I am...

Going to Melaka... Wheeeeee!!!

Books! Books! Lovely Lovely Books!

This post may have arrived way late beyond its ETA.

But yeah, since I am practically on holidays now so WTV la.

WTV = whatever

Note: EXTREMELY AFFECTED BY THE FESTIVE MOOD.

But truthfully, this is my study break and whatever short time I have left to buck up in view of my MEGA-SCARY-HUMONGOUS-EXAMS -OF-UNIVERSAL-IMPORTANCE!!!

Which is arriving on the 5^th day of the Chinese New Year. Talk about getting a big angpow!!!

As a matter of fact, I don’t want to get a grade deserving of a red ink by any means.

And ahem, to think that I have had it bad enough. There’s more.

The following dictates my duties on the public holidays:

Christmas Eve and The Day itself: Internal Medicine attachment in Penang
(and the whole week thru, mind you!)

New Year’s Day: General and Family Medicine posting at a government hospital in a district, which does NOT HAVE BROADBAND COVERAGE!
(well, at least they have 80 sen per scoop ice-cream)

I digress, again.

Well, as you may have read on Ah Bong’s blog (too lazy to link html-ly), there was this Penguin Book Fair last month, which apparently only happens once every 5 years or so. It was at some factory zone/lot/place near Menara Axis. Hence, being the book-whore that I am, I paid the fair a lil visit of course.

(Yes, my landmarks are mostly gym buildings or malls. I am only able to recognise of such nature. I am a fag. Sue me!)

44 books!

Anyways, wanna make a shoutout to the friend who told me about it and brought me there. I don’t get the surprise element you wanted to pull off that day though. People, this guy is the official Google Earth – Klang Valley on legs.

O.M.F.G. *signature jawdrop* Yup, it happened to me, like I was on tetany when I grabbed a book and saw the price tag saying ‘RM10’

Dirt cheap, yes! Fabulously.

But the very first book I encountered was The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, Booker Prize winner 2006. Which I paid RM49.90 for, at Borders, 3 months prior.

WTF. (Acronym for what the f**k!)

My personal version has a little small dot on top of the 'F'. Recall your maths. You will get what I mean.

In short, I went book-crazy and grabbed like a dozen books and it was a rush, alright. We got there at 5.00 p.m. and it was bound to close an hour later. I definitely got some new reprints of some classics, leaped at the chance, literally.

There was no way I could finish getting new stuffs for my ever-expanding classy *cough cough* literary collection in time.

So I went back the next day. And the day after.

Total number of books acquired = 44

Total DAMAGE to bank account = RM 569

An average price of RM12.9318 for each book. Good buy no?

Anyways, to summarise things. Here is the purchased list.

RM22 for a hardcover novel!!!

1. Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman

2. Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman

3. Fragile Things – Neil Gaiman [Bought this as the first copy I had, had book-pneumonia on a sampan ride in Redang]

4. Panic (signed copy) – Jeff Abbott

5. Saving Fish from Drowning – Amy Tan

6. The Jane Austen Book Club – Karen Joy Fowler

7. Lion Boy – Zizou Corder

8. Trouble - Jesse Kellerman

9. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

10. A Walk to Remember - Nicholas Sparks

11. The Sonnets and A Lover’s Complaint – William Shakespeare

12. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

13. Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer [Elijah Wood on the cover!!!]

14. Single Professional Man – John Womersley

15. Odd One Out – Lissa Evans

16. The Undercover Economist – Tim Harford

17. Wicked – Gregory Maguire [Gay! Gay! Gay! married author]

18. Never the Bride – Paul Magrs [Younger Gay! Gay! Gay! author]

19. Hospital – Toby Litt

On the backcover:-
LOSING WEIGHT: "Keep on bearing children as long and as often as possible."
DRINKING WHISKEY: "Whiskey cures a great many ailments, infallibly by killing the patient."

20. A Book of Curious Advice: Most Unusual Manners, Morals, Medicine from Days of Yore – Ruth Pepper Summers

21. The Man who Ate Everything – Jeffrey Steingarten

22. The Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾ - Sue Townsend [LOVE THIS BOOK LONG TIME!]

23. Number Ten – Sue Townsend

24. Animal Farm - George Orwell [The BF's purchase]

25. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibson [The BF's purchase]

26. Will the Boat Sink the Water?: The Life of China’s Peasants – Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao [BANNED IN CHINA!]

