Minnesota, have you heard about this state?
Yo man! I like to watch NBA since I was young. Kevin Garnett, do you know him?
He used to be in Timberwolves man!
I am at my friend's house and will be going to Orlando tomorrow.
Thanks Joe again for inviting me over here. Last night in Minnesota.
I saved 33bucks shuttle fee from Eau Claire to MSP airport. ^^
Just so you know, I booked a hostel yesterday night (Dec 15) midnight, and booked for Dec 16, 17, 18 three nights in Orlando.
Alright! Good night America, gonna do some research on my trip and hit the sack soon!
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Time flies, today is the day for me to leave Eau Claire, officially.
Eau Claire, you are the place that I lived for 5months.
I know you, the people, the places at much deeper level.
I'm sad to say good bye tho. I'm sad to leave Eau Claire.
Yet, life is moving forward and I gotta give and go.
My second home, in Wisconsin, nah, it's in Eau Claire Wisconsin, to be precise.
Upon completion of UGRAD Exchange, I feel that it's a real great opportunity for being such a globalize person.
I just got my final exams done today. And, I packed my stuff and hit the road 4 hours after my exam.
I am in Minnesota now. Tonight is gonna be my last night in Minnesota too.
Thanks Joe for the stay at your house.
My flight is at 3pm tomorrow from MSP to MCO (Orlando International Airport).
I will be traveling alone. Gotta be independent!
Anyway, I love Eau Claire, I love Wisconsin, Go Packers!!
I love America!!
** I would come back if I could get any chances!!**
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I signed up for the card today. This is my last month of stay in the United States and the trial card only costs me 1bucks. Anyway, it's a marketing trick which automatically continue my subscription if I didn't call the toll free number and cancel it.
It helps me to save a lot of money. Eg: hostel, hotel, flights, amtrak, greyhound, and a lot more.
Please do not hesitate: click the link here and sign up NOW!
Student Advantage Discount Card - Enrollment
USA address only.
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On November 7, the week after Halloween, I went to Twin Cities, Minnesota with my Hmong friend, Na Lee. Twin Cities is actually Minneapolis and St Paul as there is no boundary between the two places. As an Asian, it was great hanging out with Asian in America. I felt so comfortable when hanging out with them. It was unbelievable! It can’t tell that I am in USA. Hmong are actually pretty much similar as Chinese. I would say Hmong kids look like Chinese kids. They are called as MIAO in China. They are very much native American now. The difference is they can speak better English than I do. They grew up in USA, get educated in USA and apparently they do everything in American ways.
USA is a melting pot or a salad bowl. There have a lots of ethnics and races diversities. A week before that, I was the only Asian hanging out with all Caucasian (White American) on Halloween in Madison. Thanks to Na Lee who invited me to her sis’s house. It was so fun filled meeting your family members. Thanks to Amy and Dao, you guys are so friendly! I went to clubbing on Saturday night with them. A club called EPIC which is an Asian Club. The differences between bars and clubs are: Cover fees, Band, much room on dance floor, and more expensive.
The next day, we went to Hmong flea market aka Hmong marketplace. It’s just like an Asiantown. Some of the products are from Thailand and Laos. I tried some Hmong food there and it was delicious!
We joined Dao’s family baseball game on Sunday evening. It was my first time playing baseball in America. Well, I still remember vividly the first time I was introduced to baseball was in primary school. It was Vichian’s father who taught us how to play during our PJK class. Playing baseball in Minnesota was so nice. The baseball field is at Minneapolis, so I could see a lot of flights landing and taking off in the sky. Aim high, hit the plane down, and home run!!
I went to Mall of America after that. I got myself some long sleeves sweater and some t-shirts. I love shopping in Minnesota! Tax free for clothing!!
After that, we headed to Na Lee bro’s house. He is a good cook who works in an Italian restaurant. I managed to try Hmong terrific noodle called PHO, which was prepared by NL brother. It was the hottest and spiciest noodle I had in USA! It’s similar as the combination of Hokkien Mee, Curry Mee, Tomyam Noodles, and Spicy Noodles in Malaysia. Nice!
I learned a lot about Hmong American. Wisconsin and Minnesota have a majority of Hmong population. It was a great weekend hanging out with them! I hope I can make a visit to Twin Cities again before I return to Malaysia.
Hmong History = Check this out!
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I went to Dooley's Pub for an International Student gathering and headed to a random house party just now. It was actually Tamika's 21st birthday party! (I knew her from BSA video in my US Culture's class) After that I went back with Wendrall to my dorm. After saying good bye to Wendrall at the staircase's junction (He lives in another dorm), I headed up to my dorm alone. A few guys were walking with me. When I was heading to the staircase up the hill. I heard....EEEEEE.... a car break squeaking sound and here they go.."Hey stop! I called you stop!!" a loud shout came from my back.
The two guys who were walking next to me were running up at the staircase and trying to take to their heels.
"When the police calls you stop, you stop"
"Why are you running for?" "Lay down!"
The cop was fucking serious! The cop put the handcuffs on the two guys in front on me!!
"Are you guys together?" the cop said.
