2128

He's back...

It's a very special day, at least for me. It has been raining heavily these few days, the sky is indeed congruent to what I have been feeling inside these few days. It's been a long time since I have last blogged, and too bad my new admission has nothing to do with the world outside. It's everything about me and what I am feeling at this moment. As usual, if you have been following me, you would know that I channel my feelings into words of poem. This poem is actually a continuation from my previous poem entitled "2082" which I posted on this blog early last month. If you have not seen it, you can assess the poem at this link: 2082

2128

by Kai Seng

Seconds ticked on to two-one-two-eight
Adrenaline surged at an alarming rate
Enter the Monster with limping gait
Now and then told to stay silent and wait
Grim were the evening sky of this late

It feels exactly like a deja-vu
Lighting the path only when the moon is blue

Cheerful wishes of joy and laughter
Hidden were the tears thereafter
Unportrayed by the unpaid, lousy actor

Keen was my heart for thee

And where am I supposed to find the key?

How do I realize a dream that deems impossible?

Aimlessly searching for clues that are barely audible!

Miracles seem to be the only solution for this obstacle...

No! Why am I behaving like this?!

Ink's running out and this is as far as it gets...

Damn it, it's the same old deer

And the very same Carols in my ear...

My Personal Gym Exercise Regime

I've gotten fitter! How about you?

Of course I don't qualify to be a gym instructor but I am here to share my personal gym regime to help beginners or those newbies who happened to come across my blog. For those who have not frequented the gym yet and currently having low self-esteem due to out-of-proportion body size, please (I beg you), put in effort and shower more love and care on your body. You will feel the difference along the transition to becoming fitter each and every day. And by the end of the day, all your hard work will be rewarded. You will walk with more confidence, you will get more smiles from unknown ladies in public (no joke), and most important of all, you will be healthier. You will wake up each and every morning feeling so good and fresh and ready for the day's challenges, mark my words.

And the best feeling is to get to shower every morning and see a different you on the mirror. Oh my, such good feeling...

Right now I am regretting the time wasted all these years when I actually failed to recognize the importance of doing workouts and exercises. I have been studying in college for a total of 5 years and above, and if only I have frequented the gym 5 years ago, I would have been a Superman right now. Haha. No way, my mission is not to be a body builder (I don't want to have bulky body), I just wanna be athletic. Slim and fit. There is this saying that I got from the net "Tired of Being Fat and Ugly? Just be Ugly Then!!!" 

Take your pick - Fat & Ugly or just Ugly alone?

Back then I used to think that I do not have the time to visit the gym. That was merely just an excuse. If you are thinking of the same excuse, shame on you then. A single gym session takes about 1 and a half hour of your time and how much time have you spent gaining weight surfing Facebook/chatting? Why don't you channel those unproductive time into activities that help you lose weight for a better you? Get out of your comfort zone, shift your paradigm into something beneficial for your body. Stop giving excuses like "I am not fat, I am just easily spotted" or something equivalent. Face it, if you are fat, then you are. It's up to you to do something about it. 

Alright, the purpose of me writing this is not about convincing readers to start exercising or visiting the gym (although it is good that you do), I am here to show you how I conduct my gym exercises in a week.

So each week I will visit the gym a minimum of 3 times. And please, I have seen a lot people doing wrong muscle training regime at the gym, please don't mess up all the training. Do not train multiple muscle groups in a single day. I have seen loads of beginners jumping at all the machines that they can lay their hands on in the gym in a single day. So they are practically doing chest, biceps, triceps, shoulder, and back muscles groups all at once. This is not right. The worse thing for you to do is not to understand your own exercises.   And please remember to leave a period of at least 72 hours before you train the same muscle group again. This is  for your body recovery process. "Too much, too soon" is not good as well.

Slow and steady. I am slowly shaping my abs. 

So I will divide my 3 visits to the gym in a week to focus on different groups of muscles.

• Day 1 - Chest
• Day 2 - Back and Biceps
• Day 3 - Shoulder and Triceps

Warming up and Cardio Exercise

Upon hitting the gym, I will always change into the proper attire and footwear, and start doing warm up and stretching. This is the part that has always been overlooked by certain people. By stretching, you prepare your muscles for exercise and thus, improve your flexibility. Right after my routine stretches, I will jump on the Exercise Bike and start cycling away as fast as I can. The important aspect of this cardio exercise is that you elevate your heart rate so that your body can start burning fats effectively. Some ladies tend to cycle slowly as if they are at the sea side enjoying the breeze and panoramic view - that's not going to help a lot, honestly.

Muscle Training

After around 20 minutes of cycling, it's time for the main event of my workout - muscle training. As I have mentioned earlier, I divided my muscle groups training according to the days. If you do not understand the terms used here, just run a Google Search as I am lazy enough to attach photos of all the training styles.

Day 1 - Chest Training

1. Incline Barbell Bench Press 12x 3sets
2. Flat Barbell Bench Press 12x 3sets
3. Decline Barbell Bench Press 12x 3sets
4. Butterfly 12x 3sets
5. Incline Dumbbell Fly 12x 3sets
6. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 12x 3sets
7. Flat Dumbbell Fly 12x 3sets
8. Flat Dumbbell Bench Press 12x 3sets
9. Decline Dumbbell Fly 12x 3sets
10. Decline Dumbbell Bench Press 12x 3sets

Day 2 - Back Training

1. Lat Pulldown (Behind Neck) 12x 3sets
2. Lat Pulldown (Front) 12x 3sets
3. Seated Row 12x 3sets
4. Kneeling Right Arm Row 12x 3sets
5. Kneeling Left Arm Row 12x 3sets

Day 2 - Biceps Training

1. Alternated Biceps Curl 12x each arm 3sets
2. Hammer Curl 12x each arm 3sets
3. EZ-Bar Curls 12x 3sets
4. EZ-Bar Reverse Curls 12x 3sets
5. Machine Preacher Curls 12x 3sets

Day 3 - Shoulder Training

1. Barbell Shoulder Press (Behind Neck) 12x 3sets
2. Dumbbell Should Press 12x 3sets
3. Barbell Shoulder Press (Front) 12x 3sets
4. Dumbbell Hammer Front Raise 12x 3sets
5. Dumbbell Lateral Raise 12x 3sets
6. Dumbbell Front Raise 12x 3sets

Day 3 - Triceps Training

1. Standing Rope Pressdown 12x 3sets
2. Triceps Pushdown 12x 3sets
3. High Pulley Triceps Extension 12x 3sets
4. Two-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension 12x 3sets

Almost Done

Routinely, I always end my gym session with abs training and push-ups.

