A Trip Down Memory Lane

Every once in awhile, I'll go crazy and do something really stupid like taking a traipse down memory lane.

Maybe it's the effect of sitting alone in Starbucks with a mug of hot chocolate alone on a cold winter day, watching teenagers hang out with their friends which reminded me of my own teenage years (which wasn't too long ago :P).

Anyway, after such episodes of reminiscence, I always have to go back and reread e-mails/icq chats/messages from that period of time. I know I know, sendiri cari pasal, and I've even let the past go already actually. LOL.

But rereading (and reliving) those past memories are great. Who can forget:
- chatting with Stefanie online, offline, and for hours long on the telephone before AND after school (I went to afternoon school at that time)
- Juston who always called me Kodok. RIP my dear friend.
- my enmity with Chin, Sam and Young. Oh my. That was during the stage when I was teased with them, Young coz I sat next to him in class (and they said I looked like him - PLEASE), Chin coz my dad and his dad were colleagues, and Sam? I can't remember the reason. Anyways, at the end of the day, Sam and Chin are now quite close buddies of mine but I still haven't conversed with Young until now. LOLZ. No great loss though. :P
- how I used to icq chat with Mysterious Girl and yumcha as Rogue. Also became acquainted with Calvin Loh, my junior, at that time. Then my online friendship circle increased to include people from Ketari, Katholik etc. I also grew kind of fond to the nickname Starfire and it stuck until this very day. Oh yeah, must not also forget that my friendship with green^finger also begun later.
- the tasteless fried rice we made in ERT.
- the class newspaper (gossip paper?) we set up which met an untimely demise.
- English week where we sapu all the prizes. LOL.
- Ken Yu who I thought was kinda obnoxious. LOLZ.
- the teacher I couldn't stand. Was immature at that time though. No further comment.
- how I loved Geography classes with Pn. Rohayati. However, if you ask me anything bout Geography now the only thing you'll get from me is a blank look. :P
- Miss Lee's science experiments. Especially the tiub visking one which looked like a dugong LOLZ. And even better since I had Theepa the funny guy as a bench mate. :)
- Mrs. Lim's English classes. They're fun! Although sometimes I get a feeling that she thinks... ah well, forget that thought.
- Our Form 3 class motto! Resillience In The Face Of Adversity! I thought it up and Seng Aun fixed it up.
- The evileness of Dinosaur Lady. No hard feelings now though. :P
- How I cheated for my KH project (I sent the stuff to the tailor to do la coz I can't sew to save my life).
- How we would skip recess to work on our (failing) woodwork. :P
- How my pateri always seem to suck and my electrical circuits always fail.
- Interdistrict English debate in Temerloh! How we trashed some small-fry school before falling to SM Clifford.
- Editorial board for the school mag. We had a dream and we achieved that dream.
- A crush on someone. LOLZ. Gosh, that was embarassing. :P
- Prefectship. And being a part of the AJKT, among my dad's students.
- How much I hated Add Math. Especially the chapter on logarithms. And how I had to do sums each day to "practice".
- Accounts and Physics tuition where I got to know other students better.
- How I loathe Ujian Tara each year. And Sports Day too. And how I tried to get out by being a PBSM member - it worked in Form 5 finally! :)
- My great big fall out with Stef and gang. Eventually was resolved though. Thank God. :) Life's too short to spend it being angry with others.
- My recess-time adventures when all I wanted was a friend and everyone thought otherwise. LOLZ.
- Prefect's camp! As the evil facilitator who threw eggs, flour and water balloons at poor newbie prefects (and some old ones too).
- Kuiz Sains Negara. We represented Pahang but got last in the state eliminations (in Kuantan too! paiseh).
- how I was one of the few who always attended Mr. Chin's classes (together with Chin who couldn't run away LOLZ).
- how I used to borrow Sudeep's past years from different states.
- Chemistry classes with Pn. Wong. They're never boring.
- not sleeping before exams. Coz cannot finish studying. Even Biology for SPM. Shh..
- Form 6 orientation. And form 6 combined classes in the great hall.
- attempting to take Physics as an extra subject. I must be crazy.
- prefectship once again and the struggle for power. And once I got the post of Head Girl I had to leave. What a waste.

And then I had to leave for INTEC. Which is a different story altogether.

I also remember that in Form 1/2, Stef wrote a story on us being grown up. How different we ended up - which showed how we've changed over the years. Let's see:

I was supposed to be a computer engineer as I was interested in computers then (I must be crazy) - I'm now a pharmacist to be)

Jo-Anne was supposed to be headmistress of SMK Sulaiman - she's now in the media industry.

Grace was supposed to be Mrs. Nick Carter and live in the US - she's now in the US doing music psychology and everyone has forgotten who's Nick Carter already.

