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!!!

Paris - Charles de Gaulle

Ya , i have been to Paris..erm..to be more accurate - i have stepped foot on Paris. Even more specifically , i have just stayed at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport for mere 2 hours for transit on my way back.

So don't ask me anything about Eiffel tower or Champs-Elysees. I haven't seen them. But don't worry , i will definitely pay them a visit in this near future.

Anyway , these are just a few snapshots i manage to catch at the airport.

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Finding that Right stuff

Studying medicine...Anything glamorous? Ask any medical students around..

If not , why study?

I think we don't study just for the sake of being called Dr. XXX . And not to bask in that shining glomour ( if there is any). Also not to earn that meagre few thousand ringgit (who said doctors are rich?)

I think we are just finding the Right stuff for ourselves. I read medicine because i enjoy what i am doing. I am interested. I find human body fascinating. I take challenges. I like to work under pressure. I am a workaholic. I abhor mundance 9 to 5 office job.

There are so many things around that you can do. The world is not occupied by lawyers , doctors and engineers only. We have entered Globalisation 3.0 where everything is possible. Anything imaginable can be done. Heard of Search Engine Optimiser(SEO)? Google search it yourself.

Quoting from Thomas L. Friedman in his book "The World is Flat" :

CQ + PQ > IQ

CQ - curiosity quotient

PQ - passion quotient

IQ - intelligence quotient

So curiosity and passion are the motivations that keep us going , rather than just scoring high.

And most importantly is a paradigm shift in parents mentality. Asking the kids to ask a good question a day is more important than asking them how much they score. Inject the right motivation to spark the right interest , so that they find the Right stuff in life!

Seeing the difference

Any difference after almost 9 months not back in Malaysia?

Kuching is still Kuching , charming , lovely , cosy as ever. A few more hang out spots - Wishing Well , Living Room , and some Philipine food shops which i have forgotten about their names. 2 new shopping complexes coming out soon. Another flyover on the way to airport. Ok ok..government is doing something , we can see the development and progress.

Some remain unchanged. Malaysia is still Malaysia. Some issues still remain unsolved. People still muddle in that old pool of muddy water.Some male chauvinists still rule the country. Some idiotic and sexist comments are still thrown out in Parliment. "BP tiap-tiap bulan pun bocor!" "Duduklah , jangan macam monyet!" (Check out youtube for more , this is how we see the performance of MPs)Is this the way a gentleman speak? Are these bickerings for the good of the people or purely personal attacks? Sigh..

And gangsterism , rape cases are escalating. How safe is our country? And why can't the law enforcers realise that rape cases are not caused only by sexy dressing or exposure of flesh???? They just can't take it that it can be due to the inner beast of the rapists. And stop pointing fingers at the wrong direction. And stop blaming Western cultures for any moral decadence in the society. I don't see any serious problems when girls are scantily dressed in bikini walking on the streets in Summer. They don't fall prey to any pyschotic rapists. Here girls are wrapped from top to bottom under 33 degree celcius yet they don't escape such calamities. In fact i believe that the more restriction we impose , the more curiosity the people become , and of course the easier it is to get stimulated. So...

We are nearing our Vision 2020. Konon-kononnya lah... Ya , undoubtedly our facilities can match that of developed countries , but our mentality , sorry lah , still in a poor (pathetic) state of affair. The most crucial ingredient in developing a country is its man power , the people's brains , and this is something we have neglected all this while.

So has there been any significant change? Maybe i should see it after half a decade , not after a year..

Journey back home
Flying across half the globe...
Taking 5 transits...
From Olomouc via Vienna via Paris via Amsterdam via KL via Kuching...
Spending almost 40 hours...

Finally back home...
Home Sweet Home...
Everything remains the same , just as 9 months ago...
My clothes , my books , even the mud for hair...
And yet not covered even bya film of dust..

Aaaa....
Home is always the best!

Eating the best food...
Not doing anything for the whole day...
No worries about exam...
Indulge in dramas and movies as long as i want...
Letting myself rot once in a while...
This is relaxation..

Blog reactivated!!

Finally......back to holiday mode...

Bye bye 1st year...

3 months of summer break...

Stay tuned...More to come....