Temptations & Ambitions

The holidays are up, and as usual, I laze around under the comfort of the cozy blanket, gazing at the ever dark clouds threatening with spells of tears should I set a step out of the house. Oh, mind you. It's not like I'm really up and running or in the mood for any wild tour. Not yet, at the very least. I'm still in a daze of what to do in such a season. The 1st week of my 2 weeks break is up soon, and all I'd do was recuperating for the past 4 days. Oh yeah, my last paper was on Monday, while the results was already out since yesterday. An amazing attempt by the academic department to rush things for the coming festive season. In fact, it must have been true that the last examiner might have some choreiform move which jerk his/her hand so low as to draw the passing line. Otherwise, I wouldn't think we would be able to survive the onslaught of such papers in ENT, Ophthalmology and Anesthesiology.

What are my plans for my holidays? I'll just make sure to rest enough for the next "onslaught". Meanwhile, some exercise should shapen up my soon-to-be spherical butt. You'll always be amazed by the fact that 5 years of sitting can cause such a harm. With the many recent news of doctors dying in their 50's of medical condition, it is high time for us to reflect on why are the supposedly caregivers are the first on the casualty list. Could it be the effect of the lifestyle doctors took pride in prancing in the hospital 36 hours nonstop, or the dedicated ones who almost never spend a minute away from the hospital apart from their sleeping hours? Or the health hazard stemming from their social hazards deemed unfit to be told, from all sorts of maladaptive coping behavior to stress, from within and out of work? That, we'll have no idea to it.

But all I know is, let's all take it at a slow pace. Rest and relax, and enjoy life as it is. No, it doesn't mean going for booze or clubs, for it is also a form of maladaptive behavior of a weak mind. Read a book, a walk in the park, a swim in the pool, spending some quality time with fellow family members and get a good laugh in the cinema and social gatherings (again, away from booze and the smokers from hell). It's not a sign of aging, but take it as a sign of maturity. For once, you might find joy in life which you might have never found before.

"I think I'm too old to study ady, y cant medic b a 3-year course?" - Koh Ging

The words rang in my head as I stared long into the screen. When was the last time when we truly enjoyed flipping the books, sniffing the smell of the new book while disregarding the number of trees being chopped off every year to sustain our zest? When was the last time we truly enjoyed the adrenaline rush into the stream of our lives?

As much as I can say, exams were never meant to be fun. A tool to gauge our "abilities" and knowledge, we strolled past the years of exam with optimism. The fiery desire to excel were burning deep in our hearts upon arrival of exams, giving an extra push to the final line. And then, there we were, savoring at every moment of peace right after, before another gradual inclination for the next goal, perhaps in 1-2 years time. It was then when we enjoyed life as it was, the acquisition of knowledge had never been even more fun.

And then, somehow, enter medical life. The continuous stream of exams almost every month to 2 months of a totally new field. Chucked into another part of the ocean once you barely swam to safety. And the continuous minor depressions accumulating over the years, threatening to bare its fang into something major, to bring you down with its gnashing teeth. "Oh, what a sight," you would think.

And by now, it seems age has caught up with us. While throngs of our friends were graduating, finally able to enjoy the hectic working life for a change, we were still in the middle of our books, scrummaging for that one tiny fact that we think might hold the edge over someone else, the one thing that makes you special if not the best. Or we are too fatigue to think about it, and can't wait for the exams to be over soon. And there were even some had some sort of regression, whether into a histrionic state (One in my hostel unit), abnormal animal-like territorial marking, narcissism cum superiority complex, or to the extent of using religiosity to justify all the nature of science and any rationalization aspect.

Perhaps, there really should be a one year break for medical course, or a shorter course. I've done 3 and a half years by now, but the journey ahead seems far ahead. Until the day I die, I wouldn't be able to rest, for this field requires more than just passion. Passion brings you nothing but even more frustration. But at least, perseverance without passion can sustain you throughout the journey.

And then, all have different goals in life. Who am I to subject people to my scrutiny? Ah... let life be... let life be....

* Tomorrow is Triad OSCE. All the best to my fellow coursemates. :P

I woke up to a commotion on a Sunday morning. The voice of my neighbor was echoing up from the kitchen. Her kitchen was next to mine, and she was there as disciplined as the newscaster, ready for her morning gossips. My mum was there as the sole audience, as usual, never tired of the never ending gossips and family news.

