So as you know, I'm studying in UMS, which in case you didn't know stands for University Malaysia Sabah, and its far away from home. And probably my biggest concern in starting University was what to pack? Since I'll be taking a flight there and I probably dont have the liberty of bringing my entire bedroom along with me; packing was a major concern. So for all you lucky buggers like me who have to travel to somewhere far to study, let me share some of my experience in packing.
IF you've been accepted into UMS and come from the Peninsular, I think this would help you.
IMPORTANT THINGS THAT YOU NEED :
1. Important Documents
Every university would have probably provided you with a list of documents that are needed. REMEMBER TO BRING THEM! Save yourself the panic and hassle of having your parents post them to you or trouble with the University administration. Bring your certs, identification card, birth certs, school-leaving certs, examination results slips and anything that you thing might be related. Plus make copies of them. If you're as paranoid as me, i suggest 4 copies of everything but 2 should be fine. Also file them up properly. It helps you stay hassle free. I also made copies of both my parent's identification cards and got a small notebook which contained every detail/number/ ref no.s that i could think of.
2. Bed sheets & Pillowcase & Blanket
No University will provide you with this. And it'll probably be the one thing that will make you feel at home. Most universities provide only a bed with a mattress. Sometimes the mattress are in bad shape. So if you have the means get a new one once you're there. If not screw it and get a mattress protector. Also a pillow. I saw most students bringing a pillow to the airport to be checked in but i would recommend getting a pillow once you reached. For my university, they sold pillows at rm10 as we registered. But I missed it and thus had to go through the whole orientation pillow-less and with a sore neck.
3. Formal Wear
If you're in a public university like i am, you'd want to bring some formal wear. In Malaysia, they're quite particular about what you wear even if you're not a Muslim, the 'tutup aurat' rule still applies. Get some baju kurung (for girls) or some shirts and a tie (if you're a guy) because you'll definitely use it. We also have days in the week where it is known as "formal days". Usually during these days, all students are required to wear formal. Although nobody checks and it all depends on the lecturers if they mind but its good to stay safe ya know? Dont worry, by your second semester, everyone wears their PJs to class. Just give them that whole good girl gone bad phase yea. So go be the good girl first.
4. Toiletries
I think there's not much to say about this. Hygiene issues la yea? You bring what you need cause you'll never know when you might get to go to the shop next. So about a week's worth of toiletries should do?
5. Snacks
Bring. Just bring. Need i say more? Because when you're so far away from home and nobody wants to be your friend.. food helps. I made the mistake of not bringing anything and had to suffer with the poor orientation food that was provided for us. Plus, a packet or oreos might win your scary looking roommate's heart.
6. Umbrella
The end of the year is known as the rainy season in Sabah due to the monsoon season. So an umbrella helps ALOT. Getting wet and getting sick away from home is not cool, Not cool,
7. Medication
A packet of panadol can go a long way. Orientation week will probably be the longest and tiring week of your uni life. You sleep late, wake up early, walk your ass off and you're bound to fall sick. Besides with like 3000 students to take care off, they cant be tending to all your needs and sickness. So try to bring your own. Take some multi vitamins with you and drink lots of water. Its every man for himself. Think survival of the fittest. Haha. Oh and tissue! Incase you get the sneezies since you're gonna be in an air cond hall most of the time,
8. Stationary
Pen, pencils, paper. To doodle, fill up forms, doodle, write in your diary, rant and write letters?
I think that covers about it. Please remember that this is purely to get you through your orientation week before you settle down and shop your hearts out and get everything you need. I only bought 20kg of luggage, crazy i know but i manage to bring everything i needed. Plus my clothes, shoes and.. undies.. yea it was enough. Think about it as a whole starting over process. Transforming your room into a place that is yours. You get to pick. So dont bring too much from home, Make a new home :)
Wednesday
Thursday
TAMPARULI : My first field trip
In UMS, Every first year student is required to choose one activity for their curriculum credit. This activity will only be carried out for one semester (provided you pass). So being all "adventurous" I decided even before i came to sabah that i would take anyting that has to do with the sabahan dance also known as Tarian Sabah. And true enough they had Tarian Sabah in our curriculum activities. And... I went for it.
I honestly thought it'll be fun and significant for my course. And it was. But it also meant serious business. We had to learn 5 different types of the sabahan dance, like Tarian Mangunatip, Tarian Sumazau, Tarian Daling-daling and so on + the music that was used + little bit of history + the technical side for 3 hours every saturday. 3 hours seemed pretty short but honestly they felt like the longest 3 hours of my life (excluding French classes). Now this is coming from someone who had never had any professional dance experience in her life, so do excuse the complains. Okay so back to the topic, in every curriculum group, we are required to come up with a community project called the UMS SPRINT. This project must be under the budget of RM500 and will serve as your mid-exam evaluation.
