i can't believe its a day away from a new year. time flies so fast that you don't realize it. i am still pissed with my maxis-celcom transfer. its been 6 days and i havent been able to use my 012 at all. 6 days....that's a long time and i can imagine how many smses i have yet to answer. tomorrow i am ordering my brother to go to celcom to resolve the issue. i cant go out during lunch time,its too packed. i enjoyed my christmas eve dinner with my family, i hogged all the turkey bones as usual. I recieved a case of Benefit brushes, and a benefit eyecolor package from my mother. my brother gave me a self made calender. in it he put the ugliest pic of me that he could find, and the rest of the calender was full of pictures of himself looking his best. aisey....what to do,he made the calendar himself so i just have to accept. i went back to kpg the next day....and i recorded my nephew dancing like mad to 3 iban songs. He's a cute fella, he twists his body like a cacing when he dances, its entertaining to watch.
i had my first oncall on 26th.i had 6 cases, and i didn't sleep or eat dinner cos i was kinda slow, and too many blood investigations to do. i'm sure others would have had worse oncalls than me, and the next day after work i just crashed on the sofa sleeping like a dead log. its scary and exciting to be oncall. the only thing is to be kinda careful when to inform the mo about the cases. my mo for the night got kinda irritated by midnite, probably cos i was kinda slow in doing work and he was getting sleepy. i am dreading passive call in the nursery, that place is scary.
well, whatever it is, i am anticipating new years eve, and after that its just the monotonous everyday routine of waking up early and coming back from work. i have already sorta planned my dream vacation in two years time- christmas and new years in either US or Vancouver. i miss the cold and the snow and the real xmas feeling. so i told my bro that i would like to see snow again...and i am so going to work hard and save money for my snowy xmas.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Merry xmas- but i have to work
Merry xmas to everyone and i hope you all are in good holiday spirits!! I just completed my 10 day tagging on sunday. my first oncall will be on the 26th, and boy am i scared and excited. The tagging period was very tough for me. i had about 3-4 hours sleep at night. i came to work at 5.30 am and leave at 11pm. its so tiring, and there were lots of new things that i had to adjust to. I also have to be super careful in what i do. Because the culture here is that when something goes wrong, the houseman will be the first to get the blame, and no one will cover for you. i am still slow in taking blood and doing ward rounds. but i am improving. i had a period of depression last saturday after i came back from work. i was so tired, and i x even feel happy having dinner with my family. i felt like crying and quitting my job. Luckily my other friends who started the same time as me felt the same way too. i get to go back around 5.30 everyday, which is a good thing. i don't know how i am going to survive my oncall, i just know that i need lots of coffee with me to stay awake.
I do love my job. every morning i almost always have this fresh enthusiasm to start work. Alas throughout the end of the day my mood gets spoiled one way or another. its also kind of irritating sometimes when everyone asks you a question and you are expected to know the answer, from the nurses to the patients. Paeds in kuching is okay, initially i thought it would be very bad, but so far i have adjusted to it. The cases here are less varied than what i see in seremban, but that's ok. the good thing about the wards here are that they have air-con, something which a lot of the adult wards x have. I also sleep pretty early nowadays. i tend to crash on my bed by 10pm. i have to wake up about 4.30am just to get ready to reach the hospital by 6 am. Now i know why my seniors discourage us to take up medicine. it looks and sounds glamorous, but there is SO much hard work to be done. its fine with me that you want to study medicine for whatever reason, but be prepared to be xtremely overworked for the next two years.
For xmas, most of my relatives will be coming back to celebrate it. my dad is in charge of everything, as i usually am too tired in the evenings to do anything. This year, however i x feel the joyous spirit as i was too depressed from working nonstop. Perhaps next year would be a better year for me. Have a nice and happy holiday, god bless!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
starting work
I went to register myself as a government worker this tuesday. it was scary and exciting at the same time as there were about 20 of us in the room. Most were grads from russia and ukraine, a few were from uk, and 4 of us from imu. After those who were supposed to be working in sibu left to catch their plane, it was 10 of us housemans' who were going to work in kuching. We seemed to get along together, and the grads from russia and ukraine are friendly and nice. The first day was just filling up loads and loads of forms, and it took us the whole day. Then i had to rush to open up my EPF account and register myself as a new tax payee (boo!!!!). These past two days sees our group getting acquainted with the lab and the hospital. I have been posted to the paediatrics ward, and i've just gotten my HO logbook today. My god, the procedures that i MUST perform seem scary, cos i've never done them during my paeds posting. Lumbar puncture, suprapubic aspiration, umbilical vein catheterization.....i think i'll be ok in a few weeks more. Tomorrow i start tagging in the wards. Work time is from 7am til 11pm. so, i'll be housebound in the wards for the next two weeks. I went out this evening and had some fattening fast food and bought some chocs. Goodbye world. Hello sleepless nights.
I can't wait for christmas though, because its the only time of the year where i really feel like there's something worth celebrating. I have not celebrated gawai in over 5 years, so the feeling is not there. The Spring has some nice xmas trees, riverside is devoid of any. I love seeing the gifts that the body shop has to offer, it looks nice. I'm just glad i did my xmas shopping in kl, cos there are more gift packages and better offers. This will be my last post in the next two weeks. I expect myself to be like the poor guy above, starting from tomorrow nite :(
Saturday, December 06, 2008
A piece of my heart
I just came back from my induction and btn today. The picture above was taken at cherating beach where we had the induction. Most of my classmates were there.
1. Induction
the induction was held at a sortof apartment hotel next to the beach. i brought my swimsuit and goggles just in case i felt like swimming. Couldn't, cos it was the monsoon season, and the swimming pool was inappropriately located. Its a boring two weeks with a very tough (and unfair!) exam at the end. the good thing is, i got to see my classmates again with all the dramas that follow them. If someone were to say that IMU C1/06 students are crazy-happy, i couldn't agree more. I have to admit that i am also crazy (in a fun way) at times. i also have to conclude that each of my batchmates have a unique personality, which makes our batch one of the most liked by our lecturers. we also had a medical officer and a med grad from pakistan joining us
the lectures were nonstop from 9am till 11pm. and the lectures were so dry that most of us fell asleep after listening for 1 hour. the only interesting and important topics were about allowances, cuti and kenaikan gaji. So i threw the rest of the file away, and pray to god that i x have to go for induction for another time.
i also managed to see a bit of Kemaman, Terengganu as its just 15 mins drive away from cherating. The keropok lekor here is soooo nice compared to the dry hard ones in kl. i bought about rm5, and can actually finish it by myself. i also went to the most famous coffee shop there and had to agree that the coffee was indeed nice. I thought the spaghetti with asian fusion was weird though....they put sardines in it.
I hated going for senaman pagi for two weeks. i usually slept late about 1pm, and sometimes even 4 am cos i had a cold and was coughing nonstop all night. I had to wake up at 6 am in the morning to get ready. And if i x come, i'll get aXed by the timbalan penghulu. its as if i was back in tadika or something. i did jog at the beach once, and its so nice to feel the sea breeze when you're running. The waves here are fantastic, and it rains on most evenings. The breakfast prepared by the hotel sucks big time, but their tea breaks are fantastic. The government spends a lot of money fattening us up. They give us 6 meals per day, the last being supper at 11.15 pm. Another thing, the coffee at the hotel tastes like tea, and tea here tastes like condensed milk.
We also had to do public speaking for 3 mins during the second week. The most touching story i heard was jenson's, cos i x know how hard his life was. After that, most ppl including me had a newfound respect for him. To be honest, its not easy being him, cos he's bullied almost everyday and he takes it all instride. I remember him during the semester 3 imu cup when his shoe flew off while he was running and the other guys stripping him down. That was really funny. He has now turned out to be one of our most liked batchmates. The exams, like i said are tough. cos the items that we have to read is like 1 big file, in just a few nights. essays and mcq's. the final day we had a sukaneka, and it was the first time i had to build a sandcastle! Pathetic, but yes, that's me. To see the sandcastles, go to facebook and click on Joy's page cos he was the official photogarapher. I'm just proud to say my castle came complete with a defense tower and crocodiles in the moat!!! At night we had a farewall dinner, and each group had to do a dance or song. My group had to do a belly dance, which was embarassing. It was a fun night for all of us, and i coughed the whole night away cos i was so tired.
