Trivial Nothings October

Just realize we almost skipped October, so here's one to catch up on the last day of this month:

• Question of October: Where did all my time went?
• Topic of the month: teachers, all types of teachers, classified by examples below -
  
• Old is gold? We had this veteran parasitologist from National Yang Ming University. Arriving with his 20-year old slides as the room is dimmed (and getting warmer due to closed windows), he starts telegraphing his entire life of knowledge upon us - "...Paragonimus, para means a pair...Japanese...(indistinct murmurs)...cannot kill off immediately...cannot observe under microscope...(rumblings)". At the end of the day, I knew Paragonimus westermani is a worm living in the lung and lots of indistinct murmurs.
• Doctors make good teachers? Not necessarily - being good-looking or charismatic adds to the attention span, but different specialty contributes more - surgeons have some neurotic features on stage, "if the patient isn't keen on surgery you can photo it with your phone and show it to him - see how large your hemorrhoid is?"; internists are boring and tied down by trivial details "the heart will beat 'lub-bA-dub, lub-bA-dub' instead of 'lub-dub lub-dub' or the usual beats found in children 'lub-dub-dub lub-dub-dub'..."
• Gynecologists are charismatic - or else they wouldn't convince women to strip in front of them; while neurologists and dermatologists are so smart they expect you to make a diagnosis with just one look at the patient - "ok, I'm going to show his picture, just 10 seconds ya?"
• While clinical lessons are fun during the semester it's not when it comes to exams.
• And a university library who takes 3 weekends off in one month isn't going to help - 2 weekends off for public holidays, and this week - for refurbishing the main door.
• I would really like to blog more, trust me. But time just seem to fall through my hands.
• Maybe next week...
  
  
  

Trivial Nothings September

I nearly forgot the existance of this column dedicated to everyday trivial stuff that will bore everyone to death. The memory of it was wiped out for almost two weeks until I ran dry of inspiration to blog - always happen during start of school. So here it goes:

• Funniest joke of this semester, and will stay for long:
  During PE (Physical Examination, not Physical Ed. mind you!) lesson on history taking, the stern-looking teacher was lecturing on avoiding subjective questions i.e. "Did you sleep well?" "Do you eat a normal diet? " - because the patient's definition of such words may differ from our perception. So, can anybody give us an example on asking the sleeping conditions of the patient? (teacher points to Standardized Patient sitting beside)
  Class fell quiet...
  P raises hand, asks aloofly "do you vomit blood every morning?"
• As a fourth year medical student we all know that waking up early is beneficial in every aspect - better time management, more in tune with our internal biological clock, and more restful at night. So, a second year junior and me formed this breakfast-hunting gang - we'd collect information on where to breakfast as a reward of waking up earlier, say, 7am.
• Our first outing was quite a success, despite the morning showers afterwards. But we had some really nice Chinese fried buns and gyoza (jiaozi). Medical research shows that a filling breakfast reduces excess food intake during rest of the day, and in consequence aids in losing weight.
• I was thinking of promoting this gang and applying for national funding - early awakening for a healthy Taiwan - something to this extent. Maybe this would also be my road to work in the MOH and earn big money (with bribes?).
• However, on our second outing today, I gradually find it a torment to wake up at 6.30am, on a Sunday. My bed with the maroon down duvet is just so tempting I spent 20 minutes parting it. By the time I'm at the lobby Steven had completed his review on Biochemistry and staring at me with anger befitting for Hitler.
• Turns out the food was just mediocre, and both of us were actually yearning for more sleep. I even had leftovers (friends close to me will know I can't stand to see leftovers).
• So after that we headed back to our respective rooms and slept till 9.
• My facebook and twitter friends would notice I am slowly becoming one of their most regular updaters. Am I addicted? Well, no. I can still live without an internet connection and study for hours straight without touching a computer.
• But haven't you heard? Drug addicts, glue addicts, sex addicts, they all have one common sign - they never admit they're addicted.
• And I can't stand the intermittent connection at school! Argh! This is crazy! The download bar is forever at 16%! I'm going nuts without the internet!

