And so this is Christmas?

It's 24th December. What on earth am I still doing here in KT? No Christmas trees, no presents, no fancy shopping malls with artificial snow falling, no.. ok, better stop; its getting sad. And my housemate has to ask me the million dollar question: "Do you feel lonely?". Sweat.

Anyway, come to think about it, it's a good thing to strip down the commercialized version of Christmas and be able to focus on our Savior's birth. It's definitely a new experience for me, taking a break from the annual busyness of the Christmas season to just quieten down and look upon the real reason for the season. Blessed Christmas!

Paeds!

Sorry sidetracked a bit. Continuing on my series of adventures in KT, today marks the end of Paediatrics! The hospital really can be quite a depressing place, with sad and ill faces everywhere; but all of these changes the moment you step into the kids ward...

Such a big difference it makes with its bright and cheerful surroundings, with a huge Doraemon and some cartoon cat painted on the wall greeting you everyday. The sight of the infants & toddlers smiling back at you just makes your tiring day more bearable. Well, not everything is rosy and sweet though, especially when you hear the kids screaming at the sight of having needles being poked into them, and oh yeah, fancy having this guy as your lecturer?

We have a lecturer that, by the way he sarcastically responds and sometimes scolds; makes you shudder, laugh and marvel at his intelligence at the same time; much like our friend from the idiot box. So cool!

Picnics & Monsoon

It's been a while! Just finished another posting = Community Medicine. And I thought that medicine is only confined to hospitals until this posting enlightened me. True to its reputation, it was quite a picnic-ky & fun posting indeed, with many visits to healthcare-related activities around Terengganu. Will be missing this posting for sure.

Visiting a mother's home post delivery

Checking for 'kutu' in Kindergarten kids

Visiting the port in Kemaman and rewarded with mouth-watering famous Kemaman 'stuffed crab' courtesy of our lecturer! Must try!

Oh, and not forgetting the once-in-a-lifetime experience of coolness

Visited school canteens too for food inspection. Amused by the fact that there are separate corners for males and females to buy food

On another note, monsoon had officially began! It's a very REAL thing indeed. Not just limited to the Geography knowledge of 'Angin Monsun Timur Laut' from Nov to Mar that we studied in forms 1 & 2. Raining everyday, scary howling winds, mould starting to grow everywhere... Too much to digest at once! And when it rains, the whole of KT is transformed into a major snoozefest. It's just so nice to tuck in and do what everybody does best.

Never have I seen such strong waves before. It began quite a distance away from the shore. The picture really doesn't do it justice. Come and see for yourself!

Curfews & Escapades

*The streets are deserted. There's sound of cannons blasting in the air and a layer of smoke is seen in the sky.*

If you're not a local here you'd have thought that the Japanese are back and that curfew had started. But have no fear, buka puasa time is here.

One thing that shouldn't be missed in KT during ramadhan is their ramadhan bazaar, which is comparable to the Connaught pasar malam. Throngs of ppl wading through the crowd to get their meals. Huge varieties of food to release the glutton in you. *Drools*

Finished my first posting in Internal Medicine last week. The lecturers are great, really learnt a lot despite the busyness of the schedule. Glad that I was able to learn how to do case write-ups, clerking real patients and examine them, the skills of taking blood, etc.

The hospital that we're posted to


Dr. James, a very knowledgable & dedicated lecturer

Headed to Pulau Kapas last weekend to destress. It's just a 10 minutes boat ride away from Marang, around 15 minutes drive from KT. The white sandy beach & crystal clear waters here are comparable to Redang, it has less people & only a few resorts so we felt like the whole island was ours. However, the snorkeling trip left much to be desired, as most of the time we were looking out for and avoiding jellyfish (perhaps its the season now). All in all, it is a reasonably priced, easily accessible and ideal island for a quick & quiet getaway from the hectic lifestyle we all live in.

Not downhill yet!

I was preparing to cry under the stairs this year, but apparently it's not all the way downhill after your 21st birthday! Maybe being far away from home helps.

