There are two major problems that I always face in big crowds, though I have way more but then this post would be too long to read. I don't want you guys to sleep on my posts, although stuff I publish aren't really that important for you all. xD

Alright alright, enough yapping. Anyway, my first problem with big crowds is the frightens of ending up dislocated. I usually go out with my friends and/or family, and most of them like crowds, causing them to drag me around in the crowds. They somehow just know how to locate themselves. I always get lost. I just don't know how and why. Thankfully, for the most part at least, my mom is always there for me. She hates crowds just as much as I do. I love my mom <3

The second one I always face, and this happens A LOT, is the smell. It's so distinguishing and fragrant, I want to absolutely give everyone a smack on the head :]. But seriously though, some crowds stink so badly. It has come to the point I can bascally TASTE the smell. Quite weird, but it is true.

Here are one small portion of the lyrics :

'Cause I'm beginnin' to feel like a Rap God, Rap God
All my people from the front to the back nod, back nod
Now, who thinks their arms are long enough to slap box, slap box?
Let me show you maintainin' this shit ain't that hard, that hard
Everybody want the key and the secret to rap immortality like Ι have got

Well, to be truthful the blueprint's
Simply rage and youthful exuberance
Everybody loves to root for a nuisance
Hit the Earth like an asteroid
Did nothing but shoot for the Moon since (Pew!)
MCs get taken to school with this music
'Cause I use it as a vehicle to "bus the rhyme"
Now I lead a new school full of students
Me? I'm a product of Rakim
Lakim Shabazz, 2Pac, N.W.A, Cube, hey Doc, Ren
Yella, Eazy, thank you, they got Slim
Inspired enough to one day grow up, blow up and be in a position
To meet Run–D.M.C., and induct them
Into the motherf****n' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Even though I'll walk in the church and burst in a ball of flames
Only Hall of Fame I'll be inducted in is the alcohol of fame
On the wall of shame
You f**s think it's all a game, 'til I walk a flock of flames
Off a plank and, tell me what in the f**k are you thinkin'?

This song is so catchy. It is so catchy I need to say it again. The song is so catchy. Perhaps it is my weird liking to raps and beats, since I play a considerable amount of rhythm games. What are you guys' favorite genre of music? I'd love to know :D

I arrived at the Bangi campus with mixed feelings, excited to be one of the "Chosen Ones" to attend KPPN but at the same time, also feeling super nervous to begin life at a boarding school. On top of that I was feeling hungry... my tummy rumbling, my saliva dripping, my eyes locked on the fiery smoke coming from a food truck near the Administration Building.

Yay, FRIES!! I asked my mom if she could buy me one of the cheesy ones, and lucky enough, my mom was in a good mood and the queue at the food truck was short. I gobbled it all in a mere second, and hurried towards the Auditorium for the registration process. Overall the registration process was quite smooth. After the welcoming ceremony and briefing, my parents helped me move my things out of our car. It took me several trips back and forth to the dorm, even with the help of some of the senior students. I was assigned Room 25 in Block D and my roommate was Afiq Adlan, otherwise known as Nobita.

After long hugs and many kisses (I think my mom has separation anxiety) I finally waved goodbye to my parents as I watched them drive away.

My new adventure has begun.

Chess is a tiring sport. I know some of you may think otherwise, but it is true. Another chess player would understand what I am trying to convey here. Some say it is even more tiring than swimming. It is all fun and games when you are leisure-playing with friends but going into competitions - it's a damn warzone. This 'board game' requires so much energy, so much studying, so much training to become the best. Look at me, an MSSM player and a candidate for the World Youth Olympiad last year - yet I'm nowhere near as good as the top leaderboards!

To normal people, chess is just a game of moving pieces and capturing, ending up in either a checkmate or a draw. I see chess in a different perspective. Now, playing with someone, lets say, 200 ELO (strength, basically) lower than me, all my brain juice is used to gain a single pawn. Yes, a single pawn. In the professional stages, gaining a pawn is basically winning the game or securing a draw. Heck, winning a piece makes even the top players resign (surrender) on the spot.

On another note, playing chess and competing in tournaments have enabled me to visit places that I have not been to before, both locally and abroad. Not to mention being able to meet people and make new friends.

Although chess can be mentally exhausting, it is still my favourite sport. I welcome the challenges that it brings because it provides my brain with a workout. It helps develop my reasoning and problem-solving skills. It forces me to plan and think ahead. All these skills and traits can also be applied in life.

One obvious thing, though, I have spent most of my growing up years playing chess. I have lost track of how many tournaments I have joined since 2017. There were times when I achieved success, but there were also times when I failed miserably. Each tournament taught me this: "Either I Win, or I Learn".

