Vandalism

Few months ago, when i took a bus and went down to KL, i saw this picture in front of my seat. I shall not disclose the bus company's name, but i deeply hope that the company will fix this problem as soon as possible.

Hisap apa?

I wonder who is the desperate person, who left the contact number to the public so as to satisfy his/her lusty desire. I believe there are some other better way, like internet social network, dating service and etc. Why must they involve vandalism?

It's such an uncivilized behavior to vandalize the public property for whatever means. To get attention? Or just for pleasure? Those people are just inconsiderate.

But have you heard this saying: "In our eastern society, you draw something on the street, people will sue you; but in western countries, people will think it's art"

No matter what, i am confident to say the picture that i put above definitely not a piece of art.

Fuel

The price of petrol in our country has been fluctuating since the middle of this year. I still remember vividly the time when the government suddenly increased the price to RM2.7 per litre. It's insane and unbelievable! I remembered it was a Tuesday, because that day me, james and swarna were having dinner at sri petalling. When we met the traffic jam, we thought it was due to pasar malam. But apparently not. People on that night were pretty reckless and seemed rushing to somewhere. Believe me, i was quite scared at the moment, it looked like armageddon was approaching. And the worst part was, i had no clue of what's happening.

So when i reached back at my house, i quickly went online and checked out what's messing up the society. Well, after seeing the news highlight, everything seemed so clear to me. Then i received call from my mum, and she said the lines at petrol kiosk were so long till she rather stayed at home.

Nobody would be happy after the news was out, i assumed. Even i was pretty furious at the government that time. Why must they do this? Shouldn't government take good care of the citizens? .... Well, there must be some reasons behind it that forced the government to do so. After reading their explanation, it sounded perfectly reasonable. The international price for petrol had increased tremendously, so our government couldn't cover the subsidy so much. The most they could gave was 30 cents per litre. Furthermore, they carried out another plan for compensation, whch was road tax rebate.

At last, the raging fire of citizens had cooled off momentarily...

Then the world economy was getting unstable, after the Reymann Brothers declared bankruptcy in september. So as the international price of petrol, it dropped drastically till it reached around USD90+ per bucket. Since the price had dropped, our government also reduced the price bit by bit according to the international standard, till now.

My concern is, when the government announced to increase the fuel price, people were so angry and mad with the government. But when the government reduced the price, nobody expressed their gratitude to the government and just assumed the government was doing what they should be doing.

According to some politic critics, they said the government shouldn't even give any subsidy at the first place. Because of this act, citizens totally rely on this privilege and will regard the subsidy as something they deserve. At the same time, the government shouldn't control and standardize the price of petrol in the whole nation. Instead, they should set a ceiling price and let all the petroleum companies to compete with each another. To further elaborate this point, the critic said most of the foreign countries had stopped controlling the fuel's price, and it's the petrol companies' decision to determine the price. And this will ultimately benefit the consumers.

In my opinion, if the government considers the critic's proposal, it would be a better way in adjusting the price of petrol. By doing so, the citizen wouldn't be blaming the government if the international price reaches sky high. At the same time, it could de-cultivate the reliance of subsidy among the people.

冬至快乐

为了应节， 妈昨晚买三团糯米团回来，来搓汤圆。都想不起最后一次搓汤圆是哪一年了，这次重温搓汤圆的滋味，感觉还不错！

冬至的源由，我其实也不是很清楚，只知道要吃汤圆。（唉。。。现代的华人只会因食物而想起节日，其真正的故事与意义则一闻不问） 惭愧得来，我在写这一篇文章之前，上网查询与了解一点有关冬至的故事，嘻嘻！到了21岁才明白冬至的意义，希望还不迟。