Trivial Nothings August

• No, NO! NONO! It's August already? That means summer holidays is half gone!
• Speaking of summer, uu'mph, just feel like sleeping.
• For homey people like me, summer is all about reading novels you bought but never touched, watching movies you'd like a second time, hanging out aimlessly with friends and all the slimming exercises which never worked once food is served.
• Despite the A(H1N1) flu pandemic, Malaysians don't really seem to mind - rallying, football cheering, calling your politician colleague names, protesting to ban displaying and selling alcohol.
• Seriously, we'd be all too happy if the brainless people up there did get some flu - gives them time to think about what they had done besides money laundering, accepting bribes and tearing different races apart.
• And no Tamiflu storage for them.
• Speaking of race, one of Yasmin Ahmad's commercial highlighted the fact that school children don't know of the word 'race' as in origin of human beings, but they're familiar with 'race' as in Formula One driving.
• So, in her spirit of promoting 1Malaysia long before Najib invented all the beautiful slogans, I wrote 'Malaysia' on the 'race' column when writing the purchase form of 1Malaysia unit trust (Amanah Saham 1Malaysia).
• And since it is named such, I suppose they should all together abolish the column, as well as the racial quota.
• The teller at CIMB bank took one look at it, strikes it off with his pen, and replaced 'Cina'.
• And there goes my futile efforts in promoting unity.
• So tell me why should we not rally against the ISA? It's reads like a law made by Stalin himself, and the law reverses Malaysia towards China under Mao's rule - the red guards? The limited freedom of expression? The all praises for your great motherland?
• So will we ever see improvement in anything if we refuse to think ahead? If our great leaders still think Malaysians are as brainless as themselves - banning alcohol display, protecting us from racial sentiments with an unreasonable law, channeling money into their own personal use, covering up every crime committed by 'people up there' - will we someday see a revival of authoritarian dictatorship? Like Myanmar under the current military government?
• Perhaps then we can see a Malaysian Caesar if we hold on long enough.
  

Trivial Nothings July

• My flight back from Kota Kinabalu was delayed, 30 minutes ex-KK to KL and an hour from KL to Penang. I was frustrated definitely, but hey, this is Malaysia, as I've mentioned to my Taiwanese friends since their arrival.
• Both flights were full to the brim, however. With little seats to spare. Economic downturn? I'd say it's recovering already.
• Anyway, on the way back to Penang was served by this gorgeous looking crew - nice hair, nice teeth and an infectious smile. Just can't stop looking at him whenever he passed down the aisle. When it's time for peanuts, he just hands us one tiny packet. Hey! What's this?
• On the Bahasa Malaysia for Science and Mathematics issue - "No, our students are not practising Michael Jackson's Moonwalk, they're merely moving backwards."
• An editor of Sin Chew Daily described it being a scenario of asking for a pinch of salt on a bland soup, and the chef 'accidentally' let loose the whole packet.
• Imagine the money involved in all the translation and reference books reprint! As if that's not enough to feed our MP's cars and bungalows, hiring teachers from abroad?
• On a more personal note. I'd just finish editing all my team's daily journals. It's difficult to work on a 800x600 screen, but Mum insists I keep the setting because she can't read anything smaller than font 14 on a screen - rabun tua.
  
• While jogging a few days back, I'd suspect I had cataract - how come everything is blurry and whitish?
• It turned out to be the haze.
  

Trivial Nothings June

A little delay again, as always.

• Caught a glimpse of Windows 7 during a boring lesson on Wednesday. It's a lot less fancy than Vista but it kept its elegance, minus the busybody nature.
• I'm still clinging on to my XP, and thinks it's a great thing to run on.
• Graduation day today. I'm there to send off two seniors, one whom was very active and influential in school during my freshman year. I planned to hug, shake hands and congratulate him like he's getting married. However the send off was delayed by 30 minutes and when the doors finally opened we were hot and hungry.
• So we just threw him his bouquet and took 3 pictures. And left him to his gang of girlfriends.
• Finals in 1 week. Ever felt so hopeless during the final week of the semester? When a 3-month holiday is just 8 days away but a end-of-the-world exam is just before it. What logic is this? Can't we at least have an open-book test or other forms of less joyless evaluation method?
• And I can imagine how summer will be this year, when the entire world is complaining of economic meltdown, some signs of rebound is already visible - fuel prices up, poultry up.
• Miss France so much. Pity I'm only going to Sabah and Jakarta this year.
• But hey hey, if I'd manage Paris, London, and New York on a yearly basis, I wouldn't be stuck in this Zimbabwean-managed school on a scholarship.
• Saw the new feature on the left of your screen? Well, that's Twitter, but it doesn't look nice on blogspot, because it's primarily designed for Myspace and Facebook users.
• It's quite fun to write something within 140 characters - h'm, train myself not to be so redundant.
• Well, till then, wish me luck for the next 2 weeks and happy holidays to those already on.
  

