Monthly update

Woah, have been ages since my last post and I dont think anyone cares including me. Rubbish blog this is anyway. Just to say I'm freaking out because finals is less than 3 months away and I'm so not prepared. Fortunately Ramadhan is only a week away and I hope this month is a month where I could redeem myself.

Just Do It

Clik on the link below to enter a free draw for stuffs from Automobile Association New Zealand. If you win, I win. Answers to questions at aacarfair.co.nz

http://comp.aacarfair.co.nz/r/36465

I return

As requested by my sister, i finally updated this blog. I have been meaning to write something but i had the case of self-induced busy-ness so haven't got the time to get to it. So, whats been happening for the past few weeks? Well, I've finished my psychiatry attachment, 2 weeks of public health, 2 days of Maori Health, 2 weeks of addiction medicine, 1 week of easter holiday and now, im doing intensive care & anaesthesia. I'll talk about school later because writing about Easter holiday is a lot easier on my neurons. I joined my Dunedin mates on a trip to Milford Sound. On the way there, we stopped by a farm for a tour and sheep herding show. Second time I saw this but I was still impressed by how the dogs are so good at their work. It only takes 6 months of training for a dog to herd sheeps properly. This video isn't from the trip I went, but a more impressive herding done in Scotland:

Kuching

Awal bulan Januari lepas, aku akhirnya menjejakkan kaki aku di bumi Malaysia Timur. Sebelum cuti lagi aku dah beli tiket dan merancang untuk bercuti di sana. Tidak semua mengikut perancangan. Orang yang sepatutnya menjadi tuan rumah terpaksa balik ke tempat lain. Walaubagaimanapun, dia dah aturkan orang lain untuk ambil alih. Aku segan sebab tidak berapa kenal orang yang diganti itu. Tetapi tiket dah dibeli dan kos untuk mengubah tarikh tiket untuk pendekkan waktu pelancongan lagi mahal dari bayar sewa rumah tumpangan murah di sana jadi aku pergi juga. Bila sampai disana aku disambut dengan ramahnya oleh tuan rumah baru aku & mereka memang bersemangat nak bawa aku jalan-jalan di bandar Kuching. Layanan memang bagus.

Tempat dipergi: 

1. Kuching Civic Center (gambar atas sekali): Pemandangan 360º bandar Kuching. Percuma untuk masuk.

2. Taman Persahabatan (gambar atas dan bawah): Taman meraikan hubungan diantara Cina Republik dengan bandar Kuching. Cantik dan kemas. Percuma untuk masuk.

3. Pantai Damai (gambar bawah sekali): pantai biasa. Masa aku pergi, musim tengkujuh, jadi laut keruh sikit & bergelora. Aku mandi juga, nasib baik tidak kena sauk.

4. Sarawak Kampung Budaya: rm 60 kot. tak ingat dah harga dia. Dapat menyumpit. Ada macam-macam aktiviti lain tapi masa aku pergi hujan lebat, jadi ada aktiviti dibatalkan.

5. Taman Negara Kubah: gunung untuk dipanjat atau air terjun untuk dimandi. Panjat 500 kaki tetapi kena patah balik sebab hujan lebat. Yuran: rm 5 atau 10, x ingat dah.

6. Pantai Sampan: 2 jam dari kuching. Laut bergelora jadi cuma tengok sahaja.

7. Taman Negara Gunung Gading: terletak di Lundu, 2 jam dari Kuching. Ada bunga rafflesia, air terjun dan gunung. bunga rafflesia x mengembang pada bulan Januari jadi aku x nampak. Menurut pegawai yang jaga tempat itu, bunga rafflesia mengembang awal bulan Mac. Yuran masuk rm5/10, juga x ingat.

8. Semantan: Kampung nelayan. Tidak ada apa-apa menarik. Mungkin makanan laut murah disini.

9. Kampung Bau: Ada 2 gua. Tidak dapat pergi sebab jalan ke gua banjir.

10. Waterfront Kuching: Di persisiran sungai Kucing, di tengah-tengah bandar Kuching. Boleh naik bot untuk pusing-pusing di sungai. Ada orang nak "pow" aku disitu tapi disebabkan aku ditemani orang sarawak, diapun berundur. Dia tanya "ko kacau perempuan kat sini eh?". macam itu lah lebih kurang dia cakap. Aku tak paham sangat pun apa yang dia cakap dengan dialect sarawak yang pekat (dah bukan bahasa melayu -  pendapat aku semata). 

