Lundu!

Yeah! Went for a trip with my friends to Lundu.

12 of us altogether. Drove in 3 cars. Reached destination in about 1 hour plus. We stopped at the town for lunch. Wasn't a good experience for me. I ordered "lemon chicken rice". Well, usually they'll just pour some syrup over the chicken. But the cook was very generous. Poured syrup over the rice as well... Yeah... Imagine eating a plate of rice with Sunkist as gravy. And the kopi-O-peng I ordered was RM1.60...

Usually the beaches at Lundu are the destination of its visitors. There are 2 beaches in Lundu. Siar beach and Pandan beach. The one that we went to was Siar beach. We stayed a night at the Union Yes Retreat and Training Centre, just beside the beach.

Once we checked-in, we split up for activities. 5 of us (myself included) went to hike up Gunung Gading (GG) while the rest stayed behind to enjoy the beach. The entrance to GG is located between the town of Lundu and Siar beach. So from the town, you'll reach GG first, then Siar beach and finally Pandan beach.

I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Rafflesia... And there it was!

On an information board... unfortunately it wasn't the season for it... Bummer, it even has a season... but anyways, we still managed to get to see some of nature's beauty...

(look familiar?)

and best of all...

waterfalls! You'll need to hike there though. We managed to reach the 7th waterfall (our goal), and it was a well rewarded experience. The trail only leads to waterfall 1, 3 and 7. We bypassed the first 2 as they were not that "interesting" (according to my friend - I don't know, it's my first time there lol). I like to take photographs of waterfalls. With the right shutter speed, the scenery can be beautiful~

Taking some of the shots were risky business, for my camera, that is. For the scenery above I had to climb up the lower part of the stream where rocks were slippery and small but strong waterfalls were pushing down on me. I actually hesitated... Me falling is no big deal, but my camera would be gone if it goes into the water below. I thought of ways to get up without getting my camera wet, couldn't thought of any and gave up. I'll just leave the memories in my head. Then my friend asked me to hold my camera in my mouth. That way I could reduce the risk of falling into the water as I am able to be more mobile. Well, I did it, ignoring the possibility of getting infections into my mouth lol.

These are some of the shots taken at the upper part of the stream...

Back at the retreat centre, we had buffet dinner (they offer buffet dinner every saturday, RM25 per person), then played pool and foosball, played cards, going to the beach, while some jumped into the swimming pool.

I took my guitar out to play with another friend, and we thought we saw a shooting star lol. The sky is full of stars, away from the light polution of the city.

We spent the next morning at the beach. I woke up at 5am+ in hopes to see the sunrise, only to be disappointed by the rain! When there's rain, there're clouds! Oh well...

All in all, it was a great trip for me. Rarely I am able to go on a trip with them in a big group.

Perhaps it is my last trip with them together. It is only less than a year before they will all graduate and leave this place. Some may choose to work here in Kuching, but mostly would return to their hometown. By then most of my friends I'm close with will be gone. It's gonna get lonelier next year...

Back after a long break

Whew... It's been a while since I wrote something here.

Just finished my ophthalmology posting. Overall, it was fun and interesting, yet hectic. Ophthalmology is considered a "minor" posting, and given only 3 weeks in the academic schedule. All you need to know about the human eye and its associations in 3 weeks. Too short. There's a lot to learn and see if you really want to be good at it.

And now I nothing to do. Just killing time sitting around... I've finished all the latest chapters of the mangas I follow. Well, I'll be going for badminton at 10 later, but till then, nothing to do!!! Perhaps just sit in front of my laptop...

Gonna be tidying my room tomorrow morning. Yeah.

Dermatitis

Argh, can't sleep. Must be the coffee I drank during dinner...

Today at a dermatologist's clinic, I saw a case of irritant contact dermatitis. She's a 31-year-old lady who's a music teacher. She wore gloves when doing laundry or washing stuff. I noticed that her right fingers were reddish, swollen, scaling. Left hand's fine. Some questions were asked, like her job, whether or not she came in contact/touch anything like gardening and flowers, cooking, washing fish/prawns, cleaning, stuff like that. The dermatologist told her that the common culprits are detergent, some sour/spicy substance as in cooking materials, pollens, and he went on advising the lady on all the preventive measures against detergents.

I think otherwise. If you think about it, only her right hand (she confirmed it to be her dominant hand) was affected. Left hand's fine. Do you wash laundry or raw food with just your dominant hand? Do you do cleaning with just your dominant hand? Surely you need both hands to get the job done. On top of that, she had said that she wore gloves while doing those chores. So there is a high possibility of her coming in contact with the allergen while not wearing the gloves i.e. not those chores were not irritating her skin.

I think it's something that just needs her to use her dominant hand, like writing with a pen, holding the keys, pc mouse, spraying insecticide, etc., which had was contaminated with the allergen. There were many things I wished to ask further, but I remembered the advice of my lecturer to not butt in, to avoid any unwanted trouble. Oh well... I really was dying to know more and tell her my experience as well (yup, the strongest suspicion would be that I'm allergic to dust, for now), so maybe she could watch out, find out the possible allergen, and avoid it altogether. Common is common, but not always.