"No Sir!" I answered!
What the hell! I saw that at my first sight in the USA!
It was just right in front of me. I stopped at there for a while because they were blocking my way!
I wanted to take a picture but I don't think it is a good idea though!
The police might grab my camera away, I bet!
I walked away after that... and barely heard this...
"You guys are underage drinking huh?"....
I kept walking and heading to my dorm!
It sounds creepy though! I watched it a lot in the movie but I have never seen it until today!!
That was cRazy!!
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As living in Malaysia for the past twenty years, let me tell you guys why Halloween does not work in Malaysia. It's affected by two major factors, Malay and Chinese beliefs. First of all, anything related to unworldly being and spiritual ghosts is a taboo to the Malaysian government. Malaysia is an Islamic country. Neither does homosexual allow in Malaysia too. It's illegal to be gay! (LOL, I saw guys kissing in front of me at my first sight in a Halloween Party in Madison.)
Secondly, ghosts and ghouls are considered as bad luck in Chinese Belief. If you happened to knock someone's door with a Vampire costume, I bet they will call the police and make a report. Also, don't expect to get any candies from them!! Furthermore, Chinese believes that the early birds get the worms. Parents always ask their kids to go to bed earlier. With these reasons, do you think Halloween still can be celebrated in Malaysia? Perhaps next 5-10 years... until we are totally being influenced by western culture!
Another interesting fact is the pumpkins in Malaysia are not big enough to be carved into scary faces. I don't think pumpkin is available for sales all the time. I carved my first pumpkin in my life at the mid of October. It was at Kim's and Andy's house which is located off campus. We had a pumpkin carving party and potluck! Before I carved a pumpkin, I used my friend's Blackberry to go online and search for some scary designs. I carved it with a girl from Costa Rica, Paola. My first pumpkin was not too bad. It took pretty long time though. I gotta shave the tooth of the scary face in order to make it white. That is why it was time consuming.
On October 30, Halloween eve, it's Friday!! My class ended at 11am. I went to the best restaurant on campus, called Dulany, with my classmates for Halloween Buffet. I heard about it the week before Halloween yet I didn't make any reservation. Luckily we went there pretty early and they have some open seats for 3 of us. We paid 9bucks for the Halloween Buffet and I didn't regret to pay for it!! The Halloween Buffet was great and the restaurant setting was worth than what we have paid for. I like the chicken and steak in Dulany. It is definitely better than the Cafeteria! The food and beverage there was purposely designed for Halloween. The eggs were decorated with olives and it looked like eye balls. I had some ghost salad which is made with marshmallow. It was so good and so delicious! The waiters and waitresses dressed up with costumes. I got my picture taken with a ghost who served the food at dessert bar.
Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. I was there for Halloween. Why I end up happened in Madison? Sometime around September, I heard my roommate said Madison is the best place for Halloween Celebration. It's one of the well-known Halloween Celebration spots in the USA. Before Halloween, I wished I could make myself to Madison and enjoy the best Halloween in the USA. (As I'm here for only 6 months.) I'm not American Degree Transfer (ADP) student, so I don't have many country-mates who are in the United States. I met some Malaysians who have friends in Madison and they invited me to Madison together on Friday. I got 15minutes to get ready! It was really in a hurry, wasn't it? My friend, YJ, a Johor girl, who has a car here and she knew that my roommate was gone to Madison since Wednesday. I followed her to Madison with two other Malaysians.
I have had the best Halloween in my life with all Americans. I was the thorn among the roses!! I stayed overnight with my roommate's high-school's friend, Sam, who lives pretty close to State Street. What a great experience as being the thorn among the roses! At first, I felt bad as I was like a homeless who request for a stay in Madison. I thought I would be ignored by them as I am Asian. I was wrong! I met a bunch of awesome guys and everything went well. They were so surprised when they knew that this would be my first Halloween ever!! I received a lot of wishes and that was the way our conversation started. I went to pre-Halloween party with them on Friday night!! We played some drinking games before heading to the house party! Before this, I only knew about Beer Pong as I played it before at my friend's house in Eau Claire. In their house, I learned about Quarters game, Flip cup, and Powerhour. Overall, I did pretty good though. Our team was off the hook and was dominating all the time!! We almost won in every games. We have a slogan or a shout called, "SHIFT". A sudden brainwave was created by one of the players while playing flip cup. They wanted to shift the team player and it became the our slogan for the night! We shouted SHIFT SHIFT SHIFT on our way from one party to another! That was hilarious!
It's the crunch time!! What was I in the Halloween Party? Guess....?
I was a PIMP!!! An Asian PIMP among Americans!!!
Whenever walking along the State Street or on my way hitting the road to house party, people kept looking at me.. greeting to me.. talking to me and so on... People tend to be friendly when they are drunk. Haha...
I forgot to get some golden chains as I have been busy the week before Halloween. I did some shopping with them and I got a clock as my chain! It was a perfect match!
