So I am stranded in Senai airport now. My flight is delayed from 9 pm to 11.20 pm. Great! And hence I decided to leave something in my blog which is now full with dust. It is time to make it dust free.

After 5 years, to be exact, 5 amazing years in UTP, my under graduate life as a Chemical Engineering student has finally come to an end. Leaving the university was not as easy as I thought. It wasn't just the university, lectures and the tests, but the memories in the university. Once a while, I always like to trigger my brain by recalling the moments in UTP. To remind me that life is not that bad after all.

During the interview I attended few months ago, the interviewer asked me what have I gained throughout the years in UTP. To be frank, I have lost count. I went in as a kid, but came out like a bigger kid with fewer brain cells. Haha. Engineer is tough you know. Maybe others can't see the changes in me, but I can see the transformation. What I used to be, I am no longer the Yu Han everyone used to know.

Glad to know those are positive changes. At least for me, I felt that I am a better person. You might be wondering what was the drive or motivation. I would say it was due to my relationship with the people around me. I shall not go further to touch the private matters. But yes, it is true. People around me taught me how live my life better, especially my loved ones. Be it my family, friends, ex or strangers, everyone played their roles in shaping me to be a more mature person.

There was a time, I always doubt myself for not having much experience in dealing with failures. That one day I might not be able to handle failure and collapse. Yea, I know it sounds crazy, who begs for failures? But failures are so important in life. Because everyone has the instinct to survive, failures will not bring you down but make you a better person. That's why people always say failure is the best teacher. I somehow view it as the driving factor to push people to perform better.

I have learnt that worry too much will just make things worse. To those who don't really know me, I was a born paranoid person. I worry every single things that I am not familiar which causes me hate changes in life. Slowly, I break my own so called "principle" and move out of my comfort zone. I have learnt how to accept changes and I can feel that my world is not longer monochrome. Instead, it has become more colorful than I can ever imagine.

Living in an Asian society, it is socially accepted that RESULTS come first than any other things. Study is the younger generation's duty. Good results guarantee good future. Having this mindset, we always think that our duty as a student is to study study and study because we think that the textbooks and the result slips can bring us up high in the sky. Actually, there are more in life. I have witnessed so many street smart people. People who don't perform in examinations or studies, but doing great in the society. I always believe everyone has their own talent. And most importantly, with the right attitude, I think everyone can achieve their dreams.

Social skill, leadership, creativity and critical thinking are equally significant skills one should have. Don't get me wrong, I am not telling everyone don't care about their results. Results are important, but it is not the only aspect the employers are looking nowadays. The companies need a competent employee who can communicate and promote the products or services, not a walking dictionary or book. But, to the kids out there, just in case you are reading this, study hard! But of course don't forget to play harder! Haha.

Oops, I think the cafe is closing soon. Before that, I want to finish this post by telling everyone that don't be afraid to make mistakes. My SV once told me, "don't be afraid to make mistakes, the worst you will get is scolding". Of course, there are more severe consequences, but she got her points. If you want to be old and wise, you must first be young and stupid. The bitter truth about human is that we will not learn if we did not bang our heads on the wall. Let the failures guide you in life, and make sure you learn from the failures and mistakes, I bet your life will be more awesome than before!

Cheers.

Still stuck in Senai Airport :(

First time is always the best moment to recall, but first step is always the hardest thing to execute in the world. Everyone has their own first time, be it first kiss, first date, first dental appointment or first bicycle ride. Do you remember how nervous were you back then to ask for your first date? Or do you remember how hard you cried for your first tooth extraction? There are so many first times that I can't remember them one by one, but there are some special ones that I will never forget.

Well, this post is not about my embarrassing first time as everyone wish to know. It is about my first few photos I took when I first got my DSLR. You know, when you want something so badly, you visualize what you are gonna do with them when you got it. I can still recall, what were the things I wanted to do before I bought my DSLR - light painting, blur background (apperture), fast shutter etc. I mean who doesn't wanna do that? Those are so amazing things you can see when you browse thru' the galleries of photographers around the world.

