Shah Alam Trees for Life 2013

Here I come Shah Alam Trees for Life 2013!!!

Hey guys! It's me going to another green event again! I feel really grateful that I got the chances to do things that I enjoy during university life. This time I went to the Laman Kemerdekaan, Shah Alam, one of the largest green lungs in Kuala Lumpur, for my first tree-planting activity - Shah Alam Trees for Life 2013. I have been following the Eco Warriors Group in Facebook since I was in high school but could not make it every time this event was held (starting about one and a half year ago, this was already the 28th event organised by Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam and Eco Warriors!!! I shouldn't miss anyone of it from now on, bwahahahahaha).

So glad that we were having a nice and warm morning during this event. What a blessing! (My skin turned a little bit more darker though, ugh, forgot the sun block)

The objective of this event is to create a recreational place for family gatherings within this lush greenery! It has been a long time since I last sitting on the grass and enjoy the nice scenery of nature.  

Trees are one of the most important parts in Nature which make up the water catchment area besides preventing soil erosion!

One day it will be as tall as any other trees there. *cross my fingers*

For your infomation, more than 42,000 trees have been planted for the past 27 Shah Alam Tree for Life events which involved about 8,000 volunteers. According to the information provided by Bernard Eng, one of the key persons in Eco Warriors, these are the trees that were planted at six plots there: Bucida, Kiara Pavuna, Euginia Oleana, Dalbergia, Kayu Putih, Sentang and Tecoma, which made up approximately 500 tress in total.

This is Bernard Eng who has been organising this event giving instructions on how to plant a tree. We have 'met' on Facebook long before and this was the first time we met face-to-face. I was inspired by his dedication in contributing to the environment from the way he talked. Indeed, we need young people to get involved in green actions!

Firstly, tear off the bag wrapped around the root ball of the young tree.

Reminder: Be gentle while handling the root ball (yes that is what we called, the compact soil at the root of the plant) as it could decide the well-being of the tree!

Opening ceremony by the Mayor of Shah Alam City Council, Y. Bhg. Dato' Mohd. Jaafar bin Mohd. Atan. Thanks so much for willing to spend your precious time with us this Sunday morning!

The first tree being planted by our Mayor.

This event was joined by Politeknik, KPJ Healthcare, Crown Worldwide, Uitm and other individual volunteers including Eco Warriors!

I forgot when was the last time I got my hands dirty with soil. I didn't wear gloves that day, using my bare hands to work with the soil (it was not dirty at all seriously!). Work was not that tough since we had the tractor like machine to dig holes for us. It's really quick and easy! What we finally have to do is to remove the young trees from the bags and put them into the holes and covered up the holes with soil. At the end, a pole was stuck into the ground beside the plant to make sure that it grows up straight. Actually it was quite difficult to plant the trees with its trunk straight due to my lacked-of-skills. They usually ended up a bit inclined to the side. Hopefully the poles will do the job later on!

The 'tractor' I mentioned just now. Those workers form Shah Alam City Council were very friendly and helpful! They lent us hands whenever we faced problems during tree planting. 

See? No hoe is needed!

Some of the pre-dug holes were filled with water due to the rain on previous night. Do you guys notice the frogspawn??

Rows of young trees ready to reach for the sky!!!

As we know, trees can purify and cool down the air besides providing shades under the scorching sun of Malaysia. Directly or indirectly, they contribute to our life so that we have a more healthy environment to live in, not to mention their other uses in industries etc. No tree = no life. We can even unwind ourselves by simply admiring the beauty of trees. Nature is not complete without trees. (one of the reasons that I love my university very much is because of the trees!!! haha)

The best scene there! I just love the way trees brings out the magnificence of the masjid.

P/S: Too bad that I attended it alone, most of my friends were having their own activities in university. However I met some inspiring Eco Warriors there. I could see sparkles in their eyes when they talked about the past experiences in tree plantings. Hopefully one day University Putra Malaysia manages to send a team of dedicated participators to this event too! Stay tune! The next Shah Alam Trees for Life 2013 will be in early of December 2013!

Cheers! Stay calm and plant a tree.

Mid-sem Holidays Here I Come

It always happens this way: When I am at home, I will be dreaming about my life in university, the freedom, the trees, friends and everything; when I am at the university, I will be dreaming about my life at home, the home-cooked food, the fluffy bed and anything.