2. BTN
We had to go for this gov course on the same day we checked out of induction. The journey was 3 hours cos it was in kuala lipis, hometown of siti nurhaliza. This course was for 5 days and we had to wear black and white only. Thanks to a friend of mine who went a few years ago, i was able to borrow her baju kurung. The bathroom was like a communal bath, and because i x want the other girls to see my body fats, i opted to bathe in the toilets that have a pail. its not so torturous as induction, and its slightly more interesting, like relearning high school history. They continued to overfeed us here, and the way we eat was like in military, according to groups. it did make those in the group closer to each other. Otherwise, it still was boring. My personal achievement was completing the 2km run in 17 mins as i was still coughing like hell. ANd there were 4 hills to go through. I never thought i could run for most of the course, as in the gym i could only stand running on the treadmill for 10mins. However, the next day both my knees were in pain, presumably from not doing enough stretching exercises and also the shock my body experienced from running so far so suddenly. The food here is not as nice as the hotel, but the tea and coffee is. the organisers even did repelling for us, and it is really scary to be at the top of a 40 foot building with your butt hanging in the air. We slept in a dorm, and that was really fun, cos you could chat with everyone at the same time. Sleeping and waking times were the same as during induction. I was even given a new nickname- bobohizan, for my ability to cause rain during the last day of repelling (i x want to do it cos my knees hurt). So the name sticks with me...and its not bad a nickname as the other i got from other friends. There was also another girl with special powers, she was aptly nicknamed ' kuasa mistik' . i x join jungle trekking on the last day as the bus back to kl left early. I hugged a lot of friends, and nearly felt tears at one point. I dreaded the last day because after that it will be extremely hard to see each other again. so this is what i think of batch C1/06:
All of us have our own unique personalities. Sometimes it may be hard for us to get along with each other. But at the end of the day, our batch is very united, and we all support each other in whatever way we can. It seems nothing can break up our togetherness. For that, i am extremely grateful, and happy that i got to know each and every one of you during the last 2 and a half years we studied together. Memories of our batch occupies 10% of my heart.
A lecturer in UM once told me that we should love ourselves 60%, and other people 40%. 10% out of 40% is big a space in my heart for me.
Thank you C1/06 for all the fun times, the good and the bad we shared together. I will always remember all of you.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Induksi/BTN
Its been confirmed...i will go for my induction on 17th nov. after that it'll be btn for one week, and i think i should start work on 8th december. What's more interesting is that the letter saying i need to go for induction will only arrive 2 days after this post is up. i also have to pay my own airline ticket to kl. What to do, gov is broke alredi. Of course its unfair i have to pay the ticket. even low cost airline also not so cheap once you buy late. And how to buy early cos the ppl doing induction can't really confirm the date?
I checked both the websites, and check this out....i have to get white long sleeve shirts for induction, and i need to wear long sleeve shirt when i exercise. the attire is appropriate for muslims, but can i just stick to above elbow shirts? my arms are short so there's nothing much to admire. ANother thing i'm dreading is that there is an endurance test and fitness run for btn. I HATE jogging, even though i know its good for me. i think i am going to die during the final week.
I checked both the websites, and check this out....i have to get white long sleeve shirts for induction, and i need to wear long sleeve shirt when i exercise. the attire is appropriate for muslims, but can i just stick to above elbow shirts? my arms are short so there's nothing much to admire. ANother thing i'm dreading is that there is an endurance test and fitness run for btn. I HATE jogging, even though i know its good for me. i think i am going to die during the final week.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Brain-washing
In about 2 weeks time, i am going to go for my government induction. The course is about 3 weeks and will be held at a soon to be known location (they haven't sent the letter yet). the function of this course is to teach us how to become responsible government servants. this includes lectures until midnight, and some crap like jungle trekking, or team building. my sentiments about the induction is as the current title. but i do have to pass it before i can start work. the only good thing is that i can see my good friends. honestly, i wished they would just tell us instead about the important things, and skip out things which we already know, like work ethics. its one thing to know, its another thing to do it. and most people don't do what they preach.
I've also had to look at my books again in anticipation or working. Its scary to think of doing morning rounds, getting grilled by the specialists in front of everyone and getting scolded for a lot of things. I love my (future) job, and i wouldn't want to do anything else in the world. Unfortunately, that involves me getting a very thick skin.
I've also been doing a lot of house cleaning this week, and i'm glad my house isn't such a mess anymore. I've also been doing lots of driving. To my dismay, i find that kuching drivers are just as bad as kl drivers. the only difference is that we are more patient, and we rarely blare the horn. Take yesterday, for example. i was in the slow lane behind a proton saga car, and we were on the way uphill to sarawak club. That car suddenly stopped at the turning to the club, without any signal. A motorcyle nearly rammed behind the car. it stopped there for 30 seconds, and i didn't know what the driver was thinking. There were lots of cars behind me. Finally the idiotic driver turned into the club. If i were bitchy i would've just blasted the car horn at the driver. but being a slow and patient kuchingite, i decided to let it go. i turn into the right lane as i was too close to the car, and i was unable to reverse back. That's the worst scenario i faced. Kuchingites love to show their signals at the VERY last minute they're about to turn into a lane. Like one of my friends commented "They are really stingy with signals". Another time i came back from my aunt's house in Semariang, and i was on the left lane. i had to suddenly brake because just ahead of me there was a group of men arguing and i saw a motorcycle that looked completely destroyed. My dad commented that it could have started from an accident...with both parties calling their friends for help, and escalating into a huge row. I am afraid of motorcyclists, especially if they are males, so i let them go first at the traffic light. Sometimes, the drivers here are so bad, you literally feel like bashing their heads with the car lock. Like yesterday, the number of cars i spotted which were illegally on the wrong lane were about 5. That's a lot of a town like this.
I've seen the movie Tropic Thunder, and it was so-so for me. I liked Robert Downey Jr's role, he was quite funny. I can't wait for the bond movie to show on the big screen. I am avoiding Max Payne, because the movie reviews were just so bad.
There's 1 song i like by our local artist Melissa Indot. Its called starlight, and its such a joy to listen to this song on a sunny morning:
this second song is called chantek, by altimate. pretty sweet song.
I like the song Selalu Denganmu, originally performed by Tompi. it has also been sang by Atilia (whom i really like). I love jazz, and i've tried finding for Atilia's album in kuching, but no success yet. i wanted to load the videos from youtube to this post, but for some reason there's always a problem when i cut and paste the code. so you guys have to go there yourself la...
I've also had to look at my books again in anticipation or working. Its scary to think of doing morning rounds, getting grilled by the specialists in front of everyone and getting scolded for a lot of things. I love my (future) job, and i wouldn't want to do anything else in the world. Unfortunately, that involves me getting a very thick skin.
I've also been doing a lot of house cleaning this week, and i'm glad my house isn't such a mess anymore. I've also been doing lots of driving. To my dismay, i find that kuching drivers are just as bad as kl drivers. the only difference is that we are more patient, and we rarely blare the horn. Take yesterday, for example. i was in the slow lane behind a proton saga car, and we were on the way uphill to sarawak club. That car suddenly stopped at the turning to the club, without any signal. A motorcyle nearly rammed behind the car. it stopped there for 30 seconds, and i didn't know what the driver was thinking. There were lots of cars behind me. Finally the idiotic driver turned into the club. If i were bitchy i would've just blasted the car horn at the driver. but being a slow and patient kuchingite, i decided to let it go. i turn into the right lane as i was too close to the car, and i was unable to reverse back. That's the worst scenario i faced. Kuchingites love to show their signals at the VERY last minute they're about to turn into a lane. Like one of my friends commented "They are really stingy with signals". Another time i came back from my aunt's house in Semariang, and i was on the left lane. i had to suddenly brake because just ahead of me there was a group of men arguing and i saw a motorcycle that looked completely destroyed. My dad commented that it could have started from an accident...with both parties calling their friends for help, and escalating into a huge row. I am afraid of motorcyclists, especially if they are males, so i let them go first at the traffic light. Sometimes, the drivers here are so bad, you literally feel like bashing their heads with the car lock. Like yesterday, the number of cars i spotted which were illegally on the wrong lane were about 5. That's a lot of a town like this.
I've seen the movie Tropic Thunder, and it was so-so for me. I liked Robert Downey Jr's role, he was quite funny. I can't wait for the bond movie to show on the big screen. I am avoiding Max Payne, because the movie reviews were just so bad.
There's 1 song i like by our local artist Melissa Indot. Its called starlight, and its such a joy to listen to this song on a sunny morning:
this second song is called chantek, by altimate. pretty sweet song.
I like the song Selalu Denganmu, originally performed by Tompi. it has also been sang by Atilia (whom i really like). I love jazz, and i've tried finding for Atilia's album in kuching, but no success yet. i wanted to load the videos from youtube to this post, but for some reason there's always a problem when i cut and paste the code. so you guys have to go there yourself la...
