Breakfast of the Kings.

Not that I'm on a diet or anything but I'm sure most of you have heard of the phrase, "Breakfast of the Kings, lunch of the Lords and dinner of a peasant." (I'm not really sure about this one though, so if its wrong, can someone let me know about it? :p)

So, here I present to you, my breakfast. xD And no, I'm not implying that I'm a King. Haha.


Strawberries are sort of a rarity back home in Malaysia - what's with the expensive price and having to go to Cameron Highlands simply to get it cheaper. But fyi, strawberries or in Arabic, farawlah, is dead cheap here in Egypt. You can get like a kilogram of these for less than RM 3! Yerp, you read right. Trois! :P

What are you waiting for? Get me some milk, sugar and cinnamon! I'm gonna make me a strawberry milkshake. ;)

Kelis starts singing in the background. "La-la-la-la-la, warm it up. La-la-la-la-la, the boys are waiting.."

That coming from me? Eew. Just eew. xD

TGIT

Currently listening to, Deeper Conversation by Yuna.

Since last week I've been waiting for it and thank God its Thursday. :)

Two days back, we had our Microbiology exam and Alhamdulillah, it was okay. I did tell my friend that somehow I felt our professors went easy on us since the questions were relatively easier if compared to what we had last semester and the semester before. I'm gonna give myself some 'rewarding sensation' and hope for a good grade. Hehe.

And today btw, we had our Community Medicine paper. So I guess this entry is something like a double bonanza - Microbiology, Checked! together with Community Medicine, Checked!. :P
I've never really enjoyed studying Community Medicine with all the epidemiological studies, medicinal statistics, research studies, health education and what-not. I can admit that it is the ONLY subject by which the first time I opened the text book is the two-three nights we have to study for it. But, I've fared quite OK before and I'm hoping for the same if not better this time around.

However, that being said, I consider myself lucky in the aspect that the questions were always straight forward and simple with no essays required. If I was to apply the same to the other subjects I have, I would have FAILED. And by FAILED I meant MISERABLY. I'm definitely not someone who can stand up, and nonchalantly say, I'll live with that. Haha. Alhamdulillah, I'm blessed for being able to quickly understand and memorize things but I'm not really someone who can digest a lot information in a short period of time. Time is what I always need. Don't we all? ;)

Sooo, with time currently being by my side till our next paper (Pathology) which will be on Moday, I'm planning to give myself a pat on the back and say, "Good job so far, lets rest." It'll only be for tonight Na. :P I'll get back on my feet first thing tomorrow after Subh. Hehe. YOU on the other hand mon cherie, have a paper tomorrow, so, work your heart out love. :)

Till next.

Terrorism in Egypt?

Hey guys.

Just last night (22nd of Feb), a bomb exploded in a famous bazaar here in Cairo, Egypt. It was the Khan el-Khalili bazaar or more famously known as Hussein by us students here in Egypt. I'm rather shocked hearing the news but thank God no Malaysians were hurt. A French tourist died though and about 20 others injured. I'm still trying to digest this news and I'll post up any updates here.

Meanwhile, you guys can check the news here, or simply watch tonight's news back home I guess. In the mean time, you bet I'm going to stay freakingly away, as far as possible from any famous tourist spots here in Alexandria.

Picture courtesy of Al Jazeera.

Kupasan Farmakologi.

Hai semua.

Saya ingin cuba sesuatu yang baru, sebab itulah entri ini berbahasa Melayu dan bukan berbahasa Inggeris seperti biasa. Hahaha.