Can't really remember bout the rest. Anyone care to refresh my memory?

Those times were indeed golden. Did I miss out anything? Looks like it's imperative that I jot this all down before my memory fails me (as it is, I already see large gaps in the story). Those days in SMK Sulaiman were indeed quite nice (though at that time all we wanted to do was to grow up as soon as possible). But it is indeed interesting to see where we all are now. We might be spread all across the world, but the bonds we have, the past we shared will always link us forevermore. :)

Ok, back to the present. Got lab tomorrow so will go and sleep now. Hopefully my tissue is fine tomorrow (crosses fingers).

Ok, I know that I'm a final year pharmacy student who's going to start practicing next year.

And since I'm "supposed" to be intellectual (note the word supposed), people actually expect me to blog on pharmacy-related issues, i.e. how Malaysia should start following the latest research on therapeutics and not some study done don't-know-how-many-donkey-years-ago and improve the health of the citizens and health economics to boot (healthy people = more working people = more tax = rich nation; but must make people healthy in a cheap a way as possible).

Or maybe make some witty comments on the slow acceptance of doctors towards pharmacists who can dispense (since we actually are trained for that) and all that.

But somehow... I feel disengaged from the profession (at least the clinical and hospital side of it) at the moment. Maybe it's because I haven't been on much clinical placements (aside from that 1 week in Seremban Hospital and 1 week rotting in the dispensary in Hospital Bentong) or haven't really been exposed to the working environment much?

It doesn't really help either that my research project is more focused on cardiovascular pharmacology, which like most of the other projects here in Scotland is more towards research i.e. I can't really see the relation between it and being a pharmacist. It's very unlikely for a doctor or a patient to suddenly ask me to explain the mechanics of calcium signalling in the heart and how it leads to them suffering a heart failure right? But don't get me wrong, I like my research project and I hope to see myself furthering my studies someday (hope being the key word - lol).

The only thing which reminds of the role of a hospital pharmacist now is all those pharm care presentations we have every week which are interesting in their own right, especially those of the home students as it is cool to note the different health care systems.

And yet I seem more interested in inconsequential stuff like anime or which European country to visit next etc. I know I need to set my priorities - the 6 years in government service is calling out to me. LOLZ.

That's why I'm thankful for blogs like Dispensing with Sanity, Malaysian Pharmacist, Pharmland (not really a blog, just somewhere for me to search for more pharm-related blogs) to keep me grounded (see my sidebar for the links).

Without these blogs, I will tend to lose perspective and be just another non-thinking professional (when I start working) whose role in life is to work, go home, work, go home etc merely to earn a living.

Thanks for highlighting all the issues that pharmacists will face, thanks for fighting for all our rights even as some of us (seem to) remain apathetic to the progress (but rest assured we're, ok, at least I am, rooting for you guys although I don't seem to show it), thanks for reminding us that we're all humans, we're working with humans and we're serving humans - all of which are prone to error and will hence face problems - but we're never alone on this as illustrated by these blogs - since others will also face similar problems.

And mostly thanks for bringing us all down to reality. Life as a pharmacist is not easy; we just need to remember why we're set on becoming one - that's all.

On a side note, I can just imagine all my idealism getting squashed to the ground on the first day of work - but at least I'll be prepared. LOLZ.

I Miss U, IMU

So sue me. It's been less than half a year, I've yet to see snow fall and already I want to go home.

Can't believe I actually even miss IMU. Coz whenever previously anyone asked where I am from I'll tell them I'm (was) studying in the uni which looks remarkably like a refurbished shopping centre.

But at least there's a burger stall and lots of food options near that place, right, unlike here.

And that lecturers there are not so condescending and patronizing, unlike a certain person here (who-shall-remain-unnamed-but-I'm-sure-everyone-knows-who-she-is). I mean seriously, if you guys don't want us here, then why sign the agreement to have twinning students come over in the first place? Then you don't need to exert effort to make them feel so unwanted right?

Gosh, I miss Mr. David, with his dry sense of humour, Prof Yeoh who's like a kindly grandmother, Mr. Benny, with his warped sense of humour, Mr. Mudassir, who'll always say hi whenever we meet him out of class, Dr. Tan who's always ready with a smile, Prof Peter, though we only see him once a sem (if lucky) and many others. Sigh.

Of course this rant doesn't apply to all. Some are very nice, like Ian Towle (who actually remembers our names!) and Sandy Gray (who frequently acknowledges us in his classes).

Or maybe I'm just too used to being a teacher's pet. LOLZ.

Bleach Colour Spread

Wow, is Bleach changing its color scheme from blue to green?

