Check this out!
The above link is my masterpiece in my Marketing and Technology class when I was studying in the USA. Remember to go to ABOUT US page, you will see my handsome pic. haha..
I miss Eau Claire!! Im gonna say it loud!
In 2010, UWEC has about 7 new Malaysians enrolled in the Spring intake and made it to 24 Malaysians now. If I were still there, it would be 25. (Nicer number) haha..
Time really flies, Im back home for exactly 4months. (Jan 4 to May 4 today)
I always be really lazy in studying. Im not sure whether it's because of the influence from the States or my re-entry shock still.
Im just gonna say, after studying abroad in the USA, I become really lazy!! Im always think about party, bars, dance, drink, and travel!!
Just so you guys know, I joined Sunway University College for ACCA Professional Level 3 days after I returned home.
Re-entry shocks are as below:
1. Cannot get used to Malaysian English
2. Miss the cold Mid West weather
3. Miss American beer (Miller lite, Spotted Cow, Leinenkugel)
4. Used to take bath once a day
5. Hate to college life in Malaysia
6. Heart still in traveling mode ( I traveled for about a month in the USA before coming back)
Now, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee. My ACCA exam is approaching and Im still traveling like a frequent traveller. haha.
Last week, I went to Singapore. It was Marina Bay The Sands Grand Opening April 27, 3.18pm.
More pictures can be found on my Facebook
Ciao!
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EngHwa Tan
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EngHwa Tan
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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!!
