The Start of Something New
Salam and hi again. It has indeed been a while and there are lots to recollect.
The Flight Back Home
Thai Airways completely rocks! Well...except for the fact that due to 10kg of excess baggage I had to pay 300 Euros!! That's RM1500, and worse the Thai Airways office at the Moscow airport didn't accept AMEX credit card! It was just plain lucky that I have almost that same amount of cash stored in my bank account, and so I paid the price ( I should have sent some of them via cargo had I known that excesses would be this expensive. Freaking cut throat.) Anyway I was at least way luckier than Ahmad who had a much bigger problem than me - won't be telling all about it here because it isn't my story to tell.
The flight home was a pretty smooth-sail journey, if I counted out the Russian Johnny Bravo who was sitting two seats from me. He didn't cause any problem actually, but he and his friends kept gathering together at the aisle and drank together, every now and then exclaiming Cheers!! until they were all red in the face. They must be pretty excited to be on a holiday I guess - those bunch were heading to Thailand. Lots of Russians are choosing Thailand as their holiday destination as of late, must be because of something between the two which I'm not quite sure what, but I know there's a rapport there between those two lands.
Usually, I'd spend the whole flight journey by sleeping all the way home, but Thai Airways had loads of good movies in store for its patrons so I wásn't gonna miss them. I think I've watched 5 movies straight without sleeping - I didn't sleep the night before, and I only had dozed off for a few minutes at the airport, so the whole journey again I was not sleeping. By the time I was done with the movies the plane was about to land on Bangkok where we had about a couple of hours transit before boarding the flight to Malaysia.
For the past two years or so, I was the one who came back to Malaysia earlier than my family so it was usually me who was there at the airport waiting for their arrival. Hence I was glad that this time around, they would be the one who would be welcoming me! And whats more, it was also the day of my dad's 46th birthday so I'd say the trip was perfectly timed. As I pushed the trolley of bags out of the arrival exit, I saw the welcoming commitee consisting of my family and extended relatives there, waiting and cheering. However, before I could get to them a stranger came by and he was the one who shook my hand, pulled me into a hug and took a picture with me. It would be way too freaky if this stranger didn't seem friendly with my family. I had no idea who he was, and he turned out to be just a passerby who had decided to 'join the festive', I'd say. Haha. Then it was the reunion with my family and we all went to my aunt's place at Sepang for lunch and tea before heading to Shah Alam where I was currently staying.
For the past few years ever since my family had shifted to Saudi Arabia, in Malaysia we'd stay in hotels and apartment suites somewhere in the middle of the city so that it would be easier for us to go around the city to get things done. Our previous house at Shah Alam was already empty and the house where my folks had bought wasn't quite ready yet so we had to stay in hotels. But enough about that for now - right now I am enjoying my holidays.
Graduation Gifts
Got a few, syukur alhamdulillah, but one of these is what I have not expected at all. Not gonna blog about them for now because I'm still am trying to let them sink in my head first. They're great gifts (thanks pa & ma) and....I'm still surveying. And shopping. Not eating, or at least not quite yet. I'm not just gonna regain the 8kgs I have lost for the past one year in just a few days - my friends back in Kursk kept saying that it seemed to them that I needed to be more careful because I wouldn't be coming back to Kursk. Because, usually during the summer holidays I'd pile up about 7--8kgs of weight due to the foods I ate, simply because I was confident that living in Kursk would enable me to shave those extra weights without much effort. And usually, it was a success. After summer holiday I'd be around 74kgs, when it was time to go back home 10 months later I'd be around 66kgs. Both are still ideal weights to my BMI, by the way, though one is close to the fat scale while the other is near the thin scale. But now I'd be staying in Malaysia for good, so.....
That's it. No more dinners for me.
