Grateful moments...

I had two great encounters in one day; the Shell Centenary Scholars' Farewell and the Wolfson June Event.

Phuong and I at the Shell Scholars' event held at Sidney Sussex College

The farewell dinner. Trust me when I said dinner. The photo was taken at 7.45pm. The bright backlight was because of the long daylight that we enjoy here. It only gets really dark at 10pm (equivalent to Malaysia's 8).

The farewell dinner made me realise how time flies. It was as if I was strapped to a bullet train or something! I could never have gone through studies in Cambridge without the scholarship. I feel very thankful to the scholarship trusts every time when I think about all the things I have accomplished in Cambridge that some people could only wish for. On hindsight, I am glad that I didn't let my time in Cambridge whizz away doing nothing. I am still surprised that I was able to juggle my time with the massive workload/assignments in the course, did a few European trips, ran the London marathon and a few other races and a research in Malaysia! I couldn't have packed all these within 9 months in Malaysia but I did it here.

I attended my college's June Event as well, after the farewell dinner and it was a great experience. June Event is similar to May Ball, a very Cambridge thing. Oxford call theirs Commemoration Ball. But they are the same. The reason my college called ours a June Event, according to the Cambridge City Council, was because of its smaller scale of organising, earlier finish time and more restrictive operating budget. There was quite a balance of June Events and May Balls in Cambridge. MB/JE has a theme and Wolfson's was "Treasure Island" (meaning Pirates of the Caribbean kinda stuff). The challenging part was that the event was held through the night until the next morning at 6am! They even have a survivors' photo session at 5.30am.

The JE cost £60 or £35 for non-dining. Either one was too expensive for me. So I didn't bother buying a ticket. Besides, affording a ticket was only half the cost of attending the JE. You would have to abide by a strict dress code too! In Wolfson's case was black tie meaning tuxedo and bowtie. Never worn any of these in my life! So, no chance of attending one.

But as usual, when I rode my bicycle to town and saw the pomp and splendour in other colleges' May Ball, I could only wish that I had the chance to attend one. So I just whispered to myself, "O God, how nice if I could be part of this." Guess what, God answered!


Tom, one of my block mates who was playing the piano for the event asked if I needed a ticket for the JE. Because he was a performer, he didn't need one. I was just surprised that he offered me the ticket because he could have given it to his closer friends or even his girlfriend! I was hesitant at first because I didn't think I should take such an expensive item from someone. I said, " Er...er (finger tapping my chin), why don't you give it to your girlfriend or other friends first and if they don't want, you can give it to me." But the little devil in me screamed, " You idiot! Take it, just say yes I want it!" But before I could yell or shout or burst into joyful smiles or whatever, Tom insisted I should take it and said, "Hey, you gave me that Maggi instant noodle from Malaysia, remember? So, I am giving you a piece of paper in exchange, that's all I can give. Hope you don't mind. But I'd get it for you later." He winked and left. I was really dumbfounded. An 8p Maggi mee for a JE ticket??? The math just didn't work!

I went for the farewell by Shell and did not think much about it after that because Tom didn't get back to me with the ticket since he spoke about it 4 hours ago. So I thought he was not given a ticket after all. I came back from the farewell dinner at 9.30pm and there was a note at my door, "Hey I have the spare ticket for free." The ticket was stuck with a blue-tag next to the note. I was really happy though I was drained by the farewell dinner since 6pm.

I had a ticket but without a black tie suit. What a frustrating situation to be in! I called Eskandar if he had a bow tie. He had but it looked terrible with my white shirt and black jacket. He suggested Winson, so I called him. Winson was around and yes, he had a full suit and was willing to lend it to me. Great! Everything worked out well. So, I cycled to Winson's place to try out his suit and it fit on well, as if it was custom-made for me. I couldn't thank him enough for the night.

I must say the JE was such a great experience. Then I realised I was so near to missing the once in a lifetime experience studying in Cambridge. My little prayer said while cycling along Trinity Lane was answered through two different persons sent by the one Almighty...

ESD-ers: Me, Rehab and Don

Michael Jackson?? Not if this one speaks with an English accent.

I loved this chocolate fountain...

I was surprised by the level of seriousness in the game, though no money was involved!