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Langkawi and Kedah revisited
Last week i went for my brother's graduation in langkawi with my whole family. We stopped at kedah first as my grandma had never seen the place. Travelling via the LCCT was hell as it was just after the hari raya hols, and many people were still going back to their respective homes. We had to wait for half an hour for the luggage, the conveyor belt was short and people were just pushing each other to get their luggage. Then, while waiting for the taxi some rude middle aged man decides that he can cut other people in the queue just to be first. Why can't the taxi operators let people line up for their turn just like in KLIA?? Nobody dares to cut the line there. Worst of all, that idiot has a smirk on his face as he went off first. Just makes me feel like scraping his face against the tar road so his skin will abrase and peel off. I swear, only at LCCT can you see malaysians at their very best- being kiasu. Like yesterday, when we were ordering food at asian fusion, some guy decides to cut in front of the person standing at the paying counter. I mean, if you are so worried that you will miss the flight, don't eat then!! Go to McD's and order takeaway, or eat some sandwich at the departure lounge. Asian fusion also has the highest number of flies within the LCCT. I am hoping the flies are around because of the kelapa sawit plantations. Some of flies were also present in my aircraft yesterday, literally flying with us to its new home, kuching. God, i hope LCCT can be refurbished for the better. Just because we are flying cheap, doesn't mean that we should expect bad services at the LCCT too.
In Alor setar we visited a number of places. The first was Dr M's house, which was maintained in its original state. I find him a very intelligent man. On the walls of his house were articles that he had written when he was young under his psudonym Che' Det. The topics ranged from Malay culture to politics. It also chronicled his life story until today. I think no matter what one thinks of him, i will still say he was one of the best things that UMNO, and our country could have (despite any mistakes he might have done). We visited the padi museum, gunung keriang (for its crystals) and also pekan rabu, where they sell traditional malay food. The city is very laid back, and its people are generally nice. I just hate having to wear jeans all the time because i like wearing shorts when i go out. Since Kedah is PAS-led, i had no choice but to wear jeans. In kuching, i can go apek-style anytime i want to. yesterday morning on the way to the airport, i managed to see the sunrise. it was very beautiful, especially as the image was mirrorred by the paddy fields. It was the sort of sunrise that made me feel like everything was ok in my world, and it was a fresh start to life.
In Langkawi, we didnt' do much . we went up the cable cars to some gunung. it wasn't high, about 700 m above sea level. The cable lines ARE as steep as they proclaim, and during the ride in the car i keep thinking about what would happen if the line suddenly snapped and i fall to the forest....Unfortunately the hanging bridge was closed for repairs. The view of langkawi and its islands were beautiful, we could even see thailand's islands to the north. we took pics of the sunset at Tanjung Rhu (which were very beautiful) and had lots of seafood during our 4 day stay there. Langkawi was unbearably hot as the monsoon season was over. My parents did a lot of crockery shopping. I went crazy over durian chocolates and Jules Decortes biscuits. My grandma, not surprisingly, bought a ton of minyak gamat. Last saturday, all of us came to see my brother get his wings. There were only 24 of them, and all were male. The juniors came to fill in the attendance, and i only saw 2 female pilot trainees among them. As in every sort of graduations, you have the excellent, the average and the bad. One student who graduated couldn't even read a map, and i'm not kidding you. Makes you want to pray for a capable pilot the next time you're in an aircraft. But hey, he's the only one. the rest are average students. Now these new pilots should start to train for their conversion to larger aircraft in november in kl.
In Alor setar we visited a number of places. The first was Dr M's house, which was maintained in its original state. I find him a very intelligent man. On the walls of his house were articles that he had written when he was young under his psudonym Che' Det. The topics ranged from Malay culture to politics. It also chronicled his life story until today. I think no matter what one thinks of him, i will still say he was one of the best things that UMNO, and our country could have (despite any mistakes he might have done). We visited the padi museum, gunung keriang (for its crystals) and also pekan rabu, where they sell traditional malay food. The city is very laid back, and its people are generally nice. I just hate having to wear jeans all the time because i like wearing shorts when i go out. Since Kedah is PAS-led, i had no choice but to wear jeans. In kuching, i can go apek-style anytime i want to. yesterday morning on the way to the airport, i managed to see the sunrise. it was very beautiful, especially as the image was mirrorred by the paddy fields. It was the sort of sunrise that made me feel like everything was ok in my world, and it was a fresh start to life.
In Langkawi, we didnt' do much . we went up the cable cars to some gunung. it wasn't high, about 700 m above sea level. The cable lines ARE as steep as they proclaim, and during the ride in the car i keep thinking about what would happen if the line suddenly snapped and i fall to the forest....Unfortunately the hanging bridge was closed for repairs. The view of langkawi and its islands were beautiful, we could even see thailand's islands to the north. we took pics of the sunset at Tanjung Rhu (which were very beautiful) and had lots of seafood during our 4 day stay there. Langkawi was unbearably hot as the monsoon season was over. My parents did a lot of crockery shopping. I went crazy over durian chocolates and Jules Decortes biscuits. My grandma, not surprisingly, bought a ton of minyak gamat. Last saturday, all of us came to see my brother get his wings. There were only 24 of them, and all were male. The juniors came to fill in the attendance, and i only saw 2 female pilot trainees among them. As in every sort of graduations, you have the excellent, the average and the bad. One student who graduated couldn't even read a map, and i'm not kidding you. Makes you want to pray for a capable pilot the next time you're in an aircraft. But hey, he's the only one. the rest are average students. Now these new pilots should start to train for their conversion to larger aircraft in november in kl.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Kuching stagnation
Hello....its been a month since i wrote something. I'm currently vegetating at my house, doing nothing but playing my computer games, eating and sleeping. and swimming, getting tanned like a lobster and driving. Yes, i am relearning my driving skills. This is currently my 2nd week into my driving lessons. I am being taught by a guy who's about my age,and who has a liking for long fingernails (aka Phua chu kang). He's a nice guy though. He asked me to start driving around town on the 2nd day itself. so far, driving around is not a problem for me. the only thing is when i am at the traffic light i tend to release the clutch too early, hence the car just goes dead in the middle of the road. Another thing is roundabouts. Kuching still has a lot of roundabouts, and the one at Padungan is especially tricky to negotiate. I won't be surprised if mr instructor gets a mini heart attack one day. Yesterday i learned how to park. I hate reverse parking. especially the one where i have to adjust the car so its equally balanced on both sides. I haven't done side parking yet, and tomorrow i have a 2 hour lesson.
Last week a couple of friends came to kuching for a holiday. On the first day itself, we went dolphin watching at the mouth of the Sarawak River. we had to kayak and it was my first time. It was a good experience....and that's where i got my legs fried. we were in the sun from 9am til 2pm. Then we had a swim at the beach (pasir pandak) where one of my friends got attacked by jumping prawns...yea for real. Thinking about the Attack of the Prawn episode never fails to make me laugh. Second day we went to Bako national Park. We were dropped off at one of the beaches. The beaches at Bako are SUPERB. They are not the muddy beaches that you normally get around kuching area, and they sea is crystal clear there. The trails are good, and i got a workout in the jungle. i also managed to catch glimpses of the proboscis monkeys. They are shy creatures. Everytime we got close to them, they backed away. Its just like watching Nat Geo live. The park facilities have been upgraded, and there are less bearded pigs and macaques at the headquarters (yay!!).
Third day we went to Semenggoh to see the orang utans feeding. That was good in itself. I also brought them to see Damai Beach (i miss it a lot). We also went to the museums around kuching city.
I've also been swimming almost daily at Sarawak Club. The pool waters are just nice, not icy cold like at vista. I've been trying to redo my freestyle strokes as i usually swim using the breast stroke.
I've got my offer letter to work with the government, and i should be working in November itself. Its scary, working for the first time, especially if one is a houseman. Sigh....i'm going to enjoy myself while i can. By the way, i've added a new site about my travelling experiences. its labelled MyTrips, under the heading other blogs.
Last week a couple of friends came to kuching for a holiday. On the first day itself, we went dolphin watching at the mouth of the Sarawak River. we had to kayak and it was my first time. It was a good experience....and that's where i got my legs fried. we were in the sun from 9am til 2pm. Then we had a swim at the beach (pasir pandak) where one of my friends got attacked by jumping prawns...yea for real. Thinking about the Attack of the Prawn episode never fails to make me laugh. Second day we went to Bako national Park. We were dropped off at one of the beaches. The beaches at Bako are SUPERB. They are not the muddy beaches that you normally get around kuching area, and they sea is crystal clear there. The trails are good, and i got a workout in the jungle. i also managed to catch glimpses of the proboscis monkeys. They are shy creatures. Everytime we got close to them, they backed away. Its just like watching Nat Geo live. The park facilities have been upgraded, and there are less bearded pigs and macaques at the headquarters (yay!!).
