Journey Back Home

On the 26th of June 2008, I left Kursk at last for my summer holidays. I was happy that I was finally coming back home. The only funny thing was - this year felt so fast. I mean, from September 2007 - June 2008 felt just like a breeze. I felt as if I started my 4th year just a few days ago, then in a flicker of an eye - hey, its time to go home already!

Well, although the thought of being at home made me excited to a near-orgasm point, the reality of the 2-day journey back home from Moscow to Kota Kinabalu made me shudder. No, I was not referring to the "no-toilet-in-the-bus" dilemma, but more like the "oh-no-i-shall-not-be-bathing-for-2-days" dilemma. Sigh, all the stickiness and dirt on the skin....ugh. YUCK. But you know as wise men said, NO PAIN NO GAIN. So there I was...in the bus, starting my epic journey home.

Now, just look at the green fields! They're just spread all over the Russian countryside, untouched. So serene was the view, and breathtaking - enought to compel me to get down the bus and start taking pictures here and there. And the sun was just nice, not too bright, not too hot - just NICE.

Okay, now after the agonizing 7 hour bus ride from Kursk to Moscow, we finally reached Domodedovo International Airport. Here, we saw some asian-looking youths wearing surgical masks and we decided they are the kiasu Malaysian students from other parts of Russia. Might be that they are too kiasu up to the point that they started wearing the masks starting from NOW itself. Oh well, we decided to only wear our masks when we touch down in Bangkok 10 hours later. We don't want to be looked upon as wierdos or anything LOL.

At Domodedovo Int'l Airport - life takes a different pace. Everybody seems to be rushing, to and fro - but on their faces rarely I see traces of stress and worry. Maybe everyone is excited to get to another new place, or going back home or stuff like that. Oh look, there's a cool ad on the ceiling - the word GO is made up of items arranged like a picture collage or something. Just look at the queue - now THAT is what I call busy. This will take forever, just to check in.

On board the Thai Airways flight, we sank our tired bottoms into the plush colorful seats. Ahh, at last we are another step closer to coming back home. I just love the air-cond inside the aircraft, its such a contrast to the hot summer air outside. We were looking forward to the meals later lol - oh, and not forgetting the in-flight entertainment. After browsing through the media menu - I found the movie that I really wanted to watch since my winter trip to the UK. I didn't get to watch "He's Not So Into You" while I was in Birmingham. So I'm definitely going to watch this first! Then next...well - what else do they have in store? Hmmm - "The Legend of Chun Li"? Okay and the last one ... I'm just taking a wildcard - "The Race to Witch Mountain". Okay these three movies shall keep me entertained for the freaking 10 hours. Oh yeah, and the food was great by the way :)

This is one of the lovely stewardesses on board - she asked if she could take a picture with me :) Of course, it was a pleasure to do so. And just look at the colorful interior of the aircraft - isn't that a lovely sight?


WOW - the food was amazing. I don't really remember what the menu was - all i know it was white rice with stewed pork, some pickled veggies with yoghurt cake and the tasty little croissant - with a mini Caesar Salad! Oh, and not forgetting the generous splash of apple juice! (I got extra refills everytime, thanks to the lovely stewardess :P)

So...after the 10 hours of sitting on board, at last we reached Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand. Nothing much we did here, just we started wearing our masks, then shopped for some souvenirs, and took a lot of photos around the interesting corners of the airport!

As you all know, the H1N1 scare is the most latest buzz around - thus the prophylactic surgical mask usage. Then we took pics here and there at the interesting stuff that is happening around the airport!

After 2 hours of transiting, we finally got on board our flight to KL. Oh yeah, and around that moment, we got to know that Michael Jackson had passed away - R.I.P., M.J.

3 hours later, we all safely landed in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Then we had to wait for err...7 hours for our flight back to Kota Kinabalu. And for the record, I finally managed to take my long-awaited bath in the toilet of the arrival hall. XD.

-The End-

Under The Stairs

This is a song I recently wrote, composed, and produced. I think it is quite good for a first attempt. Hope you will enjoy it!

