Japan 2013 - 「マレーシアから 来ました。」

(A formal version of the reporting account, without accompanying pictures, can be found here.)

On December 1st, 2013, we departed from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Tokyo, Japan.

I remember how excited we were when the plane landed and we could see "Tokyo International Airport" neon signage through the plane's window.  Really.  You can ask Pey Ning who sat beside me in the plane.  ^^  Upon our arrival at Haneda airport in Tokyo, we were greeted by Maru san, Yanagihara san, and Miss Irma.

Yup, J-pop sensational group, Arashi, greeted us at the airport!  ^^

A bus was ready to bring us from Tokyo to Chiba.  It was about 7°C in Tokyo.  I must say, I kind of like cold winter weather.  No...  I love it!  By the time we arrived at Reitaku University in Minami-Kashiwa, Chiba, it was already around 1:00AM.  We stayed overnight at an in-campus hotel at Reitaku University.

Thank you to the bus driver and Reitaku University staff members for being willing to pick us up from the airport in the middle of the night. 

 Because of our anticipation and the hours of traveling, we were pretty much tired by the time we reached Reitaku University.

My rommate for the overnight hotel stay was Swee Kheng.  Ah Ching~! 

I wanted to watch a Japanese game show which was on TV but ended up sleeping instead.  疲れちゃった!

After waking up and cleaning up, we had a wholesome Japanese breakfast at the hotel's cafe.  

すてきだ ね..?  Just outside of the cafe, the autumn-winter colours of the leaves captivated our eyes.

Once we finished our breakfast, students were required to check out of the hotel and moved in to our dormitory nearby.  A briefing was made to familiarise us with Reitaku University and our dormitory.  We were also introduced to four Reitaku University students who were there to guide us.  They were Aki chan, Yoshimi chan, Shizuka chan, and Kosuke kun.  Each of us was given a Suica card, which is a rechargable card used to pay for public transportation fares in Japan.  We were then led to our respective dormitory rooms.  

 From the beginning, we could feel the おもてなし (the spirit of hospitality) from staff members and students.

Each of the doors of our dormitory rooms was beautified with a welcoming sign and a paper flower.

After lunch, Yanagihara san and Imai san brought us to Tokyo Stock Exchange for our financial visit.  An English tour was conducted by a staff of Tokyo Stock Exchange.  We were introduced to what Tokyo Stock Exchange is about and how the stock exchange is operated and managed.  

Visiting Tokyo Stock Exchange was quite nice, considering that my major in university was Finance.

In the evening, there was a welcoming party held by the dormitory residents of Reitaku University.  After the party, a number of Reitaku University students walked with us to a supermarket near the train station.  From that evening onward, I found it quite enjoyable to walk through the chilly Winter breeze with friends (with proper warm clothing, of course).  And so, Kasumi supermarket became our regular spot throughout our stay in Minami-Kashiwa. 

We had a good time at the welcoming party with Reitaku University students.

On the next day, we kicked off our technology visit by going to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in Tsukuba with Professor Akune and Maru san.  At JAXA, a tour guide briefed us on the functions of JAXA.  We were also brought to the space dome of JAXA, where we could see models of rockets, satellites, and the space.  

I even took a photo with a life-size standee of a Japanese astronaut.

After JAXA, our next destination was Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), not far from JAXA.  We roamed around an exhibition area.  Then, the tour at AIST began with a video presentation on advanced science and technology in Japan.  A tour guide  brought us to the exhibition area to show and explain about some of the technological and robotic items on display.

Our technology visit resumed on the following day as we made our way to Kashiwa to visit Chiba University's plant factory.  Professor Emeritus Kozai Toyoki, the Chief Director of Japan Plant Factory Association (JPFA), presented to us the mission, roles, concepts, and challenges of the Center for Environment, Health, and Field Sciences of Chiba University.  We were also brought to tour around the in-campus plant factory.  

The cooling winter breeze was definitely one of the things I particularly enjoyed during the whole trip.

Our next destination was Smart City Museum of Kashiwa-no-ha.  The concept of Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City merges the ideas of city of health and longevity, city of new industry creation, and environmental symbiotic city.  It was refreshing to see such innovative ideas that could be integrated into a whole city that caters not only its residents but also the environment.  

