Holiday

This is my second week back to Olomouc. As usual once class has started , my blog will pretty much remain stagnant. But i am trying to keep it updated. I will try...

After 2 months more of holiday , i am finally back to reality , the harsh reality of studying medicine. And what have i done over these past two months back home? Well , it's quite a lot indeed.

My first week was spent mostly with my friends. How nice it was that after so many years , most of us keep in touch closely with each other.
Hamsath and her friends visited Kuching. And we all went to the Rainforest Music Festival which i must say is awesome. The workshops , the concert and the party , everyone who was there must had a great time!


Then i was off to KL to meet my old time buddies from INTEC and Kuching Town. Everyone still stay pretty much the same , except some slight physical changes. Ya...Almost every single person i met mentioned one thing about me - i have gained weight. And that's an undeniable fact since i have indeed gained 10 kg over a year.

Then a trip to KL will not be complete without shopping. And a large portion of my time was spent on shopping. And it timely coincided with Mega Sale. So what was it to do for a shopaholic like me? SHOP!!! From Sg Wang to Times Square to Lot 10 , then further down to KLCC and One Utama , my cash was flowing like water and my pocket was left with a big hole. It was irresistable. I just realise how nice it is to shop in Malaysia , when you have Euros to spend. Hehehee....

After that, Tammy was back to Kuching , bringing along two of her friends. Once again , i played host bringing them around. And Kuching is a haven of food , synonymous with food like Laksa , Kolo Mee and Tomato Kueh Teao. So a trip to Kuching will not be complete without eating. Massive eating , indeed. And Tammy is the best standing testimony of how much we ate. As day by day you can see more flesh added to her body. Hahah joking...

And i also got the chance to meet up with my friends who were back for holiday from Russia too.

Then i was back to KL for the second time. And this time round , due to limited cash left after the 1st trip , i had to make budget for my spending. So the best thing to do is to avoid shopping complexes and head for sightseeings. So i went to "Eyes on Malaysia" , celebrated merdeka at Putrajaya watching fireworks , and rekindled my playful inner child at Genting Theme Park with Alvin.

And for the rest of the time , i was just chilling at home , spending precious time with family , eating or working out at the gym.

So that's about all that i have done in the holiday. And i am looking forward , really forward until next year or a year after next , for my next trip home. There's always no place better than home....

Aquarius

My friend send me this post. And i find it 95% accurate about me. Please read:

Aquarius Jan 20 - Feb 18 AQUARIUS MAN

Hot-hearted man who likes to do thing his way. He can suddenly decide to do something without thinking of it's outcome. He is the type of guy with an inside energizer, so if you fall in love with this type of guy be "patient", even if you have to follow him a bit. His creative mind could create fantastic idea any time. If you do not understand or can not follow him, you won't be with him for long.

A man in this Zodiac will less likely to have a pale skin, and if he has a scar, it would be on his face or on his head. He moves very fast and very energetic, and he has a very self confident in himself. He loves justice. He dares to show his opinion or even argue about certain subject even he knows it might bring him problems. A straight forward type of guy.

He is gifted with the ability to be a very social person. He could talk even about subject that he has no knowledge of. He interests only at the present time and look at the world positively. Many times he feels hurt because of reality, but he will not run away and he will overcome that difficulty.

Even he is a high and self confident type and center his own thought as a main focus, but at the same time he is a kind, cute and polite guy. He certainly is not a mean person. He likes to help people who are in troubles even he is not asked to. He is the type who feels sorry if you remember bad things he said to you that he had already forgotten, but you did not. Belief him that he is very sorry and give him another chance.

Once he decides to do something, he will put all his mind and energy in it either in his "Work", or "Love". He is the type who gamble anything in the casino, so do not even take him there. He does not like pessimistic, low energy, and depress person, especially no brain. Strangely he like to overpowered this type of people to assure that he is more superior.

