tienzyee

Dream Come True

2009-12-22T14:08:00.004+01:00

For me, as a kid, I used to dream a lot. One of it is to own my very own yacht when I grow up someday. However, as a matter of fact, the price for a yacht and the money required to maintain it obviously beyond reach for most of us Malaysians. So, when I saw the competition organized by Firefly Airlines giving a free ride on yacht during the Monsoon Cup race, I said to myself, “It’s now or never. Whatever happens, I’m going for it.”

And so, I crapped a slogan for them and viola, I got the ride of my life!

Chinatown

Honestly, I’m a Terengganu local. In fact, I lived in Kuala Terengganu! So, I didn’t take the free return flight ticket to Kuala Terengganu.

The Monsoon Cup held in Pulau Duyong, Kuala Terengganu is the final race of the World Match Racing Tour, a pinnacle of the yachting competition which is equivalent to Formula 1 in car racing competition. It is held in Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort & Spa. As it is the final race of the season, it will determine the champion for the 2009 season and thus the pressure is on for all the teams who are still challenging for the title, namely, Adam Minoprio, Tovar Mirsky, Ian Williams and Mathieu Richard.

My hot seat session was scheduled to be on the 4th December 2009. I witnessed the race between Damien Iehl’s French Racing Team and Torvar Mirsky’s Mirsky Racing Team. I was seated at the back of Iehl’s yacht while another Chinese lady from Sabah was placed in Mirsky’s yacht with the following instructions:

“When the team moved to the left of the yacht, you move to the left as well and vice versa.”

“If you don’t understand what they said, just stand in the middle!”

And of course, there’s one basic rule that you don’t need anyone telling you,

“Hold tight and don’t fell into the river!”

When everything was set, we got into the umpire’s speedboat and were sent to our assigned yacht. I was greeted by Iehl and his team members. The start of the race is different from any other race, car race, dragon boat race or cycling race. In the Monsoon Cup, the yacht might be separated from one another and depending on the wind condition and the team that successfully attack the other team, they will be given the priority to start first. So, it’s important to successfully attack and defend the attack from the other team during the start of the race. During the start, my team, Iehl Racing Team successfully attack Mirsky Racing Team. Through coordinated teamwork, communication and the ability to respond to the changing wind condition, they were able to force Mirsky to allow them to start the race first.

On the river, the wind condition changed very fast, it could be blowing to the left now and 5-10 seconds later, the wind might be blowing to the right. As such, every time the wind changed, the team will have to adjust the sails and thus, you’ll see the yacht bending to the left or right. For example, if the yacht bends to the right, the whole team will be sitting on the left, using the body weight as a way to balance the yacht again.

Each time the team changed the sail, they will have to release the ropes that tie the sail and the metal holding the sail will be swinging from left to right or right to left and everyone will have to watch out their head to avoid being hit by the metal! At the other end of the course, the team will have to turn their yacht 360 degree and it’s here when the team will have to change their sail, lowering one and releasing a new sail to allow the yacht to sail using the wind. They’ll have to work fast, efficient and quicker than their rival to maintain their advantage over their rival.

The race requires each team to sail up and down the river 3 or 4 times, depending on the race official’s decision which again depends on the wind condition. My team, Iehl’s Racing Team successfully maintain their lead from the start to the end, and thus winning their race against Mirsky Racing Team. Both however, gathered enough points to proceed to the next round of the race.

The final of the Monsoon Cup 2009 pits Adam Minoprio from Black Match Racing against Ben Ainslie from team Origin. However, the winner of the championship is known before the race since Adam Minoprio qualified for the final and all his rivals failed to do so. He won the Monsoon Cup race as well, giving him double cheer to the season ending championship.

As for me, the experience is something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. Below are some of the pictures taken during the Monsoon Cup. No picture was snapped on board because there’s one person who dropped his or her camera into the river before.