27. The New Life – Orhan Pamuk

28. The Art of War – Sun Tzu [Who knows? Maybe someday we will go to war?]

29. Don’t Eat This Book – Morgan Spurlock [Another book to spur me to lose me flabs!]

30. Desperate Housewives: Behind Closed Doors – Marc Cherry?

[OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! I have always always always wanted to buy this super cool coffee table book! A memorabilia from Season 1. Always too broke for the ₤12.99 price tag! BUT NOW I HAVE IT!!! Wheee! *gleeful sinister laughter*]

31. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby

32. The Anatomy of Hope – Dr Jerome Groopman [Medicine-related book, ‘nuff said!]

33. The Merlion and The Hibiscus: Contemporary Short Stories from Singapore and Malaysia

34. Best Man – Matt Dunn [Err what's the male versh of chick lit? Dick lit? Someone enlighten me please!]

35. The Ex-Boyfriend’s Handbook – Matt Dunn

36. 4 Blondes – Candace Bushnell

37. Notes from a Turkish Whorehouse – Philip O’Ceallaigh [Fancy cover plus some donno-what book prize winner la!]

38. The Magpie Bridge – Liu Hong

39. Jennifer Government – Max Barry [The BF MADE me buy it!!!]

40. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian – Marina Lewycka [THIS LADY IS SOOOO FUNNY!]

41. Curse of the Mega-boobed Bimbos – Grace Dent [Haha... I wanna write the Mega-endowed Himbo version!]

42. Traditional Chinese Medicine for Women – Xiaolan Zhao [For Mummy Dearest, I Swear!]

Note the size difference, but only RM3 difference in price?

43. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro (Large Print)

44. Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro (Budget Print) - For the Ex Down South punya birthday!

This adds up the number of books I have bought but YET to read to a grand sum of 61!!!

*gasp!*

Because I Can Can Can!

I am going to wear happy whacky colours.

ALL WEEKEND LONG!

Tongue Tied

Bright cold silver moon
Tonight alone in my room
You were here just yesterday
Slight turn of the head
Eyes down when you said
I guess I need my life to change
Seems like something's just aren't the same
What could I say?

I need a little more luck than a little bit
Because every time I get stuck the words won't fit
And every time that I try I get tongue tied
I'll need a little good luck to get me by

I stare up at the stars
I wonder just where you are
You feel a million miles away
I wonder just where you are.

Was it something I said?
Or something I never did?
Or was I always in the way?
Could someone tell me what to say to just make you stay?

I need a little more luck than a little bit
Because every time I get stuck the words won't fit
And every time that I try I get tongue tied
I'll need a little good luck to get me by

I need a little more help than a little bit
Like the perfect one word no one's heard yet
Because every time that I try I get tongue tied
I need a little good luck to get me by this time

I know it feels like the end
Don't want to be here again
And we could help each other off the ground so we never fall down again
What it takes I don't care
We're gonna make it I swear
And we could help each other off the ground so we never fall down again

Revolution

How often do we lose control, lose sight of our direction? Of a central focus?

When life pushes you (however unwillingly) further and further onwards, and you feel all the adrenaline from the exhilaration and excitement. The magic of simply moving.

Staying put is soooooo boring, no?

But you know you are stuck in a twilight moment. The counting seconds, minutes, hours and ... years just disappear off the very edge of your orbits.

It is cold and you start to shiver. Rigor overwhelms. Those limbs you call hands, are no longer steady. Draw them close to cover your eyes. Then let your sight soar.

Stop and stare.

You know you are moving but you're going nowhere.

What is there for you in here? Instead of racing forwards, you suddenly fall into what seems like a dark, pitch black bottomless pit.



Are you afraid of the infinite?

Then you remember.

You are caught in between.

Those times when the mirror's not your friend, but you are in such need for a friend, a friend that comes from within yourself. There's absolutely nothing to do, for the mirror shows what you think others see in you...

What now? What will cushion your fall before you break your cervical spine and turn paraplegic... either that or this may be your fulminant ending if the concrete is catches you instead.



Enough with the labels.

You can change everything. Everything.
Your own revolution.


Do you see what I see?

F.Y.I.

I am feeling groggy.

LOL. Ever wondered how to get a hangover without even drinking alcohol?

Try falling unconscious on the bed, unresponsive to attempts to 'resuscitate' at 9.30 p.m. and rising at 4.30 a.m.

Oh my, my innate clock is going haywire, I know?

Anyways, I digress. (Gosh, I am developing a habit of this!)

I have not been blogging much as of late, (although I was really planning to revive the regular posting schedule as per prior), *cough cough* I am just really a failure at meeting deadlines, more so if they're self-inflicted.

Writers' block, or bloggers' block, in this case, stinks more than a block of rotten cheese.


Therefore... I am inviting YOU, my lovely, huggable, snog-worthy readers to be my Muses; to shower me with inspirations.

Each person is entitled to ONE question about ME, MYSELF, AND I...


Just leave it short, simple and sweet in the comments section, alrighty?

I will attempt to answer questions in the 'most interesting way' on the blog, provided it does not divulge too much of my personal life, or a trap to make me say something controversial that will see me locked up in 'the local neighbourhood gaol', for longer than forever....

That being said... HAPPY GREAT MALAYSIAN SALE QUARTER 4 2007!!!

Dots. The follow-up to this post (being the answers to the questions asked) will be up within the week... =P

No Air

If I should die before I wake
It's cause you took my breath away
Oh! Losing you is like living in a world with no air

I'm here alone, didn't wanna leave
My heart won't move it's incomplete
If there was a way that I could make you understand

But how do you expect me to live alone with just me?
'Cause my world revolves around you
It's so hard for me to breathe.

Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air?
Can't live, can't breathe with no air
It's how I feel whenever you ain't there
It's no air, no air

Got me out here in the water so deep
Tell me how you gon breathe without me?
If you ain't here I just can't breathe
It's no air, no air

I walk, I ran, I jump, I flew
Right off the ground to float to you
WIth no gravity to hold me down forreal

But somehow I'm still alive inside
You took my breathe but I survived
I don't how but I don't even care

So how do you expect me to live alone with just me?
'Cause my world revolves around you
It's so hard for me to breathe

No more.

It's no air, no air...

Learning Odd Stuff

In the integrated curriculum of my university, the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) system is considered the leading engine that drives all other modes of learning. The emphasis in PBL is not in the intrigue of diagnosis, but in the opportunities to ask questions about related aspects of biomedical sciences.

What a big bunch of bull!

LOL... PBL is basically a 'mutated' form of tutorial classes, except that without having a lecturer tutoring us... the members of the PBL group (9-11 people) share/teach each other about respective topics or 'Learning Issues' relevant to the patient case and pathology.

Well, I guess some people might say it's a way for the university to save money (while suctioning a lot of fees from us) despite its claim that this will make us 'life-long learners', extremely applicable in the field of medicine, ahem!

Fine by me. I just wanna survive the next 7 semesters (long long time it is) and graduate and get my license and then (insert future plans!) I have been quite lucky to have pretty co-operative and enthusiastic group members, whom some I have never known existed in my batch before this. I cannot say the same about all the facilitators-cum-lecturers though. Good ones, are excruciatingly, hard to come by.

Anyways, it's common ground to have to include The Package while coming up with Learning Issues together (yes, we decide what we want to discuss!). What's the package, one wonders?

The Package usually includes:

1. Anatomy of the (affected) Organs/Systems/Regions
2. Physiology of the above
3. Biochemistry (if any)
4. Pathological aspects
5. Clinical presentations
6. Principles of Treatment and Management
7. Epidemiology and Public Health Aspects
8 (the much-dreaded) Social and Preventive Medicine side... or as we call it here, Behavioural Sciences and Community Medicine

Pretty normal for medical studies right?

Guess what I have to research on (one of them anyway!) for tomorrow's meeting session?

BIOCHEMISTRY OF FLATULENCE!!!

*faints and rolls on the floor like a spring roll*

And I shall leave you, lovable readers of mine, with some worthy quotes, relevant to the issue above!

• The noises commonly associated with flatulence are caused by the vibration of the analsphincter, and not by the buttocks.

• The sound varies depending on the tightness of the sphincter muscle and velocity of the gas being propelled, as well as other factors such as water and body fat.

• Humans are also known to flatulate during sleep, largely due to the relaxed state of body muscles, which results in the average person flatulating about 10-20 times through any given night.

• Nerve endings in the rectum usually enable individuals to distinguish between flatus and feces, although loose stool can confuse the individual, occasionally resulting in accidental defecation.

• In 1998, Chester "Buck" Weimer of Pueblo, Colorado, USA received a patent for the first undergarment that contained a replaceable charcoal filter. The undergarments are air-tight and provide a pocketed escape hole in which a charcoal filter can be inserted.

• Flatulence is often blamed as a significant source of greenhouse gases owing to the erroneous belief that the methane released by livestock is in the flatus.While livestock account for around 20% of global methane emissions, 90 to 95% of that is released by exhaling or burping. This means only 1–2% of global methane emissions come from livestock flatus.

Like, OMG!!!

Give Up

Me has tried uploading pictures to my blog entries for the past 2 days.

No avail.

=(

Retail Therapy Went Awry

Extra! Extra! This just in...

This weekend, I am going to watch the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in action... at their dewan, of course.

with Carl Davis, as the conductor, performing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake!!!


But I digress.

I went after lunch to Suria to purchase the tickets (All Hail Student Discount!) and ended up strolling around the mall.

Hmm, planned to splurge on myself now that the exams are over, at least for the next 30 days.
After all the traumatic experiences having had befallen me, retail therapy is much needed. I figured. A simple therapeutic afternoon out, with friends. But well, the budget's ever meagre and limited lah. As per usual.

"I can control myself and spend minimally. Yes I can. Yes. Yes. YESSSS!!!"

Imagine the glee rubbing between my hands when I successfully walked out of Topman and Isetan, empty handed!

And then... (insert) a few other boutiques/shops as well.

Finally, somehow when I was on escalator upwards and upon besighting the big blueeee signboard... I felt an odd sense of apprehension.

It was like, an inner monologue.

"Don't enter the premises ... survive and die another day"

Or something popping out from like, a Harry Potter book.


Or something like, like that.


True enough. I managed to walk out alive, with an extremely lighter wallet! *frowns*

But with theeeesee...