Trivial Nothings May

Time's up for trivial nothings again.

• Summer holidays is one month away, and the school has yet to announce when we're starting fall semester. I suppose that means we won't have a fall semester? Summer vacations through winter anyone?
• My roommate claims to have the world's most painful headache and he is still watching a Mainland Chinese drama, laughing away.
• H1N1 successfully penetrates Malaysia as we speak. Two Malaysian students returning from MH091 departing from New York was confirmed infected cases.
• With the lackadaisical Malaysian attitude and almost non-existent screening in KLIA I am certain it would be a blast soon. Surprised? Well, KLIA was voted the world's most friendly airport, so of course they won't measure your body temperatures when you alight the aircraft.
• Anyway, the pandemic virus is shattering my summer plans. My Sabah tour is now on the edge, and an August trip to Jakarta sees gloomy skies.
• Airfares was bang cheap though, seems they would even give it out for free.
• We finally completed our presentation for Discussions on Gross Anatomy, a 50-minute presentation about the disease which caused the death of our silent mentors. It was very challenging and I liked having the liberty of choosing the topics to present and discuss with my classmates.
• It did occur to me, later this week, when we were attending a CPC (clinicopathological conference) that presentation skills is equally important for medical practitioners as medical knowledge.
• More so especially if I'd like to go to the capital's main hospital in the future.
• Read in Times today "dreaded by SARS less than a decade ago, elevator buttons are coated with plastic and sanitized every hour in all major hotels in Hong Kong."
• Cathay Pacific, being airline of the year, is considering filming and broadcasting how their aircraft is sanitized and disinfected from ceiling to basement (aircrafts have basements?).
• That really makes us think twice when riding on AirAsia, who does everything from disembarking, boarding, loading food, vacuuming the floors to cleaning the toilets in 20 minutes (or do they?)
  
• Mum says I very rarely post my pictures online. Well, first of all I'm not as good looking as Ryan Reynolds or Hugh Jackman. And secondly I'm not narcissistic, though I spend a considerable amount of time in front of a mirror whenever there's one. Thirdly I hardly get any chance to photograph nowadays, too busy.
• I have nothing to do the long weekend week after next. 5 days break with Microbiology Finals after that. But, hey? Who studies on the first....erm, 4 days?
  

Trivial Nothings April

• I recall the month of April, whether in traditional literature, music or poetry, is always associated with tender, fine weather and blossoms of natural beauty marking the return of spring.
• The romanticism doesn't apply to Hualien, or maybe Taiwan in general. It started out with a terrible chill spell, and being spring humidity was to be expected. We had a few days of soggy socks and umbrella carrying. Then the tender sun appears. Just as I was preparing for an outdoor picnic under a blossoming yellow shower, rain comes pouring down in a span of less than 20 minutes. I hardly catch my breath rushing home stowing the laundry.
• And much as I like to start packing away my winter clothing, evenings and nights are so bone-bitingly cold I overturned my entire wardrobe for the touch of warm acrylic and polyester (who wears wool nowadays, that's so 50's).
• That's when we truly miss the feel of light cotton or linen under a hot sun back home.
• And speaking of home:

• Of course this year's award sparks another controversy. Partly because an airline from a kiasu nation isn't on Airline of the Year, and the airline of the year is just mediocre in my personal opinion (we're not giving out names, Cathay Pacific) - with no pillows and blankets, no on-demand entertainment system, simply...mediocre.
• I had a great laugh yesterday, literally more exercise to my abdominal muscles in the entire year combined while reading this (in Malay):
  