Interviews by one of the participants

Mini Concert

Craft show

Monsoon Cup's Yacht

Participants during warming up / practice session

P/S: Sorry for not blogging for so long, been busy with my studies and I'm thinking of moving to another blog. I shall update about the link later.

tienzyee

Update

2009-07-16T11:36:00.002+02:00

Yes, I'm back home. It feels just like waking up from a sweet dream. Everything seems like to be a dream, as though as it just happened yesterday. Been really busy this few days. I just finished my log book yesterday and just now I just finished working on a part of my final report. Yeah, no kidding, I'm just starting to work on it due to so many problems.

Firstly, I only started my final report on my last week in Germany. Add the fact that I only worked for 3 days that week, I effectively didn't have the time to finish them properly. Coming back home, I realized that the home pc is broken. What's even worst, my laptop itself is broken. So, I've been spending the last few days trying to repair all this. Duh.

Plus, when i finally repaired them, I can't open my final report file! simply because I do not have the program needed. So, I start downloading from 5pm and yet after a short and yet eventful outing, I came back home at 12am only to realize that the download is unfinished. I kept waiting till 1.30am and when it's finished, I realized that the file itself is corrupted. I kind of fearing it will corrupt but I thought it's gonna be fine. It's just a 78mb file which can take me no more than 20 minutes in Germany to download and yet it's a bloody half day in Malaysia? Wth?

So, I changed my strategy by installing Getright and download it onto my laptop using P1. Even worst, the download speed is 20kb per second and it's gonna take me one and a half hour. I was so sleepy so I decided to sleep and check it out tomorrow. Using Getright, the file won't be corrupted so I just need to be patient.

This morning, I woke up to realize that the download stopped not even at halfway mark! Frustrated, I switched back to Streamyx, hoping the line in the morning will be fast and then resumed downloading. Me? Resume sleeping. Seriously, I was so sleepy from my day one here. I couldn't even open my eyes at 9am. Jet lag? I ended up sleeping till 2pm. Waking up, I checked the download and it's perfect.

Installed the program and I spent the next two hours working on my report. Now, I've got to burn midnight oil tonight and make sure I finished this tonight.

Zzzzz

tienzyee

On a cold windy night...

2009-06-23T00:19:00.002+02:00

12.21AM.

How shall I find the words to construct the sentences? Even if I managed to, it still won't be able to mention all I wanted to say isn't it? Many people will argue they're most productive at nights, yet I will argue that a cold, quiet night coupled with a nice song brings me peace. An air of relaxation and care free.

Anyway, just take a look at the video above. I would suggest you to watch and listen to it, with your heart, not your ears. Breath the song and the meaning behind it in a cold, quiet night, and you shall be able to know how I felt now. It would be even better if you sing along...

tienzyee

Lunch :)

2009-06-18T15:05:00.001+02:00

Ok, I admit this is a working hours but it’s gonna be a short one. Daniel, my colleague asked me whether I wanted to join him and Jöerg for lunch just now. He actually asked me last week but I had to reject him as I had my lunch already at that time. Today, I can’t reject and putting financial string aside, I said ok.

Then, he told me that I’m thin and I can just sit at the back of his bicycle and he’ll give me a ride on his bicycle. I thought he was joking but turns out to be true! I ride at the back and the other colleagues who were having lunch in the garden was laughing at us.

He’s strong really. Imagine him cycling up the slope, with me at the back! Anyway, we had our lunch in a Thai restaurant. Again Jöerg treated me. He always treat me which makes me feel bad all the time. Anyway, thanks for the lunch. It’s great.

tienzyee

Of Beere and Kuchen

2009-06-18T10:51:00.009+02:00

I was sitting down on a bench in the Hauptmarkt. My watch shows 11.30 and I’m waiting for 12.10. Suddenly, the bench shakes and I turned right. A couple just sat down on the bench. The man was eating something and the lady turned to me. We exchanged smile and the lady turned back, picked up the paper bag and gestured me towards it. She says it’s cherries. I knew instantly it’s Black Forest cherry. Feeling suprised, I took one and said thanks. Seeing me finished the cherry, she asked how was it. I said sehr schon. She gave me more. This time I took two. Again, I finished them. She gave me more but I said it’s enough.

