Neocolonization

Is it Muslims/Asians/Africans living in Western?

or

Is it Western countries mobilizing their armies and throw the native government (albeit corrupt) in Middle East (and put in Libya too)?

Anyone care to explain?

P/S : I grew up in a multicultural surrounding and is still living in one. Of course there are some glitches here and there but you see that even in unicultural environment. I love my sambal belacan, dhalcha and chicken feet. Throw in some pasta and a good bowl of cream of chicken soup too.

Travelogue Turkey 2011 : Introduction

All the rush from having to sit for final on a short notice, passing it and having 24 hours to pack and resume the plan for Turkey had taken away the excitement of going on my first summer vacation in Europe.

We flied with Turkish Airlines, so u get a meal on a short 3 hours flight.

Best part is you get a packet of hazelnut instead of the typical crackers or peanut and I love hazelnut.

On the downside, the ride was pretty bumpy and for the first time, I experienced first hand what do people mean by saying airline food suck.

With Leyla, a Just Ask Me off duty.

Anyway, getting to Sultanahmet was a breeze.

We got the jeton (token) and hop on the metro to Zeytinburnu from which we switched to the tram (Prague wins in term of tram) to our destination, Sultanahmet, the most touristy place I've ever been to.

Since we were only armed with a big empty luggage and 2 backpacks and no map to the hostel, we had difficult time to locate the hotel.

Anyway, it's a good thing that Turkey tourism placed youngsters wearing blue shirt shouting Just Ask Me in the area.

We got 3 of those to take us to our hotel.

We checked into a small but cosy room in Kaftan Hotel.

We combed the area for place to have dinner and we decided on Hayat Cafe, tucked in a small corner.

They served the best lentil soup among all the eateries I went to in Turkey.

However I don't recommend their stuffed pepper though.

Since Blue Masjid and Ayasofya by foot is the same duration as cooking a pack of Maggie, we spend the evening in the park located in between those 2 historic buildings.

As of any other popular tourist spot, there were some people trying to sell you some things.

Istanbul for me is too hot and stuffy in summer but minus the crowd, I wish I had spend more time in Cappadocia and as of Pamukkale 2 days seems o be more than enough.

Still, the fact that it's a Muslim country, albeit secular, gives me the sense of familiarity.

It has been quite sometime since I heard the azan.

I also like it that there are generous number of hijabis going around and mostly I like it when I went to visit the masjid.

The food?In all honesty, not so much.

Sneak Peek Turkey Summer 2011

Halfway Through

Tomorrow I'm gonna register for my 4th year study.

I'm trying to grasp the reality of it.

Yes, I did my last exam today after someone dropped his/her date.

It was a dilemma, I was on my way back after a day out in the Adrspach rock town when a friend called and said that there's free term on 11/07.

Marvelling at the mayor and his wife. Photo courtesy of Nik

My reflex is to confirm the date, but after a train ride, I wavered. I have only a day to resume revision.

But I went.

I picked my questions, not so happy with them and I keep what I had from usrah last week close to my heart.

Today, my tawakkal is not on the questions, neither it's on the examiner.

It's on Him.

I prepared my answers, went in, interrogated, made some glitches (I forgot some simple terms like firm ~ replaced it with not stable. and I said there's problem with bile plumbing in my alcoholic liver disease since the appropriate word went hiding somewhere in the hippocampus) but alhamdulillah, I managed to pull it all together.

Lucky for me, I am not that stressed out this exam period like last year.

Focusing in lectures and revising after class really helps a lot.

But this semester has been a memorable one.

It gave me a peek into a doctor's reality ~ that a problem can appear anytime and you must act on the spot. Of course what you know is never enough, but when U put your trust in Allah and keeps your hope flaming, you'll find that there really is a star at the end of the tunnel.

My gratitude to those who support me, and prayed for me.

The blessingare bountiful.

Ramadhan

Oh my, Ramadhan is nearing by. How great is that!

So, have you planned your Ramadhan?

Say like setting some goals like which surah would you memorize and study, which part of this deen that you would like to know more, and girls (and boys too, why not?), if you are at the convenience of it, what dish are you gonna whip up for iftar and sahur?

I just got to know that the one who prepare food for those who would break their iftar, he/she will get credit by Allah, as much as the people who observe fasting get. (verification required)

So, go get a piece of paper and write down your goal(s) for Ramadhan.

Jodoh

When I was in my first year, I was the first among the girls to finish my Histology exam, after which I crammed for Anatomy.

I had a big problem with locomotor system in anatomy.

I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.

So when I was about 80% done with the revision, minus the locomotor, I thought I wouldn't make it to my original date and I am no lucky with second chance for exam date provided that I postpone my exam (Allah is always making sure I don't procrastinate, which is a good thing)

The agony of finishing the year in September due to such unfortunate event when you already at the finishing line, my bone still remember it.

And here I am, in my third year, facing the dilemma once again.

I feel suspended to the point of vomiting.

Reality bites and man it chews too!

Since I am powerless, I'm gonna do the thing that I am capable of doing.

The resentment, bitterment and vengeance will stay with me, more powerful than before.

This is a test and I am not gonna fail it.

Since anything that bears anatomy in their name want to stick with me for such a long time.

I may as well embrace it and give it a squeeze.