Nama orang-orang Jepun :-

1. Yang pemarah - Keiji Cacimaki

2. Yang suka berjimat - Sayori Sukamura

3. Yang bisu - Kieta Tadasora

4. Yang suka makan nasi - Nanachi Kasibanya

5. Yang suka layan "blues" - Apo Nadikato

6. Yang suka belajar - Ashiko Ulangkaji

7. Yang kerap mengacau - Wakasi Huruhara

8. Yang sangat kedekut - Matimati Tamokasi

9. Yang suka tidur - Ichiban Tidomati

10. Yang suka mengintai - Hintai Akosuka

11. Yang tua - Taragigi Padanmuka

12. Yang kena bini lari - Susahati Binilari

13. Yang suka merempit - Sajaro Carimati

14. Yang lembap/bodoh - Ayumi Siputbabi

15. Yang suka bersumpah - Saiifoo Baukari

And I'm still bursting out laughing while my roommate blasts away on his bidding on eBay ("why are you laughing? My bid was just overturned at the final second! THE FINAL SECOND!")

Well, that should be enough for one month don't you think?
Come back for more laughs whenever you want.

Trivial Nothings March

Here comes:

• From BBC Headlines "Worst crisis since 1930s says Fed" directly above "Malaysia acts to bolster economy". It seems that the global depression never gets too overexposed on the media - which is a good thing since it reminds us not to overspend and keep more cash at hand - but on the other hand how effective are these reports when we only get to see them before bedtime?
• A gratitude feast for all teachers of the Anatomy Department this Friday. I expected it to be of less effort and more sincerity, but again I was proven naive and too implicit. Preparations stretched the entire weekend with some sacrificing sleep hours to complete just the invitation card. I found out this afternoon, however, that there are still naive and implicit people like me around, and quite a number of them.
• Medicine is a highly competitive field, not just because it's the most sought-after profession, but also because these professionals are highly intelligent - both in memory and strategy. Add on an ounce too much of sensitivity and you get hurt feelings and misunderstandings.
• Enough about masterminding - my download, 97MB, has been ongoing for 2 hours, and now stuck at 73%. And it's bedtime now. The lesson learned - never download anything more than 50MB in the evening - where EVERYBODY goes online and spread viruses that consumes bandwidth.
• More on school - more integrated program (IPs) in the future, with plans of replacing all professors with something called PBL (problem-based learning; a better synonym for 'self study').
• A miraculous plan isn't it? Sack professors to cut costs, going all 'self study' so that evaluation committees will love us, breed doctors more adept at talking than working - patients love doctors who are 'warm, informative, and friendly', and increase medical accidents to boost the economy by channeling cash from the wealthy to the poor. Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the Nobel Economic Prize this year!
• Read in Newsweek - "a few years ago it seems cool to be on facebook. Now with over (don't remember the figure) of users, it seems cool to be not on facebook." I'm cool!
  

Trivial Nothings February

• Just in case you wondered how the ang-ku turned out, a picture had been provided below. It was a tremendous success.

• Along with ang-ku, the enthusiastic gang also made huat-koay, bee-ko and mi-ku, all South-East Asian Chinese delicacies meant for praying as well as well-wishing during auspicious events.
• Anyway, my sister's comments on the Malaysian political scene being dramatic and 'soap opera-ish' was realized a few days back. All I have to say is that it's a rather entertaining soap opera so to say - we have MPs crossing over and returning in less than a week, and another lady who lied straightout in front of a living room of reporters and a nation of people.
• Next up on 'Malaysian Politics' soap opera - to see if the Sultan have to attend a high court session on breaching the constitution and robbing the People on their constitutional rights.
• Skipping across that for a moment, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia are set on another round of seats-giving frenzy starting tomorrow. Pity none ever involve Taipei.
• AirAsia announced earlier that it intends to fly into Taipei before middle of this year (all Malaysian students shout yay!)
• But AirAsia had been more or less like our government before this - London got postponed by more than a year, Sydney was canceled, as well as Macau from Kota Kinabalu and Kuching - all in less than a year of operation. Let's just keep watching the next episode of 'Malaysia and All Its Silliness'.
• By the way I'm not in any way happy due to the fact AirAsia will be (fingers crossed) flying in, but I'm more delighted to see MAS slashing prices like what it did to current AirAsia-operated destinations once the red devil seeps in.
• I'm sorry Trivial Nothings turned out again to another post much to do with aviation - I just couldn't resist.
• And finally, I should be getting my Taiwanese driving licence during the summer! Thanks to YaoQun, also from Penang, who taught me the 'easy way' converting my Malaysian licence to a Taiwanese one.
  