Few years back, when I went to see a dermatologist, he too said the same thing about the detergent. In fact, all the doctors in the past kept saying detergent as the cause. Very rarely do they mention about other allergens, like dust/dust mites. I wash plates, do laundry, cook and clean WITHOUT gloves, and my hands are still fine. But, my hands started to sting when I touched keyboards, be it laptop or desktop, or some dusty items. So I believe the allergen causing my hands to be like that, is dust, or dust mites. Either one. Case closed. Perhaps.

11:10 PM

That's the time I started to write on my newest entry. I'm really exhausted today. Had the usual routine of going to the Klinik Kesihatan Kota Samarahan. Today was my last day being attached there. We had 3 lecturers a.k.a. family medicine specialists taking turns accompanying us there. It was a great experience, though it was not as great when we had to follow the medical officers as the lecturers had to go teach other students at other clinics. The medical officers were just too busy for us. At least they were free enough to sign our evaluation forms ^^ one of the doctors treat us like friends. Too bad though, she's leaving soon, maybe this October. Many good lecturers and doctors have left, and more are leaving. This is very unfortunate, especially for the juniors. Though there are a few good ones joining in, I feel that the numbers just can't add up to the lost.

Anyways, today was also the day where I slept in the van throughout the journey from the clinic back to faculty. The van wasn't at all comfortable, really. Yet I managed to snooze off. Yeah my weird position did had some effect on me when I woke up (woken my friend when we reached faculty haha, so surprised I slept through the journey). My legs were numb, couldn't stand at all initially. Walked wobbly to the cafeteria. What's on the menu today? Hmmm... after checking out what they had to offer, I had my pick. Spinach (as usual), kailan (uncommon) and fried fish (uncommon). Of course there's rice =) Chanced upon someone I just met =)

Sat down at a table and *breeze blowing*... not another soul eating at the cafeteria other than the staff there. Why do I eat at the cafeteria? Well, actually the food was tolerable (more than all those previous managements). Also, some of my friends would be eating there. So if I'm lucky, I'd be able to meet some of them there while eating =) somehow today's not the day =/ Oh well...

After that went back to my house. Finished the last 2 episodes of season 5 of Supernatural. What a touching ending... Hmm... I wonder what would the Christians think when they watch supernatural... if they do, that is. Angels are dicks (quotes Dean Winchester), humans can kill demons AND angels (just need the right weapons). God CAN die, would be reaped by Death if God did, and many more which I think... well... you know. Downloading the first episode of season 6. CAN'T WAIT!!!

After coming back from a lecture in the afternoon, I had a round of Starcraft with my 2 friends. Then it was already time to go to Sushi King for a makan in conjunction with my friend's birthday. Had planned to go to Kuching Fest after that but... well, I for one, didn't have the mood and can't drive anymore at the moment. So we ended up just walking/window shopping in The Spring. I must be really exhausted, the dark rings around my eyes were horror, haha! Pointed out by friend... I too feel more tired than usual. Perhaps the lack of sleep due to the hectic insane schedule and the study time I put onto myself has taken its toll on me... Well, today's a no-study day for me anyways! =D but it's back to the library tomorrow, perhaps after lunch =(

I was really beat, bored... then I read someone's blog, and I thought, hey, since you're so free now, go do something with your blog! And hence this entry =) Currently playing on my laptop is Colbie Caillat's Bubbly, moving on to Fallin' For You. Yeah continue reading the blog =)

Latest single by 王力宏 - 柴米油鹽醬醋茶

And yeah, as above, his new single was released just yesterday. And here's the MV for it:-

This is what he said in facebook regarding this song, "Chasing our dreams often means making sacrifices, especially when it comes to showing our loved ones how much we care. This song is to remind all those who dream big that sometimes the biggest dream of all is simply having someone who can be there with you through all the good times and the bad - someone with whom you can be happy just sharing a home-cooked meal."

You can go to this facebook fanpage to read more:

http://www.facebook.com/leehom

And for those who haven't know, he's directing a movie (of course he's in it) titled "Love in Disguise". Here's a trailer of it. Kinda like it. Hope to watch it when it screens.

A post written on a night at Serian

It’s a Tuesday night here. I’m alone in the seminar room. Why am I alone? Well, not really alone actually, with the company of my phone and the company beyond it at the other side of the line~ it’s great to have one at times of great loneliness~ >.< class="MsoNormal">I escaped to this room as the room above was getting a little too crowded for me. 10 guys sharing a room. I dunno, I feel that privacy ratings have plunged for the worst. The first night was good, as there were only 5 of us. Less worn clothes hanging around, less wet towels hanging around, cleaner and dryer floors. I’ll tell you, the air’s humidity is now below the level of “comfortable” for me, and there’s a stench appearing… also, I have to share water supply with more people. Not a good thing especially when you needed to take a bath urgently. Well, guess I’ll have to bathe at odd intervals in future to avoid the others… there’s this one guy in my batch. He just LOVES to literally lock himself in the toilet or bathroom and play with the water supply. Hell, I couldn’t care less, but NOT when I need the water supply/toilet/bathroom as well. And of course, the more the humans (heat source), the warmer it gets in the room…

Anyways, the dislikes of this place stops there. Outside the room, I just loved the atmosphere. Basically, this is a hilly place, and the town is surrounded by hills, but the hills are not THAT near until one would be able to listen to the insects’ melody (unless the person has super hearing =P).