....fat chance. ~sigh~
Registration (SPA, Malaysian Medical Council, Ministry of Health)
Last Tuesday Pipi and I went to Putrajaya to register ourselves to Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam as well as putting in the hospitals of our choice to go to work at soon. We began at around 10AM and finished everything at 5.30PM! We didn't really know what to bring with us then except for the ones stated in our provisional work offer letter we'd gotten after the interview last April. It was hard to really explain everything here, plus I didn't get the chance to use the internet too often so I'd just say that to those who are reading this, make sure you had with you at least 4 copies of your SPM, Birth Certs, ICs and your Diplomas and their transcripts ready with you, as well as a 'Wang Pos' valued RM20 (don't put the receiver's name just yet because you'll know once you're there, I can't recall what I had to put now), and 4 passport photos. Pipi and I didn't have photos and the wang pos so we had to go to Alamanda Putrajaya to get those and those took about three hours plus lunch - you could probably shave off three hours if you already have those stuffs I have mentioned with you before going there in the first place. Of course, bring also the original documents. For certification purposes, you can do it there: wouldn't recomment getting the copies certified earlier because one of the forms we'd gotten required us to get a witness to fill in a form and the witness must be the same government officer who had certified your documents. So just get everything done in Putrajaya, at the Kementerian Kesihatan building - ask at the information counter and you'll get the details. Good luck! Thanks to Pipi for the company and to Dito for showing up later in the afternoon to play chaffeur to us. Heh.
Business Cards
A friendly guy sharing a cab with me the previous day, upon learning that I'm a fresh graduate out of university, told me over and over that the pressures of a student's life can never compare with the pressures of a working life. And he reminded me of a few occasions which I have seen quite a few times as of late - when he asked about me I told him briefly of who I am, but when I asked him back all he did was to open his briefcase, took out a small casing and pluck out one of his business cards before handing it out to me. Sure, I could read the details printed on the nicely-designed card, but a verbal explanation would be nicer. In my mind, I was like 'huh? I didn't even ask for a business card' but I took it anyway. Last year when I was out with a few of my friends from matriculation, one of them met a few of his friends there at the same place, and this smug-looking lady friend of his, without any introduction or anything, just handed me her business card without anything else said thereafter. Poyo. Took it, and threw it into the nearby trashcan thereafter. Poor lady, one business card wasted, bwahaha. And the card did have that fresh look on it so I was rather sorry when I threw it inside the trashcan....
...oh who am I kidding? I did it without giving any thought of it thereafter.
However the guy I met in the taxi was actually quite nice and had struck a conversation with me throughout the long cab journey, though he was somehow a bit privy of his age for some reason (looked young but kept saying that he was old. Whatever.) And he was also generous with some advices of working lives and all, so the nice factor made me keep the card longer despite my initial misgivings. Haha.
I've seen people handing out business cards loads of times but I think the proper way of giving a card is when the other party requested for it, or at least after a conversation to get acquainted with one another. I don't know for sure, but from what I've observed from my dad and his friends as well as in TVs or so, that seems to be the way to do it. Hmmmmm........
Sure hope I don't do the same thing when I have my own business cards. I know it's useful to keep these cards but does the handing of the card needed to be done wordlessly? At least offer some verbal details to go with the card, it shows that you do care for the other person to take some time to look at it and read it, and probably keep it for future use. The lady I mentioned - she was handing out her business cards like vote-collectors handing out gifts to potential voters. It was like, "Hey peeps I got myself some new business cards so come on, take it, take it, TAKE IT!!".
Living Arrangements
I'll be hotel-hopping until my family's gone back to Saudi, and then I'll be staying with my bachelor uncle at his condominium until I get my posting. Won't be stating where exactly I am staying to avoid stalkers. Yeah, a stranger actually asked me via SMS which hotel I was staying at a couple of years ago because I stupidly had announced my cellphone number in Friendster and I have also added strangers there. Friends, I still have my old 019 number so call/SMS me! Looking forward to meet up, gathering, reunion etc etc.
See ya again next time! Bye!
Homeward Bound
Salam and hi everyone. Right now I'm at Domodedovo International Airport, Moscow, waiting for my flight to go back home! I'll be flying via Thai Airways, simply because I've heard lots of good reviews about the flight from my friends and due to my wanting not to fly with Arab-associated flights during the summer. Let's just say that I've had enough bad in-flight experiences with them for me to X them out this time around. Hopefully Thai Airways won't disappoint, especially since I have excess luggages with me. The ticket said I only have 20kg, but I brought along stuffs totalling about 40kg!
Anyway, the journey from Kursk to Moscow itself was pretty eventful. Instead of the usual choices of train, bus or mashruts Ahmad and I opted to try out the flight service this time around - our first and also our last. The plus point is that the journey was quick - instead of having to endure 8 hours of train/bus/taxi journey the flight journey took us only 1 hour. The downside: the plane was like a world war era type of plan. Very old, very noisy, very.... it's like we're sitting inside an engine chamber as Mohamad had put in. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that we met Kak Syarifa and Mohamad who were flying back to Lebanon.