If you date this kind of guy, do not or avoid showing your face to him with face pack, face mask, always be presentable, nice and cute. If he is quiet not because he is shy, but he is only quietly thinking. If you have a chance to ask his X-girlfriend, she will tell you that he is not a shy or quiet type. If he is really and truly in love with you, he will never lie to you at all. How do you know if he loves you, bet on your faith! Love him and treat him steadily and do not try to find anything to argue with him, he will be with you for sure.

If you are his lover or girlfriend and need to tell him something, go and say it out loud and straight forward because he hate long boring story. He hate to play games, chasing for love or being chased, so let him call you first. He likes a confident woman who also a good follower. If he gets mad at you, let him be for only a short time he will be normal again. You have to like and be able to get along with his friends, but he does not have to do so with all your friends.

Don't ever think you could make him jealous by flirting with other man, he will just leave instead of making a scene because he is a confident man and has to be the first in everything.

Happy 50th anniversary to my beloved country!

Yes , it has gained independence for 50 years. Things have changed for the better (or for worse). In retrospect , we can see a lot of differences 50 years ago and now. I was not born in the pre-Merdeka era. In fact i was born in the 80s. And our generation are constantly being reminded about the hardships of the yesteryears. People think we don't treasure our independence that much , we are being pampered too much , we don't understand much.

And this is my humble opinion about the country.

We are a nation that like to be praised. I am not saying that acknowledgement is not good. Of course good deed must be given credit. But not as much as in our country. The titleships , the awards , the chance to appear on headlines... When we are praised , we think we are good enough , we then tend to slack and be complacent , so we think we have achieved enough. That's the time we close our eyes and take a nap , by the time we wake up , our friends are already far ahead of us.

There is no time for a nap , people are working 24-7 , and yet we are working 5 days a week , 9 am to 10 am , TEA BREAK one hour , 10 am to 12 pm ,LUNCH BREAK 2 hours , 2 pm to 3pm , TEA BREAK one hour , 4 pm to 5 pm , pack bag and go home. How wonderful life is.

The only thing everyone is good at - EAT..See how many breaks we have a day? How much of food we consume a day? Nasi lemak , nasi goreng , pisang goreng ,roti canai... A look on the street and u can 8 out of 10 people have bulging belly. Not beer belly , but nasi lemak belly.

And it is time we get out of our own coccoon of cotton sugar and throw our lollipops away. We are not as good as we think. We just assume we are good. I know the Boleh! slogan is good to spark our spirit. But too much of something might not bring as good a result as we expect. Anything and everything , we will just shout"Boleh!".

I still don't get it sometimes...Does making the longest flag make us Boleh? Does baking the largest cake make us sooo Boleh also? I don't mean to undermine the effort of our people reaching southpole , climbing mount Everest , swimming across strait etc. Those great deeds should be remembered. But how do they impact the life of all and sundry? Tell me more Boleh things that we can do...Maybe we should not only send someone to the space , but be the country that make the spaceship , or find a new planet. Maybe we should have more Nobel laureates in the field of science and technology. Maybe our universities should be enlisted in the world top 10 ten best universities (instead of giving reason for slipping down the stairs as the faults of the marking system). Maybe our currency should be stronger (so that we don't find it a hard time surviving in Europe , UK , USA ....)

We have to learn to take criticisms more positively. We have a culture of finger pointing. Whenever there is criticism , we point someway else. When there is praise , we point back to ourselves. When we know we are wrong , we do not apologise , instead we shoutback , we act fierce and do everything a barbarian does. We always speak more than we do. We speak of a thousand great things , and yet it will usually take years and years for some meagre little things to be done.

We have a culture of "Hangat-hangat tahi ayam". Everything starts with a bang , but end with a whisper. When serious accident happen , op after op are launched for a month , or two...Mat Rempits have their bikes in garage for a few months , then when tension subsides , they are back on the road. When certain crime is charged in court ,the whole nation is focused on the same issue , making it the newspaper headline for a month , or two...After trials and trials , people tend to get bored , newspaper find it less sensational to report , so sooner or later , they just disappear.

