LIVERPOOL !! !! (& a 2 week break)

Last night, I stayed up with my brother to watch the Champion's League final between AC Milan and Liverpool at 2am. He slept from 10pm to 2am just to make sure he'll be able to watch it. When Milan scored the 1st goal, it still wasn't too bad. But by the time I watched the third goal in disbelief, I simply bid my brother a good night and went up to sleep; thinking that Liverpool was written off. No point watching when the result was obvious.

Not surprising, I was utterly stunned when I found out what happened the next morning. For Liverpool to stage such a comeback; from a 3-nil disaster to 3-3 ... simply shocking. Other teams might have cracked, but somehow, they bounced back from the brink of being crushed, clawing their way back into contention in just 6 minutes. And the deciding penalty shoot-outs - the goal keeper was splendid. And this is from a person that doesn't give a dime for football. :-) I've no idea how this was contrived, but it shows that Liverpool can't be written off yet; though they aren't doing too well in the EPL.

The value of resilience, peserverance, and keeping one's head intact while others are losing their's. I'd gone to sleep. Even their fans had turned silent by the end of the 1st half. But they held on tight; creating and and grabbing the opportunities as they came along. And AC Milan's lead was annulled in minutes. What a lesson - Never give up; never surrender till the last whistle. Truly a historical mark in football history. Worthy of being followed in real life. Only thing is that this ends on a sad note - because Liverpool is only in the 5th place in the English Premier League standings, UEFA will not allow them to compete in next year's Champion's League - even though they're the defending Champions! UEFA is sticking to the rules - ONLY the top 4 clubs of the EPL are allowed to compete. Talk about technicality ruining a wonderful moment.

In the American Idol, it's ANOTHER lady that became the winner! Carrie Underwood, a country girl specialising in country music! Somehow, she managed to knock out all the others, some who'd seemed better than her (and dare I say, are better), like Anwar Robinson and Bo Bice. 3 ladies, and 1 guy so far after 4 seasons. Where're all the men??

Flying off 6pm tomorrow to KL. So, my blog will be inactive for 2 weeks. Take care and God bless to you all out there!

Trip to W M

Just to let everyone know that I'm going off to West M'sia for my annual trip back with my family to visit relatives and attend the annual national church camp. Leaving this Friday and returning next next Thursday; nearly 2 weeks lah. So ... wait till I return! Byez!

what NOT to do after finished drilling

Was just helping my mum drill a simple hole in the store room. The concrete was putting up tough resistance even after 20 minutes of patiently drilling away. Only a shallow hole less than 1 cm deep was to be seen. Tired, I put the drill down and proceeded to stand up. As I stood up, my hands instinctively reach downwards to help support my body. I probably wasn't even looking. My left palm pressed right onto the metal bit of the drill. I never knew how hot it can get; esp after 20 minutes of drilling away! The pain was like a knife slicing through my hand - my reflexes worked in jerking it away immediately after that. In a daze, I rubbed my hand against my pants for awhile, clueless on what to do. Thank God that I finally remembered my first aid - I rushed over to the toilet and opened the tap for maximum waterflow. At first, there was no sensation at all - I didn't seem to even feel the water! Then the pain struck; so suddenly that I jerked my hand out of the warm noon-time water. It felt like entire left hand was on fire; even though the burn was only to a small section. 2 distinctive blisters slowly formed; the hotspot of my agony. I forced my hand back into the water for awhile more; to cool it down and wash away any extra dirt. Right after that, my sensible mom slattered antiseptic cream on it and I bandaged it with cotton gauze. The pain stayed for a few hours before finally subsiding. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to type this out! By God's grace, it wasn't my fingers - that would have been really troublesome. By now, it's painless unless I press it, so it's generally ok.

Polyclinic visit ... and old age effects

Today I went off to the clinic to get my re-fill of my medication. Not the private ones; my medication (1 pill, twice a day) would burn a hole right through my wallet. So, just had to go back to the polyclinic at Jln Masjid; the same old one I've been going to since . . . since antiquity.
Arrived there around 11.15am, and rushed to the registration counter. Apparently, they'd initiated a new system which I'd never used before - one had to take a number and wait. Last time, one only needs to go up to the counter. So, the lady behind the counter told me to get a number and got a noumber I did. I sat down in front of the counter, trying to hear my number being shouted out, since I didn't find any number screen nearby. A few minutes passed before I went up to the counter to ask again. Exasperated, she pointed somewhere. I looked to see what she was pointing at - and, lo, behold; I found the number screen after all. It was put up on a pillar - in the middle of the waiting space! Humbled, I went and sat down till my number was displayed, got my next number and went off to the consultation rooms section.

