Summer Settings

Yupp, it's the season of summer. Flip flops, tube tops, spag-straps, big bags, mini skirts and overly large shades which leaves only the tip of the nose visible.

I do wonder, however, if styles in Malaysia ought to follow the 4-seasons trend. Afterall, we do not experience it! Why can't fashion sense just change minus the 4 seasons theme? Well, I guess it only ascertains and proves that we adopt the western culture quite significantly. I have to admit, I am rather sense-less in the fashion field and most of my attempts would be flops. Besides, I rather spend my money somewhere else. Actually, my mindset should be such that I get money so much so that I do not have to choose! Now, wouldn't that be great? That day shall come Shu Li. You must tell yourself that and work towards it. *psyching myself up*

Summer time. For some, it's the time to go back home and hang out with friends and family. For the other some, it's the time to get a job and earn some money (so that you can spend it on partying throughout the year) and for the other other some, it's a time to travel.

Well, my summer is divided into 3 this year. The first part is almost over, but sadly, the third chapter would not materialise. I do have pangs of regret about it, but I guess I will make the better out of it. I have to be flexible right?

The second part of my summer would be back home, in Malaysia. So friends out there, really hope to meet up with all of you!! I'll be home from the 1st of July till 12th of August. 6 weeks exactly. I have no realistic plans underway at the moment. I did have hopes and wishes to do stuff, but I do not think that they will materilise. Like climbing Mount KK for example, or diving in the east coast of the wonderful Malaysian waters, or flying to Sabah to explore the diving sites there. Or to go camping or a road trip throughout the west coast. I want to go to a beach resort and have fun there. I also want to feel the tranquility of Fraser's Hill again (if it is still the same as 10 years ago). I wish that there would be someone out there who shares the same feelings and inspiration to do all these with me so that we can do them together. Right now, I don't know who. Any takers? I am a good partner to be with!

The first part of my summer had its ups and downs. But at the end of the day, I like to see it as a wonderful trip. A lot had been experienced, a lot more to learn. And hoping more for exciting trips again in future! I went to Northern Ireland and spent 6 days there. I guess I wasted 2 days since there were 2 places which did not need as much time, but all in all, they were magnificent, especialy the first 2 days. Absolutely breathtaking! One thing i missed out is the Antrim Coast. So any of you planning to go there, get ur legs into action and walk! (there are no public transport there as the road is too close to the cliffs and closed for large vehicles)
Again, I regret not taking more photos, especially of the little stuff that made me happy. Hugs, kisses and COFFEE!!!!!! I had a wonderful wonderful cuppa on the last day in (boring) Belfast! it has been such a lonnnggg time that I drank coffee made in a coffee outlet. And this place had barrista(s) who won 2 accolades. =D great coffee! Delightful! (but sadly, no pics. =/)


The walk towards Carrick-a-Rede, a rope bridge linking the 'mainland' to the island suspending about 75 feet above sea level. Those days, fishermen would use this rope bridge to go to the island and catch the seasonal salmon.



View from the walk towards Carrick-a-Rede.




ME! on the rope bridge. I'd say..the world is soooooo small!! I bumped into a dear dear collegemate here!! Sahar oh sahar, we got jodoh~


Higher ground view of the Giant Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage site. I would say it is the MAIN attraction in Northern Ireland, besides so many more scenic beauties!


The polygonal basalt rocks at the Giant Causeway. Most of them were hexagonal, formed by the rapid cooling of volcanic lava which spurted onto the shore. (Terms used might not be in geological context =P )Due to lack of time, I didn't manage to 'hike' up the other pile.*sigh* what a shame.




MORE PIXXIES TO COME! i have to go out to town now...ta'ra~!

blogging from afar

well, not quite far, but relatively. I am currently in Northern Ireland, a very picturesque place with breathtaking views, especially along to coast. It's no wonder that the song from Westlife comes into mind now. I could just sing along to it while walking along the coast!

The first couple of days have been absolutely wonderful! my itenary was that i went to Ballycastle as my pitstop to visit the Carrick-a-Rede (the rope bridge) and Giant Causeway. The weather was predicted to be cloudy and rainy by BBC for the whole week, BUT thankfully enough, it has been great! especially in the afternoon! the mornings and evenings were slightly cloudy, but NO RAIN!! *thanks God*

the sights and formations of the rocks and caves..and all that stuff that you learn in Geography back in lower high school were so amazing! i also enjoyed the walks very very much, and yesterday, it was realllllyyy good! i think i could have gone further but a distance of 10km in half a day with a schedule to follow was fair game. =D the walk from the Old Bushmills whiskey distillery heading towards Dunluce Castle was really good. Sights in tow were the small town, the farms, and as I headed towards the cliffs by the coast, the spanning atlantic ocean and the irish sea! the castle was located just by the cliff, of which its kitchen had collapsed down the sea a few centuries ago! so just imagine how awesome where it sits! pictures to follow when i manage to upload them later on....its simply great!

i have 4 more days here..and already think that i've enjoyed myself tremendously.