She turned again, putting down the paper bag and took another one, gesturing me towards it. It’s red cherries she said. I took one and had it. This is more bitter. I preferred the black cherries. She offered me more but I said enough. After a while, they both got up and left. I said thanks again. I was so hooked up with the berries that I stood up, grabbed my backpack and when to a stall, wanting to buy some cherries. I bought 200 gram of the black cherry and the while counting my money, the lady grabbed a few red cherries and put it in my paper bag as well. I said thanks and walked away happily.

Later, I walked to Schwarzes Tor, an old Black Forest farmer house that is now converted into museum. I sat down waiting for the museum to open and after a while, an old couple came by car. The lady then brought me around the museum, giving me an insight of the life of the people here centuries ago. After the tour, she asked me, would you like to have a cup of coffee. I hesitated because a cup of coffee would be at least 1,50 euro and I normally cut down expenses like this. However, I do not want to disappoint her so I said yes. She brought me to the dining hall and together with her friend, we had coffee and marble cake. In my mind I was thinking that this gonna cost me at least 5 euro. I even had 2 cups of coffee. When I was about to leave, I asked her how much for the coffee and true enough, the friend said that it’s a gift. A GIFT!

That was it, it just made my day, what a fantastic day it is.

tienzyee

Obersee

2009-06-05T12:07:00.007+02:00

Obersee

Background: Located about 5-10 minutes walk from Königssee, the cleanest lake in Germany. So clean that only electrical boats are allowed here. It is located in Berchtesgadener Land, about 5-6 hours train journey from my place. Yes, I travelled all the way down just for this. :P

If you look closely, you will realized that the mountian is reflected by the lake. That's not all, look closely at the middle of the foto, there's a waterfall. It's Röthbach Waterfall, the tallest waterfall in Germany. So remote the area that people normally mistaken that Triberg waterfall is the tallest.

And by the way, this area of the lake are still unexplored by tourists. Most tourists get off in the church in the middle of the Königssee, not knowing Obersee is prettier and there's Röthbach waterfall as well.

As to the question how I found this wonderful area, I'll leave it to your imagination. :P

tienzyee

Ramsau

2009-06-03T13:40:00.004+02:00

I wasn't satisfied with the picture but sigh, that's the best I could muster.

Anyway, it's the parish church in Ramsau, a town in Berchtesgadener Land, a really beautiful land, so much so that I cancelled my plan to Salzburg and chose to go there instead. If that's not convincing enough, imagine sitting in an electric boat gliding through the crystal clear water with greenish blue hue.

tienzyee

Of tagger and being tagged

2009-06-03T12:04:00.003+02:00

Picks up a pen and starts scribbling tag answers.

***

(Tag is stupid)
(This is a waste of time)
(Li V is cruel)
(She's fat)
(No, she ain't reading this)
(And I ain't giving it a damn too :D)
(This must be my first tag. She stole my first!)

Continues scribbling

***

1.Besides your lips , where is the favourite spot to get kissed ?

Yet to be found out...

2. How did you feel when you woke up this morning ?

Sleepy, served me right for sleeping late last night.

3. Who was the last person / people you took a photo with ?

The flower guy in Flower Island lol

4. Would you consider yourself spoiled?

Erm, I don't think so

5. Will you ever donate blood ?
Tough question

6. Have you ever had a best friend who was of the opposite sex ?

Think so?

7. Do you want someone to be dead ?

Even if I want, I won't tell right? What a stupid question

8. What does your last text message say ?

Someone asking for souvenirs...

9. What are you thinking right now ?

I gotta sort my pictures for last week!