As I am currently still at university, you know what I will be thinking about. Here are the things that I will have to complete within the seven days:

• Assignment
• Assignment again
• More assignments
• Eating mangos (yeah there were lots of them dangling on the mango tree at home, but I'm not sure whether they were still there waving at me. Anyway grandma promised to keep some for me! Yay yay yay!)
• Cooking (just eat whatever turns out in the kitchen! Stop asking questions and giving me doubtful expression!)
• Writing articles for MESYM (time can be squeeeeeeeeeeeezed, will see how I manage to do it, cross my fingers)
• Eating home-cooked meals (no fried rice please!!!!!!! I have enough of that in cafe!)
• Hugging my pillow (I miss it soooo much, boohoo...)
• Talking non-stop about my uni life 

Having homesick and lovesick at the same time now... Keep getting sick here due to lack of sleep, lack of exercise and lack of food... Finally it's almost the time I am going home to recharge myself! Hopefully I will be doing better after taking a rest. Anyway, all the best, everyone!  

My first performance ever in Tun Perak College. Double personalities: Korean girl & Sarawakian warrior. The combination was odd, but... I did enjoy it, haha...

My beloved university! A dream came true!

MAYDAY Nowhere 3D Movie (Lets Rock!!!!!!)

The trailer! I watched it after I watched the movie, haha.

This was the first 3D movie I have ever watched in cinema, wearing the speciall glasses (over my own short-sightedness glasses, haha, sounds awkward) which costed RM3 each. So in total we spent only RM30 for two tickets for this concert movie (is that the correct term?) instead of over hundred Ringgit for the concert tickets. I was so glad that Mayday came out with this low-cost method to see their perfomances! 

As Mayday is a Taiwanese band, so it is quite difficult to describe them in English for me. The band consists of five members who compose their own songs, very meaningful and inspiring songs, mainly about chasing dreams and living a worth-living life. They are one of my motivations and inspirations for not giving up in whatever I do. I will talk more about their songs maybe for the next next next next and next post (hopefully it won't be an endless 'next', procrastination loves to work on me, haha).  

You know, my roommate went for the movie twice!!! Twice without bringing me!!! (yeah both of us are big fans of Mayday, what a coincidence!) Yes I am blaming you for not comforting me when I thought I could not make it! But finally I made it too! Bwahahahahahahahaha...

(erm... you guys can ignore the last paragraph of this post, it is just an explosion of emotion)

Dedicated to All My Friends

After being in University Putra Malaysia for about one and a half months, I finally got used to the pace of busy-but-not-really life there. It was a tough time for me as I am away from home, away from my best and awesome friends in matriculation where most of them are in University Malaya, University Kebangsaan Malaysia and University Science Malaysia doing Medicine, Dentistry, Architecture, Engineering, Law and so on. Everyone is forming different social circles which rarely overlap and having different life. Some of us have to stay up late doing assignments, some of us have to stay overnight in studio rushing projects, some of us feel bored and lonely there. I miss all the good old times when we were just minutes away from each other. The slightest thing can trigger my memories about Selangor Matriculation College. Fried rice in cafe (just like the one we used to order in Orion), Wushu activities (just like the time when everyone is training so hard for the coming performances), cornflakes with soy milk (used to be my dinner in SMC) or a call of anyone of you (we will be like 'aww... How I wish we are just beside each other). We hardly meet after we have gone on our own ways, chasing our dreams. Even if we are from the same university.

The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change.       

- - - - - - -  Heraclitus

Unlike high school and matriculation life, we do not have a stable and consistent life where we go to the class and go back home according to the schedules. Time is flexible. We have to decide our class schedule at the beginning of the semester, then we have to arrange the time when we meet up with our coursemates to discuss about assignments and presentations. Being late to class does not seem to be a big deal for university students (I strongly disagree with being not punctual!!!) Replacements of class or exams might be held at night (when the number of buses is scarce, ugh) and most of the club activities are held at night (when most of us do not have class). Besides, our life is not limited within the walls of the campus but also the communities out there. Having the latest news about the world and our country at our finger tips is essential as we know which way we should go in the future. We explore our potentials and build up our soft skills when dealing with people from all walks of life. It is our choice whether to stay active in any field or not at all. University life is all about freedom, but you have to bear the responsibility about the choice you have made. Even though some of us can still be considered as teenagers (I am 19 years old, still in teen year, right? Haha), we learn to live like an adult who make decision for him or herself in the sense of time management, financial management and much more (including relationship).

