Sensory Pleasure

Thank you, surprise and security.

2009-07-11T23:43:00.000+08:00

1. Wanting the same thing, coming together to achieve it.

2. I expect a smile but get a scrunched up nose instead.

3. The friendly security guard at my apartment who left his job not too long ago (causing much personal distress) reappears as an attendant at the hotel next door. "Better pay and better benefits" he says. When we recognise him in the lobby we smile and stop to chat.

Fabric sale, emulate and tiny tot.

2009-06-21T22:50:00.002+08:00

1. Different colours of material sprawled out on our living room floor.

2. An afternoon of all inspiring stories.

3. Family from Singapore over for dinner. A little cousin who thinks his name is "banana". I'm going to teach him his new name - "orange".

Geek-out, another one on the list and over chai.

2009-06-20T23:08:00.000+08:00

1. Geeking out the whole day with Battlestar Galactica.

2. Cat comes over and she tells me her glorious news.

3. Dinner is at my grandfather's cousin's house. We eat good food and talk about long lost family members. It all ends in chai.

Exchange, Ahmadster and another pieee!

2009-06-17T22:37:00.003+08:00

1. Finding a non-work, non-uni, friendly email.

2. Ahmad and I catch up. Psych session!

3. Dragon pie =D

You, tweet and cloud surfing.

2009-06-16T23:09:00.002+08:00

1. The motivation to get out of bed even if it's just in my head.

2. Twitter means that I can connect with Asyikin in London who is now Dr. Abdul Kadir by the way.

3. Shakeel and I setting up his Skysurfers account (Emirates kids version of their frequent flyer programme). We leave next Saturdayyyy!

Suburbs, Rash and from the heart.

2009-06-15T23:38:00.003+08:00

1. Driving on the streets of Bangsar.

2. My brother, even though we're both stunned and we don't know what to do.

3. The song Dil Se Re (video, lyrics with translation) popped into my head earlier today so I youtube it. It leads me to another one of my favourite songs, Chaiyya Chaiyya (video, lyrics with translation)

Talk, Sunday afternoon regime and cuddles.

2009-06-14T23:51:00.001+08:00

1. Just 19 minutes.

2. Afternoon-ing with friends. Catching up with new stories, really really old stories and an offer to dress up as Darth Vader.

3. Shakeel comes to cuddle with me, TWICE! I've missed my (not so) baby brother.

Thanks, home and messenger.

2009-06-13T23:21:00.003+08:00

1. Being grateful for old friends, new friends, not-so-friends, best friends, best friends' fathers, mothers, fathers and brothers.

2. Home means, among other things, sleeping in my own bed, going to Chili's for dinner, the whole family together, prayers in congregation, late night chats and comfort.

3. Passing along a message.

In memory of, ticklish and Squish.

2009-05-02T23:32:00.000+08:00

1. Despite passing it countless time on all my trips to Singapore I have never gone inside St. Andrews Cathedral. This time because I am with friends from KL I step inside. What hits me are the plaques honouring the dead, especially those who lost their lives during the war.

2. Faisal is back from a week in London and he is so excited to see his baby daughter Sara. As she's propped in his arms she starts biting his hand (teethless of course). It tickles and Faisal bursts into deep laughter.

3. I haven't seen Sunisha in 10/11 years. She was one of my best friends in Year 5, when I was 10 years old. Tonight we meet for tapas, sinful dessert, a movie and conversation in Singapore. On the way back to JB I comment to a mutual friend who was also present that she hasn't changed. He tells me that she said the same thing about me.

Double A, nil and Chinese.

2009-05-01T23:58:00.000+08:00

1. Amin and Ashaari drop by JB en route to Singapore. I am so excited to see them. I get in their car, get a lift into Singapore, navigate our way through the highways and spend the rest of the day together.

2. Marking one's territory.

3. Finally, finally...I get to eat Halal Chinese chicken rice.

Ohmygod!, younglings and orphanCARE.

2009-04-25T23:05:00.000+08:00

1. Rash didn't tell anyone that I was back for the music festival and so when people saw me their surprises threw me off. So I get exclamations and lots of hugs.

2. I require a little trip to the first aid tent and the ones manning it are my juniors. =D

3. Mum and Dad are part of a new NGO that aims to match orphaned children to families who want kids instead of leaving them in to spend their childhood in orphanages. Tonight they have their official launch. I am so proud of them and so proud to be their daughter.

Kaki ayam, themed and home.

2009-04-24T23:41:00.001+08:00

1. My shoes are a little lose so off the come and I walk around the lecture theatre barefoot. Much like what I use to do back last year.

2. Presentation done and dusted.

3. I'm back home for the weekend and Mum, Shakeel and I sit in the living room, eating doughnuts (that you can't get in JB!) and talk-talk-talk. Then I crawl into my bed, my lovely, lovely soft bed that reminds me of all things wonderful and good.

Tear, stories and coeliac.

2009-04-22T19:15:00.000+08:00

1. Bursting into laughter at the predictability of what I would do.

2. A discussion about fiction in the middle of a class on weight loss.

3. Going through old notes and realising that I know more than I think I do.

Perch, companions and family.

2009-04-21T19:41:00.003+08:00

1. In the middle of the night, sharing the silence, darkness and tranquility on the balcony of my apartment.

2. A morning walk through the wards and into uni. An evening walk down the hill and back to the apartment.

3. While walking in the streets after dinner, running into a grandaunt from Singapore and my baby cousin who are on the way to KL.

Short, greens and Anna Molly.

2009-04-21T01:03:00.001+08:00

1. A day that ends at 12pm.

2. Spinach soup.

3. Hearing the all too familiar opening notes to a favourite song of mine playing out of someone else's laptop.

Come down, aspirations and plastics.