The fact is...we still have a lot of shortcomings that need to be improved. We have less than 2 decades to achieve our vision , and if we still do not beef up our effort , we will soon be bidding farewell to it.

This is the continuation of my previous post. There are even more intolerable acts that i realise after my trip to Kl recently.

4. Jumping queue

How i wish i have a hammer in the hand and hit hard on those "queue jumpers". I went on a trip to Genting on Saturday. So obviously there were a lot a lot of people. Somemore , there was a huge group of tourist from India , as many as a thousand people. So we expect the cable cars to carry passengers to their full capacity. And the queue was extremely long. Look at the photos , there were thousands of people waiting for their turn. And the law abidding me had to stand there for an hour before my turn came. I am not grumbling , as everyone (pardon me , most of the people) , the young and elderly , were all doing the same.

BUT , there were just some shameless , annoying , disgusting , non-civilised people who jumped queue. The heat and humidity was enough to give discomfort to everyone , and to see such inconsiderate act was just too infuriating. If it were parents carring young children or the elderly , we can still accept it. BUT it wasn't. First , i saw these 2 strong , hefty , healthy young men jumping the queue. Then followed by a young couple. What's wrong with them?? Shameless morons...

5.When using public transport...

How do you know you are in KL? Use the public transport. That's what struck me when i first stepped down. KLites are just soo kiasu when taking public transport. It was pre merdeka. Obviously there were throngs of people using public tranports. And civilised people know we HAVE TO QUEUE. And we have to let passengers inside the train come out before we enter.

BUT again , there were people who just tried to squeeze in once the door open. They were not the very small size type (ehemm...) and just imagine the resistance they created for the people coming out. Isn't it easy for a one way flow? And once they have entered the train , they will just stand right at the entrance stone still, not budging in a little bit further for others to enter. Can't they be a little bit more tolerative? And i had to wait almost an hour , missing a few trains before finally embarking on one.

Intolerable acts

There are some attitudes that i could barely tolerate:

1. Trying to act generous

A few days back , we had lunch at one of the seafood restaurants at Muara Tebas ("Cheh Sua"). Muara Tebas is reknowned for its seafood as well as the good-fengshui chinese temple. While eating , there came this loud commotion over the table next to ours.

"Oui! tell you don't pay oh! I pi bin (change face) liao oh! Tauke neo (lady boss) , i warn you cannot take money from him..."one of the red-faced , round-bellied , cigarette-stick-in-the mouth guy shouted.

"No la , no la...I pay i pay...beh hiao kin(nevermind)" another guy with a softer tone spoke from the counter.

Then immediately this cigarette studded guy stood up , walked over to the counter , swung the wallet from the back pocket and pulled out the money. That ended the drama. Someone has footed the bill.

What a drama...Why do people always have to fight to pay? Is it a show of generosity? Or merely an act of table manner. Aiyah pai seh la , need you to belanja me... But to me , shouting while others are eating is nothing of an act of well manners.

If somebody has mentioned that he is going to treat you for the meal , just let him be the host this round. And if there's a chance next time , treat the person back. Then it will save a lot of energy , saliva and drama while eating.

And to add on , if the guys were so generous, the chinese temple there needs public donation. Why not one of them pays for the meal , and another one donates the money?

2. Phone etiquette

If you realise , people (especially guys , even more specifically older men) like to speak loudly over the phone. It is not eavesdropping , but sometimes we can hear the person's conversation at a distance as far as 5 m. I don't want to hear what he says , but it is just that my ears can't selectively filter nonsense and nuisance.

We have very weird reflex reaction. When we can't hear clearly what someone from the other side of the phone say , we don't say 'pardon me'. Instead , we raise our voice and speak louder. C'mon! We can't hear clearly doesn't mean the person on the phone can't hear us too... So when people can't hear clearly , they will go from hello... hello... heLLO... HELLO... HELLLLL!... LOOOO!!!