My room was 5B, and I saw that the current number was 60. No problem, I thought - till I took another look at my number ... it was 95!! W-H-A-T?! I'd to wait fo 35 people to enter before it was my turn?! I stood there in the midst of the crowd, wondering what to do ... till I sat down and decided to just wait it out. Thankfully, I'd brought 2 booklets along, so I got down to read. The minutes really ticked by slowly. Before 11.45am, I placed the next coupon, and before 12.15pm, another coupon. I waited till 12.30pm before they finally reached my number. *whew* FINALLY. And the person inside wasn't a doctor, but a medical assistant (MA). And he looked tired enough - imagine seeing 95 patients in the morning alone! So, no small talk, just straight to the point - refilling my medication and the description of the last 2 attacks, plus some cream for some sort of thing on my face.

Got my prescription and headed straight for the pharmacy; fearing another long queue. But, oh, thank God - I was the ONLY person left - so, got my number and then my medication in record time. Rushed off to the car; since it was already 12.47pm - and the coupon had just expired at 12.45pm! Heart pounding, I looked at the windshield for the dreaded summons - but found none. Breathing my thanks to God, I got in and started on my way back home.

Frankly, looking at those nurses, counter assistants, medical assistants and even doctors, they are drained. Each room reach around 90-plus by the time I entered my room. That's only the morning - how about after lunch hour? Although their service is poor, who can blame them overmuch? Low salary, poor facilities, overwhelmed by the public and disregarded by society . .
A friend once commented that several of the 128 straight-A students for 2004's STPM who didn't get Medicine had appealed all over the place, including Ong Ka Ting, the President of MCA. During a rumoured meeting with a group of them, he had asked them a simple question - were they willing to serve the government after they graduated, or were they going to abandon ship to the private sector at the earliest notice? Silence. Eyes darting around. Heads turning away. Their answer was obvious, though unspoken. Such is the plight of the government medical services - next to no one wants to work there among us C. Pity.

Old age really can get to you. My dad had been trying to transfer funds via the ATM to an account, but couldn't find the correct button to conduct the transcation. Finally, with tomorrow the deadline for paying up, he brought me along just now to help him see if I could help out. Simple: 'Fund Transfer' then 'Credit/Debit Card' - just like that! My dad was momentarily stunned by the sheer simplicity of it. Later on, he admitted that he'd been looking so much at the lower half of the screen (where it used to be) that he'd never noticed the 'Credit/Debit Card' button on the top lefthand corner of the same screen! Scary . . . that'll be me in another 20-plus years! :-o

What a 'coincidence': on the top section is the S'wak General Hosp, while across the road in the bottom section of the photo is a cemetary ... was this planned to enable quick burials?? A 'comfort' for an in-patient to know that one's final resting place might be conveniently located just across the road? *shivers* :-[ 

Photo's and etc

Today, I finally went ahead with a project I've been thinking of since KL. I went up to a certain high spot in Kuching (who can guess where I took the pics?) and, armed with my dad's digital camera, went snapping away. Keeping a graphic memory of Kuching is something I'll treasure decades later, though maybe not so much now. Ended up with 30-plus inside my memory card. I'll post them up a few at a time ... a few are already up below.

While searching for fresh yogurt for my mom with my bro in Hui Sing, I bumped into my ex-F6 Chemistry and class teacher, Mdm Tan Tsen Tsen. She still remembered me, and we discussed about my Uni and my other ex-classmates before going our ways. Only to FORGET to wish her happy teacher's day - again! How forgetful can a person be??

Started jogging regularly . . . trying to keep myself healthy and generally ok during these hols. Besides, a change of atmosphere than always being stuck in the house, isn't it? Fresh air, blue skies, towering clouds and cricket noises as one jogs past is a relaxing thing.

Watched on TV3 a horrid thing; a day ago, a student was knocked down and killed while crossing a highway to the school on the opposite side of the road. Apparently, a lorry was on the road and tried to slow down upon seeing the girl going across the road. But the brakes failed - and it plowwed into the girl. The residents of the village were so infuriated that just today they went out onto the road, blocking it and causing a two-hour long traffic jam. Tensions went especially high when a few people took out a coffin and held it aloft in the middle of the road for 20 minutes. Why the fuss? It turned out that the residents had been demanding a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights or an overhead bridge for years; with no reply at all. And the death toll is unbelievable - 79 deaths since 1994 on that same stretch of road!! Few families in the village are untouched by tragedy. This final death proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. And, as usual, the authorities go finger-pointing and promising to deal with the situation. Pitiful.
It's sad . . . only after a string of deaths did the government finally fly into action; but way too late for the deceased. Rumours go that the Batu Kawah bridge was built only after someone drowned while crossing the river. Does it mean that each bridge and crossing has a death behind it? . . . :-o Unthinkable . . .

While picking up my brother and his friend from Sri Sarjana, we took a detour to Central Park to drop off a few things at the recycling centre. Suddenly, Nick's friend remembered that he needed to buy things for his Drama's club food stall. So, off we went on an impromptu shopping spree; getting polystrene food packets and plastics spoons from a Japanese food stall, and chocolate rice, coconut shavings and plastic cups from a convenience store. The Japanese food stall owners were kind enough, but the convenience store owners smiled at us with that "Who are these wacko's?" look as we searched for my bro's friend's stuff. No wonder - they closed right after we stepped out of the door. Late night shopping indeed.