搓汤圆其实是一家人共同做的事，但昨晚只有我和妈担当此任务。不过我也很享受搓汤圆的过程。搓啊搓，汤圆圆又圆！忽然间想起昌元以前的花名是汤圆，真好笑！以前当我们还很无知时，喜欢给朋友乱取花名。我都有很多花名啊， 好像：美美，妹妹，mui姐等等。 小时候，我很讨厌这些花名，感觉好像在挑战着我的男子气概似，有时还会因此而生朋友的气。现在想起来，我只能傻笑当年的我幼稚又无知。如今大学里的好朋友都叫我mui mui, 不但没生气，反而还感觉有几分亲切感呢！

是时候吃汤圆了， 祝大家冬至快乐！

三大团的糯米团，才RM3, 还有三种颜色任君选择

我家的搓汤圆大师，妈妈也

大功告成，汤圆庆冬至

One month

Exactly one month later, i will be starting a new chapter of my life. A chapter which i'm still oblivious with; a chapter which i anticipate in agony; a chapter which snatch me away from home...

Yes, exactly one month later, i will be boarding an airplane, which going to bring me to a foreign land. The foreign land, New Zealand, is where i will be for the next 3 years, or perhaps more. People say it's a place with vast green field and filled with serenity, is it true?

Am i ready to embark this new journey? Visa done, flight ticket done, accommodation done, clothes done...basically all the physical thingy are done.

Mentally, not really.

Heaven

It's raining season. Yesterday night, water dropping on my windowpane sounded like a lullaby, tugged me into a deep sleep where sweet dreams and fantasy came to reality. Of course, the night wouldn't complete without cold breeze and cozy blanket, perfect companion of a night.

I lingered on my dreamland, without realizing time actually still tick-tacking...

"It' s time to wake up, my dear", awaken by mum's tender voice and touch in the morning. What a lovely way to start a brand new day! The puffiness of my eyes tried to resist me from getting out of bed, but it never won when mum tempted me with breakfast in the town. Gluttony, my biggest sin of all....

A simple breakfast in a Chinese coffee shop, just noodles and milo. Only me, eating with both of my parents, so harmonious! Needn't to fight for attention with siblings, i had it all! I bet my dear siblings must be really envious about me.

Back to a comfortable place where i call home after my hunger was fed. Wandering around and tried to look for things to do, none! Oh, there were a few new reference books that i bought recently, should i flip it? Nay, i'm too lazy to do so, must be the bad bad parasympathetic system that made me behaved so.

In the end, i sat in front of the piano and played Richard Clayderman's famous sheets....

While music filling up the time, mum's calling for lunch. Oops, time really flies! Mum prepared a small pot of sour pork leg soup, yummy yummy! No matter how strong my will is, it never anchors well when food's temptation comes. Gluttony, gluttony, gluttony.

Do you know where is the heaven on earth? Well, I just been there.

Goodbye India

Now sitting on the land of Malaysia, thinking back my life for the past one month, it was so memorable and fulfilling. The experience is so precious that I am sure I won’t gain it from anywhere else in the whole wide world. There are so many things I can complain about india, but now that I had been through it, and I survived it, there is no point for me to babble it anymore. Good or bad, it depends on individual’s perception. I quote, “A rich man is happy not because he owns more, it’s just he demands less”

One thing I must be glad that the terrorist attack didn’t happened in Bangalore. Sorry for the people in Mumbai, I did mourn for the tragedy. When we left Bangalore Airport, the security was very tight, they searched all the hand carry thoroughly, just hope that the tragedy won’t happen again.

Well, I should stop boasting about my wonderful experience in India. Just pay a visit whenever you can, I’m sure it will be an eye-opener for you all.

Last day of our attachment, posing outside of the medical college (the tree branches really kacao, can't pose exactly at the centre, ish.....)

This is the main building of our attached college, MS Ramaiah Medical College (it is undergoing a major reconstruction, you won't be seeing the same pictures 5 years later)

Oh, this is the infamous IMS, run by MARA and attached to MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital (there are so many things we can bi*ch about, especially their students)

Posing outside the on-call room during our A&E posting at the memorial hospital ( i don't really understand why everyone in A&E need to wear scrubs, it's not OT anyway)

We took a picture with Dr. Abishek, the intern in A&E (he is very nice and friendly, ask swarna about it, muahahaha....)