But does this also mean that I would eventually ends up being a surgeon?

Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tidak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ande!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In my short 21 years and half life, I have some circumstances where I don't get what I want.

Case 1. There was supposed to be a fling in my high school year, but some 'thoughtful' peeps blocked that. Not that I care that we never happened but the fact that some people have problem with a then harmless me made me alarmed. Oh well. I picked up the hints in the later years but never made any effort, I just enjoy the attention (sorry, sometime I couldn't help being vain). Girls being girls, my closest friends know about it and they made the effort for communication and I played on the sideline (forgive us, we were just being high school girls)never expecting anything but when my closest friend broke the news that they are now boyfriend and girlfriend, I was taken aback, not because I like that person (you know that don't you, that you notice some sort of person and is interested in them but you don't really like them that you want to have anything going on with them).

It's just that IMO, a close friend who knows that her friend has interest in a boy shouldn't go for the boy ~ it's unspoken rule of being friends isn't it?even though I was not serious but still that kicked on my trust. 6 years passed by and here I am, very, very glad that the above situations occur. The boy it turns out, is not really the sort of person I want to have anything going on with, not in my current page, not even anywhere in the previous page. It's hard for me to heed advice from people that I don' respect, and in case where hearts matter, it's impossible. I may not really need respect but I really need to respect to play my part well. It takes me years to realise that some people or some things are not supposed to be mine, no matter how strong I feel that I am entitled to have them, because sometime later, you'll have no regret over the loss, because it's not a loss to begin with.

What shall I say other than thanks to the people involved (note : sometime being nasty to some people means doing goods to them). And sorry, I have some problem about disclosing case 2.

Now, I just have to be optimistic and yes, I shall pay the revenge really well, revenge, regarding pathoanatomy.

I AM MAD

I have been pretty composed all this while, well, at least I think I did.

Not now anymore.

I am simply mad and feel wronged.

Our examination system is a headache.

Basically it's done orally.

You can book the dates that's AVAILABLE.

Usually there will be optimally 10 seats for one date.

In my batch, we have about 60 +/- international students and 100+/- Czech students.

And we have about 3 exams, each averaging 150 known questions (which means the whole 2 inch medical book ~ well, almost)

Here's how it works.

A date and time is set up for booking and we compete virtually for our preferred dates.

If you got lucky, you get your dates.

Some people even get kicked out of the system because the sudden clicking from hundreds competitors.

During the exam, you pick randomly questions from the box.

Usually you got 3 questions and then you prepare your answers before you go and talk in front of the examiner.

Some people get interrogated some people just mouthing everything he or she knows.

If you passed they sign your index book (record book), if you don't here's the famous sentence

"I think you have to study more"

or

"I'm afraid that I have to see you again"

or anything like that.

And then, if you feel that you are not ready yet to go for your preferred dates, you dropped your preferred date just before the dateline (usually it's 36 hours shy of your preferred date) and by doing that you are giving chance to anyboby who would like to go for your date.

But there are cases where people drop their dates by email in 24 hours and I'm afraid that the date just get burn like that.

Anyway, I succesfully got 2 subjects signed and was preparing to go for the last one on June 30.

I wa all positive that I would complete all 56 questions of tumors in 2 days, which is by others standard is impossible.

I studied 50 ECG papers in 2 days which by others standard is impossible and I thought maybe I could ace 56 tumor questions in 2 days too.

But upon realising it's impossible, I dropped my date and was prepared to battle for the limited dates in July.

I have to do it in July

1. because I have studied a week short to one month

2. because I decided at last minute that I should fly back home for a friend's wedding

So why am I mad?

Well, it is because I didn't get any date for my exam.

Ridiculous!

I was about to get mad at myself because I thought I didn't study all year long but when I was studying for those 250 questions I saw that I have been studying ~ notes that I thought I never made but I did, book that I thought I touch for just a couple of times full with underlines.

Ok I studied, so no blame over there.

But then I am mad at myself for not making it to my original date on the 30th.

And I am more mad because the lecturer cc the email to all who pleaded for July dates part of it saying

"i am sorry, probably i will not make you happy, however, i will not change the rules during the game. thank you for your understanding"

OK, so he will not change the rules during the game.

I can accept that but what I can't accept is that the game was not played fairly.

If you are saying the July dates will be open publicly on 30th at 3 pm you should do exactly as what you said, otherwise what's the use of sticking to the rules.

The situation is that at 3pm on 30th, the system didn't work.

I kept clicking F5 like an idiot for 3 minutes and not realising that the dates are already filled.

Unbeknownst to me, the register button appeared one by one at certain times.

I mean, WTH!!!

So now tell me, is this also the rule in the game?

Because to my knowledge, all the register buttons are supposed to appear at exactly 3pm as stated.

You know what, whereter the game is fair or not, I am still mad at myself mostly, for not focusing like I do back in high school.

By focusing I mean, 250 questions is doable in 2 weeks and by studying at a snail's pace, I had 56 tumors questions to cover in 5 days.

So it's still my fault at the end.

I couldn't ask for a classroom full with people, noisy or not, so that I can only study intently without noticing any calling for me ~ I already snapped out of it, that now I am not a boarder anymore.

I just hope someone would drop their July date so that I can get this done and over with and return for 2 months holiday in Penang.

Please Allah, please.