Chan Weng Kit's Blogspot: DAY 1093-1096

Aug 30 - Sept 2

1) It’s been a phenomenal past two weeks for me. In chronological order, I’ve picked up a brand new phone (a Huawei Mi9T) thanks to my dear mom, and it works really well. I really like the pop-up selfie camera, the long battery life and really fast charging time. In other news, I’ve collected the approved Tier 4 UK Student Visa from Wisma MCA, KL. I need the visa to collect my BRP (Biometric Residence Permit) card for the duration of my stay in UK (quite similar to the IRP (Irish Residence Permit) which I used while in Dublin, Ireland.

2) They often say things get worse before they can get better. Recently, I decided to take part in a “Virtual Run” – where you would run a certain distance (authenticated with a running app using GPS tracking) within a certain time period, and if successful, you’d receive a nice finisher’s medal. So the virtual run that I took part in was called the Merdeka Run (commemorating our country’s 62^nd Independence Day), and I chose the half marathon distance (21.1km). Also, I’ve recently gained quite a lot of weight, thanks in no small part to reduced exercise, increased stress, and terrible sleeping times (preparing for my exams).

3) So in an effort to shed some pounds and net myself a nice finisher’s medal (and appear patriotic), I took part in the run. I woke up one fine morning, and began running. Remember what I said about things get worse before they get better? Well, my newly downloaded running app (on my new phone) didn’t work so well, to the point that I had been going for literally 2.5 hours and the distance still showed only 6km! Now I’m by no means a “fit” runner, but 2.5 hours to cover 6km is truly unbelievable. I had just spent the last 2.5 hours running for absolutely nothing… and at the rate I was going I would have taken at least 10 hours to finish the 21km.

4) And so my effort that day was wasted. Later I decided that I would go back to the old running app that I was familiar with and use that instead. Lo and behold, the app worked perfectly fine – and so it was time to prepare myself mentally for another shot at 21km! But before that, I had an important alumni reunion with my teachers and friends at Tenby International School, Ipoh. It was indeed a privilege to be invited back to give a TED-style talk about my alma mater, as well as provide some inspiration to the future generation of leaders. More importantly, I had the opportunity to meet up with my old A-Levels teachers, my cohort mates and my friends. It’s really unbelievable how everyone has gone on to different paths in life, just a few years after graduating from Tenby.

5) The second day, we went on a trek up Bukit Saiyong – just next to our school. It was a 1800m trek on uneven ground, but what surprised me most was all the teachers went along with us! Again, another perfect opportunity to catch up with everyone, and for some nice group pics. At the end of our journey, we had a nice lunch at the school canteen, thus capping off our first alumni reunion at Tenby. Much appreciation to the Sixth Form for coordinating such a successful event for the alumni, and hoping to return again next year! That’s basically it for this edition of my blog post, do look forward to the next one coming real soon. Thanks for reading as always, and enjoy the pics below. Have a lovely week ahead, cheers!

Group photo time - with fellow cohort mates (Cohort 10), Mrs. P, and Madam Lau - at Saiyong Eco Forest Park!

Ice-cream at Marrybrown - right after getting my new phone :)

Photo with mummy :)

Smiling outside but a bag of emotions inside - my botched (first) attempt at running the 21km

Tenby alumni reunion - with Brendan (from Cohort 12) and Mrs. P - who taught us A-Levels Physics

Breaking the ice over a game of "Splat"

Mr. Louis welcomes the alumni back for the first ever reunion - ft. Quest University Perak (QIUP)

Alumni including past students and teachers/staff alike

Hard to believe the size of the current A-Levels batch - nearly double our cohort (Cohort 10), and ours was by far the largest cohort at the time!

Merdeka celebration about to begin...

I certainly wasn't expecting such a huge turnout

Primary and secondary students alike, along with former and current teachers and alumni - all under one roof - celebrating our country's independence

Mr. Davidson officiating the Opening Ceremony

And away the balloon goes!

Until it's reached the ceiling...

We heard poems in different languages from the talented Tenby students - chronicling our leaders' struggle to obtain independence for our nation

Really wonderful seeing the enthusiastic students performing!

The Chinese fan dance

Indian cultural dance

Reenactment of the "Tugu Negara" (National Monument) that commemorates those who died in Malaysia's struggle for freedom, particularly during World War II and the Malayan Emergency