I still remember the first night I got my camera. I told myself I wanna do something special. So, light painting came across my mind. The concept of painting in your photos is just way too amazing. Till now, I am still amazed with the artworks of the photographers. Light painting requires dark surrounding. So, I waited for my family to sleep and I turned off the light in the living room. Got my handphone as my light source and moved my hands around as if I were painting. Though, the arrow photo is not that nice, but it is something to me. Back then I was so happy 'cause deep down in my heart I know I can do light painting like those photographers. And that night was the night I discovered the concept of slow shutter.

I always wanted to take some photos with blur background. Back then, I was always fascinated by the photos that have sharp focused object with blur background. Soon, I found out it can be done by adjusting the apperture of your camera. And so, I brought my camera to the garden and shot leaves, flowers and trees as you can see. I got so excited when I can blur the photo by adjusting my apperture 'cause you can't really do that with digital cam. 

The photos are not satisfying, but till now I can still feel the excitement when my hand first grasped my camera. The feeling is just too priceless. This is my first time. How about you? 

Hope this post can trigger all the sweet first time's of everyone :)

Cheers.  

Ha Long Bay is a must if you guys happen to visit Hanoi one day. The scenery is too breathtaking, but just make sure you visit during the middle of the year to avoid the pale white sky as you can see my photos. BTW, my photos do not represent the Ha Long Bay, simply 'cause it is way more beautiful than you can see in these photos.

As you can see, the whole place is so dull and foggy. I really wish to show you the photos in colours, but I have to convert it to B&W. 

This is one of the cave we visited in Ha Long Bay. This shot was taken using long exposure 'cause the cave is quite dark. So, you can imagine I was carrying my tripod climbing up and down the stairs during the whole Ha Long Bay trip. But all I can say, it was worth it. At least, I got a decent coloured photo.

These were taken near the island. The photos were shot from higher point. If only we have a blue sky dressed with some fluffy white clouds. The scene will be perfect :)

Two of these were taken from another island after the cave visiting and kayaking. Yupe, we went kayaking and it somehow reminds me of OBS time. But, kayaking during winter is no fun. Where the water is freezing cold. Just imagine you are soaked with icy water and you have to face the chilly wind. 

This island does have a tiny beach, for those who love swimming. Seriously, there were few people who were bold enough to swim in their swim suit. Memang tabik spring!

To have this big view of the islands in Ha Long Bay, it wasn't an easy task. At least, for a guy like me, who was panting all the way from the bottom to the top. We climbed the stairs all the way to the top, just to see the islands. It was tiring, that's the payment if you want to see something nice. Too bad, the place was so foggy 'cause it was evening time. 

After that, we spent our night on the boat at Ha Long Bay. During the night, we spent our night drinking and fishing squid. We almost got 1. Almost. 

Overall, Ha Long Bay is a very nice place to visit. It is up to the par of my expectation. The scenery is splendid, just that we went at the wrong time. 

Before I end this post, this is the famous cock fighting rocks in Ha Long Bay. Please, please use your imagination to picture the rock as two aggressive cocks facing each other. I am not making this up. This is told by the tour guide.

So, people enjoy your weekend :) 

Cheers.

Ps: I really don't know what to talk about, so yea.

I am officially 23 years and 1 day old. If you are expecting me to write anything about the election, then you might get disappointed. But yea, I did my part as a Malaysia citizen. I voted and like everyone, I waited in front of the TV for the results. Kinda have mix feelings regarding the results. Anyway, what did I do for today? I spent my whole day playing with video editing software. Kinda feel addicted once again. The last time I did montage was 2 years ago. That time was horrible until the extent I hated editing videos.

Frankly speaking, some people always say pick your interest as your job. However, I have different point of view. I won't make my hobbies to be my career 'cause I know I will end up hating them instead of enjoying. I still remember how my enthusiasm in video editing fates during my 3rd year. All the deadlines, the restrictions are ruining the fun. I just don't like the idea of mixing hobbies with official stuffs together. To me, hobbies are meant for relaxation. Where you can do whatever you want to. No boundaries, no restrictions, full of imagination, full of fun.

Doing things you love can make you lose track of time. Today went off so fast while my eyes were concentrating on the computer screen. What a lovely day enjoying the things I want to do. I guess that's my gift for myself :) I think you can never ask for more, if you get to do whatever you love to do everyday. That's just so ideal.

Happy birthday to me. I mean belated birthday :)

And sorry.

