Selepas ini

The busiest 2 weeks so far for 2009.

The first week started with an adventure trip to the City of Saigon. Many of the gang went on a dive trip to Komodo so the ones left behind (not enough leaves, not enough money!) booked a trip to Ho Chi Minh City instead since the the flight tickets were on sales and we had a free accommodation there (yes, we're cheapskates!)

I first went to HCMC 2 years ago with some good basketball friends so thought this trip would be just a boring repeat.. How wrong I was! In between visiting the must-see tourist hotspots and shopping, we also had a snatch incident with us ended up having to spend more than 2 hours in the police station and had a crazy day (and night) of adrenaline-rush going around the city on a red vespa and yellow honda cup (if you have seen the traffic there, you would understand why!)

A day after the Vietnam trip, I went to Reef Check's coffee-table book launch at Carcosa and I felt an instant pride seeing so many of the underwater photos featured in the book were taken by people I know. These guys (and girls) are talented and passionate about scuba diving, underwater photography and most importantly, about marine conservation. They're always more than willing to share their knowledge and experience with newbies like yours truly too.

A couple of nights later, I went to Anuar Zain's first ever solo concert at Istana Budaya with an old housemate and it was awesome! He is one true performer and I had one of the best seats too! Thank you for the birthday gift my friend.. It's definitely better late than never!

2 weddings- of a cousin and a good friend, a visit to MIDE (Malaysian International Dive Expo) at PWTC and 2 trips to the cinema with a group of friends concluded the colourful 2 weeks.

Selepas ini, saya akan duduk diam-diam untuk sementara waktu. Satu... sebab banyak kerja. Dua... sebab penat. Tiga... sebab dah pokai!

Anyway, here are some snapshots..


My two travel sidekicks on the red vespa and yellow honda cup in the middle of Ho Chi Minh City - more photos here and here.


The coffee-table book -fully sponsored by BP


My starfish photo filling up the side cover space :)


Anak Pak Zain yang sangat comel!


My cousin Izaty - the bride


The cousins (tak cukup korum) dan anak-anak cousins


My two best buddies.. both have started new life journeys and I shall followsuit...soon.


The pharmacists (can you see the gender imbalance here??)


A pose with some of the friends met at MIDE

----------------

Another batchmate of mine, Siti Marlina Zainal just passed away due to cancer. Al-fatihah.

The young guns

It is really heart-warming to see more and more young guys and girls getting involve in charity work these days. I remember when I was at their age (early and mid twenties that is), all I thought of was just moi, moi, moi... and having fun!

Here are some of them in actions...

Malam Puisi Utusan - Demimu Palestin
Istana Budaya, 23rd January 2009









Konvoi Amal Dana Kemanusiaan Palestin (DAKAP) Kelab MyVi
Melaka, 24-26th January 2009











---------------------

Hey.. people are actually listening! (although taking action is another matter altogether). A good start guys... well done!

In The Star today:

Probe into whale and shark killings

KOTA KINABALU: The state has ordered the Fisheries Department to investigate claims that whales and sharks are being killed and processed at Mabul Island – which is next to the world-renowned diving paradise Sipidan Island.

That is the question state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjum wants answered quickly.

He is asking the state Fisheries Department and the Semporna district office to check out the alleged activities which he said would tarnish the state’s tourism industry.

Masidi said yesterday that Pulau Mabul, which also housed a number of resorts catering to tourists heading to Pulau Sipadan, was not within the jurisdiction of the Sabah Parks, an agency under his ministry.

“Nature lovers and global conservation community are fast becoming very influential lobbyists whose actions could hurt the state’s tourism industry in the long run if they decide a boycott Sabah to protest against activities perceived to be cruel to whales and sharks.”

He said: “Any small mistake or perceived inaction could have a major repercussion on the tourism industry.”

Masidi also called for more coordination among the various law enforcement agencies to curb illegal activities in Sabah waters such as fish bombing.

Selingan

This is the reason why you shouldn't feed small kids with chocolates:

All nice and proper at the beginning..


And the cake arrived..


And he enjoyed it very much..


And the sugar rush came..





Happy belated 3rd Birthday Khai Benjamin.. yes, we know you loved the cake!

p/s Now I know where I learnt peace signs/ hand gestures while posing for photos from.. it's in the gene (just look at my dad if you don't believe me!)

