The Prai Diaries (1)

12 Dec 2009:
Took the early train to Ipoh, to meet up with my dad and then head off to Prai together. The train ride provided me with what i thought were two extremes of humanities:

Extreme 1
Elderly Chinese man (ECM) walks into the coach i was in, wandering around aimlessly looking for his seat. He approaches an elderly Indian man (EIM), who was reading the Bible. ECM (ever so politely) hands over ticket and asks EIM to help him find his seat. EIM hurriedly puts down Bible, reads ticket and points ECM to his seat.

Couldn't help but grin a little. "There's hope in humanity afterall," i thought.

Extreme 2
Train arrived at the Ipoh station after 3 hours or so. At the station, i saw a kind-ish Indian man (KIM) leading a blind Chinese man (BCM) into the station and to the counter. KIM led BCM to the ticketing counter and left him to talk to the railway staff, to presumably buy a train ticket. BCM was babbling loudly to himself, so staff member at the counter just ignored him. BCM then starts walking around aimlessly without his cane.

Enter poor naive Chinese woman (PNCW). PNCW tries to lead BCM's hands to the counter so BCM had something to hold on to. BCM then starts taking out a book from a plastic bag he was holding and made a sales pitch to PNCW. PNCW looked embarassed and guilty. She ended up forking out 10 bucks for the book (wasn't close enough to hear/see what it was). And to top it all off, she lost her place in the queue and had to go to the back of the line.

Got to Prai later that evening to look at 2 apartments - one recommended by dad's contacts, the other by the HR guy from the company i'm gonna be working for. So we went to the first apartment, and my heart sunk. The floors for each room were just cement whereas the hall's was tiled. The rooms were without fans. One of the rooms didn't even have a single plug point! The whole place reminded me of my budget place in Melbourne. Plus the guy renting the place out had an uneasy aura about him.

So on to the second apartment. Met up with the HR-recommended guy, and so we followed him to the apartment. When he lead us back to the same block of apartments as the one we first saw, my face turned ashen. I remember thinking, "Melbourne all over again". But then he brought us to a different unit, which looked waaay better than the first one. Essentially they were the same, just that this one's cleaner, has fans in each room, and is tiled all over. Just to show how small little things do make a whole lot of difference. So i'm gonna stay there now.

Got back to Ipoh the same night, had the famous nga choy chicken or something. After a long day, got back to dad's apartment and almost instantly fell asleep. That was 11 something at night.


13 Dec 2009:
Woke up at 3.30, couldn't get back to sleep. Did some push ups, sit ups, and stretches. Had a game at 12, so i thought since i couldn't sleep, might as well stretch and get pumped up and ready.

Scored 3 points.

So i'm goin..

First off, a mini-celebration - i've graduated! I think. Passed my final 2 subjects, so i guess you can call me Mr. Engineer. Not too loud though, 'cause i'm not that good an engineer. I guess the overwhelming feeling would be relief more than anything, 'cause of my well-documented struggles. But then again, i'm also grateful and -dare i say it- proud of myself for actually completing a course that was painfully obvious not my cup of tea. But i did it, albeit a little belatedly. So a big yay for me.

So now that that part of my life is over, on to the next one - employment. Long story cut short, i am now employed. Three interview stages and a few phone calls later, i find myself receiving an offer letter from the company. The offer's pretty standard; medical, dental, period of employment. But the pay is pretty good for a fresh graduate in the current market. There is a catch of course. I'll be working in Prai, Penang.

"Where the f**k is Prai?" a friend asked. Well, it's in Penang. Not the fun part of Penang (the island) but mainland Penang. Granted i've never been there so i don't know if it's really that bad. What i know is that they've got a megamall and a Giant. So that should be fun right? That's where (i presume) everyone's gonna hang out.

"Hey where we goin tonight?"

"Let's hang at the Prai megamall dude"

Met with a lot of skepticism when i told friends that i'm going. I know i could find a job here, with a decent enough pay and i can live at home which means no expenses incurred. Believe me, i know. I was all ready to reject the offer when it came. Why would i want to go somewhere i've never been, to a place where i don't know anyone, and leave behind all i have here - family, friends, basketball, the urban life? Plus there are some people i want to meet but haven't gotten the chance to yet.

Then my parents came into the picture and suddenly the whole thing became a case of sensibility vs emotions. Maybe i'm too easily influenced by them, but my parents convinced me that the job is a good one, and that i'd be passing over a good career move if i were to decline the offer. There was also the fact that i couldn't really come up with a good enough response when i was asked why i wouldn't want to go.

So now that the dust's settled, i'm going to Prai. Possibly for 2 years. Or more. There have been fears that things would be like they were in Australia. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't really the best time of my life. But i'm keeping an open mind, making jokes and just trying to be positive about it all. What's the point of going there feeling all morose and making things worse. Why not just smile, go in positive and maybe, just maybe, good things can come out of it?

Before i leave, i'm trying to enjoy the company of friends as much as i can. I did say that i'd try to come back every week, but you know how that's gonna end don't you. So if you're reading this and we haven't met up, let's. Before i become an honorary Penang-ite. Hardy har har.