Dreamscape Ascension

Further details of this journey is in my travel-log, of which of course isn't published here.

So after completing my Orthopaedic Posting, Anas, Anis Syahirah, Sheau Ing and I packed up and prepared ourselves for a 6-7 hour flight to Osaka (or Kansai, to be precise). Let me tell you, it was one boring flight. I ended up sleeping for most of the way because I had to wake up at 4 am to catch the earliest flight out of Kuching to KL. You know how it is with international flights, so I couldn't take my chances.

So after finally landing, we cleared through security and meet up with Anas' brother Afzan, who works in Japan (they wouldn't tell me what as, but I don't need to pry) and speaks fluent Japanese (and reads/writes it too). And just like a rusa masuk kampung, I enter the efficient train system that is Japan Railways.

Sheau Ing expressing her 'kawaii'-ness. When in Japan, do as the Japs do.

My 'dinner' (or rather late supper) from the convenience store Lawson when I finally checked into my hostel (or shall I say hotel? See below). I like the way the seaweed and the rice ball is individually wrapped in different layers; you remove the layer to get crisp seaweed on slightly damp rice. And only for 120 yen!

So the next morning we head on over to the Ibaraki station to meet up with Afzan, and he showed us around and stuff. We wandered around Ibaraki city (where I'm currently staying in...it's a bit off from Osaka) where I entered Aeon (the mother company of Jusco)...and it's pretty much like JJ in KL and whatnot, except that everyone is Japanese.

The one thing I gotta say is how expensive food (and everything else) is here. And how gorgeous (say it with me, Chonny style) them Japanese girls are. They're all so fashionable (even in this weather), like they just popped outta a magazine or something. And ladies of all ages, be it rosy-cheeked little girls with pigtails to mature ladies well into their 50s and 60s are fashionable. Damn.

A rainy morning outside Ibaraki station.

When we arrived in Osaka Station (a big station, mind you) there was a mini display of bullet trains.

The bullet trains and their respective models.

People wandering around the east (?) exit of the station.

Yodobashi-Umeda, a department store just outside the Osaka Station. And Osaka Station is already like 7-9 storeys tall, minus the northern building which may be about 20 storeys in height. Near the station in a skyscraper under construction.

Apparently it's not easy to get SIM cards and use your phone in Japan, so we had to go for the prepaid phone service which is nearly 6000 yen for 2 months service. Not bad, since it comes with a flip phone (will post picture later) that has a 2 MP camera and 3G capabilities (although not utilized). Here is a picture of the Softbank mobile company store (Yeah, I thought it was an actual bank, too). I'm just fascinated by that row of colourful phones.

The buildings seen from the 5th (?) floor of Osaka Station.

I don't know what tree this is, but it's bearing pink flowers. Perhaps it's a sakura tree?

Some funky moving statue thingy.

Me, in all my chubness with the penguin jacket (but at least I was warm!). It was drizzling by the time this was taken.

And finally, my room in the hostel/hotel! Pretty big bed, enough for two.

There's a TV...Bravia somemore. And a DVD player beneath it.

 

One more last thing. When I was in Yodobashi-Umeda, there was a store full of those egg-machines (you know, those that you used to put 50 sen in and it pops out those plastic eggs with prizes inside?) and I found a Tiger & Bunny one! (I actually found one earlier at the Aeon store in Ibaraki) and this time I decided to try my luck (they're 200 yen each). This is the pamphlet inside the egg, with Tiger and Bunny.

Another side, with Ivan, Pao Lin and Karina. Obviously luck wasn't on my sister's side as I got Pao Lin...

Chibi Pao Lin keychain ^^

Anyways I have class tomorrow so I should probably read up and get some rest. Until the next post!

As you interview, you get to decide whether they tell the truth, doubt their answer, or accuse them of lying. We were confused at the beginning and Cole ended up scaring a poor witness. Haha.

There are also times you can pick newspapers and see "the story behind the newspaper" like it's a TV drama. I know, it's a bit funny - but it gives insight to what's actually going on behind the scenes and also to what's gonna happen at the end of the game.

All the faces in this game was done by some state-of-the-art technology where the actors wear orange shirts and there's cameras everywhere in a white room. That means that Cole's face is a real person's face (I know, I was shocked too). This gives it a more real feel compared to FFXIII and their doll faces.

I won't say anything more (afraid I'll give out spoilers) but my favourite case to work on was the Homicide cases. There's a serial killer on the loose, and he kills women and leaves a message on their bodies with lipstick, namely "B.D." which stands for Black Dahlia (a real murder case, as Wikipedia says).

The ending was a shock and a twist, and as we finally finished the game last weekend, I had to say goodbye to the most beautiful game I've ever seen. (We'll need to get a PS3 version if we get a PS3 because it's a bit choppy on the Xbox 360 due to the sheer motherlode of graphics).

Until next time, ta-ta!

Labels: Review

When I was a teenager, I can say that peer pressure did not affect me so much it did other kids my age. What I mean by this is that when I was 15/16 all my girlfriends were busy thinking about boys and snatching one to become a boyfriend etc. etc., and I was thinking about getting straight As for PMR/SPM (I'd be a lesbian if I said I didn't think about boys - point is I thought more of results, being the nerd I am).

But now that I'm entering what I call 20-hood (people in their 20s) and my friends/classmates are all a year or two older than me (22/23, some even 24), the peer pressure is starting to weigh on me.

