CTC 2002 Reunion

Instead of celebrating my brother's birthday, I went out for karaoke with HY coz he already made plans.

Jo texted me during karaoke. She casually mentioned that: We are meeting Sally, Shin Yee, Yee Thian and Huei Hoon later at Coffee Island.

I was so ecstatic!!!! It has been EIGHT FREAKING LONG YEARS since Combined Training Camp 2002 by 8th Georgetown South Troup!!

It was a pleasant surprise to be able to meet them and I really look forward to it. After I graduated from Form 5, we kinda drifted apart.. So there's this part of me which kind of afraid about feeling awkward during dinner. After all, I haven't seen them for 8 years. Of course, there's Jo so nothing to worry about.

While I was reading a Little Black Dress book at MPH at 6pm, Jo called. She said she couldn't make it! She wanted to cancel but I don't mind meeting up with the rest..

Luckily I made that suggestion! Or else, I would've missed out so much!

The 8pm dinner turned out to be 9pm coz Sally had a meeting. I was busy texting at the Gurney entrance while waiting for them to pick me up when the girls SCREAMED my name from the car.

I jumped into the car and that's when the clock was turned back to 2002. We need no warm up and we were talking so fast. Trying to catch up on each others' life. It was like 5 minutes drive from Gurney to Coffee Island but we didn't stop talking for that entire journey.

By the time we parked and get out of the car, we were laughing so hard and joking. It was as if the 8 years' time didn't exists. The age gap (I just noticed that I am only 1 year older than them but I have always felt that I am WAY older, they disagreed with that.) did not matter anymore. I was in Form 4 and they were in Form 2, now Sally and Shin Yee are working!

Sally said something that really made my heart soars: It was the best camp ever. No camp after CTC can ever compare to it. We felt that we were looked after during CTC. We were bullied in the subsequent camps that we attended.:)

We chatted non-stop, talking about everything. Studies, career, life, love, friends and future. I was filled with excitement to be able to share so much with these juniors (I should call them sisters). We worked together for 2 months towards a goal that does not matter at all to us now ( CTC 2002) but the process has built such strong bond among us. We sweat, eat, sleep and laugh together in that two months. There were ups and downs but those are the moments that make us know each other better. The laughter and tears that we shared did not seem significant to me in the last 8 years and I seldom recall those moments. But sitting together with them after 8 years, looking back at the old times, I realized that it was one of the best periods of my high school life.:)

and it's great that we remind each other of the silly moments and crazy stuffs we did when we were severely deprived of sleep, fought over food, walked the distance to get food, danced like fools except YT, learnt 24 season drum just to impress the judges but ended up not getting through the auditions, painted so many banners ..

The 2 months cannot be squeezed and summarized in one single post. There were many forgotten moments too.. I am thankful that I was given the chance to work with these adorable juniors (in the history of PCGHS Ranger Unit/Girl Guide Company, Guides are always sent out in teams from the same Form).

Maybe I'll dream about those days tonight:)

Jo came later at 1230am. She is LEAVING FOR MALDIVES AGAIN!! this time on contract for 2 years!!! It's real great news for her but it means that I won't be seeing her for 2 years:( I'll miss you. Try to miss me at times okay?

Last Post

was filled with short sentences.

My thoughts are often scattered and unfocused, just like the way I talk.

I am certain that I have flight of ideas and pressure of speech.

Looking back at the old entries, it reminded me of Psychiatry questions during the examinations where we were asked to name the psychopathology from a patient's words.

It's either medical student syndrome or I really do have Bipolar II disorder since I can still function adequately.

Bed time. Full day ahead.

Goodbye

by Secondhand Serenade. This song has been playing in my mind this whole evening.
I have no idea why.My favourite song used to be Your Call. It wasn't the most popular song of Secondhand Serenade at that time.
My current cellphone ringtone is Fall for You. Every time I play the song, it reminded me of the times before the conference where every call means more problems to solve.
I think I need a new ringtone, one song that I don't really like.
I can't imagine life without music. but then again, I can imagine myself sitting whole day in Qi Xing Tan in Hualien just listening to the sound of waves hitting against the gravels. I miss that place very much.

Taken on April 11th, 2010. If only photographs can capture the symphony.

Taiwan trip Part I

I was there for 12 days, from April 4th till April 15th.
Despite the amount of time I spent surfing the net for information, the places that I visited were beyond my imagination. I was blown away again and again. Just when I thought the views couldn't get any better, I was pleasantly surprised by just how beautiful Taiwan is.

My last trip to Taiwan was 4 years ago, for my first ever medical students' conference.
I didn't have much time to explore even Taipei itself and I never thought I would go to Taiwan again.

We arrived at Sun Moon Lake on the first night. It was an exhausting day since we traveled for most of the time. We rushed to KL central, barely on time for the bus and took a 4+ hour flight to Taoyuan. Upon reaching Taoyuan, it was another 2.5 hours of bus ride to Taichung and at Taichung, again we boarded a bus to SML. We reached Taichung 5 minutes before the bus left...

