Let's see. If I can complete this entry, then it will mark my first ever blog post since like, forever. OK, forever here means 85 days. And yes, it
has been that long since I stepped foot on US soil.
Before I get down to one of those posts with a proper title and one-track body, perhaps I should do a recap to update you on what I have been doing these past few months, counting down from:
4. Fake snow aka flurries (12th October 2006)
The prelude to the real one!3. Lockdown! (11th November 2006)
It was a dark, chilly, winter's night (OK OK it wasn't winter just yet). Everywhere, silence prevailed. Security guards prowled the perimeter, searching, searching for someone. Someone potentially dangerous.
***
I coolly walked out of my dorm in search of food. Was surprised when I realized the dorm's front door was locked from the outside, and a few stragglers were ringing the doorbell for the receptionist to let them through. I walked outside, and was immediately hailed by a campus security guard.
"Where are you going?"
"To Hubble" (Hubble is the campus dining hall)
"Must you go out? Everywhere is kinda closing"
"I'm going to eat my dinner" (like duh it's 6pm=dinner time, and what do you mean everywhere is closing? I want my food!)
*Hesitant, but relenting nevertheless* "OK OK but just be careful"
Uh-oh. Everyone's acting a bit suspicious now, aren't they? First, the locking of the dorm doors. We don't get locked out of our dorms until past 11! Secondly, campus security don't strut around the campus, not so often anyway. And they definitely do not walk if they have cars to drive!
I managed to milk a little bit of information out of that guy. Apparently the security guard needed to find someone. And obviously, that translates to: Someone potentially dangerous is on the loose! A psychotic asylum inmate! A gun-wielding dude seeking to be the next mass murderer!
Despite having such thoughts in my head, I still continued on with my journey to Hubble. Which, come to think of it now, was a stupid thing to do. Hey, my stomach was controlling my brain alright.
Went to Hubble, and not even 5 minutes later the supervisor announced that there was going to be a lockdown. Everyone was sporting enough not to cause a stir (I guess this is normal for them?), and continued with their eating.
So, the official story: A guy was chasing another guy with a gun at the nearby post office. Security eventually got things under control (actually we're still unsure as of yet as to whether they even managed to catch the person).
Now, who dare say Subang Jaya is dangerous... rethink what you're saying, because people here have guns OK.
2. Getting drenched with snow... in Autumn (11th November 2006)
When I was out that fateful morning, it felt extra chilly, what with the wind blowing hard, and the weather looking gloomy. Who would have thought it would have
snowed -_-. Come on, this is just November, we're in the midst of Autumn, a few days ago the sun was shining as bright and as hot as it would have been back in Malaysia! I was happily grocery shopping in Walmart, blissfully unaware of the weather conditions outside, until I checked out all my goods, returned the cart and went... WTF. Proceeded to panic because I didn't know whether to call someone to pick me up, waste my money on a taxi ride, or to brave the snow and just use the bus as usual. I eventually took the last option.
After donning on a proper winter coat with scarf and beanie to match1. Rubbing shoulders with Michael J Fox (31st October 2006)
He may be 45 years old, married with a wife and 4 kids, a retired actor, and diagnosed with Parkinson's... but he's still one of my all-time favorite actors. Hey, I used to drool over him even when I was 8 or 9 OK. Mr Fox came down to Drake as part of Chet argh-who-cares-about-him-MJF-is-more-important Culver's political campaign to talk about stem-cell research.
Nearly died of fright when the lady taking our photo said that my camera didn't work. Thankfully the camera was just in Video mode, hence no snap happened