(At this point I’m currently back in the room, on my bed as my phone’s battery has run low and I need to charge it)

Oh, and, my bed’s a double-decker. I’m using the upper one. YES! You guessed it right! Toilet lover’s in the toilet now… happily playing with water… I won’t care bout it now.

The double-decker in front of you is mine. The table with the laptop is my space, sharing with my housemate. Yeah, the red pail there is mine as well as the cupboard with that blue towel hanging on it (no, the towel's not mine, my housemate's one. We share the same cupboard).

Well, I guess you see a problem here. Shall I need to say more?

My space... kinda messy eh =p

Vandalism of the floor just because of his phobia of slippers. No one wears slippers inside the unit anyways =.="

Some photos of the view outside my hostel unit.

The town of Serian is small, much smaller than Taiping, maybe Sarikei as well. Not sure bout Sitiawan? Well for me, I can basically cover the whole town just by walking. There’s also this Ranchan waterfall that I’ve yet to visit. It’s easy to find food nearby my hostel in the mornings and noon, but I will have to travel further for dinner, unless I eat at KFC next door. The previous students keep mentioning “the KFC downstairs”. This made me have the perception that the KFC was on ground floor, and the hostel above it. But KFC is actually NEXT DOOR, ground and 1^st floor. So please use “KFC next door” next time… =.=”

Anyways, it’s cooler here compared to Kuching or Sibu. It’s more peaceful. It’s a town lol. The food here’s OK, but the prices of the drinks ain’t. Oh, don’t order for Chinese tea here. It’s in bag form, and minimum price is RM1… I haven’t visited the market yet as of now, and a few other places around town. How can I still have places that I haven’t been to in a small town like this???

What do I do for my nothing-to-do time and my bored moments? I can’t really online (I’m typing this post offline on MW by the way), as there’s currently a problem with the streamyx hotspot at KFC. (streamyx good to go!). My KIND colleague allows me to play with his PSP!!! ^^ may his God bless him! I’m playing Final Fantasy Dissidia. Really like it!!! XD though I am still a noob at it. Other times, I would just switch on my laptop and keep clicking on connect on the hotspot’s network, only to no avail time and again. Or I would take out a medical book to read. Read on a topic, then moved on to do other things. I’m not really good at staying at one thing (especially study) for a long time.

Community Medicine and Public Health Posting

That was the posting that was just over for me, and other 21 group members. This is the longest posting in Year 4, and it's my first as well of Year 4. When this posting ended, it was also the last of my trips to the town of Sibu. I am never going back there again. And this fact actually made me feel some "heaviness" in my heart. You know, you've been here for the past 2 years 2 months plus, and now you're gonna leave it. For good.

I actually loathed this town, in case you didn't know that. "Loath" is something like "dislike", if it is not as bad as "hate". Actually, I don't know if loath is the synonym of dislike or hate, or neither. I loath the road conditions. The land in Sibu is forever sinking. Thus, road conditions are really bad. Lumps and bumps on the road lol. Even patching of pot holes were distorting the road surface. Roads would go up and down. There would be major upgradings of roads, to increase its height, only to sink back to its original state in just less than a year! How fast was that?? Such poor bumpy roads would hurt most cars, so owning a 4WD here would be good. Sometimes it does gets stressful to drive in Sibu...

Food's good and cheap at some places. Though, after eating for more than 2 years, I started to feel "bored" with the food. Luckily I'm already leaving the place. And example of food I like there is the kampua noodle at Gold Hock, just behind the Shell station near the hospital. As you can see from the photo, this is actually my own custom ordered kampua. There will not be any vegetable in a kampua noodle dish, and it is usually served without the black sauce (white).

Not far off from Sibu, along the Sibu-Bintulu road, is the Jade Dragon Temple. I've forgotten the Chinese name, but I guess you could see it from this photo.

It's said to be the largest temple complex in South East Asia... well, I don't know about that, but it's definitely a huge place. And it's beautiful too.

For the previous 2 years, I came to Sibu as Year 3 students are attached to the Sibu General Hospital here. Many universities seem to be fighting to get a hold of this hospital. While in Year 4, we had to conduct a research for this posting, as well as being attached to the Klinik Kesihatan (government clinics). For our research, our study area was Sekuau, an Iban village (majority, as there are other races, including Chinese!)

These links are to the photo albums in regards to our research, which is in my facebook account.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=176547&id=682678665

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=177463&id=682678665

Many things happened during the posting. Many problems. Problems with ethics, problems among students. Some just wanna have fun, enjoy, not interested in helping other students (who are their own colleagues) and just want to pass the exam. They just don't care much about the research. Take for example this guy. He is fluent in the Iban language, unlike the majority of us. Still, during our survey, he would not even bother to help the others to communicate with the Ibans. After he has done his part, he would go sit with his 2 sidekicks and chat away to wherever. There are many more bad apples in the basket, but let's not talk too much about it. All in all, we pulled through this posting, and ended with a good ending, so to speak.