SML was in a state of darkness and I thought perhaps I made the wrong decision by insisting on visiting it. Afterall, it was a long journey and my brother was not really enthusiastic about the place. We had to cut Alishan out of the picture because of SML.

We went to the nearest 7 eleven for supper (we made this a habit of ours during our 12 day visit). I wish Malaysia's 7-11 is as well-stocked and cheap as those in Taiwan.

We stayed in a homestay at the Moon Lake (Sun Moon Lake had two more well known parts, one shaped like the crescent moon and the other like the sun). It was far from the tourist centre where we arrived at.

The homestay where we stayed at.

We had to take a boat to Xuan Guang Temple.

Xin Guang Temple. 

On the way up the temple

The water was crystal clear!!

The temple was in the centre of the lake.

We were too tired to wake up early the next day for sunrise. Anyway, it was very hazy and we were told that we had to climb this trail to get the best sunrise view from the hill/mountain. (Maolan trail) Instead, we took a boat to Xuan Guang Temple for an hour. We rented the bicycle with batteries so we don't have to use our ATPs.
  

Wildflowers along the trail.

After that, we went around the lake to the frog trail and wen wu temple..

The fog trail.

Our last stop for the day was at Shuishe lakeside.
The view was breathtaking..If we were to stare at the lake and forget to turn BEHIND to stare at the skyline, we would've missed this..

Flowers blooming under the blue blue sky (Too bad The camera failed to capture the real colour of the sky.)

I'm not sure if it's because I haven't been in touch with nature for a long time or the fact that everything in SML is so picturesque.. I wish I have the talent to paint what was in front of my eyes so that I can share it with others. Since I don't, I guess photo is the next best option:)

There were quite a number of people sitting at the banks watching the haze. We wanted to watch the sunset but it was too hazy and I had a feeling it was going to rain... and it DID!

My initially impression of SML being a placed where I can explore on bicycle was totally wrong! I don't think I have the stamina to cycle even a quarter of SML.

We should have just rented a scooter (Scooter is the most popular choice of transportation in Taiwan. We never saw anyone riding a REAL motorcycle). We went to a few trails and temples and at about 3pm, we decided we had done enough for the day and we were going to wait for the sunset. The sun sets earlier in Taiwan. Unfortunately, it was too hazy and it started to drizzle after a while. We were 30 minutes away from Homestay and we thought we could make it before it rained like cats and dogs. We were wrong again. We had to return to the Visitor centre for shelter and to return the bicycle. We managed to catch the last bus back (We noticed how often we catch the bus/train last minute. Lady luck seemed to smile upon us regularly:))

On our way back, there was a number of people on bicycle forcing their way through the heavy rain and up the slope. That was when I was really thankful for not choosing the bicycle. I was able to appreciate the sceneries on our way back better than I was on the bicycle despite the rain. Alas, the camera's battery went down at that time:(

We left SML for Taichung and from Taichung, we took a train to KaoHsiung. It was suppose to be an express train (not high speed) but we had to stand for 2.5 hours coz there were no more seats since we purchased the tickets 20 minutes before the train departed.

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Will blog more on other parts of Taiwan coz my lower back is aching. After 2 weeks of complaint to the office, my desk has yet to arrive!!!! Lying prone with laptop at the same level as my body for the past 2 weeks is killing me.

Moving

Hate it.
I always thought I will stay in the same room for 3 years till I graduate. That's why I (mostly my parents did the work) painted the room and laid out linoleum. I also cleaned it before I left for Taiwan. So that I will come back to a clean room. I look forward to sleeping in my newly changed sheets after 12 days of travel in Taiwan.

Still, I am really lucky to have help from family and friends. I moved from one block to another. From 3rd floor to 4th floor. The new room was in better shape than my old one but I don't have a table and the windows won't shut properly..Those I can bear with...
What I really can't deal with is the TEMPERATURE!! Imagine travelling from 10 degree Celsius Taipei to 27 degree Celsius Malaysia. On top of that, living on the highest floor where all the hot air accumulates (think Physics) and the room facing afternoon sun... Drenched in sweat about ten minutes every time after I bathed...

Le sigh.. I need to get use to the weather or get a new box fan. Not keen to do that coz I had so many things to move when I shifted.

My new laptop is now Toshiba Lifebook LH350. I have downgraded from the previous Dell XPS and ASUS ULV but I can't really complain since I already lost 3 wallets and 2 laptops in 4 years time. But the processor is the best though.:)

The speaker is horrible and I still need to get used to the graphics as well as the weight. Now I know why the laptop deal comes with free speakers. Actually I wanted to get another ASUS model but after walking 2.0km for it to find that they ran out of stock and I had to wait another 4 days and travel to get it, I took it as a bad omen (my stolen laptop was ASUS) and opt for my second choice (similar price for lower specs).

Am straining my back now as I blog so I shall stop here. If I have the mood and a proper table, shall blog about Taiwan and Chiang Mai:)