On Halloween night, I went to State Street for Third Eye Blind's (3eb) concert. I went there pretty late at about 11+pm. The State Street was packed like sardines! It was pretty windy though, I didn't feel any cold because of the crowd. The band is awesome!! By joining with Americans, I gotta know a lot of local culture and stuff. I would say I didn't miss anything that I would have supposed to try. I had my first Halloween and it turned out to be a real blast!!
Thanks to Sam and Garrett for letting me to sleep overnight in your house. Thanks for letting me the futon while you guys slept on the floor. It was so touched! I treated the house as my own one as I was the one who "played" the door intercom whenever someone rang the bell. Thanks to Laura, Kate and Meghan for giving me the "first piece of cake" that you guys made. It was so delicious! I had a great time in playing XBOX 360 with Paul, Aaron, Garrett and Phil. Thanks Aaron for hitting the bars together with me... I enjoyed watching the comedy called STELLA!! We have had lots of fun!! I will never forget about all this moment!!
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I went to Career Conference last month (Sept 24) because my class was cancelled. Lol! Why it has been canceled? Cuz almost 90% of my classmates were going to the conference as some of them are graduating in this December. I am not a degree seeker here and I can't get a job here. I didn't bring my resume as I know it would be useless because I can't work in my period of staying in the US. However, I have thought of getting a job here in the future. I was wondering if Deloitte and Touche were there, it would be great! As I used to work in Deloitte Malaysia for about 4months before I came to USA!!
Career Conference here is just like Career Fair in TARC. After a glance in Zorn Arena. There are only 2 companies that I know! The first one that I talked with was Allianz, an insurance company. My car insurance and life insurance are from Allianz. So I know about it pretty well. They are hiring people from UWEC and there are a lot of UWEC students who work there for internships and permanent jobs.
I went to Ernst and Young (EY) booth and asked them about job opportunity for me, a Malaysian who wants to work in USA. Well, in order to work in EY USA, I have 3 options. The first one is going to EY Malaysia and apply for Global Exchange Program in EY. The second one is getting a degree from UWEC and joining the alumni program. The third option is go through the interviews in EY and if you got accepted, they will prepare all the Working Permit and stuff for you. Well, the next day I told that to one of my classmates. He used to work in EY Minneapolis this summer. I just realized that I was talking to EY Partner in the career fair.
I got some souvenir from EY booth. A highlighter and a pen. Guess what?! I didn't know until last week.... the pen is actually from EY Malaysia. Picture will be attached!! Perhaps the labor cost in Malaysia is cheaper and they imported the stationery from Malaysia.
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http://people.uwec.edu/taneh/nightlife.htm
Please refer to my website. These are all my favorite bars in Eau Claire. It's actually pretty near to UWEC. I have to walk down the hill, cross over the footbridge, and 2 blocks away it is Water Street. Why Water? Cuz here is Eau Claire!! Eau Claire means clear water in French!!
Frankly speaking, I am not a big fan of clubbing when I was in Malaysia. However, I go to the bars here almost every week since the Fall semester starts. Cuz... I love dancing!! There is no cover fees charge in the bars on Water Street. That's the reason I go there often!
At the first few weeks, I used to go to Aaron's house for house party on every Friday night. Aaron is a Malaysian... a "karat kaki"... Anyway, there is no more party in his house recently cuz last month he got a big ticket as having a party to underage students. A lot of students got underage drinking tickets too. Underage drinking ticket in Wisconsin costs $260, and for the owner of the house party, it is $460. That's a lot!!!!
Someone might say going to the bars is not a good habit! For me, Hanging out with friends in the bars is actually the best way to socialize and make more friends. She-Nans is one of the bars that I go almost every weekend. I like the dance floor!! It's better than the Brats as they have stages where you can dance on it!
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I have been really busy in enjoying everything right here until I got no time to update my blog.
I have tons of pictures in my laptop until its memory is full and I got a brand new 640GB external hard drive here, can you imagine that? Also, I got a new Macbook here too!
LOL... at the first few weeks here, some people called me CREEPER as I took a lot of pictures.
Recently, I seldom take pictures as everything is not really new to me now. I got used to everything here and I started to miss my home in Malaysia!! Especially Malaysian Foods and of course my mom's food.
Everything goes fine right here and I am taking 4 classes with 13 credits here.
1. ACCT 425 Ethics in Accounting
2. MKTG 338 Marketing Analytics and Technology
3. US Culture and Institutions
4. Basic Japanese 101
For the 1st subject, my classmates are all senior or supersenior, it is a level four class. We sit in a group at Hormel Lab room. The room is freaking advance with technology. Every table has a big LCD screen sticked on the wall. 43inches LCD Flat screen. Our professor, Dr. Miller (CPA) conducts a lecture with his powerpoint slides up in the screens. It is a every nice way to teach! The class is not so big and we have 23 students. The course talks about Ethics!! I will take ACCA P1 paper when I got back to Malaysia. So, this is the reason I choose for this subject. Integrity is all about doing something right even nobody is watching. I learned about Kohlberg's, Rest's, DIT, DIRR so far. Hopefully it is same as the syllabus in ACCA P1 Professional Accountant.