Under The Stairs

Words and Music by Maksim Markusevich

Just when I thought that only birds sing together
And only school kids walk down the streets in pairs
Maybe in life, some things don’t last forever,
They remain alone, like the moth shadowed under the stairs

Being alone, all by itself – I wonder,
How calm, how tranquil, the tiny moth it lay,
However it seems, it will be alone no longer,
A second moth fluttered by and decided to stay

Chorus: I guess everything will have
Someone to be with and to share
And maybe – now its my turn to say
That I had been given another chance
To be like the birds singing together
Like the school kids walking together
Im no longer alone, alone under the stairs…

Just like the moth, that one little moth, under the stairs,
I used to hide away by myself – in the shadows
Then out of the blue, walking down the stairs, I heard footsteps
You came and sat with me, under the stairs.

Chorus

It was you, who came
To be with me, under the stairs
Sitting here will never be the same
Thanks to you, this is no more a scary place
Being close to you melts all the doubts and fears away
No longer I am afraid to pave my way….my way…

I guess everything will have
Someone to be with and to share
And maybe, maybe, maybe - I get to say
When you gave me your hand, with that smile on your face
Hand in hand we both leave this dark place
Leaving nothing behind, not even a trace
Im no longer alone, alone under the stairs
No longer alone, under the stairs…

Red Devils Man Utd Night

Last night, it was the birthday party for our dear KMSA president, Mr. Jeyendiran Kanagarajah, or affectionately called by all - ABANG J.

It was supposed to be a surprise party for him at Blondie Club - but apparently, he wasn't SO SURPRISED, albeit the really grand theme and atmosphere in the club. Maybe someone leaked out something already LOL.

Everyone came in red or in jerseys in honor of the night's theme, despite a few who failed to do so. But no hard feelings y'all! XD Anyway everyone had fun, no?

Music was great last night, thanks to DJ Ian - songs were ranging from Abang J's years i.e. 70's (YMCA, Ghostbusters, Celebrate etc.) to contemporary songs that you will usually hear in clubs nowadays.

I was there from 10.30 p.m. till 3.30 a.m. I wanted to hang out longer, just that:

1) Tomorrow, or to be exact LATER - I have to attend mass. Luckily its at 2 p.m. so I could get some shut-eye lol.

2) Maybe I danced a little bit too much - I ended up having painful cramps in my rectus muscles. Hope that tighter abs will be the result of that!

3) I was hungry and tired. I lost 2L of water in the form of excessive sweat and 2500 KCals of energy.

4) My contact lenses were starting to feel like as if they are in the Sahara.

I had a great time last night and HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABANG J! Wishing you all the best and may the good Lord bless you!

Eurovision 2009

The latest Eurovision Song Contest 2009 left me in a very topsy turvy condition. I've been watching the show for 3 days straight - from the preliminaries to the final competition itself. Not to mention all the additional clips that I foraged from YouTube.

I still can't believe that I actually voted for the Eurovision winner this year! Thanks to the endless persuasion of my nagging friend, Arveen - I went to pump up my phone credit late at night. So - I decided that I am going to only vote ONCE and ONCE only - so after a long deliberation, I decided to put my bet on Norway's Alexander Rybak. I had to choose because 44 roubles per vote was DAMN EXPENSIVE!

So, needless to say - my favourite, and obviously the favorite of the whole of Europe too, won the competition by a large margin. Followed closely by Iceland (I don't know how she got so high up to 2nd place) and Azerbaijan (A typical performance, for me it was quite boring).

Here are my favourites of this year's contest:

Alexander Rybak from Norway

Obviously the star of the night. His "Fairytale" was a real fairytale indeed. He delivered a powerful and convincing performance, which you can watch several times without getting bored - although his vocals weren't the best - but I believe his showmanship covers up his vocal flaws. The arrangement of the song has a very strong folk music influence, which I believe it resembles Europe's ethnic music. And not forgetting his good looks, and his amazing skill with his violin, I cannot say more - he was definitely the winner of the night, the winner of Eurovision 2009!