1. Raised Leg Crunch 20x 3sets
2. Decline Crunch 20x 3sets 
3. Lying Straight Leg Raise 20x 3sets
4. Hanging Leg Raise 20x 3sets
5. Push-Ups 12x 3sets

Conclusion

Sprint back home. I will always make sure I reach my house within 5minutes (Distance is 15 minutes walk).

There you go. Those are my gym training routine all these while. I hope you are able to get some idea on how to carry out your own exercise regime as well. As long as you understand your body, and the do's and don'ts of gym workouts, you are good to go. Good luck and all the very best!

2082

Feelings

Today, my feeling's all jumbled up. I dunno what's wrong with me, I'm feeling so heavy inside. To be honest, I'm not the type that opens up to people. I find it extremely difficult to share myself to others. I really want to have someone to talk to - to express everything within me, but whenever that someone's in front of me, waiting patiently for me to fire away, somehow the words just stop coming. It's the kind of feeling that you want a certain person to know, but you just don't know how to share it or rather, it's better to leave the feeling settle down inside you, unspoken and untouched. I guess I can only put my current feelings into words of poem. At least, the burden will be lifted by writing this down and sharing it on my blog.

This is a poem written by me, which indicates my feelings at this moment. If you don't get the meaning, it's fine because it's not well-written and is not meant to be understood, honestly. It's just me, expressing something deep from my heart.

2082

by Kai Seng

Carols were ringing in my ear

Snow trodden upon by the deer

A wish from an angel within

Tears of joy sparkled therein

A story well written

A mail worth gettin'

The path was of roses

Hence, we let the tale flows

Songs of happiness

Chirps of peacefulness

Charming smiles aplenty

Joyful laughter too many

Then the ink's all blotchy

Essays turned patchy

A monster kept inside

Tightly chained and tied

He was never let loose

Towards the hangman noose

I sat there biting my time

Repeatedly tossing the dime

A century of gap

A deep pit of trap

One successful climb out

Cruelly greeted by the drought

All was then silent

He stopped being violent

The tale was harshly ended

Ink bottle was tightly capped

Now the quill dances

Carols faintly reminisces

Tears of pain flow

The deer is back on the snow.

I Am Not Me?? Warning: Total Randomness Here

Who am I to you?

It is not easy to socialize with your really good friends when you are in Final Year medical school since everyone is broken up into different sub-groups for different postings. For instance, I am currently doing Internal Medicine posting at Hospital Serdang; Naveen doing Surgery; Yan and Charlotte doing Orthopedics; Jac at Emergency Medicine; and Jason doing Psychiatry. Did you manage to see how we are being broken up for good? So once every few weeks, we have a Common Session where all the students gather up for a big class and I was glad that I was able to see those warm faces again since we had a Common Session last Thursday. As usual, Jason picked me up at my hostel and we headed straight to the library upon reaching the campus. I could see Naveen, Jac and Sheila in the library as well. Good to see my Indian friend, Naveen - both of us have gotten so used to racist jokes between us that I can just call him India and he calls me Cina in return. Even though I only get to see him like once in a black moon now...

I'm not sure how much they have been reading on my blog but to my surprise, Jac told me that I do not sound like the real me in my blog. Those words woke me up with immediate effect as I was still half-awake at that particular time.

"It's not the Loi that I know in person."

Startled, I wondered how different can I be? She admitted that she spent an hour the night before just to contemplate which one is actually the real me. I gotta admit I was kinda surprised to receive this piece of feedback especially from someone who knows me so well. India was so quick to defend me by claiming that my blog sounded exactly like the way I would talk in real life. Somehow, I couldn't help thinking, hours later, how do I really portray myself to the community from this blog? What is your perception of me as my blog reader? A friend who knows me well might think of me differently compared to a random anonymous reader who happened to stumble upon my blog.

"It's not the Loi that I know in person."

Those words kept ringing in my ear and taunting me up till today. As though I am having an auditory hallucination, it seems that I can hear the words spoken to me every now and then as if Jac is just standing next to me. I know from the way she arranged her words and from her expression that she prefer the real me compared to the one she experienced by going through my blog. Again, I have to question myself repeatedly, how different do actually I sound here compared to the real me? Am I giving you a bad impression from my blog? It was at this time when I recalled another comment from another friend of mine, Melissa, 3 years ago:

"People who don't know you well will have the impression that you are an arrogant person."

Which is true, because honestly, I do not easily open up to a total stranger and I do not usually take initiative to talk to someone that I do not know. But those have changed over the years. I am more of an open person now as I have highlighted in my first blog post. To be honest, I don't really care much about how the community think of me, I only listen to those really close to me because they are the ones that know me best - like my family, my loved one, and of course my really good friends. 

A friendship is all about your effort and sincerity

Friends.

I am indeed very lucky to be blessed with a few really close friends throughout my life. Starting from primary school to secondary school and to college life now. And I know I will continue making new friends as I march forward in my life. But as you grow older, you tend to see which type of friends is worth keeping and sticking closer to; and seeing how the rest should just remain as friends. I must admit, I was not a popular guy back in secondary school, everyone has their own set of friends and it is hard for me to find someone who really appreciates me for who I am. It was only until my Foundation year when I met this roommate of mine and from that day on, I finally realized how beautiful a friendship can be. Too bad Jon has to depart to Russia a year later. If you are reading this, Jon, how are you at this moment? Did you manage to do what we advised you to do few weeks ago? Those stuff that we discussed for 2 hours at The Domain? Did you?? 

But who am I to choose?

Of course, I am not a perfect friend myself. No one does. But the effort and the sincerity matters. It is when I am with them that I felt a sense of belonging, a sense that I am being appreciated. Indeed I was so happy that Jonah came all the way to Cyberjaya for a drink with me few weeks ago. He is currently at South Korea looking at pretty girls and enjoying kimchi I suppose. But as I am typing this, more and more names appear in my mind and I can't stop but to think of how many friends I have lost contact along the way. I hope they are all doing extremely well. Probably busy with their work, some have even gotten married and have kids. Of course, they themselves have found a new set of friends to hang out with just like how I have found mine at my college.