2009-04-15T07:03:00.000+08:00

1. Two of our lecturers from KL come down for some work. We go out for dinner with them. The jokes they pull are ever the same, the stories they bring as expected and they tell us that we are the batch with all the colour.

2. In the lift while going up to my apartment are two little girls. As I step into the lift they say "Look, medical student!" because I am carrying my white coat. I ask them what they want to be when they grow up. One says "medical student!", the other says "policeman!" They are absolutely adorable and seeing kids like that is the reason I want to do paediatrics.

3. Hearing a personal story of how, when where and why.

Rounds, rescheduled and the right track.

2009-04-13T23:09:00.001+08:00

1. It's 8am and I'm in the wards for the first time in 6 weeks.

2. A day that ends prematurely.

3. News that tells me I'm doing something right.

Shelved, aroma and catch up.

2009-04-08T22:07:00.004+08:00

1. I finally, finally buy a bookshelf. After agonising over which one to buy, lugging it into and out of my boot and into my apartment, and then setting it up, I now have my desk free of clutter.

2. Ylang ylang diffusing through my room from the aromatherapy set Noura bought me before she left for Perth.

3. I IM to ask a question but I end up getting a friendly chat out of it.

Ali, recovery and firsts.

2009-03-31T23:26:00.000+08:00

1. An early morning meet to go over my assignment with my tutor leads me to Ali who ends up answering all my questions himself.

2. Last Friday a patient came into the wards with a spinal fracture following a motorcycle accident. He was in a lot of pain and couldn't move his feet. Today the nurses help him into a wheelchair and he wheels himself around the ward. The look on his face is enough to brighten any dark and gloomy day.

3. It's the first of a foreseeable many nights. It's quiet, the company is good and there is a lot of room for concentration.

Newbie, tucking in and 2011.

2009-03-30T22:13:00.003+08:00

1. News from Mum that I have a new cousin. This one is half Japanese, quarter Punjabi and quarter Malay. I come to the realisation that on Mum's side that everyone is mixed. How wonderful!

2. Finally satisfying my craving for thosai.

3. Making plans for years from now gives us something to look forward to.

Three months later, catch up and Dens.

2009-03-29T22:09:00.000+08:00

1. Sara is almost three months old and she can now focus on people around her. She's also more responsive and all the more adorable.

2. Catching up on a week's worth of lost sleep in Freda's bed, one of the beds that I sleep soundly in.

3. I cross back in JB and Densearn picks me up.

A day out with a kindred, The Winter's Tale and sisters.

2009-03-28T21:20:00.003+08:00

1. Nadia and I have been planning to meet but it hasn't been happening. Yesterday she told me she was going to Singapore for a performance of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale with Ethan Hawke. My whole family wanted to come down to watch the play but the cheaper tickets ran out and when you're a family of six you only buy cheap tickets. Very quickly I send Mum and IM and ask if I can buy a ticket for the same show as Nadia's. We'd have different seats but at least I'd have someone to go with. I get the last cheapt (not cheap at all really!) ticket after some drama and two phone calls to Singapore to sort my booking out.

So it's Saturday and I make my way to the Esplanade, watch some kids audition for Baybeats 2009, take in the eye candy, have absolutely fabulous conversation with Nadia (much like our online exchanges), watch the play and then have even more fabulous conversation as we leave.

She makes the list of people whom I meet up with in cities that aren't our own.

2. So about the actual play...Ethan Hawke and Rebecca Hall (of Vicky Christina Barcelona and The Prestige) stole the show, Hawke with his guitar strumming, singing, comedic performance and Hall for all her regality.

The play itself was an interesting twist with the Bridge Project being behind it. Directed by Sam Mendes and acted by American and British actors the play was very British and American and yet Shakespearan at the same time. I'm not a fan of any deviation from Shakespeare but this was an exception.

3. I meet Neha and Khat for dinner and under less dramatic circumstances as the last time. We sit and eat and exchange stories. When I asked where we should sit Khat aptly replies "Somewhere where we can make lots of noise". We talk about me turning 21 and how I should make a trip into Singapore.

Focus, after hours and movie night.

2009-03-27T21:19:00.002+08:00

1. Zoning out and zoning in.

2. Nights in the wards means it's quiet when we talk to patients and try to elicit the problem.

3. A random DVD in the apartment of a friend.

Extension, plate and Irina.

2009-03-26T23:16:00.004+08:00

1. Barry Marshall using Helicobacter pylori to track human migration from the early civilizations.

2. A thali circular metal plate with tiny metal bowls filled with curries, dhals, vegetables, yoghurt and dessert.

3. I get terrible news. A friend's mum has lost her 5 year battle with breast cancer. I'm sure I've met her before or at least seen her but that would have been 10 years ago. She was a world rhythmic gymnastics champion and coached the Malaysian rhythmic gymnastics squad. When Googling her I find this video. Years and years ago I was a gymnast and while I did artistic gymnastics I was fascinated by the ribbon. The way the silk moves in the air, the spirals it makes, how perfectly it flies in the air when tossed up. So I'll remember this woman, someone whose story I had heard when I was a child, in this beautiful way.

Blanc, salty and pedantess.

2009-03-25T23:02:00.001+08:00

1. It raining heavily and the sea throws up tiny waves that are white amidst the grey.

2. The faint smell of the ocean.

3. Writing; and how I spend so much time fretting over a word or a sentence so that it comes out perfect. It is a frustrating and tiring process but the end result hits where it needs to. Every step of the way I have my editors, friends who are as expressive and as pedantic as I am.