Semalam, telah berakhirnya peperiksaan Farmakologi untuk pelajar-pelajar tahun tiga Kuliah Perubatan Universiti Iskandariah. Rata-rata dapat dilihat muka keriangan, dan kepuasan para pelajar menjawab soalan yang tidaklah serumit soalan-soalan Parasitologi atau Fisiologi. Masa yang diberikan juga dirasakan berlalu teramatlah perlahan jika dibandingkan dengan hari-hari sebelumnya. Masih tinggal sejam, tapi dah boleh nampak dua tiga orang pelajar yang dah tak boleh nak duduk diam. Sayakah? Dah siap lah katakan, asyik duduk tenung jam je. Haha. Walaupun siap awal, takde langsung rasa bangga dengan diri sendiri. 3-4 kali juga lah kertas tu dibelek-belek. Simply making sure there're no mistakes. *oops terlepas gak kuar BI* :P

Hmm. InsyaAllah A-. ;) Kertas seterusnya, Mikrobiologi.

*please re-read using tone pembaca pemberita* :P

Catatan penulis: Saya bukan macam Amani yang cakap "I sound silly when I speak in Malay" because sememangnya I don't sound silly speaking our native language. But I have to admit, I do sound silly writting in Malay. Rasa skema berbaku-baku ni. Yer lah kan, like what someone always said to me, I'm Malay, bukan Melayu. :P
Hope you guys got some laughs out of this. Hahaha.

Ps: Kepada Nursham Melati, happy 21st birthday my dearest bestie. The both of us go way back and you're one of those who have known me the longest. So, I sincerely hope and wish you have a great one on your 21st birthday. Much love. :)

B.E.S.T.

Good morning, peeps! ;)

Yesterday, whilst I was taking a break from Ketamine, Terbinafine and what-not, I read a page from the book Today's the Day by Jim Stovall. I found it to be rather inspiring so I'm gonna rephrase it in my own words and share it with you guys here. ;)

The article was about being the best or simply to say, getting the best out of your life. We always hear people say, "I wanna be the best!", "That number one spot is mine!" and everything in that category. It is unusual for us to hear people say, "I'm satisfied with being second!" or "We're going to let the other group win and lets aim for the consolation prize!" I guess it is only human of us to at least desire to be the best either in one thing or another. We work hard and compete with others to achieve what's best for our lives. We live our life the best we could so as to not look back when we're old and say, "I should have done better."

According to Jim Stovall, the best way to be the best at what we do is simply to break down the word "Best" into its components:-

"B" is for Balance. Balance is what we need to have to keep our lives stable. We do not want to be the best at something but not have something else which we'll treasure in life. Lets take a famous medical researcher for an example. Being the best in his field, this researcher could have simply discovered the cure to AIDS and save mankind from this terrible disease. But, if he did it at the expense of not spending time with his kids, not taking the time for leisures and not taking the time to see the world, he definitely does not count as to being one of the best researchers. We have to always take into consideration, all perspectives of life to be the best.

"E" for Enthusiasm. This is simple enough. If you do not have the enthusiasm or passion in whatever you're doing, let it be a job or a hobby, you will definitely not be successful doing it. Heck, you won't even be enjoying what you're doing. If you do not feel the passion, find something different or try to change your attitude to be happy at what you're doing.

"S" is for Single-mindedness. By being single-minded in what you do, does not simply mean that you look at things in just a single dimension. It means that when you're doing something, you have the ability to focus your mind completely on it. Simply to say, when you work, you work. And when you play, you play. :P

Last but not least, "T" which stands for Tenacity. The author mentioned that this is the utmost important component which is required to be the best. And I can only agree totally with him. To be number one (that is to be successful), you need to strive. Perserverence is the key to success like how people always say. Keep your motivation and eagerness to succeed high, and insyaAllah, you'll eventually win. Try giving a blind man a baseball bat and get the best pitcher to pitch at him. No matter how many misses he gets, as long as he keeps swinging, he'll hit the ball soon enough. That's tenacity. ;)

So, it all depends on ourselves to shape the outcome of our life. Change, and see the difference. :)

Ps. Comments would be greatly appreciated. :P

Parasitology - Boooooooooooo!!

"Pass, insyaAllah."

Those were the words which first came to mind right after I handed in my paper. I did pretty badly too last year and I thought what I've done this semester would change things. Pfft. Guess not. It felt like the questions got even harder. :P Sooo, I'm just gonna look at passing the paper. That would be a huge relief. Sigh.

