Canon 550D

Spent the weekend in Batu Pahat and KL. I returned to BP for my dental appointment on Friday to tighten the braces. That night was filled with lots of agony from the post-tightening pain, I was literally hoping to be toothless. T__T The pain was excruciating I had to swallow a pill of mefenamic acid and go to sleep immediately. Saturday, I came to KL with dad to meet mom and cousie, Jiale who came earlier that week and went jaw-drop when Alvin brought this out.

EOS 550D is just too perfect. Every shot taken was beautiful. There's no need for editing cuz the camera's focus is simply amazing. Just what I wanted! Imma get one of my own someday.

Dinner at Bangsar Seafood Garden Restaurant. I'm on a soft diet currently since my teeth hurts every time I chew and there, I got a special menu. Shark's fin soup cuz I could just swallow without chewing.

Sunday was pretty chillax. Spent half of the day at Pavilion doing some Christmas shopping, snapping pictures of the gorgeous decos and realizing we actually took more than 200 pictures from these lovely settings. Oh, just how I love the warmth whenever Christmas approaches and getting delirious when I hear Christmas carols playing. Simply awesome. I'm feeling so Christmassy already!

Dad has this habit and yearn for eating drumsticks unchopped so that he can hold it in his hand and gnaw it this way. So every time we buy him drumsticks, we'll make sure it's not chopped into pieces.

Counting days to 24th Dec. Christmas carols playing on iTunes now :D What can be better than this? It's gonna be rocking this year! :D :D

I LOVE PHOTOBOOTH

Where Art Thou, Passion?

7.15 ante meridian.
I was early in the ward today to complete a CNS examination for a patient I clerked yesterday. An 11 year-old boy was electively admitted yesterday for ritual circumcision. He's a known case of hydrocephalus on VP shunt, epilepsy on sodium valproate, asthma on budesonide and salbutamol, with developmental delay and syndromic features (syndactylyl, clinodactylyl, ectrodactylyl, anonychia, single palmar crease, brachycephaly, plagiocephaly, coarse and sparse hair, squint, orbital hypertelorism, flat nasal bridge, low set ears, absence maxillary prominence, overcrowding of teeth, high arched palate, wide internipple distance, flat foot arch and wide sandal gap) ----> My suspicion was Apert Syndrome since the surgical team had only assessed his fitness for surgery.

7.20 ante meridian.
A Chinese man in his late 40s walked towards my direction. In my native language, he was calling out in an exasperated tone, "Doctor, doctor!!". I shifted my gaze towards him and asked politely if there is anything I can help with. "My son is involved in an accident. He's thirsty. Can I give him some water?". There wasn't any 'Nil by mouth' board tagged to the bed. "Mmm... I'm not sure uncle. I'm just a medical student. You may have to consult the doctor.". He started raising his voice, "I was told to inquire another doctor when I asked that doctor there!". "I can't decide for you uncle, but I don't think you should give. I'm really sorry.", while I looked around for any available doctor in the ward. There was none. He looked anxious and distressed. After apologizing, I continue my work and ignored what was going on to his son.

9.30 ante meridian.
I was in a midst of discussion with my friends while waiting for the lecturer to come. We walked into the cubicle where the boy who was involved in the accident was in. I saw his mother sobbing in desperation by the bed. This time, I decided to ask. A tragic accident had happened where she lost one of her children and a niece, one was still in the ICU and this boy was badly injured as well. Both the parents were still at a denial stage of mourning for their children. It hit me that moment if I could have eased the father's grief by doing more when he approached. I will not slip past my defense that I behaved in an egocentric manner when someone needed my help and all I cared for was to finish up my case in time. If there was something I could do, I wished I had comforted, but was too helpless.

Had I known how to save a life somewhere along in the bitterness?

Parents are Forever

Today was just another typical Monday. I was doing my daily mode of going through The Star Online, scrolling the cursor down to news or articles which caught my attention. As usual, I ignored news that had a honorific heading, considering them to be honorary while I'm just nobody. That's me. I don't give a damn about news that involves politics.

There was an article today with the heading, Parents Are Forever. I clicked on the link out of interest and curiosity. The first billet that hit my conscience was, 'No matter how old you are, they will never stop fussing over you.' I read on and just before I reached the finishing line, my eyes were rimmed with tears at this, 'The person I am today has everything to do with my parents.' A gush of guilt surged my scruples.

I grew up in a family where I was sheltered under the widespread wings of my parents. I am still, forasmuch as being twenty three now. Before turning into an adolescent, I went through every social milestone a child is expected to have. An example I would love to quote is separation anxiety. As a kid, I naturally always wanted my parents to be around. This was not always possible. Every time my parents leave the town for work, I'd get teary and threw a tantrum-filled goodbye knowing I wouldn't see them in a couple of days', more so when they will be gone for a week.

