returning home

Yesterday, 24 of us Cohort 1 took a 777 plane back home to Malaysia. It just felt like yesterday that i boarded the same plane from Malaysia to Brisbane. i remembered clearly the moment as well as the view i saw when i first arrived at Brisbane. What a wonderful yet laidback place i thought to myself. i remembered the moment when i was on bus going from the airport to Unilodge, i saw rows of unique 'australian' houses yet asking my friends, why aren't these houses lighted? has everyone slept at this hour of time (it was about 10pm that night)? What's more surprising was some stores had the logo XXXX on it. for few days, i thought it was something obscene. however, it turned out to be one of the famous local beers in Brisbane, XXXX GOLD (www.xxxx.com.au).

Anyway, speaking about leaving Brisbane, there were plenty emotional expressions shown last night: the happy ones, the excited ones, the anticipating ones, the sad ones, the exhausted ones and the suffering ones. Each of them brought with themselves different moments of life that they could not let go. Just as we were about to leave Unilodge, i saw most were excited shooting photographs, trying their best to cherish every single precious seconds before the departure. in the shuttle, tear was heard from two or three seats away for the sweet memory stamped on was just too difficult to let go. Some of talking, some on the phone, and some looked out the windows either contemplating their future or trying to take a rest after a day of exhausting packing.

in the airport, some worries began to unfold for some who have excessive amount of luggages. it was said that a excessive amount of 1kg is $20, and that every single hand luggage that is brought into the plane must be tagged. i wasn't worried too much about my check-in luggage because it weighed up to 24kg which was alright. instead, what worried me more was my 4 hand luggages which i didnt submit them to be tagged. i cheated actually when the 'stingy' lady asked me if i had any hand luggage. i gave her my racket bag which was 4kg, a kg away from being fined for excessive weight. u might wonder why i called her 'stingy'. while some counters were generous enough to give a check-in of 32kg, she strictly allowed 25kg only for us. darn it~ my friend, ah po who intended to put her luggage with me was disallowed and this ended up her paying hundreds for excessive luggage weight.

i was more than pleased that Adel, Danny and Dave showed up to send me off. they had been a blessing for me in the past few months, especially to Dave who had helped me so much with technological stuffs. but i couldnt spend much time with them last nite because Jo came up to me to give me a final task of labelling 24 cds. how i wish i cud spend more time with them before my departure.

me, Dave, Adel, and Danny

Besides, uncle, aunty and their son, Glenn showed up. i could see the sadness in uncle's and aunty's eyes last nite when they said that i was going to leave already. One piece of advice from uncle last nite was, 'Don't need to worry too much about what happens in the future. Take things as they come.' Aunty's eyes were wet and red when ah po, me and Sawi (3 of us who had worked with them before) were about to go.

Top: Glenn, Aunty, Uncle
Bottom: Rafi, Sawi, Esther, Me, and Ah po

the 8 hours journey in the plane wasn't felt as long as it sounds. i did manage to sleep for few hours though it wasn't my plan to sleep too much in there. i was actually thinking of watching all the movies available in the plane.

I arrived at 5.40am. after sending all my friends off to their own hometown: Kedah and Terengganu, i pushed my trolley into the lift down to level 1, taking a KLIA express to KL Sentral. i took a budget taxi to my friend's house at Wangsa Maju which cost me a reasonable $14 .

It's so good to be back home.

Speaking about leaving Brisbane, i guess it would be my first step of my journey in life. in fact, i believe it has just BEGUN. the past 2 years have been awesome. i come across moments of pains, craziness, bliss, sadness, disappoitment, failure, joy, satisfaction, peace, silence, trust and faithfulness.
Just as i am reaching out to seek God's plan for me, i have a passion in me burning. i will learn to take things as they come, tackle and learn from each day of my life. i don't think i would want to return to QUT for future study if i have a choice. QUT has been a place where i left all my memories, and i prefer to leave it there. one day maybe i will come back to this place and tell people around me that, this is the spot i fall down last time, or there used to be a lecture hall here. we'll c how it goes.

gud nite~