"I saw my son's Facebook!" Her face was gleaming with pride. It was on such rare occasion to see like this, unless when her son did well in her exams, whether if it's a monthly one or the major ones. But now her eldest son is now in Manchester, I felt relieved for my ears, having to endure every minute detail of her son's marks. Not that I remember, of course.

Well, what she meant was she had a peep at her son's Facebook photos. Her son's life in Manchester, one would presume. Her younger son had shown her via his account, and there was this photo out of many where his son was with a girl. Nothing obscene, no kissess, no hugs.

And the mom was in cloud nine because the girl was a Malaysia tycoon's relative of sort. She was jumping up and down, fantasizing of her future and worries of the "what if's" and was even planning where to have their wedding dinner and the place to stay! It went on and on for a few weeks until the son was back from UK, just to confirm that it was a false alarm. Mothers can rather be hysterical and over reacting to any Facebook status or photos.

I can't say that my mother was innocent either. Whenever she liked it, she'd read a person's profile from A-Z taking everything for real. There was this cousin sister of mine who had put up "I like men and women", the usual ones in interest category. well, there goes the hoo-haas of whether if my cousin sister is a bisexual. And yes, be wary of changing your relationship status, whether if it's single, in a relationship or married. Old folks take it for real and might trumpet their findings to the rest of the universe. They tend to get overly excited over minute details on Facebook, or every single photos, whether you upload them or you'd been tagged. And the worse are the gossiping aunts or uncles who are equally as annoying with their hordes of comments over one little thing that you might not find amusing.

Or some of my friends whom I knew allow their mothers to surf via their account of their friends profile. That would even be creepier, as if seeking potential spouses for their sons/daughters.

In this new era where Facebook are not just limited to youngsters anymore, we see throngs of post-teen years adults joining in the fun of Facebook, regardless of their objectives. It is not a crime, but the borderless world would be a shock for them, for what our privacy and personal life that we had kept away from them, had been revealed in a flooding manner. It is the period of culture shock which amused them, while may seem annoying to some.

And rest assured that our facebook is not as private as you once think it was. whatever you'd done there, a vulgar status or a shameless act might end up in the Facebook network for life. You might not want your parents to know you'd sneaked out in the middle of the night via Facebook, or an unsuspecting friend tagging a photo of you doing some nutjob stunts, just to be found out by your potential/ current employer.

There are of course, many more examples which I refuse to bore my readers, but I hope you'd get the message. If you're a person who keep no secrets, I guess this won't affect you. Otherwise, think twice before you add your cousins, your uncles, aunts, your boss or even your lecturers. You'll never know when you'll be in for the shock of your life. :P

It has been a while since I've mentioned on politics, but here is a quick rebuttal to those spreading their ignorant bliss, being as naive as they are. Perhaps overall, Malaysians are still at a toddler age of politics. I can't say that we are at a prime age of democracy, though we are slightly better than the Phillipines for not choosing film stars as our leader.

In psychology, splitting is a defense mechanism, not of mature nature to separate and identify everyone accordingly. It is hard to accept that humans generally consist of a general spectrum of traits for better or worse. Thus, it is easier for them to label people according to a binomial classification of good and bad. The same goes for Malaysia's political system. People either go for party A or Party B. Well, it's not like we can have anything more than that, but there is a general tendency to support 100% the party of your choice regardless of their policy. Just because they might seemingly agree with you in certain issues, you go all out supporting them even in controversional issues. And there goes all sort of rationalization to justify the wrongful acts the party has done as well as rejection of any positive deeds done by oppositional parties (oppositional does not equal to opposition party in Malaysia, can be either way). Denial also occur for any news against their party while lauding those who favor their party.

What is this nuisance behavior, you would ask? It is all because we Malaysians are not at a mature stage to decide on our own. Our education system and culture has lead us to a far more immature and neurotic level of judgment. Perhaps it is time for us for a proper revamp of the system, not just arguing whether it should be done in English or Malay, but for the objectivity and goal to nurture a generation of able-minded professionals as well as non-professionals for a better tomorrow.