So how do you define friend?

According to one random dictionary that I referred, a friend is a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations. To be honest, if I were to take the definition literally word-by-word, I have not met as many friends as I have expected in my life. The rest that I thought were my friends, were merely my acquaintances. An acquaintance is a person known to one, but usually not a close friend. I have known loads of people, but not all of them have any mutual affection bonds with me.

Friends come and go.

Yes, friends do come and go. It is up to both sides to maintain depending on how they value the friendship. We need both sides to pull the string to keep it tight. I know very well that I might not see India as frequently as I do now after we graduate, or even Jason and the rest of my friends. Just like Jon who I only meet once a year every time he comes back to Malaysia for holidays. But the friendship is recharged with every meeting and the laughter you shared upon the reunion. It reties any loose knots and repaints any rusty chains between the both of you. If you have a friend who has let go of his side of the string, there is no point holding on. Let it go.

Okay, back to topic. I know I have strayed very far from my intended discussion really. I can't really see a big difference between the real me and the current one typing this blog. Probably I don't open up that much in my blog, of course I don't pour everything into this blog. A blog is not a diary and a diary is not meant to be viewed by public. It's just a place for me to hit at, once a while when i feel like writing, yeah, I love writing actually, have produced a few short stories of my own. I have an entire file at home filled with all my short stories. Those are being inspired by the novels that I read as part and parcel of growing up. And yeah, I love reading.

Reading Carrie at Borders, The Gardens

I was passing by Borders yesterday when I came across the book, Carrie by Stephen King. I have seen the book loads of times but have never taken any initiative to even try to read it. The best Stephen King book to me by far is Pet Sematary having received it as my birthday present many years ago. So I was reading the first few pages of Carrie and ended up sitting on the floor so engrossed in the book that I almost forgot why I was at The Gardens at the first place. I have a movie to catch!

In my humble opinion, the best way to improve your English is through reading. When I was young, I started by reading Enid Blyton's books, the books that color up my childhood. Words such as The Faraway Tree, Moonface, Dame-Wash-A-Lot, Mr. Whazzisname -  do they ring any bells? And then I moved on to detective series such as The Hardy Boys, The Famous Five, and Secret Seven. My, those books were really intriguing to the point I pictured myself as one of them. And when I moved into upper primary, I started reading the Harry Potter series and I finally settled at adult series such as The Lord of the Rings, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tuesdays with Morries and works by John Grisham, Dan Brown, and Stephen King. I have finished reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy like 8 times and have never grown tired of it. To me, it is a masterpiece. The ending was so perfectly written that I shed tears all the time when I finish the book. To me, to be able to create a totally different world, different species, different cultures, different languages is something really wonderful and significantly unique for JRR Tolkien. Dan Brown's series, on the other hand, always tend to have a big twist at the end. But Digital Fortress remains my favorite among his works.

Honestly, you don't need all those English tuition classes to improve your English. I never like the way how Chinese school in Malaysia teaches English. They are too schematic, too one-sided, too closed-minded. I have been a tuition teacher once and I saw how the kids are being taught nowadays. For instance they are given a picture of a boy drinking a glass of water, and next to the picture, they have words like this: Ali - drink - glass - water. And the student is supposed to form a sentence like: "Ali is drinking a glass of water."

Goodness, what do you learn from this?

Why can't they just give a picture without words so that a student can write something like, "It was hot in the afternoon and Ali was feeling thirsty after reaching home from school. His throat was as dry as a bone and he decided to drink a glass of water to quench his thirst." In this freestyle way, students get to think out of the box and get the chance to express their English in a more versatile way. Students learn mininal from the very structured English classes that only emphasize on tenses and grammar. Of course learning tenses is important, but I feel it is better for the student to take initiative himself in reading story books and learning tenses all by himself. I did not know much about tenses when I was in Standard 3 too. For instance. I just know that "I am a boy" sounded nicer than "Me is a boy" and therefore the latter is wrong. But do not be surprised that many youngsters nowadays (thanks to Facebook Newsfeed system) cannot differentiate between "I" and "Me" and when to apply them. No one taught me grammar, it was all from story books. Of course my English is not perfect, you would probably find loads of grammatical errors from this article itself, but hey, I am in a hyper mood today and I can talk just about anything in my blog today. Guess I am just too free or too talkative. I guess that was why Jac said I am different here. Maybe I should really sign off here otherwise she would be spending 2 hours thinking next. It's Saturday by the way. Have a good rest, folk! 

One Hole Tighter Please!

Hell yeah! I have 2 good news to post in my blog today. I just can't wait to share it out!

During the Raya holidays, I continued doing my work-outs at home because I was so worried that I might put on weight at my hometown. My father used to term me a "cockroach" as I tend to finish up just about any food in the house if I am ever present at home. Both my brother and I are very well-known for our extensive stomach capacity that would put any Sumo wrestler's appetite to shame, honestly! So after the one week long holiday, I packed up and got back at my hostel. On Monday morning, I remember that I woke up and got ready as usual. My daily morning routine is to wake up at the third alarm ring, brush my teeth, shower, read the morning news, check my Facebook newsfeed and got dressed for class. So I was pulling on my pants and adjusting my belt when I realized that the hole that I usually used for my belt was actually too loose for me. I was shell-shock for a moment as I double-checked my belt. Goodness, it's the same hole that I have been using all this while and now it's too loose for me! The same hole that was a bit tight for me just a month ago! I actually needed to go one hole tighter! I could not help but to feel on cloud nine - it was a very special feeling, a feeling of accomplishment, of victory. To be honest, my weight was actually going up and I was of the opinion that I had put on fats! But now I'm pretty sure that I have put on muscle instead. Way to go!

The best thing about losing weight and getting fitter is having other people to actually acknowledge it and compliment you about it. There were two recent occasions - yesterday my friends were commenting that I have indeed lost weight and today, I was walking in Mid Valley when I met a friend of mine, Pearl; and her first reaction was, "Wow! You look so good!" I have not met her for a long time and I was quite taken aback by her sudden outburst of compliment that I did not know how to respond appropriately. Never before have I been praised in such a way. But that kind of compliment gets you going, I remember I spent the same night at the gym going one step further and pushing my body beyond my normal limits as I was extremely motivated to get even fitter. Now my body is feeling sore all over as I am typing this blog. I can only imagine how sore it will be the next morning. It's alright! No pain no gain, buddy!