Chiara from Malta

I just love her voice! She sings so amazingly - like an angel! "What If We" has a very epic feel to the song, just like a song for the Olympics or something like that. I thought that she sang better in the preliminaries, maybe she got stage jitters on the final night - but still, her show was breathtaking. However, she might not appeal to the young crowd as her song is more of a diva-kind of song. You know, like Mariah Carey-ish or Celine Dion-ish kind of songs. And her stage presence may be a little bit lacking - as she didn't use over-the-top pyrotechnics, or over-hyped dancers as the other contestants. But I like her effects though - makes her seem to be floating among the stars. Anyway - I still love her!

Anastasia Prihodko from Russia

Ahh - our girl. For me she is the most interesting contestant in this competition. FYI - of all the contestants, she was my favorite. She had a lot of controversy going on about her song choice, her nationality, and a lot more. But for me, I am judging her based upon her song and her singing talents only - I don't care if she is Ukrainian and she is representing Russia. "Mamo" is a very dark song, with a deep meaning to it. Coupled with her rare contralto voice - the song for me was a very catchy one. I would personally award her the Best Eurovision Song 2009 if I could. Truthfully, listening to it for the first time I was taken aback, shocked. Why would she be representing Russia? I didn't like the song then. But after hearing her sing repeatedly, I became addicted to it. Her performance in the finals was a melancholic one, albeit suitable, considering the mood of her song - but again, not everyone was a big fan of the aging Nastya on the big screens (but I was, I was moved by her performance - so emotional, so meaningful - unlike some other performances which were somehow pointless and tacky...). However in her official video - Nastja looked absolutely stunning! A very beautiful girl with long black hair and mysterious eyes with a sexy voice - a deadly combination indeed. No vseo ravno - ja tebe ljublju, Nastja!

Sakis Rouvas from Greece

This guy is the mediterranean version of Ricky Martin. A Greek God if you could say so. His 1000-megawatt smile with his to-die-for body and his sun-kissed good looks would melt any girl watching him. "This is Our Night" is your typical techno-dance kind of song, so vocals don't really play a big role here. What matters is the package of the singer (no pun intended XD). Although his dance moves were really over-the-top, and his mini-shirt was kind of distracting but hey - he knows that sex appeal sells. But then, I love songs of these genre so I can't help but listening to and moving with the beat. Go go Sakiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Malena Ernman from Sweden

This woman has a seriously amazing voice! For a woman of her age - taking care of the mezzosoprano voice is not an easy task. "La Voix" is also one my favorite songs of the competition, being a techno-dance song but with a twist to it. Malena took the song to soaring heights with her amazing voice range! I never knew you can sing in an opera-ish way but still sounds excellent with a techno music beat in the background. I thought she would at least land in the top 5 but the opposite happened - she fell in the bottom 5. I guess the age factor was really taking the toll on Malena. But she still looked very beautiful - apart from the suspected use of Botox (one of the explanations why she had a freaky, scary look on her face on stage). She should have deserved better! I got goosebumps watching her performance - certainly one of the best songs in this year's competition.

Niels Brinck from Denmark

Brinck is your typical bandboy - and he sounds quite like Ronan Keating. His song "Believe Again" for me was a nice and likeable song, and has a good market value for a pop commercial song. His performance was good but only safe - nothing over the top. But then its good as a rule. Nothing tacky, nothing cheesy. Just concentrating on the song and maybe a little bit on his rugged good looks. Maybe bandboys are out of season already - but I am not letting it go yet. Definitely a song for your iPod when you are sitting in a bus travelling :)

A Hidden Conspiracy: The Dean's Office

We need a permission letter from the dean's office so that we could sit for the Dermatology exam earlier. That means I have to pay a visit to the dean's office. Sigh. Not the dean's office.