In the evening, we gathered at a conference room for a courtesy visit by the President of Reitaku University, Prof. Dr. Nakayama.  Then, we made our way to a reception party with the faculty members.  Reitaku University students who previously visited UNIMAS were given the opportunity to deliver short speeches.  After that, it was our turn to say a few words as UNIMAS students who were visiting Reitaku University.

The last component of our Japan tour was management visit.  For this particular visit, the aim was to expose us to how the urban management of Tokyo city is properly carried out.  First, we visited Ariake Incineration Plant to learn about the management of sewage disposal.  The concept of 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) is heavily applied and promoted in Japan.  

We also visited Shibaura Water Reclamation Center.  Through video presentation and staff's demonstrations, we could see that a functional sewerage system plays a vital role in ensuring a healthy water circulation system, which supports day-to-day routines of residents.

This marked the end of our management visit, thus the end of our off-campus Japan tour.

On Friday, we had a campus tour around Reitaku University.  A video of the tour is available here.  We were brought to the library, mini museum, Rose garden, classrooms, and International Lounge (i-Lounge).  Our campus tour ended as we joined in the もちつき (rice cake making) that was carried out in the campus.

The pieces of rice cake with different toppings were so delicious that we shamelessly went for second rounds.

Since we had some spare time before our next agenda, Pei Gee and Mun Yin, fellow Malaysians studying in Japan, brought us to Kashiwa.  We stopped by at a sushi shop to eat.  Then, we walked around the area and bought some stuff to be brought home.

By far, my favourite sushi is ebi nigiri sushi.  おいしい~ 

This is Kashiwa.

Later in the evening, we attended a farewell party. 

Farewell party already?

Our weekend was free from any pre-scheduled visits.  Therefore, we decided that it was time to really become like tourists in Japan~  On Saturday morning, Maru san brought us to Tsukiji Market in Chuo, Tokyo.  We got to experience the atmosphere of a Japanese fresh market and tasted some delicious food.  Somehow, occasionally squeezing through the crowd at the market made the experience feel a little more real, you know?  LOL  

After Tsukiji Market  

In the afternoon, we headed to Asakusa in Taito, Tokyo.  FYI, I had always wanted to go to Asakusa, out of the tourist attractions in Japan.  So, to be able to finally step my foot there was great.  We took a good look at the temple there before checking out some of the shops.  We even had the chance to try out dango, green tea ice cream (Yes, we indulged in cold, tasty ice cream outdoor in winter~), and melon bread.  I also bought a red kimono, just because I wanted to.

I finally breathed the air of Asakusa~~

Before calling it a day, Maru san brought us to an eatery place in Minami-Kashiwa.  It was a zashiki-style restaurant.  Guess what?  I even got to eat a little bit of horse meat.

Having a meal together in a group was nice.

On Sunday, a few Reitaku University students brought us to Harajuku, Tokyo.  Once we arrived, we walked through Yoyogi ko-en and visited Meiji jin-gu.  We also walked along the fashionably congested Takeshita Street and had our lunch at one of the shops there.

A torii at the entrance  

 Lucky us!  We managed to witness part of a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony at Meiji jin-gu.

Are you up for Takeshita Street?

Our next destination was Shibuya, Tokyo.  There happened to be a group of individuals offering "Free Christmas Hugs" not far from the train station.  So, I (along with some others in our group) ran straight to them to get some warm Christmas hugs!  We spent a few hours checking out some of the shops and bought some things too.

As soon as we went out of the train station, we snapped photos with the statue of Hachiko, the loyal and loving dog.

 Being part of the crowd crossing Shibuya's massive streets was kind of fun.  ^^

After we were done with Shibuya, we headed to Shinjuku, Tokyo.  Upon our arrival, we spent some time listening to a street performance of a duo and cheering along.  Then, we made our way to Global Unit, a place to shop for clothes with tempting discounts and promotions.  The sky was already dark when we completed our shopping.  We had our dinner before spending a little time to admirably look at the tall and mighty Tokyo Sky Tree.