Okay for my second piece of good news!

Guess what? Apple has finally approved a replacement for my iPad2! After all the hard fought negotiations I have been through these few days, I have finally achieved what I have been fighting for. I can still recall the words spoken to me by the Apple representative, (in American slang) "Dear Loi, since your iPad only sustained minor damage, we are pleased to inform that you have qualified for a warranty replacement. Please contact your nearest service center and inform them the case code for reference." Those words are still ring in my ears up till now. I could barely believe my ears when I heard that and the next thing I knew, I was on my way to Mid Valley, smiling from ear to ear and appreciating how beautiful the scenery was along the way. The only reason I could think of, at that time, why the scenery was so beautiful was that, on the day it was created, God must have been in an exceptionally good mood. Of course, the songs that I listened to on my iPhone sounded better than how they usually were! Speaking of Jay Chou, he always sounds awesome to me, but today, he sounded awesome-r!

So I got my iPad traded in and now I need to wait 5-7 working days till my new iPad2 arrives. Mmm, life has never been so good! Err, am I supposed to insert a smiley face here?

iPad 2 Exorcism!

In coincidence with the Chinese seventh month, all of the sudden, my iPad2 started behaving as though it has been possessed by an evil spirit. It just moves and types by itself (you can see how my iPad misbehaved in the YouTube video that I have uploaded). Earlier, I thought it was due to the screen protector but the problem persisted even though I have removed it. I tried restoring my iPad but to no avail. Giving up, I ran a Google search to see if there is anyone on the net that happens to share the same problem. I was surprised that apparently this is a very common problem for iPad users. Most of them got their iPad exchanged for a new one right away. 

So since my iPad is still under warranty, I decided to try my luck at the local Machines store.

Last Sunday I went to the Machines store at Mid Valley and lodged a complain regarding my iPad. Without even looking at my iPad, the guy in-charge gave me a set of directions that I should visit their Service Center instead and as it was Sunday, the Service Center was closed and I have to come back the next day. Not satisfied with the way I was treated, I tried the Machines store at The Gardens instead. This time, the guy in-charge was considerate enough to take a look at my iPad and tried to repair it to no avail, of course. But I really appreciate the concern and the effort to resuscitate my iPad unlike the other guy at Mid Valley.

It's just like being a doctor. Some doctors take some time to chit chat with their patients every morning during ward rounds and some would just walk from bed-to-bed without a single smile to the patients. Which doctor do you prefer if you happened to be the one lying on the bed? *Touch wood*

After a few fruitless attempts, the guy who looked into my iPad gave up and told me to visit their Service Center the next day. Fine.

On Monday, I went all the way to their Service Center only to be greeted with a really long queue and only 2 working counters out of 4 available. It was already almost 5pm and their center closes at 6pm. And by 5:45pm the queue only got longer and it was only at that time when they obliged to open up all their counters! I mean, how can you have only 2 counters running when you have tenths of people waiting for their turns and you actually take 15-30 minutes to serve each customers right? Speaking of efficiency here.

So after 1 long hour, my turn came and they guy who served me was very polite. He told me that such problem is very common and he has seen loads of them. However, he warned me that I have voided my warranty because I have damaged my iPad...

...Pause. I just gave him the blank look.

He turned my iPad and showed me the slight dent at the top left corner.

"It doesn't matter if you have dropped this iPad or bang it against a hard surface, but Apple will not accept your iPad for an exchange for a new one if it is not in a good condition."

Fine, I thought. But it was such a small dent and I could not remember any accounts when I have actually dropped the iPad. Otherwise it looked brand new. I tried to reason my way out but he told me that he was just following the protocol.

So I need to speak to someone with more authority, I thought.

I left the Service Center, headed for Starbucks, The Gardens and snapped a few photos of my iPad (you can scroll all the way down and look at them yourself). I proceeded to calling the Apple Customer Service. The receptionist who greeted me told me exactly the same thing that I have voided my warranty due to the slight damage on my iPad. This is ridiculous.

I mean, it is just a slight dent and if such small dent can cause such a big and significant damage to an iPad, doesn't that makes iPad sounds useless to you? If people around the world can have the same problem without even scratching their iPad, does this means that I am at fault of causing this problem to mine instead? In my humble opinion, it actually means that the problem is with the hardware itself, Apple is at fault for this. It has nothing to do with the slight dent on my iPad don't you agree? I would not mind if you exchange another dented iPad for me as long as it works!

I tried my best to reason my way out, of course. No way I am giving up this fight.

So the receptionist connected me to someone of higher authority. So this gentleman (with American accent) who spoke to me was considerate and kind enough to request photos of my iPad for consideration (I expected that). I told him that the photos were ready and I would e-mail them right away. He was glad to hear that and told me he had 1 more hour at work and could actually take some time to look into my case. He further advised me to drop my contact number at the e-mail itself so that he could contact me after reviewing my photos and case.

Without any further ado, I e-mailed all the photos to him after hanging up the call and sat there at Starbucks waiting for his call...

1 hour passed with a blink of an eye...No call yet...

2 hours...My phone was almost out of battery...No call yet...

3 hours...I gave up and left...

Up till today, I am still checking my mailbox or my phone once a while hoping for a respond. I do not know what is there left to do. My iPad is seriously sick and I need a proper respond from Apple regarding this matter. As for now, I can only leave the case to the hands of the gentleman who promised to review my case and photos. I am keeping my fingers' crossed for good news. For your information, there are only 23 days left on my iPad warranty. I can see why they are reluctant to exchange my iPad for a new one.

Don't tell me that I have to chuck this iPad2 away and reuse my iPad1. And iPad1 is not iOS6 compatible! Sigh...

Raya Holidays @Singapore

Wonderful Singapore - taken from Esplanade

Yeap! I spent my weekend enjoying myself at Singapore. For your information, that was my first time at Singapore and it's a shame because I am a Johorean and Singapore is not really far away from me. Been alive for 23 years and I have not even seen Singapore! Most of my friends would laugh at me for that, I know. But really, I have always thought that Singapore (apart from being cleaner than Malaysia) is about the same with Kuala Lumpur - so why bother going right?!

How wrong I was.