For the 2nd subject, it is really a fantastic subject that I couldn't find in Malaysia. The subject is for Marketing Major. I am actually Accounting major but I am really interested in this subject!!! It is all about how a marketer runs his analytics with the aid of technology! It is undeniable that the United States is a developed country and it's well-known with its high tech system! Bill Gates is from USA... At the first weeks, I learned about Adobe Photoshop!! I am really happy with that because I still remember my friend refused to teach me how to use Photoshop in college. And now, I know how to use it but not really pro as I just have one week lesson. Next assignment was Dreamweaver! Dreamweaver is all about Webpage development. I struggled badly for my dreamweaver assignment! I asked my friends in TARC who are marketing major, they had dreamweaver assignment before but it was a semester project. They have 3 months time to complete it. For me, I have only a week!! The lesson was ended at Friday and I have to turn it in on next Monday, not really a week actually! I tried my best and used some flash knowledge that I learned when I was a beginner blogger. I made it perfect and I got 50/50 for the assignment.
The webpage is http://people.uwec.edu/taneh (My initial= TanEH)
For the third subject, it is US Culture and I gotta learn about the ways US people do and their histories, their attitudes, values and so on. It is a great class which I don't have pressure at all.
For the forth subject, Japanese 101. I am a newbie for Japanese Language now. Just for now, I know how to write Hiragana and Katakana. I have some Japanese friends here and I am an officer in Japanese Culture Society. (http://www.jcsec.org/) I am treasurer in JCS!!
Recently, we had an International Folk Fair right in UWEC. I was treated as a traitor! OMG! A lot of Malaysians called me so. WTF!! I am not! I love Malaysia.. I am treasurer in JCS and I have to take care of the money and stuff in JCS. So I was the one who takes order and collect money as a cashier in Japan Group during the International Folk Fair. I was the cashier for the first two hours in Japan Group. After that, someone took over my place and I was able to join the Malaysian Traditional Dance in Malaysia's booth downstair. Luckily I went there on time and the traditional dance was published as the headline in the local University press. I am not a traitor as I went to all the meetings in Malaysian group and I helped them up in decoration and stuff. I was one of the representatives in Malaysia group. My name was written in the folk fair application form too and I got the email from the key personnel in regard of any updates and claims. So, I am not country traitor!! lol... (why need to explain so much... if I am not means I am not... do come clean as what I learned in Ethics in Accounting)
Well, being an officer in Japanese Culture Society is so fun!! It would be great if I could have a job on campus. I can't have a job though, because of the rules restricted as a UGRADer. Having a job here would be nice and I am sure it can improve my English and make more friends....
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Time does fly, doesn't it?
I am in the United States for almost 4 months for Summer and Fall semesters.
I did a lot of travel in Summer and prior of the Fall semester.
I went to a couple of places in USA.
In July, I went to Minnesota, Illinois (Chicago) and of course the nice places around in Wisconsin. I would say the country name instead of the city name because they are a lot of cities that I have been to.
In August, our summer program has ended but UGRAD students had to go for a bridging course before Fall semester starts. However, I proposed a plan to everyone, just 5 of us (Plus a China girl), to travel to California. We did a great job in discussing the learning hours with our Professor and made this plan to a success. 2hours class per day became 3hours. We managed to stay in Los Angeles for a week!!
In Los Angeles, it was the best trip that I ever had. Before we went there, I was expecting to make the trip perfect as we got the break from Professor and we have to attend the class a little bit longer each day. I was crazy in searching for places, looking for recommendations online. I borrowed Los Angeles Travel Guide from my University library for that. I was pretty serious about it, wasn't I?
We met great people in Los Angeles and it made our trip cost much cheaper that it was. They are Saintsan's Uncle, Saintsan's Uncle's friend (Mr. Cornel), and their family.
We went to Anaheim Disneyland and California Adventure Park at the first day. We booked two nights in a hotel in Anaheim, Orange County. The interest thing part was I got premium Disneyland and Hopper park tickets for only 50bucks!! I got it from eBay. The ticket was great as we can use it to reserve a ride.
Besides Disneyland and California Adventure Park, we went to Universal Studios Hollywood on the second day. We spent our whole day there. I bought a discount coupon from eBay too! I got 18bucks off from each tickets. We paid for 51bucks instead of 69bucks. The best thing was the coupon can be used by anyone, you need not to be a Californian in order to use the ticket! It was great!! That was my little intelligence!! We saved a lot!!
The third day, we went to Downtown Los Angeles! That day was a free day! We planned it ourselves and I made my step to Staples Center, LA (Lakers Home Stadium). It was a great timing!! We reach there about 10am and there was an event there. I joined the 3points shoot-out competition and I got a new nickname called TOKYO GUY there. I made a great first shot and the DJ kept praising on me. It made everyone knows who is TOKYO GUY and after the game, a lot of people called me TOKYO GUY when I was walking around in Staples Center.
After Staples Center, we went to Hall of Fame, Hollywood, ThaiTown, ChinaTown, MexicanTown, Disney theatre, and other places that we could reach by Subway.