Thanks to all the people who've remembered and for all the kind thoughts, SMSes, Facebook messages, calls etc. You've made my day.

Bad Rock

Got my internet connection at home after a month of hermitting myself in this land of 'Far Far Away'. (Seriously serious, they also have a Hollywood-ish sign here - Terengganu style. Check it out here)

So, it's been 5 weeks and 1 day since I left KL. The missing KL syndrome that was so rampant during the first 2 weeks had pretty much subsided, partly because of the heavy load of studies & also due to the nice people here who've helped me to adapt.

I'm staying in a place called Batu Burok, which is not that buruk after all considering that the white sandy beach (much nicer than PD) is just a few steps away from my house (pic).

If there's anything that I like about KT, it's the fact that I can come home after a looonnngg day of being in classes & hospital, say "Let's go to the beach!"; and my housemates & I will be there in a minute. Haha... Am I living in some of your dream homes?

The beach with Pulau Kapas in the background

Hermit crabs everywhere!

Well, I'll still miss KL very much for it's convenience in getting food (There's mostly Malay food here and Chinatown is 10 minutes away by car), I'll miss the traffic jams everytime I turn on the radio & hear traffic reports, I'll miss the major shopping malls with cinemas etc. (You see, there's not much of entertainment here so one weekend I went to the newest tourist attraction here and took photos:)

Who says you need cinemas when such dramatic events happen in real life?

From Kuala to Kuala

Greetings from Turtle-land!

Been here since Wednesday settling down, buying furnitures, trying to adjust myself to the new surroundings (with the weekends on Friday & Saturday, going to mosque church on Friday, most of the shops close at 6pm, no public transport except taxi, no cinema, Mydin being the biggest shopping centre, Malay food everywhere, etc) Phew, a lot of things to get used to.

On the studying part, just started my classes today (Sunday!) and from the looks of it, it's gonna get really exciting and interesting with my first posting being Internal Medicine, with case write-ups and all.

To all those ppl at home, take care and God bless. If you see my parents, drop by and say hi to them, reassure them that I'm fine here, still a Christian and no Malay girlfriend yet. Thanks!

Public Health Campaign

We interrupt this blogcast to bring you a message:

Must advertise this because planning for it had already taken so much of my precious holiday time. Yup, I'll be involved in the free marketing for UCSI health campaign for the public to raise awareness of diabetes and its effects to mankind. There'll be free health screening for blood pressure, body fat, blood glucose & cholesterol*; health education exhibitions on diabetes; and demonstrations of first-aid & breast self-examination. If you think your internal engines need to be checked, please join me in Sunway Pyramid this weekend! (Did I say please? Yeah, please!)


*Blood glucose & cholesterol tests for 45 years old and above only (As usual, the disclaimers are written in the smallest font possible)

Back to stone age

Terminated my streamyx account today. One of the final things to do before moving over to KT because both my parents don't use the internet. Well, also partly due to my cheapo-ism of not wanting to pay another month of fees since their billing date is on the 28th of every month.

Posting this using dial-up connection @ 41.2kbps. It took around 5 minutes to load this page. Haha... and we think that streamyx is slow. It's been soooo long since I've used dial-up that I was surprised to hear the music accompaniment when we first dial up to connect to the internet. And not to forget every minute connected costs 4cents. Which reminds me, I'd better stop here till I can find somewhere with free wireless connection.

Tick Tock

I've always thought that it's gonna be a looong way more. It has always been "I'll have to wait until I pass the Yr2 examinations then only think about it" or "It's all the way in July lah".

It was not until the question of "When are you leaving?" became more frequent (it's like everybody's favourite question now, perhaps something to break the ice when people start a conversation), and the fact that I've bought the plane ticket last Fri that it dawned upon me, it's gonna be real soon! And this time hopefully it's not the embarassing "I'm going off tomorrow!" but yet you still see me in KL the next week kind of leaving.

I know there must be a reason why I was allowed to stay in KL for an extra 2 years, and hopefully I've achieve it. As the day looms nearer, the question that lingers in my mind now is, "What would you do if you only had one more month to be in KL?" Perhaps, watching all the movies I can before venturing into no-cinema land? Hmm... sounds shallow. Any contributions are welcomed.