Tokyo Sky Tree  

We ended our Tokyo tour for the day and went back to Minami-Kashiwa.  The coming day would be our last day in Japan, but I was too tired to be too sad.  I just dozed off after cleaning up once we reached the dormitory.

The next day, it was bittersweet for me.  I'm sure the others felt the same too.  However, the past week had been fun.  So, it was all good.  At noon, we had a promotional event to let more people know about our university and country.  After the event, we had our lunch before continuing to pack our belongings.

I was wearing my traditional costume as part of the promotional event.

Frankly, we could feel the warmth and thoughtfulness of the host throughout the whole week.  Us, UNIMAS students, wanted to do a little more than just saying thank you.  So, we gathered food and drink items that we brought from Malaysia inside a box for the students of Reitaku University who had been helping and guiding us.  We also included messages for them.

It wasn't much but we wanted to leave some food and drinks items that are popular among Malaysian students. 

Some students of Reitaku University gave us gifts.

In the evening, we said goodbye to each other as the bus took us to the airport.

I told myself that I must visit Japan again in the future.

Japan 2013 - Before the Visit

I was thrilled when I found out that I was chosen as one of the delegates representing Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of UNIMAS to visit Japan.  In my mind, I was beyond ecstatic to be able to cross one of the things on my bucket list.

From the perspective of my faculty-mates and I, the 'journey' before the actual visit was a little challenging (but totally worthwhile).  Why so?  First of all, we had to be selected among many of our faculty-mates who had submitted resumes for the programme.  Then, we were further screened through an interview session.  I'm sure all of us who applied were hoping to be chosen.  So, I felt lucky to become one of the chosen ones.  Those who managed to make it to the final list of delegates were then briefed that it was necessary for us to come up with activities as a fund-raising effort in order to generate our pocket money for the visit.  Honestly, it was tough for us since we were still students and some of us had just recently completed our study at that time.  Despite that, we needed to at least put an effort.  I'm glad that we did, not only because of the fund that we managed to come up with, but also because it allowed us to get to know each other before the visit.  If we were almost like complete strangers when we started the visit, it would be awkward and less fun, wouldn't it?  ^o^

After several meetings and discussions, we decided to open up booth, selling mainly sweet corn and warm drinks.  We also sold some souvenirs and cosmetic products, thanks to generous suppliers.  For slightly more than a month, we opened our booth on every Monday until Thursday on weekly basis.  A duty roster was produced to divide our shifts.  As for every Friday, we carried out a car-wash service next to our faculty building.

What made the whole thing extra challenging for me was that I had to juggle between my part-time job, convocation preparation, and duty shifts for the fund-raising activities.  I tried my best to pull it together and thanks to the support that I received from every side, I made it through.  We made it through!

I never had the chance to properly express my gratitude to those who had worked hard in the fund-raising activities.  So, thank you very much for being helpful!

The Not-So-Typical Part of My Convocation

In November 2013, I had my convocation ceremony for my Bachelor's Degree.  Like many others, I felt excited to finally graduate and move on to the next stage of my life.  

You may think that this blog post is about how the day went and what I went through as one of the graduates.  Well, not really... 

Sure, it was one of the most memorable and meaningful days in my life.  I mean, being an undergraduate was sometimes tough and tiring.  So, there was this sense of accomplishment that I felt on the day of my convocation.  I'm eternally grateful for the knowledge, guidance, support, and opportunities that I received. 

However, this post is meant to reveal a fact that most of you didn't know about my convocation.  At the end of this post, if you find it to be unimportant or a-waste-of-time, I would like to apologise.  But I'm going to tell you about it anyway.

In the morning of my convocation day, I decided to 'invent' something that I found to be necessary.  You see, we weren't supposed to bring along bags during the ceremony because our seats weren't going to be definite.  I still wanted to at least bring along my handphone.  So, I resolved to this...

An earphone pouch, wire management straps, and safety pins were all that I needed.

Jjan~!  It worked fine. 

At times, I thought that it was quite a silly thing to do but I felt like a secret agent the whole time. LOL~ 

Thank you, UNIMAS!

Cheers! 