This in hope, will lead us to have a rational judgment to shape a better country. Let's analyze on the issues, and not based on the political parties alone. Gain wider perspective, and not just being vocal. But alas, even the Americans can't do it, splitting between the Democrates and Republicans, that Obama's "Change" policy have a mountaineous task ahead to unite them, what of us Malaysians? Should we stay in the shadows of our past and gloat of our trivial glory, or shall we move ahead and claim to be a citizen of the modern world?

When MLTR was formed, I guess I was still chewing my pacifier with a smelly bolster in my arm. It took more than 10 years before I became one of their fan, amidst a rather outdated one, captivated by the serenity of their ballads. Songs like "That's Why You Go Away" and "25 minutes" were hits in the past. And then songs like "You Took My Heart Away" and "Blue Night" were the ones bringing them to stardom, at least, in the Asian countries. Somehow MLTR captured the hearts of the Asians who preferred melancholic melodies than those hard hitting punk rock.

Contrary to unpopular beliefs, Michael Learns to Rock is not really a rock band by today's standards. The word "Rock" might have instill fear in certain parties, but rest assured that they are popular for their love ballads and their "rock" songs are even much more benign than our very own local rock band by comparison. Perhaps this must have been the most misunderstood band in the world's music history.

And their lead singer wasn't Michael either. Or whatsoever close to that. Their lead singer would be Jascha Richter, along with Kare Wanscher and Mikkel Lentz. Well, the word Mikkel might ring a bell, but let's just say the band's name does not centered around them. It was from the fame of Michael Jackson, and they were desperate for a name after their band won the Aarhus' local annual talent show in May 1988.

Before one start throwing on anything vulgar on them again, let's have a look at MLTR's track record in Malaysia. This is the 3rd MLTR's debut in Malaysia. The previous 2 were successful and there weren't any commotion of a hot concert you would expect. truth to be told, I must admit that they attract a fanbase of more mature audience, with more civilisation level instead of any Mat Rempits who would sleep their way through the concert. MLTR is a bunch of family men over their 40's performing ballads, which means there would not be any Linkin Park wails, any sassy dance moves or any revealing clothes to show their unappetising sex appeal. Any such act might land them in the hospital, as you can see, they are not young anymore.

So, before anyone condemn their acts as immoral or an instigator for any indecent acts, I suggest getting an album of theirs and listen to their songs. It might be old fashioned, but heck, who doesn't like such ballads unless you're a chaser for the latest band to act cool. :P

But on the bright side, I guess MLTR has lots to gain from this. Publicity. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Now it is up to MLTR to prove their capability to woo back the old fans as well as the soon-to-be fans. Can they still compete after 20 years of music career despite being labelled a dinosaur of music bands?

Nothing beats the satisfactory drool when someone drops by your blog. Well, truth to be told, I ain't a pretty gurl, and I've no boobies to reveal like Pinkpau or Suet Li (According to Jack) and I'm not round enough to be the next Kenny Sia. So do bear with my lil' flog (abbrv for food blog, not the flog that u're thinking) adventure down with food.


And this time round would be Lum Mee, Cosy Corner. Notice that the places lately are in Cheras as it is nearby UKMMC. For me, no food is worth the distance, but I don't mind if it's out of convenience. And hence this restaurant in Taman Cheras, one of the old names here.

Apart from Lum Mee, this restaurant serves Yong Tow Foo (YTF) as well. Just as Cheras people like their YTF fried, this place is no exception, to my disappointment. And well, the menu serves simple YTF, as they do offer other noodles, prawn mee, etc. But trust me, you should just have Lum Mee, the best they could offer. If you don't like the Lum Mee, chances are the other noodles are worse. But well, it's a decent place worth mentioning.




The Foo Chook was crispy and tasty though not piping hot. The brinjal was not deep fried, not much to my fancy, to say and the fish balls were just okay. Overall, the YTF was edible and above average, but well, I think Peel Road would have been better.

On the bright side, it would be easier to find parking here, and worth a try (just once ought to do) if you got bored of the usual place to eat around here. That's my verdict, but well, I might be wrong. some may love this place, and some may not. :P

Address:
Restoran Cosy Corner
No.113, Block P/F,
Jalan KasKas,
Tmn Cheras,
56000 Kuala Lumpur.