I'm more nervous this time around flying home, and not just because it's gonna be my final flight out of Russia. I have been entrusted to carry along with me not just my own MD, but three others! Pipi, Murni and Prem Kumar have all gone back earlier than the time we got our MDs' certifications and such. Mohamad who was doing this stuff noted that everyone seems to put in 'Nik Adzrul' as the one who will be bringing back all the Diplomas! Gulp... I only have with me the three I've mentioned, plus my own; I needed to bring back Vanitha and Jeewadas' MDs as well but theirs will only be ready tomorrow and I'm already safe and sound at Malaysia that time. InsyaAllah. So I have with me the lives of three other doctors, for without these MDs they won't be able to work. Huhu. Let's not talk about the whole total cost of the MDs I have with me: boleh terkejut beruk seiii.... Haha. Pray for me that I will be able to deliver the MDs back safely to their owners.
I've slept for the past one hour and so, and now I'm up and about but pretty much confined to my seat because Ahmad wanted to have a lookaround the airport: he'd watched my luggages while I was sleeping so it's my turn to watch over his. I didn't sleep at all last night - doing all last minute packing, cleaning up the room, playing with Kiro one last time. Razi, Sirena and Anne came by to bid me farewell, and we all went down along with Ahmad to help Umi and Farhana loading their cargo items into the mashrut - all totaling up to 300KGs worth of stuffs. My God....I only sent 55kg worth of stuffs back home via cargo. Even the mashrut driver face-faulted a bit when he saw the loads of stuffs these two girls had. Right now they're probably at the Emirates Cargo Bay, and as Umi had put in last night: kelam-kabutlah esok..... Hope everything goes well for those two. 300kgs...~cringes~
Selva called me up and said that Kiro had been acting a bit weird. The furball was gazing at me while I was packing last night, as if sensing that something is wrong but he didn't know how to make out of it. My roommate (or is it ex-roommate now?) told me that Kiro was running all over the room like a madman. Hmm....usually when I was in the room I'd yell at him to stop and step on his tail and body (not too forcefully, mind you) to stop him - he'd proceed by playfully biting my toes (not too forcefully as well, haha). Or I'd carry him using the way that irritated him the most that he'd stop being so mischievous for the next 10 minutes after I delivered the punishment. Heheh. Nak disiplinkan kucing orang kan. Haha. Kiro oh Kiro... really gonna miss that guy. It was my first time co-raising a cat on my own.
Anyway, gotta go now. It's close to check-in time. Pray for my safety. Read More......
Kiro oh Kiro....
Salam and hi everyone. Things have been pretty busy lately, hence the momentary absence from blogging. Back when I was preparing for the exams I thought that it would be a very relaxing time for me after the exams, since there would be a nearly three week gap between the last day of exams and the day I'd be flying back home.
Oh, how wrong I was. Never thought I'd be so busy after the exams! Here's why.
Of course-lah I'm kidding. Just fooling around at PhotoFunia.
The one week that followed the final paper was spent worrying over our graduation robes, no thanks to the she-troll that we first appointed as our robes' tailor. Luckily the other tailor we called in managed to complete the robes in time before the graduation ceremony, and the ceremony itself went beautifully for us with lots of perfect moments captured on film. It's a pity we didn't have a videocameraman specifically for our group, but no matter. The ceremony was way better shown on pictures anyway. Haha.
Then came the certifications. We got our M.D.s in Russian language, so we need to have some certification stamps on our English-translated academic transcripts and all that. That was also a rather frustrating event considering the holes we'd burnt in our pockets, but I shan't be blogging about that now. As if we all haven't ranted much about it. If I ever possess the power of telekinesis or pyrokinesis during that day when we were handling the process to get our certifications, the university would be in shambles. No kidding. In the end, though, everything was taken cared off and we are all now waiting for the process to be completed. Hopefully in the next two-three days. Here's hoping, my fingers are crossed. Until I get everything in my hands I won't be counting the chickens before they hatch!
To kill some time, Ahmad and I then went for our single-day trip to Moscow. What a breather it was compared to kampung Kursk, although money and familiarity-wise I still love-hate Kursk.