Time and surroundings might change us that we would no longer be the same as yesterday. But we should not give our dreams up, just like the search of Laputa in the animation 'Castle in the Sky' by Hayao Miyazaki. Believe in your dream and go for it.

Wish everyone of us will reach what we want one day! All the best in everything and may God bless us!

International Greentech and Eco Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia (IGEM) 2013

For more information, please log on to http://www.igem.com.my.

Guess what? I just went to the International Greentech and Eco Products Exhibition and Conference Malaysia (IGEM 2013) yesterday, the region's largest green technology and eco-products exhibition which was held in Kuala Lumpur Convention Center (KLCC) for four days since 10th October 2013. I took the KTM from Subang Jaya to KL Central then we took LRT straight to KLCC. The less-than-an-hour journey was simple and easy without much hassle (thanks to my touch n' go card, I think everyone in KL should get one). For students, we can only attend the exhibition on the last day (the previous three days were for professionals and businessmen). The reason I attended this first green event that I have ever attended (yea, there were soooo many first time since I came to KL) was to collect information for presentation of the subject Man and Environment. Our lecturer requested us to take part in this event and it was really eye-opening! 

I print-screened this on the official website of IGEM 2013 as I was lazy to copy everything, haha.

It was the 4th IGEM with the theme 'Advancing Green Growth and Global Entrepreneurship' organised by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Malaysia. The exhibitors were from countries all over the world that covered sectors such as building materials & design, eco products & services, energy, government, green financing, ICT, manufacturing, resources recovery management, transportation & logistic and the list went on. Many of the green products made their first appearance in Malaysia here! I felt so proud to be one of the people who got to know these first, haha.

 The Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water of Malaysia, the organiser of IGEM 2013!

The person-in-charged of each booth was very helpful and friendly even when they found that I was not a potential customer (not now, at least) they provided me as much information as I need. Through this event I found that being green is not just under the field of environmental science but under every aspect of our life. Hybrid cars, solar energy, biogas, flush-free toilet, organic pesticide etc... Innovations make everything possible by replacing the material used with biodegradable or recycled materials and reducing the usage of raw materials and energy. New technologies (some are quite long existed, but still new to Malaysia) from German, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and other countries are making their way into Malaysia, a still developing country especially in green technology. A very good sign indeed! Can you feel my excitement??

Glow-in-the-dark tiles come with two colours from Bespoke Concrete Products LTD, UK. According to the person-in-charged, it can absorb UV light and glow for 8 to 10 hours. It can also last for over 25 years and is maintenance free! This save a lot of  energy required for roadside lamp! Don't you think it is romantic? Haha. I believe it can minimise light pollution too.

Paper products like food container and foot massage mat made of recycled paper and sugar cane fibre! Advice from the person-in-charged of Telic Paper Sdn Bhd: except laminated paper, even paper with food stain can be recycled, so please don't throw them away. This company was started about thirty years ago producing egg cartons. So glad that there is a huge company processing recycled paper.

Clothing made of 50% or more bamboo fibre. It is just as comfy as cotton clothes although the price is slightly higher, about 10-15% more. Believe it or not, the technology comes from China! By using this technology, we can reduce the usage of synthetic cloth which is less eco-friendly.

Agricultural products using sustainable integrated farming by IRIS Corporation Berhad. The water from bore, pond or rainwater harvest is first and foremost being used to rear Jade Perch (as shown in the bottom left photo) which requires good quality water, followed by fish requires less pristine water such as Patin and Tilapia and finally tolerant fish like Catfish and Guppies. Wait, it is not the end yet. The used water  is utilised for duck weed cultivation (as shown in the bottom right photo) and the duck weed is a good source of protein for fish. This company has the AutoPot System which saves water and fertilisers during plantation of melons, vegetables, herbs and flowers. The agri waste is then used for mulching (encourage microorganism growth) as feed for poultry. The poultry waste is then used for worm culture and the worm is used to feed the fish. This cycle makes farming more sustainable! 

One thing I love about Penang, the green environment and policy! Penang Green Council was established in 2011 to promote greener lifestyle among Penangites. They are currently running a project named Penang Green Office Project where companies are encouraged to do the quiz online about the sustainability of their offices. If they score more than 70%, they will be granted the label of green office which comes with benefits! 

Sounds familiar? It's Alam Flora Sdn Bhd which collects domestic waste!

Malaysian Timber Certification Council, a government-linked company, According to the person-in-charged, there are ONLY 10 certified sustainable forests in Malaysia that produce timber! This means that non-sustainable or illegal logging is still active out there!