Visiting these longhouses, has exposed me to alcoholic drinks, namely tuak and whisky. Almost everytimei visit a longhouse, a shot of tuak would be right in front of me. As a sign of hospitality and not wanting to disappoint them, I had to officially take alcoholic drinks. Yup, you don't believe it? Before this, the most I had was shandy. I skipped beer, and went up to whisky level. Whisky was a Chivas Regal, 14 years old, 43% alcoholic content. Burned not just my throat and stomach, but wasabi effect up to my nose as well. Took me by surprise, but had to finish it. Honestly, my ego led me to drink the whisky. I initially declined at first, but when some of them got flushing all over their body and felt dizzy, I kinda wanna show them that I can drink it without going down like them...

Also, for the first time, I ate cucumber plant... yes, not the cucumber, but the plant! @_@ well, I didn't know at first, so I took heaps of it, thinking it was something like spinach. But then, it was hairy (imagine giant spider legs in your mouth), and difficult to chew. And bitter. Other than that, I had the chance to try some Iban cooking. It was OK. I'm neutral about it. Oh, and the dancing part. Learn to do poco-poco, the Iban's dance style.

I stayed overnight at the longhouse for a night. Then early morning, woke up to catch the sunrise at the valley. But I was kinda late for it, though not that late. Still managed to snap some shots =) you'll find them in my fb photo album. Not that easy to take those shots, as there're plenty of dogs around... Perhap attracted to my bread which I took to eat while watching the sunrise. How did I avoid the dogs? I ate in my car =)

During our stay in Sibu, we also went to a ceramic factory, the water board, food premises, and the sanitary landfill.

Photos from ceramic factory: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=176727&id=682678665

Sanitary Landfill: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=177467&id=682678665

王力宏- 落葉歸根

My Horoscope

Saw this one on my friend's notes...

Highlighted in bold are what I agree with... the rest, either unsure or not at all.

Pisces Man

He is very emotional and always allows himself to be very emotional. He can have a good night sleep and be in a good mood, and less than few hours at work he can be very moody. He does not understand things or try to understand things easily. If you notice him carefully, you will notice what kind of moods he is in.

He is a thinker and able to do well at work and always succeed. His normal gestures mean he always looks at other people faults, but he will not talk about it. He has the ability to know your thought and able to tell you what you are thinking about.

He can mostly memorize all his anger, his loves. They are his important secrets and he will keep them to himself and will never let you know. He is not a very ambition man and careless about his position in society. Wealth does not draw his attention, because he is not greedy man and as well he thinks money is not something that will last. He could be very careless about his future. He does not like to fight against all odds, but instead following the stream and make life easier. It is because he likes to take an easy path, which cause him very unsteady future.

He is kind and slightly lazy, but it is his cute character. He hates rules and regulations. He will never look down on people. He is a polite guy and can be very aggressive when he is mad. He loves to think that he lives in a beautiful world and surround by nice people, so if he finds his world is cruel and not what he expects, he will live in his world instead.

His other charm is that he is a funny guy, and it is his real weapon. He can tease you and yet make it looks like one of his joke. Even when he is sad, he still has that funny face, so you could hardly tell if he is mad or depress. He likes to hide his feeling and help other people especially those who need friend or lonely.

He will be everything that you want and everything you do not want. He has a chance to make it as much as a chance to fail. He can determine to make it work and can do it well, except he tends to lost his energy with other important things, that's how he miss many of his good opportunity.

He can be happy and content by himself. What he think is important is not "Love”, but firm status and stability. He has plenty of love for you.

He is a good speaker, as much as he is a good listener. When he is with you, he wants to be happy. He understands his partner's emotional. He likes to take a long rest and sometimes being alone. If he needs to be alone, try not to disturb him.

He is a sensitive, quiet, shy and easily hurt. He wants to feel worthy. He can be mad and noisy, but once he calm down, he will be that happy person again. He is not a jealous or possessive guy, and if he feels jealous he will hide it. He has many friends of both sex, and he care about his friends. He likes to have lots of friends, so you cannot get jealous or else you will lose him. He likes beautiful things, so if a pretty woman walks by he will look, so do not get mad at him knowing this fact.

When he is lonely or feeling sad, gets close to comfort him. He does not like to take advice, so if you want him to listen or to follow your advice; you have to act as a good sample for him first. He likes a cheery and a smart woman. If you treat him like he is your special person, then he will be that special person for you. He will trust you if he is in love but try not to over doing it and spoil him too much. You have to know yourself worth all the time too.

What Can I Do~

performance by The Corrs~

I just need you now~

The lyrics:

Picture perfect memories, Scattered all around the floor. 

Reaching for the phone cause, I can't fight it any more. 

And I wonder if I ever cross your mind. For me it happens all the time.  

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now. 

Said I wouldn't call  but I lost all control and I need you now. 

And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now.  

Another shot of whiskey, can't stop looking at the door. 

Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before. 

And I wonder if I ever cross your mind. For me it happens all the time.  

It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk, And I need you now. 

Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now. 

And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now.  

Yes I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all.

It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now. 

And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now. 