A picture with Dr. Sudhi, a very nice and knowledgeable post-graduate in Pathology Lab ( at the beginning, we had bad impression on him, but after being his mentees for one week, i wish all my lecturers would be like him)

At the Paratha Fast Food Shop (forgot its name, but they also serve Smileys which james and swarna were craving for since childhood)

The worst drink i tasted in India, Masala Soft Drink ( dear indian chefs, can't you all leave masala alone?)

Can you see the cow strolling slowly at the middle of the road? Animal and human actually can live harmoniously in this universe.

On a rocky hill, very magnificent!

At Wonder La, the biggest theme park in India ( La la la, sounds so malaysians! It has a lot of nice water slides, more thrilling than sunway lagoon's. And all its dry rides are all about spinning and turning, only indians can take it well )

Swarna trying to pose at Orange Cafe ( that's the place we found out that we are not allowed to play cards, so embarrassing!)

At Bangalore's Botanical Garden

At the hall of the botanical garden

That's the end of Bangalore. On the last week, we took a day trip to Mysore, around 1 hour plus away from bangalore city.

The place where Tippu Sultan's body was found (why the people like to kacao the sultan's tomb? he needs to rest in peace)

3 significant attractions in Mysore aka Garden City aka Silk City aka Palace City:

1) Great temple

2) Great Church

3) Great Palace

The garden is just so-so, but it provides free musical fountain (oops, it's not free, foreigners need to pay 10 rupees to enter the park)

Oh ya, Mysore government really sayang all the Indians. All the entrance fee that we are paying is almost 10 times more than the indians, so unfair!

Before we left Bangalore, we played Cho-Dai-Di at the balcony, enjoying our last moment in Palm Meadows, the coziest place in bangalore ( and we always miss a kaki to play bridge, ish...)

Me and swarna are showing off our new shoes at Bangalore Airport (the airport is so nice till you won't believe that you are actually in a third world country)

That's the end of India trip, but our journey is not over yet. We took Tiger Airways so we landed in Singapore first before we head back to our homeland.

Grab a proper chinese meal in Cineleisure at Orchard Road (craving for it desperately..)

On the sky ride at Sentosa Island ( the luge ride is very fun, sadly my inertia is big enough to win the race, hehe!)

We also got the tickets to watch Song of the Sea, but before the show finished, the rain poured heavily on us, and the funny thing was, we insisted on staying. So in the end, we got our whole body wet. Then i don't know how james and swarna suddenly got the hype and wanna do a speedy and budget shopping at Vivo City. Feel like doing a reality show, haha!



Since everyone already dressed properly, and the night was still young, don't call it a day so soon, let's go to Clarke Quay!

At Clinic, a very special theme bar suitable for medical students like us (we sat on the wheelchairs the whole night, surprisingly quite comfortable. They serve some special drinks, like rum in IV drips and syringes, but sadly we can't afford it)

Can't believe that all of these had over in just a glimpse of eye. Thanks to James and Swarna, who made this trip so perfect and enjoyable. Hopefully we will have another trip like this again. All the best in your future!

Still in India

This week in my last week in India, i have mixed feeling about it. I'm happy that soon i will be back in my hometown, with my comfortable home and not-so-polluted environment. But at the same time, i know that i will not be coming back to india anymore ( in the near future), i won't be seeing all the nice people that i met here, maybe forever....

Basically all the malaysian people that we met here are pretty friendly, except those who studied in the new hospital, they are so cocky and arrogant (mostly 'wonton'). Never mind, i am so indifferent to them.