Then came the packing and to clear out stuffs from my soon-to-be-ex-room. I can't be leaving any of my stuff behind
And of course, the rest of my free time is occupied with....Kiro!!
This guy has grown pretty fast - he's obviously fatter now because all he does is sleep and eat inside the room - we don't trust him to wander around the hostel because he's not our cat, we don't want Kiro to be lost/kidnapped. So his world is pretty much inside our room, or our unit. Poor guy, but Kiro's a bit scaredy-cat himself and prefers to be in the room anyway. He pretty much sleeps the whole day, and when he's awake it's either to eat, play a bit, or take a dump. What a simple life.
At first Kiro gave us a bit of grief during the first week he was with us. He kept thinking that the best place for him to pee/take a dump is under my table. What was worse was the fact that it is carpeted there, so cleaning up the mess wasn't easy. However it's gotten easier when we figured out that if we put the litter box inside the room instead of outside, Kiro pretty much knows where he's supposed to go if nature calls. Poor guy got confused when we thought the litter box was placed outside the room...... sure he'd scratch the carpet as signs for him when he cannot tahan already, but usually it was also too late. Often I woke up to find the room smelly...ughh. Kiro oh Kiro....you've given us nightmares. But now it's easier. He'd go to his litter box and do his business there, and one of us who's awake would take him to the toilet to wash up a bit since he likes to sleep on our beds at time. Now he likes the windowsill, which is great. We've placed a piece of extra carpet on the sill and he pretty much lazes there when he feels like sleeping.
Now, Kiro has a weird sleeping timetable. His most-alert time is during Subuh. I being the midnight owl, I usually am awake all night and only sleep after the Subuh prayer which is around 4AM here. My roommate usually retired early and woke up early as well. Hence it was pretty much unspokenly agreed that I'll be Kiro's 'papa' at nighttime while Selva's the one who'd watch him during morning while I am sleeping. Afternoon and evening we both do the job.
It's not really hard to care for him. We pretty much memorized his daily routine already. Kiro used to stay up all night and sleep the whole day away so now we devised a new plan - tire him out during the day so that he'd sleep at night!! Plan works after two-three days of instilling it in his head. Kit's a sharp cat anyway. Now it's easier to care for him - if he's taken the dump for the day it's pretty safe to assume that he won't be doing any big business for the rest of the day.
Disciplining him is okay too. Kiro's deathly afraid of my expendable umbrella - you know, the one which with a press of a button would extend first before 'blooming'? Bad description, but you get the idea. I'd tie the umbrella part first, only want to make use of the extendable thing....Kiro would go hide under the bed when I point the umbrella at him. Only used it to scare him, never hit him lah with it. Usually for kittens, most would just jentik their ears if they misbehave.
Diet-wise...Kiro's pretty much content with the cat foods Nellysha had stocked up for the two months he'd be staying with us (one month for me). I've always pitied Kiro for having to eat the same boring cat food everyday although the guy never complains. So we decided to do some 'weaning' for Kiro - introducing some other foods gradually. There was once I gave him some small chicken chunks and poor guy got diarrhea the next day, so I was a bit scared to give him any other food. However Kiro responds well with tuna - whenever we cooked sardines or mackarels he'd be sniffing around and eventually decided that our foods are tastier than his. Heh. Now, he got a tuna snack in the evening, just some small portion introduced to his diet of boring catfood.
Kiro has several nicknames already from us. Selva calls him Kiro and only Kiro. I am more creative: my terms of endearment for the lovable kitten includes Notty-boy, Budak bucuk, Busuk, Gemok, Pakcik kecik, Comel and of course, his own name Kiro.
Sandun decides to rename him to Siripalle'. Yes, there's an apostrophe after the name. It's a Sri-Lankan word which means prosperous.And now all his other SriLankan friends call Kiro as Siripalle'. Poor kit must be confused of what the hell his real name is. Even Selva and I call him Siripalle' at times just to see whether he'd respond to it. Nope. He knows that his name is Kiro, although he'd look at me if I call him by his other names too.
Kiro seems to think that my fingers are toys. He'll always try petting my fingers with his cute little paws with that adorably curious expression on his face. Another favorite toy of his is this flashy-yellow furry thing which he simply cannot stand seeing without touching it. We use the furry thing to tire him out, by attaching the furry thing to a pen and then draws Kiro's attention to it before moving away from him. Kiro would assume the hunter's pose (how cats readying to pounce at his prey) before giving chase to it as we withdraw the thing away from him. Kiro tires easily and after few minutes of giving chase he'd stop to take a breather or just plop down on the floor to lie down for a bit. At times, his tongue came out, which makes him look like a puppy instead of a kitten! And then he'll give chase to the yellow furry thing, jumping and diving all over the room.