Third day we went to Semenggoh to see the orang utans feeding. That was good in itself. I also brought them to see Damai Beach (i miss it a lot). We also went to the museums around kuching city.
I've also been swimming almost daily at Sarawak Club. The pool waters are just nice, not icy cold like at vista. I've been trying to redo my freestyle strokes as i usually swim using the breast stroke.
I've got my offer letter to work with the government, and i should be working in November itself. Its scary, working for the first time, especially if one is a houseman. Sigh....i'm going to enjoy myself while i can. By the way, i've added a new site about my travelling experiences. its labelled MyTrips, under the heading other blogs.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Holiday mode
Hey guys, i finally found time to write a bit after going off for so long. I had my graduation on august 23rd (finally), i went off for a short trip to bali, went to kedah to help my mom move there, went to langkawi for a night's trip to see my brother, going back to kl tomorrow, and coming back to kuching on this tuesday.
My bali trip was GOOD. Hectic, but good. i was there for 5 days, and there was so much to see and do. stayed at a hotel right in front of kuta beach. Won't talk much about it cos i plan to set up postings dedicated for my trips.
I had a hell of a workout cleaning up and arranging my mom's new place in kedah. it was tiring, and i had diarrhea from my bali trip. but that did not stop me from enjoying kedah food. its true, the further up north of malaysia one goes, the more tastier food is. I also had a blast in langkawi buying loadsa stuff, got myself a new sunglass and plenty of cosmetics...heehee! I also bought quite a few pc games and anime for my relaxing pleasure. My brain has also been 'dumbed' by watching movies on cinemax and star movies. i dont even remember what the titles were. I feel so bad because i haven't had the time to meet up with all my old friends. i promised them i would meet them in kl after i graduated, and i just don't have the time to do so. After coming back to kl tmr, i have to clean the place also and pack up all my things to be sent back to kch. hectic and busy.
I'm currently reading a book called 'rich dad, poor dad'. since i'm going to start working soon, i figured i need to invest all my hard earned cash in the right places. my short term target after 2 years of housemanship will be to go on a trip to vancouver and alaska. Since the ringgit's value is set to drop even further, i have to really be prudent in my spendings. What i can't wait to have once i start working though, is my very first credit card!!! I'll start with having one for the time being. The only thing is which credit card to have.
I plan to watch 'babylon ad' once i come back to kuching. there is no cinema in alor setar. i think my mom is going to be dead bored. I can't wait for my brother to graduate next month. I can't imagine him flying a plane. Its pretty unbelievable for me that my really young brother is about to be a pilot. Better yet, i can't wait to embarass him on his graduation day :P tomorrow i have a 6 hour trip by bus to kl, i hope puduraya will not be so crowded.
My bali trip was GOOD. Hectic, but good. i was there for 5 days, and there was so much to see and do. stayed at a hotel right in front of kuta beach. Won't talk much about it cos i plan to set up postings dedicated for my trips.
I had a hell of a workout cleaning up and arranging my mom's new place in kedah. it was tiring, and i had diarrhea from my bali trip. but that did not stop me from enjoying kedah food. its true, the further up north of malaysia one goes, the more tastier food is. I also had a blast in langkawi buying loadsa stuff, got myself a new sunglass and plenty of cosmetics...heehee! I also bought quite a few pc games and anime for my relaxing pleasure. My brain has also been 'dumbed' by watching movies on cinemax and star movies. i dont even remember what the titles were. I feel so bad because i haven't had the time to meet up with all my old friends. i promised them i would meet them in kl after i graduated, and i just don't have the time to do so. After coming back to kl tmr, i have to clean the place also and pack up all my things to be sent back to kch. hectic and busy.
I'm currently reading a book called 'rich dad, poor dad'. since i'm going to start working soon, i figured i need to invest all my hard earned cash in the right places. my short term target after 2 years of housemanship will be to go on a trip to vancouver and alaska. Since the ringgit's value is set to drop even further, i have to really be prudent in my spendings. What i can't wait to have once i start working though, is my very first credit card!!! I'll start with having one for the time being. The only thing is which credit card to have.
I plan to watch 'babylon ad' once i come back to kuching. there is no cinema in alor setar. i think my mom is going to be dead bored. I can't wait for my brother to graduate next month. I can't imagine him flying a plane. Its pretty unbelievable for me that my really young brother is about to be a pilot. Better yet, i can't wait to embarass him on his graduation day :P tomorrow i have a 6 hour trip by bus to kl, i hope puduraya will not be so crowded.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
its all about phelps
so its been one week into the olympics, and i am totally hooked on the games. i find handball, track n field, swimming and gymnastics to be totally addictive. i am also glad that chong wei made it to the finals for our country. its gonna be hard for him to beat li dan (?) but if he does, i salute him. i watched table tennis yesterday and it was a good game between korea and singapore. if i'm not mistaken the lions won.
Other highlights:
1. bball between china and usa
2. womens all round finals gymnastics
3. handball
And as usual, whenever swimming is on any of the olympic channels i have to watch. with a guy like phelps, i can't help it:
second to phelps in the hotness category is his teammate ryan lochte.
I also managed to see women's diving, and was really impressed with the chinese duo. our malaysian team managed 21st place overall, but its a shame we counldn't get through to the finals. Whatever it is, i'm hoping phelps gets his wish come true :)
My graduation is next week, and i've picked out the outfit to wear. I haven't bought the heels yet. i really want to go to isetan klcc, but my mum is just too busy cleaning up the office. i so love esprits new fashion range. i have given up wearing levi's jeans, though. their jeans seems to be smaller and smaller. its for girls who dont have hips :( i'm now converting to the padini and marks and spencer brand as its more comfortable. I also have to sort out the books that i plan to ship back to kuching. and i havent met up with any of my old school friends yet. i feel so guilty.
i have watched star wars: attack of the clone wars. its 3/5, its okay, but not much in the story line. to be honest, i;m just waiting for KOTOR the game series to come up with a new one, but they haven't done yet. i plan to watch death race starring jason statham next week. the plan is to enjoy myself to death before i start working, hehe. AND, i'm still in negotiations with my parents as to what car i will drive once i work.
Other highlights:
1. bball between china and usa
2. womens all round finals gymnastics
3. handball
And as usual, whenever swimming is on any of the olympic channels i have to watch. with a guy like phelps, i can't help it:
second to phelps in the hotness category is his teammate ryan lochte.
I also managed to see women's diving, and was really impressed with the chinese duo. our malaysian team managed 21st place overall, but its a shame we counldn't get through to the finals. Whatever it is, i'm hoping phelps gets his wish come true :)
My graduation is next week, and i've picked out the outfit to wear. I haven't bought the heels yet. i really want to go to isetan klcc, but my mum is just too busy cleaning up the office. i so love esprits new fashion range. i have given up wearing levi's jeans, though. their jeans seems to be smaller and smaller. its for girls who dont have hips :( i'm now converting to the padini and marks and spencer brand as its more comfortable. I also have to sort out the books that i plan to ship back to kuching. and i havent met up with any of my old school friends yet. i feel so guilty.
i have watched star wars: attack of the clone wars. its 3/5, its okay, but not much in the story line. to be honest, i;m just waiting for KOTOR the game series to come up with a new one, but they haven't done yet. i plan to watch death race starring jason statham next week. the plan is to enjoy myself to death before i start working, hehe. AND, i'm still in negotiations with my parents as to what car i will drive once i work.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Olympics
Since the olympics started, i have been vegetating in front of the telly almost everyday. The opening ceremony was fantastic, but i slept throughout the procession. so boring.
I watched michael phelps blazed his way through the 400m medley. i so hope he gets his wish to get 8 gold medals. I also enjoyed the us vs china basketball game. Poor china was outclassed by the us. Those guys shoot perfect 3 pointers (thus getting past yao ming) and were too fast for the china players. still, i hope the finals would be between these two countries again.
I saw weightlifting today, where a 17 year old china boy created a world junior record (he was pretty cute too). Malaysia finished 9th. And last i heard, our archery team failed to win a medal.
I dont' get it. if countries like vietnam, thailand and indonesia can get medals during the olympics and not just from badminton, why can't we? i find it so frustrating to watch a malaysian athlete perform, waiting with anticipation that he/she might do well. instead, they are always at the middle or last of the standings. I wonder what's wrong with our sports system. the only thing we can always count on are badminton. I mean, there are countries that are poorer than us and they don't even have good training facilities, yet they can perform well. I find this so embarassing.