I don't dare to put up any pictures because..... i gained weight. Funny, isn't it? Of all the places in the world, i actually gain weight in this very country, where poverty and famine is the one of the government's biggest problem. Sigh..... To be frank, the food here is not bad. Because most of the people here are vegetarian, we seldom eat meat. Thus in compensation, we ate a lot of flour (which is quite fattening as well). Sigh....don't care lah, just go on diet when i go back to malaysia. So people, you know what shouldn't be said when you meet me next month!

Days of leaving India: 9

Bangalore, India

It’s been 2 weeks I reached Bangalore, and I’m sure you are very curious of what’s happening here, haha! What I have been doing here basically are attending hospital attachment, makan, loitering around (including shopping, muahahaha), makan again, sleep….quite boring huh? But this routine only applicable in the weekdays, when it comes to weekend, we will be going to James’s godmother’s house. Speaking of her house, it’s like paradise in the middle of india. Clean, peaceful, luxurious, calm, no electricity cut, cozy….. I almost can’t believe I was in india when I passed the guard house. At the same time, she would bring us to some places and nice restaurants. In conclusion, weekend is all about enjoying, haha!

I better stop mentioning about enjoyment, my parents will immediately summon me back to Malaysia if they know this, hehe! Yah, Hospital Attachment, my main purpose of coming to india. We are attached to MS Ramaiah Medical College, which has their on teaching hospital within the campus. They have very good curriculum and systems, unlike you-know-where….aih, should stop comparing, no point sighing. Anyway, our 1 month attachment is divided into 3 parts, namely pathology, anatomy and physiology, which take approximately 10 days each. We just finished the first part, which is pathology. In pathology, we need to be in the teaching hospital’s diagnostic lab in the morning. After lunch, we have to study in the pathology museum. So far, we like the pathology attachment. We did learnt several procedures and understand its theories in details. Thanks to our teachers, a post graduate student and the chief of lab. Feeling so dumb in front of them….

Will tell you more about india in the next post, very lazy to type now, hehe! Check out the pictures below then.

First morning in India, woke up in Uncle Bala (Swarna's uncle) 's room

Dinner with Mamak (James's godmother) at Hard Rock Cafe

Went to a morning market

Picture i took when i was all alone inside a car which parked in the middle of market and everyone was looking at me, scary scary

In front of the Bangalore Parliament House

In the Pathology Muzeum (quite creepy...)

Inside an auto/tut tut, going for a shopping spree

Studying in my room (pretending lah)

Inside the cytology room

Authentic indian food, muahahaha

Dinner at the Woody's (before we finished, there was electricity cut, as usual....)

Dinner with mamak at Palm Meadow Club House

Playing Monopoly (new version with credit card) in mamak's house

At Nandi Hill, very nice place

To be continue...

Greeting from Bangalore

Hey everyone, it's been 2 days i have reached bangalore. I'm fine here, don't worry. Tomorrow i will begin my hospital attachment, really anticipating it.

Though it is an IT hub, i can't even get internet access easily here. So i better take this opportunity to update my blog while checking my email now. There are so many things i want to tell you all about bangalore, but the stupid keyboard that i'm currently typing is so cacat, feel like smashing it.... Anyway, will update whenever i can.

Weather is fine, but the air pollution is horrible.
Food is fine, but drinking water has to be extremely careful.
Scenery is fine, but the poverty is bad bad bad...

Wish i could survive this month.

Next station.....Station berikutnya....

Singapore, interchange to Bangalore....Singapura, pertukaran ke Bangalore

*ding dong ding dong*

Yes, that's my next stations in few days later. Everything is almost prepared, i hope. I will be dropping by at singapore for less than 12 hours, then will off to india via Tiger Airway. The purpose of my visit to india is hospital attachment. Together with james and swarna, we will be staying there for almost 1 month. Can't imagine how am i going to survive the next whole november in india! I have been hearing so much about india (mostly negative one) since i decided to go there, just pray that all of these remain as rumors, haha!