We went to Getty Museum and Santa Monica Beach on the next day. We walked around Santa Monica beach and did some shopping at Third Street Promenade. Thanks so much to Uncle Cornel who brought us to all those places. In LA, you need a car in order to go to such fantastic places. To get there by bus, you will spend half of you day in LA!! By cab, it will be freaking expensive!!
A brainwave was suggested by Uncle Cornel. "I would strongly recommend you guys to go to Las Vegas while you are in Los Angeles! It was just 4hours drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas by car." If we were unable to book a bus ticket, Uncle Cornel would drive us there, he said! We booked our hotel the day before and the bus tickets 2days before. (When we were in Universal Studios)
It was totally exceeded my expectations and my desires. My utilities have been fulfilled freakingly!! I didn't expect we would happen stepping in Las Vegas! By taking the bus to Vegas, it was a bus company operated by Chinese. 90% of the passengers are Chinese. I was just like in Hong Kong or a bus to Genting in Kuala Lumpur. What the heck... everyone was talking in Cantonese!! Some old folks, aunties and uncles were gossiping about the latest entertainment news in HongKong. I couldn't believe my eyes!! I sat with a chinese girl, named Lisa and we talked with each other in Chinese too. We have had a fun time in Vegas.
Accidentally, some unexpected incident happened in Vegas. The personnel in the bus told us that if we happened in The Venetian Las Vegas, we would get a 50USD gambling voucher, provided that you are 21 years and above. Without hesitation, I raised my hand and we were gonna hit The Venetian as our first station!! Why I said it was unexpected incident? It was really great to me as my favorite place in Macao is The Venetian!! I have been to Macao 2 years ago with my parents and my brother. I like that place very much!! It is so beautiful!! The Venetian Vegas is the same as Macao, just Macao is the newest one.
To be frank, I know how to gamble and I sneaked into the casino in Genting Highlands, Malaysia a couple of times. I went to the casinos in Macao too. Sneaking into casinos in Malaysia because I was not at legal age yet!! I turned 21years old in the United States and I made my visit to Vegas when I was 21years old and 1 month!!! It would be a fantastic memory for me forever!!!
I like to play baccarat and blackjack in Malaysia. Anyway, in Las Vegas, you would hardly find a small table with trends and records computer board in Baccarat. So, I made up my mind and decided to play just blackjack!! They have a lot of blackjack tables as compared to Genting Highlands and Macao. I won about 300+ USD around 2-3am in the morning. It was a lot!!! But my friend and I decided to keep gambling and visiting all the casinos in Vegas. We gambled till 5am in the morning and we got nothing left!! We didn't lose nor win!! We bought ourselves some drink in casinos with the winnings.
The next day, my hands were so "itchy" and my greedy devil told me to play before heading back to Los Angeles. I lost 100bucks in just 30minutes. I was so depressed and felt so blue. An hour before the bus came, I was trying to fight back and yes I made it! I turned 100usd to 300usd in just 15minutes in a blackjack table. My stakes were higher than everyone in the table. My highest stake was 60usd and I got a blackjack! That was why the turnover was so fast!! I won back my capital and the another 100bucks was my friend because we were sharing 50-50 of the capital.
Forget to talk about the hotel. The hotel rate in Vegas is freaking cheap! 70usd a night and I could get a double bedroom in Flamingo Hotel Casino. I paid for the freaking retarded hotel at Anaheim for 60bucks per night! I am willing to pay extra 10bucks for a higher class hotel in Vegas.
After we went back to Los Angeles, we had a great dinner (well, actually we did almost everyday in LA) with Uncle Cornel. The last dinner was our turn to treat Uncle Cornel as he treated us to lunch/dinner/supper and be our tour guide for those few days. He is really a great tour guide, if he were not a CAD designer, he would be the best tour guide in the States and Thailand too. (He likes to go to Thailand, he visits there almost twice a year)
3 and half hours flight from CA to WI. Say bye to California!! I like California so much!! If I would have to choose where to migrate to (in USA), my first choice will be in California. They have 6-8 Chinatowns (HongKong, Taiwan, China) and my mom is able to communicate with them!! She can speak Taiwanese with them too!!!
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To all my fellow friends and my lovely blog visitors from all around the World,
Time does fly, doesn't it? I am in the United States for almost 4 months already.
Just so you know, UGRAD is up for applying!!
Does anyone want a paid vacation or paid learning opportunity in the United States? It's the time to apply now.
You guys will be in the third batch!! The program is still new... Don't forgo this golden opportunity!
The due date is November 30, 2009. Still one and half months to go... pretty long!! You guys can write a better Personal Statement than I did last year.
If my memory serves me well.... Last year the due date was on December 26.
I got to know the application 3days prior to the dateline. So, I only have 3 days to complete my application forms and stuff.