Hmm, not exactly NEW ARRIVALS... But yeah, some new books, some books which I have been wanting to buy for a long time. I don't know what got into me. But I don't usually spend like 400 Malaysian Ringgit on books, at one go! Especially when they are not of the academic-slash-encyclopedia kind.


1. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (hmm, he looks very young for a 53 year old dude!)

2. SLAM! - Nick Hornby (Haha, I was surprised when I first read his last name as HORNY!!! Shh... Don't tell anyone but the main reason I bought the book was because of the COOL COVER!!!)

3. Thousand Words of Gold - Adeline Yen-Mah (I so totally beyond words, extremely, profoundly, adoringly obssesively LURVE her FALLING LEAVES autobiography!

4. Weight Loss - Upamanyu Chaterjee (err... cos I want the big title to serve as a motivation for me to burn some fat, as well?)



Some medical-related yet non-academic books, just for the heck of it!

5. What I Learned from Medical School (a collection of medical student life stories... I'D LIKE TO LET THE WORLD KNOW THAT I WAS MAINLY COAXED INTO BUYING THIS BOOK!)

6. The Knife Man - Wendy Moore (Blood and Gore and Science... Yummy!)

7. Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery - Richard Selzer (err... the title speaks for itself!)




Now, I have to sustain myself on plain white porridge. More kicap, less pepper! No spring onions please!


Guess this is karma, Another day, another drama...

24

1. Phew!
2. It feels so exhilarating and relieving at the same time that I have succesfully survived my FIRST EVER clinical skills examination!!!
3. And emerged... with a pass, at least, I hope?
4. Mushrooms and parsley mixed together - not really a good idea for a salad.
5. 4 completely vegetarian dishes for dinner... can be kinda nauseating.
6. I spent TWICE the amount of money I have actually planned for today.
7. Yet, I still wanna go shopping... with Topman discount coupons at hand!
8. But I am going to get M to S sizes.
9. I may not fit into those sizes, as of yet.
10. But in due time, with a little perseverance and discipline, I believe.
11. Which reminds me, I love my gym life.
12. The one I kinda abandoned after starting the maniacal disaster that is medical school.
13. Here, I found YOU.
14. And YOU, allocate more space on our gigantic queen size bed for me please? *wink wink*
15. On the verge of falling off, every morning.
16. Oh yeah, back to ME: eat less, binge less (purge more?), stay slim and sexy!
17. Be a HOT Geek!
18. I keep on having some deja vu worthy moments.
19. They remind me of quirky dreams I had not-so-prior to their occurences.
20. Digressing, I wanna watch Stardust!
21. Yes, no... I have not caught that blockbuster on the silver screen as of yet.
22. Sue me, anyone?
23. I am having this incessant calling to hang out with more of my friends with the "alternative sexuality" (my choice, of course)
24. Hmm, and a proper update shall fill this spot within the same amount of hours! [I hope!]

I like November.

I do. I do.

For now... =)

Lagenda

So I guess I spent my Sunday pretty productively...

Had a nice family breakfast and lunch with the closer bunch of cousins and aunt. Brought them to my apartment and showed them how I have been living like for the past year. (close to a dump-slash-bachelor's pad somewhat)

I guess even people related by blood need to renew the bonds and camaderie once in a while. Even better so, when done, over endless brews of premier Tianjin Oolong cha, heart-attack-inducing hypersugary cupcakes and wantan noodles.

The weird mix, describes befittingly the identity of my maternal family (in the extended form). Bamboo shoots growing waywardly (towards Savoy maybe) yet heavily rooted to the China-ness and watered upon by the local torrents. Ooookay, another odd analogy huh?

And then I went to watch this...


Yup, me did successfully acquire pretty good (and pricey tickets) for the very hyped-up, sensation of the local theatre scene, P. RAMLEE THE MUSICAL at Istana Budaya! [Honestly, I gotta thank CK (good friend and part of the stellar cast) who leaked out news about the extra tickets available after a corporate booking yang tak jadi!)

Also, thank the magnificent powers of STUDENT DISCOUNT!!! I got the best tickets (cos they were the only ones left) RM200.00 at RM161.50 (RM1.50 ticket handling fee) 20% discount wei!

Note: Food at the cafeteria at the national theatrette TOTALLY FAIL AND CANNOT MAKE IT! Yet mahal cam nak memufliskan segala pelanggannya!


Yup, the oh-so-famous Royal Albert Hall songbird of Malaysia, Dato' Siti Nurhaliza who is coincidentally a Datin made a special appearance as one of the 5 main leads, playing Azizah, muse to P.Ramlee from his younger, waaaayyy younger days.

One wonders why is she a main lead although her total stage time did not exceed 10 minutes (even if it includes the final cast acknowledgment at the end) in a production that is approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes long. It comes with the name I guess. Branding of the Made-in-Malaysia kind.

I am not really qualified to make a proper review on the show but I loved it. Spectacular with an excellent cast, wonderful songs, a kinda cogent storyline and sufficient excitement in store.