I watched michael phelps blazed his way through the 400m medley. i so hope he gets his wish to get 8 gold medals. I also enjoyed the us vs china basketball game. Poor china was outclassed by the us. Those guys shoot perfect 3 pointers (thus getting past yao ming) and were too fast for the china players. still, i hope the finals would be between these two countries again.
I saw weightlifting today, where a 17 year old china boy created a world junior record (he was pretty cute too). Malaysia finished 9th. And last i heard, our archery team failed to win a medal.
I dont' get it. if countries like vietnam, thailand and indonesia can get medals during the olympics and not just from badminton, why can't we? i find it so frustrating to watch a malaysian athlete perform, waiting with anticipation that he/she might do well. instead, they are always at the middle or last of the standings. I wonder what's wrong with our sports system. the only thing we can always count on are badminton. I mean, there are countries that are poorer than us and they don't even have good training facilities, yet they can perform well. I find this so embarassing.
A chapter of my life has ended
so.....it has been a month since i've blogged. i've finally passed the final exams and my graduation will be on august 23rd. its been an interesting 5 years for me. THis was the hardest of all the exams i had faced. I had to finish typing portfolios a week before the finals.. i had to move out of my rented house and bunk in my friends house for a week, and i had to study EVERYTHING in a short span of one week. it was just study, study and reading nonstop from morning til night. There were times when i just wanted to go and sleep at 10pm. But the thought of not reading a lot of stuff kept me going through.
We had to go back to seremban a day before the exam. On the way, my friend's car broke down along the highway. It was towed to the nearest toll plaza. We had to wait in the hot sun for two hours for her parents. And we tried to study a bit during those 2 hours. Believe me, i was cursing the heavens for all the bad luck i've encountered during my stay in BP. And to top it all off, there was bird shit that landed on my beloved oxford handbook while i was reaing, on the lung cancer page. I only felt slightly better after someone told me bird shit was considered to bring luck.
we set out from bp at 10am and arrived in seremban at 5pm. I took a break for an hour, then had to squeeze whatever info i x have into my mentally exhausted brain. i didn't even have time to read most of my portfolios. In the exam room, i had a case of AECOAD....which was my portfolio case...which i discussed rather deeply. Nice stroke of luck eh? And to top it all off, both the examiners for my long case and portfolio discussion were all my lecturers, no external examiners at all. You guys don't know how i felt after that. I was sooo relieved, and kinda happy that god still loves me after all.
I did my oath taking on friday, and managed to get a lot of pics with my lecturers and friends. I still x feel anything right now, it just feels that i am on another school holiday. but its great i passed, cos i am pretty old now and its time for me to start working. My parents were pretty nonchalant that i passed, but on the plus side i can ask them to buy some of the stuff that i want. I need a new wardrobe, new shoes, need to fix my ipod, need to read lots of novels, need to enjoy myself. Induction will probably be in october, so i might start working by November. God, that is another scary thought.
We had to go back to seremban a day before the exam. On the way, my friend's car broke down along the highway. It was towed to the nearest toll plaza. We had to wait in the hot sun for two hours for her parents. And we tried to study a bit during those 2 hours. Believe me, i was cursing the heavens for all the bad luck i've encountered during my stay in BP. And to top it all off, there was bird shit that landed on my beloved oxford handbook while i was reaing, on the lung cancer page. I only felt slightly better after someone told me bird shit was considered to bring luck.
we set out from bp at 10am and arrived in seremban at 5pm. I took a break for an hour, then had to squeeze whatever info i x have into my mentally exhausted brain. i didn't even have time to read most of my portfolios. In the exam room, i had a case of AECOAD....which was my portfolio case...which i discussed rather deeply. Nice stroke of luck eh? And to top it all off, both the examiners for my long case and portfolio discussion were all my lecturers, no external examiners at all. You guys don't know how i felt after that. I was sooo relieved, and kinda happy that god still loves me after all.
I did my oath taking on friday, and managed to get a lot of pics with my lecturers and friends. I still x feel anything right now, it just feels that i am on another school holiday. but its great i passed, cos i am pretty old now and its time for me to start working. My parents were pretty nonchalant that i passed, but on the plus side i can ask them to buy some of the stuff that i want. I need a new wardrobe, new shoes, need to fix my ipod, need to read lots of novels, need to enjoy myself. Induction will probably be in october, so i might start working by November. God, that is another scary thought.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Raindrops
Its 8am and i'm feeling half sleepy. It was raining from last night until now. Some people love rain, some just hate it. I'm in the former. There's something about rain that just mellows me. I love waking up to the sounds of rain, happy that i can curl up in bed and sleep til' it goes away. Rain also reminds me of Kuching, and my home. Kuching gets tons of rain yearly. I just love it when i see overcast clouds and cool weather upon my skin. And when it rains, sometimes i will just sit outside my house patio watching the rain and the wind that comes with it. Perfectly romantic, i tell ya :)
Morning Rain by Tu Fu
A slight rain comes, bathed in dawn light.
I hear it among treetop leaves before mist
Arrives. Soon it sprinkles the soil and,
Windblown, follows clouds away. Deepened
Colors grace thatch homes for a moment.
Flocks and herds of things wild glisten
Faintly. Then the scent of musk opens across
Half a mountain -- and lingers on past noon.
I've got 3 more weeks in BP. Time flies fast, doesn't it? If i do pass, i'll be back home,hopefully. Some ppl may be asking why i wanna work back in kch, and not in Semenanjung? The reasons are fairly simple. First, i am EXTREMELY close to my family, extended and all. That is where i belong, and i can't ever imagine being far away from them. Second, i really need emotional support when i start working. CAlling them whenever i feel down is not the same as seeing family members in front of me. I know i'm an adult, i should be independent, yadda yadda. But....i'd rather be with them and enjoy in the moments of NOW. Rather than me being far away and not being there when they are still around. Thirdly, both my parents and brother are not in kuching, and won't be for a few years. I"ve got the house and my grandma to take care of. Fourth, i LOVE kuching. IF there are 2/3 of rotten people at the workplace, its still better than working in Semenanjung with the same ratio of 2/3 of rotten people. At least i get my seafood, Pok Mee, Kolo Mee, Tomato Mee and Sarawak laksa while i'm working here.
I really need to do some intense workout ASSUMING i do pass. I still remember my graduation photo after finishing UM. My face looked so ROUND. I was thinking of swimming in the mornings, and going to gym in the afternoons. I would really like to have a good graduation photo of myself, i would like to avoid looking moon faced this time. BTW, i hate having a round face. if only i had an oval face.
Morning Rain by Tu Fu
A slight rain comes, bathed in dawn light.
I hear it among treetop leaves before mist
Arrives. Soon it sprinkles the soil and,
Windblown, follows clouds away. Deepened
Colors grace thatch homes for a moment.
Flocks and herds of things wild glisten
Faintly. Then the scent of musk opens across
Half a mountain -- and lingers on past noon.
I've got 3 more weeks in BP. Time flies fast, doesn't it? If i do pass, i'll be back home,hopefully. Some ppl may be asking why i wanna work back in kch, and not in Semenanjung? The reasons are fairly simple. First, i am EXTREMELY close to my family, extended and all. That is where i belong, and i can't ever imagine being far away from them. Second, i really need emotional support when i start working. CAlling them whenever i feel down is not the same as seeing family members in front of me. I know i'm an adult, i should be independent, yadda yadda. But....i'd rather be with them and enjoy in the moments of NOW. Rather than me being far away and not being there when they are still around. Thirdly, both my parents and brother are not in kuching, and won't be for a few years. I"ve got the house and my grandma to take care of. Fourth, i LOVE kuching. IF there are 2/3 of rotten people at the workplace, its still better than working in Semenanjung with the same ratio of 2/3 of rotten people. At least i get my seafood, Pok Mee, Kolo Mee, Tomato Mee and Sarawak laksa while i'm working here.