Fear Factor

Had a taste of the crispy, crunchy, finger lickin' good fried...

crickets at the Cambodian workshop in PITH! Couldn't bear the thought of putting it in my mouth at first when I saw a whole swarm of them in the container (just like a lot of others who were at the workshop, with many showing disgusted faces), but managed to gather just enough guts to do so, especially after the Cambodian brother told us that it is expensive & that he had to risk the customs check to bring them to us.

So I took one small little creature, looked at it, made sure that it was dead, put it in my mouth, *crunch* *crunch*... it didn't taste so bad after all! It's all in the mind apparently.

Of course, the highlight of the youth challenge shouldn't be the crickets, but the message which came strongly: "Don't waste your life!". One of the major things that hinders our mission of telling others the good news is when we make our lives all about ourselves, chasing the 'Chinese dream' of getting as much material posessions as we can; instead of hearing & following what God calls us to do. He reminded us about the parable of the rich fool, who stored up so much wealth for himself but was not rich in God's eyes , and when his life is demanded of him, who will be receiving what he has stored up for himself? May we never end up that way.

Scissorhands wannabe

Witnessed the first surgery in my life today... really exciting stuff. It was an orchidectomy (not cutting orchids, but one of the more intimate parts of the male body)

Many questions regarding surgery that I had all these while were answered within the 3 to 4 hours of standing there and watching Dr. Wong (of Pudu Specialist Center, where I was attached to) performing it... questions like 'When you cut someone open, won't they just continue to bleed?', 'How does suturing really work?' etc.

Also went on ward rounds with him, mostly seeing him do dressing on diabetic foot ulcers. Wouldn't want to post the pictures here or else your most recent meal might just rush out of your throat (If you're curious, just google 'diabetic foot ulcers' and you'll see them). As scary as it is, it is already a very common and real disease: one contributing factor being the high consumption of sugar in our diet (yes, I'm guilty of this too). Perhaps the govt should think of pasting pictures of the ulcers in sugar packets, soft drinks, chocolates (err... ok, maybe not the irresistable chocolates) & sweet packets too just like they had done for cigarettes.

The elusive letter

Since young we've been ingrained with a mission to chase after a letter of the alphabet.
Our parents tell us to study hard, send us to tuition etc. so that we'll get strings of it in our results slip.
The media highlights some people who'd take so many subjects just to get more of it.
The people around us gleam with more delight when they hear that we've achieved it instead of the 2nd letter of the alphabet (some might even ask "What happened?" if we don't achieve it).
Sometimes I can't help but wonder, "Is it really that important?".

Oh well, I guess we can't run away from the fact that it is the sole marker of our academic performance, and getting it shows how responsible we are in our studies.

In my quest to obtain the elusive letter in the recent exam, I got a taste of what Hollywood might have been in American Idol, haha. (Look at my previous post - You've gotta be careful what you wished for). Here's the story, besides the normal exam that everyone has to go through, there is an additional exam called VIVA (pronounced 'wai-wa'), which is an oral examination set up by the lecturers for students who almost passed or almost got a distinction to see whether we deserved to be elevated to a better grade.

So there I was, sitting in front of 4 of my lecturers and an external examiner where (instead of singing,) I was being grilled & bombarded with questions for about 30 to 45 minutes. Alas, not every story has a happy ending. I still didn't manage to grab hold of that elusive letter but I'm thankful for the opportunity to taste what VIVA is like, and the fact that God had guided me through the 5 weeks of preparation and throughout the entire exam.

Ps. If you're still wondering what letter of the alphabet it is, it's an A

Deafening silence

You won't know how to appreciate something until it's being taken away. How true.

Experienced what it's like to be partially deaf for 1 whole week when my right ear was stuck. It all came about due to an overzealous attempt to clean the ear which resulted in the cerumen being pushed further in towards my ear drum instead of being removed.
Lesson learnt: DON'T dig your ears. It is there for a purpose, which is to trap dust, particles and microorganisms & prevent them from colonizing our external ear.