At times, when both of us were asleep and Kiro is awake, if he ever sees any flies or some of those annoying insects flying around the room he'd give chase as well...up to the point of jumping over me or roommate to get to his 'toy'. Always an effective wake-up call. There was once, Selva told me, I was still very sleepy when Kiro jumped on me....I just grabbed hold on Kiro and flung him across the room!! Oh my....luckily all cats land on their feet! Poor kit. Kiro never approached my bed for the rest of the day. Huhu. Sorry buddy. :P
All in all, I love the whole experience of caring for this kitten. It'll be one more thing I will really miss once I'm back home. ~~ sigh ~~
Muscovite Adz
After reading Mel’s one-day tip to Moscow I instantly wanted to do it as well. But I didn’t want to do it alone because unlike Mel I don’t have a camera tripod so taking pictures will be a bit difficult if I were to go alone. So off I went to pay Ahmad a visit and turned out that he was planning to go to Moscow to in order to send his sister Adnin and two other juniors to the airport.
Am I lucky or what? :D The timing was just perfect!
Thus on Saturday night we went to Moscow via the 2.45AM train from Kursk, because that was the time when the fare was the cheapest. Whatmore with the fuel price increase, have to travel smart-lah right? We being budget travelers and all. The time was pretty convenient because once we boarded in, there was nothing much to do rather than sleep. And sleep we did, and we woke up right when the train arrived in Moscow at around 11AM. From Kurskaya station we went to Paveletskaya station (sort of like KL Sentral I suppose) where there was a shuttle train straight towards the Domodedovo airport (KLIA express anyone?). There the brother and sister parted ways, and after making use of the free public toilets there for me to wear my contacts, it was time for us to begin our day-long journey around Moscow. We had a lot of time to kill for our homebound train was at 12AM Monday.
Moscow's underground Metro.
First thing’s first – brunch! And what is cheapest option for budget travelers like us? McDonald’s, of course. After a brief consultation with the metro map we decided to head to Kitai Gorod (Chinatown) because it is a place where we had planned to go anyway. The day before the trip we had discussed on seeking at least one of Moscow’s famous Seven Sisters buildings, and there is one nearby Kitai-Gorod. So we took the metro there and upon exiting the station…walla! We saw the building from afar, hidden behind a lush green park and a complex of buildings. We took note of the location and all before following the sign to McDs. Got myself my favorite burger and vanilla milkshake (a must whenever I visit McDs), before we set forth towards the Seven Sister Building.
Doesn't really scream Chinatown to me. I was expecting a Petaling Street lookalike. Maybe I didn't really explore the whole Kitai Gorod?
But this is proof enough that we're at Kitai Gorod...
Kitai Gorod Park, I think. Dunno the real name.
We came across the park and decided to walk in there to seek advantage of the shades provided by the trees there. 
Some Muscovites were there leisurely lying around the park, sunbathing while reading a book, sleeping under the sun, and there were couples here and there berasmaradana, haha. This is a rather common sight during summer time. It was a peaceful park, whatmore with policemen patrolling around. As it was a rather warm day with the sun blazing, being in the shady park was quite a relief.
Some police cadets I think, camwhoring in front of a statue. :P
Before long we exited the park and began walking past buildings, heading towards the Moscow River. From there we were met with a grandiose sight of a Seven Sister building. Now, you might be wondering what the heck the Seven Sisters are by now. To put it simply, the Seven Sisters are the seven identical Moscow skyscrapers built during the lasts of Stalin’s reign in Moscow around 1947-1953. The one we saw here is called the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building – an apartment for the elites!!
Kotelnicheskaya Embankment building - one of Stalin's Seven Sisters located at the Moscow River.
The road is closed here for the Moscow City Race taking place on that day. You can see the red Kremlin walls far ahead.
Lots of boats were there by the river and we decided to take a trip along the river because we might be able to cover more grounds rather than walking. And it was a good decision too, for not only we did just that we also managed to have some rest during the boat’s one and a half hour journey. The only downside was we had to sit under the sun because the shadier ones were already occupied – the last thing we wanted was getting tanner than how we were before. But no matter, this was probably our last time having the chance to tour Moscow by boat and it would be a waste to miss it.