Picture Perfect

Port Dickson 12.4.2008


Langkawi 19.4.2008

How I wish I could enjoy these sceneries on daily basis. Emmm... maybe I should start sending my CV to Langkawi District Hospital eh? :)

More photos here later..
__________________________________________

I am due for another colonoscopy tomorrow. I am so not looking forward to spending hours in the loo tonight after the phosphate soda intake and even more not to the idea of the male specialist friend looking up my ass tomorrow. But I don't have the luxury to choose at this point.. I need to get the problem settled once and for all and since the female doctor who helped to do it for me the last time has now gone for a study leave, I am left with no other option than to just get on with it. I am also praying hard that this incident won't happen again. But if any of you ever receive multiple calls from me tomorrow or if you get bombarded with the same questions/ statements from me again and again...I would like to apologise in advance ok!
__________________________________________

I first saw the play circa late 1996 and it was showing at Dominion Theatre, situated at the cross junction of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street. Since the theatre place was only about 5 minutes walk from College Hall, the residence hall where I stayed in my first and third year of Uni, it was no surprise that this was the first West End play that I saw in London. I always enjoy watching plays since I was at school although I hardly get to indulge myself in this past-time nowadays. Anyway... Beauty and The Beast is coming to KL 25th June till 3rd July this year... Anyone interested to join me for a matinee?

Potts:
Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly.
Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast.
Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise.
Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong.
Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast.
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast.

Off to the cupboard with you now, Chip.
It's past your bedtime. Good night, love.

Mini library going to east coast

Brother Nasrun, one of the guys who joined the Bukit Gantang trip last March has helped to identify the next target for the mini library project. This time, the volunteers will be going to Machang and the details are as follows:

Place: Asrama Bakti Anak Yatim Batu 25, Machang
Date: 17-19th May 2008

More info can be found on Dr Bubble's blog here.

So guys, let's do our bits for the community ya.. you can either donate $$$ or books or join us there on the date. Apart from setting up the mini library, the volunteers will also help to repaint the hostel so more hands (and legs!) are definitely needed.

I hope I will be able to make my way to Machang but since 17th May is going to be a special day for a certain someone, I may need to leave later in the afternoon. Let me know if you want to join me ya!

A million thanks

It's 14th December today and about 6 hours from now, I am supposed to be in a queue somewhere in Queen's Uni of Belfast's compound, in my robe and hat, getting ready to receive my scroll. Yup, it's my graduation day today. But instead, at that same fine hour, I will be driving my family to Seoul Bulgogi in Bangsar for a celebratory dinner...on me of course.

At some point this year, I truly wanted to go for the graduation ceremony especially since I missed the ceremony for my Postgrad Diploma few years ago. But the plan changed. My friends (and such good friends they are!) managed to persuade me to channel the funds to a bagpacking trip to Cambodia and Vietnam instead. I agreed and I am glad I did...it was a good trip and we had fun. After all, where is the joy of going to your graduation alone with no one else to share your happiness with and worst, no one to take your photos?

Anyway, below is the acknowledgement page of my thesis and since many didn't get the chance to actually see it, I'm putting it up here to show my appreciation to those who really matters. Thank you.

p/s Bear in mind that this page was written just a few minutes before the whole write-up was due to be sent to the printer (yeah yeah...it was a last-minute piece of work, what's new with me eh?)so do excuse the chaos in structure and grammar ok!
___________________________________________________

First and foremost, I would like to express my heartiest appreciation to Dr Michael Scott, my Queens’ University of Belfast (QUB) project supervisor, for his guidance and support, which enable me to complete this research successfully.

My sincere gratitude and appreciation also goes to Associate Professor Dr Rosnani Hashim, Head of Pharmacy Department, National University of Malaysia (UKM) who are also my local supervisor, for her concern and countless feedbacks and to Dr Oteh Maskon, Consultant Cardiologist and Head of Cardiology Unit in HUKM for his full support and valuable ideas that constantly helped me in improving my study.

I would also like to express my special thank you to Dr Mohd Hasni Jaafar, Head of HUKM Polyclinic who is also a Consultant Statistician who has helped me solving all the statistical problems that I encountered throughout the study and to Mr Brian McCaw, Manager of Distance Learning Centre, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast for his constant support from the beginning of the MSc in Clinical Pharmacy programme.

My warmest appreciation also to Puan Faridah Md Yusof, Head of Pharmacy Department, HUKM and all my colleagues particularly Leong Siew Lian, Kong Shue Hong and Lai Yin Key for their endless encouragement and help throughout my research period.

I have also received a considerable amount of help from staff of Medical Records Unit in completing my data collection and for that I would like to thank Mr Januddin Bakar, Head of Medical Records Unit and all his staff. A special mention of thanks also to my friends particularly Ahmad Rizal Ali for his constant encouragement and huge boost of help by lending me his laptop to enable me to analyse my data using SPSS Version 15, which I have no access to if otherwise.