Trivial Nothings January

• Woohoo! One more week and neurobiology to go, and then it'll be the long-awaited winter holidays!
• My high school classmate says I'm very much alike to the villain in Heros, Sylar. I did two things to decide on the nature of the comment - I wikipedia-ed it (for his looks) and asked another friend to which commented he's a very cool and smooth villain. Both of that did completely to satisfy my sense of inquisitiveness.
• We had lab sessions for 6 consecutive days - 6 exhausting, formalin-burning-your-sinuses days basking under the surgical lamp. It'll be the last day tomorrow, when we'll begin to suture our silent mentors.
• During the middle of the week it really felt like being a candle burning at both ends, and melting in the middle. On Tuesday morning I woke up with a sore shoulder. It was so bad I had to beg my roommate for an ice patch and stick it up my back the entire morning.
• Yesterday was the eve of our gross anatomy grand finals. I spent the evening chatting with Benjie on MSN. Not a nice way to spend the night before grand finals.
• Our microbiology lab manual next semester was authored by someone named Cappucino. Somewhere along his lineage a barista must have either fallen in love with their family name and invented the beverage or their great grandfather accidentally poured frothed milk into Espresso during breakfast.
• That was my daydreaming recently. Other variations include savoring the Swedish meatballs of Ikea when I stop by in Taipei next weekend and being bumped up to First on my flight back home.

Trivial Nothings December

Finally, the December edition:

• A lot of interesting news from the aviation industry recently. Amongest them, the most crucial to our wau is the possibility that they merge with British Airways (BA) and Qantas (QF) in the very near future. This would be the 'divine intervention' CEO Idris Jala has been talking about since the very beginning.
• First of all, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) would benefit from both airlines flying into Kuala Lumpur. As BA and QF seriously lacks connections to China and India, MAS would see tremendous growth based on its strategic location and frequent flights to the two rising nations.
• On a passenger point of view, this merger foresees better schedule flexibility and competitiveness on kangaroo routes (Australia - Europe flights), as well as Australiasia / Europe - Asia / Middle East travelors.
• Last but not least, the merger will definitely strike aviation giants like Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways (who all have been bullying [controversial] MAS). With a lower cost base (via sharing of costs) and a larger market prescence (home airlines to 3 countries combined), all of them will emerge more competitive compared to all the aforementioned.
• However, whether the merger gets its green light depends on the intelligence of politicians from all these countries. Malaysian politicians, who can be overly patriotic at times, will be the stumbling block in the process.
• If you think aviation is just all about passengers, aircrafts and stewardesses, here's for the layman:
  
Photo taken during along with CEO Tony Fernendez when presented the Brand Icon award by Najib Razak.

• If I were to nominate one 'best joke of 2008' - it would be the above picture (rolling on floor laughing). First of all, the uniform is just...hilarious. And to have the blond goose on a baby aeroplane (the A320s flown by AirAsia), is just like having Arnold Schwarzenegger wearing a skirt (or worse, a kebaya).
  

• Jumping off aviation for the moment: sent 3 Christmas cards to France and Italy (2 and 1 respectively) for my laboratory friends, the Nocart family and the Gallo family. I think the sincerity embedded in a greeting card counts so much more compared with an e-mail.
• My bank thinks I'm saving too little. So they sent me a card requesting me to redeem a gift from them. And in it the gift package they attach a note "save more with us!"
• If you're still wondering what the fat blond goose wrote back in reply:

• Mr. Sim, SQ greatly values your patronage as our loyal customer, and we would certainly appreciate your kind understanding. Please do let us know should you have any further queries and we look forward to seeing you onboard our flights soon.

