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.