Last but not least, my utmost gratitude and heartiest appreciation to my family for their undivided support particularly to my mother who had given me a substantial amount of financial support in order for me to complete this MSc in Clinical Pharmacy programme, to whom I would like to dedicate all my efforts and hard work.

SEPTEMBER 2007

Happy Merdeka day Malaysia!

It's Merdeka eve and the office is almost empty. Everybody else have left hurrily in cheerful and patriotic mood, many with special plans for the night or plane/coach to catch to be somewhere out of KL celebrating the long-weekend with their loved ones.

I on the otherhand, is still lumped in my chair with a messy desk in front of me. Not that I'm unpatriotic or anti-social (ok, maybe a little bit of the latter!)..but am just too tired physically and mentally at this moment of time to be arsed about any celebration. Ok, maybe my mood will change after hearing the sounds of fireworks all around KL at the strike of midnight tonight..or maybe not. By the way peeps, Merdeka is not just about parades and fireworks you know.. It's about being thankful for the independence that we're enjoying today and about working hard to improve ourselves for the betterment of the country and our people. Am I not right?

Ok ok..I'm sounding like a cheapskate politician already so I better cut the crap now. The actual fact is I am soooo NOT looking forward to this weekend because I still have 20k words to be squeezed out of my brain and to be processed into structured sentences that make sense on white papers. So, instead of going to parades and concerts like the majority of my countrymen (and the foreign workers too) I will be stuck in this office again tomorrow onwards...so no, maybe celebratory mood is just not for me this weekend. Not until 30th September 2007 definitely!


Happy 50th Merdeka day everyone. Take care and may god bless you!

3-serangkai MMMP

I was high on adrenaline last week.. Work was hectic as usual particularly with the new job I'm doing and my out-of-office hours were mostly filled with the last-minute preparations (when will I ever learn NOT to do things last-minutely?) for the 3-serangkai STAR-SDAR-STF 50th anniversary dinner. My tasks? To prepare a decent exhibition booth at ZERO cost, merchandise sales as well as helping out in preparing dinner gifts for 1800 attendees. Lots of frantic calls, emails and smses and not to mention the rushing from one place to another too! Putting all the hardwork and stress aside, I had fun (in a weird, tiring way!) even when a couple of friends and I got stuck at our alumni's office at 1am in the morning and had to call for a special rescuer to come and break the door! :)

Now, let's the photos do the rest of the story-telling..

The guest-of-honour (photo by yazit&zahir)

The other VVIP

The entertainer
(photo by yazit&zahir) I took a photo with him when he came around to our table but both looked 'stunned' in the photo so am not gonna put that one up here!
















The exhibition & gifts boss

The organising committee
(photo by yazit&zahir)I could hardly keep my eyes opened by then...zzz..

The last-minute product (not bad afterall eh?)

The sisters

The assistants @ my saviours!

Emmmm...what were they doing at MY booth? :)

More photos will be here soon.
A funny account of the preparation by Kak Sue Nafri can be found here.

Heading for a burn-out?

It's saturday afternoon and as any other saturday afternoons in the past few months, I'm now in the office, rushing to finish-off one of my MSc write-ups.

Have been a real anti-social lately.. stood-out friends on a pre-booked movie outing a few days ago, have not been to basketball for months, hardly go swimming either and barely have the time to catch up with my other-half these days (Ok, the definition of 'other-half' is a separate issue so don't ask since I don't have the answer yet!).

I've been warned by some concerned friends that I need to slow down or I'll head for a burn-out. Will start my final project next month and it will be a good 6 months of data collection so I dont think I'll have the chance to ever 'slow down'.. not until I finish my MSc anyway. In fact, I'm wayyyy behind schedules so how can I slow down? Will these work+study madness combo burn me sooner rather than later?

Anyway, we held a counseling week at the hospital lobby a couple of weeks ago where we offered free health screenings (BP, cholesterol, BMI, glucose, bone density etc) coupled with free health advice/counselings from pharmacists. We also secured participations from our in-house dietitians, nurses and KL Drug Control Authority (DCA). The event was a great success with turn-outs much higher than the year before,thanks to free promo by Hits and Mix FM!

Went to Alamanda Shopping Centre in Putrajaya last sunday to help out UKM students with their pharmacy awareness campaign.. was invited to be one of the counselors at the event (talk and more talk!). It was my first trip to Alamanda and I was genuinely impressed with the mall. The layout and decor reminds me of Meadowhall in Sheffield and Bluewater in Kent! Here are some photos of both events:

Counseling Week 2006: the posters exhibition











Counseling Week 2006: Shue busy explaining on osteoporosis











Counseling Week 2006: more free screenings, more crowd thirst for advice!