1o. Do you want someone to be with you right now ?

Yes.

11. What was the time you went to bed last night ?

12am

12. Where did you buy the tee you are wearing now ?

Singapore!

13. Is someone on your mind right now ?
Before reading this question no, after reading, 'Sial punya Li V kasi aku buat benda bodoh ni'

14. Who was the last person who text you ?
Pemalas in MMU

TEN Lucky Person to do this quiz...

Anyone bah

15. Who is no.2 having a relationship with ?

Not applicable

16. Is no.3 a male or a female ?

Not applicable

17. If no.7 and no.1 get together, would it be a good?

Not applicable

18. What is no.1 studying about ?

Not applicable

20.Is no.4 single ?

Not applicable

21. Say something about no.2 .

Not applicable

22. What do you think about no.3 & no.6 being together?

Not applicable

23. Describe no.9 .
Not applicable

24. What will you do if no.6 and no.7 fight ?

Not applicable

25. Do you like 8 ?

Not applicable

tienzyee

Schloss Moritzburg

2009-05-29T16:31:00.003+02:00

Schloss Moritzburg

Yet another picture taken on my Dresden journey. The castle is surrounded by an artificial lake. There is a park right behind the castle. Till then, bye

tienzyee

A picture from Dresden

2009-05-28T13:45:00.007+02:00

Damn noisy la being bugged by someone for not updating for just a week. I'm busy with my planning for this weekend eh. Anyway, this is a picture from Dresden. I shall say it's a worthwhile and an adventurous trip for me. Plenty of things happened in the journey. Till then, bye. Haha

tienzyee

Ain't talking

2009-05-25T01:08:00.002+02:00

1.09am. Ain't sleeping. Plenty of things been running in my mind lately, which makes me keeping quiet.

Kenny G version, if that doesn't sound familiar to you. Try below.

Remember?

This is also my favourite.

Hoho, since I found this song, I'll add them to my song list and surely there will be times when Jared will be hearing this kind of song all the time. Seems like I'm one weirdo.

tienzyee

Deutschland

2009-05-24T18:43:00.013+02:00

I browsed through my hard disk, looking for photos from all over Germany that I took. Below are some of the photos I liked. Enjoy.

That's the closest I have to driving a real Formula One car.

The picture really didn't do the castle justice. The castle is located at the end of the Romantic Road which begins in Wurzburg and ends in Fussen, at the Neuschwanstein Castle. Being a castle which is an inspiration of the Sleeping Beauty Castle, you wouldn't argue why I loved this castle so much. Perched on top of the mountain, covered with snows during the winter, I would love to live in the castle as well.

I'm grateful to have this picture. Broke my camera, met a kind and friendly couple and then miraculously, my camera still workable, not fully but enough for some shots. After all, the shot with a broken camera ain't too bad huh?
Presenting the view from Bastei, after a tiring climb to the top.
P/S: It's sunset. I picked a really good time to climb!

Audi Forum, Ingolstadt
Germany is home of several world class car manufacturers.
Porsche, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and Audi.

In Rothenburg ob der Tauber, everyday is a Christmas day.
One day, I'll come back here in Christmas.
It'll be real fun.

Sara on a unicycle. She's really good at it.
I tried but ... well you know the outcome.

tienzyee

Road to Rome

2009-05-19T12:58:00.004+02:00

Look, we're going to Rome and looking at our players, it's true that Fergie can choose to field up 2 different teams but I think more than 50% of the lineup are predictable.

Between the post, Van der Sar will start ahead of Kuszchak. Ben Foster is out after a surgery.

In the heart of defence, Vidic will line up alongside Ferdinand, while Evra will start on the left back. Right back? I pick O Shea ahead of Gary Neville because I recalled Fergie saying that O Shea will start.

As for midfield, right wing is for Ronaldo while left wing could go to Park, who had been harshly left out last final. The problem is engine room, I got no idea on the lineup but I think Scholes will get to start alongside Carrick. It could be between Scholes, Giggs or Anderson so it's a little unpredictable there.