And up next is Pharmacology. I've got like 3 days before the exam so it should be more than enough to not get the names and groups of the drugs all mixed up. Serious berbelit lidah nak sebut satu-satu. That's only memorizing the names, not to mention their pharmacological actions ngan therapeutic uses lagi. Aduyai, penat dah otak nii. 2 minggu je lagi, Jo, 2 minggu jeeee.

Okay then. I'm sorry for the short and boring entry. I am a tiny bit tired at the moment. Look out for the next update. It could be something a little bit more interesting. Haha.

Physiology - Checked!

Again, I am sorry for not updating you guys about Physiology as soon as we had the paper. I was just lazy I guess. :P

So.. Physiology.

Prelude - There's only 2 words that I always use to describe the burden of Physiology on us - TOO MUCH! Really, I am not joking. For the first semester of our 2nd year, we had like 300 or more pages to cover. And for this semester, there is not much of a difference. One whole book to be revised, memorized, and practically to be slept with. Haha. 260 or so pages, try to digest that.

Comment - Like always, the first part was MCQs. Some mistakes here and there, I guess. About the essay on the other hand, we had eight essay questions and each was worth 2.5 marks. I really don't get how they get their markings done because for some questions, my answer was like one whole page (eg. the question about referred pain) and for others, it was only 3-4 lines. I didn't really know the answer for that question though, sebab tu lah pendek kot. :P
Eight essay questions and three problems definitely felt like too much. Honestly, for the last few questions, I felt really tired to really think so I just answered the first answer that came to mind. Seriously rasa nak muntah gak ah bila jawab hari tu. Haih. Physio oh physio. On the other hand, I'm just glad its out of the way now. Alhamdulillah.

Conclusion - Again, B+.

Histology - CHECKED!

Ok, my bad. The paper was on the 10th, the same as my birthday which was like two days ago. I got held up, so here's the post regarding our 2nd paper, Histology.

Prelude - I consider Histology to be one of the burden of my studies. I simply dislike studying it. What's with all the cells and their organelles, functional characteristics and yada yada yada. Urh. I mean, even UM have abolished this subject and integrated it together with Anatomy. So does a few other international universities. How I wish Alexandria University would have opted to do the same. Too bad I guess. Oh well, next semester's will be the last of it. So, I freakingly can't wait! :P

Comment - I think, since it was on my birthday, luck seems to be on my side. ;) We need not have to draw any diagrams and surprisingly, I left NO questions unanswered. Its definitely different from the past semesters where if there's any question which requires us to draw, I would simply close one eye and turn to the next question. And if there's any question asking about any kind of LM or EM descriptions, there will definitely be holes in my answers. Hehe. But this time around, things were a little different. I'm sure I missed a few points here and there but overall, I actually enjoyed myself. Call me weird but yeah, I did. It could simply be because of the fact that we had like three nights to study for it after our Anatomy paper. Yeah, that could be it. Alhamdulillah. :)

Conclusion - However happy I am that I did well for the written and I got full marks for my presentation(everyone in my group got full marks btw), does not mean I'll give myself an A for it. I screwed up the practical part the week before and I'm sure my midterms weren't that good either. So, I'm giving myself a B with a B+ being a surprise. ;)

Up next, the dreaded Physiology. >.<

Being twenty-one.

I meant to post this entry yesterday but it wasn't possible due to the persistent rain and strong winds we had throughout the whole of yesterday which I guess was the reason behind my bad internet connection. Urh.

Alhamdulillah, I am now twenty-one years old. ;) Praise to Allah S.W.T for the chance for me to have lived in this borrowed world, to be able to breathe, to see, to feel.. to learn. I've to say that I've had my fair share of mistakes which I horribly regretted doing but I guess they are all a part and parcel of life. To make mistakes, albeit over and over again, and to learn from them, making us a better person - making me a better person, insyaAllah.