3. In the cinema

I am very very particular when watching movies in the cinema. I am easily irritated and annoyed by people who chat and make noise. Argghhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Kuching people are busy lots , they can't even spare that one and a half hour of movie time concentrating on the movie and keeping their mouth shut.

I watched Rouge Assassin just now at Star cineplex. There were these group of 5 or 6 teenagers in front of my row. Before the movie started ,this chatterbox was busy talking to his friends around. Fine..it's just advertisement. Then once the movie started , he continued with his conversation.

And these days , cinemas usually have advertisements asking patrons to switch their handphones to silent mode and keep quiet.This person is either blind or deaf. He didn't off both - his handphone and his mouth. And my anger and frustration were getting the better of me. I could hardly concentrate on the conversations in the movie and there were no subtitles. My first attempt was to give him a long SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...He stopped for 10 seconds and continued talking.

What the hell? The second time i just said 'Mother f**cker , can someone just keep the mouth shut and watch movie??' This time i think he heard me. But to no avail , a while later his handphone rang and he resumed his business.

Finally the movie ended. I can't really catch the movie. But i caught a glimpse of that person. How i wish someone will just teach him a lesson. I still have not released my pent up anger. Then when i saw the guy and his friends waiting for the lift , i just can't stop but blurted out " If someone cannot understand english movie , then don't come and watch la...Don't keep on talking." (the movie has no BM subtitles) Hopefully he heard me. At least i felt better speaking out.

When can people respect others? Stop talking in the cinema. Can't we impose fine on these chatterboxes?

Fireworks

A month long of feasts and celebrations in Kuching finally culminated with a "bang" by this spectacular fireworks display. The inky night sky if Kuching was momentarily adorned by this splash of myriad of colours...

And i am now looking forward to the Malaysia International Fireworks Competition in Putrajaya. Will be flying to KL next week so hopefully can make it for the 30 August presentation.

Tip-Tip Poligami

Came across this book while browsing through Popular "Pop Club" brochure.

This is the description of the book. Quote:
"Menghuraikan gambaran sebenar poligami dengan mengambil kira pandangan beberapa pihak. Turut menyelami naluri isteri yang perlu difahami oleh suami sebelum dan semasa berpoligami. Padat dengan TIP TIP dan DOA DOA bagi suami , isteri dan individu yang terlibat dalam berpoligami..."

Hmmm...book for poligami. Interesting...Need any further comment?

Red Alert

Got back my medical report. See the highlighted parts? Hmm...Too high of uric acid and LDL cholesterol. Alarm is ringing...Time to change my eating habit. Less fat , less oil and less meat!

Showing Patriotism Carefully...Don't Play Play

In less than 20 days , we will be celebrating our country's 50th National Day. And as a nation with great creativity ,and people with great enthusiasm and patriotism , many are vying to show their love for the country in the most unique way.

But don't play play , you may be playing with fire. Instead of being deemed as heroes , you might end up eating curry rice behind the bars.

Just like our country 'budding' lyricist Wee Meng Chee ,who gave our national anthem a new facelift with his rap version ,is now hot under fire as his deed was deemed a defamation to the country. What started of as a joke turned out to be a hot debate among politicians now. But honestly speaking , his version of national anthem receives more attention than the original version. And his version receive more viewership in youtube than our cuti-cuti malaysia advertisement. If only tourism malaysia can come out with such a gimmick , we might be able to attract more tourists.

According to the ceremonial division and international conference secretariat of the Prime Minister's Department (phew! such a long name as quoted from the newspaper) , we can't make cakes with the design of the national flag on them. Why??? Because you are going to cut and eat it!

And you are allowed to wear the national flag as clothing. But at the same time it is not proper for you to display it as a bikini ,swimsuit or towel. Or use it as a cushion or toilet seat cover , most probably because your butt is touching it. This makes me wonder ...how do we wear the national flag on our body , without our butt touching it? Hmmm...We do need to consult the secretariat again.