Comeback

Hello!

How's everything so far?
I bet a lot has been going on since the last time I got in touch here.

Sorry I've been missing in action for some time, considering that I've always enjoyed writing and blogging, but I couldn't blog no matter how much I wanted to due to an outer space mission, believe it or not.
Well, now I'm back!
As a comeback gift, here's a photo of me with my space mission colleague.

Okay.
In case you haven't figured it out, I was kidding on the "outer space mission" part.
This photo was taken during my visit to JAXA, Japan with my faculty-mates last December.

But the part about my comeback (here, blogging) is true.

I've Learned Valuable Things

Fangirls... fangirls... fangirls... and also fanboys..

The way I see it, for certain individuals like me, we have three separate but sometimes linked sides of life - personal life, professional life, and fandom life.

I'm sure many of you already know that personal life refers to matters that are close to us like family, friends, hobbies, interests, me-time, etc.  As for professional life, it obviously involves our formal learning, career, and other professional endeavours.

So.....what about fandom life?
I'll tell you what it's about.  As the name suggests, it revolves around the things that a "fan" typically does in an effort to support his or her favourite singers, actors, actresses, models, hosts, or any celebrity, and to keep himself or herself updated with what the stars are up to.  Some people often mislabel fangirls and fanboys who are active in their fandom activities as being "obsessed" or "delusional".
My response to that is: -
No no no...  We're not all like that.  Yes, there are some fans who tend to show their annoyingly obsessive side every now and then.  However, that doesn't mean that it's fair for anyone to jump into conclusion and assume that every self-declared fangirl or fanboy is exactly like that.  We're not, okay.  Like human beings in general, we have our own colours, personalities, and behaviour.  So, please don't simply have the false impression that all fangirls and fanboys are the same.  While we're at it, I would like to apologise if any of you had gone through unpleasant experiences with any fangirl or fanboy before.  Some of us are very young, some of us are almost clueless, some of us are rather emotional, some of us are quite headstrong.  So, sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Now, I hope that you have an idea of what fandom life is basically about.
To hardcore** fans, being part of the fandom movement is a joyful and fulfilling thing.  It can get stressful or tensed sometimes, but at the end of the day, it's all worth it as long as each fan knows how to 'mengukur baju di badan sendiri'.  If a new album comes out or if the artists are coming to town for a performance, it's great if many fans can purchase the original album or buy the performance tickets as a sign of support, but for fans who cannot afford it in terms of money, time, or energy, it's okay to be supportive in a different way - cheering from the sidelines, watching music shows, promoting the new album or event, etc.
(**P/S - Being hardcore in this context doesn't mean being insanely over-the-top.  I'm trying to refer to fans who always try their best to be supportive and participative by joining fanclubs, buying albums and merchandises, attending concerts or showcases or fanmeets, going to fans-only gatherings, and such.  I feel that "hardcore" is still quite an appropriate word here, but it's hardcore in a good way, you know?)

I feel fortunate to have the chance to become part of the staff members of a couple of voluntary K-pop fanclubs in Malaysia.  The 2 Malaysian fanclubs that I'm happily part of are MYB2UTY and MYBTOB.  Both MYB2UTY and MYBTOB are under Cube Global Official Fansites, assigned by Cube Entertainment some time ago.  MYB2UTY is a Malaysian fanclub for BEAST, whereby MYBTOB is a Malaysian fanclub for BTOB.  Check them out if you haven't.

Some of you might be wondering, what exactly do fanclub admins (staff members) do?
To answer that, I would like to first point out that being a fanclub admin is a voluntary and for-pure-fun thing.  We don't get paid for managing or updating fanclub sites, but we still do it anyway, for the sake of keeping other fans and ourselves updated with what our favourite stars are up to.  Apart from updating fans with news and information about the artists, fanclub admins also arrange preorders of the artists' albums and official merchandises, imported directly from South Korea (in the case of K-pop fanclubs).  Fanclub admins also organise meet-ups or gatherings with other fans in the same area or country.  Another important role of fanclub admins is to become the liaison personnel between fans and the organiser whenever there is an event (concert, showcase, fanmeet, festival, etc.) going on in the country, involving the relevant artists.  Not all organisers include fanclubs as part of their public relations (PR) engine.  Some organisers prefer to rely solely on their own PR team when it comes to promoting a specific event.  In my opinion, it's a wise move for organisers to directly involve fanclubs, especially official ones, in their marketing plan.  This is because existing members or followers of fanclubs already feel bonded and comfortable with the particular fanclubs, therefore, the organisers can reach out to the fans in a more effective and relevant manner.  Of course, constant, professional communication between the organisers and the fanclubs is essential in order for this to work.