This is the peer pressure I'm talking about.

It's all normal, I know. I'm 21 and I'm approaching the time in life where we start thinking seriously about a future relationship with a man (hopefully only ONE man) that we're going to spend the rest of our lives with. My friends are talking about it, or at least thinking about it (this I know even if they deny the crap out of it). Most of my friends are single, but some of them have boyfriends. One friend of mine even has a fiance!

I've never been in a relationship, truth be told, and it's a daunting thing to think about. It scares me because I've heard stories of bad breakups, I've personally comforted friends who cried their heart and soul to me and I've seen cheating couples. Yet at the same time, some of my friends are just so happy with their significant other that it gets my curious side thinking how that happiness feels like. And there are also times where I see couples go all touchy-feely with each other and it makes me sick (PDA alert!)

Curious as I am, I know my time will come one day. Until then, I'll pray to Allah S.W.T. so that He pairs me with a man who is soleh (pious) and understands me and that I stay with that one man for the rest of my life. No divorces (oh no, no).

P.S. I'm dying to know who my friends will end up married with. XD

Labels: Blah

This is going to be a short one, because it's 12:26 a.m. and I feel like ranting.

First of all, I don't understand the nonsense that's going around me now. I rant to my parents and they tell me it happens everywhere. I rant to my friends who add oil to the fire and only makes me angrier, together with them we form one angry mob. What could I possibly be talking about?

This ridiculous quarrel thing going on in my posting group. I don't want to delve into details, for that would be slandering and I might get in deep shit for that because who knows what UNIMAS lecturer is reading this; but one point I want to make clear is that even though I don't like some people for what they did/did not do, it's no reason to be starting World War 3 and jeapordizing our results because of it. 

Friends of mine, you know who you are, and you know what has been going down here in Sibu - frankly I'm tired of this. I'm tired of being angry, being left out, slandering and adding my sins, being disappointed and being angry (guess I mentioned that, but I say it again because I AM TIRED OF BEING ANGRY).

Though we won't be making up (maybe not ever, maybe not till graduation/year 5/end of this posting), let's just go through this and I pray that everyone passes the exam. Never in my 3+ years studying medicine am I afraid of failing the exam as I am now, because of what has happened between us.

And here I remind myself that we cannot please everyone, and not everyone can please us. 

Labels: 4th year, Blah, UNIMAS

You know, I've never felt older.

Now that I am in Year 4, it seems like a dream sometimes. The paper for Forensics lands on my table and I'm scrambling to fill in the student details on the answer sheet (you know, those that you have to fill in with 2B pencil before it goes into the machine) and on the "Year" slot, I had to fill up #4. And then GAH, a reminder that I'm going to graduate soon. A reminder that I am no longer as young and naive as I used to be.

Anyway, enough about my rant of being older, let's get down to what's been happening, shall we?

Forensics posting was...how should I put it...short and mildly interesting. The first week was like hell because after 3 weeks of doing nothing but play Dynasty Warriors 6 to unlock every single warrior in Musou Mode, I was suddenly bombarded with a whole week's worth of lecture, non-stop (except lunch) from 8 to 5, Monday to Friday. This is understandable since the lecutrers are guest lecturers i.e. Forensics specialists from Semenanjung. Not so fun part: information overload, and gross pictures. Fun part: I actually got to see some pictures of past/ongoing cases that made headlines in Malaysia (like the Altantuya case, the Susilawati case...). And before you even ask for it, no, I don't have those pictures.

The exam this time was after the 2 week posting instead of at the end of the 4th year like our seniors had it. Although it felt like my brain was about to explode, I guess it is better than having it at the end of the year where everyone's too darn lazy to open up what we've learned months ago. All in all, I quite enjoyed the posting.

And now, to more current issues, I am now in Sibu (again...never though I'd say this but I miss Sibu Hospital) for the Community and Public Health posting. The nice part about this posting is that we're doing more learning about the community-based healthcare.

We have to do a research while we're here, too. It's about KAP (knowledge, attitude and practice) regarding diabetes mellitus among the peeps in Nanga Sekuau (an area with some 24 longhouses in Selangau). The people there are real nice, yet the language barrier does restrict sometimes.

I'm neutral about the research thing...I was never big on SPSS, statistics and all that. But the not-so-nice part about this posting is the frequent squabbles. And I'm talking about internal squabbles. I think not a day goes by that someone in my group doesn't talk trash about another. We have a lot of issues, namely leadership and gender bias. There's also the issue of lazy members and selfish members too, but I guess we can't really help it.

So, to curb this problem, they decided to have a beach trip to Belawai to..."put aside differences and establish better comrade-ship" (mengeratkan silaturrahim la konon...). It was a fun day at the beach, and we played games and ate barbeque and stuff...despite some members not attending. I don't know if this really did help make our group members closer, but a fun day is a fun day, problems aside.

Also, it was in this posting that I tried to donate blood for the first time. Why I say tried? It's because after all the registration, testing, etc., my veins (both arms) refuse to cooperate with the needle/blood bag and the staff at the blood bank said that they dilated after insertion of the needle. And I was so excited to give blood to save lives, too (not to mention the amount of fear I had to overcome, yeesh!). Well, better luck next time.

Until next post, ciao!

Labels: 4th year, UNIMAS