Going to see the doctor tomorrow morning . . . need to get another 3 months supply of Sodium Valproate; my epilepsy medication. And just a general check up, i guess. Although my guess is that the harried, drained and tired doctor would just scribble a few sentences in my health booklet and shoo me away ASAP for the next patient to enter. Not a surprise considering their lot. Which makes me wonder why so many people are clamouring to be doctors.

One of my best loved pic's ... Kuching City South ... and look at all that green! A nice difference from KL's concrete jungle - mixture of nature and man  

Taken from the Cat Museum; a panoramic view of Kuching 

One of the old trademarks of Kuching; seen in most commercials to do with the Cat City. Older than I am by 1 year plus! For those who hadn't noticed, they repainted it green and pink after it's white looked dirty enough. Although I disagree with pink ... (Oh; the parking's still free!) 

High school drama

Thank God that my mum is alright now. Didn't need to take any BP medication; her BP was back to normal. Even so, the doctor still is clueless as to why her BP shot up so high. So far, she's doing fine; back to her normal self.

Besides the rush hour traffic jams, the other times of traffic congestion in Kuching is during school opening/dismiss times. One of the worst places you can be is in Jln College - 2 secondary schools, 1 elementary school and a teacher's training college - all in one road! The jam can be pretty horrondous . . .
That was why I was stuck in the jam outside my bro's school today; although it wasn't bad by the time I reached there. Only thing being that today was going to be a little special. As I approached SMK BL's main gate, I noticed a few teachers driving out; even managed to wave back to an old teacher that still remembered me. And then I noticed a commotion by the right hand side of the road. Apparently, there was some sort of after-school gathering; most of them were wearing school uniforms, while a few were in plain clothes; with cigerattes. What was surprising was the presence of a few parents in the group. As I passed by, I saw that they were quarreling and arguing heatedly over something; with their car's parked behind them. Everyone coming out of the school was staring at them as they passed by.
After entering BL, I turned a few rounds, but my brother wasn't around. I parked my car by the side of the road, planning to find my brother and his friends. Just as I was getting out, I saw the new principal, Miss Ko (the ISCF teacher and new discipline teacher) and Pn Fiziah (my ex-Sejarah teacher and current PK1) walking out. Without a further thought, I walked up to them and told Miss Ko that there was some sort of commotion going on out there. She acknowledged and continued walking out. Pn Fiziah was looking funnily at me. And then I realised - I was wearing my sun-glasses! No wonder they couldn't recognise me! And the usual people who wear sunglasses are . . . you know. I quickly took them off and went off in search of my brother and friends.
I took the chance just to take a short stroll around BL. Apparently, BL has really blossomed . . . the landscaping, new block, and refurbishing makes the place really nice! No wonder it has gotten the title of 'Sekolah Harapan"! And all this AFTER my generation had graduated . . . sad.

After awhile, I managed to find them; my bro's teacher decided to go 'overtime'. Just as we were walking to the car, who else was walking back in - Principal, Discipline Teacher and PK1. My brother and his 2 friends 'disappeared' as Miss Ko walked up to me, asking if I remembered the looks of any of them. They actually went to hide behind the Wira I was driving! :-s The extent of their shyness to the administration, even though they'd done nothing wrong! I only clearly remembered a lady; short, plump and wearing glasses. She turned around and continued her conversation with the principal - apparently, I confirmed that it was some one's mum whom they knew. The Afternoon Session Supervisior (Penyelia Petang) came up to complete the 'Big Four' as they discussed the fight. And Pn Fiziah finally recognised me, although I had to leave to send my bro and friends back.
On the way back, my brother filled me in on the rumours. It seems that someone in Form 5 had lent someone else's car, and got it banged in an accident. The issue was, the culprit refused to pay for the damages. That fight outside was probably the families of both sides meeting up to quarrel the whole thing out. Ahh . . . the high school drama we all Uni people will never see again . . . :-)
And then, i realised something - it was Teacher's Day, and I'd forgot to give my wishes to Miss Ko and Pn Fiziah; not to mention greeting them appropriately! Ouch! The lack of formality in Uni has it's effect, I guess. Never mind; till next time then.

The simple beauty of a partial rainbow at the ending of the day (Saturday) 

Mum's sudden sickness and flight

Today, my mum woke up with heavy dizzyness and giddyness (vertigo), nausea, and very high blood pressure (we have an electronic b.p. monitor at home). Absolutely no warning; my mum was quite fine the night before, with no obvious problems. She had a sore throat and fever a few days back, but that wasn't anything serious.