So, I was partially deaf. It is quite frustrating when I can't hear clearly what people are saying (like an old uncle), having to turn to the other functioning ear all the time, having a feeling of it being stuck & constantly trying to remove it, and having to listen to my own voice (not that i hate my voice). The good thing about the entire ordeal is that I'm amazed again at this beautiful instrument that God created. Imagine a world without ears: Think no iPods, radio, mobile phones, movies without sound effects, no nagging from parents (wait, the last one shouldn't be in the list)... but you get the idea, it would be a less musical world! And the way that it conducts sound to the inner ear and changes it to nerve signals so that we can interpret the diversity of different sounds is just so harmonious. Thank God for our ears.

On another note, I'm going to Hollywood!

A few firsts

1st time getting a passport - procrastinated for quite some time before making it, but the look of jubilance from our friend after getting hold of that sacred little stamp book says it all... glad to have finally made it. One of the milestones in life achieved!

1st time getting out of the Boleh-land (1.20am 7 Feb 09) I know it seems weird to record the date and time and all, perhaps this is an example of how sentimental I can get. Haha!

Kevin & Fannie's wedding was beautiful to say the least, the service and the dinner, especially liked the part where they recited their vows to each other without anyone quoting it to them (as we normally see in JIC), seemed more natural that way. And the groom serenading..

Besides that, since there weren't much places to visit apart from Singapore's versions of KLCCs and Pavilions (Oh, there was the Zoo, which was beautifully landscaped and well planned), the other highlight would be experiencing the life of a Singaporean for a few days. Had a culture shock during the process, here's why:

1) Got to experience for myself the much talked about efficient public transport system, and hats off to them, it's really real! The buses to the MRTs, with the time of arrival exact to the dot in most occasions.

2) Almost litter free streets. It's not until I came back that I realized that I've been walking on streets with rubbish strewn everywhere all these while!

3) Extremely law-abiding people. Waiting for the traffic lights to turn green before crossing the roads etc. I didn't dare to even jaywalk due to the fear of being given the "You... criminal!" look.

4) Mostly Chinese everywhere. Our friend hypothesized that people of other races are hidden somewhere in the slums/behind the construction sites of Sg, and imagining that he heard their voices calling for rescue.

I can't help but wonder though, because from our point of view we may see them as very cultured and civilised people, but then again, we may not know what's deep within their hearts... a desire to be set free from the clutches of civilisation, releasing the monster in them that is contained all these years, something that will make them realise what they've been missing all these while, something Sg-ans would not like you to know...

Nah, maybe not... they're too civilised for that.

The Guardian

Since everybody's blog is in a festive mood, I might as well join the pack and talk about CNY. This year I've been entrusted with the one-in-a-million opportunity to be the jaga of the Lee Mansion in Pandan Perdana while they are back in their hometown.

Initially I thought it'll be cool and there's nothing to be afraid of (I'm man enough to take care of a house rite?) until my mom started talking about it to my uncles and aunties during a "pai nin" session. Things got worse when my aunty started to add in some juicy stories about the many burglaries and robberies that were happening around KL. As if she was a CNN newscaster, she went on and on telling one story after another: "Neh... just the other day mah, one of the houses in front, the man got robbed off his Rolex watch and a few thousand ringgit" "This house also, burglars came in through the roof and ransacked the rooms, they left a parang on the bed some more." (She is just a typical aunty who seemed to have a postgraduate in robbery/burglary/theft stories. I liked her though, she always made CNY more interesting, but this time, the stories lingered in my mind as I was home alone in the Lee mansion on the third day - Had Tim/Kah with me the first 2 days)

It also doesn't help to have such nice friends like these (I understand your concern though... haha):

LionHeart says:
Yeah im the latest resident of pandan perdana... do a huge welcome party
*********** says:
u staying in pandan perdana now?
*********** says:
alone or what?
LionHeart says:
haha yeah
LionHeart says:
why? wanna yum cha?
*********** says:
not SCARED ar?
LionHeart says:
dont rub it in
*********** says:
no, SERIOUSLY?!
LionHeart says:
hahaha (clearly a chickening out reply)