I really need to do some intense workout ASSUMING i do pass. I still remember my graduation photo after finishing UM. My face looked so ROUND. I was thinking of swimming in the mornings, and going to gym in the afternoons. I would really like to have a good graduation photo of myself, i would like to avoid looking moon faced this time. BTW, i hate having a round face. if only i had an oval face.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Its a durian world
The fruit season began a few weeks ago. Along the way to my house in BP, there are a few fruit stalls. Usually they sell the usual stuff like apples, melons, oranges (which i hate, except for the lokam). Then, i saw the durian, rambutan,longans. Its hard for me to resist all 3 so last friday, i persuaded my housemate to stop at one of the stall s. I will admit that i don't know at all how to choose good durians. Usually when i see my grandma, she'll first sniff it, then tap at it a bit, then finally looking at the stem of the fruit. if the stem is neatly cut, its too young. if it looks jagged, then u can usually confirm the fruit fell on its own. Me?? i just have to rely on the fact that the shopkeeper won't cheat me. I bought 3 durians for rm 35. 2 were kampung, 1 was kacukan. AND, its all good. I had a tub full of durians. I've been eating them for breakfast, and now, only a few are left. God, i can't live without durians. My mom thinks my craze for durians started when she was pregnant with me, and she was eating a LOT of durians that time. Hehe, i don't care if its true or not, i'm just glad i love it. A lot of my cousins, including my brother HATE the smell, and it'll be usually me,my cheese eating young girl cousin and the older family members enjoying durian. BUT the absolute nicest tasting durians for me are the wild durians. they are the hardest to come by. I can only remember eating them when i was really young. I haven't seen wild durians sold for ages. Perhaps when i come back home i'll try my luck. I also think kampung durians are so much better than the genetically modified ones.
Its about 5 weeks away and i'm still busy doing portfolios. Damn it, i hope i just pass the exams. i'll keep complaining about the exams until a week away.
I've watched Kungfu Panda, i give it 7/10. I've also watched the HULK, and it was so much better than the first one. Ed norton just sizzles as brucey. I also love the romantic scenes between him and liv. Watching this movie, i had pity for the hulk for the FIRST time. Usually i just see him as this anger losing green guy who uses it as an excuse to destroy things. and the ending.....can't wait for the sequel to happen (yum Tony STark!!).
Its about 5 weeks away and i'm still busy doing portfolios. Damn it, i hope i just pass the exams. i'll keep complaining about the exams until a week away.
I've watched Kungfu Panda, i give it 7/10. I've also watched the HULK, and it was so much better than the first one. Ed norton just sizzles as brucey. I also love the romantic scenes between him and liv. Watching this movie, i had pity for the hulk for the FIRST time. Usually i just see him as this anger losing green guy who uses it as an excuse to destroy things. and the ending.....can't wait for the sequel to happen (yum Tony STark!!).
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
KPG angkat is done and finished
so last weekend i went to do some community project at a supposedly rural village. This was what i did:
1. Do health screenings for common health problems in the morning
2. Become a facilitator for some motivation course in the afternoon
3. Watch performances at night
4. Cook for the entire IMU population on sunday morning
5. Go back to civilisation on sunday afternoon
Problems i encountered
1. The need to go to toilet on Saturday morning
The bus had to leave IMOO at 6 am (we were told to be there sharp). I woke up at 4.30am just to make sure my bowels moved and were emptied by then. Problem was, bowels refused to wake up and only moved at 6 am. So poor me had to hold it all in until we reached the place. I only managed at 10 am that morning. For me, one of life's pure tortures is when i can do my business in the morning, cos then it'll be constantly at the back of my mind. its worse when you eat something spicy the night before. :(
2. No cellphone coverage. I know i don't have anyone to call (Boyfriendless and all) but still, it feels good to know you are connected to civilization. The kampung was only 30 mins from town, but no coverage!! How can!!! Even the jungles of Sarawak got cellphone coverage!!!!!!
3. Hot weather.
We were told to wear only black shirts. Which made sense cos we don't wanna stir up trouble wearing white or see through or skimpy bikinis. Heaven forbid us if we cause some villagers to have a stroke or heart attack. But its freakin'hot in Malaysia and my face was full of oil by afternoon. I use 3 oil blotters to clean my face.
4. Motivation course??
Yes, i was a facilitator, and i did get excited by the idea of counselling students about what their future options are like after secondary school. We ended up playing a lot (too many) games though. And i'm not really sure how the older school children felt about that. It was beneficial for the primary school kids though. Maybe they should have had separate programs for the older and younger kids.
5. Culture nite
Being the vain person that i am, i decided to wear this nice pink baju kurung of a friend of mine. This will probably the first and last time i'm gonna wear one, and the thought of looking nice while cam-whoring excited me. Alas, not many people chose to wear something fancy, so i really felt overdressed. Still, i do have good pics of myself :)
6. Cooking for the whole kampung
This was really tiring. I cleaned the chicken, chopped and hacked onions, long beans and had to fill the 'dulang' with food. It doesn't help that some people think that the food we cooked was disgusting, just because it was cooked in the kampung. There were not many people helping, and we were talking about cooking for 300 people. Still, the villagers really made yummy food.
What i loved:
1. My adopted family
THey were super nice. THe makcik who took us in gave us her own bedroom to sleep in. The only thing was there was this really big cockroach like insect which flew around the room. We had to ask the older brother to kill it for us. And they fed us nonstop with yummy kampung food. I have to give credit to the Malays in general, they are really hospitable and friendly people. Their hospitality knows no bounds. Imagine if you were to let people into your house, and not knowing how they feel about the whole thing. Kudos to all of them who volunteered to take us in. And for me, i got a few new recipes about cooking kampung food. YUMMY
2. Cultural nite
i did enjoy myself. WAthcing all the kampung people come, and all the karaoke songs (some good, some bad) and performances by our own students, i think it was a blast. Even some of our lecturers were enjoying themselves, letting loose of all that stress at work. I did a lot of cam-whoring. But by 11pm, i had to go back cos i was too sleepy.
3. Sukaneka
this is like a sports carnival, and all of us, lecturers included, let loose. there were a lot of funny events going on, but the thing is, everyone had fun. i missed the tarik tali event though. i would love to tarik tali, i've been doing it since i was in primary school and its so fun. its bad to lose of course, but the adrenaline is sky high. still, i did learn how to become a better cook that day :)
4. Good experience
We had to have this thing called 'makan dulang'where 4 people share one big tray of rice with assorted foods. its not for everyone though, and i understand. But dont'ever talk about going to experience life in rural africa, rural india or joinning doctors without borders if even the thought of sharing food with others makes u icky. i did feel icky myself, but after preparing the food myself and seeing how they eat (everyone takes a corner of the tray for themselves) its not that dirty. just have to lose that city life a bit. And i think this will be the first and last time that i think i will experience something like this. So, it was a good exposure for me to see how other people live.
PS, i took a lot of pictures, but am too lazy to post it in my blog. PIcs are either on my friendster or facebook. Lots of camwhoring by me and pals. :P
1. Do health screenings for common health problems in the morning
2. Become a facilitator for some motivation course in the afternoon
3. Watch performances at night
4. Cook for the entire IMU population on sunday morning
5. Go back to civilisation on sunday afternoon
Problems i encountered
1. The need to go to toilet on Saturday morning
The bus had to leave IMOO at 6 am (we were told to be there sharp). I woke up at 4.30am just to make sure my bowels moved and were emptied by then. Problem was, bowels refused to wake up and only moved at 6 am. So poor me had to hold it all in until we reached the place. I only managed at 10 am that morning. For me, one of life's pure tortures is when i can do my business in the morning, cos then it'll be constantly at the back of my mind. its worse when you eat something spicy the night before. :(
2. No cellphone coverage. I know i don't have anyone to call (Boyfriendless and all) but still, it feels good to know you are connected to civilization. The kampung was only 30 mins from town, but no coverage!! How can!!! Even the jungles of Sarawak got cellphone coverage!!!!!!
3. Hot weather.
We were told to wear only black shirts. Which made sense cos we don't wanna stir up trouble wearing white or see through or skimpy bikinis. Heaven forbid us if we cause some villagers to have a stroke or heart attack. But its freakin'hot in Malaysia and my face was full of oil by afternoon. I use 3 oil blotters to clean my face.
4. Motivation course??
Yes, i was a facilitator, and i did get excited by the idea of counselling students about what their future options are like after secondary school. We ended up playing a lot (too many) games though. And i'm not really sure how the older school children felt about that. It was beneficial for the primary school kids though. Maybe they should have had separate programs for the older and younger kids.
5. Culture nite
Being the vain person that i am, i decided to wear this nice pink baju kurung of a friend of mine. This will probably the first and last time i'm gonna wear one, and the thought of looking nice while cam-whoring excited me. Alas, not many people chose to wear something fancy, so i really felt overdressed. Still, i do have good pics of myself :)
6. Cooking for the whole kampung
This was really tiring. I cleaned the chicken, chopped and hacked onions, long beans and had to fill the 'dulang' with food. It doesn't help that some people think that the food we cooked was disgusting, just because it was cooked in the kampung. There were not many people helping, and we were talking about cooking for 300 people. Still, the villagers really made yummy food.