Being a night-owl and late-awaker, I had no idea of this (I also 'tidur mati'; so I wasn't awakened by my mum's vomitting) untill I woke up around 10am. I took a look at my phone by the side of my bed - it was jammed full of SMS's from my worried dad. Apparently, I was supposed to bring my mum to the hospital, but I guess that I wasn't actually awake when my dad told me that earlier in the morning before leaving for school. After taking a quickie breakfast, I took my mum to the polyclinic along Jln Masjid next to the Merdeka Square. Thankfully, the lines were short, so got into a room fast. Even the doctor was stumped by my mum's extra-ordinarily high blood pressure reading of 160/90 (a normal would be:120/80) . . . no obvious causant, no fever, sore throat, visible infection, food poisioning, etc. Worried, she asked my mum to come back on Saturday to re-assess her situation . . . and see if my mum needs to be started on blood pressure medication! The line at the pharmacy was much longer though, so waited awhile more there. M brother was a little excited than usual because we had to buy back lunch. Thank God that she's much better now; even cooking dinner for us, to our surprise (nothing complicated; just a pot of fish porridge). Hoping and praying it was just a anomaly, not a sign of something serious.

Finally booked my flight ticket back to KL in July for my 2nd year . . . 6th July, 3.20pm flight, arriving 5pm in KL. My dad insisted on getting a RM28.88 flight due to our tightening fianances; even though my housemates had said they wanted to come up only on the 7th of July. After that, it's going to be a hectic time doing all the condominium stuff and restarting the next semester. Not inclined to thinking too much about my 2nd year . . . just want to savour my quickly passing holidays for now. Will think more after returning from my church Camp in early June.

Computer accessories aren't made to last - the 'y' key on my keyboard just stopped functioning a few days ago. So; to insert the 'y', I had to copy (CTRL-C) a 'y' from a document, and then paste (CTRL-V) it where it's needed. If I don't: '-ou' '-es' 'wh-' '-ell' and so on would result. So troublesome. Time to get a new one then . . .

Emergency haircut

My hair had always been a problem ever since I had it cut crew cut in Standard 6 - under the advice of my grandmother who tried to figure out a way to tackle the bush on top of my head. Contrary to the normal hair of others, now it simply refuses to lie flat; always pointing heavenward, no matter what fantastic ultra super strong gel I try out. Ever since 1996 till now - 9 years! And to make things worse, since they're all pointing outward from my head, that leaves lots of unhindered space for maximal hair growth. At optimal thickness, I can slip in a pen into my hair and it wouldn't fall out, even if shake my head. And the resultant dandruff . . . ARGH! The normal one's don't work - I need prescription type shampoo's to bomb it to kingdom come, again and again. Another thing being my head is oddly shaped, so the hair also grows in funny directions . . . (PICTURE BELOW!) I don't need to cut my hair 'mohawk' style like Beckham - my head causes my hair to grow in such a shape naturally! Precisely why I had it cut today!

Going to see the dentist tomorrow for a check-up. You know; the advice that one should see a dentist every 6 months. I plan to keep my teeth till old age ... I've seen my parents with their false teeth troubles ... ugh - better avoid the need for any. God's creation is always the best; the artificial can never replace the original. Nitez!

Once one notices that one's hair is like that, no one needs to tell you that it's time for the barber to do their magic 

Close disaster ... (not a surprise for me)

I went out tonight for a meeting with a church member. Was in a rush, so I started up my dad's car, buckled up, shifted into reverse gear and stomped on the accelerator. As I was going down the slope of the car porch towards the exit, I just so happened slow down without any particular reason and turned to look behind me ... EEKK! :-0 The gate was still closed! I slammed on the brakes, stopping just an inch or two of the gate. Any further or any faster and my dad would have cooked me for supper just now. My brother was watching me from the front door, and he was laughing and pointing accusingly at my almost-disastrous act. Ugh. I reached out for the remote control and opened the gate before continuing my descent, hands still trembling. Close one. Thank God I had turned back to look.

Besides that, I've got a few other incidents. As I was driving down Jln Stampin one day, I happened to stare too long at a few nice houses along the road. I turned back to look at the road, to find that the car was about to enter a sharp bend. By God's grace, I managed to grab hold of the steering wheel and swerve the car; wheels screeching abit as they scrapped the rocky roadside, avoiding crashing into the houses along the bend. Or the time I was too engrossed in trying to adjust the radio's volume; looking up to find the car in front had come to a complete stop. Slamming the brakes, my Wira stopped just inches away from the other car's bumper. Or the time I got a short temporal epileptic attack after dropping my bro off at his BM tuition.
(Hey, don't let this frighten you all out there from sitting in a car which has me as it's driver! These incidents cover a long period of time) ;-)

Lesson? Be careful while on the road - the car you are driving has a tremendous potential for causing trouble. And never ever take the protection of God for granted. Just because nothing has happened before, don't feel too proud of yourself. A few near accidents reminded me well enough!

Nitez!

COLOUR BLIND - at last?! And Narnia on the big screen

Been busy around the house helping my mom. When we were younger, just looking after the two of us and helping my father was enough hassle. School, tuition, homework, sickness, etc ... Now, since my brother and I have already grown up enough to take care of ourselves (and with me helping out as a subsitute driver, cook, maid, and so on), she's been busy with the house and garden; beautifying, trimming up, changing and rearranging all over. 4 years ago, my garden was a flat field of grass; suitable for football and badminton. Now; it looks like a miniature park! Talk about patience . . .