But I gotta say, I love love love the love duet between P. Ramlee and Azizah in the first Act. Very the mushy, sweet and pulling heartstrings at all the right places.


Me is still trying to decipher whether the 'd' lookalike on top of the Dato's signature meant Dato'? or <3?

Sean Ghazi did very well. Well with his voice and demeanour, he'd make anyone swoon. But I think the leading ladies of the show STOLE ALL THE LIMELIGHT!!!

The Jealous Junaidah (1st wife) , The Numbing Norizan (2nd wife, former consort of some Sultan) and The Seductilicious Songstress Saloma (love of his life? 3rd and final wife)

Loved the portrayal of Junaidah (or Junainah? Dah? Nah? Dah? Nah? LOL) by Atilia... ooohh somehow I can't take my eyes off her. I love the whole lady-in-kebaya image! Had hoped for a longer stage time for her though. Aww, too bad.

Melissa Saila totally blew me away with her role as the 2nd wife. Modern, never seen in a Melayu outfit, and very independent. Yet succumbing to be a lonely, neglected wife at the end. OMG WOW the confrontation between P. Ramlee and Norizan when they gaduh besar till I nearly thought he would shout talak tiga, was my fave break-up scene EVER!

And of course, Liza Hanim as Saloma... Hmm, I cannot imagine anyone else playing that role any better lor. Voluptous, sexy in a totally abiding-by-the-holy-books way, and an artiste in her own right. The chemistry between her and Sean Ghazi was scorching!

What I cannot get is why some guys in the seats behind me whistled everytime she golek-ed? EVERYTIME OKAY!!!

Like, this is NOT TV3's Karnival Sure Heboh lah?

[After the show] As we were broke from the tickets which were still off-budget for students (even after Student Discount), The Boyfriend and I had packed chap fan for dinner under the lights of this national pride.

Saloma sings this at the end of the closing act:

Dan siapakah dia
yang telah berjaya
menghuni di hati
kita semua?
Dia telah membawa
Makna dan kenangan
Cinta yang pertama…


But yeah, I have like NOT fallen in love with P. Ramlee (with all due respect, he was a great influence on terrestrial TV as I was growing up) but I have gained a whole new respect for the local theatre scene ... as impressed with the Season 2 of Puteri Gunung Ledang - The Musical last year.

It's corny and stuff, but somehow, I believe that if the trend of Malaysian arts is progressing continues this way, then maybe, just maybe, this industry can exclaim Malaysia Boleh!

Gelora

Langit malam tidak mampu sembunyi,
Terang bulan yang berseri-seri,
Ku bersaksi sakti gelora ini,
Indah, melampaui bidadari.

Disini resah jiwaku tenggelam
Terluah jatuh disambut bayu malam
Bulan jadi cerminan diri,
Idami bintang mencuit hati.

Sentuhan luar biasa,
Seakan jiwaku terpisah,
Kembali bersatu, diijabkabulkan,
Apakah berakhir di syurga.

Takkan putus darah
Yang mengalir merah
Mengikat insan,
Jiwa raga dan pengabdian

Random

OMG the University Hospital is DAMN BIG LAAAA... [I am saying so cos I have been getting lost around the Nuclear Medicine Department waaay too often these days]

FYI, did you know that UMMC (Universiti Malaya Medical Centre) and UMSC (Universiti Malaya Specialists Centre) are two separate entities under different administrations?

Random, I know.

I have been spending a lot, way too much time, at my attachment-slash-training, learning Hypnotherapy... for Pain Management.

I wonder if it's okay for me to use the techniques to get Chad, into bed? *winks*

Seriously, last Saturday, I spent the whole night, trying to help a patient manage the pain from her boobies tumour (with a REAL doctor, of course), from 7.00pm till 3.30am.

I guess after spending nearly 2 weeks of reading page after page... after page (and actually absorbing the gargantuan psychotic, in more ways than one, info) of this book...


One needs to splurge on food like the ones below...




I kinda splurged on Iced Mocha and the infamous atherosclerotic Double Chocolate Cupcake with Marshmallow Ganache while waiting for my ordered food to be packed.

It was dinner for TWO, mind you!

Clockwise from top left,
1. Salmon Teriyaki with Cold Soba and Pickled Cucumbers (superbly done I must add),
2. Peking Duck Wrap with Hoisin Sauce (tomorrow's breakfast on the go!),
3. Caesar's Salad with Turkey Bacon, (top notch!)
4. House Dressing ala Malaysian-ised, (works well with everything I bought)
5. Calamari with Iceberg Lettuce tinkled with Lemon Essence, and
6. Garden Fresh selection Salad.

YUM YUM YUM!!!

50% off after 9pm!!!

(pardon me cos I am on a student's budget)

and i spent less than 30 bucks on a very very very sumptuous dinner... for two!

What's on My Desktop?

