2 years on...

Exactly 2 years ago, Spain clinched Euro 2008. Fernando Torres the HERO on that faithful day...

Fernando Torres celebrating his winning goal against Germany.

The picture below? That is David Villa celebrating the only goal in Spain's victory against Portugal(which he scored) this morning thus clinching Spain a place in the last 8 of the World Cup.Bravo! Torres was a shadow of his self as he apparently needs more time to get fully fit after the knee surgery.

This whole blog post is however, not about football. 30th June 2008 was also the day that I officially started my college life. Kolej Teknologi Timur, that unknown, 'shop-lot' college was going to be my home for more then 1.5 years.

Those 2 years seem to pass by in a flash. I remember waking up that morning feeling extremely sleepy because of watching the finals just a few hours earlier. I wouldn't say that I was excited at that time but I was certainly looking forward to start studying again after the extra long holidays after SPM.

Upon arrival at college, I remember this Choong introducing himself as CX3( his username on recom) and asking me if I was Shawn Paul. LOL. I meet up with Shawn( whom I had met earlier during the MIED award ceremony) and we registered together, just to make sure that we get the same apartment.

Some guy led me to my new apartment and what I saw the moment I opened the door shocked me at that time. The house was in a mess and it was extremely dusty and dirty. The toilet to my utmost horror was like a public toilet in those R&Rs along the highway during the festive season. We cleaned up abit but that day, our parents did most of the cleaning because we needed to go to the hall to listen to some briefings. If it wasn't for them, we would be in a total mess that day.

I remember Selvan, as cool as ever entering the apartment in just jeans. We (Shawn and me) didn't even know his name until like about 3 days later because we couldn't really hear what he was saying when he was introducing himself. He just murmured something really fast and we didn't ask more questions after that. Perhaps we were too shy to ask at that time.

The other guy I remembered very well from the first day was Chai. During the Q & A session with JPA, this Chinese guy with spiky hair kept asking questions. LIKE NON-STOP ! At that time, I remember wondering to myself ''Are all JPA scholars like that? " (Chai, I'm sure you won't be offended by this. HAHA..we became really good friends after that)

The first game I played in KTT was football. I still remember Eric, Beh, Prittipal and me. All playing at the horrible field in KTT. At a single glance, Eric wouldn't look like a guy who plays any sports at all, being rather plump and all. However it was evident that he was a sportsman after playing with him. I soon found out that he even represented Johor in football.WOW!
Beh Jun Hua is another guy who I never thought played sports...but after just 1 day of playing football with him, I was convinced that this guy was an awesome athlete too. He kept running and running and running. So another doubt was cleared during my 1st day in KTT . NOT ALL JPA SCHOLARS ARE NERDS. Much to my relieve of cause.

Well, those are just some of the few little things that I remember happened during the first day in KTT. The orientation week just flashed by and I was very much waiting to go home at the end of the week. I have to say that I adapted really well to my new surroundings (helped by the fact that my house was just 45 mins away from college and good friends) and perhaps my biggest complaint during that time was the food. To me at least, the cafe food was horrible! But I survived and 2 years on, I'm now waiting for my departure to India. Looking forward to this new challenge that will be thrown at me. Of course it won't be easy, going to a new country and all. The pressure while studying for exams will be immense ( as I can see from the blogs and facebook statuses of various seniors) but I am very much looking forward to this new phase of my life.

I'll leave you with some pictures of my home for almost 2 years. Trust me, KTT isn't as bad as what people think. You just need to be positive and you'll do very well in that 'jungle'.

The one and only badminton court in KTT. It seems hazardous...well, in fact it is. Sharon once fell here and got a bad cut near her eye.

The 'sprawling' campus

The deserted corridors of KTT. To be honest, KTT looks way better now compared to the time I first came in. There are more plants and there are glass doors everywhere.

Pak Cik Parang's residence ;) Hope you juniors treat him nicely. He's just a poor old man who wants some peace and quiet time to spend with his ever growing family.

Tangga 11

The peaceful road leading uphill. A great place to relax and unwind for some. For me, a good jogging route.

The anthill in the middle of the football field. We live side-by-side with nature.

The view from uphill. You can see KLIA from here. What other college overlooks KLIA?? ;)

The road around the field. I've jogged here goodness knows how many times .

The great futsal court. We fully utilised it during our KI. Its also one of those improvements that KTT has made since Day 1. Well done management !