One day, she told me to drill a few holes in a few walls around the house, because she wanted to add a few wall posters and flower pots. Of course I felt a little funny; the walls looked perfectly fine empty . . . and abit excited too, as I've never handled a drill before (my dad usually didn't allow me to - since the last time we needed to use it was when I was in Form 2!). Always the hard part is to drill through the outer layer of cement ... once you get to the brick, then it's a jiffy.

Now; before drilling any holes in the walls, you must mark the spot first. My mum went around measuring the dimensions and distances and marking the perfect spot with the left-over 'magic-pencils' from our 'Pendidikan Seni' times. For one of the rooms, she asked me to search for the blue mark on the wall as the spot to drill. So, I went over with drill and extension cord in hand . . . and saw no spot. Mystified, I went back and inquired in detail. When I went over to the room and looked at the walls more carefully, all I could find was a green spot. Back again to my mom. This time, she followed me to the room, all flustered. She pointed the green spot out and said, "That blue spot!". I stood there in silence for a moment before breaking out in laughter. Finally, my colour-blindness has revealed itself in real-life for once! (The picture below is the 'spot' that was just mentioned)

I'm colour-blind you see; but the intriguing thing is that it's not severe; only mild. That means that I get all those colour charts in the Ishihara colour book all wrong, but in real life, I can see the colours quite fine. Like during the time in my Physiology: Eye Vision lab, everyone was looking at the Ishihara eye charts and saw what they were supposed to see; but I saw nothing or nonsense. Even so, out there in the real world, red is red, blue is blue and green is green - which goes to explain why I can still drive on the roads! Otherwise, at traffic lights, when everyone is stopping, I'll be stomping on the accelerator! After so long, this is the first time I've actually misinterpreted a colour in living memory. History ... R I T E! As long as I don't mess up in the laboratory or other stuff . . . :-0 So, is it a good thing or a bad thing ?? . . .

For those who've ever read the 'The Chronicles of Narnia' series by C S Lewis, the move from text to movie screen has begun. This December 9, 2005, the 2nd book in the series, 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', will be out in cinema's around the world. No idea if it'll make it to Malaysia, but I hope to see it. NTV7 showed a trailer of the movie several times, and it was FANTASTIC (well, which trailers aren't?). Huge battle scenes between the forces of Aslan and the Witch, a good animation of Aslan, seemingly good acting of Peter, Lucy, Edmund and Susan and etc. It gave the impression that they were trying something that's LOTR-ish in scale! It's a children's movie, but with messages suitable for all ages. Will be waiting for it patiently . . . (A tip about it's potential: C S Lewis and J R R Tolkien - writer of the LOTR trilogy - were good friends)

What colour is the spot in the middle of the picture? Blue - or green?? Pick your best shot ... 

Black out, $$ increase and kitchen business

And then there was darkness . . .
Last night, the sky was filled with dark stratus n cumulonimbus rain clouds; which spent the whole night looming threateningly over Kuching before finally opening their floodgates after 12am. The usual lightning and thunder . . . nothing to be especially fearful of. BUT; just as I was surfing the Net at around 2am yesterday morning, everything went PITCH BLACK in a split second. My eyes were flashy for a moment as it adjusted to the sudden transition from light to dark. Thus followed a desperate search for the torchlights, which caused some 'ouch's and 'ugh's. The whole area was in total darkness (well, Hui Sing and Stampin, at least). Nicholas (my younger bro) was sooooooo disappointed - he was staying up to see the Liverpool - Chelsea match at 2.45am. Even more so after finding out the score: Liverpool : 1, Chelsea : 0 (well, at least Jose Mourinho is stopped somewhere; rather than bulldozing EVERY trophy in sight! Maybe this is a bad portent for Chelsea? And a chance for Liverpool to show it's not dead yet. Even though I don't care much about football in the first place . . . ). He missed the highly anticipated action. Next time then ... if there's a next time. ;-)

As my mum and I were shopping around in Hui Sing earlier tonight, we noticed a loooong line of vehicles lining up to pump petroleum. We wondered if the diesel crisis was back - or if a petrol crisis was surfacing. As I watched the 12 am news, I found out why: the government has come out with a strategy to tackle the diesel crisis and overwhelming petroleum subsidies. And it's by INCREASING the PRICE of petrol by RM 0.10 and diesel by RM 0.20. Effective today (Thursday, 5/5/2005). O-U-C-H. And thus a chain reaction will ensue, hitting us all poor consumers. Inflation, price increase in EVERYTHING - public transport, food, utilities, etc etc etc. And this is after a previous price increase not too long ago. Yikes.