Maybe i have been staying at home for a long time, though anticipate the trip, waving goodbye to my mum yesterday before i left the house still dissipated a tinge of sourness in my heart. It's just one month, why am i so emo? Now i just don't dare to think of the moment when my family sending me off to new zealand next year, i will definitely embarrass myself in the airport.

That's not the end of my emotional challenge of the day. Several hours later, i had to say goodbye to 2 close friends of mine that have been playing significant role in my life. When will we see each other again? We really have no clue at all, just hope that this was not the last farewell. Seeing tears rolling down from their very eyes just not the kind of thing that i can bear with, other than hugs, i don't know what's the best way to tell them how much i appreciate this relationships.

We have taken up different paths, that will be leading to different ways. I can't see the other end of my path, but i do pray that my path will criss-crossing yours somewhere, somehow.

Bye bye fungus

Few weeks ago i went to consult a dermatologist in PJ for my patches of hypopigmentation at my back as well as my excessive keratin problem that had been troubling me for approximately 2 years.

The dermatologist was an old bloke and had a small laboratory next to his desk. He didn't ask a lot of questions. After the general examination, he used a cellophane tape and tapped at my back, proceeded with staining and microscoping the specimen that he got on the tape. He asked me to look at it too. I saw several purple circles in clumps surrounded by some cells. The dermatologist described it as grape-shaped (never heard of it before...and he didn't say its scientific name) . He diagnosed it as fungal infection. Later he explained the medicine and cream that he was prescribing to me before i headed out of the room.

Just when i was about to touch the door knob, this dermatologist suddenly asked me lots and lots of personal questions, so i thought he wanted to build last minute rapport and answered him. Mana tau he started giving lecture to me, said what's the most important thing for a medical student lah, don't forget our parents lah, must specialize in the future lah....blah blah blah! Apparently he was an UM's lecturer, no wonder he just couldn't stop all these lecturing. I rather wish he didn't even bother to build rapport with me. Waste my time and my friends' who were waiting outside. We actually wanted to watch a movie after that, but finally had to cancel it because of the 'good advice'. (sorry ah, kajen!)

Now my skin has stopped peeling, and the rashes and hypopigmentation at my body are fading away. I guess the medicine really works. But at the same time, i was forced by james and my mother to eat tomatoes. Why tomatoes? Of all the food in the world, why tomatoes are good for skin? Sigh...for the sake of my smooth, non-peeling skin, even yuckier thing i also need to force it down my throat.

I wonder whether tomatoes or the ketoconazole did the trick. Medicine vs Placebo?

My reward of eating yucky food: Steamy mushroom soup with raisin bun, yummy!

Watch Mamma Mia with my Mama

The first time i watched Mamma Mia was in Hong Kong, the movie was very nice and i was thinking my mum might love it too because she used to be an ABBA fan. Thus after i come back, i asked my whole family to watch it in cinema. It is a very good movie so i thought we should support it and don't get the pirated copy. Unfortunately my parents were kinda busy so the family movie plan had to call off. So i have no choice but to download from the net (good quality though...hehe)

The movie is about a young girl getting married and looking for father. Same thing happen in my family except the father-searching part. Yeah, my sister is getting married. But the sad thing is i can't attend her wedding because i will in New Zealand that time, sob sob.... Anyway, me and my mother have been discussing her party recently. There is one scene in Mamma Mia (Slipping Through My Fingers) shows the mother feeling nostalgic when she was dressing her daughter that will be marrying and leaving her soon. So touching.... (i wonder if my mum has that feeling when my sis marries, hehe!)

Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that Im losing her forever
And without really entering her world
Im glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see whats in her mind
Each time I think Im close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sleep in our eyes, her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake, I let precious time go by
Then when shes gone theres that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt I cant deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
(slipping through my fingers all the time)
Well, some of that we did but most we didnt
And why I just dont know

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see whats in her mind
Each time I think Im close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers...