(though occasionally, thoughts of the exam results pops up....and make me ridded with guilt)

nevertheless. i hope that all my friends, wherever they might be - back in the comfort of home in Malaysia, still having their exams in unis, or also holidaying - are safe and sound and having a pleasant time

cya!

Colum 9 Finale

And so it has arrived. Time flew by again. My vivid images and exact words when i first arrived at this house kept reappearing throughout the past week, especially today.

Boxes scattered around the house, rooms untidy but almost emptied, busy tired souls trying to fit everything into boxes..

Thanks for being such a wonderful bunch my dear friends, whom I would call my family. Minus the exams, it has been such a wonderful time spending a year with you all.

Miss G3 whose antiques and personality have always been the best. It is no wonder that her room gets visited most frequent.

Miss MMR with words and phrases as sharp as a blade, but sometimes cannot be comprehended! haha.

Mr KK/Kangkung/Romeo/Chemokang, i really don't know how to summarise you. Am looking forward for next year torturing, tormenting and sharing good moments with you.

Mr @r$e-O. hehe, i bullied him the most throughout the year and never once did he make a face at me. It was always a smile or a silent laugh. yup, that's him. One of the best guys i've known. Amasses superb qualities. I'm gonna miss predicting his meals. Ah, i hope you enjoy ratatouille very much in summer and ur i-dream can come to realisation.

Mr Soski, ah, i think he made use of the oven the most. =D A kind person.

Mr A, who barely spoke or smiled which made me giggle and laugh to myself sometimes.

Miss Jess, who left early in the term but came back for a visit! All the best in Espanyol! darn* she's gonna have higher chances of meeting Nadal!

Miss BJ. what can i say "mann.." "i love you soooo muchhhh" LoL! funny lah.

thanks for all the wonderful memories and looking forward for so much more in the future. I'll miss each and every one of you.

with a tear in the eye and all my love.. best wishes in everything you do!

One more paper to go before it's the last of the term. Things are just going as bad as it can be for me now. I have accepted the fact that I would probably fail my I&I paper, but I had thoughts of hopes for today's MDTA paper. That came crashing too. The past 2 days have been a lot to me, pushing me towards my limit. But I am putting up a strong front. Until now..

There is no limit towards bad events. If constant emotional occurence is too subtle, and mental agony was not punishing enough, physical pain had to come play along..and scar me for the rest of my life. Literally. So now I have a huge scar down my calf. I don't know why it had to happen, because it was really unnecessary. Yet, happened it did. And it's just .... just... too much to bear.

Examination Day..

But here's a lovely story to remind us all that the exams are not reasons or excuses
- for a short temper
- expecting everyone to comply with you
- to not exercise
- to be unable to enjoy the company of friends
- neglecting your family, your loved ones
- for your cries
- to see beauty in the littlest things
- to appreciate the good things in life


REMEMBER ME

THE day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and the dying.

At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.

When that happens, do not attempt to instil artificial life into my body by the use of a machine.

And don’t call this my deathbed. Let it be called the bed of life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.

Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby’s face or love in the eyes of a woman.

Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain.

Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play.

Give my kidneys to the one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week.

Take my bones, every muscle, every fibre and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk.

Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.

Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.

If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weakness and all prejudice against my fellow man.

Give my sins to the devil.

Give my soul to God. If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you.

If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

By Robert N. Test

Graduation

In today's theStar, an article about Curtin University students being snapped even before graduation is being commented upon.

It got me to wonder if students graduating from universities abroad or a foreign campus have a better edge over local students. I do not doubt the amazing students that have been produced by our local universities as I have friends whom I much admire graduating from these varsities too. But, have there been statistics done to see, in general, the overall number of students both from local varsities and foreign ones (which includes foreign campus in msia) gaining employment? IF it is true the the latter are having a better edge, what is wrong with our own universities? Does the problem lie within the students? or the tertiery education itself?

If it is about the students, then one can deduce that there are OVERALL better students enrolling into foreign varsities. Yet, shouldn't these places be bringing out the better (best is too strong of a word to use) of students? If it is about the tertiery education system, then I wonder...what is so difficult to change for the better? There are much younger universities doing better than our own. Where does the problem lie? The policy? The education system? The course structure? The quality of lecturers? Is it politics?....

It is quite impossible, but i think our education system has to be independent, having a body which fights for and protects STUDENTS' rights, even if it means rallying for something that the government did not offer. Our intellect has yet to progress to a level where we can do this - to 'add-on' benefits for students and their future without 'subtracting' from elsewhere. If this generation are the future, then think less about yourselves (whoever is messing around) and more of the students. But of course, students have to want it too.

Disagreeing another person's opinion does not make one an enemy.

We are all unique individuals and should hear what others have to say. You might learn and be enlightened about things.

And not just shout about talking nonsense, having the silliest of "metaphores" and "jokes", especially in a place where the rakyat's concerns should be the primary focus.

A laugh.