What i loved:
1. My adopted family
THey were super nice. THe makcik who took us in gave us her own bedroom to sleep in. The only thing was there was this really big cockroach like insect which flew around the room. We had to ask the older brother to kill it for us. And they fed us nonstop with yummy kampung food. I have to give credit to the Malays in general, they are really hospitable and friendly people. Their hospitality knows no bounds. Imagine if you were to let people into your house, and not knowing how they feel about the whole thing. Kudos to all of them who volunteered to take us in. And for me, i got a few new recipes about cooking kampung food. YUMMY
2. Cultural nite
i did enjoy myself. WAthcing all the kampung people come, and all the karaoke songs (some good, some bad) and performances by our own students, i think it was a blast. Even some of our lecturers were enjoying themselves, letting loose of all that stress at work. I did a lot of cam-whoring. But by 11pm, i had to go back cos i was too sleepy.
3. Sukaneka
this is like a sports carnival, and all of us, lecturers included, let loose. there were a lot of funny events going on, but the thing is, everyone had fun. i missed the tarik tali event though. i would love to tarik tali, i've been doing it since i was in primary school and its so fun. its bad to lose of course, but the adrenaline is sky high. still, i did learn how to become a better cook that day :)
4. Good experience
We had to have this thing called 'makan dulang'where 4 people share one big tray of rice with assorted foods. its not for everyone though, and i understand. But dont'ever talk about going to experience life in rural africa, rural india or joinning doctors without borders if even the thought of sharing food with others makes u icky. i did feel icky myself, but after preparing the food myself and seeing how they eat (everyone takes a corner of the tray for themselves) its not that dirty. just have to lose that city life a bit. And i think this will be the first and last time that i think i will experience something like this. So, it was a good exposure for me to see how other people live.
PS, i took a lot of pictures, but am too lazy to post it in my blog. PIcs are either on my friendster or facebook. Lots of camwhoring by me and pals. :P
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Friendships that last
I decided to end my bimbotic ramblings for a while and talk about my friends. This was inspired by a few events that have happened this week. Nope, it does not involve IMOO people at all.
We all know that girls are from Venus, men are from Mars. And how girls and guys make friends and maintain their friendships are quite different. I prefer girl friends over guy friends, simply for the reason that i feel i can open up more to them. There are some guy friends that i am quite comfortable with, but its just not the same. This week, i felt pretty stressed out. Why, i don't know. See, when i don't have my usual outpourings to friends, i feel that things, or events that have happened get walled up and are threatening to burst out. But, who to trust in this small world? so, i do understand that for some people, blogging is a great way to speak out what you can't say to other people. of course, a little indiscretion is necessary if a lot of people are reading your blog.
Anyways, life here has been hectic. i have 8 weeks to exam, and i havent prepared at all. That keeps nagging me. Another thing is, with portfolios and the need to constantly remember things that have eluded me, is another drain. Not to mention my allergic rhinitic nose which makes me have a mini-flu everyday.
At 6 am yesterday, i was woken up by a friend who was afraid for me. She thought that some organization was out to get her, and told me that i could be the next target, as all her other friends have had their car scratched, broken into and things stolen from their houses. Then she tells me that i'm the only one she trusts as said organization is everywhere. And FINALLY, she said that she had a medical condition but didn't want to take her meds. Now, i was happily sleeping at the moment when she woke me up. i thought it would be just another one of her complaints where she was dissatisfied about life. Boy, she made me freaking scared yesterday,and as a result my mind was jumbled up the entire morning.
I should have asked her to continue taking her meds, but she has poor insight. The other thing is, she is currently disconnected from her family members. i don't know how she is going to cope. But i know that when i come back to kuching permanently, i have to sort her out. I just hope she will not be in denial by then.
So, yesterday, after feeling stressed out the entire week, i went online in the hope that some of my friends would be around. Turns out not 1, but a few of them were online, and i had the best time of my life yesterday evening.
Verdict: Its easy to make lots of friends, but true friends that stick around you for more than 10 years and who are loyal to boot, are damn hard to come by.
I think this post is a way of saying my thanks and gratitude to all my friends who have been in my life since primary school, and who stuck it with me thick and thin, who never fail to give me support and to make me laugh.
Pretty sappy eh? But when you've gone through and seen so much, its small things like these that make life bearable.
We all know that girls are from Venus, men are from Mars. And how girls and guys make friends and maintain their friendships are quite different. I prefer girl friends over guy friends, simply for the reason that i feel i can open up more to them. There are some guy friends that i am quite comfortable with, but its just not the same. This week, i felt pretty stressed out. Why, i don't know. See, when i don't have my usual outpourings to friends, i feel that things, or events that have happened get walled up and are threatening to burst out. But, who to trust in this small world? so, i do understand that for some people, blogging is a great way to speak out what you can't say to other people. of course, a little indiscretion is necessary if a lot of people are reading your blog.
Anyways, life here has been hectic. i have 8 weeks to exam, and i havent prepared at all. That keeps nagging me. Another thing is, with portfolios and the need to constantly remember things that have eluded me, is another drain. Not to mention my allergic rhinitic nose which makes me have a mini-flu everyday.
At 6 am yesterday, i was woken up by a friend who was afraid for me. She thought that some organization was out to get her, and told me that i could be the next target, as all her other friends have had their car scratched, broken into and things stolen from their houses. Then she tells me that i'm the only one she trusts as said organization is everywhere. And FINALLY, she said that she had a medical condition but didn't want to take her meds. Now, i was happily sleeping at the moment when she woke me up. i thought it would be just another one of her complaints where she was dissatisfied about life. Boy, she made me freaking scared yesterday,and as a result my mind was jumbled up the entire morning.
I should have asked her to continue taking her meds, but she has poor insight. The other thing is, she is currently disconnected from her family members. i don't know how she is going to cope. But i know that when i come back to kuching permanently, i have to sort her out. I just hope she will not be in denial by then.
So, yesterday, after feeling stressed out the entire week, i went online in the hope that some of my friends would be around. Turns out not 1, but a few of them were online, and i had the best time of my life yesterday evening.
Verdict: Its easy to make lots of friends, but true friends that stick around you for more than 10 years and who are loyal to boot, are damn hard to come by.
I think this post is a way of saying my thanks and gratitude to all my friends who have been in my life since primary school, and who stuck it with me thick and thin, who never fail to give me support and to make me laugh.
Pretty sappy eh? But when you've gone through and seen so much, its small things like these that make life bearable.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Movies...movies and Jolie
the first movie that i will mildly review is Narnia 2: Caspian. i watched this with the squid about 2 weeks ago. the pace of the movie was good, there were not many boring scenes and there was 1 really hot guy to keep me entertained, aka Ben Bar-ness (that's how squid sez it). Apparently Ben Bar-ness was in a short-lived boyband before he had his hand in acting. what i find funny was that the Telmarines had this spanish accent. Just because all of the Telmarines had dark hair, they just HAD to have a spanish accent eh? How about Mexican? Another thing was that the fighting sequences of the movie were heavily borrowed from lord of the rings. They could have showed a bit of originality-lah. ANd there was a lot of reviews that there were too many christian related themes in the movie. Well, there are some slight references to christ, the obvious was when the older children couldn't see Aslan, and only Lucy did because she still believed in him. But thinking of Christ in the form of a very handsome lion, not bad i say. overall, i gave it 7/10 cos i did enjoy myself watching the movie. Oh yes, and Ben Bar-ness too
The other movie that i recently watched was 'The orphanage' in kluang parade, of all places. we were there for yet again another visit. but the hospital was having some accreditation thingy so we had about two hours to kill. FYI, the cinema in kluang was better than in bp. the one thing that amused me was the decor of the cinema. the overall color was red, with jukebox sort of lights as u enter the cinema itself. It really reminded me of some old school karaoke parlor. I bet my ass the interior designer who did the cinema was also the interior designer for karaoke parlors. I give the orphanage 6/10. the movie was scary, and the acting was good. what i didn't like was the ending. I guess everyone wants to be like M. Night Syamalan nowadays and give it a twist to the ending so everyone goes 'ooooooooh'. Well, i love my scary movies to be REALLY scary movies, like ppl getting killed by a ghost in the end, or the human actually surviving the ghost attack. there was one spooky character in the movie though, and he's called TOMAS.
EEK........if u EVER see this boy in ur house (or ur dreams) u know ur time is up.