I was not really excited about the trip at all. It so happened that 3 of my sisters would be there plus my parents, so I thought it would be fun to join them. Otherwise, I would be home alone. My flight was at Saturday morning. I bought Malaysia Airlines instead of Air Asia because I was anticipating a hectic Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) due to the "balik kampung" fever. So I opted to pay extra to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) instead. Flight was scheduled at 9:20AM and I reached KLIA at 8:15AM. I was whistling away as I looked forward to getting my Sausage McMuffin breakfast while waiting for the time to board the plane. 

Halfway to McDonald's, I saw the big crowd at the Passport Customs downstairs and I knew I have no choice but to gobble up my breakfast as fast as possible and join the long queue at the Customs. I could only imagine a bigger crowd at LCCT to be honest. Trying to stay optimistic, I continued making my way to McDonald's only to be greeted with another set of long queue at the restaurant itself! The next thing I knew, I spent 20 minutes waiting for my turn to purchase my McMuffin and by the time I walked out from the restaurant, it was already 8:40AM. I had not eaten my McMuffin, I packed my breakfast up and decided to eat them on the plane but I had to finish my hot Milo as it was not allowed onto the plane.

So I was queueing up at the long Customs line waiting for my turn and I took that opportunity to nick a few sips on my Milo. I had to apologize to a few Muslims who were around me as they were all fasting and to drink right in front of them might be a bit rude and unpleasant, but I guess they were all in Raya mood to be caring about me drinking Milo right? So minum saja lah!

The queue was painfully slow. The lady in charge of my line was taking her own sweet time clearing the passports and a few old men behind me were already groaning. Still, I managed to board my plane on time, and enjoy the orange and guava juices offered on board with salted beans and of course, my McMuffin! Even the air stewardess was teasing me, "Ohhhh, nice burger!!!" I could only reply her with a weak smile as I was looking forward to getting off the plane. The journey was kinda unpleasant as the craft was old and the air-conditioner was not cold enough. The businessman behind me did not heed the "turn-off-your-mobile-phone" order and his phone rang halfway taking off. The small kid sitting 2 seats next to me kept looking at me munching at my McMuffin as if hoping that I would dish out another set of McMuffin from my bag and gave it to her.

The plane landed at Changi and I took the MRT to Amara Hotel, Tanjung Pagoh. My parents were already there. We checked-in and started exploring the city. It was a very awesome place to visit indeed. If I were to walk in a shopping complex at KL, I would see loads and loads of ladies in "tudung-s" but in Singapore, there were no "tudung-s" at sight! (Probably gone home for the Raya holidays) A lot of the people there are either Chinese or foreigners. Even if there are Malays, most of them are not dressing up like the Malays at KL, I was even surprised to see a Muslim lady dressing up with a mini-skirt and a bare-back top! 

And since we were constantly walking under the ground, my father termed all the people around as "termites". I could walk from City Hall to Suntec or Esplanade without seeing the Sun. The Chinese here speak English compared to Chinese at KL who would commonly speak Mandarin or Cantonese. It feels good, really, as I prefer to speak English rather than Mandarin. (I was raised from an English-spoken family). The waitress at my hotel were mostly Koreans or from Mainland China. I really enjoyed shopping in Singapore. Okay, the standard of living is higher plus the food is more expensive and the "wantan mee" is really bad here, but these did not really affect me significantly. The sight of the awesome Garden by the Bay, view of the city from Esplanade were enough to enchant me and make me wanna be back with my loved one in the future. Indeed it was so romantic at night that many young couples were hanging around the place.

Speaking of young couples, there is also another drastic difference between Singaporeans and Malaysians - the PDA level. My PDA does not stand for the medical term "Patent-Ductus Arteriosus" but rather for the term "Public Display of Affection". I remembered I could see kissing couples, cuddling couples everywhere at public. I remember how uncomfortable it was for me to stand next to a kissing couple and hearing the smooching lips-to-lips sound while I was trying my best to ignore that and continue taking photos from the top of the Esplanade. Or walking around at the Garden by the Bay and all of the sudden, a couple at a bench close to you started cuddling and kissing. Most of the PDA scenes were at night, probably because they could not hold their lusts any longer. I don't know, really. 

A new United jersey addition to my wardrobe!

Speaking of Singapore, a Manchester United fan would always think of the two official Manchester United store opened there - one at City Hall and the other at Marina Bay. I wanted to get my van Persie shirt from Singapore and the price offered at the City Hall store was SGD99. And worse still, they do not do naming customization. I did not want to wear a plain empty United jersey, so the guy working there suggested that I go to Peninsula Mall instead. I took his advice and headed to Peninsula Mall the next day. And it was a trip worth remembering.

Not being familiar with the place, I followed Google Map and was soon standing outside Peninsula Plaza and I was greeted with the most unexpected sight. The whole place was full with foreigners and most of them were Thais, Vietnamese, Bangladeshi and Indonesians. The plaza itself was very old. It was public holiday and that explained the amount of foreigners loitering around the area! Upon entering the building, I headed straight to the Info Counter to ask for any shops selling sports jerseys. The whole place was so packed with foreigners that I could not imagine finding a shop selling original United jersey around really! And to my surprise, the Info Counter itself was empty! So I had to explore the building myself. I took the escalator to the first, second, and third floor and I was greeted with unpleasant sight of foreigners loitering on the floor, and there was an unpleasant smell which none of them seemed to care much about. There was no jersey-selling shop at sight! Giving up, I left the building, making a mental note not to come here ever again in the future. Depressed, I planned to just buy the United jersey from Al-Ikhsan when I got back to Malaysia. 

However, I was still not satisfied, something inside me was telling me that I could get the jersey somewhere around the place (or maybe it was just my desire to get the shirt before the game against Everton on Monday). So I approached a lady selling shoes outside the building. She smartly noted that I had indeed come to the wrong place. In fact, there were actually two Peninsula buildings there. The one that I should go is Peninsula Shopping Mall and the one that i just went was Peninsula Plaza. Gosh, no wonder I was so lost inside the plaza!

So I crossed the next street and headed into Peninsula Mall and as I reached the first floor, I saw a jersey-selling shop. Smiling triumphantly, I entered the shop. An Indian man greeted me and told me that his shop offered name and number customization service. The United kit was priced at SGD89. Not bad. However, there was another Indian guy sitting at the counter. He seemed to be the owner, and was engrossed in watching his Bollywood show rather than talking to me. He was unfriendly and he snapped at me coldly that the customization service was not available as it was public holiday (just as I approached him to make my payment) and he added that I should come back on Tuesday. Without waiting for my respond, he turned his head back to his laptop and continued watching his show. Tactless. How do you expect to do business with this kind of attitude towards your customer? The Indian man who greeted me earlier looked at me apologetically. I smiled at him and left.

I headed upstairs and saw another 2 jersey-selling shop. I entered the one with more customers inside. This time I was greeted by an Indian lady and a Chinese man. Both of them were so friendly that I could not help being thankful that the guy downstairs rejected my purchase. And the United kit offered at this shop was just SGD80!

However for customization, it was SGD2/letter and SGD20/number. So after much negotiations, they agreed to sell me fully "van Persie-customized United jersey" at SGD120. I agreed on the spot. I was worried that the customization might take a long time and she assured me that it would take less than 10 minutes! I was very happy at that time. But it was the reaction from the Chinese man that caught my attention.

He seemed to be very unhappy that I wanted to buy van Persie's kit and was mumbling angrily when he handed me my van Persie jersey after he customized them.

Chinese Man: Why do you wanna buy his jersey? This guy is useless! He will be just like Owen! What if he gets injured tomorrow?!

Me: It's alright. My aim is to show this jersey off to my Arsenal friends.

Chinese Man: You dare to show off to me then I charge you more!

It turned out that this man's an Arsenal fan! No wonder he was so angry and emotional. We had great discussions about van Persie later to the point that he labeled van Persie as "van Pussy". I felt so sorry for him and the rest of the Arsenal fans. But I think you should all remember him for his contributions to your club rather than be angry at him leaving. If there is someone for you  to blame, it's Arsene Wenger. Do not be surprised if he sells Carzola next season!

So, I made my payment, collected my jersey and was soon jogging all the way home! I have finally gotten my van Persie jersey!!! I will definitely be back to Singapore in the future with my beloved one. But there will be no PDA from me, I can assure you that!

Fooling around with my new van Persie kit at Marina Bay

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder!

Which type of Medical Student are you? I am not going to tell you which type I am at this moment

Well, not really Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but close to one. Yes, life as a medical student is traumatic! Today I have teaching sessions with both Prof. Latiff and Prof. Rashid. If you do not know them yet, let me introduce them to you. Prof. Dr. Abdul Latiff Mohamed [MD(UKM), MRCP(UK), PhD(Cardiology)(Leeds)] is the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of my college while Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman [MBChB, PhD, MRCP(Ireland), MRCP(UK), FRCP(Ireland), FRCP(Edinburg), FNHAM] is the Chairperson of our Malaysia Hypertension CPG. Prof. Rashid is also known as Prof. ARAR among the students. Having met them back in my 3rd year, I know how 'mind-blasting' the teaching sessions with these two respectable professors can be. They are both very stern and they really expect a lot from us. So, today I was supposed to do a presentation on the Management of Chronic Renal Failure to Prof. Latiff in the afternoon during lunch time.

Prof. Latiff is excellent in making us understand the full process of a patient's condition and his main intention is to make sure that we treat the patient instead of the disease. I have prepared extremely hard so as to present well to the class and I am very satisfied with my performance today. Even though we could see that Prof. Latiff was not in good mood at the beginning of the day, it was indeed a relief to finally end the session seeing him smiling. All my hard work has indeed paid off. Phew, one big obstacle cleared and now for the other one - Prof. ARAR.

The mention of his name itself causes vibration (a term used by Prof. Hatta) or shivering down the spine among us, students. We were supposed to have Patient Management Diary (PMD) with him but it will be conducted like a Bedside Teaching session with him. My previous experience with him had not been a good one as I can vividly recall how a friend of mine cried after a case presentation session with him back in Year 3. But please do not get me wrong, Prof. ARAR is a very good and kind-hearted person, very much respected among the students, but he is just very stern towards the students during the class - BST especially.

So, having been in Internal Medicine for only the second week, this is the first time that we are having Prof. ARAR for PMD session in the 5th year. So we were in the seminar room of one of the wards in Hospital Serdang and I remember I was complaining about the faulty air-conditioner when I saw him approaching the room. The sight of him was enough to make me stand rooted to the spot. Even the lights on the ceiling tend to dim ominously at the sight of him. I started perspiring.

Me: Prof, the air-conditioner is faulty.

ARAR: Can't we use this room? (indicating to another seminar room)

Me: No, Sir. The nurses need to use the room at 2PM.

(Prof. ARAR handed me his expensive-looking bag)

ARAR: Come, let's go to the ward.

At that time, none of us could believe our ears. What? Ward round with Prof. ARAR? Goodness, we are doomed for sure! I do not think any of my friends who were in charge of the ward know all the cases well enough to present them to Prof. ARAR!

One of the distinctive style that Prof. ARAR has is that he expects the students to volunteer all the time. For example, when he needed someone to conduct a physical examination on the patient today, he would ask:

"So who wants to do the physical examination?"

Silence.

"Who. Wants. To. Do. The. Physical. Examination?" (higher tone)

Uncomfortable silence. Students started exchanging nervous looks at each other. But none would make eye contact with Prof. ARAR.

"I. SAID. WHO. WANTS. TO. DO. THE. PHYSICAL. EXAMINATION?" (ominously-life-threatening tone)

It was at this moment that we noted the danger sign. It was as if we were having a ticking bomb that would explode if we do not defuse it immediately. It was at this moment that somebody would raise his/her hand to volunteer to do the task. Oh, thank goodness, bless the person who volunteered. On average, none would volunteer at the first time of asking. It was not because all of us were not confident in performing physical examination, it was just that we were all too intimidated with Prof. ARAR breathing down our necks!

As usual, Prof. ARAR's session is really beneficial as we learned a lot from him despite getting all the scoldings. All he wants is that we become really competent junior housemen. He told us today that he was very disappointed with the amount of failures among our seniors and that he would like to conduct teaching sessions everyday if he's free. But since, he's having meetings everyday... But I have to admit that I have thought block every time he stared at me. If Prof. ARAR were to ask me a question without looking at me, I think I would at least be able to give a proper answer. But if he were to look at me with that unforgettable gaze from his eyes, I would stammer and started experiencing profuse sweating as though I am expecting an angina.

I remember how I got mixed up between Murphy's Sign and Rovsing's Sign during the class today. It is such a simple thing but the stress from the look of his eyes were enough to send my neurotransmitters going haywire. Oh, God. Despite that, I really enjoyed his session, I sat right in front of him today - I knew I was inviting him to keep questioning me by sitting there, but I just wanted to try out and fight that anxious feeling churning inside me. After all, this is a good training for my exam in Semester 10. What if I get Prof. ARAR for my examiner then? Better die now than later.

Nevertheless, there were a few quotes from Prof. ARAR that I feel worth mentioning in this blog for my future references:

"You are supposed to shake the ward so that good medicine is practiced! Give good suggestions to the staff!"

"You must think like a detective, argue like a lawyer! But your heart must be good."

"Year 1 is for you to learn the basic knowledge, Year 2 is for you to understand the knowledge learned, Year 3 is for you to apply the knowledge that you have learned and understood, Year 4 is for you to perform analytical thinking through Evidence-Based Medicine, and Year 5 is for you to synthesize and evaluate the management given to the patient."

Dear, Prof. ARAR, I have been trying my very best to meet your expectation as well as Prof. Latiff's so that I can be the Painfully Enthusiastic medical student as shown at the picture above. Tomorrow, I am having a class with Datuk Dr. Nor Izham Aziz, a Cardiologist from Putra Specialist Hospital, Melaka. I had few sessions with him back in Year 3 and I really like him. I will be presenting Infective Endocarditis case with him tomorrow and I really wanna make sure that I do my very best again. It has been a really hectic week for me. I did not have the chance to visit the gym today, I did visit the gym yesterday. I am really looking forward to class finishing early with Datuk Izham tomorrow so that I can continue building my abs and shaping up my body. A medical student needs to look good as well, you know. Furthermore, there will be Ladies' Session tomorrow, you know. Haha, just joking!

I'm No Longer in the 70s!!! Err...Kilogram...

No No No! I am no longer stuck in the 70s!

Well, my "70" means my weight actually.

So after a few weeks' worth of extreme gym sessions, I am officially below 70kg now! I remember the last time I weighed myself was around 74kg and right now I am at 68! My Body Mass Index is currently at 22.08 and I am going to lower it down to 21. I will update my next BMI in 2 weeks' time, I promise. Honestly, it really feels good to be losing weight. But, on the other side of the spectrum, it always feel bad to put on weight right?

So it's a public holiday for Selangor today and I got back to my hostel early so that I could visit the gym. There are 2 gyms nearby - the nearer one has lesser equipment and machines, and the further one is the gym that I have been frequenting from the start. So as usual, I packed up my stuff and rushed out. The gym is probably around 1km away and the trip to the gym is kinda tiring as I need to go uphill. It was around 4PM and the Sun was scorching hot, and halfway through, I was already perspiring and feeling thirsty as well. I stopped by a nearby vending machine and got myself a 100PLUS. Sugar, I know. Gah.

Just for your information, it's actually Ladies Only Session from 3.30PM - 7PM on Monday and Wednesday at this gym, but since the number of ladies going there is very few, it is quite normal for the gentlemen to use the gym even though we are actually prohibited from doing so. And it always feel better to have ladies around, you know. *Mr. Bean face*

Alas, when I reached the gym, I was surprised to see that the door was locked. So the gym is closed on public holiday as well. So no gym, no pretty girls for me today - just kidding. Half-groaning, I started pacing my way to the other gym which is nearer to my home. Upon reaching the gym, I saw a stern-looking guard sitting outside the main entrance. It was at that moment that I had a bad feeling that this gym needs a membership card or something equivalent to join. But, the urge to do work-outs was burning heavily inside me. I had spent my entire weekend doing nothing and I was not going to let this guard stop me from entering the gym. So, I lifted my chest, and walked steadily and confidently towards the entrance, as if I have been there loads of time and I know the place well. I knew the guard was looking at me, and he must have missed the sweat trickling down my spine as I made my way towards the door, yanked it open and entered without looking back.

There were two familiar Chinese men in the gym. I have seen them before at the other gym. I slumped onto the floor and started wearing my pair of sneakers. At that moment, the guard entered and I turned around and saw him staring down at me. That short moment when both of us exchanged gaze could not have lasted longer than 2 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity for me. After what was like eons later, he dropped his gaze and went on to turn on all the air-conditioners in the gym (only two were on previously). Then, he walked out. Phew...That was a close one. I pulled on my sneakers, plugged in my earphones and started doing my work-outs.

After 2 hours of hard work, I told myself that I should call it a day. I changed to my sandals, packed everything into my backpack and walked out. The guard was still sitting outside the gym when I walked past him. He looked at me and immediately exclaimed, "Hey you! Come here!" as in the authority of a Bishop. I knew I was in deep-shit. Slowly and reluctantly, I approached him.

Guard: Mana kad you? You tau you kena ada Membership Card baru boleh masuk tak? I tadi tak stop you sebab tak nak ganggu you! You nak kena denda ke? (Where is your card? Do you know that you need to display your Membership Card before entering the gym? The reason as to why I did not stop you was because I did not want to disturb you. Now that you have broken the rules, you need to face the consequences)

Me: Oh, kena bayar masuk gym ini kah? (Really? Do we need to pay to join the gym?)

Guard: I tak kisah sama ada nak bayar ke tak. Janji esok you pergi Management Office dan daftar untuk satu Membership Card. Kalau masuk cam ni tak ada kad, mesti kena denda! (I do not care about that. What you need to do now is to apply for the Membership Card at the Management Office tomorrow. Otherwise, you'll be punished)

Me: Sorry lah, boss. I tak tau sebab I from gym lain. Hari ni gym tu tutup sebab holiday, so I try la datang sini. First time kat sini je. Sorry ek. (I'm so sorry, I'm actually from another gym and that gym's closed today. It's my first time here and I'm not aware of such rules. Please forgive me)

And I gave him the power of the hand.

The guard seemed to have soften down upon seeing my hand. We shook hands and he let me go. I can't believe my luck to be off the hook that easily. And it's not my first time to get off from a trouble like this. Just my Lady Luck I guess.