Our section came up with a bengkel seni in Kampung Raganan Kiulu, Tamparuli. This was my first experience going to a village. Coming from Ipoh I couldn't picture what it was like to be in a village where that was a village chief and how the people would actually come together and participate in activities like the one we were about to host for them. Back in my neighbourhood, it was every house for itself. So this was going to be a new experience for me and i was pretty excited. We stayed in an open-aired village hall and had only one outdoor bathroom stall to bath/answer the call of nature at. There were no fans/lights in the hall and the only lights we had were battery operated. Overall it was a good trip, where we hosted games for the village kids and adults and taught them one of the dance which we learned- The Mangunatip dance from the Bajau ethnic. It was a good way to just put the phones away and get out and be a kid again,
I honestly thought it'll be fun and significant for my course. And it was. But it also meant serious business. We had to learn 5 different types of the sabahan dance, like Tarian Mangunatip, Tarian Sumazau, Tarian Daling-daling and so on + the music that was used + little bit of history + the technical side for 3 hours every saturday. 3 hours seemed pretty short but honestly they felt like the longest 3 hours of my life (excluding French classes). Now this is coming from someone who had never had any professional dance experience in her life, so do excuse the complains. Okay so back to the topic, in every curriculum group, we are required to come up with a community project called the UMS SPRINT. This project must be under the budget of RM500 and will serve as your mid-exam evaluation.
Our section came up with a bengkel seni in Kampung Raganan Kiulu, Tamparuli. This was my first experience going to a village. Coming from Ipoh I couldn't picture what it was like to be in a village where that was a village chief and how the people would actually come together and participate in activities like the one we were about to host for them. Back in my neighbourhood, it was every house for itself. So this was going to be a new experience for me and i was pretty excited. We stayed in an open-aired village hall and had only one outdoor bathroom stall to bath/answer the call of nature at. There were no fans/lights in the hall and the only lights we had were battery operated. Overall it was a good trip, where we hosted games for the village kids and adults and taught them one of the dance which we learned- The Mangunatip dance from the Bajau ethnic. It was a good way to just put the phones away and get out and be a kid again,
The long bridge that you had to cross to get to the Village. Scary bah.
The village's open-aired hall aka our bedroom
The village's kindergarten
The villagers trying out the Bajau traditional wear
Our group picture was taken by the river :D
The Language Barrier
Today i would like to share with you all about one of the biggest challenge i faced ever since I've been in Sabah. As i was walking back from my class today, I was stopped by one of my course mates whom I've never spoken to. Peter* (name has been changed just in case Peter* reads this hehe) was from Sarawak and probably the most good looking guy in our entire class (which consisted of around 110 students.) He asked me where was i from and we made small talk. Then he asked the question which I'm sure has been playing in his mind the whole time. He said.. 'So Hilda, why do you speak.. differently?' I politely asked him what did he mean by that although i already knew what he meant. And he began to explain. "Um.. when you speak Malay. Its different. You have a slang". I laughed and gave him the one reason that seems to satisfy everyone. "Oh my mom is an English lecturer". And like everyone else who had asked me the same question, he goes like "Ohhhhh patutlah" and gave me the 'that-explains-it' look. Peter* wasn't the first though. Just last week, my lecturer apologized because she forgot to make a bilingual exam paper for me. Somehow she seem to think I'm some Malaysian kid who doesn't understand Malay.
My mom being an English lecturer probably only played a tiny part with the fact that i speak Malay with a "slang" so as they would put it. The truth is, I'm just not used to it. In my family, we all speak English. Despite being so "rojak", I speak none of the languages. No i do not speak Punjabi, or Chinese and definitely not Portuguese. So English and Malay are practically the only languages i know. Yes its a shame i know. In school, I've always been the weakest in the class for the subject BM. But I went to a convent, and then to a Lasallian school. Where everyone was good in English. My friends always consisted of a variety of different races BUT we all had one thing in common. We spoke English. I'm not saying that my English was perfect. I still use Malay in my conversations, but i was never comfortable with it and i did not have the right environment to improved myself. I dont blame anyone though, I should have taken the effort, being a Malaysian and all, but i did not.
So when i came here, you can only imagine my situation. My Malay is on a level below average. Maybe even lower? Sabahans take the Malay language to a level that's way above average. They have their own slang. They talk fast. They have their own words for certain stuff and they use alot of "bah"s in their conversation. Its amazing really. And i adore the sabahans for that. But it definitely took a lot of getting use to for me. Even their texts were difficult to understand.
I guess i made it sound like it was a bad thing. But its not really. I come to realize that this was the beauty of going to a different place. There are days when I feel extremely embarrassed and intimidated but there are days when things like these makes me smile. I could have an entire conversation with a sabahan in my broken Malay and at the same time he or she would be replying in broken English. And we would both be assuring each other that its okay to just speak in our own mother tongue but still refuse to give in. We're two groups that are still trying to improve. Plus i get to learn some really cool words. Like just yesterday, I learned a few. Like "punyit" which means bat. As in the animal bat. And "gobuk" which meant monkey. And also "vogok" haha. They laugh because the way i pronounce the words tickles them. I laugh because likewise they take English to a whole new level as well.
