From the moment I got on the Tiger Airways plane bound for Singapore (my first trip to the island by the way), I knew that it was all going be so much different. Even though this small-once-part-of-Malaysia-now-a-fully-developed-country was approx 350km or 45 minutes of flight away, nearly every single bit of it was different from our country. And it was just separated from us by a strait.
And I was not wrong about it. There I was sitting in the plane beside two Singaporean girls busy chit-chatting among each other. Didn't mean to eavesdrop but just that their small little chat seems a little more interesting than the average random stranger chat you hear while in the bus or on the subway. From the Christian vs non-Christian relationship to the hot hairdresser at Toni & Guy and to everything under the moon. And it struck me, how perfectly tuned were their English.
Touchdown at the airport, hoped on a taxi driven by Chiew Yee's uncle and we were whisked to the apartment block we were staying. Along the highway, we were greeted by the many apartment & flat blocks towering the landscape. Lesser traffic somehow, probably it was still early. And nope you don't see any Protons or Perodua's on the highway. Haha. The Singapore-state-of-mind I guess.
And behold the sparkling cleanliness everywhere. No dirty rubbish strewn alley of a coffee shop. Rubbish bins aplenty mind you. Even at the bus hub, there's no black speck or patches of black oil stains on the roads of the bus parkings commonly seen here. And I found out why. When we were waiting for the bus late at night when the stations were about to close, we see the workers using water sprays to clean the roads and curbside. And this was at a neighborhood area, we're not talking about the city streets yet.
Since we were staying at the neighborhood area instead of the regular hotel, we could observe what the people here do daily. Most of them here walk and take the bus. Some cycle. And if they wanted to go downtown, they take the MRT. Hardly you see cars though. And everything less bustled somehow. At night its also a different sight. You see people jogging or just walking around the park. A couple was seen pushing their baby in the pram. Two friends walking their dogs. Girls wearing shorts and skirts walking along the road minding their own business. All this at 12 something in the middle of the night.
Which makes me wonder, is it really that safe out here? Till I saw a banner hung across the bus stop; "Even though the crime rates are low, it doesn't mean that it's safe. Be on your guard always" Back in Malaysia, can we even be that confident to say that crime rates are low? Haha.
Efficiency is the key. Everything is so much integrated. Especially the MRT system they have. Damn punctual and fast. And there's no need of buying tickets over the counters, thanks to the GTM (general ticketing machines) they have at each stations. Heck, even the escalators are fast. Min & Chiew Yee nearly fell because of it. Haha. And boarding the bus, we noticed that we were the only ones using cash. Everyone is using the EZlink card.
The people? Strange, but they all somehow appeared more tan. Haha. And they certainly know how to dress. Plenty of chicks I must say, which makes it a glorious sighting at each corner. LoL. But hey, that's a superficial assessment though. =p Doesn't mean that Malaysia doesn't have hot chicks. Maybe because part of the reason is that all the people are concentrated in that small island?
Anyway, here is it, 2 days in Singapore in 20 pictures:
And before I know it, I'm already a more than a month into the 3rd year of my course. Some updates over the past one month:
#1 Things are starting to get very clinical. Which means less theory. Which equals a happier me. Haha...clinicals & practicals are so much cooler than sitting down on a 2 hour lecture. Just got over the practice sessions for anesthesia injections. Guess we're gonna inject on our partners starting next week. Excited? Definitely. Just presented my patient's (partner's) case today. And I found out I am a special case...due to my filling which fell out last weekend because of the crab I ate. And behold a super large & deep cavity now lies. Gonna get my root canal treatment done the coming weeks. After all...its free! =)
#2 Yeap...the dental clinic here provides free treatment to its staff & students. By the way...I need patients! Requirements: Anyone who needs a partial or complete denture! Best of all...its FREE! The university has left us the task of finding our own patient for our prothodontics clinics...so I need a patient who requires a partial or complete denture. So please contact me if you have any friends of relatives who needs a partial or complete denture done!
