The road not taken

It has been nearly a year since I last played a role in the Medical Fun Night. We did crazy stuffs that night, including me dressing up as a girl.

It was indeed a road not taken. The first time to dance on stage and also the first time to dress like that. To say that it’s pretty crazy was an understatement – it was insane.

However, looking back, it was a different experience. It shows that one’s potential is limitless, and we should try something new. That dress up made me a better person, I was able to understand how it feels like to be laugh at publicly, and how you can cope with this.

Later on people did try to humiliate me and laugh over those photographs of memories, but to be frank, I felt stronger at heart. What could be worse than this? I told them, “I’ve taken a road not taken, experienced it and grow from the experience. What did you learn in return?”

In short, life is filled with ups and downs, but when you look back at it, it will only be filled with fond memories to think of, and how much wiser you’ve grown out of that experience.

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The feeling of closeness

When you’re out there, you need to adapt to your surrounding, to get yourself comfortable with the culture you’re in. And these are the people who helped you the most: Friends.

Although the time together is brief, and time flies through your life quickly, they are important people who make you realise the importance of having someone close who could laugh with you when you’re happy, and cry with you when you’re down.

A pat on the shoulder means so much, and as soon as they come by, they’re off again in search of their own dreams. So in the mean time, cherish the time you have together.

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Place of Living

 

Where we stay or live plays an important role in our daily lives. From how we interact with the people surrounding us to how the environment affects our wellbeing, a place we stay meant so much to us. A grown person can head back to a place called 'home' even if it is a rundown suburb with much poverty and hardship. It is where we used to belong, poured our emotions into it, and grow up in.   

A place can affect us dearly. Spatial segmentation may give us more personal space, but too much of privacy could lead to some potential issues. When we have more personal space, we leave out 'connectedness' from our daily lives, and this lead to losing sight of community as a whole. Individual tolerance of the others may be threatened. In addition, people finding privacy difficult to obtain, such as children, may spend more time out of their homes, away from the surveillance of responsible adults. All these affect the everyday life and health of the people in this place.

A place may also be affected by global capitalism, where the rich will remain rich, and the poor will become poorer. Be it legal or illegal dumping of toxic wastes, the people who suffered from this exposure to hazard are the people of low income or defenceless ethnicity. As the voices of these people are often neglected, they are defenceless against the party causing harm, and even help from government comes slow.

The local community grows differently too, according to the people occupying the space. In places with great access to resources such as high income and education, the extensive ties formed in the local community may be shallow and short term. However, places with much needs may have less extensive ties, but the bonds may be deeper, involving frequent contacts and greater intensity.

As we study how human interacts with each other in a local vicinity, we may observe a trend of the place, and this actually affects how we should provide support to the community. I believe that when a medical professional is involved in the wellbeing of the society, he would better understand how to provide the services to them, as he understands better the cause of sufferings.

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Fire of Hope

 

Life is always about meaning.

You live in search of meaning.

That is your flame of hope.

 

If you do not cling on to that meaning of life,

you’ll lose your steps quickly,

and you’ll fall.

Still, if you are strong enough, why not dream again?

Why not start a new search, another meaning of life?

We are what we are because of our dreams and hopes.

 

So keep that flame ablaze in search of your very own meaning of life.

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Self-Reflection

Imagine you’re standing in front of a mirror.

Look into that mirror, see a reflection of yourself.

Think of all the things you have done right.

Think of all the things you need to improve on.

A last look at things you need to let go.

Learn what you can from yourself.

Then before you leave the mirror behind, motivate yourself.

I can do it! Thank you, I’m sorry, Please forgive me, I love you.

And you’ll soon realise that you are a better person than before.

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As it turns yellow

As the tree turns yellow to red, it signifies the arrival of autumn, and winter is coming up next.

The bright yellow of fresh flower against the glorious red of withering flower is beautiful, yet rare enough to be appreciated by passers-by where one can only see it once a year.