• And I think this month's edition is already too much.
  

Trivial Nothings November

• Winter was delayed for more than a month. Last Saturday when I was having a jolly good time in Taipei it rained like the end of the world and the temperature, like the stock market, dipped more than 10 degrees during the night.
• Needless to say dozens fell sick the following day, and most of us under immense pressure and sleep cycles of owls are the prime targets. Tissue papers literally flew away by the bundles from the washrooms this morning.
• As mentioned, I had a half-day jolly good time in Taipei enjoy being a citizen of one of the world's most advanced cities (many would disagree). Bought a new shoe and got drenched by cat-and-dog rains because I wanted to see what's in season in Nautica.
• Deprived of entertainment, Prof. Ling for abdomen today literally electrocuted my classmate Liu for horrible pronunciation - splanchnic n. (Liu: spu-lanu-nik; actual: splanCHnic); cisterna chyli (Liu: chai-li; actual: kai-li). It was, of course, hilarious, given that most of the time we don't even get the word 'Carrefour' right.
• So how is Carrefour pronounced? Common mistakes: care-four, care-ful, kar-for; actual: kar-foo. Remember it's a French name.
• It's mid-term for other faculties this week. I wished we're facing our finals now. I want to end this mundane, joyless and pressure-cooker semester quickly.
• I have a sweater-buying addiction. I have at least 4 or 5 of them and I can't seem to get my eyes off sweaters whenever I'm walking across any boutique. My favourites are navy and dark red.
  
• Speaking of colors, Dad always request for me to ferry him 60 tubes of indigo watercolor whenever I go home for summer or winter. I like indigo too - it's a color between black and dark blue, with a tinge or purple and dark green. It's extremely soothing to the heart and is a feature in many of Dad's paintings.
• And I hope I'll be composing the December and January edition of Trivial Nothings very soon - that means the semester is ending and I can go home soon, yay!

p.s.: apologies for the delayed updates for Randomly JYSim. Yours truly was either running out of inspiration or too busy to even go online.

Trivial Nothings

And October is already here...how time flies.

• Third years basically eat, sleep, and study all their time away in Anatomy Hall, a cozy, air-conditioned and quiet place perfect for all the aforementioned purposes - except that being the trademark of TCU it is very prone to visitors. On more than one occasion we have to endure crowds of Tzu Chi volunteers peering at us like zoo animals on display when they're taking a tour around the Dept. of Anatomy facility. Last Saturday, the chancellor, accompanied by a very distinguished guest I do not recognize, came directly into the 'cage', with half a dozen 'animals' staring back, bewildered.
• I am starting to get the hit on dissecting - it's basically an enjoyable and educational process should you know all the facts beforehand and have a good rapport with the tutor of your group. Unlike other more unfortunate groups, we were never scolded or nagged in public (the teachers here can be rather...high school-ish). This morning the group beside us were ordered out of the lab - "Get out!". So you can imagine how bad things can go, and how fortunate we are.
• We were also fortunate in the sense that our silent mentor was treated with a new formula - a neutral (as in pH7.0) fixative which doesn't sting as much. It also made the cadaver seem fresher - softer and wetter, making dissections easier. However, the downside is that the softness makes separating structures from each other i.e. muscles from tissues a tortuous task.
• In Taiwan they make you feel guilty of buying China-made goods now - thanks to the new milk powder scandal.
• I am neutral (as in not siding both parties) for China-made goods. When the nation has the ability to produce spacecrafts and Louis Vuitton, not everything from them are rotten and murderous.
• We had a sticky session of neurobiology this afternoon - other medical students would agree that everything with a 'neuro-' prefix will bring sighs and head shakes. "Oh God, why doesn't our brain function as straightforward like ABC?" - in which Prof. Wang will tell you "This is simple - nothing is simple in life!"
• "Do I have to memorize all this?" my classmate asked pointing to a figure of horizontal section of the spinal nerve. "It's just that simple. Are you sure you will have time for this when we hit on more next week?" Prof. Wang replied.
• I seem to talk too much academically.
• I hope the people at Malaysia Airlines can quickly finalize their wide-body aircraft order soon - so as to give me some excitement as well as to desperately replace their ancient fuel-consuming fleet.
• I wish Mr. Abdullah happy retiring and hoped he was happy being the Prime Minister of Malaysia who brought democracy to the people. And overempowering his son in-law whose abilities and propaganda are widely disputed among Malaysians.
  

