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!