So the best way to do , be a law abidding citizen. Wave the flag the normal way like everyone does.Why want to make a fuss out of it and get yourself into trouble? If you have more time , read our constitution and know well about the Dos a Don'ts la...

It's a Sunday afternoon at home. With temperature as high as 33 degree celcius , i am too reluctant to drag myself out of the house.

So the best thing to do at home with family - cooking...

My first attempt of Butter PrawnAnd Cheese Cake..And it all turned out delicious...Hmm...

Shopaholic

Ya...admittedly i am a shopaholic... Sometimes i do think i have slight symptoms of Compulsive Shopping Disorder too...ehem..

I was browsing through my wardrobe finding for clothes to wear when i realised i have such huge number of shirts and pants left here. And yet i still convinced myself i have not enough to wear in Czech so i was on quite a lot of shopping sprees in Olomouc and Prague.

When the wardrobe unfold , i realised i can even classify my shirts into different colours and categories. T shirts , sleeveless , shirts , jumpers , jackets. And different series - chequered , stripes , black , grey , blue , white so on and so forth.Then when it comes to pants , there are series of different colours- black , grey , brown , biege , blue , be it slacks , jeans or short pants.And perfumes - CK , Polo , Boss , Giorgio Armani , Davidoff...These are part of the collections of my shoes...

And last but not least , these are bags of stuff i bought from my recent shopping. I still have no time to sought it out properly.This blog is all about the vanity in me. Okay okay...sometimes I am vain , with mild narcissism. So what? Haha...

Kuching Festival

ALCA , Kuching Mascot

Kuching festival , one of the much anticipated yearly events of the town. Maklumlah...there is not much happenings here. So this is a MAJOR event for us. It's a whole month of celebration , to commemorate Kuching being declared a city.

So the highlight of this whole event is undoubtedly the food fair. For gluttons like us , or Kuching people in general , this is the time when you can savour all the good food in Kuching under one roof. The truth is , it is not really a great experience eating at the food fair. The huge crowd , the limited seats , the super hot and humid weather. Imagine elbowing through the crowd , vying for the seats , rubbing against all the slimy sweaty skin , sniffing the body odour instead of the fragrant food. That's the real scenario.

And i think we have very much get used to it. In retrospect , during our teenage years (which was just a few years back , i am not very old yet ok) it was our must go annual outing with friends. For all the weekends in August , the food fair will be our rendezvous. I can't imagine how i could bear the heat that time to dress impressively just to go to the food fair. Looking around at the youngsters with vests , jackets , boots , long socks...and me , in my shorts pants and t-shirts and slippers now. Those were the days...

And food fair used to be of so much fun when everyone was around. But now ,most people of my batch are no longer around in Kuching. And our holidays don't usually coincide with Kuching festival. So what is left is that meagre few figures who could hardly make up the joy and fun we had before.

Having said so , i am appreciative that i can make it back for this event this year. Losing the company of my friends , i have the company of my parents. And now my sister is the one going out with her form 3 gang. How fast the world has turned around.

And i think the parade on Saturday was pretty good. Okaylah...Not bad..

City cleaners get a day off

Our traditional costumes
Cats ...Kucing...Kuching
Such a poser

Digi "I will follow you... all the way to Kuching Parade"

Good food

Maybe after too much of good food...
a meal of kaya and butter toast , 'ping pong' brand crackers
and a cup of hot think milo taste really awesome. Ooooo...... Heaven!

Love is Cinta

Thumbs up for Love is Cinta. How long have i not watched such a touching , romantic love story produced in Asia. The last two i watched were Perhaps Love and Sepet. Apart from Sepet , i don't recall any that has left the slightest pinch on my skin , not to mention has touched my heart. Not to say that i am throwing towel to the local entertainment industry , but compared to our neighbour Indonesia , many of our movies can really go down the drain.