One of the things I've been doing these hols is learning cooking. That's right; taking that ladle, fiddling around with the gas stove regulator and fooling around with all sorts of stuff men usually don't touch. Not that I didn't know how to cook - I'm the 'speciality instant noodles cook' (I know the names, tastes and noodle textures of many soup noodle/dry noodle brands available on the supermarket shelves ...) of my home, and can fry up an egg or even some fried rice when needed. Besides battering chicken or pork before they're fried. This time, my mum got ambitious. No; no shark's fin soup or 10-course dinner! Easy stuff ... Things like frying garlic (ooo ... I love it's smell and the extra taste it gives to many types of food!) and vegetables, steaming fish, making butter prawns (all dripping with oil and with my mom's special spices), frying 'keropok' (and finishing it within a week!). Also learning how to prepare the raw materials, like garlic, ginger, onion, vegetables and etc (Still pretty lousy with the knife though). A pretty informative time indeed.

As I help out in the kitchen, I find it a good time just to chat with her about things besides studies and family. Often, we of the male gender usually find talking to our fathers easier and more natural than talking with our mothers (Or is my observation wrong?). But, we miss alot of 'female' wisdom that we can glean from our mothers that way. Oh, and I've also found out for myself how tiring cooking a whole meal can be. A salute for all mothers as Mother's Day approaches this Sunday (also to all FUTURE mothers out there).

. . . ACCIDENT!!

We checked out and then headed back down to Kuching around 12.40pm. As we exited the roundabout connecting Damai Beach and Damai Lagoon to Jln Santubong, we noticed a Proton Wira speeding ahead of us with it's boot wide open and swinging up and down, as a Kancil followed pretty closely behind it. We just dismissed it as one of those funny incidents you see now and then. Nothing happened for the next 5 minutes or so, until we reached the Santubong village junction; where a road to Santubong Village branches off the main route to the resorts.

We noticed that the vehicles in front were stopping, backing away and reversing. Before we decided what to do, we noticed our church member's cars parked by the side of the road. Thinking that they had some car trouble or something else, my mum stopped and the other 3 of us inside went down to investigate. To our horror, we found 2 motorcyclists on the road, injured with scratches, cuts and broken bones from a hit-and-run accident that just took place. They were a Chinese couple, a 20-something guy and a teenage girl (i think - judging from their looks).

Other people were already at the scene, including some of our church members. All of us were generally in a state of panic, trying to figure out what to do. Someone went to the nearby Santubong police station to get help. Others acted as impromptu traffic directors; trying to steer the traffic clear from the accident victims and debris on the road. Handphones were whipped out - but several networks didn't have any coverage in that remote area. Those that had a line tried to contact the SGH and other emergency services. Both of them were still conscious; the girl had cuts and bruises all over, and some of her nails had been ripped off in the collision. The guy was in a worse shape; his right leg was seemingly broken at the knee and his clothes were quite torn from skidding on the rough tar road. Blood was on his face and neck, though not flowing heavily. He gripped a piece of stick given by a by-stander; trying to bear the excruciating pain. In response to a Q, he told us that his legs were horribly painful. Yet, the touching thing was that he kept on asking us in Mandarin about his girlfriend; how was she, is she alright, and so on. The guy was hyperventilating, but the girl looked more shocked and terrified; her face a mask of pain and agony. Thank God they had their helmets on; that took most of the blow of the collision.

Everyone was trying to think of how to help and comfort them. Some took pillows, sunshades and towels from their cars; others held their hands and tried speaking to them to take their minds off the pain. Even two buses had stopped, their drivers coming over to lend a helping hand. A few people tried to figure out a way to shield them from the noon heat. A church member got a bottle of water and slowly gave some water to each person. Someone kindly dialed the girl's parents number and let her call them. A security guard called out for anyone with a handphone that had coverage. Thankfully, my MAXIS handphone still had a little coverage and sufficient credit and he quickly used it to call up Damai Lagoon to tell them to call Emergency services. From amidst the debris, someone managed to find the Road Tax sticker of the car that had hit the motorcycle. In the chaos of the accident, the front windshield had smashed apart, but the Wira's driver was in too much of a rush to worry about leaving evidence - including it's front rim! And then, in trying to do something, anything, a thought came to mind - perhaps they might need the photo's of the accident scene? I asked a police man if it was ok, and he gave the all-clear. I went snapping away, trying to capture the whole area in the photo's. I thought of sending it to that policeman - only to remember once back home that I had forgotten to ask HOW and to WHOM to send it! Ugh . . . all those photo's and don't know who to send it too . . . I've watched too much CSI, i guess.