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Working with people

The most interesting part of life is where you have to work with people. While it’s quite true that some people may find it hard to work with others, when you team up, you’ll be able to work faster and achieve more.

Somehow, you need to be at the same pace with your other team members, or at least get to know what everyone is working on. If you missed out any of the discussion, follow up.

The most important virtue I realized is Patience and Tolerance. Everyone has a say in their decision and you may not agree with it. But you can always try to achieve a consensus with the other party. Working in group means working together to achieve something, not fighting or backstabbing each other to show who is a better leader. If you’re doing that, you’re not a good leader and you’re being plain annoying. A great leader would lead with much willingness to listen to other’s opinions and to guide whenever necessary only. They are the ones who motivate you to do better and achieve more.

You can still see some dictators in this modern society where everything he says is right. Well, I guess we’ll just have to find a way to work with them.

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Pursuing Excellence

Sometimes, don’t do something just because someone asks you to. You have to do something because you wanted to, or it’s something that you love to do. Just like in the movie ‘3 Idiots’, when you pursue excellence in what you love, others would just follow along.

So whenever you spend time doing something you love, especially when it involves serving others, you’ll find joy indescribable with words. It’s called selfless giving.

Do something to help others today!

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Beyond yourself

When you are stuck with your own old thinking, or you are just merely following others, it’s time to break free.

There are so much to learn in this world. There is no right or wrong, no true and false. It is just one’s perception.

If you want to live free, you need to break free from your own limitations, yet knowing what you are doing is the most appropriate for you and the people around you.

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Breaking Dawn

The camp for the freshmen was well organized, and I managed to meet people all across Taiwan, as well as those international students. End of the orientation week and here comes tomorrow: the start of a new semester.

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Angkor Cambodia

A beautiful temple to visit. Although it is quite costly to pay Siem Reap a visit, Angkor Wat is definitely a must see place if you’re up for the walks and climbs.

Some of the temples are still under restoration, and this will take some time. Most of the restoration projects are funded by a join collaboration between countries like Germany, Switzerland, Japan and others. As you can see in the following photograph, the green tents set up in front of the Angkor Wat temple while waiting for the restoration project to resume.

The number of visitors dropping by is astounding. The crowd here was waiting for the picturesque sunrise, but too bad the sky was cloudy due to rain on previous night.

You can purchase your entry pass after 5.30pm (+7 GMT) and you can hike up to this Phnom Bakheng Temple, where you get to enjoy a nice sunset. However, it was drizzling that day I was up there.

Many of the Buddha statue was maimed and damaged. A handbook which you can buy easily when you’re in the temples will explain why this happened.

It will take about 1 day to see Angkor Wat and some of the temples around it. The best is if you have 3 days to spare, then you’ll be able to visit most of the places, including the ones some distance away like Banteay Srei temple and Roluos Group. Entry tickets are priced at USD 20 for 1-day, USD 40 for 3 days.

If you have some spare time, you may consider taking bus trip to Phnom Penh and return the same day. I guess I was quite lucky to visit this place early Aug. It may be the monsoon season, but it was quite windy. Sunscreen is a must, do remember to reapply them when you’re out there.

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Next Level Photography

Moving forward into the future, we shall be able to see how high-speed photography can act as life-saving tools. In addition, further research could lead to advancement in medical imaging and search-and-rescue tools. Take a look at this promising research.

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People in Bali

The locals here are just as interesting as the island itself. Besides being tour guides, they have other jobs as well. And they do take time of to enjoy their own island.

Some sell food and snacks for a living, while some others cheat tourists into paying them money by forcing them to buy something, e.g. placing a flower bud on your ears, saying that this would please the Gods and ask you to pay for that flower bud. They may be so poor to the stage that they are using different tactics to survive here at the outskirts of Bali. Still, there are lots of good people around. Just remember to keep small changes in your wallet, so that you can give exact amount to them. Most of them do not have small changes in their pockets.

The Jimbaran beach sunset is quite a stunning one, and therefore lots of wedding photographers like to bring their clients to these areas for wedding shoots.

