Finally back

I have terribly neglected my blog these past few months. Let me just recap: first, I was struck by this terrible affliction called writers' block. Subsequently, my computer decided to die on me and I was left pc-less and somewhat disorientated. Following that, I had go through an ordeal called the Certificate in Legal Practice exam...and believe me, that is something that I never want to experience again. Having said that, I should probably elaborate.

In my aspirations to be the next high-flying attorney of "The Practice", I have decided to put myself through a gruelling exam just so that I can obtain a measly piece of paper and therefore make my signature "laku", as they say. The worst part of taking this exam is that everyone has to sit for it in Universiti Malaya, which means travelling down to KL. So there we were, early on Thursday morning, bleary-eyed, loading the car, to travel down. If you ask me, it was more like loading equipment getting ready for battle. My friends travelled down with me, and don't get me wrong, I love them to bits, but did we have to leave Penang at 5.30 in the morning?

Since we were on a tight budget, having had to stay for 2 weeks, we settled for the YMCA, which turned out to be much better than expected. It's a good thing it was recently renovated. There were horror stories circulating around about how I might need my own non-bug infested mattress and extra cans of insect repellant. Since I travelled with 3 guy friends, it was unlikely that I could share a room with any of them, so I had the luxury of my own room. Although, they did occasionally turn my room into a guys club house, especially on Friday nights when they would cram in to watch Malaysian Idol. I suppose I was the honorary member of the club :)

The entire period of the exam was excruciating. The only time we left the room was for meals, and that was the highlight of my day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. I still remember the 1st day of the exam: Monday, 11th July 2005. We arrived at the exam hall at about 7.00 am, 2 hours before the exam was due to start. I couldn't believe how many people were already outside the hall, cramming, pacing, muttering to themselves. It was a scary sight. But what was more scary was when we went inside the hall...it was a sea of people, so just imagine the competition. And especially when the invigilator said "Awak boleh mula sekarang", the rustle of papers was so loud it was deafening. Never in my life have I heard anything like it. To say it was scary is a understatement. You have to be there in person to know what it was like.

One thing that I was extremely blessed with was that there was an "in-house" church at the YMCA itself which met every Sunday at 6.00 pm. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to go to church, but since it was provided, I went. I'm glad I did because it was then that I received the much-needed encouragement and fellowship of the body of Christ.

And so the last day of the exam arrived. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins and I'm sure my friends felt the same way. We just couldn't wait for it to end. At the end, everyone just breathed an enormous sigh of relief. Upon reaching home (YMCA felt like home to us at this point), we dumped our things down and straight away head out. To quote one of my friends, "We can do whatever we like and can go wherever we want. Let's make a list!" So indeed we went everywhere that we could possibly go that day, shopping, eating, clubbing, to see and be seen. All in all, it was a blast. And I think it was extra enjoyable because we felt that we truly deserved it.

Well, I suppose having said all that, it was not necessarily a bad experience. In fact, like one of my friends said, it definitely helps to build character. It has made me a stronger person and makes me feel like I can take on any task, no challenge is too difficult. As for how I fared, well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?