So, what are the valuable things that I have learned so far as a fanclub admin?
1) Other things are first, not fanclub.
This may sound ironic after what I've written about how it's such a joyful thing for me to become a fangirl.  Don't get me wrong.  I really do enjoy being a fangirl even if it can get costly at times.  Despite that, my sanity ensures that I get my priorities straight.  Other matters like study, career, family and friends, are still above this whole fandom thingy.  There are times for work, there are times for winding down, and there are times for fangirling.  That's why being a fangirl (or a fanboy) is such a special thing.  As much as fans give their all in cheering for their favourite stars,  we also keep ourselves grounded by making an effort in other non-fandom things.  It's important for fans to distinguish between being truly passionate and being carried away.

2) Don't ever jump into conclusion.
I really don't favour those who always jump into conclusion.  I, myself, am constantly trying to become someone who doesn't jump into conclusion until I'm very sure of a certain matter.  A fandom-related example of this is when there's a rumour circulating about a particular artist, fan, or company.  Because of the advanced technology and telecommunication system these days, a mere word of mouth can be known by the whole world in a blink of an eye.  Sometimes, that certain "word of mouth" is pretty controversial and shocking.  It's normal to feel surprised or dumbfounded when we hear or read something, but until it's official and confirmed by relevant individuals, it remains as a rumour.  It can be a little complicated, though.  Sometimes, even 'official' statements aren't that genuine.  Hmm...

3) Guide others the way you would want to be guided.
Fanclub admins don't know everything.  A lot of fanclub admins know a lot of things, but still, we don't know everything.  There are things that we may not be aware of.  That's why we do our little researches and information-digging from time to time.  We certainly don't want to intentionally spread wrong information.  Even though there may be things that we may not know much about yet, it's still important to do our best to be as informative and helpful as possible.  Different fans have different level of awareness towards certain matters.  Some are quite independent and don't ask much unless very necessary.  On the other flip of the coin, some are a little bit clueless (which isn't really a bad thing) and tend to ask more questions even if the same questions have been asked and responded to before.  If time is available, make an effort to properly answer the questions, even repeated ones.  Fans just want to know.  So, let them know.

4) Always be transparent. 
Being transparent means that you don't hide anything unless it's very personal and it's none of other people's business.  If there's a piece of information that can possibly be helpful or interesting to fans, share it.  It's good to be specific enough so that the possibility of a misunderstanding can be minimised.

5) Sometimes, just let antis be antis.  
Dealing with antis (or haters or skeptics or trolls) is one of the things that can very much be a pain in the neck for fans.  So, what should we do about it?  We simply don't deal with these creatures individuals.  I know that it's sometimes very difficult to just ignore the hateful remarks that some antis make out of their childish dissatisfaction or jealousy(?).  Just be strong and believe in the artists that you're supporting.  Occasional rebuts on what the antis have to say may be necessary, but stay calm and rational in your arguments.  Also, know when to stop and just walk away.  Antis really aren't worth our precious time.

Forever Young

~ .. ~ .. ~ .. ~

"Let no one despise you for your youth,
but set the believers an example
in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." 

(1 Timothy 4:12)

~ .. ~ .. ~ .. ~

A few weeks ago, I turned another year older.

You know how friends or family members sometimes playfully tease you on your birthday, just to highlight the fact that you're getting OLDer?  That's normal and there's no harm intended in the teasing.  ^^

I face this too.  In addition to that, I also face something almost in contrary to this matter.  *Ironic, ironic*  Those who aren't aware of my actual age, as well as those who already know me well, mostly do not believe me when I 'declare' how old I currently am.  From my past experiences so far, a lot of them usually guessed that I should be about 3, 4, or 5 years younger than my real age.  *Hey, they said so, okay. :3*

It's probably because of the combination of my petite figure, erm...babyface(?) look, and sometimes child-like personality.  LOL~  I don't  know...that's just my wild guess.