And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now. 

I just need you now. 

Oh baby I need you now.

I had planned to go to change my engine oil at a nearby workshop in Permai, but ended up at Shell's service station. What happened in between?

It was the usual call-my-dad-and-ask-him-which-brand-of-engine-oil-to-use. And as usual, even my dad can't give me a straight answer... One must wonder why I even called my dad to ask which engine oil to use. Just use what you want to! Well, I guess it's become a habit, and furthermore, it's not my car. Yes, it's my dad's car. In case you hadn't know, I don't like making decisions for others' properties. And it ain't my money I'm using either.

So I traveled around a bit in search of... what was I really looking for? Called my dad again, and somehow I ended up at the Shell service station near my hostel. After everything's agreeable to, my car gets to be serviced at last! Checked this and that and this and that.

Went to the counter, and the kind old lady over the counter asked "do you have a bonuslink card?". Now, I get asked about this over and over again for the past 4 years I pumped petrol at Shell in Sarawak, with the same answer "no", and each time nothing else happened. This time, she asked again. Yes, she repeated the question, and I just shook my head.

"Never ever had a bonuslink card?"

Shook head again.

"Do you want one?"

Paused a while to process new development. Nod head.

"Wait ar, I'll get one for you. You're quite lucky, only left 2 here."

And I proceeded with filling in the form.

Then I handed her the form as I asked her, "what to write for mother's maiden name?"

"Your mother's name. You don't know your mother's name?"

"Huh? No, I know. I mean..." (Well, for a moment I didn't know what the question meant. Alread y had "mother", then why is it followed by "maiden"? Is it my mother's mother's name? lol moment of blurness)

She looked at "Taiping" and asked, "so you're from Taiwan?"

"Huh? No. Taiping, Perak."

The manager happened to be nearby and heard us. "Oh, budak KL". (Say what?)

Elderly lady: So you're working here?

Me: Nope, studying here.

Elderly lady: College?

Me: Nope, UNIMAS.

Elderly lady: Oh... you're very lucky, boy.

Anyways, the lady (should I call her grandma?) continued down to a the "Do you own a car?", where I checked "no" (it's my dad's car!).

"You don't have a car here?"

"Yes, I have, but it's my dad's car."

"Wah, boy, you're very lucky. Your parents can send you to study and you have a car here. Last time ah, I need to wake up early to tap rubber before going to school. My legs all tired. I have many brother and sisters. I wanted to study to oh, till I cry. Studied until Form 2 only, then need to find a job already. No choice. You should study hard and well to thank your parents. They spend so much money for you to study."

"Yeah..."

When I exited the place, I a new bonuslink card has entered my wallet and RM106 has left it.