Taken from Weiyang's blog:

Bocor teruk kata Samy
Wiring lama kata Ramli
Bangunan tua kata Nazri
Najib said it's PWD

Semua ada alasan sendiri
But where you all spent the money?
RM90 juta untuk cantikkan lobby
So that it looks luxury

Nice décor and nice settee
But now you kena letak baldi
Bocor teruk when it rains heavily
MP yang busuk pun boleh mandi

The floor is wet and slippery
The luxury lobby now looks untidy
Inilah dia third class mentality
Luar cantik tapi dalam very shoddy

Structure work should get priority
And now whose responsibility
JKR or Parliament Committee
While you all gaduh sama sendiri

Rakyat want an answer immediately
Otherwise kita tak bagi you undi
Sebab you spent money unnecessarily
You know it is taxpayers' money
So please spend the money wisely.

Spice, the fragrance of life; or rice?

Life is quite cliched. You know what is going to happen next and you can expect it quite easily - most of the time.

I slept late and woke up rather early. But not that early in my opinion. I wanted to start off work first since I tend to get distracted if I switched on my computer and then it automatically connects to the wireless network (yeah, my computer's fault for auto-connecting! haha!) My willpower and determination is not very sheer I'm afraid. So here I am, enjoying my routine Sunday mornings sipping a cup of coffee while reading the news online. I sure do miss buying REAL papers.

Many things captured my interest today. There is so much going on in the society today; both local and international. One of the reads that I made was about the ESUM Public Speaking Competition held in London. One of our fellow Malaysian managed to enter the finals while the other did not. Congrats to both of them. At this point, I am missing London and would like to visit around. I would definitely regret not really experiencing London before I go back to Malaysia. Ok, that's a sidetrack. Anyway, yeah, for public speaking, it seems as though the "winning" topics are the ones which touch people's heart and about something personal; something which affects your daily life. Perhaps it is inspirational to be able to influence on an individual basis besides the fact that the topic is easily related. Speaking on a broad and ambitious manner is no longer very likened - just my opinion. I suppose it is because everyone wants so many better things but yet there is no practical action taken personally to achieve that.

Eg: I want the world to be a greener place. Therefore, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle is one way to go. You then go on talking about policies made by developed countries, how it can be improved; how some countries are not doing enough but instead exacerbating the situation; how unrecyclable or non-recycled plastic bags are used during shopping...bla bla bla.

Then, there is the story about how you might do that on a daily basis (we do it over here. UK people are very much an environment-loving society) and your actions to make sure that the people around you do so as well. How you make your community practice RRR effectively and if successful, ensuring it's sustainability. Slit in a few jokes and laughs like how you fetched water from a well, and/or a few granny's sayings.

Practicality seems to be in favour. por favor.
"Aim high shoot low" is the phrase that comes to my mind now.

(=P It always triggers what a friend told me a few years back when I mentioned this. He said something along the line of that's what he does in the toilet)

Exam Up. DIE.

In a week's time, I will be sitting for my exams. The exams have been ongoing throughout the year, but it feels more real this time. The spring/summer exam which are held for all university students, most of who, have finished by now. Don't know why Cardiff's medical school scheduled this exam in June!

Yes, my exams are in a week's time and look what am I doing here. Due to my wrecked state of mood, I did not get a SINGLE work done today despite getting only 5 hours of sleep the night before, waking up at 7am and the fact that it's almost 3 am now. Great. 20 Hours being awake doing nothing, or rather, feeling in the dumps. The latter is an awful feeling. And it doesn't help when you're already feeling tired from the past few weeks and closing up to being unwell. With an acne breakout to boot! URGH.

For the past 2 weeks, I had my Foundation Clinical Skills which I really thought was a disgust. Lack of coordination and organisation on the varsity's part and more so, the hospitals, where some people actually got to learn loads, and there are those like me, who learnt minimal. The last day was rather cool though, being able to write doctors' notes - but only because there weren't any other doctors in the ward to accompany the consultant! But man, things here work quite nicely on the outside and the extent which I have seen. I do ponder how things are like back home in Malaysia. Perhaps I should try to ask for permission to attend a week's attachment back in Malaysia - AGAIN. Just to get a feel of it now that I know more about what's going on. Of course, it would be a nightmare to put my national language to good use again. Fluency has been jeopardised by the lack of usage and upkeeping.

Sigh, I really do wish that the day wasn't like this. I really hate it. Why can't I be happy? I am happy over the littlest things. Then again, I can get upset over little things. It's always the little things that matter most. Sigh, perhaps the things were too little to be seen and therefore not paid much attention to. There were few good moments that happened, but all vanished when thoughts were recollected. Suppression is not the way to go, but it happens. And sometimes, you just can't find any other way.


Snapshots from the valleys, both nice and dull days.

=(

The world seems to be against me today. Everyone is either upset, annoyed, angry and/or disappointed with me.

And also some/one who seems to be giving up on me.

Yes, I know these are very negative thoughts. But they are what I FEEL and this is MY blog so I can d*mn write anything i like.