldn't. It was beyond my capabilities. If they had chosen to study those chapters before hand instead of doing god knows what for the entire semester, I could have at least done it. But the fact that they didn't presented me with a task so difficult that I just did not know what to do. So I stood up and went somewhere else. Somewhere I could be alone for a couple of minutes. But that didn't materialize. Everywhere I went, I was shadowed. And for the first time that whole semester, I broke. I realized that I had been rude to some of my friends and in some cases I was aloof and sarcastic even. I was so confused that I didn't know what to do. Help my friends and watch me screw up or let them pay for some of their misjudgements while I went for gold. I was in a dilemma. I chose the latter. It was every man for himself right now and I was determined to make the most of it. I stood up and walked to far end of the concourse, hoping that this would at least send them a signal that I really needed to be alone. But I still felt a little guilty inside because if you know me well enough, you would come to a conclusion that I don't normally speak out on what I feel.

But anyways, I kept going on in that manner for quite some time until Greg and a couple of more people joined me and thankfully by then I had already covered what I needed to and I was less edgy. And by 5 o'clock, I we were already at the exam hall. And the moment I had wanted to write my name on the exam paper, I got an sms. I opened it and its content made me smile. It was from May. I replied her message and continued to complete my exam.

The exam wasn't too difficult. There were parts which were slightly challenging and I had forgotten some basic principles. But overall, it was pretty normal.

After the test was over, I immediately jumped out of my chair and went to enquire about how everybody else did. I was quite anxious to be honest. But I don't stay too long at the exam hall. I went to the concourse where I wanted to speak to a few people. I managed to. But what touched me the most was the amount of thank you's I received afterwards. It was overwhelming. I really didn't know how to react. All I could do was give them a smile and say you're welcome.

After all that was done, I said my goodbye's and proceeded to walk out those gates for the very last time as a student. I am surely going to miss each and everyone back there.

But on a more lighter note, it sucks having found a new interest on the very last day of college. Ask me if you want to know what it is.