Therefore, I can safely say, at this point in time, my ambition is to become...

A CHESS GRANDMASTER

Why do I choose to be a Chess Grandmaster?

Growing up, my chess idol has always been Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. I used to spend hours watching his YouTube videos. He has been a chess Grandmaster for at least 15 years now, and he started making videos on YouTube since 2017, and now has more than a million subscribers.

When I become Grandmaster Adnin Nuaym, I plan to create a YouTube channel so that I can share my knowledge and experiences as well. This can be a source of side income for me.

Let's again, take GM Hikaru Nakamura as an example. His net worth is currently around $50 million, and I repeat, $50 MILLION (47.3m in Euros).

In 2022, Hikaru tied second place in the World Blitz Championship and winning over USD 500,000 yearly. This is not including income earned from his YouTube videos.

Grandmaster Adnin Nuaym hopes to win BIG in future tournaments, too. Who knows, maybe I would make even more money than GM Hikaru annually.

However, to become a Chess Grandmaster is not an easy-peasy job. First and foremost, one needs to have discipline and diligence. And not just mentally, but physically too. Playing chess takes a lot of stamina. I know a lot of people do not believe this, but it is true. And training for the sport itself requires a lot of sacrifice and dedication. I always tell myself that these are the traits that I need to start developing from now.

I know it is not possible for me to be the first Grandmaster in Malaysia but that does not stop me from dreaming big and working hard to become one in the future. #prayforNuaym

Jazli and I have been best friends since kindergarten. He is really nice, hardworking, dependable, funny, and has a very pleasant personality. He is the eldest child out of 3 boys and he truly carry the traits of an eldest child - very competitive, protective and sometimes defensive.

From the first day of primary school until the end of Primary 6, we were assigned to the same classes. We were both School Prefects and we share the same interest in the game of chess. We would always compete with one another to see who completes their work first, who gets higher marks in exams, and who has a higher placing at chess tournaments in general. Fond memories, indeed.

As competitive as we got, we always had each other's backs. We always supported one another, never envious of the successes either of us achieved. We helped each other during times of need, and we shared the same opinions on many things. I could and still can always rely on him for anything, no matter what, and vice versa. There were ups and downs in our friendship, we sometimes argued on petty things, but we never took them to heart.

We went separate ways after primary school; I got an offer to attend KPPN while Jazli got accepted into SM Sains Banting. Despite not being in the same school, we still keep in touch during school holidays and chess tournaments.

I really hope our friendship will last forever. My mother once said, even after Jazli and I grow old and gray, no matter how many grandchildren we may have in future, the two of us will always be best friends.

It was like any other day, I was getting ready for school when suddenly at 7 a.m., gray clouds start to form. Thunder is heard across the school, big threads of lightnings are observed by the student. I always thought this was a fake, and that the wind would just blow away the clouds to another place. Boy, was I wrong.

I walked towards the sidewalk when it happened. A single raindrop plopped on my head. I quickly ran towards the academic block and I seriously didn't regret it. I, in my heart, laughed maniacally as I see other students running for their lives to avoid the rain. Upon their arrival, they were already soaked.

I went to class as usual, and was shocked; metaphorically, of course. I sat beside my friend as usual. Though, when he stood back up, his chair was wet. Really wet. He then went on with taking out his laptop, only to realize that it can't open due to the rain just now, making the device jammed. His books were wet as well.

The trip to lunch was definitely challenging. There were a lot of huge puddles that I had to jump over to get to Dewan Makan. After lunch, I hurried towards BAIS, still soaked. I performed my wudhu' and joined the Dhuhr prayer with several other students. While the prayer is performed, lightning struck BAIS, causing a temporary blackout of the whole place. The fans were off, making the students warm and sweaty. I was definitely startled, but didn't react. The blackout lasted longer than I expected. Even after I left, the power still hasn't been restored.

I headed back to the academic block as fast as I can. The classrooms were colder than ever, even after the air conditioners were turned off. The rest of the day didn't have anything interesting.

The event started at 8:30, and sure enough, the members of MTP had a really hard time arranging Foundation 1 students. Even I don't know why. The teachers arrive late, coincidentally at the exact time us students finished arranging.

The first portion of the event started with some minigames, the first one consisting of transferring a kain pelikat from one end to another without separating hands. I participated in this one and managed to tie with the lecturers. The next minigame was interesting. Lecturers had to bring a plastic cup filled with water using a kain pelikat towards an empty bottle without dripping, which then one of the lecturers will pour the water into the bottle and repeat the process in a certain period of time.