Okay, I am doing this meme request first due to several reasons:

1. Got tagged by TWO people (at least that I know of, thus far), Sam of Transmission08 and Adrienz. Like why the toot, ME?

2. Seems simpler and shorter to complete! Minimal brainpower needed.

3. Probably a considerably good transition phase from my heavily loaded with pictures recent posts!

sooo.... *insert anticipatory drumroll OR excitable thriller music* [whichever strikes your fancy, honey!]

TADAAAAA!!!

This is like a screenshot of my desktop as it is... like an hour ago! Haha

Thanks to the housemate-in-the-smallest-room who edited it for me cos me too lazy to do anything about it. Yada yada yada...

Hmm... the background picture is of two soft toys in a sexually suggestive position, don't you think? Both gifts from The Boyfriend, when he was shopping for groceries. Hump hump hump.

*how sentimental don't you agree?*

And yeah, that was the print on my quilt... till a few weeks ago! [Yesh, old picture this ish!]

I guess you can condemn me and say that my desktop is oh-so-messy/cluttered/disorganised. But I think it is more of A.B.A.N.D.O.N.E.D.

I rarely maximise the old of my good old desktop these days. Only a few programs are utilised frequently. Firefox for surfing. MSN for the much-needed virtual socialising. MS Word for typing reports/assignments. And VLC for watching my OMGawd-SO-COOL Gossip Girl Series.

So what you can find on the desktop is... the pre-set several shortcuts. My Computer. My Documents [a treasure fort of findings to be divulged at a later date! *winks*], and yeah RECYCLE BIN [hardly anything gets recycled from it la. Not compost bin anyway!].

Also, some shortcuts to kinda-neglected-rarely-used snazzy softwares like Dimsum (Chinese text thingamajig) and Limewire!

Hmm... guess what? Got the one or two rare media files downloaded on the desktop too. Randomly placed. Along with a folder or two from helping out with Dad's business ventures.

And of course, boring studies stuff and HOMEWORK/Assignments/PRESENTATIONS!!!

Ahem ahem, that is all then. Joshy has NO fancy artsy desktop background nor systematic arrangement.


Guess the randomness of the desktop reflects pretty accurately on the user, huh?

Random Pictures To Fill the Blog

and xiong honey, will do the High School Meme soon... before Raya hopefully lalalalalala

A Wave is Coming

I miss the coral blue sea. The music of the crashing waves.

Nothing's real until you let go completely.

I miss the sand in between my toes.

Swept ashore, burnt and abandoned.

At the end of the horizon, will I find a glimpse of me?

#$%(#&$^*%#$@

BUT I HAVE CLASSES TILL 6.30 p.m. TOMORROW!!! Grr... DAMN IT!!!

FARK FARK FARK!!!

pardon my sudden impulsive need to cuss!

Clickety-Clack Shebang-Bang Da-Wham!

Hmm so I have started the second year of medical school, very well for slightly a month already. Ha most probably flunked my mid-terms I had last week. But still, it is good so far.

It has been tumultous, with a lot of fun, not-so-fun and a little so-not-fun bits. I really look forward to whatever entails in the future. But darn, I am not a very far-sighted person. My plans most likely just involve whatever's outside my bedroom door.

The first year was rough. The second appears to be an uphill hike.

But I doubt anything can top what happened in the 3 months break in between.

Yup, I have done so many things and looking back, WHERE DID MY HOLIDAYS GO? I am still grateful though. In that time period which most people might use to plan new apartment renovations or even a lightning wedding, I guess I grew.

A week away from civilisation, on a world-famous idyllic resort island. YET NOT SPENDING ANY MONEY (except the transportation there and other basics) I also cut a huge chunk off my celly's bill that week. But more importantly, I learned to appreciate Mother Nature more (yaya... very high school essay on "MENCINTAI ALAM SEKITAR" right?)

You didn't really actually bought that right? LOL

I will spare the details... but surviving a speedboat ride in a thunderstorm out in the open South China Sea, with NO SATELLITE PHONE, NO NEAR JETTY IN SIGHT... AND NO TRAVEL INSURANCE!!! Well, it just made me WHOA! Trust me, it was exactly like a stormy scene off any Pirates of the Caribbean flick or any Titanic-ish shows. Minus the fiction+CGI part... Ah yes, a lot of screaming was involved. And bum-banging too!

I WAS REALLY CAUGHT IN A THUNDERSTORM IN THE OPEN SOUTH CHINA SEA IN A TINY SPEEDBOAT! AND I SURVIVED!

GUESS WHAT! I conquered Mt. Kinabalu the NEXT DAY!!!

The place has become so commercialised, anyone can google and learn about the experience, so i refrain from being redundant on the World Wide Web. So I will just describe in single word sentences.

Crazy. Never-ending. Cramp. Raining. Non-stop. Bonding. Cold. Wet. Liberating. Perseverance. Pain. 5-minutes-at-the-Summit. Sunrise. Clouds. Lotsa. Clouds. RM15-NasiGoreng.