Situations changed when I became a teenager. I got a little rebellious. Have I told anyone of you I was excited whenever I turned a year older? I would object when others were telling me they dislike ageing and replied with an excuse that people get wiser and more experienced with life as they aged. I'm weird like this, but with a concrete reason. I wanted what all teenagers want and can never get enough of, freedom. I often thought that my parents are strict with me. In a way, my mobility is restricted whenever I don't have anyone familiar to accompany me somewhere. Going to Manipal was a breakthrough, I guess.

There were times when I argued with my mom that she's being over concerned. When I was abroad, she would call all the way from home to remind me about hydration. 'When I thirst for water, I will drink. There's no need for you to remind me about drinking more water.' That was a defense mechanism I shuddered to tell her I'm capable of taking care of myself. In order to relieve their worries, I stopped telling them about falling sick. I had all the freedom in the world and no more curfews but here’s the irony. I missed home to the extent that I chose home over traveling during the holidays. I was given the permission to travel Europe during the holidays with my friends but I returned home feeling all loved and happy.

I feel the tension from my anxious parents every now and then. Probably because I'm nearer to home and they have access to interfere with every decision I make. I took the initiative of sharing what's going in my life and reasoned with them whenever I felt right about situations. I shan't deny the fact that I'm stubborn and have the tendency to overdo certain matters which might have hurt their feelings. But all in all I was searching for a trust from them that I'm mature enough to handle responsibilities. Just like how they think I'm naive when it comes to making friends and got disappointed by one after another. Again, I would defend my mistake by excusing that this is how I should be learning, picking myself up from a fall just for the sake of a lesson worth contemplating. All I want is to trade this life for something new, holding onto what I haven't got.

I thought it felt right to be thinking that they do not trust me. But the right was wrong for they will never stop fussing over me. I was at fault to have doubted this fact. I hope to still feel small when I stand beside the ocean, taking every effort to spare a thought for them. Now that I realize, I'm the careful parents' careless daughter which is why they are there to constantly remind me.

Siti's Belated Twenty-third

The group started senior clerkship with a good meal together and mini surprise for Siti's twenty-third. Albeit the exhaustion from our first day of posting, we managed to make a do for a birthday celebration for the group's elite. We were supposed to blow the candles that night but not many turned up, we had it postponed to the following day. It's good to catch up with these people about the ups and downs during holidays and a few of them even returned becoming vegetarians. If it weren't because of them, I guess I would come back with buckets of tears. In fact, I'm pretty much looking forward to some exciting trip we have in mind. At least some little expedition to look forward to rather than having no expectation at all.

The following day, mission to surprise Siti failed as she had spotted us from afar. It was cool to have new members joining us, Michelle and Hui Ming.

Good start for the year! Love this group so much I attest this is going to be a good or perhaps the best of final year we're going through, relationship wise and hopefully studies follow suit.

Taipei Day 4

Went all the way to Zhongxiao to look for the famous Mogoo popcorn, only to realize that the shop has shifted. Stopped by at a Vietnamese restaurant opposite to have a piece of its renowned German cheese cake. That was good. We meander around Sogo, the leading department store in terms of overall revenue and popularity in Taipei.

Taipei Station Breeze Centre, food court where we had our exotic gourmet lunch.

The meringue pie's my favorite!!

Sweet temptations.

Rose Pie at Taipei Station at rosepie.com.tw

Failed to resist temptation but to purchase 3 pieces of cake. I have an addiction to meringue.

My lunch for the day. Beef teppanyaki with prawn tempura and pumpkin rice. Too huge a portion for me to finish. Struggled hard before I waved the white flag.

With grandaunt.

Cheeseeeyyyy!!

Papi and Mami

At last, I found Mogoo popcorn here! 魔菇手工玉米花! Mushroom kernel popcorn. Mogoo Popcorn uses only mushroom kernel and therefore, it's round(like the shape of mushrooms), fluffy and easy to munch. mogoo.com.tw

We had some time left before our the departure. This is Shida night market(near Guting MRT station). I noticed a mixture of street fashion and local culture there cuz this is where most National Taiwan Normal University students hang out.

Lime juice with aiyu jelly (愛玉冰). A type of jelly made from a type of fruit origin from Taiwan.

Ice kacang!!

Final shot from Ximending.

Taoyuan Airport. The International Floral Expo is going on in Taipei but didn't have a chance to visit due to our limited travel period.

There was a group of French ladies there and they insisted we wear their hats.