Up front, Rooney will start. Question is, Berbatov or Tevez alongside him? Both are good but recent week shows that Tevez are preferable now. I'll pick Tevez.

So that means we have Kuszczak, Neville, Evans, Nani, Anderson, Giggs, Berbatov on the bench. And to think that we have such good players on bench and the possibilities of playing the Holy Quadruple, Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov all together, I only have 1 word if I'm the opposition.

Scary.

But whatever team lineup it is, I'll be hoping for us to win this. In fact I wanted this more than any other trophy. So come on, Manchester United!

Believe!

Woot!

2009-05-18T16:33:00.008+02:00

That was July 08 semester. Crazy timetable. You might think that it's nothing but the fact is I'm doing something that exhaust me for the whole semester, with little time for myself.

7 subjects and even though most of the classes started at 10am, and yet I have to wake up around 7 or 8am most of the time.

And Jared was always sleeping soundly when I left the room! Grr... And when I go back to the room, around 7pm mostly, he's playing computer!

And this, is the July 09 timetable. It's not confirmed as I need to think about several options before sticking to it. But at the moment, it looked the best option for me. Note the differences. 4 Subjects lecture!, 2 lectures on Tuesday and Thursday, 1 lecture on Wednesday and Friday and a little busier on Monday, 3 lectures.

The good thing is all classes end at most 4pm, giving me plenty of time for myself in the evening. I told myself I'll just cut down on co-cu next sem and give more time to myself and have FUN! Ok, maybe FYP is a priority but still it's lighter.

tienzyee

Have You Ever

2009-05-15T22:13:00.008+02:00

Have you ever been on a jet ski before?

Have you pick up your very own strawberries?

Have you ever run up an escalator before?

Have you ever go backpacking alone?

Have you ever slept in a train station?

Have you ever been on a roller coaster?

P/S: Just noticed that this fits the song "Have You Ever". Oh, maybe not.

There are so many things that we can do in life but sadly not everyone tried them at least once in their life. All those above, I’ve done them, except for one. I still haven’t run up an escalator, yet. I will do that before the year end, maybe? I have to say my chance to come here make me realize a lot of things. I began to see things from Western point of view, to the extent I no longer view beer as bad (provided you drink to your limit). I admire the Germans, a lot. They’re so friendly and gentlemen and I have so many experiences that at times make me feel ashamed that we do not have the same environment in Malaysia. Forgive me if you think Malaysians are good. Germans are better.

Holding door for the person behind you is normal here in Germany. If two person arrives at a door, where it’s only comfortable for a person to go through, one of them would be offering it to another person. I’m so ashamed that I began to pick this habit but sometimes it’s still someone offers me through first. I tried to pick it up by being the first to offer in the future. After all, why not learn something good?

You will not find my entry about Rothenburg ob der Tauber in this blog, simply because I went there last week and I still have 10 or 12 pending posts. However during my trip there, I met this old lady. For some unknown reason, I decided to go into a shop which doesn’t look attractive at all from outside. I was holding Schneeballchen (a specialty in Rothenburg, it’s a ball shaped cookie that’s coated with different flavor. If you ever get the chance to try, just get a mini one, the normal one is just too big) at that time.

Schneeballchen

Imagine me holding a ball shaped cookie on my left palm walking around the shop. It’s quite a hassle to do so but it doesn’t bother me much. But not for the old lady. While I was looking at an interesting “something” at the corner of the shop, she called me. She said come and at the same time, holding a plastic bag for me. She said “It’s sincere from me”. I was so touched at that moment and I said thanks to her. Then, I continued looking at the “something” and she told me the name and explained to me about it. It was then I decided to buy two instead of just one. Upon paying, for some reason known to the old lady, she say “Here, I give you this, free of charge”, showing me a map of Rothenburg. Then, she goes further, I drew this. I was so shocked but that’s not the only surprise. The map was so beautiful and it was first published in 1969. Yes, 40 years ago. She said it took her 3 years to finish it. Another surprise, the number of arch of the town hall in the map matches the original one. She told me so and just to make it sweeter, I went and count it after that. It was at that time I said, can I take a foto of you? She happily posed for me with her masterpiece. I said thank you again before leaving. Not just a thank you, but one with admiration, respect and full of sincerity. For she had proven again to me just how wonderful Germans are.