Engine oil - RM63

Oil filter - RM 7

Gear oil - RM 26

Service - RM 10

~~~~

I’ll give an A for the A-Team =D I thought that it would just be an action movie, but it’s also packed with humour! I had a good laugh since the beginning during their escape from Mexico. Boy, I sure hope there’ll be more movies such as this. Wait, I previously said I wouldn’t go to the cinemas for movies… so what did I just do?! Oh well, things are different now. I needed some distraction, so I went to the movie. It was a good decision I believe, watching the movie with 2 of my friends while having a good laugh as a side dish.

Why did I decide not to go to the cinemas for movie? Cause I spent a large amount to buy a gift for her birthday. I used money I got from red packets during Chinese new year, some money I saved up, and some money from my allowance. It’s because of the money from my allowance from dad that I decided to skip the cinemas for the rest of the year, or maybe more. I don’t like to use my parents’ money for something that is not for me. Lucky that I had saved some and got more from red packets, else my plan to buy the gift would not have worked. I kinda planned it since she said that her phone had some problems a few months back. No, actually, I had planned to give her one even earlier when she asked me to buy her one. Maybe she was joking, but I took it seriously, and planned to get her one when I worked. But then, she needed it now, and since I had enough, I could get her one for her birthday. I prefer to give someone something they need for their birthday, rather than just something for the sake of a birthday present. That’s why I always have trouble getting a birthday gift. Of course I wouldn’t just give anyone something so expensive. I was kinda worried, as I wasn’t sure which shop I could trust. Luck was on my side when I got recommended to a phone shop by a friend who got hers there and was happy with it, plus the shop having many customers. And the price there was also reasonable. Lucky again to be able to meet her for a while for dinner, else I wouldn’t be able to hand her the present. Yup, I never expected that she’d contact me the next day wanting to return the gift to me as it was too expensive for a friend to give her, that she couldn’t promise me anything, as she was so happy to get it just the day before. After some time, I somehow managed to convince her to use it. Well, she said ok, but I wonder…

I kinda like to plan things ahead, as it gets me and those involved ready for it. She seems to like Honda City… yup, you guessed it. I actually planned to get it for her when I start working for some time… house… @_@ she told me not to simply promise her anything (yup, I said ok LOL!). Well, I will be capable of it, and I do plan to keep my word. All the more reason to quickly finish my studies and not waste any more time. Of course, with the current twist of fate, don’t know if it’s gonna come true.

Just called my sis. Found out from her that my parents had another quarrel over a “nonsense” issue. I never bothered to ask more about the “nonsense”. Sigh, whenever such a thing happened, I would just keep it to myself. What’s the point of sharing such things all the time. And what am I doing suddenly writing about it here? Some of my friends have such cheerful parents. I would envy them sometimes. And I would point this out to my parents sometimes when things get hot, only to get a reply of “other families have their problems too” and other things which I refused to believe. When things get hot, it was hell. And it was not an uncommon thing to happen. Up till secondary school I never felt anything about it. But then, in recent years I started to be sensitive (don’t know why) and would actually breakdown at times. Well, at least my parents stopped it when they see my condition. This year, I’m gonna just say “whatever”. Sometimes I told her of these things. Speaking to her, hearing her voice, keeps my mind off things. I found comfort, fun, being with her. Seeing her, even for just a few hours to a day, was more worth to me than a trip somewhere else during my holidays, or more worth than the price of the plane ticket when it’s sky high. Yup, I always return home not just to see my family, but her as well.

Another long post eh? Well, I’m using Microsoft Word to write this post, and this sentence is the fourth of the second page… couldn’t post it today, not my turn to online.

Only Heaven Knows...?

It's day 2 of my group's health intervention day at sekuau.

Day 1 was good I guess. The respondents' turn up was somewhat around our minimum requirement of 60%. I guess it's a good thing there's a day 2 for this program. Hopefully we'll be able to reach a high percentage of respondents turning up for our health intervention day, else our research would be insignificant.

For this health intervention day I was in-charged of the blood pressure station. It's really a different experience than any that I ever had. It was not the same as all the blood pressures I've recorded previously. It was just done among my fellow classmates. This time, I'm doing it for the public, the villagers at sekuau, to be more specific. So I was feeling a little nervous, afraid of making mistakes, taking wrong readings. It's the public's health here, and it's going to be entered into their medical records. After a while of "I can do this" chanting, I found confidence, just in time when the first person came to me. I've even forgotten if it was a man or woman. My place was kind of "popular" as it was the first one would reach when at the blood pressure station. So yeah, I did most of the recordings initially, till the number of people overflowed onto the next person recording blood pressure. First time I felt uncomfortable in my ears, after putting on the stethoscope for so long many times. Looks like I gonna need to get used to this when I start to work.

There were times when my confidence was challenged. For example, a systolic blood pressure of 150+ or a diastolic pressure of 100+ would be worrisome. Sometimes I just couldn't believe that a normal looking person would have such a high blood pressure. So I would then recheck it. The difference wouldn't be much. Sometimes one would complain to me of headache, which should be due to the high blood pressure. Though I feel it unrelated, a few of the villagers complained of pain at neck and backache.

I missed most of day 2 due to the sore eye... =(