The second portion is a prize-giving ceremony for the lecturers, some of them are for "the most handsome","the most cute", and many more. We then had a really delicious lunch that included satay and papadom as the side dish. It was awesome. The rest of the day was normal.

Last year, I was selected as one of the four players representing Malaysia in the World Youth Olympiad (U16) Chess Championship. I was the youngest player in the team. There were 62 other countries participating in the tournament.

Our plane departed from KLIA at 7:20 p.m. The journey to Dubai (our first stop) took about 7 hours. We walked around the Dubai airport while waiting for our connecting flight, which was scheduled to depart in another 6 hours. Our flight to Amsterdam took another 7+ hours.

Upon arriving at the Amsterdam airport, we were greeted by the tournament organizers and then escorted to the bus that was waiting to take us to Eindhoven, which is located about 2 hours away.

We checked in at the Van Der Valk Hotel, the hotel assigned to us by the organizers. A bus would take us from the hotel to the High Tech Campus Eindhoven (the tournament venue) on a daily basis. The journey from the hotel to the campus took about 15 minutes.

The High Tech Campus is known as the smartest square km in Europe. It is an ecosystem of about 300 high tech companies. It was probably semester break at that time because there were not many people on campus. The weather was nice and sunny but at times the wind was a bit chilly.

In between rounds, my mother and I explored the campus on foot. We stumbled across a store selling campus merchandise. I wanted a hoodie as a souvenir. It was 50 euros! My mother was hesitant at first, but I managed to convince her to buy it for me.

The tournament was scheduled for 9 days, but with one free day in between. We decided to utilize the free day to explore the small town of Eindhoven. My father looked up the local bus schedules from the hotel to the town. On our bus ride to town, I saw many beautiful cottage-like houses. One house even had a stable with horses! I also noticed that many locals prefer riding their bikes to get to places. Just like cars, there were designated parking areas for bikes, too. The community also provided bikes for rental at a certain fee.

During our short visit to the town, we managed to drop by the PSV Stadium and several shops. We found a restaurant selling halal kebab and I immediately became hungry. One kebab was not sufficient to satisfy my hunger, so I ordered TWO.

Although I didn't get a chance to fully explore the town of Eindhoven, I do think it is a beautiful place to live in. There is a sense of calmness and serenity. I would definitely want to visit Eindhoven again if given the chance.

At 7:00, we headed to Dewan Makan to eat breakfast. We had macaroni aglio olio (?) and a hot glass of Vico. My stomach wasn't on my side that day, so I had to go take a dump. Luckily, the nearby toilet was clean. Coincidentally, the arranging of students were slightly delayed so I got back on track. The members of MTP had a really hard time arranging Foundation 1 students. From what should have been a trip at 7:30 was delayed till 8:15. Obviously, we were pissed but did not say a thing.

The bus ride was smooth as always, but it was a little noisy, which I didn't mind. A lot of students were playing Mobile Legends together at the back. I just watched one of them play. After 45 minutes, we made it to Bangi. We were greeted by the L1 seniors and got directed to our seats.

The day continued with a speech from Sir Hakimie and then a few performances from everyone before the foods were given. I was 2 minutes late due to playing some games and oh my, the queue is already extremely long. Luckily, one of my friends managed to get into the line earlier than most of the people, so he let me "cut the line" and I was in front of him, just steps away from getting the food. We had nasi hujan panas (colourful rice), chicken with red spicy gravy and some papadom.

There were some other performances before I decided to go to the library to take a break. It was really hot out there. One of my friends followed me and he played some offline Mobile Legends in there. I then decided to walk around the library to see some interesting books. I ended up reading an article about genetics.

I took a picture with my class, and then my friends. We got back to Seremban at 3 p.m.. The rest of the day was not as interesting.

My dad brought us to Sushi King at Aeon Seremban 2 for lunch. I had two bowls of Piri-Piri Chicken Don and my mom ate some Soft Shell Crab Tenpura. We ate our foods like any othe person would do. My mom asked me "Did you get any flowers for me?" when suddenly, one of the waitresses came to our table and gave my mother a rose and a bowl of ice cream. My mom was surprised and speechless. The waitress took a photo of my mom with her flower. As it turned out, Sushi King was giving out flowers and ice cream to all the mothers who ate there on that day.

We then went to Aeon to buy some supplies and then my mom sent me back to asrama. It was a short but meaningful outing.

I played a lot of video games since I was 4. The first game I ever played was Minecraft with my brother and sister. Remembering those days, it just feels so nostalgic now. Till this day, I still play Minecraft. Just, not as often. I now play a lot of Roblox, but we will get there in a while.