But nvm that, look at Ukitake! Don't you think he looks absolutely fabulous here? Didn't realise his eyes were so greeeeeeeeeeeeen.

*goes into fangirling mode*

Akatsuki Fic Recs

Yeah, I like the Akatsuki too despite them being the villains of the series.

Despite their horrendous choice of robes (seriously, black with red clouds?) and the fact that they paint their nails back (despite being majority men).

I think they're interesting and it's cool to see their back-story.

And they're a real diverse bunch of people too. Where else would you get a shark-nin, a religious zealot, some weird two-faced guy and a guy who enjoys transient beauty all at once?

It doesn't hurt that hot Itachi is also one of them.

So, in the spirit of Akatsuki-ness, here's some fic recs for you all! Note that they're mainly of the humour genre. Adds to the fun IMHO.

1. Piano Man and Church Boy
Hidan and Itachi have to work together to assassinate their target, and due to circumstaces beyond their control, have to crash a wedding to do so.

2. Paying a Compliment
It was a fact of life Kakuzu had come to accept. When you were as good looking as Hidan, people tended to treat you like a god. Funnily enough, Kakuzu couldn't recall ever getting the same treatment.

3. Inamorato
Nobody told Tobi that out of all the calendar holidays, Valentine’s Day was the last one to be passionately celebrated in the company of seven homicidal men. Crackfic.

Malay Song Recs

Am listening to some Malay songs currently. I actually quite like those angst-tinged songs, despite the fact that many Chinese (at least those that I know) don't. But then again, one man's meat is another's poison, and although I enjoy certain Chinese songs too (Jay Chou, Michael), with Malay songs at least I know what they're singing about as sad to say, I'm a banana (though most of the time the lyrics are not *that* profound).

Among my favourite songs include:
1. Kau Ilhamku by Man Bai
One of the very first Malay songs introduced to me, a rather mushy (jiwang) song about someone being the inspiration of another.

2. Belaian Jiwa by Innuendo
This song is so famous in Malaysia that it is a staple in singing competitions and karaokes. A rather soothing song, methinks.

3. Mungkin Nanti by Peter Pan
One of my favourites. An angsty song on the probability of reunion and the pleading of one not to relive the past.

4. Hidupku Kan Damaikan Hatimu by Caffein
The newest song on my playlist. No idea who or what Caffein is but the song is in a similar vein to the previous ones, so...

5. Tak Kenal Maka Tak Cinta by Francisca Peter & Roy
An oldie oft heard on Lite FM. On how to love someone without knowing that person.

Ok, back to my intro. Sighz.

Ino Fanfic Recs

Well, I KNOW I should be actually writing out the introduction to my (boring) research paper and not go off and read fanfics, but.... the temptation was just impossible for me to resist. So, looks like I gotta get up early tomorrow to compensate for today's laxness. But before I go off to bed, here's what caught my attention these past few hours... INO FANFICS!

Who's Ino, you may ask. Well, she's Sakura's on-again-off-again friend/rival for Sasuke's affection. She appears to be very superficial in the anime, but could actually be more than what she appears to be as her character isn't developed very much. She's pretty (prettier than Sakura!) and has the potential to go much further as she possesses the Yamanaka bloodline limit of infiltrating others' mind.

So, anyway, as her character intrigues me, I went off searching for Ino-centred fanfics and unearthed some nice ones. Here they are:

1. Little Blonde Girl
Of all the people Uchiha Itachi could be jealous of, it had to be his little brother And over a little blonde girl, no less.
A humourous one-shot on Sasuke's asexuality... and why Itachi should have just killed him off. LOLZ.

2. Akatsuki Over Flowers
AU Meteor Garden Naruto style! Ino is an ordinary girl with a strong personality. But when she enters Iwa College,she faces the wrath of the most popular bullies, the Akatsuki 4. Will she survive? ItaIno SasoIno ItaInoSaso.
A monstrous epic mirroring Meteor Garden. Very nicely written, funny, and intriguing. Too bad the author does not intend to continue her work.. :(

3. Point of Tangency
The mission was simple. All she had to do was to make Uchiha Sasuke fall in love with her… and then stab him in the back. That is, until a certain Hyuuga Neji came and screwed things up. SasuInoNeji.
Another upcoming and promosing AU fanfic. It involves Ino, Sasuke and Neji; the three hot stuff of Naruto. What more can you want?

4. In My Imagination
Sakura is the new girlfriend. Ino is the old friend. She at first feels threatened, but now she just wants to know what had happened two years ago... SakuSasuIno ItaIno SakuNaru
Yet another AU. A nice piece where the author weaves in the dynamics of the Uchiha family
troubles convincingly.

Pharmacist Rocks!