Some of the villagers were having sore eyes. And due to my low level of mindfulness, I became careless and am now having sore eye myself... damn, my left eye is affected. This is the first time I get sore eye and I'm not really used to the symptoms... Though I felt unlucky to get it, I do feel lucky that only one eye is affected. I am still able to drive. Went straight to the A&E department for meds... (actually I got the meds from the outpatient pharmacy after that). Dr Herbert was there... asked me in mandarin (fuh, I survive the conversation with 2 docs in mandarin!) whether I play football, or badminton. Cause he's seen me before somewhere... (LOL sure you did, even talk with each other previously XD) Then he realised that I was a medical student... lolz. When the doctor attending to me knew it, he said "why didn't tell me earlier". I guessed he meant if he knew, he would attend to me first. It's ok, I thought. Today I'm just another patient, like any other patient who would need to wait for their turn. =) Honestly, this sore eye is pretty darn annoying. I'm just being annoyed with the amount of discharge, don't know how many tissues I've used. I'm more annoyed with the amount of discharge than the pain from the sore eye is nothing compared to the pain in my heart (mind).

Where do I start? I'll just let the song tell the story.

***video at the bottom***

Lyrics:

She's always on my mind
From the time I wake up 'til I close my eyes
She's everywhere I go
She's all I know

And though she's so far away
It just keeps gettin' stronger everyday
And even now she's gone
I'm still holding on
So tell me where do I start
'Cause it's breaking my heart
Don't wanna let her go

Maybe my love will come back some day
Only heaven knows
And maybe our hearts will find a way
Only heaven knows
And all I can do is hope and pray
'Cause heaven knows

My friends keep tellin' me
That if you really love her
You've gotta set her free
And if she returns in kind
I'll know she's mine
So tell me where do I start
'Cause it's breakin' my heart
Don't wanna let her go

Maybe my love will come back some day
Only heaven knows
And maybe our hearts will find a way
Only heaven knows
And all I can do is hope and pray
'Cause heaven knows

Why I live in despair
'Cause wide awake or dreaming
I know she's never there
And all this time I act so brave
I'm shaking inside
Why does it hurt me so

Maybe my love will come back some day
Only heaven knows
And maybe our hearts will find a way
Only heaven knows
And all I can do is hope and pray

Maybe my love will come back some day
Only heaven knows
And maybe our hearts will find a way
Only heaven knows
And all I can do is hope and pray
'Cause heaven knows
Heaven knows
Heaven knows

Knowing her has taught me a lot, mainly through experience and mistakes. My experience with her was wonderful. On the dark side, there were many shortcomings and mistakes on my part. Even if she did not blame me for anything, I know that at times, it is truely my fault. But those mistakes done could not be reversed. The only thing I can do and learn is to not repeat it again. She also inspires me to improve on my shortcomings, especially in mandarin and to get better in my studies. She is irreplaceable. And just as everything seemed to be going smoothly, WHAM! right in my face. As she said, "things are unexpected", it was really unexpected, but not not thought of. It's a dreaded thing to think of, and it's happening. I really felt lost at that time, didn't know what was right to do, what was right to say. Emotions took over and I said stupid things (another BIG mistake. Won't let it happen again!!!). Is being unable to let go the same as not giving up? Cause I just can't, and I won't give up. But for now, I can only wait... I guess rushing things would only make things worse. Since I've waited a few years, I can still wait for another few, till all is really lost. And while I wait for the right time, I'll keep improving myself. Get better at things and language.

"Most men talk the talk, REAL men walk the talk"

I want to be one of the real ones!

It's Day 3 of my holiday... at home

sooooooooooooooo

Prologue

That'll be last friday night. I wouldn't count it as a day at home...

Ok, rewind a little bit. While in Sibu that day... woke up about 7 something. Kinda difficult as I slept at 3 am... I helped make a banner for my group's health intervention day till 2 am. Wasn't completed yet when I went to my room. Then slack a bit with my laptop, before sleeping at 3. Any ways, the plan that morning was to visit the Yu Lung San Tien En Si temple with 2 other friends. I didn't know what to expect there. Maybe there'll be some kind of celebration. So when I reached there, guess what? Nothing. It's just like any other day at the temple... Maybe the celebration was held earlier...

Took a flight that evening to Kuching, and then another at night to Penang. Reached Penang at about... 11.20? Well, this time the plane was late... I met a teacher from Kedah on board, who was sitting beside me. She was posted to er... I've forgotten the place... But it's near to Kota Samarahan. She's already in her 3rd year teaching there. She studied physics in USM, before going for a year of training at a teacher's college. The sky was beautiful during my flight from sibu to kuching. The sun was setting at that time, and I thought... It's also nice to watch the sun setting in the sky, from the sky. But I couldn't snap a photo of the sunset with my camera phone, as the air stewardesses were just beside me with their food trolley...

Day 1

That morning went for dana (yup, not enough sleep - reached home at 12 something, slept at 1 something). It's been a while since I went for dana... Went for breakfast after the dana, and found a nicely shaded parking spot with an out-of-order parking meter. How cool is that? =) except that my mum put in some coins as she didn't notice that it was out of order... Anyways, had chee cheong fun and kai si min, with kopi-O-peng ^^

Later on, had dinner with my relatives (father side). My cousin treated us~ thank you!

Later that night, close to 11pm, while writing a cover letter, I received a text message from my ex-classmate, asking me to go out... was feeling kinda sleepy... but then... I just went to meet them =)

Day 2

Grandfather treated me breakfast! Dim sum! =)

Then lunch at grandparents' place.

Then went home, online... sleep, till 9pm @_@. Yup, dinner at 9 something after I woke up... Watched CSI too! =D

Day 3

Woke up early to drink herbalife at a health shop. Then came back... editted my CV (make it more interesting, longer) played some games...

Then went out for lunch with mum. Had mee rebus (RM2.70) and leng chi kang (RM1.20) at larut matang. Plus oyster omelette (RM5). =)

Took a whole day slacking while thinking about what to add into my CV... CV's giving me a real headache... I needed to submit a CV to the hospital in Colchester which I plan to attach with for my elective posting in February till March next year... But I'm done with it! =) for now... =(

Am now watching CSI =)

Name changes

I made some name changes to the headings in my blog, as the previous ones were kinda lame, I believe. So I thought of "Untold Stories". Well, the new posts I wrote here, I have not told anyone (not all, but mostly). Maybe there's another reason for choosing that name?

One of my trips to the longhouses

I wrote this yesterday (26/5/2010) but did not get to post it on the same day, as I was not able to get online.