Nearly-DIED-ed [cos ma friends decided to take the LONGER, HARDER, MADDER WAY].

And I'd say it's a ONCE IN A LIFETIME thingy cos I am (most likely) NEVER gonna do it ever again! Especially hardly anyone would be so crazy as I was, conquering this peak with an injured KNEE!

FYI, some freak did it in less than 3 hours!

Hmm... What did I do after that? Ah yes, just followed doctors around in a hospital in Penang for a week or so. Literally being their trolls. Lived the life of real doctors, different types of them (work ethics and personality, I mean, not specialty) Loved it.

The life that awaits.

I love the bonding and friendship that exists between an internist and his/her patients... yet I love the excitement of the craft of surgery. [Most of the time, I just stood in the Operation Theatre while banging my head to the Funk music blasting from the surgeon's iPod. Yes, periodically nodding and "Umm, Yes" when he tells me about some ligament/joint/muscle/anatomical structure which I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NEVER HEARD OF!!!]

Like WTF is the supraglenoid tubercle of the scapula?????

Well, I later proceeded to help Malaysia win some award at a medical conference (my contribution was borderline minimal =P) Eh, that makes me a 'everyday hero' of sorts, right? Er, maybe not.

Shh, let you in on something... HONGKIE MED STUDENTS ARE EFFING SCORCHING HOT STUFFS (both genders, I must stress!) [But Indon ones SO CANNOT MAKE IT LAH. Never seen so much ugliness congregate and mis-represent their nation] There must be like an unwritten rule that one has to be HOT HOT HOT to be admitted to med school in HK.

Evil.

"It's amazing how one learns on the job" I quote a friend. Hospital postings with gullible patients, ever ready to expose themselves to be examined by semi-qualified med students, walao... people treating me like I actually know stuff. The me who totally SUCKED crappily in clinical skills practice sessions, totally ROCKED in the real setting! *phew*

AHEM... time for the [shitty] POO POO parts.

The times were trying for me lovelife. Sank down in the deepest well of misery. But I got up.

Things don't always go the way you want it to.

How often does one get crushed by the burdens of faith anyway??? I handled it much better than I had expected. Gotta fight for something we believe in right? Right.

I have lots of things to cherish. Simply stick to status quo and see where that leads. Worry not bout issues out of our control innit?

So yeah, more or less that's my recent life recollections... in a nutshell.

Life. Mine to live.

I just cannot stand still
'Cause the world keeps spinning round and round

And my heart's keeping time to the speed of sound.

And yeah I grew. Horizontally, even more. =(

Massage, Anyone?

Found on a door of a toilet cubicle in Midvalley... LOL somehow it just strikes me as being funny haha

People Change

Didn't hear a tone are you, hello
Never hear a tone I guess you know,
Can't remember what I called to say,
Thought you might be home on Saturday.

I really can't believe it's been a year
It took a little time without you here,
I'm guessing you survived alone somehow,
It's good I can joke about it now.

I still avoid the park at Christopher,
Never wanna feel the way we were.
Unless I'm in a hurry for that train,
That's the only newstand open late.

People change, everyday. Change like you.
I got all the time in the world.
People cry, all the time. Cry like me.
We got all the time in the world.

It's been so long that no one even asks,
and everybody's walking on the grass.
Grass that took a while to reappear,
I'd forgotten green without you here.

Christmas came and went upon this bench,
Trying to justify what made no sense.
Now the ivy's overrun the tears,
But it could never hide what happened here.

People change, everyday. Change like you.
I got all the time in the world.
People cry, all the time. Cry like me.
We got all the time in the world.

Filling in the conversation by myself.
Filling in the reason why you leave me leaving leaving,
Thinking back the hope we had was more than mine,
I know it makes sense to you,
Just make it make sense to me.

Maybe I'm alive beneath the snow,
Maybe you're too petrified to know.
I can't believe that you would tell me lies,
How could I have missed that in those eyes.

Maybe if I only heard your voice,
I would understand you had no choice.
Though I'm glad it's clear for you to see,
I wish that you could make it make sense to me.

People cry, all the time. Cry like me.
I got all the time in the world.
Flowing in and out your life, by tomorrow morning.
Flowing in and out my life.

This

I have never felt so sad in my whole life, thus far.

I have never cried so much.

I have never felt so alone.

I have never been so scared of falling asleep and dreaming.

Not even when anyone close to me died.

I am feeling like a huge failure.

I am feeling so many things, I can't even describe them.

This is the lowest point of my life.

It will take a lot and a long long time... for me to climb up this steep cliff...

And be happy again.


Please tell me I can do it.

Anyeong Hasaeyo!

So... I was in Seoul, South Korea (Don't get why the locals insist on dropping the "South" when referring to their own country... NOT YET REUNITED YET LA, HELLO!!!) for a week last month. I was AHEM AHEM representing our beloved soon-to-be 50-years old country in a competition...
Hmm... just look at the portion of pics I am posting along, below la OK?