MARDI! We can see how sustainable agriculture works.

UPM's booth! They sell the sustainable technologies of manufacturing the products, not the products, silly me... 

When I was in secondary school, I had been looking through newspapers and magazines to find out more about the course of environmental science but I rarely found one from the private colleges. I looked through the information from private colleges was because only if there were demands for this course they would advertise about it. Until last two years, private universities such as Nottingham and Monash started to promote about Environmental Science, I was thrilled! As I studied in matriculation, the only option I could go for was public university (unless I got a scholarship). So I chose University Putra Malaysia instead of other universities as it is the only university with the Faculty of Environmental Studies (erm, I think I mentioned about this before) and I don't feel regretted and I love this university very much!

Now the green trend is rising, even if I would end up doing something else besides environmental science field, it would be related to green technologies (no more worries that I would be jobless in the future for taking this unpopular course). I am still very excited about it right now, haha. It is the hope of every green human that we are going towards sustainable living. Students! Don't let go the opportunity to attend this event next year as it is important that we are aware of these kinds of technologies which could be crucial for our future! I shall come again next year, next next year, next next next year and so on because green improvement and development never ends.

Green banners, banners everywhere...

P/S: Information of each product or company is based on interviews, not from their brochures or official websites. And this post included only a very very small portion of the whole exhibition. You guys should really really come and see with your own eyes. The dedication of people promoting green products there was very motivating!

Highlight of the Week - The Oatmeal

http://theoatmeal.com

I can't help to share this website which contains a combination of comics, humours and creativities by Matthew Inman, a comic artist from Seattle, Washington (The place that I knew after I watched Twilight!!!). This website (or should I call it a comic blog?) was started in 2009 and I found it recently through facebook (facebook is really a source of almost everything). I'm not going to include any spoiler in this post, just explore it on your own risk (yea it contains 18++ issues that suit very-open-minded persons, even for me I can't really accept it).

Don't know where to start? Try this one! It was the first comic by the Oatmeal that I have ever seen and I immediately fell in love with the hilariousness and unique ways to picture a message. Enjoy!

My Dog: The Paradox

Dogathon in UPM

Proudly organized by veterinary students of UPM!!!
http://dogathon2013.webs.com/

This was the first time ever I attend animal charity event in my life, the 17th Dogathon held in Bukit Expo, University Putra Malaysia. I have been fond of animals no matter you are dogs, cats, rodents, reptiles or amphibians (opps, I mean, 'they'). In my opinion, dog is one of the most intelligent and communicable animals. They are just so so adorable that I can't help to pet them whenever I see one. Unlike cats, even if you are not the one who feed them, they are excited to see you, wagging their tail with a huge smile on their face (I'm not sure whether that is a smile or not, the end of their lips curl upwards as if they are smiling). With just a simple gesture, they will come bouncing to you and give you a big big hug. I never own a dog before though due to limited space in my house but I get to play with my uncle's dogs once in awhile. There are friendly strays near my house too. Dogs don't have to be a pure blood to become men's best friends. So adopt one! Mixed blood has less genetic problems and they are just as lovely as any other dogs as long as they are nourished with love and kindness.

The objectives of this annual event held by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, UPM are:

1. To raise funds for PRO-KASIH, a programme organised to improve the welfare of strays.
2. To improve and highlight the role of veterinary professions in society.
3. To provide an opportunity for dog owners, dog lovers and their dogs to have a gathering.
4. To create a platform to promote responsible pet ownership.

I spent about an hour there with my friend, Xhirryne who is a first year veterinary student going around the event compound meeting all kind of dogs. There are a lot of Husky especially, shepherds, terriers, bulldogs, pugs and many others that I don't know the species. Their sizes ranged from the ones you can hold with one hand to the ones that can easily pin you to the ground. It is wonderful to see happy dogs with their owners. They are well-trained and friendly that I don't have to be too worried to be around them. Aww I don't know how to describe the feeling but it is really a great experience. This was the first time I saw so so many dogs around me. Whenever there is a chance for you to go to such dog gathering, grab it and you won't be regretted even if you are not a dog owner.

All the dogs there looked healthy and cheerful. How I wish all the dogs in the world can have the same life like them.