Living in a whole house by yourself is quite scary. I went on to have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) on whether I've locked the doors, activated the alarm etc. for quite a while before I can sleep, thanks to the above contributing factors. My only comfort seemed to be in the form of "Woofie", err "Woofy" (ok, I dunno the spelling) knowing that she'll bark at the sight of strangers lurking around. No wonder they say that the dog is a man's best friend. Not even my homo sapien friends/acquaintances can compare to it when I'm in the time of need.
Woofie, you're the best. Seriously serious.

I did enjoy my short stint in the Lee mansion though! The happier CNY postings are in incogneeto's and racont3ur's pages.

I know, I'm so teruk

Was in the Gombak Hospital last Thurs and taking history of one of the patients. Then I proceeded to ask the young lady who was together with her some questions hoping to get some additional info:

Me : Cik adalah kakak dia ke? (referring to the patient)
She : Ya, dia adik angkat saya.
Me : Oh... Cik bangsa apa ya? Melayu? (She looked Malay and speaks good BM)
She : Kita orang asli.
Me : Oh, orang asli kaum apa? (Why did I even ask this?)
She : Saya kaum Seman. Dia Jakun. (Saying as-a-matter-of-factly)

My eyes went big... Staring at her trying hard to not show evidence of me wanting to laugh and also not to burst into laughter, but in my mind was already "Jakun? Hahaha")
At that point, my friend who was standing next to me asked me again "What kaum?"
That was the final straw. Thank God with all my strength I paused for a moment, managed to contain myself and just said "Orang asli".

I'll try to never use the word "jakun" again when talking to other people just in case this situation happens another time. We're so comfortable using it to tease other people (like "Wah, you've never seen that before? So jakun!") not knowing it's actually the name of one of the orang asli tribes:

Jakun (Ja-kun)
1. an aboriginal tribe under the orang asli race in Malaysia, especially in the Peninsular.
2. a sarcastic term commonly used to refer to someone who has no knowledge of something that everybody knows of.

So be careful when using the word, you'll never know when you'll meet a real one.

UniFest '09

I saw these props in the administrative block and was immediately attracted by the creative publicity (guess I'll be the prime target to be vaporized, since I'm trotting around carrying books most of the time, yeah... call me a nerd), so I decided to check out the event that they're promoting. UniFest '09 was a day-long celebration + concert organised by the Student Council to celebrate the transformation of UCSI into a university which included performances by local artistes, bands and our own Faculty of Music. I dropped by for a while and managed to catch Juwita Suwito performing two songs and wow... she's good! Didn't know UCSI could be quite happening!

The car park transformed into a carnival-like atmosphere

Thought for the New Year

"How many friends do I have?"
Caption: "Zhu pang gao yao... without the gao"

We (Me, KevLee, Adele, Matthew, Andy) were just sitting in the mamak today talking and the subject of friends came up. I found out that I actually classify the people I know to be either friends or acquaintances. And I kinda made up my mind without knowing it.

A friend is someone I consider that I know quite well; that is, we can talk, joke, laugh and are comfortable being in each other's presence. Doesn't need to be really close and stuff but just close enough to be on talking terms.

An acquaintance is someone with whom I think I have to constantly squeeze my brain neurons to think of a conversation to talk about, there are uncountable ackward silences in between conversations, and err... in short... I've got nothing much that is good to say about this person lah. Quite comfortable limiting it to a "Hi-Bye" kind of a relationship I guess.

Oh... and according to me, you can downgrade from a friend to an acquaintance if let's say we have not met each other for a long time and things become "acquaintance-ish" when we meet again.

Haha... didn't think such deep stuff could come out of a mamak session but yeah, I do hope I'll be able to get more friends this year, and prevent any of the current friends from downgrading!

I'll leave you with these thoughts... are you my friend or acquaintance? And how many friends do YOU have? Hah! Scary isn't it?