Anyway...
My point is, regardless of how we appear to look like, be it younger than our age or more matured than our age, it's sometimes out of our control.  Make-up, hairstyle, and fashion style can change that but they are all temporary.  You are who you are.  Remember that what's more important is what you have to offer, coming from within you - hardwork, sincerity, kindness, passion, etc.

So, be grateful of however you may look like (as long as it's presentable enough for specific occasions).  Focus more on your inner values.  Chewah~

My 1MET Moments

I previously blogged about the first batch of 1MET.  In that post, I was being as descriptive as I could in order to enable readers to see what the participants went through.  Hopefully, more youngsters will grab the golden opportunity to be part of the coming batches of this entrepreneurial programme.

For this particular post, I'm going to be more casual and laid-back in my choices of words and way of writing.  There will be personal pictures too; those that my family and friends can totally relate to since they know my nature. :)

So, how did I come across the news about the newly-launched 1MET and manage to sign up?
I actually saw a post about it by accident.  It was linked to a Facebook post and I clicked on it out of curiosity.  To be truthful, I was never majorly interested in joining any bootcamp or convention-like event, especially when it concerns something that is fairly new in the community.  However, I kept reading the description of the programme on its official website.  I thought that the programme content was pretty impressive.  Even though the programme was yet to take place at that time, I knew that the organising team had put a lot of thoughts and considerations in order to come up with a proper planning of the programme.  The way that they listed down the vision, mission, execution, and other details was straight to the point and understandable.  When I looked at the available dates and locations, I spotted my state Sarawak!  Then, I saw the time slots and venue.  I thought about it for a short while to be sure that I would really be able to attend the bootcamp session.  Thankfully, I could and I signed up right away.  Upon signing up, personal details needed to be filled up for the organiser's database.  Other information that needed to be filled up was T-shirt size but it was informed on the website that 1MET T-shirts would only be given to those who would be chosen to attend the launching event in Kuala Lumpur (KL), in conjunction with the 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2013.  I wasn't putting my hopes high to be one of the selected (earliest) participants but I proceeded with my sign up because I had nothing to lose.  It was all free!  I also thought that I could definitely learn some useful things with regards to entrepreneurship from real-life entrepreneurs.

A few weeks after the bootcamp session, selected participants were notified via e-mail.  Frankly, I was secretly hoping that I wasn't in the list (Silly me, I know.) because I was occupied with a part-time job and wanted to do my best at it without much distraction.  I was a little surprised that I got selected to attend the launching event in KL.  Once I received the notification e-mail, I informed my part-time job manager.  It seemed that it was not a problem for me to get a few days off for the launching event.

When the day arrived, I departed to KL.  It felt a little different than my previous travels because I was traveling on my own without knowing anyone else who was also involved in the programme.  I just went along with it.  I'm glad I did.  I decided to travel light for the particular trip.  So, I only packed just enough items that could fit into my backpack and sling bag.

In the morning of the launching event day, we had to be ready even before the sun rose.  I'm usually not a morning person but I had no problem waking up very early that day except that I knew I would keep yawning throughout the day.  Buses were ready to take us to Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) for the launching event.  To me, the best part that morning was to be exclusively escorted by a number of policemen on motorbikes all the way from hostel to KLCC. ;p I peeked out of the bus' window a few times and saw the policemen coolly stopped other traffic users at traffic lights and road corners so that our buses could keep going without interruption.  The logic behind this whole escorting thingy was that due to the involvement of important personnel from Malaysia as well as the United States of America (USA) for the GES, it was important to make sure that nothing dangerous got sneaked in to the buses and the venue.  You know how terrorists or rebels will do whatever they can to create chaos, right?