Haha, found a great blog by a Malaysian pharmacist working a hospital somewhere in Malaysia. It's very informative especially for pharmacy students who are going to enter the workforce soon. It's also VERY eye-opening (especially on the kerenah of the doctors LOLZ). Wow, would you look at all the pharm care issues presented? No wonder people have no faith in Malaysian healthcare system.

Without further ado, I present everyone with Dispensing With Sanity. It's one of the best opinion filled blogs I've ever read. You rock, Mark!

I need:
Patience.
Humility.
Peace.
Forgiveness.

I have to be aware of:
Pride.
Anger.
Irritation.
Envy.

AAAAAAAAAAAARGH..... Everything seems to be going wrong. My word programme is typing in Mandarin.. Every time I switch the font back to Calibri, the next letter would be in Mandarin. WTH?? Every little thing sets me off now. People stepping on my bed, people messing with my stuff... Gah. Maybe I should go to bed. Or turn to my faithful Bleach and Naruto fandom. Surely they won't let me down too.... will they?

Thought Provoking

A meaningful post by Mustaqim (one of the few meaningful ones on his blog :P) on the role of a health care provider (actually he was talking about the role of doctors but I feel that it is applicable to all health care providers). What he posted was true, too often we, as health care providers only provide medical service and tend to see the patient as a disease state rather than a living, talking being with feelings. Too often we fall into the trap of failing to treat them emotionally as well. Let's just hope that we all realize this failing and try to stop ourselves from falling into such a trap.

Love Thyself

It is important to realize our self worth - something sorely lacking in Asian (Malaysian?) societies. We must first love ourselves before we can extend our love to others. It is worth remembering self love is not this:but a feeling of happiness and content with oneself, imperfections and all. :)

And I shall ignore what Kelvin and Alfred said today. :P :P As well as what Slimy!Sheldy constantly tells me.. LOL.

Bonfire Night

Bleach Pic Recs

Nice pic rite? It's cool that it's done with the theme of Zombies Ate My Neighbours (loved that game). And the placement of Aaroniero/Kaien as a zombie is simply hilarious. But what cinches it all is the goodie at the back - Orihime being chased by an evile zombie! LOLZ.

This was done by a brilliant artist by the name of Gogeta-gal-159. Go visit her profile at deviant art for more pics.. :)

Growing Pains

Looking at the choice of music I listen to, I can only conclude that...

I'm growing old.

When I was 16-17, I listen to Mix.fm. My favourite artistes then being Westlife, Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton and other similar songs.

When I was 18-19, I balanced my time between Mix.fm and Hitz.fm. That's when I was (and still am) crazy over all those emo-rock songs. Dashboard Confessional, 3 Doors Down, Trapt, Vertical Horizon, Matchbox 20, you name it.

When I entered IMU, besides all those emo-rock to put me into an angst-y mood, I began to listen to (gasp) Light & Easy. Occasionally Fly.fm as well, but you get my point.

Light & Easy is the station my parents tune in to. They play old songs by Elvis Presley (which I don't like), Elvis Costello (the song "She" sounds nice), REO Speedwagon, Cliff Richards and the like.

People often wonder why I listen to such a mellow (to put it nicely) station... Well, mostly because it brings back memories but also because... I like the songs (I'm an old soul).

And probably because I'm getting on in age.

Today, as I turn 23, I realize that I've progressed to another milestone in music age. I've began to like listening to instrumental music.

Granted I console myself that most of the instrumental music I like are from anime (and Slimy!Sheldon my lil bro listens to them too!) but still..

Looks like by the time I turn 30 I'll be listening to Mozart and friends. LOL.

Thanks for everything - the wishes, the effort... You've all made my day (and year ). :)

To the guy who's never ever forgotten my birthday (and who'd better not, coz he doesn't have an excuse)...

Thanks for the birthday wish!

Thanks for always being there, thanks for the memories and most of all, thanks for being who you are!

Missed hanging out with you (and your wacky obsessions with planes LOL). Take care, stay safe and see you (in person) next year alrite?

PS. It's great chatting with you again... ;) Sorry the line was so bad - but perhaps you could really read my mind. LOL.

She has always been told that the harder she held onto the fistful of sand (friendship? love?), the faster it will trickle out of her hands.

She never listens, as she held (clutched) harder and harder, trying to salvage as many of the tiny grains as possible.

Yet, as time passes by, the sands (bonds broken? past forgotten?) keep trickling out - as she stood helpless... helpless to stop the inevitable.

It was never hers to begin with.

Facebook & Me

Facebook doesn't like me.

I removed my relationship bar (coz I wanted a change - not because I wanted to hide anything!) and Facebook advertised to all and sundry that I'm no longer single.

WTH!

And you should see the amount of comments that generated.

Haven't been so popular before. LOLZ.