I tried to recall the first aid lessons I had learnt a long time ago in secondary school while I was in the Red Cresent Society . . . NOTHING came to mind. Then how about all my lectures while in University? I was a Biomedical student - surely I had learnt something that could be of use now? My mind was BLANK! In the end, all I could remember that was of any use was a lecture on 'Shock' in Human Physiology. I quickly told those keeping them company to make sure they didn't slip away into unconsciousness and to keep on communicating with them. The shock of the pain, blood and bodily fluid loss, and internal injuries could send them into a state of bodily shock and bring them towards a coma. It was soooo frustrating; knowing you've learnt what to do in such situations and totally forgotten them all! Being a Biomedical student, I didn't feel too ashamed (since I was studying more on the cellular and organic level) ... but if I was a Medical student, the shame and guilt of not knowing anything would have been simply unbearable. I ransacked my mind, but; nothing of further use came to thought. The police took over and freed the area around the victims, loosening the tight clothing around their necks and a few other things to help them be comfortable while waiting for emergency services to arrive. And boy; being 30-plus KM from Kuching . . . it was going to be a long wait. Soon, they were asking us all to go off to avoid a traffic jam - it was 1pm on a public holiday and lots of people were either checking out or checking in of the hotels, or were going for a day-trip to the beach. Since being there was of no help, we went off, giving the 2 victims a final look and our earnest prayers for their survival.

As we headed down, we looked out for the ambulance that was sure to come. We kept on staring at the other lane of the road, waiting and waiting and waiting. To our utter disappointment, we only passed the screaming ambulance from the SGH near Normah Hospital around 35 minutes after we left the accident area. Meaning it'll take another 20-plus minutes to reach the accident victims. A total wait of an hour-plus since the accident. Simply terrible. Perhaps it's due to the Labor Day holiday? Whatever the reason, our emergency systems will never be as efficient and well off as those Western services epitomised in ER, Chicago Hope, Third Watch and other TV series. We hoped that they could last that long, plus the trip back down to SGH.

On the way down and when we met up with the others again to have lunch, we discussed it over. From what I could glean, apparently, the Wira and Kancil we saw earlier on were on a high-speed chase. The occupant of the Wira had stolen the stainless steel sports wheel rims of the Kancil and was putting it into it's boot when the Kancil's owner came over screaming. Without waiting to close the boot, the driver jumped into the Wira and sped off. The Kancil's driver also started his car and raced off to chase the Wira. It was while turning the bend at the Makam Sultan Tengah and Santubong Village junction when the Wira collided head-on with the motorcycle coming from the opposite side of the road. The motorcycle was overtaking another vehicle during that time - by the time the guy driver could see the Wira, he most probably had only a split second to open his eyes wide in terror before the collision took place. The Wira was only slowed down abit - it sped off with a shattered windscreen and it's front rim left on the road. The Kancil, seeing the two poor victims, decided to break off the chase and stop to help them. How nice of the Kancil's driver to think of the more needy. As for the Wira . . . may God have mercy on it's driver.

A few church members had stayed back to help out. Apparently, the people had assessed that the girl was less severely injured and could be moved safely. Someone offered to bring her down to GH, but another countered that it was too far. In the end they decided to bring her to Normah, as it was the nearest place they could think off. A church member followed along to help the girl stay awake as they drove her down. Another church member took over his car and followed behind till they reached Normah. The guy they left at the scene of the accident since they didn't have any equipment to stabilise his broken legs. And they couldn't confirm if he had other injuries. Better to leave him there to wait for the proffesionals to come rather than risk exacerbating his injuries and already-terrible pain. We could only pray and hope for the best.

In the meantime, I felt sick inside . . . being a Biomedical student and having being trained in some first aid while in PBSM, I should have been able to help out; but I was practically useless there. I wanted to help, to do something . . . but I could do nothing. I had learnt all that knowledge - but with no retention or post-exam-revision; thus it all escaped my grasp in that time of need. Good thing no one could have found out, or I would have been mocked by the by-standers for my helplessness. No; there was no 180 degree turn in my life direction or whatever massive revolution in my self due to the event; but I resolved to make myself more useful to be able to help others. I had considered getting a first aid book for a long time, but never actually got down to buying one - time to get one ASAP. All the knowledge I'm learning now in Biomedicine - it's not just for the exams or grades or even for what Class honours I get for my UKM convocation; it should be put to practical use in life and to help people. I felt too a little nudge towards the Medical field ... plus those nudges from the other things of life and a few lecturers and friends. These things do affect you. (Besides being proud of being a MAXIS customer ... ;-) Coverage where the others fail!)

And also jolt you. Who could have predicted that such a thing was about to take place? How do you know that the next bend would be the disastrous one? So many things are taken for granted in life . . . while not knowing how much we actually owe to God's protection and grace. How we assume that we'll have many decades left before we leave. Life itself can fly at anytime . . . we can't foretell the future, even the next second. Better to live life with it's fragile preciousness in mind . . . we've only one life to live, so live it to it's fullest. As an author put it, live each day as if it's your last day on Earth; purposefully and meaningfully. One might never be able to plan the timing or circumstances of one's demise. As for death . . . I'm not afraid of what lies beyond, for I know that God has my life in His faithful hands, as Jesus had said: "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My Hand". And how comforting it is to read, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast". It's because of God and His promises and my putting my trust in Him only that I can be confident; not because of any good works I try to do for Him. What an assurance!

One of those unforgettable events . . . Nitez!

The guy and motorcycle that's thrown further down the road (not posting close-up shot - too gruesome) 

The lady accident victim with compassionate by-standers helping out 

Scene of accident, scattered debris, and the front rim of the hit-and-run Wira on the road 

A short trip up to Damai Beach bef . . .