Slipping through my fingers all the time

Wake up early

I have been waking up late in the morning since my holidays start, as usual, i plan to sleep till around 9am today, but a noise coming from the hall near my house woke me up before that time. Kacao betul....

With my semi-conscious mind i try to figure out what noise is that. It's not a fighting noise(like my previous post), nor the aunties' high pitch chit-chatting voice that passing by in front of my house, it's a SONG! Sang by a group of children. Then i listen carefully, it sounds so familiar. Oh, i remember, it's Children's Day song that i used to sing when i was in primary school.

Children's Day was the most memorable event in my younger days. That day, all classes were canceled and the best part was, we didn't have to wear uniform that day (but now i miss wearing it). Annual singing competition was held on that day as well, i joined it every year, but only won a few times. In conclusion, good old days.....

I tried to find the song's lyric on the internet, but can't find the one i used to sing. I rewrite the lyric below using my memory, correct me if i make any mistake:

今天是儿童节
兄弟姐妹来庆祝
世界为我儿童有
太阳为我儿童出
啦啦啦
无拘束
有情享乐就满足
歌舞表演觅欢娱
(cannot remember the rest)

Peace

Yesterday after I finished the famous TVB series ‘Mooncake Resonance’, I felt like I just finished a roller coaster ride. It was very thrilling throughout the whole show, lots of dramatic scenes that only make me feel like scratching the screen. Anyway, there is good ending and my mind finally got back its peacefulness.

However, several hours later when my brain’s alpha wave was tugging me to sleep, a loud scream woke me up. The noise was coming from outside, so I quickly wore my spec and looked out the window. I saw there were 2 indian men, one middle aged and another one in his 20s, quarrelling by the road. I don’t understand what they were talking about as they spoke tamil, the only word that I could hear was ‘Nadi…Nadi..’. Thus in order to enjoy this real drama that was happening in front of my eye (so bad…), I make up a story for them in my mind, I assumed the young guy was trying to go after the middle aged man’s daughter, but the father didn’t allow, so the argument arose. (though it’s just a speculation, this story line seemed fitting the whole scene very well…)

Speaking of screaming, the middle aged man was much louder than the young man. Then this aggressive megaphone started pushing the young man (kinda predicted, so typical right?). At the same time, he also pushed away the young man’s motorcycle a few steps away as to signal the young man to go away. The motorcycle fell on the ground, I heard some glass thingy broke. The middle aged man turned away and walked back, the young man chased after him. And now, the climax began….

Because the middle aged man didn’t want the young man to follow him, he pushed the young man to the ground and start wrestling. Seriously they were wrestling, the middle aged man used both of his leg curling the young man’s legs, while his hands locking the young man’s hands. The young one was obviously being dominated but he never showed any sign of surrendering. He kept on shouting ‘Nadi…Nadi…’ (I wonder if it’s the girl’s name…). Then the middle aged man lifted him up a bit and pushed him down for a few times till the young man stopped shouting. A few of their friends came and tried to pull them apart. Everything seemed resolved….for at least few minutes, they started quarrelling again.

This time, thing became worse. 1 police came by motorcycle and 1 police car followed behind it. Nobody dared to fight or shout anymore, instead they had to explain everything to the police officers. In the end, no one got arrested and live happily ever after????

Hope they won’t fight again in the future.

When we were still young and innocent....

That day i received a forwarded email, which really reminded me how fast the time had passed through my life. Now that i am old and useless.... Haha! I simplified the content of the mail, just scroll down and look at the pictures, i'm sure you still remember those things.

What we used to watch.....


What we used to have...



What we used to eat...


Woo, Zhao Wei, yummy yummy.... wish i have tasted her, muahaha.... Anyway, do you still remember the White Rabbit? I even remember that the paper that wrap this candy is edible. But now, this candy has to be withdrawn because it was tested to have excessive melamine that will lead to kidney stone among the children. Really glad that it never happen when we were young.

Money-minded business man vs Poor quality control of the governments, which side shall we blame on?