11. Golden triangle: Nama canggih tapi ini sebenarnya patung-patung kucing di tengah-tengah persimpangan jalan berbentuk segitiga berlokasi depan hotel Hilton.   

Arrrghhh susah betul menulis dalam Bahasa Melayu. Bulan Januari bukanlah waktu sesuai untuk melancong di Kuching sebab musim tengkujuh. Masa aku pergi, hujan & banjir paling teruk sejak 40 tahun lalu menimpa Kuching. Memang bukan nasib aku. Banyak perjalanan aku ada sahaja tidak kena. Masa aku pergi umrah masa kecil-kecil dulu pun, aku x dpt nampak kaabah sebab ditutup untuk membuat renovasi. 

Gold Coast

Months ago, my mate suggested we transit at Brisbane on our NZ-MYS-NZ trip. Air Asia X just started flying to Gold Coast (an hour drive away from Brisbane) so cheap flights were available. Apparently JetStar also started flying to KL from there as well, so there was plenty of options there. Having said that, if you dont need to save $$$, dont try these long-haul cheap flights. Seats are smaller than economy class (who would've thought they could make smaller seats) & I got the worst seat - the one smack in the middle where u'll be lucky not elbowing the guy sitting next to you on both sides. Luckily my flight wasn't fully booked & both passengers sandwiching me bolted (I dont think I made them tho, I think...), so I got 3 seats to myself & able to sleep lain down. Anyway, we stayed 3 nights at YHA coolangata backpacker accomodation, which was right next to the Gold Coast airport. Fortunately there is this ruling in Oz where commercial flight landing is banned between midnight & 5/6 am. In a way, the location is good since I used the sound of airplane landing/taking off as an alarm clock & its only 3 minutes walk to the beach (top photo).

What did I do there? Strolled around a bit on the 1st day looking at beaches & the city. Photo: Burleigh Head beach. Next day, we spent the whole day at Dreamworld theme park & on the 3rd day we went to Warner Brothers Movie World (photo below). There's rainforest attraction on the outskirt of the city. I didn't go becuase Oz is notorious for bush fires & just recently upto 60 people died from that in Victoria. Conclusion: Fun place to go if you have the $$$ to enjoy the theme park or is keen on learning/practising surfing. The beach is pretty rough for a swim. The city is also filled with half-naked people strolling around the city. 

As I write this entry, I had this feeling of guilt. Guilty of spending $$$ & time for frivolous enjoyment (theme park rides) & I felt at times how feeble I was in spending my life enjoying these type of things. I know that the $$$ and time should be best spent in more useful manner (dakwah, charity etc) but I also has this urge to have some fun. Finding the balance is something that I've been searching my entire life & I continue to fail. Somebody or a hadith goes by the saying "aim for the afterlife & u will have both of this life & afterlife". I should start taking this advice.   

Ninja cat

About 2 weeks ago I went to KT, not for voting but rather for visiting family. Too bad I didn't register. On my way there, the bus I was on stopped at Putra Bus Station as they usually would. There, PAS youth were waiting for us & other travelers. We received a bag filled with some reading materials, an orange & a drinking water. It was a cunning move IMO, as BN gave some of these travelers $$ for their travel. Before we reached Kemaman at the Terengganu, the bus was stopped for a check-up by the horde of police that was already converging in KT since the start of the by-election. Nothing much happened during this check-up & also for the rest of my travel. The roads leading up to the center of KT were lined by police buses & trucks. At every corner in KT there was police stationed. They were there mainly observing really as KT people were reasonable people & no messy quarrel ever erupted. Nevertheless, opinions differed on the presence of the mass number of police. Some felt safer while others felt threatened. I didn't care. I always think that being cautious is always good but also wondered why so much police + FRUs were needed (reported to be 6000). The roads were also covered with posters, where BN's poster outnumber PKR's by 10:1 as expected. These posters were even guarded day & night. On Friday, the day prior to voting, the Friday sermon was on how to choose your leader. Choose the one who is pious, god-fearing & responsible said the imam. Of course, the mosque I was in is located at an area known to be PAS stronghold. Otherwise, the sermon would be about being thankful of the continued development of country/state. I think. After all this, I didn't even went out to see the actual voting day. What I heard there was mockings for  wearing a particular colour & people queing for $$$ after declaring to have voted for a particular party. 

Click on the poster

Note: I'm only helping to promote these two activities. I'm not involved in any settings for both activities, in fact I won't even be around KL or N9 during those times as insyaAllah, i'll be in Kuching & Terengganu.