Trivial Nothings

Here comes the September edition of Trivial Nothings:

• Americano left to chill will taste like something between a mixture of Chinese medicine and drain water.
• What I've been dreading since July is seemingly surreal - expecting burning whether back in Hualien, I was surprised to find cloudy skies and quite some rain for 4 consecutive days since my arrival.
• And despite being relocated (read: outcast) to the highest floor of our dorm, the room managed to stay cool. Partly thanks to the cloud and rain, and partly to the new-bought 2-horsepower exhaust fan blowing in cool air from outside.
• The school is relatively empty - majority of students are still holidaying. The emptiness made for some romantic and melancholic scenes, also part of the weather to blame.
  
• I find Newsweek, Times and National Geographic magazine in our school library, but no Readers' Digest - which I think strange because RD is supposed to be the digest of all articles published worldwide, edited and 'digested' down to bite-sized portions for busy and lazy young generations. But then again, much of what the school does is beyond my rational understanding.
• See the amount of food-related phrases on the previous point? I'm hungry, at 12 midnight. And I have nothing edible around me, just as usual. That's how I'm losing weight in Taiwan.
• Exams in 8 days' time. And I went for a movie this evening.
• Seniors would say the start-of-term exam for Anatomy and Dissection is rather important because it contributes about 20% of the total score. As one described - if you do well this once, you can lie all semester and still manage a pass.
• I however, did the math carefully - if we get an 18 for the 20% overall, that means for the next 5 mid-terms (yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have 5 mid-terms across 17 weeks of lessons) we would have to score between 8 to 10 out of 16% overall each.
• But then again life is not about exams, it's about how much you learn - experience!
• So pray with me for a best foot forward this semester!
  

Trivial Nothings

Trivial Nothings will feature posts that are too boring to be expanded into an entire entry - which would certainly leave the readers snoring at the end of the first paragraph. Trivial Nothings will be a showcase for daily nothings, literally, that hopefully might color some of the readers' lives through abnormal insights into the mundane life of a medical student and the stupidity around him.
So, for a start:

• Though excess food and overeating is targeted as a global sin, food in Penang is still relatively blame-free. In Penang, just eat to your heart's content, and don't worry about a term called cholesterol on the plateful of nasi kandar - there's no such thing in Penang.
  
• From 'gathering' we usually use in Form 5, we have slowly moved on to 'have a drink' recently. The reason behind - 'gathering' is no more because not more than 5 will turn up, so that don't qualify for a gathering. 'A drink' derives from all of us are of legal age to consume alcohol now, though all of us would not be able to afford it in Malaysia.
• Mum says during one of our Sim family gatherings, to which I find less and less interesting aside the food, "when you interact with people of different thinking patterns, you just have to tune yourself into their mindsets. You cannot expect all people to have the same point of view as you," to which I find reasonable to accept. But tell me, how do you interact with people who have absolutely no plans for even tomorrow and just spend time tracking your attention when all you need for this one month of holidays is to be untroubled and undisturbed?
• And for the record, a person is yakking away heavily Australian-accented English just beside me ("that's not reeaal heealthy", "raaelly", "waaeting")
  
• My sister, currently in Form 4, is expressing interest to further her tertiary education in Taiwan, to which I find delightful since I'll have an extra excuse to bang for an apartment in one of the bigger cities of Taiwan (no city can be more rural than the east coast), which fuels my passion of graduating and leaving TCU as soon as possible (still 5 years to go ladies and gentlemen).
  
• "Watching Malaysian news is like watching a drama nowadays," I said after one of the Anwar Ibrahim reports on TV. "Where got?" my sister interjected "it's more like watching a comedy."