Orchid. I experienced some culture shock there. While we were walking down Danshui Old Street, I spotted some lovely orchids planted in gorgeous vases. I ran down the road to snap some pictures, thoughts spun in my head, that must be a florist shop. I couldn't believe my own eyes when I got there that it is actually a mortuary and wake was going on in that parlor. @_@ So, Taiwanese uses orchids instead of chrysanthemum, huh??

The Hello Kitty nursery @ Taoyuan Airport. So freaking adorable!!! "Hello, hello Kitty, you called? I can't hear a thing!!"

Peace!! Gate C3 has a beautiful Hello Kitty setting but we were rushing for boarding and didn't have time to stop by. ):

That's the end of a magnificent 4 days 3 nights trip in Taipei. I survived reading signboards and maps with my limited knowledge about Chinese characters. At least better than my dad who made me converse on his behalf all the time, even when it comes to buying tickets and food. It was disastrous when we both read the Metro map using han yu pin yin. Stations like Jiantan (劍潭) was interpreted as 煎蛋(fried egg) and Xinbeitou (新北投) as 心被偷(stolen heart). Chin Eu was telling me about a station named Zhuwei (竹圍) along Danshui line.

(

There was this encounter when we were buying umbrellas. Two, we wanted to buy. One was offered at the price of NT270, while the other at NT350. I tried convincing the lady to sell me at NT250 and NT330 respectively but she simply refused to. In the end I made a round up firgure and told her this, '那就这样吧。两只雨伞， 我给台你币五百元， 你说好不好?' (In that case, I'll give you NT500 for both the umbrellas, what do you say?) To my humble surprise, she said 'OK'!! My bad. I calculated wrongly. I was meaning NT600. Now, do the maths yourself! xD

Taipei Day 3

Good morning! The view of Danshui River from the restaurant.

MRT to Shihlin cuz mom wanted to take a picture with her favorite author.

Shihlin night market. Had forgotten to snap pictures of this place the previous night.

红10 巴士. Bus ride to Yangming stop.

That salesgirl is really friendly. She briefed me bout the good places to go. Was planning to do some shopping at Wufenpu Wholesale but decided to call it off when she said the stuff there aren't exactly cheap. She recommended Danshui and Shida night market instead.

The baker who has written a series of recipe books.

She brought us to her tutorial room where she conducts baking classes. It's well equipped for hands-on classes.

Supplies can be purchased online as well @ www.cakediy.com.tw or visit their page on Facebook.

The arts of lovely fondant.

The baker even brought us to her guest house which I said I would suggest for a stay in Taipei. It's a lovely homestay for only NT800-1000 per person per night, which is equivalent to RM80-100 after conversion. So much cheaper than staying at a hotel. Riverview Hotel charges RM300 per night for twin sharing. By the way, that's the living hall with a large dining table. It feels like the Hogwart's dining hall in Harry Potter.

This house is nicely furnished with a tropical ambience and it has everything in it, even a kitchen for cooking when then Shihlin market is just 10 mins away by foot.

Rest & Relax area.

One of the bedrooms. It sure looks cozy.

The other corner of the rest area just beside the garden. The owner herself planted all sorts of flower and vegetables.

Reading area with a display of recipe books. There's even free Wifi. The hotel charges RM20/24hr for internet connection. I was too stingy to pay for that.

The balcony with a gorgeous garden view.

Toilet!!

 Imma stay here if I have a chance to revisit Taipei!

We left the place and headed to Danshui. The northest pole of Metro MRT track. The district well known for its naught egg (铁蛋)

Big pau at Danshui Old Street.

The famous fishball there.

YUMMMMMZZZZ!!!!!

I LOVE 鱼丸!!!

Green tea ice cream. SLURPZ!

Wheat milk tea.

Statue of Dr. Mackay, Canadian medical doctor and missionary established Taiwan's first hospitals in Western medicine and formal educational facilities, including Oxford College the oldest higher-education institution in Taiwan by some measure.

Alley.

Cathedral.

Souvenirs anyone?

XL ice cream. I had too much ice cream on a rainy day. XD

Harbour. Ferries available to take tourists to the opposite island, Bali.

Almond tea. Wei Hao was telling me how good the almond tea there and a must try. Tasted like cough syrup (枇杷膏)to me. -_-

Fried potato. This is so much crunchier than the one I had at Jonker St.

Decided to dress up with a pair of boots to match the Taiwanese street style that night. :D

We returned to Huaxi/Guangzhou night market for the soup (四神汤) and rice (卤肉饭). I could gobble that big bowl of rice within 10 minutes! The lady boss recommended her best pork bun (扣肉包), the best I ever had indeed. :D