There you go....
http://www.macee.org.my/05_14_content.html
(same procedures same questions as last year!! you guys will know how amazing I was in completing all those in 3days time. I still managed to celebrate Christmas in Genting Highlands with friends.. )
2009-2010 GLOBAL UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM | ||||
| No. | Name | Host Institutions | Field | Duration |
1. | Ms. Ooi Li Hsien | Minnesota State University | TESL | 1 year (Fall intake) |
2. | Mr. Wong Yeong Ru | Jackson State University | Psychology | 1 year (Fall intake) |
3. | Mr. Chong Tze Lun | University of Alabama in Huntsville | Marketing | 1 year (Fall intake) |
4. | Mr. Yeong Song Bor | North Central University | Actuarial Science | 6 months (Fall intake) |
5. | Mr. Tan Eng Hwa | University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire | Accounting and Finance | 6 months (Fall intake) |
6. | Mr. Thamilarasan Ramalingam | Montana State University | Electronics Engineering | 6 months (Fall intake) |
7. | Ms. Lim Keng Li | St. Cloud State University | International Business | 6 months (Spring intake) |
8. | Mr. Lim Gin Seng | University of Southern Indiana | Accounting | 6 months (Spring intake) |
9. | Mr. Tan Poh Suan | Nazareth College | International Business | 6 months (Spring intake) |
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1 Deloitte & Touche - Big 4, 107 U.S. offices
2 Ernst & Young - Big 4, 95 U.S. offices
3 PricewaterhouseCoopers - Big 4, 99 U.S. offices
4 KPMG - Big 4, 95 U.S. offices
5 Grant Thornton - 48 U.S. offices
6 McGladrey & Pullen - 103 U.S. offices
7 BDO Seidman - 35 U.S. offices
8 Mayer Hoffman McCann - Offices in: CA, AZ, UT, CO, KS, MN, WI, IL, MO, OH, TN, GA, FL, MD, PA, and NY.
9 Crowe, Chizek and Co. - Offices in: IN, IL, OH, KY, TN, MI, and FL
10 BKD - Baird Kurtz & Dobson - Offices in: TX, IL, MO, IN, OH, KY, CO, KS, OK, AR, NE
Looking at the highest ranking of Accounting Firms in the U.S., I could reminisce vividly my precious time in Deloitte (Malaysia) for my internship on February to May 2009.
I was in Corporate Tax Department. Too bad.. I have no idea at all for US Tax.. what is irrevocable election? I learned it this week.. Taxation system in USA is more complicated as compared to Malaysian Taxation.
I hope I can work in one of the firms stated above in USA one day... My another personal legend begins...
Study Hard.. Work Hard.. Play Hard in USA!!
All the best!!
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Perseids Meteor!!
Well, I used to play Defence of the Ancience (DOTA), a warcraft game. 
If you are a DOTA player as well, you will know who is Gorgon Medusa. 
He is a great hero of old Greek mythology. The skills that have been armed in Medusa are Split Shot, Chain Lighting, Mana Shield, and Purge. If you know Gorgon Medusa, here you go! He is a Perseus. You can see Perseid Meteor on August 12-13, 2009 in certain parts of USA.
What is the meteor? They’re pretty hot, more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 Celsius). Most meteors vaporize before hitting Earth but now and then when they hit Earth they are then called meteorites. Meteors become visible around 60 miles high in our atmosphere.
The constellation Perseus can be seen in the northern hemisphere. The constellation contains a unique star named Algol (the Demon Star) that is best known as being the first “variable star” discovered. Algol is considered a variable star because it changes in brightness about every three days. Perseus is the radiant of the Perseids Meteor Shower, this is where meteors will appear to originate from. If you want to see this event you can venture out early in the morning of August 12 in Eastern Standard Time Zones and look toward the darkest part of the sky in the east/northeast. Perseid Meteors will streak across the sky at an extremely high rate this year. Have fun and keep your head up. LOL!!
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Since Burj Dubai has yet to be fully constructed and opened to public, I would like to take this final opportunity to share about the tallest skyscrapers which I assume Burj Dubai does not exist. 
Why I write this blogpost? Recently I came across to my friend, BByin's blog. I was impressed by her blogpost regarding the highest skyscraper in the world, called Burj Dubai. Burj Dubai is gonna open to public at the end of December 2009.
So, Willis Tower (SEARS Tower), Taipei 101, and KLCC will drop one record in the ranking. Willis Tower aka Sears Tower, which is located in Chicago is currently the tallest skyscraper in year 2009. I was honoured to visit there. I love Chicago!! Sears tower was my first destination right after my arrival at Chicago.
Sears Tower, Chicago (Willis Tower)
Second Tallest in Year 2009 - Taipei 101
I visited Taipei 101 before!! It was in Year 2007 Christmas! 
Third Tallest - KLCC
Needless to say, I've visited KLCC! I am Malaysian. Of course, I visited KLCC Twin Towers. It was just right in front of my rented unit in Metroview Condominium, Setapak, KL. (When I was studying in KL, Malaysia)
In a nutshell, I am glad that I have the opportunity to go to Chicago and pay a visit to Sears Tower. Whenever or whoever talks about Skyscraper.. I will definitely recall about my trip to Chicago, it was on July 24-27, 2009. I love Chicago!!
I had lots of fun in Chicago!!!