Hey good morning everyone. You must be wondering why I woke up so early during the Sunday morning. Well, actually I woke up for photoshoot, but it was disappointing where the sky was just plain and dull. I ended up walking to the mosque area and came back with no decent photos. Such a 'lovely' morning.

Anyway, to make myself feel productive for this early morning, I dig out my Vietnam photos and finally started to edit my Ha Long Bay photo. I mean photo, not photos. It is singular and more will come hopefully. You know life has been quite hectic when you are in the final year. So have to deal with it.

Now I am eating V2 breakfast and will head back to my bed after this. Hope you guys enjoy your week ahead. Cheers.

An unexpected street without any traffic.

The junction near our hotel.

A lady was selling some vegetable.

Motorcycles parked near the market.

An old lady with bicycle.

Train stopped for goods loading.

A Colosseum look alike building, according to the map, it is a post office. 

In the market.

View from the top of whole sale market.

It was the second day and we decided to explore Hanoi town by ourselves. The only vital tool we brought along was a map, a paper printed map. Surprisingly, getting lost wasn't our main concern. Our main concern was the traffic - how to cross the forever-busy streets. It was quite a challenge where you have to be extra alert and brave simultaneously to cross every streets. The traffic in Vietnam is different from Malaysia where they are using right lane instead of left. So, you need to adapt to the flow of the traffic from time to time.

Unfortunately, second day was a rainy day or should I say, the whole week was a rainy week. If you notice my photos, they are a little misty and blur. It was due to the rain and my camera as well. I probably didn't tell you that my auto-focus of my camera is mulfunction. I had to rely on my manual focus throughout the trip which always caused me to fall behind of the group.

Anyway, we managed to go to the wet market, whole sale market, train station, lake and so forth. Visiting the market is the most exciting one. The market was so crowded where we had to squeeze our way through every walk way. Everyone was looking at us in a funny way. They must have the thought that we are some bunch of lost foreigners  To think about it, it was quite an achievement. We walked for the whole day. We search the food using nothing but the map (of course we did ask the recommended places for good food). And the most important thing is we managed to find our way back to the hotel. Exploring the town in rainy and freezing cold weather is probably the thing you don't get to do in Malaysia. It is simply memorable. 

Before we went back to our hotel, we stopped by City View Cafe for some hot drinks. This is the view of Hanoi at night.

Oh yea, before I forget, I was nearly knocked by a motorcycle during that night. There is one thing about the motorcycle in Vietnam, the motorcyclists like to honk to alert the people around which is super annoying. But, if they don't, they are just like a stealth motorcycle. Moving behind or beside you without any sound. When I wanted to cross the road after dinner, I did not notice this particular motorcycle was coming from my left side (my blind spot). So I crossed without any hesitation and suddenly, my gang shouted the longest "Yu Han" I have ever heard. Luckily, the motorcycle managed to stop just beside me. And the thing is, my gang did not even try to push or pull me. All they did was shout at me. They said, I shouldn't be alive that night. Oh well. I survived maybe not because the motorcyclist is skillful nor the shouting, but the brake was in good shape for emergency brake.

The entrance of the first university in Vietnam I think.

Some buildings in the university.

Group shot near the lake.

Handsome Ryan for sales, S&A.

Some miniature I notice in the university.

Edmund and Kerry welcoming everyone.

The place the scholars took examination if not mistaken.

We went to visit the first university in Vietnam, Temple of Literature (according to the internet) after Ho Chi Minh mausoleum  Well, the first time we walked into the place, we had this feeling that we were in those Chinese drama settings where all the scholars are taking examinations to serve the nation. It was incredible experience. And again, I wandered off somewhere else to take photos instead of listening. Instead of the buildings, you get to see some carving of literatures on stones too.

Pagoda in West Lake.

Temple in West Lake.

Gigantic tortoise in Hoan Kiam Lake.

Group shot by Hoan Kiam Lake.

Apparently Hanoi is famous of lakes. We visited West Lake and Hoan Kiam Lake. There are pagoda and temple by West Lake, however, Hoan Kiam Lake is an eye opener. Hoan Kiam Lake has literal meaning of Sword Lake which involves the tale of magical sword and tortoise. And if you think the tortoise is not real, please have a closer look. It is a preserved gigantic tortoise. Too bad, the tour guide said the chances to see a real one nowadays are way too slim. Trust me, it is very huge and it is a must to pay a visit if you are there.