Seoul is really nice... BUT 90% OF THEIR SUBWAYS HAVE NO ESCALATORS... @^$*$%^*@! Fabulous me had to slug my heavy heavy luggage up and down flight after flight of granite staircases. So unglam OK?

My main problem was... MOST OF THE SIGNS IN RESTAURANTS AND ESTABLISHMENTS... ARE ALL IN KOREAN!!!

You can only see English in the airport and govt offices... more or less absent elsewhere!

Quite nice public toilet...

Please queue here... to use the urinals!!! =)

There are statues of over-bulky muscular men on the roads...

As well as of men wrestling each other in public...

I Am That Guy

I am that guy who is super duper lazy to reply comments left on my blog.

I am that guy who still loves to read comments left on my blog, except the spamming ones.

I am that guy who likes to eat ayam.

I am that guy who likes to eat babi, also.

I am that guy who turned semi-vegetarian this week.

I am that guy, who never really studied in school or college, being busy with everything not related to studies.

I am that guy, who was the first guy to have a mobile phone in my secondary school class.

I am that guy who damaged that very first “Alcatel” mobile phone, 2 months later.

I am that guy who drives the cheapest car among all my friends.

I am that guy who was repeated rejected by practically anyone I liked.

I am that guy who once thought I’m never ever gonna have a boyfriend because I’m just not part of the gang into the ‘scene’.

I am that guy who commented on the wrong blog and freaked you out.

I am that guy who did the same abovementioned mistake twice more, carelessly.

I am that guy who thought you would have ignored me by then.

I am that guy who started chatting with you on MSN while in class.

I am that guy who kept sending you songs from my playlist, practically everyday.

I am that guy whose heart cried a river when you thought you are not the right type for me.

I am that guy who pretended to be your boyfriend, for you to ward off unwanted attention by guys you don't like.

I am that guy who was so nervous to meet you that I ran away after a glance.

I am that guy who called you for consolation for hours on the night of my late grandmother’s funeral.

I am that guy who was so afraid to look you in the eye when we first met.

I am that guy who didn't want to hold your hand because I was shy.

I am that guy who grabbed your hand when Jim Brickman performed “Valentine” during his concert last year.

I am that guy who watched The Lake House with you on our first date.

I am that guy who didn't stop being your boyfriend since then.

I am that guy who bought 70% of all your soft toys. You’re the guy who bought all the soft toys lying on my bed now. Even though we’re both guys and we’re not supposed to even know how to appreciate soft toys.

I am that guy who had to put up with your passion to play ALL sports, taking some of ‘our time’.

I am that guy who rejoiced when I was accepted to the same university as you are in.

I am that guy who started to learn cooking because of you.

I am that guy who frequently made you the guinea pig for my culinary experiments.

You are that guy made me scrambled eggs for breakfast, at least until you decided sleeping is more important than making breakfast for me.

I am that guy whose life was made complete when my mum started accepting you as part of the family. Well, at least, she doesn’t hate you!

I am that guy who was freaked when my mum asked you to move in with me to save money on rent. Guess you freaked out more!

I am that guy who wishes the two of you could really get along with each other.

I am that guy whose mouth you shoved a chocolate ice-cream sandwich into when I was halfway telling you I'm trying to lose weight.

I am that compulsive idiot who threw a huge fit on you because I found out you sprained your ankle real bad while playing basketball.

I am that guy who always argues that my nephew is a way cuter baby than your niece.

I am that guy who made the both of us close to bankruptcy because of my expensive tastes.

I am that guy who gave you more silly nicknames than a dictionary could give.

I am that jealous dumbo who turned green when that CW guy kept sending you messages even though you made it clear that he was just a platonic friend.

I am that guy who rolled you up in a comforter and called you a popiah.

I am that guy who wants to be a househusband in the future while you work hard to buy our dream condominium!

I am that guy who made you sad so often because of my unpredictable tempers and stupid inconsiderate behaviour.

I am that guy who crushed your heart with my dark past.

I am that guy who left you alone for most days for the past 2 months because of my frequent travels.

I am that guy who cried when I lost the elections. You are that guy who came right then to be by my side, to give me strength.

I am that guy who can’t stop babbling and bore you with my nonsense. You are that guy who smiled and (acted) interested still.

I am that guy who always screws up all the romantic surprises I concocted for you.

I am that guy who sends you handmade cards with corny messages inside.

I am that guy who bought you freshly imported pricey chocolates which made all my girl friends jealous of you.

I am that guy who spent too much while travelling to get you an actual present for this occasion, so this is my gift to you. *sniggers*

I am that guy who doubts the future and what it holds for us. You are the reason my faith in our love is intensifying.

Yet, I am the guy who cherishes every single second of every minute of every hour of every day of these 12 months that we have shared our lives together.

Yes, I am that guy who gave you that soft toy puppy sitting on your computer monitor.

And on this day, I am just that guy who wants to say to you,

"Happy 1^st Anniversary , Dear!!!"