A visit to the dean's office is simply traumatizing. Meet a bunch of women who are supposed to be sweet old ladies, trying to help every troubled student - maybe the other way around, ladies? They are affectionately known as The Deans. Oh, not to forget the ever-trusty secretary of theirs. So the title should read - "The Deans and the Secretary"

Mdm. Galina on the phone - trying to reach a leader of a group. She ended up complaining about whether she was listening to him or to the sound of music coming from his room. Behind her is Ms. Anya - the secretary. Looks busy typing huh? Let's zoom nearer, what is actually on screen...

Oh - so THAT is where that familiar "buzz" sounds were from. She was chatting on Yahoo Messenger. I thought it was my Mig33 application beeping.

That was the "clinical picture" that I saw in the dean's office as I waited for an audience with Mdm. Antropolskaya. Then, I got the chance:

Me: Dravstvujte Mdm. Antropolskaya.

Mdm: MMH. Dravstvujte Maks. What you want today?

Me: We need a permission to sit for the dermatology exam tomorrow (hands her the signed petition).

Mdm: When exam?

Me: TOMORROW. (Sheesh - didn't I just said it?)

Mdm: Tak, znachit - LISTEN to me. Who is group organizer? Arveen, da? Tell him, to come, NOW, to dean's office.

Me: Why madam, may I ask?

Mdm: Tak, the register, in dean's office has NO marks from subjects! NO MARKS!!!(slaps the register with the dorsum of her palm, several times.) WHY you didn't fulfill marks in dean's office register?

Me: (Awkward silence O_o)

Mdm: So, tell him to come here (looks at big clock on the wall), QUICK-LY. Tell him, BRING class register, and fulfill dean's office register, NOW. Only after, I will, give you permission - horosho?

Me: Da, madam. Vseo ponjal. Horosho.

Mdm: MMH.

Sigh. Not again. The freaking dean's office register. I don't understand why here everything has to be WRITTEN. Not once, but TWICE! Okay fine, what I should do now is to call the "group organizer" i.e. group leader:

Me: Hello, Arveen. We have a problem.

Arveen: What now?

Me: Mdm. Antropolskaya wants you to come here and "fulfill" the dean's office register. Or else - NO PERMISSION. NO PERMISSION!!!!

Arveen: (SIGHS) Okay, I will come. (grumbles....)

Me: Okay, see you.

Okay, then Arveen came. We "fulfilled" the registers together. And I got the evil ideas to snap some top-secret photos of the dean's office. SECRETLY. I saw and heard a lot of things happening here:

1) All the deans are females. And not forgetting the secretary too.

2) Females talk a lot. About life. Life. And more about Life. Thus they talked. :)

3) Sometimes they fight among each other: Anya vs Galina was today's battle. Mdm. Galina pointed out some misprints in the student's journal, which ignited the battle. Anya defended herself, and Mdm. Galina realized her mistake. One for Anya! (Cheers!)

4) Mdm. Irina ate a sour cream baguette tastefully, bought for her by Mdm. Natalia for the price of 16 roubles. Mdm. Natalia bought a 0.5L bottle of Pepsi. Drank it quickly as if there is no tomorrow.

5) Mdm. Galina did non-stop calls to reach some group leaders to ask them why were they absent for the group leaders' meeting this morning. Then she demanded that they come now to the dean's office ASAP.

Mdm. Natalia looking at Mdm. Antropolskaya as she expressively talks about how her nephew is coping with the high costs of living in St. Petersburg, how expensive is 40000 roubles per month for apartment rentals, and...some problems with her piping system at home? What ever the case is, Mdm. Antropolskaya is still the best. :)

Then, after nearly 1 hour of "fulfilling" the dean's office register - which is a total time waste, (I couldve studied a bit for my Dermatology exam if was not doing that. ARGH.) finally we handed the thing over to Mdm. Antropolskaya.

Mdm: MMH. Finished?

Arveen: Yes, madam. All finished. Sorry for not fulfilling the...

Mdm: Tak, sejchas - make a "xerox" for me - the original give me. You make "xerox" for yourself. Anya, dai pozhalujsta emu vedemost'.

Anya: 'Chas naidu. (Flips through papers and gives the vedemost')

Arveen: Spasibo.

Actually this is a simplified version of the conversation - watch the whole thing on secret cam below: