Starting A New Life

Tomorrow I start a new life.

Tomorrow I'll be leaving for Ipoh.

I will be reporting for work on Tuesday.

I don't know what I feel.
A little excited.
A little nervous.
A little afraid.
A little sad.
A little happy.

I have no idea what to expect.

I don't know where I'll be staying - I'll be in the quarters, but have no idea which room or what it looks like.
I don't know who my roomate will be.
I don't know which department I'll be in.
I don't know what time my work starts and what time it ends.
I don't know where I'll eat or where to do my laundry.
I don't know when I'll be back next.
I don't know when I'll be able to go online.
I don't know whether or not I'll be having weekends.
I don't know a million other things, but then it's already 12.30am and I don't want to tax my brain so much.

It's like when I went to Russia for the first time.
It's a whole new way of life.

There are many things that I will have to do before I actually settle down. Rajiv will be doing most of the settling down for me (I think) 'cos I have to start work immediately.
There are so many petty things to buy, but then I think it will be better for me to actually see my room first before actually buying anything, so Rajiv will be doing my shopping.
I don't know whether I have mentioned it in previous blogs or not, but then I don't have a problem living without a TV, but I NEED THE INTERNET!! Rajiv will be getting me the Celcom broadband thingy, so I guess that will be OK. I've got lots of stories to blog about and not enough time to write them. Hopefully, I'll get the internet connection soon (and also have the 'mood' to write a post).

I also will have to get used to working life. 3 months of holidays have certainly spoilt me. I know that it is going to be hard - lots of work and not enough sleep, but I hope that I will get used to it soon.

I think I've started blabbing. I should stop for now.
This would probably be the last time I am going online in my house for quite some time.

From Seremban, With Love..:P (actually, I couldn't think on how to end this post..haha)

My First Shades

I bought my first pair of sunglasses about a week ago.

I have never been able to wear them before because I wore glasses.

Ever since I did my LASIK, I have been wanting to buy a pair of shades, but never got around to doing so mainly because I was jobless and moneyless.

However, on the 26th (or was it the 27th) of November, after our induction exam, we were taken to Padang Besar for a trip. There were many sunglasses there, and they were cheap(cos it was ciplak ones) and I thought, why not?

So, here's a picture of me with my new shades.



FF said that I shouldn't get the ones that look like spectacles and that I should get the bigger ones. Since they are cheap, I decided to get the big one, just for fun. They only had black and white frames - the black ones make my whole face look too dark, so I decided on the white one.

Once I get my pay, I most probably will get a new pair of sunglasses. Till then, this will be it!

Post BTN

Finally! After 5 days of no internet, I finally get to go online!

I can't really write a proper post this time.

I was supposed to register and report to Ipoh Hospital earlier today, but then, since I (and about 20+) other housemen just finished our BTN yesterday, we were given permission to report only on Tuesday. I only found out about it yesterday evening, so I stayed back in Ipoh (as was planned earlier) and just came back today.

There is a family gathering to attend this weekend, starting today, so I don't really have the chance to go online for a long time.

Gotta leave now for the function.
Will try my best to write a post soon.
Thank you everyone for dropping by to my blog.

p/s BTN was fun!! Hope will get to write about it.

End Of Induction

Induction has come to an end. Tomorrow, we will be leaving Sintok for Ulu Kenas, Kuala Kangsar for a 5 days, 4 nights BTN camp.

How many of you have actually heard of Ulu Kenas?
This place is SO Ulu, that it is said that even Maxis doesn't have line there.
I think I can safely take a bet that there will be no internet there.

It's like being cut off from the world for 5 days.
No internet, no phone calls, no smses.
It's like life back in the 80s or 90s.
We didn't have a problem back then. Why is it such a big deal now? How spoilt have we become?

I am not going to crap for too long today. It's 3am now and I have to be up by 7am tomorrow.
I am following Mel to the BTN car in his car instead of the bus.
I am hoping that we will stop somewhere (preferably KFC) to buy lunch.

I am going to miss the internet.
I am going to miss receiving phonecalls and smses.
But, I will survive, 'cos I have no choice.
It's going to be a tiring 5 days, I think (from what I've heard).
Hopefully, I will be able to go online soon.
Till the next post....have fun people!

Ipoh Hospital, Here I Come!

It's been confirmed. I am going to work in Ipoh General Hospital (Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun) for the next two years. KKM said that they cannot offer me a place in Seremban Hospital because all the places have already been filled, but gave me a choice between the Melaka and Ipoh Hospital. Although Melaka Hospital is nearer to home, I somehow prefer Ipoh Hostpital. Maybe it is because my mind was kind of set between Ipoh and Seremban and wasn't prepared for another new place. Or maybe it's because at least 4 of my friends are in Ipoh Hospital already and if I were to go there, I know I will have some familiar faces around me. I think my parents are rather disappointed that I didn't choose Melaka, but they are OK with Ipoh; after all, it's going to be me working there, so they let me make my own choice.

Well, anyway, the decision has been made. I'll be reporting for duty at the Ipoh Hospital on the 5th of December. That's next Friday!! Can you believe it? By this time next week, I'll be officially an employee of the Ipoh Hospital. I am a little excited, but very afraid. Afraid of what is to come. My extremely rusty brain needs to be oiled. I am praying that I get a good MO who is nice to me and teaches me stuff and doesn't shout at me too often and who doesn't give up on me (if I am slow).

It is going to be a really, really new experience for me. Not just working life. But living out of home life. Yes, I wasn't living at home when I was studying, but then, back then I was living in a hostel full of friends who go to class at about the same time and come back at about the same time. Or maybe it is not that different after all. Maybe the only difference will be the fact that now I am in Malaysia and not Russia. Oh, I just thought of 2 other differences - I won't do my laundry here and I am not going to cook for myself here. They have shops (with reasonable prices) for that!

I heard that I will be given government quarters and I can choose my roomate, but then I don't really know anyone who would like to be roomates with me for now. It's not that I am not a nice person, I am, but then my university friends already have roomates (they started working earlier) and am not that close with friends from other universities. I am not going to force anyone to be my roomate. Maybe I'll just leave it to the management to decide. Most of my time will probably be spent in the hospital itself, so I guess it doesn't really matter.

I got to go now. Have a meeting to attend (sounds quite professional, huh!).

A Visit To Asia Cafe

A day before I left for my induction course, I went to Asia Cafe. I have been there once before, but that was a long time ago, and I went there quite late at night and just had some drinks. This time, I was there for dinner.

The main reason we went there was because KR wanted to have watermelon juice. Sharveen and I were OK with anywhere, so we decided on Asia Cafe. When we got there, we only managed to get parking at the lane beside the main road (not the one beside the cafe), so we had to walk to the cafe through a dark lane. My fear at that time was rats and cockroaches. Thankfully, I saw none (I don't care about the ones I can't see).

When we got to the cafe, as expected, there were lots and lots of people everywhere. We thought of sitting in the roofed portion for fear of rain, but then there wasn't a free table in sight and we settled on a table outside.

KR told me and Sharveen to go order our food 1st.

Call me whatever you want, but then I was really, really shocked at what I saw! SO MANY SHOPS! So many varieties of food! So many choices! I looked all around me and saw shops and more shops. And menus of varying nationality, colours and content. How do I choose? I walked past a few shops and tried to comprehend what I was seeing. I felt like there were so many informations that are being inputed at the same time- I was so lost!

(I am a newcomer and didn't know it, but apparently we were supposed to remember our table number when ordering the food, so that 'delivery' would be easy. Good system, I think. Unfortunately, Sharveen had to walk back to our table to check the table number before we managed to order.)

Sharveen made up his mind quickly and ordered and went back to the table so that KR could go make his order. I was practically standing and looking around and wondering what to order. I wish someone would just order for me, tell me what to eat. I was like a 'rusa masuk kampung'! I couldn't take the choices anymore. I decided to stop looking at the shops after a while. I think I just walked about a quarter of the place, and finally decided to order from the first shop. I liked the picture I saw - pineapple chicken.

We had to wait a while for the food to be served, but it was faster than I thought it would take. Sharveen had lasagna while KR had roasted honey chicken. Sharveen and I had medium-sized drinks but KR (who decided he was extremely thirsty) ordered a big glass of watermelon juice. I think it is more worth it to buy the bigger glass, the price difference is not that much. But I don't think I could finish that much drink with dinner.

The food was quite tasty. I liked it. I wouldn't say that the price is cheap, but then when you come to a place like this, you expect it to be a bit more expensive than other places. All in all, I found it quite reasonable 'cos the food tasted OK and I was full by the time I finished eating. All of us were.

I wish I took some photos to be uploaded here. Unfortunately it didn't cross my mind at that time to do that. I tried looking for photos online, but couldn't find any that would do the place justice. Right now, after almost 2 weeks of Malay food (which is tasty at times and not so tasty at others) I am craving for something different. Writing about Asia Cafe is just making it worse!

Anyway, the whole dinner experience was quite a good one..except for the way it ended. We were walking back to the car and once again had to pass through the dark 'lorong'. I saw a guy sleeping at the side and was wondering why he was sleeping there. I was just about to pity him when I saw him do something that should only be done in the privacy of his own room or bathroom. Damn, the man! What an idiot!

I think they should put some lights up in that 'lorong'; am quite sure quite many people use it regularly and would prefer a well lit street to a dark one. One street light is all it needs.

I Have The Right To Sleep When I Am Sleepy!

Since my last post, I have been having quite a lot of free time because of cancelled lectures due to technical errors regarding lecturers and lecture halls. Most of us took the chance to catch up on lost sleep while some went to the nearest towns (Changlung or Jitra). Each of us have to do an assignment, and I have started doing it as well, but then it is such a boring topic, that I can't sit down and do it for a long stretch of time.

We did have a few lectures for the past two days though. Most of it have been extremely boring. So boring that you could fall asleep even after a good night's sleep, what more with the lack of sleep that we experience here.

Come to think of it, I think lecturers shouldn't be angry with us if we are sleepy. It's not like we can control our sleepiness. If someone tells you that you shouldn't feel sleepy, it's like they are telling you you shouldn't feel hungry or you shouldn't cough or sneeze. It's not like you can tell your body to feel sleepy at times and not sleepy at others. You just don't have a choice!

It is a generally known thing that people feel sleepy when they are bored, so why can't the lecturer try to make the lecture more interesting? I always thought that if the topic is boring, then the lecture will be boring. NOT TRUE! I have seen potential boring lectures turn into really interesting ones that kept the whole hall of people awake. In fact, there was at least one lecturer that was so good, I was disappointed that her time was over.

Back in Russia, most of the lectures and classes I had were boring. My Psychiatry class was the worst - it was an afternoon class (after 4 hours of Paediatrics), and for each and every class, I would doze off for at least a few minutes. I have no idea why that particular class always had that effect on me. However, the sleepiest I have been would probably be one of my Endocrinology lecture. It was in Russian, and at that time, I couldn't understand Russian that well. I was straining to try to catch whatever the lecturer said and then trying to translate it from Russian into English and then writing it down. It is really quite a tiring process.

After some time, my brain got too tired to function and I gave up writing and decided to just listen and understand what I can. Then, I started to feel sleepy and began to doze off. Somehow, with a lot of willpower, I managed to be awake enough to remember that I have Skittels in my pencilcase. I reached out for my pencilcase and took my packet of Skittels out. (For those who don't know, Skittels is quite a sour sweet. I bought it specifically for instances like this, believing that the sourness can wake me up). Trying my best to be as silent as possible, I teared open the packet. The whole process took so long, I dozed off for a few seconds/minutes while tearing the packet open. (At that time, I was really in a very very sleepy state)After quite some time, I finally managed to tear open the packet. Then, I put my fingers into the packet (slowly to minimize sound, once again) and tried to get one Skittel. During this process, I dozed off a few times (no, I am NOT lying). I was THAT sleepy!!

Finally, I managed to get the Skittel. I put it in my mouth and the sourness hit me, but only for a short while. I dozed off again, with the Skittel still in my mouth. Thankfully, the lecture ended in a while. From then on, I stopped bringing Skittels to lecture. It doesn't help anyway, so why bother.

The moral of the story : Lecturers, try to make your lecture more interesting. If you aren't able to do that, don't get offended when your students sleep. To the students who are subjected to boring lectures, sour sweets don't help, and neither does coffee.