Alamanda: a demo on ointment-making by one of the students.. It surprisingly attracted quite a huge crowd!










Alamanda: Can't really remember what I was blabbing about.. possibly trying to convince the gentleman there to quit smoking!










Selamat berpuasa all!

MMMP emcee passed away

In The Star Online today:

Tuesday July 25, 2006

Actor Hani Mohsin dies

KUALA LUMPUR: Actor Hani Mohsin Hanafi, 43, collapsed and died at the low-cost carrier terminal in Sepang at 9.30am while waiting to board a flight to Alor Setar on Tuesday.

Mohsin was traveling with his nine-year-old daughter Hani Karmila -- from his previous marriage to Datin Seri Tiara Jacquelina -- when he complained of chest pains before collapsing.

Hani Karmila immediately called her mother, who rushed to the airport with husband Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi.

Mohsin's remains have been brought to hospital for an autopsy.

Mohsin was the host of popular TV game show Roda Impian before his death.

I have therefore removed the photo I took with him from the previous post on MMMP. May Allah bless his soul. Al-fatihah.

Highs and Lows

The last 2 months have been, well, particularly colourful for me. From numerous late-nights due to the world cup (and England broke my heart again..) to a big reunion in JB, a break-up, more reunions (of several kinds), lots of travels and the latest, a disastrous blind-date! Thankfully, the blind date wasn't mine.. I only helped to set-up but as an amateur in this sticky-business, it didnt turn out that well. Sorry mate! :)

I was here at one weekend


Sheraton Perdana Langkawi









to JB the next weekend to set up these













note:the kebaya top is the original STF formal dinner dresscode back in 1958!













and had to participate in this too


car parade accompanying Sultanah Johor from Istana to STF







Although it was hectic, I had fun meeting up with them


my batchmates who came - photo by Rizza









and them


these girls never failed to fill the room up with laughters!








2 days later, I jetted off to Bangkok for a conference. In between the hectic schedules we still managed to pave our ways to the bustling chatuchak market and the 'happening' Phatpong, fine dining at Baiyoke tower and of course the usual tourist spots like the grand palace and marble temple.


Took this at the grand palace... beautiful isnt it?


More photos of my Bangkok trip can be found here.



The lows?

To start with, my write-up is wayyyyy behind schedule. Secondly, I broke somebody's heart.. He's one fine guy and I know he loves me deeply but I hardly have time for myself these days, what's more for a relatioship. I do care for him but I dont think I can give what he wants.. Maybe I'm not capable of loving as much anymore, I don't know. But I sincerely hope that he'll meet somebody soon who can love and give what he truly deserves.. Anyway, we're still in touch so, we'll see... ada jodoh tak ke mana kan? For now, back to my write-up!

p/s Congratulations to X-Cempaka @ USJ1 guys for winning yesterday's friendly in a very stylish manner although playing with only 7 people compared to the opponent who had double in number of players!

..and the celebration begins!

A working meeting that lasted till 4am leading to only a couple of hours' worth of sleep the night before the event..

Endless (mostly frantic) phonecalls particularly on the event day..

Frantic chasing-ups on the day, anything from goodie bags to the rope for the banner (yup, that too!)..

But all the sweats and hard work finally paid off; the eagerly-awaited Majlis Makan Malam Perdana (MMMP) was a success (pheww!). It was one event that will be remembered for years to come and here are some photos of the event's who's who..


The musicians (at rehersals)











The adhoc 'production line'(working hard!)











The catwalk models (Aaa... all those shouts for old uniforms did pay off!)










The sporting VVIPs (oppss.. forgot to take Dato' Hishammuddin's photo!)










The entertainer (although I missed most of his show! - went to the restroom to freshen up..suddenly the sofa in the restroom looked so inviting and I preferred that instead of listening to our star of the night!)



The Senior-junior (reunited)












The Emcee (in baju melayu johor style!)
* Hani Mohsin passed away on 25th July 2006 due to a possible heart attack. I have therefore removed this photo.. Al-fatihah*






The batchmates (looking good as always!)











The futsal coach :)












And finally...
It was almost 1am...my eyes were only half-opened, my feet could hardly walk and my face was almost swollen due to serious lack of sleep.. but AZ punye pasal, sengih habis!!






Wished I've had taken more photos especially with those who have made this dinner a huge Golden Jubilee Celebration kick-off. Nevermind, JB.. here we come!