So yea, for all you "bananas" or "coconuts" who are coming to Sabah. Dont worry. Because sabahans will do whatever it takes to make you feel welcome. Even if its out of their language barrier.
My mom being an English lecturer probably only played a tiny part with the fact that i speak Malay with a "slang" so as they would put it. The truth is, I'm just not used to it. In my family, we all speak English. Despite being so "rojak", I speak none of the languages. No i do not speak Punjabi, or Chinese and definitely not Portuguese. So English and Malay are practically the only languages i know. Yes its a shame i know. In school, I've always been the weakest in the class for the subject BM. But I went to a convent, and then to a Lasallian school. Where everyone was good in English. My friends always consisted of a variety of different races BUT we all had one thing in common. We spoke English. I'm not saying that my English was perfect. I still use Malay in my conversations, but i was never comfortable with it and i did not have the right environment to improved myself. I dont blame anyone though, I should have taken the effort, being a Malaysian and all, but i did not.
So when i came here, you can only imagine my situation. My Malay is on a level below average. Maybe even lower? Sabahans take the Malay language to a level that's way above average. They have their own slang. They talk fast. They have their own words for certain stuff and they use alot of "bah"s in their conversation. Its amazing really. And i adore the sabahans for that. But it definitely took a lot of getting use to for me. Even their texts were difficult to understand.
I guess i made it sound like it was a bad thing. But its not really. I come to realize that this was the beauty of going to a different place. There are days when I feel extremely embarrassed and intimidated but there are days when things like these makes me smile. I could have an entire conversation with a sabahan in my broken Malay and at the same time he or she would be replying in broken English. And we would both be assuring each other that its okay to just speak in our own mother tongue but still refuse to give in. We're two groups that are still trying to improve. Plus i get to learn some really cool words. Like just yesterday, I learned a few. Like "punyit" which means bat. As in the animal bat. And "gobuk" which meant monkey. And also "vogok" haha. They laugh because the way i pronounce the words tickles them. I laugh because likewise they take English to a whole new level as well.
So yea, for all you "bananas" or "coconuts" who are coming to Sabah. Dont worry. Because sabahans will do whatever it takes to make you feel welcome. Even if its out of their language barrier.
Wednesday
The Royal Coconut
When i think of Sabah, I thought of beautiful beaches and unlimited supply of coconuts everywhere. But only up til my 11th week did i manage to finally drink coconut juice. Dont get me wrong tho, coconots do exist in Sabah. I just probably been butting around in my room too much to not go out and find it. I did hear that there's a place in Sabah that sells loads of coconut. PLUS. COCONUT PUDDING in sabah is AMAZING. But I'll save that for another post
So what started as a food hunt and continued with us trying to stuff ourselves with as many desserts as possible in Gaya Street led us to The Royal Coconut. The Royal Coconut was a small cafe-like shop with loads and load of coconuts and probably looked abit too fancy to be a place that offers your typical RM3 coconut juice. And my conscience won. Hilda's conscience 1, Fate - 0.
So what started as a food hunt and continued with us trying to stuff ourselves with as many desserts as possible in Gaya Street led us to The Royal Coconut. The Royal Coconut was a small cafe-like shop with loads and load of coconuts and probably looked abit too fancy to be a place that offers your typical RM3 coconut juice. And my conscience won. Hilda's conscience 1, Fate - 0.
The overpriced coconuts menu
Posing with the bunch of coconuts
We only got one coconut. But it was definitely worth it. or was it. I dont know. Haha.
I'm not some coconut expert and i do not own the rights to judge on how a coconut should be priced, But it tasted good. It was those sort or fragrant pandan-ny sweet coconut. So twice the price for a drink like that? You be the judge. I did not try the rest tho, after being overstuffed on desserts, plus my faithfulness to the original coconut shake from Klebang, Malacca. (shoutout to melaka ppl hehe) But maybe one day I'll be back to try the rest. The place was cool tho.
So yea. The Royal Coconut. Dont forget to like and follow them on Facebook. (passingonwhattheytoldme)
THE ROYAL COCONUT
44 Jalan Pantai, Kota Kinabalu 88800, Malaysia
BTW thats ^ the coconut song. Watch it. Trust me It changes your life. Thank you Daniel Mak for introducing it me and leaving me changed.
xx
Hilda
Monday
Ten
1. Gets text from the government. Anthropology in UMS,
12. Starts a blog in the hope of seeing the beautiful side to where life brings you.
2. Asks friend where is UMS.
3. Freaks out. Sabah was never part of the plan.
4. Calls dad. Let him in on the news.
5. Freak out together with dad/mom/sisters/cats.
6. Emotional break down starts.
7. Start thinking about all the alternatives i had to get myself out of this.
8. Realize that i dont have much.
9. Emotional break down continues.
10. Accept and move on but secretly write to every other possible university for an appeal.
11. God has plans for you. Bigger than anything you could ever dream off and definitely better than your own.
12. Starts a blog in the hope of seeing the beautiful side to where life brings you.
So here i am.
and thus starts
#hildainsabah
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