This local fisherman heads out to the sea during high tide to affix the fishing nets. He collects the harvest the next morning.

Some others would spend their time preparing for their religious celebrations.

Some lazy ones would just hang out and wait for time to pass.

The kite seller sure have a pretty and nice kite for sale.

Monkeys at the temples may look harmless, but they are in fact notorious. So don’t follow suit of the lady in the dark clothing. Her sunglasses were snatched by the monkey moments later.

Lots to see and do in Bali, with the people there, it’s even more interesting. So get to know a few locals around, but remember to be not too friendly, else they would rip you off when you dine or purchase something!

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Religious Balinese

To say “Balinese are religious” is quite an understatement. They spent really a lot of their time in temples (locals called it pura), be it temples built by the others or temples in their own homes. And because of the temples they’ve built, it’s enough to attract visitors for a visit.

The temples may be situated by the sea, on the cliff or up in the mountains. And their decorations are very elaborate, with lots and lots of greens and plants growing around the temples. The structures looked black-grey as they built it using the black sands of the beach.

This is an example where their house was transformed into a religious stage for ceremonial procession and just outside this lotus pond, is a restaurant they’ve built for attracting tourists.

They really pray a lot and they spend most of their time preparing for a religious festival, like the Royal Cremation Ceremony to be held soon. At the end of the ceremony, the beautifully made statues would be burnt.

Basically you’ll see lots and lots of temples while you’re staying here. Select a few famous ones to visit. I missed the floating temple during my stay here. Anyways, here are some tips while you’re visiting the temple:

1. Wear a sarong while visiting the temples, bring one if you have one. No shorts and sleeveless shirts.

2. Some temples are rip-offs, so be careful. Some charges extra, while some others would try to force you got hire a tour guide, saying that “there are some restrictions around the temple and you need a guide to lead you, so that you don’t interfere with the ceremonial procession”. Remember that you don’t need to pay for a tour guide if you don’t want to. Bargain with them if you have no choice, at least a 75% off.

3. Sunsets at Tanah Lot and Uluwatu may be enticing, but you may not necessarily see a good sunset. So be aware of that, look at the weather.

4. Monkeys may be around the area. Beware of that in case they snatch your items, especially your spectacles.

If you’ve got the time, you should stay here for a week or two as there are lots to see and enjoy.

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Bali

Bali is a special island of Indonesia. It is a unique island on it’s own. You’ll notice its difference when you’re there. Bali, here are what to expect:

Tourists, Temples and Unique Cultures

Beaches and sunsets like no other

 

Interesting locals

 

Mountains and nature

 

Love

 

Dine and Enjoy

 

Another beautiful island to fall in love with. More to come.

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Kota Kinabalu

Sabah is indeed a beautiful piece of land. Friendly people, closer to nature, a slow going town. If you would follow their living pace while staying here, you’ll notice that this place is a wonderful place to relax and unwind. 

The villagers here lead a carefree life too, slow going and enjoyable. The kids enjoyed themself in a ditch of rain water when their parents head out to work in the city.

Even kids like them know about Facebook. They’d asked me to put their photos up on the social network to share it worldwide. Interesting.

The beaches are sandy and clean. But everyone has to play their part to keep it clean. A great place to snorkel and dive. I went to two islands for the cost of less than MYR 60. You can visit more islands too if you've got the time. Students with ID would get some discounts over the entrance tickets.

Waves may be a little rough and there are some surprises in the sea. So be caution during your dive and swim here.

As the sea is rich with living creatures, you may find much to explore on the beach and in the sea. Most of the corals are dead, but you can still see an occasional patch of anemone with clown fishes.

I’m not sure what this sea creature is, but it seemed to me like a transparent sea cucumber. They were washed ashore and were scattered around the beach.

If you like nature and wish to head for a slow-going vacation, Sabah would be an ideal vacation spot in Malaysia. The beautiful sea, sky and water makes it unforgettable.

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