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Wo ai ni , ai zhe ni
Jiu xiang lao shu ai ta mi (Mandarin)
Kuai hak jao jao hak kuai bo (Laos)
Chan rak ter liao ter rak chan mai (Thai)
I love you, loving you (English)
Aku cinta pada mu
Adakah kau cinta ku (Malay)
Ming ka la bah cit tek cit la (Myanmar)
Te quie ro, me ah mor (Spanish)
Wa ta shi ai shi te ru (Japanese)
ngo oi le yat san yat sai (Cantonese)
I wanna be with you always (English)
I love Eau Claire
##(Repeat All)
I love you, Eau Claire
This song is special dedicated to ELA program. Thank you everyone who makes this ELA to a success. It was composed by me and sourced from all of international students. Without all of you, this song is unable to be completed. My sole participation was not enough if without all of you guys.. Keep in touch ya!!
We had lots of fun in the final banquet aka Fiesta. After our dinner (Mexican Food), we had several events. At first we reviewed back all the photos that we have taken so far in every activities. OMG!! I miss all of them. It was just occured yesterday! Time flies... We have had a great time in ELA summer program. Next, Certificate Giving Section.. and lastly.. Dancing!!
I miss ya'll!
Dancing Queens and Dancing Kings... Bravo!!
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Hi everyone! Welcome to my blog. If you are coming to Wisconsin, you are in the right webpage. I am now in Wisconsin, USA. This is my 4th week here. I would like to share with you all, where are the place that you must visit in Wisconsin!!
When you are in Madison, which is the capital of Wisconsin, the places that you must visit are Hinchley's Dairy Farm, State Street, State Capitol.
Hinchley's Dairy Farm
First of all, let's talk about Hinchley's Dairy Farm. I like that Dairy Farm very much because I have had a lot of my first time in the Dairy Farm. It's undeniable that Wisconsin is famous with its name "America Dairyland". The Dairy Farm is the place that you must visit.
There are a lot of dairy farms in Wisconsin, but Hinchley's Dairy Farm impressed me the most!! Hinchley's Dairy Farm is a real working dairy farm in Cambridge, Wisconsin where cows are milked twice each day, 365 days of the year. There are sheeps, chickens, goats, llama and rabbits to see and pet. Besides, they have rapsberry field and you can plug fresh rapsberry and it can be eaten right away. 
Tina Hinchley
The owner of Hinchley's Dairy Farm is owned by Tina Hinchley. This is a family business. She is a superwoman, I would say. She likes her job very much. From the conversation between Tina and me during the tour, she told me that the annual income they earned is not enough to breakeven. They are suffering losses every year. This is because milk supply is high, so the price is low. No government grant is granted by the Dairy Farm. If you wish to get government grant, you must be suffering 35% of losses or damages as to your annual turnovers. Despite of that, she still work hard in the farm. She is loving her job. She likes what she is doing now. This is called job satisfaction!!
For me, I will think that this is a tough job. You need to milk the cow, clean the crap, move the crap and a lot of tough works. It is not easy. Moreover, the income is not as good as what you will get when you are employed in office work. The whole business is managed by her and it is definitely financed by Bank Loans and Long term borrowing from Bank. It is risky! Furthermore, the returns are not so high. Only the person who loves the job will continue to do it forever.
Here are the photos in Hinchley's Dairy Farm. You can play with little calfs, milk the cow, play with little chicks, feed the goats, sheeps, llama. Besides, you can plug and eat the rapsberry right away!!
State Street Madison + State Capitol
Other than that, in Madison, you must go to State Street!! I went there during Maxwell Street Day, the price of the items are cheap and reasonable. I bought 1 Crocs Badgers Shoe, and 15 clothes. OMG!! Too enjoy my shopping trip!! State Street in just like Petaling Street in Malaysia, Xi Men Ding in Taipei, Chatuchak in Bangkok. The big difference is the air in Wisconsin during summer is cool and refreshing. In Malaysia, it is hot and you will keep sweating when you shopping outdoor. At the end of the street, there is a beautiful building, which is State Capitol. That is the biggest building in Wisconsin. The Forward Lady is the image of Wisconsin. The motto of Wisconsin is FORWARD.
Check it out some photos.
The next place that you must visit is the Dells Mill.
The scenery at the water fall is really beautiful. What a panoramic view!!
Let's see!
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Hi everyone! As you can see in my previous post, it's fried banana. Why I put the fried banana recipe in my blog? Don't you feel weird? This is because we have an activity called Pot Luck on July 23. Everyone will cook something that represent their home country. We shared and ate together with Americans and other international students.
It was my first time to make fried banana. I was very happy that moments as I did it! My friends from Laos (KK) and Thailand (Hooda) gave me compliments on my cook. They said that it was as tasty as the one selling in their country. I was on cloud nine!! Yahoo!
This was the cooking process:
Here we go!! Pot Luck Dinner!!
Most importantly, everyone dressed up in tradisional clothes, included me. I wore Malaysian Tradisional Batik. A lot of people asking me what kind of clothing material and the purpose of wearing Batik. At first, I thought Batik is Malay Language. Now, I've checked the dictionary. Batik is in English and Spanish as well.
Batik is a process for printing designs on cloth. Wax is put on those areas of the cloth that you do not want to be coloured by dye. While, a batik is a cloth which has been printed with a batik design.