I got home and spent the night revising on ECG and heart murmurs. It's my new posting starting tomorrow - Internal Medicine. I think I need to pen off now and get ready for bed. My new posting will be at Hospital Serdang, and I need to get up early as it's not easy to get good parking there. Adios and good luck to me in my new posting!

Another Olympic Heartbreak for Datuk Lee and Fellow Malaysians

We are still proud of you, Datuk Lee

Once again Lin Dan showed why he is Datuk Lee's greatest badminton nemesis when he beat Datuk Lee en-route to becoming the first man on Earth to retain the Olympic badminton singles title. It is the second time in a row that Lin has stepped in between Malaysia and our very first Olympic gold medal. It was a heartbreaking moment for all the Malaysians who have given up all the work and things they would do on a normal Sunday evening, just to sit down in front of the television in hope to see Datuk Lee writing another new chapter of achievement in his career and most of all, I believe all of us want to witness the moment when a Malaysian is crowned an Olympic gold medalist.

However, quite harshly, we were told to wait.

Hopes were sky high for our badminton ace to deliver the nation's first Olympic gold medal and he did not let us down. Datuk Lee won the first set after being neck-to-neck with Lin Dan for the first half of the first set before pulling away and sealing it at 21-15. Most of us were not able to contain our emotions, we were cheering hard and loud as if we had indeed won the Gold Medal. Even Datuk Lee showed more emotions in his game today - screaming with happiness and punching the air in delight upon winning the first set. We thought the second set would be another close fight.

This time, Lin Dan proved us wrong.

He was more precise this time around and sharper, forcing Datuk Lee to continuously making series of unforced errors. And as Lin Dan surged to a big lead at 8-17, he was already brimming with confidence. The stadium was stony dull at the Malaysian end, only cheers from the Chinese could be heard, ominously loud. Datuk Lee appeared to have given up on the set as well as he gave up the next few points to end the game at  10-21. Lin Dan had done what he had set out to do - force a rubber set. 

The rubber set was another nail-biting affair as both of them breathed down each other's neck and they were soon tied at 19-19. I had my fingers' crossed. It's not about the public holiday, and it's definitely not about free Baskin Robbins; I don't wanna care about those. I just wanna witness an event that would go into our history, that I would be able to tell my kids in the future that I was there when we won our first Olympic gold. This gold medal would be a catalyst for other Malaysian athletes to do well in the international setting in the future as well. However, Lin Dan was the one who won the next point and he was leading 19-20. At that moment, I was feeling so nervous that my legs were shaking. I knew that Datuk Lee must be feeling a hundred times worse than me. One single silly mistake, would cost him the gold medal. 

The final serve started and it was quite a rally. Datuk Lee opted to play safe by playing at the net. Both of them were excellent at net, and all they did were to rally the shuttlecock at each other at short range hoping for the opposition to make the mistake. The stadium was quiet, everyone was holding their breath. However, it was a return from Lin Dan that proved to be the winner as Datuk Lee could do nothing but to hit the shuttlecock high up into the air to the back of the court. It was as if in slow motion that we watched the shuttlecock dropped. Halfway down, I was already convinced that it would be out, but I was in denial state. The shuttlecock had not even made contact with the ground when I saw Lin Dan screaming in delight and the Chinese supporters at the background cheering in approval.

It took some time for me to register in my mind that we had indeed lost the match. As I stood rooted to the spot, I had my eyes glued on the TV screen but I could not remember much what happened next. I was blank. I could only remember seeing Lin Dan running around the stadium in jubilation and was soon joined by his coach. 

It was the same feeling when Man United lost the League title last season at the stoppage time. 

It's so close but yet so far.

Datuk Lee was unable to hide his grieve. So am I.

Datuk Lee Chong Wei, you are still our national hero. I am very proud of your achievement. Thank you so much for bringing the nation together. It feels good to see all the Malaysians; regardless of race, religion and creed cheering for our country. I am proud to be a Malaysian and I am proud to witness that we Malaysians, do not go down without a fight.

The Olympic gold medal remains a difficult target for us, Malaysians. We are now left to wonder who will be taking the glory and when? It is at this time when a thought suddenly occur to me - if only Squash is an Olympic event...

Skills win you medals, attitude wins hearts - ESPN commentator on Datuk Lee

Van's My Man

I am a very big fan of Manchester United.

van Persie for United?

This year's pre-season has been all about this man - Robin van Persie. I have been doing the same routine over and over again for the past few days upon waking up every morning - launching the Soccernet and Eurosport app from my iPhone, hoping to see the conclusion of his transfer saga. So this morning I happened to come across the latest update from Mail Online that Manchester United have agreed a £30million deal for Lucas Moura - and Sir Alex Ferguson is hoping to take his spending to close on £50million by ending the Robin van Persie transfer saga this week! That sounds too good to be true, really. I have learned not to trust all these news until I see them on the United website.

It reminds of me of last season when there were speculations leading Wesley Sneijder to United. There was even an article claiming that the transfer deal has been completed. I remembered what a fool I was to believe in that piece of news to the extent of even sharing that to my Facebook. 

Deep down inside me, I really want to see RVP in United jersey. The partnership between RVP and Rooney will be terrific. With the elegant Kagawa supplying them from midfield and both Valencia and Nani crossing from the wings, we are definitely going to cause troubles to the oppositions. Since Berbatov is out-of-favor at United, I was thinking should we exchange him with RVP? Berbatov might fit in very well at Arsenal, who knows. 

Will we be seeing these two men in action together next season?

It is also reported this morning that Lucas Moura will take the trek down from Newcastle for a medical and sign the deal (Moura is currently in the Brazil Olympic squad). Ferguson has stayed behind at Old Trafford especially to complete the formalities. Ferguson has indeed stayed out of tonight's friendly against Valerenga at Oslo leaving assistant manager, Mike Phelan to take charge.

I have not bought the latest United jersey (I do not really like the Home jersey, but the Away kit looks awesome!). The reason? Because I have to wait for the end of RVP transfer saga. I can't wait to have RVP United kit if he were to transfer to United. I'm still waiting for this to be over with. Let's keep our fingers' crossed.

I will end this morning's blog post with a really lame joke that I have been sharing with all my Man. City friends:

Q: Why is the United new Home Kit like a tablecloth?

A: Because it goes on top of the table!!! :>

Hell yeah! We are aiming for our 20th League crown this season!