Ohaiyo Ohio!

This was my second trip since I came to the States. The first trip was to Chi-Town during Thanksgiving break, where I got to visit the Jordan statue in United Center with my homie. But the days I spent in Ohio was the most memorable experience for me.

It was Winter break after a week of hectic finals in Marquette, I traveled 10 hours from Milwaukee to Ohio alone, just to meet up some old friends. We decided to gather during the Winter break, and we choose Ohio as it is the center state of all four of us. The four guys that used to be roommates back in INTI college. This is going to be the first time we met each other since the JPA briefing back in July in Malaysia.

I wasn't bored in the bus as I took the initiative to talked with a law student. I was shocked that she was reading her law text book on the bus. Her name is Tania. She is a sweet girl with a cute voice. We talked a lot but we still had some awkward silent moment. After arriving in Chicago for a transit, I wrote down my facebook name for her but till today she did not add me. That ain't sweet, girl.

8 hours from Chicago to Ohio wasn't a smooth ride. I reached Columbus around 7am and I decided to rest for an hour before planning my way to my homie's house. The next thing happened made me relief and grateful. My other homie called me and said that they were on their way to fetch me from the station. I wonder if I would lost myself in Columbus without them fetching me.

Finally, I was in his house, and I met this one kid, who loves football so much and is a high school basketball player. So I was like, lets visit Ohio State University's gym and play some ball. After having some Chinese dishes for lunch, we walked around OSU's compound and took some nice pictures. OSU's gym is huge. Much bigger than Marquette's. We played a game with some Chinese, and the game ended ugly. We lost the game and the Chinese are rude. We were really pissed off and that kid was pissed too. We went to work out. That kid is cute and funny. That night, we were following a football game and Colts needed a touchdown to win the game. And with 10 seconds left, Colts touchdown and walked away with the W. Both of us shouted like we were in the game. I had been watching football games now, thanks to that dude.

The Kid with the Buckeye's mascot.

The next day, that kid went back to Indiana, it is the first time we met, ( although we had been chatting in facebook) but we get together real fast. Hope he will be a good basketball player one day. I like the lunch that day, it was bak kut teh, I'm drooling when I'm typing this sentence.

It was Christmas eve on Saturday, the third day in Ohio, and I come out with an idea of preparing a Christmas eve meal, so we went to a mart to get some stuff. Fried chicken,pudding, eggnog, spaghetti, and mashed potato, it was a successful feast and everyone was having a great time filling up their stomach.

The Chefs and the Feast!

I spent my Christmas day watching NBA games with my boy, Burger. We literally watched the first match to the last match. And yea, curry chicken for dinner was a great gift for me too by my rommies wify.

And then, so dramas enter the scene. Some dude which I know since my first semester in INTI and used to hangout with us came to Ohio without telling us. That's okay for me, but not even a single Hi after arriving? That ain't cool. And he was staying with my girl friend. All of us knew things ain't easy like friends-visiting.

The Ice Cream.

The buddies.

The sweet couples.

The Fat dogg.

 The Village.

And the Friendship. From left: Me, my buddy, my roomates wify and him.

We went for a movie on Tuesday, and my buddy and I watched The Girl with The Dragon tattoo. It was a nice movie as I should say, only if you like movies that needed deep thoughts. The next day, we went downtown Columbus to have some Jenis ice-cream. I choose the whisky-vanilla ice-cream, foolishly hoping that it will get me drunk. We then visit the German village. The houses were all build in a unique way, they were all cute and nice. We went on to Schiller park and went home for dinner.

The next day was the day the final piece of the FourHorsemen to arrive. We went for some Karaoke that night. I sang some songs and, the girl came to my mind again. Sometimes, when you are doing something, you would think of a girl, because what you are doing meant something to you and her, and that's love, my buddy and I both agree on this one.

We watched The adventure of TinTin on Friday. Yes, movie again. Later that night, we watched The Hangover  in my roommates room. It is a great movie. The mix of comedy, adventure, and friendship, all in one. Two great movies in a day made my day awesome. But, the drama I mentioned goes on.

On New year eve, we hang out in a cafe playing scrabble and countdown, yea, just within our group of 8. It's hard to get into a bar when all of us are still underage.

We spent the next two days at home, while my girl friend baked some cookies for us. It taste great, I like it when the choc chips melt in my mouth. We did some sushi too. It ain't that hard to make a sushi though.

Ever seen four guys making sushi?

The day before I return to Milwaukee, all 3 of us went to class with my roommate. We attended the Psychology class and Physic class, our first day in OSU. My buddy and I went back to OSU court to ball in the evening and we lost again. Quite disappointed but that will be one of the reason I'm going back to Columbus.

Departure is always the hardest thing to face. After 10 hours of bus, I'm back in Milwaukee again. Living my life and chasing my dreams alone. I had rest enough with my brothers, my comrades in Ohio. It is time for me to get myself back to the game. While I'm writing this article, I'm already missing the cookies, the cakes, the memories, and of course, my families in the States.

We lived together for two years in M'sia. We came from different place, but we are chasing the same dream. 

They are the one that letting me know that I'm not running alone. They are my nakama(comrades in japanese).

Ganbate minnasan!