There are a lot of booths exhibiting pet products and services and also animal welfare organisations such as PAWS, SPCA etc. Still, for me, dogs are the main attraction, haha. I witnessed how obedient a dog can be. They are really intelligent, thanks to their owners who treat them like their own children (this is not hyperbola, I can see the tender loving care through the interactions between the dogs and their owners). Some dogs even can behave themselves without being reined. They trotted around their owners, sniffing here and there. What a lovely animal that exists in this world who are crowned as man's best friends.

Innocent looking cutie... ^ ^

I took a lot of pictures before the dog race started and got to pet some of them after gaining permission from their owners (beware, don't approach any unfamiliar dogs as we are not sure whether they are aggressive or not). They put a smile on my face and make my day. =)

Blogs

Blogging is one of my favourite leisure (sometimes I do it during non-leisure time, haha) activities where I write about stuffs I encountered in daily life and things that I wish to share with you guys. Instead of writing to newspapers as my friend suggested, I prefer to post my thoughts on blog as I can write anything I want without concerning what the readers will like to read about. Besides, I can publish the post straight away without having to wait (most of the times my writings got rejected). This makes blogging stress-less and enjoyable (but it can be discouraging if the number of views is very low).

Usually I blog about happenings around me which are very very close to me because it is easier to produce a post like that. As I am in university now, I might focus on university life. If I got inspired I will share things I like such as songs, anime or videos on my blog. It will take a longer bit of time but I feel satisfied after each 'masterpiece' is produced, haha. It is amazing that I successfully keep this blog going until now unlike my previous experience and I want to keep it going on and on. Blogging has become part of my life to unwind myself after all the burdening assignments and activities. I often feel energetic after writing a post, not sure why but it really gives me positive effects.

I read blogs from other bloggers too, especially active bloggers. Being active on blog is not easy as we have our own life out there, taking care of our study or career and family. This makes me admire them very much. It's them who motivate me to carry on with blogging. Blogs that I follow mainly are food blogs and my friends' ones and also some very interesting blogs that you guys should check them out (as you can see on the list on the right hand side of my blog). 

This time I would like to share the food blogs that I have been following. I do try out the recipes shared and most of them turned out pretty well according to my standard (pity my family who are forced to be experimental mice). As I am very concerned about the healthiness of the food (as much as possible), here are some active food blogs that I recommend which feature healthy diets. I didn't make reviews for these blogs, just want to share them as I found their blogs informative and interesting. 

http://www.slenderkitchen.com/

http://www.skinnytaste.com

http://nodesserts.blogspot.com/

http://littlebitesbigtastes.blogspot.com/

P/S: I am not paid to promote these blogs.

Random in University

It's October! I have survived a month in this university with some struggling but anyway it's good to be alive, haha. This is a random update about my life here, so here we go.

People always think that students taking environmental science and technology will have a loose schedule and plenty of leisure time to do whatever we enjoy. Compared to critical courses like medicine and dentistry, we have more free time, however, as most first year students of environmental science stay in Tun Perak College which is one of the most active colleges in the university, we have a lot of compulsory activities to take part. It's not the event that tiring but the preparation of the event. We are going to have 'Masibu' (Malam Silang Budaya // Crossing Culture Night) this Saturday where the organisers are first year students of the college. I am one the performers for Sarawak culture, representing my block (there are five blocks in the college, namely Lekir, Lekiu, Tuah, Kasturi and Jebat, mine is Lekir) to compete with other blocks. As we have very limited time left, we have to stay up late and practise. Exhausting and somehow hard for me to enjoy the process although I love to dance because our progress was slow. So far I think we manage it well.

This is a normal Thursday morning which is 'free from class'. I have the tightest schedule on Wednesday but have class only in the afternoon on Thursday and no class at all on Friday (Yay!). Since it's already a month I stay in the college, I changed the cover of my pillow and mattress (laundry day!) and used the washing machine. The washing machine somehow left my clothes dripping with water, I wonder why. The weather forecast has been expecting rains these few days but it does not happen at all. I dry my clothes outside right now as I am in my room that I still can reach for them in case it rains. To hang our clothes outside while we are away to class is a very risky thing to do. I still prefer clothes smell of sunshine, though.

Next week will be the first test for most of the subjects I have taken and I don't get enough sleep these nights. Hopefully everything ends perfectly this Saturday night and I can have a life I really want and enjoy. I have decided not to force myself to participate in the activities that I have no interest in just for a place in the college next year. It is unworthy as university life is too short to be wasted.

I guess it's time for me to get some extra sleep now before I plunge into my study. Cheers!

My college! (sorry that the photo is not taken nicely)

View from my window.

Freshly-changed bed, haha.