We wear Batik during formal Malay Dinner, Malay Wedding, and any other cultural events.
We enjoyed ourselves so much!! I've tried out some nice foods from Myanmar, Thailand, China, Laos, and also America. Thank you everyone for making such a good dinner.
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According to Wikipedia, Pisang Goreng (fried banana in Malay/Indonesian) is a snack food mostly found throughout Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is usually sold by the stall hawkers near the roadside in my country. When thinking about fried bananas, it brings me to my childhood memories. I still can recall vividly that when I was small, I stayed in a shoplot house. Where my father shop was just located at the ground floor. I used to buy fried bananas at the hawker stalls nearby twice a week. I went there by bicycle in the hot afternoon. I ate the fried bananas together among my siblings and my mother while watching the TV channel. I did bring some friend bananas to my father in his office and also shared with all the employees in his shop. I have had a great time with this snack food when I was small. I like it very much. Today, I would like to share with you guys how to cook this snack food.
INGREDIENTS
• 6 tabletspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tabletspoons of sugar
• 1/4 tabletspoons of salt
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 Ripe bananas, sliced into smaller pieces
• Approprite oil for deep frying
METHOD
1. Mix the flour, sugar and salt well in a bowl. Beat the water into the flour mixture until batter is smooth. Set batter aside to rest for anywhere from 5-15 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a deep skillet or deep fryer to between 350° and 375°. Working in batches, fold in banana slices until evenly coated in batter. Let any excess batter drip off and drop in the hot oil to deep fry. Fry it until golden brown and crispy.
3. Drain on paper towels and serve warm.
VARIATIONS
• Use 1/2 cup of coconut milk and 1/2 cup of water in the batter for a more tropical flavor if you like.
Thank you! Enjoy your Fried Bananas.
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Today, we learned about The Hmong people in the United States, especially in Wisconsin. Majority of Hmong is staying in Wisconsin. For more information about the Hmong people, please visit here.
We are given a Peom, titled "Journey to America", by Tou Lee Vue, a new generation of Hmong people in the United States. It is a meaningful poem which conveys the importance of the Hmong history.
In the first stanza, the writer is questioning himself regarding his differences as compared to Americans in the United States. For instance, hair color, skin, and appearance. The writer found the answers from his father. Their ancestors were from Laos. This stanza shows that the importance of the Hmong history, especially for the new generation to know their identity.
In the second stanza, the writer introduces the Vietnam War which emphasis their sorrow and their agonizing flashback. The Hmong had been trained by the United States Elite soldiers to oppose the Vietnamese and the Pathet Lao communists of Laos. The Hmong lost the war and they fled due to the subsequent genocidal actions. A lot of sorrow stories had been occured. In order to keep their children from crying and to hide them from murderous soldiers, the desperate parents overdosed their babies with drugs and consequently their babies died. They survived everyday in panic and fear.
The third stanza emphasis the Hmong's desires. They were lived in fear for the past time. Their dreams come true when they are in the United States of America. They are no longer living in fear as refugee.
The writer expresses his perseverance in the last stanza. Although their homeland had been conquered, their freedom still be with them. They are free people who desire for freedom. They are the Hmong!!
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On 10th July 2009, we have an excursion to Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau Claire. This is my first excursion in the United State. It is so meaningful as we can know all the history of Eau Claire by visiting the museum. For your information, Chippewa Valley Museum is located at Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is about 15minutes drive from UWEC to there.
Chippewa Valley Museum, Here I come!!
He is our museum tour guide. He looks old but he still can recall the past time in Eau Claire vividly. We have a good tour guide because he had, in fact, experienced all the old time in Eau Claire.
One of the most interesting facts in Chippewa Valley Museum is the music instrument. Nowadays, we used to play guitar, drum, piano, flute, and so on. Could you imagine what music instrument is being used in the past?
Here it is:
It is made by turtle shell with the combination of seashells which plays as a music instrument in the past. The old generations wear it at their knees and dance their traditional dance. They music will play simultaneously with their dance. It was so cool!! Although we are not the same generation now, but we all know that what is MUSIC. At least, we know we have some similarity, just it was presented in different way.
The other fact that impressed me much is the Lumberjacks. Lumberjacks are men who worked to cut down the trees with long saws. It is also known as Lumber Industry. Long long time ago, Wisconsin was fully covered by large forests. The Lumberjacks did a great job and it is a must for everyone to know them. This is because, if there was no Lumberjacks, no Wisconsin I would say.
With Lunberjacks, the story that you will know eventually is the Paul Bunyan, who is a giant lumberjack and Babe, his huge blue ox. The story is also called as Tall Tales, which are unbelievable and unusual stories that have been retold over the years and exaggerated.
Apart of that, I was impressed by the old classroom in Eau Claire. The place where the old generation went for their studies. It is still well kept until today. The tables and chairs are too small and it does not fit me. It is for kids. Let's see some photos of the classroom.
In a nutshell, museum serves as a unique and invaluable place where we can achieve the display of the fossils and other historical collections. I am very glad to know more about Eau Claire as well as Wisconsin. This excursion has made my day! It was a memorable excursion.