Okay , let's make some comparisons. For Malaysian movies , generally before we sit down and watch , we roughly know what will happen. So i am with utmost unwillingness to drag my feet into the cinema and waste my rm10 on such movies.

Comedies usually have those few actors/actresses as leads , and we tend to make fun of mentally retarded and fat people. And that same few lame jokes. And people must fall whenever they find a chance to do so. And ladies must be smeared with the thickest makeup and possibly big moles near the cheek.

For horror movies , it's always the same few pontianaks. Don't the pontianaks need some rest and let someone take over the job? Pontianak with white robs flying around , sharp pointed teeth , red eyes...Isn't this so 90's??

And action movies , c'mon...Please...I beg...Can the girls who wish to dress scantily shed a few more pounds before they appear on the screen? And the guys who want to unbutton their shirts pump up a few more packs? Compare Mat Rempit( i watched it in cinema with Jimi and his sis , the only 3 chinese) with Fast and Furious...Ehem..And now Haru Biru...And coming soon Impak Maksima..

When we come to acting skills , i definitely praise them for their hard work- in memorising. On the screen , we can still see them trying hard to read out what they memorise , is READ OUT , not ACT OUT. Eyes are the most expressive organs. Instead of moving a lot to show anger , joy or sadness , a good actor can convey message just by the eyes. But sadly to say , what we see in most of them here are eyes that lack confident , and nothing more.

Back to Love is Cinta this movie , kudos to the main leads -Irwansyah, Acha Septriasa, Raffi Ahmadfor their outstanding performances. They really show the true emotions in every scene. Acha Septriasa cried in almost every scene , and yet you feel it is adequate , not overdone and just look real enough.

And of course the most captivating part is the plot. I guess they have injected enough "Wow" factors to keep the audience's eyes glued to the screen. The sudden unexpected twist of fate ,and another surprising turn of story make the 2 and half hour movie seems ephemeral. I didn't expect the hero to die ,Oops ! Did i spill the beans out? And some homosexual issues in between. And angel around?

I am eagerly waiting for a local production worth commenting in the blog soon. The last one i have commented so far is Sepet and that was ages ago. So keep the fingers crossed...

Rainforest World Music Festival

Rainforest World Music Festival rocks!!! It was super duper awesome. Words can hardly describe how wonderful the whole event was. Honestly speaking , i was rather skeptical initially at how worth the RM200 ticket can be for such an event. But everything changed after the first night. I am pretty sure even if they hike up the price , people are still willing to pay and travel across the globe to attend this annual event.

And RWMF has definitely marked Sarawak , or specifically Kuching on the world map. As much as tourists know Indonesia by Bali , hopefully they also recognise Malaysia by Sarawak. C'mon , we no longer live on trees. We organise massive event now.

Musicians from around the world converged at Sarawak Cultural Village , each bringing the quitessential musical instruments from their respective countries. And what awes me more is that , despite coming from different part of the world , hindered by language barrier , but when it comes to music , all these walls are being torn down. In this current state of political turmoil between the west and the middle east, how rare it is to see people from such countries standing together side by side. And yet , music proved to melt the feelings of hatred , abhorrence and repugnance , bringing along joy and peace. We have musicians from Lebanon and Afghanistan , at the same time we too have artists from the UK and USA performing together. If only Bush and Osama can do the same thing...The daily workshops proved to be a hit among the visitors. All the workshops are packed with throngs of people , each eager to learn , to share or to watch. I enjoyed the percussions the most , in one of the workshop named "Heartbeats". Our heart really beat in accordance with the rhythm. And everyone was so high that at the end of the show , we were all up on the feet , dancing , chanting and clapping along. That's the power of rhythm and music.
And performance by Black Umfolosi from Zimbabwe was definitely the highlight of the concert. By just the simple tunes of "In the jungle , the mighty jungle , the lion sleeps tonight...Wooo...laaa.." , they managed to get thousands of hand up on the air clapping and swaying.
Rainforest World Music Festival , see you next year!!!