#3 So we have Super Juniors now. (aka. the 3rd batch students) Got to know a few of them. Pretty cool batch I guess. And our batch was constantly comparing them with the 2nd batch juniors, and how different they were. Sorta more outgoing according to some. Suppose to have an orientation/telematch for them tomorrow...but due to the numerous postponements and problems, we had to cancel it out and replace it with a BBQ party at Ms. Tan's house.
#4 Just some pictures from the activities away from class:
Went camping in the jungle. Rained whole day and night long. Had a cozy campfire. Our beer got swept away. Had shisha there as well. Bathe in the river. Pure fun. We lived like jungle people.
This was 2 weeks ago. Went to the lookout point at Ampang. Became some sort of tradition already, having to visit this place each year of our course with coursemates. Haha.
Last weekends trip to Pulau Ketam. 2nd time there but with a bigger group and bigger incidents. A bike which fell into the river, and 1 of us fell through the wooden planks and another through the unstable concrete. Yiks!
Besides that, there's plenty of those many makan, yamcha, movie and outings sessions which made our bonds closer...and kept the fun going on! Keep it up fellas!
#5 There seems to be some class politics going on...from the few sources I obtained. Haha. Well nothing major so far. We have the MNG earlier...but now I guess we have to add another letter. Won't type it here because it would be rather obvious. (you know I know cukupla).
#6. Things of the simplest of matter are bothering me lately. Don't know why. Getting emo. Maybe because everyone is emo. Or maybe I've been listening too much of emo songs. LOL.
#7 Moving in to a new place next month. Not really new as in new house. It's more like the next block, and a few floors down. Unfurnished however, so I'm guessing I'm gonna have to furnish it myself. But still I like the place I'm staying at. There's a pool & gym downstairs. A mamak nearby for supper, shisha & football nights. Plus 1u is just 5 minutes away by car. Due to this new place, I'm on quite a tight budget, besides having to buy the many mahal books. Not to mention I need a wardrobe change because of the lack of formal clothes. =p
#8 A classmate of mine was seen weeping over personal remarks made by a lecturer who didn't saw the severity of it coming. I guess shit like that happens; examples aplenty. We tend to over react with but not know it. "Even the fish wouldn't get into trouble if it kept it's mouth shut"
#9 The PTPTN story continues. I missed it again. What the heck! Next submission date as I was told: January next year. Uni ppl say they told us...but we didn't get any notice or whatsoever. And they told me to check with the PTPTN officer in charge...who in turn told me to wait till the uni inform...which I know that they never will. Had my mom 'shoot rockets' at them...and me as well. And I believed the super juniors missed it as well. Another boleh for the university.
#10 On a different note, I wonder how the university gets to hire all those geng but weird lecturers to teach us. Or maybe we just too jakun, amazed by the lecturers achievement and stuff. The general medicine lecturer is a Dato' who earns rm300 per hour. And he was once the private practitioner to Tun Hussein Onn! @@. His brother, another doctor teaching us general surgery, has a special job of screening the F1 drivers before they are deemed fit for the F1 race at Sepang. Also damn weird. And the new oral pathology lecturer, according to the dean: 'the person to look for if you wana learn oral pathology', keeps laughing hysterically and compares the oral pathology to American missionaries and guerrilla troops. Damn weird and amusing, but damn experienced. Heh.
#11 Suddenly active in sports back again. Played badminton for 2 days this week alone. Yesterday played 4 hour sessions somemore. Can die. lol. Waiting to plan the next hiking trip with Kien Yee.
#12 Random: I like the morning rain. Please rain more in the morning.
Some pictures from All American Rejects concert at Bukit Jalil, KL last Saturday from Joyce's camera. Lazy to drag my SLR there. Having a hard time uploading the videos though.
The past 1 month break in short:
This blog officially represents the thoughts in my head. All rights reserved 2007-2008