Anneliese Friese and her masterpiece
Viele Danke. Ich Respekt du.

It is here on this paragraph that I realized I wrote something else instead of what I actually wanted to write in the beginning. Apparently, I always write whatever that came to my mind.
The chance to live here actually taught me so many things. Life is not just about studying (I realized this long long ago). Go and do something else before you realize how much fun you missed all this years. And that’s the very reason why I decided to make full use of my time here, to try every single thing. It’s true sometimes I was curious of something and then with my tight budget, I will tell myself not to try it. In the end, I thought of something, why should I save the money when I can try it and then save the money later? I’ll never know if I have another chance to try it and I’ll never be able to bring the money with me upon death.

I admit that sometimes what I did is childish. There are a few people saying so and sometimes I noticed people looked at me with wonder. When it was snowing here during the winter, the path to my office are full of snow and what I did is, I played them all the way from the train station to my office. Along the way, there are people in the cars who waved and smile at me or perhaps laughs at me. I don’t care. I wanted to enjoy myself because I never had the chance to see snow in my entire life and I don’t want to be afraid of being called mad or anything and missed the chance to do it. If it’s not now, when? Joerg, my colleague even told his wife n children about what I did and guess what’s my reply to both his children? I said, what if, since you’re born, for 20 years, you never see snow? And one day, you woke up only to look out of the window seeing it snowing. The world is wonderful. In German, Die Welt is Wunderbar.

No, I don't know who do one. It's been there long time ago. Wheee

This, is my first Snowman. Oh how I miss Winter.

tienzyee

Urban Sprinting

2009-05-14T23:24:00.002+02:00

Best Of Balls Of Steel - The most amazing bloopers are here

High Heels

2009-05-08T22:49:00.002+02:00

Girls, check this out!

I'm sorry if you can't read Bahasa Malaysia. Basically, it was a reminder from Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) about the danger of high heel shoe. It will cause various health problems namely Osteoporosis, shorter Achhilles tendon, etc. Thus, it is advised that one avoid wearing high heel shoe.

Inform me if you want more details on it. I'll try translate more if there's a request.

P/S: Cycling from Erlenstegen -> Nürnberg -> Fürth and back to Erlenstegen rocks!

tienzyee

So true..

2009-04-06T14:35:00.001+02:00

'You take the long-term approach in nearly everything you do now. While others are working in the moment so they can get through the day, you are looking way down the road. Unfortunately, it can be discouraging when no one else sees what is so obvious to you. Your attempts to enlighten everyone will probably only annoy them and make you more frustrated in the process. Focus on what you know to be true; everyone else will eventually catch up with you, wondering how you knew it all along.'

tienzyee

Today

2009-03-06T09:38:00.001+01:00

What the horoscope says today really true...

"You may be stewing in your own emotions today, with no easy way to communicate exactly what you're feeling. It's not that you are isolated from others; it's just that language doesn't seem able to convey the necessary nuance. You might be better off playing a song that expresses your state of mind, rather than trying to explain yourself in detail. Giving your inner poet a chance to speak for you now might be a smart way to clear the air of lingering tensions."

tienzyee

Wow

2009-02-26T15:42:00.000+01:00

I asked the book a question and all I got is this:

"Gentle Persistence Will Pay Off"

tienzyee

Author

2001-01-01T13:01:00.000+01:00

To be updated

tienzyee