Today’s events at Rh Rangie* were the poco-poco (iban dance) and blow dart competitions. The competition was between Rh Rangie and Rh Ambrose. The winner of the blow dart competition was Rh Rangie. There was good competition between the two houses for the poco-poco competition, giving the judges a hard time to decide which one of the two will be heading to the finals. At last, it was decided that Rh Ambrose would be going to the finals! They’ll be facing Rh Banying who faced Rh Rantai the previous day.

The kids at longhouses were kinda… well, rough. Especially the kids at Rh Rangie. They’ll punch you, pull your clothes, pinch you, claw at you. Erm, pretty rough way to play eh? They would be all over you in a matter of seconds. So stand TALL! So they can’t reach all over you XD Today I was not one of the “victims” lolz. Cause I was doing poco-poco! =D

Of course, not forgetting their signature drink, tuak! It’s an alcoholic drink, made from fermented glutinous rice. A look back at my history shows that… … drinking tuak is my first official alcoholic drink intake! O.o (not counting in the shandy) the alcoholic percentage is about the same as wine. Those with experience with wine said that wine tastes better. Well, I guess each drink has its own unique taste. Speaking of own unique taste, the tuak made by different longhouses tastes different from the other. Well, I’ve had my share of tastes, and I think I like the one served by Ambrose’s mother most. From what I’ve heard from the others, the tuak would be still “new” since it’s still sweet and not that much burning sensation (and the sensation ends at my oesophagus, unlike others which had a stronger burning sensation and goes all the way to my stomach). I still can’t get used to the one-year-old tuak, which has a stronger burning sensation and more bitter. Perhaps I don’t know how to appreciate the taste. My frequency of drinking tuak? Well, I only drank it when I went to Rh Rangie, since they would be serving me (no matter how much I declined). I would just down about 1-3 shots. Other extras… I gave them to my other friends @_@

On the way returning to the hostel from the longhouse, a landing MAS aircraft flew pass above us. The first thing I thought of was my flight home soon for the Gawai break. So happy that me and another 2 who were also returning home to peninsular screamed. Haha.

Psst… by the way, my van driver was drunk! Luckily we made it back in one piece…

Also, I had class at 8 pm today! Hmmm… when was the last time I had class this late? Plus, guess what I wore to class… casual style! No need to wear formal! At last… I get to wear casual to a medical class… actually it was just a pbl trigger session. Lecture tomorrow…

*An explanation on the names of the longhouses…

A longhouse is named after its leader, known as “tuai rumah”. So, if the tuai rumah is Banying, then the name of the longhouse would be Rumah Banying (Rh Banying).

2nd week over, 3rd to begin

I had aimed to make a post yesterday, but was busy with a research proposal. Had to look for questionaires to use for the research.

For those who don't know, this research is one of the major parts of my current posting (Community Medicine and Public Health). My group will be heading to Sekuau, about 45 minutes from Sibu. Congratulations, you are now aware of Sekuau, since i've written it here. If this is the first time that you have heard of Sekuau, you're in the same boat as i. My group'll be going there for a health intervention in its community. The plan is to cover 4 longhouses, totalling a number of 640 residents, if i remembered correctly. Well, hope the research and the intervention will be successful =) It is not easy to get all 22 people to work as one. Perhaps the 22 people haven't even started to work as one.

For the past week, well, it's the first week of this posting. Everyday 8am till 5pm sit in the pbl, except for minor tea breaks and lunch, also the SPSS workshop thing. And another week of sitting in the pbl... The computer in the pbl has Chicken Invaders. Trying to beat the high score... currently ranked at 4th place... shhhh....

First Week of Study

... was filled with dead bodies. Some decomposed, charred, mutilated, punctured, stabbed, disfigured, slashed... what else? Oh! You name it, (i think) they have it lols. Others were still in good shape.

I started the first week of my current academic year studying about medical forensics (forensic posting). My friend over at USM does not study this subject, and was a little surprised that i have this posting.

From my point of view, medical forensic is about finding the cause, mode/mechanism and manner of death of a person. If there is something fishy about the case, such as homicide or murder, then it'll be reported and brought to court.

I find this posting very interesting, having to solve the mystery of how a person died. Also, the manner in which he/she died. Suicide? Homicide? Murder? Accident? Unexplainable? We had two invited forensic pathologists to lecture us. Dr Aznool from Johor Baru and Dr Siew from Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Both of them gave interesting lectures, especially Dr Siew, who shared with us some of his experiences in his career. Some lectures were long, but i did not feel bored (except for toxicology, probably due to hunger and the title itself...), though i felt hungry. Speaking of hunger, there was this photo of a kid, toddler i think, who was er... disected (was wondering if i should use "skinned" instead) to look for any signs of trauma beneath the skin (if i remembered correctly). Well, the sight of it... was, to me, like that of a piece of meat hanging at a meat market. Seriously looked the SAME. Don't get me wrong, just a thought...

At times, it's interesting how some people die. For example, a police officer fired a warning shot, the bullet then hit a stone sculpture, ricocheted off it, and striked a student and killed him. Public made a hoo-haa that the police shot directly at him. Then, there's the job of hitting some sense into them.

This posting seriously sparked an interest in me like no other previous postings had. However, when i thought about the job that i would end up in... i'm having second thoughts. Do i really want to end up in the some court room arguing (only those arguments without sense) with the lawyers who would twist and turn and twist and turn and twist again to try to trap you and save their clients? Would threats slap me in the face when it is a high profile case? But then again... you get to solve the mystery of a death, help the deceased fight for justice, and it would be a great thing to make a lawyer run out of options to fire you with in the courtroom...

it's funny... when i stare at my dashboard, i have nothing in mind to blog about.

and then, when i have things i would like to blog about, i wouldn't be here. i'd be somewhere away from my laptop, and by the time i returned, "what was it i wanna blog again?" or "lazyyyyyyy".

anyways since i'm here, perhaps i'll try to improve my blog's appearance? lol...

Happy 2010 to all!!!

Yes, it's really, really late but... i've been inactive in blogging... my first post in 2010 LOL!

Anyways, HAPPY 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!