Ahh ... just returned from my church outing to Damai Beach. We had run into a mix-up during the booking process, and resulted in us getting the beachfront chalets instead of ordinary rooms; and in Beach instead of Lagoon. But when we reached there, we were pleasantly surprised - when they say beachfront, they really mean beachfront: the beach was but a stone's throw away from our chalets! And the rooms were quite big too (definately - since we had to fork out extra $$!). So, going to the beach wasn't a big affair as in the Lagoon - anytime anyone wishes to go, they can go! No need to fear the rain or forgetting to bring anything - the room is just a short walk away!
Had some fun with the beach ... the waves, sand and stones. Later on at night, we had a short gathering just to sing some songs, before going off to each one's activities. I went star-gazing, and boy; the sky was beautiful. Since we were away from the bright city lights, we had a good view of the sky. Of course, it still couldn't match the excellent and brilliant star-filled sky visible while in Pulau Redang during a trip there with my mother's side relatives, where even the belt of the Milky Way was distinguishable. Too bad didn't have anything suitable for taking pictures of the stars then. My brother and the other church members went playing board and card games long into the night - till an occupant of their next-door room had to shout for them to lower the noise! Just as I was drifting off into sleep, suddenly we heard loud explosions. Someone was letting off fireworks! I bolted out quickly and saw a group of youths crowding near a rocket-box that was shooting all sorts of differing rockets into the night sky. Unfortunately, the fireworks display was over by the time I whipped my camera out. But before I went back in, hotel security was already rushing over, scolding them and reminding them of hotel rules.

Speaking of pictures, let's just say that I'm getting the hang of it; even liking it. Since I no longer need to worry about wasting film with my dad's new digi-cam, I can snap away without fear. Although I do admit that I'm still not exactly good yet - some shots are spoiled by me shaking the camera while it's snapping a photo. Now I have an inkling of why people go for photo taking as a form of art.

Anyways, went back out to the beach before taking a relaxing bath in the large tub. The others were willing to walk all the way to the hilltop pool, where the view was nice, there was a nice waterfall and fewer people than the beachside pool. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to swim yet, so just fooling around at the seaside is quite fun enough for myself. As we packed our things to check out, no one knew of the drama to come . . .

Mt Santubong crowned with white cumulus clouds in the late morning 

A pic of Mt Santubong in the morning, her sides crowned with white cumulus clouds . . . and the beachside as the sun sets over a cloudy sky 

Of the piano

A simple Q: How many of you out there can play a musical instrument?
I used to dream about playing the piano since my younger days (also did some pondering about other instruments like the violin, but my dreams consisted primarily of sending my 10 fingers flyng over the keys of a grand piano) . . . but $$ and TIME had always been the limiting factors. All I could do was just listen to the music of the classics played on the radio or on TV and wonder, "What if . . . ?". Seeing video's of orchestra's, recitals and even modern artises, like Maxim from Croatia, leaves me in deep thought. Sometimes, in my dreams, I see myself sitting in an empty hall, with only a piano in front of me; my hands ready to make music - only to wake up. I wished to have that freedom to let the tunes playing in my head be translated into audible sound via depressing the piano keys in concert; a freedom that can only come through years of hardwork and practice . . . To try and to fail isn't as bad as never trying and never knowing for certain. The only times I could touch a piano was the electronic piano at church, or the piano's in my friends/neighbours houses. Some times after church service, from my mind (without referring to any music notes) I could play out the melody of any song I wished to play; though with many mistakes, since it was void of any practice. I looked longingly at my other friends as they went for their music classes and I couldn't. As the years passed one by one, the door seemed to be closed tight as ever . . . and I put the dream aside; to dream of more reasonable things.

That is, until my recent spat of involvement in UKM's KTSN hostel choir, musical drama and Music Club. It reignited in me a longing to try; at least to give it a shot. Who cares if it amounts to nothing in the end; at least I know I gave myself a chance to reach for a dream. I did attend the beginning piano classes organised by the club, but I got too engrossed in my studies and had to drop it in the end. Even so, I'm not about to give up just yet. Around a year-plus ago, my parents had bought me one of those cheap made-in-China-imitation-electronic keyboard for around RM 80 - but I was too afraid to try it out seriously. What if I found out I wasn't good after all? But the desire within could not be silenced, and it burned till it was impossible not to try something. This time, I've decided to give it my best try in this next 2 months or so. I managed to borrow a set of Grade 1 practical piano books from my bro's friend. Already reached pg 45 of the 1st book so far in 6 days. I don't know where this may lead (if it leads anywhere at all!) but I'm plunging ahead. It's difficult, but what the heck - what good thing comes easily? Even if nothing happens, I can think back 30 years from now and not regret that I had been bold enough to give myself a chance to at least try reaching out for the dream. I wouldn't be a Mozart, Vivaldi or a Beethoven . . . but the magical joy of being able to play to your heart's content is sufficient.