I guess one of the advantages of being on your own is that you have better chances at moving and doing things faster since you only need to think of yourself.  So, I was always among the earliest to get things done and to enter the bus and places for the event.  I managed to get the front row spot in 1MET marquee tent.  It was cold in the tent.  Thankfully, I brought along my sweater.  A few minutes after I entered the tent, a guy walked towards us who were sitting at the front row.  He introduced himself and mentioned that he came from Texas, the USA.  He even did the cowboy dance move.  LOL  He was funny and friendly.  He is none other that EJ Carrion, our moderator for that morning.  He chatted with the two guys sitting next to me, then he talked to me too.  He even got our names.
One thing that I realised (but probably unrelated) was that I have always been pronouncing my name as "Priss-si-la" with an emphasis on "Pris".  EJ, on the other hand, pronounced my name as "Pris-sill-la" with an emphasis on "sill".  When I thought of it, EJ might have been more correct because the spelling of my name is P-R-I-S-C-I-L-L-A, with one "S" and two "L"s.  But it doesn't matter because "Pris" is one of my common nickname, so, emphasizing on the "S" is no big deal.  ^^

EJ started the 1MET event with a story about his skydiving experience with his friends.  He was being so enthusiastic and expressive in his story-telling.  Oh, other people may not realise it but in his story, he mentioned my name since I was in front and he probably saw me listening so attentively.  He was talking about his best friend whom he "love(s) but can be so stupid sometimes", who was the last in line to jump from the plane right after him. *LOL*.  It was like "My best friend was the last one in line, Priscilla...", something like that.  The point of EJ's skydiving story was to tell us to go ahead and "jump" towards our dreams or goals.  It may feel scary before the jump, but once you make the jump (with proper equipment, of course), you'll find that it's not so bad.

The rest of the morning went on with speeches by Sarah Green from Washington DC and Shama Kabani from Texas.  These two beautiful ladies are both entrepreneurs who are now well-accomplished.  Then, there was a live broadcast of the 4th GES that was happening in KLCC's convention hall.  Media, both local and international, started to set up their cameras in front of the stage in our tent.  Malaysia's Prime Minister and the USA's Secretary of State were on their way to our 1MET tent.  Not too long after that, the drums and some-other-musical-instruments-that-I-don't-know-but-they-require-hitting-and-shaking were played.  Dato' Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak and John Kerry made their way up on the stage.  Let me tell you, once the two appeared on stage, the audience members were like.....super hyped!  I was originally in the front row from the beginning of the event, but by the time the two guests of honour got on stage, there were some pushing and pulling that I ended up being in the second row...or the first-and-a-half row.  It was just like being in the rockzone of a pop concert (or rock concert, if you prefer that genre), without the singing or fanchants.

After the visit from the two guests of honour, there was another talk by Norman Abdul Halim from KRU Group.  Then, a panel of entrepreneurs from different countries went up on stage for a Q&A session.  After the whole programme ended, we had our lunch and were free to walk around until our buses arrived to send us back to hostel.  I just wandered inside Suria KLCC shopping mall while waiting for the buses.

I was already tired and couldn't wait to hit the bed for a nap.  And that was exactly what I did when we got to the hostel.  I took a long nap (for about three or four hours).  I remember being woken up by my phone when someone called (or text messaged) me.  I got hurt because of that!  Well, my phone was charging on the desk and when I heard the ringtone (or message notification), I automatically got up from the bed to reach out to my phone.  Predictably, I was wobbly and half-asleep, so, even a two-meter 'journey' from the bed to the desk was enough for a little accident to happen.  The accident was that as I was walking in an unstable and subconscious manner towards my phone, I couldn't make a safe stop when I reached the desk.  So, I almost fell to one side and in my attempt to stop myself from falling, my right foot accidentally hit the edge of a wooden stool that was right next to the desk.  I guess it was pretty forceful, that I got a 1.5 cm half-open(?) cut on my right foot.  I instantly felt the aching.  Thankfully, I brought along handy plasters and made use of them.

All in all, I feel fortunate to be given the chance to go through a learning experience such as 1MET, especially since it was the very first batch of that programme.  I really hope that a lot of the people that I know, be it my friends, my family members, my relatives, or my acquaintances, will grab the opportunity for the coming batches.