I personally had Undertale as my first actual game that I spent time on. I played both Pacifist and Genocide routes, and I did not regret it at all. Understanding the characters motives and personalities haven't been more fun ever since. I also played most of the fangames regarding Undertale, including Dusttrust, and many more.

I play Roblox too! Not the bad games like "survive" games or "escape" games, those are made for kids. I play serious games like really hard and well-made obbies such as "Jukes Towers of Hell", luck-based games such as "Sol's RNG", "Rex:Reincarnated" and many more RNG games. I also play the most grindiest game you can ever think of - Bee Swarm Simulator. This simulator is not like any other. Even if you pay to win (also known as P2W), you cannot progress the game fast enough to surpass beginners. True, you get a small boost, but that is all you will get. Progressing through this simulator is extremly hard. Even I, as a player who has played it for at least a year, only got to mid-late game stages of it. It is extremely grindy.

I play a lot of other games too but if I were to give a story about each of them, it would be extremely long.

A PLACE I WANT TO VISIT: TOKYO, JAPAN

There are many tourist attractions in Tokyo, but I really want to visit these four places: the Sensoji Temple, the Ueno Park, the Shibuya Crossing and Tokyo Disneyland.

1. The Sensoji Temple

Also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple, the Sensoji Temple is the oldest Buddhist temple in Asakusa. It is the most photographed of Tokyo's temples.

If I get the opportunity to visit this historical place, I will probably try the famous rice cake (if it's halal!), visit the seasonal market to buy special souvenirs, and take a picture at the Kaminarimon Gate (the temple's entrance).

2. Ueno Park

Today, Ueno Park is famous for the many museums found on its grounds, especially the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum for Western Art, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and the National Science Museum. It is also home to Ueno Zoo, Japan's first zoological garden.

Ueno Park is also one of Tokyo's most popular and lively cherry blossom spots with more than 1000 cherry trees lining its central pathway. The cherry blossoms are usually in bloom during late March and early April. I want to be part of the hanami party, enjoying the beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom.

3. Shibuya Crossing

Shibuya is one of Tokyo's most colourful and busy shopping districts. Hundreds of visitors come here every day. Shibuya's most prominent landmark is the busy intersection in front of the station's Hachiko Exit. The intersection is heavily decorated by neon advertisements and giant video screens and gets flooded by pedestrians (I would LOVE to be one of those pedestrians!) each time the lights turn green, making it a popular photo spot.

4. Tokyo Disneyland

As a theme park fan, I would definitely want to visit Tokyo Disneyland at least once in my life. This is the first Disney park in Asia (outside of the United States). There are many unique attractions that I would like to visit, among them are Splash Mountain, The Happy Ride with Baymax, Pooh's Hunny Hunt and many more. I read that the Disneyland in Tokyo is the perfect mix of Disney magic and Japanese creativity.

LORD OF THE FLIES

Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding, a British author. The book was written in 1954, and the plot concerns a group of British boys stranded on an uninhabited island and was forced to do anything in order to survive. As there were no adults to supervise them, these boys eventually became evil, brutal and violent.

The story then escalated with two of the boys being killed. At the end of Lord of the Flies, the boys (the savages) set the island on fire to force one of the boys (Ralph, the 'leader') out into the open. One of the younger ones was lost in the raging fire and was presumed to be dead. A passing British Navy ship sees the fire and sends an officer ashore to rescue the boys who were still alive.

This book taught me about human nature and how survival depends on working as a group. It showed me how society evolved and how it breaks down when unusual stresses appear. And when society breaks down, those being bullied must either hide and withdraw to stay safe or fight for their own rights. A leader is an important asset in a group, but it does not necessarily mean that the leader has full power. It really changed my perspective of the world as a whole.

I had mixed feelings after completing the book, perhaps because the storyline was very disturbing due to the violence and savagery. This book reminded of the movie The Hunger Games.

I have always been interested in cars since I was a toddler. My mother once told me I used to spend hours and hours playing with my toy cars. Apparently, I was fascinated watching how the wheels turn when I push the cars forward and backwards. As I grow older, I became curious about how cars work. I was very fortunate to be offered the Introduction to Automotive Engineering course during my PPCS program.

Coincidently, Cornell University offers one of the best Mechanical Engineering programs, making me eager to study there if given the opportunity. Cornell University also has a big and beautiful campus, overlooking the City of Ithaca and Cayuga Lake.

On a more personal level, Cornell University is also my dream university because both my parents are Cornell alumni. My father is a Chemical Engineering graduate (Class of 1996) and my mother is a Computer Science graduate (Class of 1997).

In Syaa Allah I will study hard and obtain exceptional results in my HSD exams and hopefully be offered scholarship to attend Cornell University for undergraduate studies. It will be a dream come true for me.