Prom, Petrol and Public transportation

I'm supposed to be packing my bag for Tioman now, but I am so lazy. And I need to sleep soon because I have to wake up early because I need to be in church by 9am. I am ushering tomorrow morning. But, I'm tempted to blog about the adventure I went on today.

Anyway, just a note that I will be leaving for Tioman tomorrow night ( technically speaking, since it is past midnight, it should be tonight, Sunday night 15th June ), bus leaving at 10pm, and will be there until Thursday. So, my blog will be un-updated again for that one week, so I should type something out now before the blog materials pile up till I get lazy to blog, again.

I just came back from prom yesterday. And it was quite enjoyable. It was waaaayy better than DJ prom. Forgive me DJ prom organisers if you happen to stumble upon my blog, but that is the plain and brutal truth. The performances were way better; no overly rock music by people who were trying too hard to perform. They had some dances, which were quite good, especially the ones sportingly performed by some lecturers. I'll upload the video later. YouTube is being difficult with me; I've tried to upload it thrice: once on Apple Safari, once on Mozilla Firefox; and once on Internet Explorer and they ALL failed. Perhaps my poor internet connection is to be blamed. STREAMYX!!! ^%%@^$%#%#^

As I was saying, the prom was cool. The food was slightly better than during our prom, but just slightly. The hall was bigger, and there was actually a dance floor. I don't know what's so fun about dancing to the loud music, I guess I'll never enjoy clubbing. I did join in awhile lah. I felt like an idiot because I don't know how to dance. So I wiggled about, hop a bit and sang to the songs I was familiar with. But acting like an idiot was quite fun for a while. =P

And oh, I forgot to mention that the venue of the prom was the same as during high school, Renaissance Hotel, KL.

Not wanting to look like every other guy, I wanted to try something different. So, I wore this.

I know lah, I look nerdy and all in this picture, but I don't think I actually looked nerdy. I'm a nerd lah, what to do right?

I brought my coat along just in case I felt awkward or underdressed. And I did feel under-dressed because everyone looked so formal in their black penguin suit. So, I put my coat on for a while but took it off later.

That's all I'll update about prom at the moment. I might continue later, but see how lah.

***

One of the things I wanted to blog about during my examinations ( but took no initiative to ) was about the oil prices. 

Prices of crude oil has tripled, quadrupled and gained many fold over the past years. It is crazy to think that our oil reserves will dry up and we have to rely on other forms of energy sources to run our vehicles. ( Nuclear! Muahaha )

And Malaysia recently hiked up the petrol price to a brilliant RM2.70, an increase of over 40%.

Having much time to think during examination preparations, and between pages during which my brains fail to absorb; I have realised the ultimate ( well ultimate is an exaggeration but it is a very viable ) solution to all our petrol price woes. 

Public transportation!

It didn't take many months later for the government to finally release the idea of improving the public transportation services to the media and start planning ways of enhancing its usage.

The usage of public transportation is not only economical, it is eco-friendly.

The government keeps emphasising on the need to change our lifestyle, but we cannot simply rely on RapidKL ( its name does not reflect itself ) and Light Railway Transport because it is

• unreliable
• unpunctual
• it does not cover the routes which are needed by the citizens to go to their workplace or studyplace
• and even if it does cover, it is not convenient. For example, if I were to take public transport to my previous place of study, Taylor's College in Subang Jaya, I would have to take 2 buses. And the wait in between buses are ridiculously long. 

If I were to take a bus from my home to IMU, I would need to take a bus to Kelana Jaya station, and then two trains. But it is ridiculous because I have to travel into the Kuala Lumpur city centre and then out to Bukit Jalil. It is a straight road through from Kelana Jaya to IMU on the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP) and it takes half the time. It is a waste of time taking the train into the city.

Therefore, recently, KTMB ( Kereta api Tanah Melayu Berhad ) proposed an interline train system which circles around the various train lines without entering the city. 

And I don't know why they did that, because last year the government approved new monorail links that look like this 

And oh, some projections show that this is how the rail network will look like in 2020

See! Bandar Utama ( One Utama) is there. And there is a direct link to IMU ( IMU is located right in front of the Sri Petaling station ) But I think by the time this is ready, I won't be in IMU anymore.

These are things I hope to see happen in Malaysia ( yang kucinta ) and in Kuala Lumpur. Developed countries do not depend on cars. Statistics estimate that in developed countries 50-70% of their population uses public transport. At the moment in Malaysia? 20%! 

Want us to change our lifestyle? Help us change! 

These projects better come to past, I've not heard anything about it.

***

So much for my ramblings about public transportation. I can really feel the pinch of the fuel price hike. But it is really not so much about the price, it is the carbon footprints I'm leaving behind. So, I am trying to do my part in reducing the use of petrol and electricity ( Did I mention that electricity price is going up too? ) I try to carpool whenever possible, and today, I went on a cycling spree.

For the first time in my entire life, I cycled out of Bandar Utama to Damansara Jaya. I wanted to see the optician to get my spectacles readjusted before I go Tioman. I left about 6.30pm and expected to return at 7pm before it gets dark and then cycle to Centrepoint for dinner. Then while I was there, I thought I would get some contact lenses since I am going to snorkle at Tioman. I want to see the corals with clarity.

Yes, I only want to see the corals with clarity. I am not getting contact lenses out of vanity. Clarity, not vanity! ( Who am I fooling? ) Anyway, they are only dailies, so you won't be seeing me wearing contacts often except during special occasions. Oh, for those contact-lens jargon illiterates, dailies are not yellow flowers ( because those are called daisies ), they are contact lenses you wear for a day and after that throw away.

So, the optician was teaching me how to put on the contact lens and how to take it off. I sucked so badly that I was there till 9pm. I really couldn't put it on and take it off. 

And the price for vanity? Red eyes. My eyes were tearing man.

So yeah, I spent 2 and a half hours at Cambridge ( not the prestigious university, it is the spectacle shop ) and before I left, she said: no swimming with contact lens.

HAHAHA.

I think I'll just put in on anyway. I'll be wearing goggles, so shouldn't be a problem right? I want to see fishes and corals with clarity. =)

After that I cycled to Centrepoint to get some sunscreen, beach pants and my dinner. I had my dinner at like 9.30pm and only got home at 10pm. My maid was quite worried because my mom is outstation.

Okaylah, it wasn't entirely an adventure. But it was quite an eventful evening.

P/S: Omg, I took 2 hours to blog. It is already 2.45am. I need to sleep!!!