I did want to watch this thai horror movie Long Khong. it was supposed to be shown on that day, but for some reason the cinema couldn't screen it. i LOVE thai horror movies, most of them are really good, and really spooky. Second would be indonesian, and third Korean. I've actually not watched korean and Jap horror movies for a long time because their ghosts are ALWAYs long haired women with no face that either crawl or slither towards you. Why can't they have other types of ghosts. Asia is just full of ghosts. take our country for example. i bet my ass there are about 100 different types of ghosts. be a little bit original lah.
and this is THE hottest angelina jolie pic i have seen:
Man, her face is so perfect. Sorry to say this, but jennifer aniston just doesn't stand a chance against her. She's smart, sexy, and dangerous to boot.
Lastly,i was watching Roll Bounce on Astro. it starred Mr. Mariah Carey (NIck CAnnon) and Bow wow. tHe movie was very funny. What i loved even more was the soundtrack, and in particular this song. I can just groove to this song the whole day. Seventies rock!!
The other movie that i recently watched was 'The orphanage' in kluang parade, of all places. we were there for yet again another visit. but the hospital was having some accreditation thingy so we had about two hours to kill. FYI, the cinema in kluang was better than in bp. the one thing that amused me was the decor of the cinema. the overall color was red, with jukebox sort of lights as u enter the cinema itself. It really reminded me of some old school karaoke parlor. I bet my ass the interior designer who did the cinema was also the interior designer for karaoke parlors. I give the orphanage 6/10. the movie was scary, and the acting was good. what i didn't like was the ending. I guess everyone wants to be like M. Night Syamalan nowadays and give it a twist to the ending so everyone goes 'ooooooooh'. Well, i love my scary movies to be REALLY scary movies, like ppl getting killed by a ghost in the end, or the human actually surviving the ghost attack. there was one spooky character in the movie though, and he's called TOMAS.
EEK........if u EVER see this boy in ur house (or ur dreams) u know ur time is up.
I did want to watch this thai horror movie Long Khong. it was supposed to be shown on that day, but for some reason the cinema couldn't screen it. i LOVE thai horror movies, most of them are really good, and really spooky. Second would be indonesian, and third Korean. I've actually not watched korean and Jap horror movies for a long time because their ghosts are ALWAYs long haired women with no face that either crawl or slither towards you. Why can't they have other types of ghosts. Asia is just full of ghosts. take our country for example. i bet my ass there are about 100 different types of ghosts. be a little bit original lah.
and this is THE hottest angelina jolie pic i have seen:
Man, her face is so perfect. Sorry to say this, but jennifer aniston just doesn't stand a chance against her. She's smart, sexy, and dangerous to boot.
Lastly,i was watching Roll Bounce on Astro. it starred Mr. Mariah Carey (NIck CAnnon) and Bow wow. tHe movie was very funny. What i loved even more was the soundtrack, and in particular this song. I can just groove to this song the whole day. Seventies rock!!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Indy reviewed
i had my cfcs viva yesterday. its basically me and my student partner helping to take care of a patients medical problems. it went well yesterday. 15 minutes passed by so fast. what was worse was that i scribbled on my report using blue and green marker pens, and i didn't know that i had to pass it back to IMOO again after i finished viva. so i had to tell the lecturers that i scribbled something....luckily they didn't mind at all. and because i had to wind down after a day of stress, i went to watch the latest indiana jones movie
i give the movie 7/10, ok but not good. the ending sucked for me. i thought with all his experience spielberg could have had a better ending for his movie. the good thing was, it brough back all my nostalgia for the earlier indie movies. i did remember watching all 3 movies while i was young. i think my favourite was raiders of the lost ark. i dont'remember how indie's father died though. another interesting thing they put in the movie was siafu ants. my friend was telling me no such ant exists on planet earth. i agree....no ant is crazy enough to eat a russian baddie...but i did remember a documentary about fire ants in africa exactly like the one in the movie. the ones in africa are welcomed by the Masai warriors of kenya because they help to eat all the crop pests. but woe behold anyone or anything that comes in their way. i do not like those ants. i don't mind the malaysian red n black ants, but not those crazy african ants.
uugh. i know its nature, but imagine what it can do to a human. this is also exactly why i do not go into the jungle. i really wonder how tribes living in the jungle can avoid these sort of ants, and they are partialy nude and barefoot.
and finally, here is dj Tiesto with Traffic:
This is one of the very few club songs that i like. the other is Moby's 'i love to dance' but i can't find a nice video for that song.
i give the movie 7/10, ok but not good. the ending sucked for me. i thought with all his experience spielberg could have had a better ending for his movie. the good thing was, it brough back all my nostalgia for the earlier indie movies. i did remember watching all 3 movies while i was young. i think my favourite was raiders of the lost ark. i dont'remember how indie's father died though. another interesting thing they put in the movie was siafu ants. my friend was telling me no such ant exists on planet earth. i agree....no ant is crazy enough to eat a russian baddie...but i did remember a documentary about fire ants in africa exactly like the one in the movie. the ones in africa are welcomed by the Masai warriors of kenya because they help to eat all the crop pests. but woe behold anyone or anything that comes in their way. i do not like those ants. i don't mind the malaysian red n black ants, but not those crazy african ants.
uugh. i know its nature, but imagine what it can do to a human. this is also exactly why i do not go into the jungle. i really wonder how tribes living in the jungle can avoid these sort of ants, and they are partialy nude and barefoot.
and finally, here is dj Tiesto with Traffic:
This is one of the very few club songs that i like. the other is Moby's 'i love to dance' but i can't find a nice video for that song.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
im back from kl
there it is folks. i'm back in sleepy boring BP after 5 days in KL. i felt sooooo happy going back last friday. no ward rounds, no nothing to do. it took us 4 hours to go back to kl via the Yong Peng highway. We stopped at Ayer Keroh for a lunch break. That place is huuuuuge. The weekends was spent going to shopping malls, specifically midv. my mom just loves that place. Oh yeah, for mother's day, i just got here a few roses, since she likes that flower a lot. But,as i am going to work soon (hopefully) she has already started telling me what she WOULD like for next year's mother's day. A crystal tree. Costs about 400+. eh, its fine by me. i am thinking of getting a credit card once i start working. Not that i plan to max it out completely,its just for emergency purposes. There were no sales at all, i came to kl too soon. Sales will only start at the end of the month.
What i did do this weekend was to watch Iron Man.......starring the absolutely yummy Robert Downey Jr. He really suits the role, and i hope there will be a sequel to iron man. The movie has a good script, hot hero and some funny scenes in between.
Yes, folks. Robert Downey Jr can certainly rock my world anytime he wants to :)
I read that since the response to the movie was so good, they are thinking of making an iron man trilogy.
The next movie i'm planning to watch is Narnia's Prince Caspian. I just hope its slightly better than the second one.
I also went for some foot therapy last weekend. My mom and i tried some Fish spa, its those little fish that nibble on your dead skin cells on your foot. It cost us 38 dollars for half an hour. There are different levels of the fish spa. you progress from the little fish to the big fish, and there are a few pools for you to soak your foot in. My mom and i stuck to the little fish, because its VERY ticklish when they start chomping on your feet:
Picture 1: i'm just starting to put my feet in the pool
pic 2: fish start coming my way........
PIc 3: Attack of Dr fishies
Pic 4: More feet= less tickly feeling
I would still do the fish spa thing again,its fun and it really does make my feet look good. I also went for a facial, and it HURT LIKE HELL. The lady said there was so much gunk in my face. i swear that i'm getting more pimples in BP. Could be because its so hot here. ugh, i'm on holiday for 5 more days, and i have to finish most of my portfolios by next monday.
What i did do this weekend was to watch Iron Man.......starring the absolutely yummy Robert Downey Jr. He really suits the role, and i hope there will be a sequel to iron man. The movie has a good script, hot hero and some funny scenes in between.
Yes, folks. Robert Downey Jr can certainly rock my world anytime he wants to :)
I read that since the response to the movie was so good, they are thinking of making an iron man trilogy.
The next movie i'm planning to watch is Narnia's Prince Caspian. I just hope its slightly better than the second one.
I also went for some foot therapy last weekend. My mom and i tried some Fish spa, its those little fish that nibble on your dead skin cells on your foot. It cost us 38 dollars for half an hour. There are different levels of the fish spa. you progress from the little fish to the big fish, and there are a few pools for you to soak your foot in. My mom and i stuck to the little fish, because its VERY ticklish when they start chomping on your feet:
Picture 1: i'm just starting to put my feet in the pool
pic 2: fish start coming my way........
PIc 3: Attack of Dr fishies
Pic 4: More feet= less tickly feeling
I would still do the fish spa thing again,its fun and it really does make my feet look good. I also went for a facial, and it HURT LIKE HELL. The lady said there was so much gunk in my face. i swear that i'm getting more pimples in BP. Could be because its so hot here. ugh, i'm on holiday for 5 more days, and i have to finish most of my portfolios by next monday.
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