I thank God, for I am blessed with a great family, blessed with wonderful people around me, blessed with the feelings of love - and not hatred. I am thankful, for having the capabilities, to continuously learn, to gather knowledge which is not only important for myself, but also to the future of men. Alhamdulillah. :)

Maturity does not come by itself. Maturity comes from our experiences, either something which we ourselves have experienced or from what others have taught us. I've never felt myself being matured even when others say I am. Perhaps for them, I am matured enough in certain aspects, but I do believe that in other different aspects, I am immature. I am still growing up, even if I am already twenty-one. ;)

Anyway, thanks to those who have wished me, either in person, via Facebook, or SMS-es. I appreciate them, a lot. And to my parents and to you, you guys are simply the best. :) Thank you, for the gifts but most importantly, thank you for your prayers~

:)

Anatomy - CHECKED!

I guess I'll write an entry after every paper I sat for. At least I can talk about it here when no one else wants to listen. :P

Prelude - Anatomy has long been one of the few 'feared' subjects simply because of the amount of reading that is required. Every single sentence has the possibility to be asked. Skip one, and you'll pay. (like I did)

Comment - Hmm. I guess I did 'OK'. The first part went rather smoothly minus a few questions which I'm clueless about due to the fact we didn't really take it in the lectures so I assumed it wouldn't be asked. Guess again. Lol.

And then comes the second part of the paper - the short essays. Urh, someone needs to remind me to make a better time-keeping for myself. I rushed through the last question which was about the development of the tongue. Not that I clearly remember the details anyway, but if it was any other question which I'm confident of the answer, I'll be pissed for not planning ahead and not being able to answer because of the lack of time. So, yeah. And another note to myself, next time, read even if you've taken the topic last year. >.< Oh why didn't they ask about the pituitary or the thyroid gland instead? Why couldn't luck be on my side?? Grr.

Conclusion - Taken everything into consideration, and by everything I meant the midterms, practicals, assignments and today's paper, I would say a B is in hand. I'd be thankful for a B+ and I'd be surprised if it turns out to be an A-. Ooh, I love surprises. xD

Ps. B = 80, Bplus = 85 , and an Aminus = 90-94. Go figure. :P

Finals.

And so it begins.

Feb 7th - March 4th

Early surprise.

Guess what I found in my post-box today. ;)


An early birthday surprise for me! Hehe. Thanks Mama, thanks Ayah. :) Thank you Wan and Khalis. ;) And thank you, Zura. Hehe. Though you've got to stop calling me Mojo. I'm gonna be 21, you know. :P

Certainly the best way to get one's motivation up, don't you guys think so? A heart-warming gift and card from your family. I love you guys so much. :)

7 days

Today's the 2nd of February 2009.

Hmm.

There's only 7 days left.

2nd February, 1988

"What's all this fluid all around me? I wanna get out! But wait a minute, why am I not drowning? Hmm. I have to see what's out there. Is it also full of fluid, or something else? 7 days, I'll just wait for 7 more days."
-Curiosity-

2nd February, 1998

"How old are you, boy?" "9 and three quarters, uncle." "Wow, you're 9? For a moment there I thought you're 12. Big boy!" "Thank you, uncle. You look rather old yourself."
-Sarcastic- ;)

2nd February, 2008

"Crap, crap! One more week, but there's still so much to cover! Adoiiii. Sakitnye amik Medic nii. Urh!"
-Not even realizing the date to know your birthday's coming- :P

Today, 2nd February 2009

I guess I do realize the date this time around. God, I'm gonna be 21. The world still feels rather new. There's just so much I've done and simply too much that I've not done. I guess people celebrate entering adulthood, right? Wish I could do the same. Sigh. We've got exams next week, so a party is a definite no-no. Lol. I really do not know what to expect from myself, being 21 and all. Am I mature enough? Do I see things, as an adult? Do I look grown up?

There's 7 days left.

I'll figure it out.

"Happy becoming birthday, big boy"