Along the way we saw the Kremlin, a city racing was taking place right beside the Kremlin’s walls and the Moscow River. Ahmad managed to record some of the race as the boat sailed past the racing track, but that wiped out the battery-power of his DVD-camcorder so both of us had to rely on my old battery-sucking digicam. Luckily I had brought a lot of spare batteries for this trip!
This boat trip reminded me a lot of the boat trip I took while at St. Petersburg. Actually I had wanted to join the trip to St. Petersburg organized by some of the students here for the visiting parents of the graduates but it wasn’t meant to be. This boat trip at Moscow however pretty much made up for it.
We disembarked nearby Kievskaya Train Station which was pretty much the end of the line. We saw a fountain and decided to head there first. There, amusingly we noted that there were more Muscovites enjoying the free water.
It was a warm day and thus it wasn’t really a surprising sight, after seeing the sunbathing Muscovites along the river earlier. It was however a sight to behold because you probably won’t see this back home. But then again, our country has a lot of water theme parks, whereas I don’t recall Moscow having any so the Muscovites used whatever water resources around them to enjoy the same kind of fun – fountains, rivers, anything….and best of all, they’re free! The water-lovers didn’t mind us tourists snapping their pictures too. 
Another Seven Sister but I dunno what the name of the building is.
Since Ahmad and I am planning to fly from Kursk to Moscow on the 25th July, we decided to check out the train station because Vnukova Airport – the airport where flights from Kursk are going to land – is connected by a shuttle train service to Kievskaya station. A counter lady confirmed this fact for us so we were all set on taking the plane on the 25th if all goes well. From the station we headed to the mall where we marveled at the sight of a modern-age shopping complex – being in Kursk has made us kampong boys because the malls in Kursk can never compare with Moscow’s, or Malaysia’s. Didn’t buy anything, we just headed to the food court, but everything was so expensive we just got ourselves some delicious ice-creams. 
Arbat.
From Kievskaya station we headed to Arbat Street because I wanted to go to Hard Rock Café which is located there. Besides, Arbat street is also a renowned tourist attraction where rows of souvenir shops and hip cafes were lined along the street. In Arbat, both of us had gotten so dehydrated we decided to step in a sushi café. Browsing through the menus we decided to have our lunch there – the price was okay, even cheaper than the food court at Kievskaya mall! Fine-dining in Moscow...definitely not in our plan, but since Ahmad had accidentally left his prepared foods back at Kursk, some change of plan was needed. :P
Our tummies filled we began browsing around the street, not buying anything in particular. It was a pity the street was under construction, which at the time made it less charming than how it was supposed to be. Nevertheless we still had a blast watching the artists sketching a near-perfect portraits of their patrons, tattooists creatively putting in designs on their patrons’ bodies (I was really dubious of the hygienic quality of these tattoo parlors because they were set up in the middle of a dusty, under-construction street), clowns pretending to be statues, musicians playing all sorts of tunes under the sun. 
I also saw another Seven Sisters – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. Along the way I crossed path with a friend from RSMU who pointed out the way to HRC. However upon arriving at the café – after browsing around the collections I realized that the café did not take AMEX cards, only Visa and MasterCard. Darn. I didn’t have that much cash with me so after SMS-ing my folks telling that HRC Moscow souvenirs are a no-go I stepped out of the café. Well…never mind, I told myself. They’re just overpriced shirts. It was already 6PM so we decided to head to our last tourist spot of the day – the Red Square! Probably the most synonymous landmark that’s associated with Russia, the Red Square is a must-visit for all tourists. I planned on getting some pictures there during daytime and twilight/night, if it’s possible.
The outdoor McDonald's at Manesh Underground.
At the small river (manmade?) in between the Manesh Underground Shopping Mall and the park there were lots of youngsters swimming about. See the two girls yang tengah bertenggek atas statue itik hitam tu? They posed there as if they're American Next Top Models! Sure kemaruk nak posing kat magazine but tak pass, hahaha! They posed for many tourists' cameras that day. And there were A LOT of people swimming in the river that day. Jangankan budak, mak bapak budak pun join sekaki. 
The waters didn’t even look clean in my opinion, after spotting sight of empty bottles floating, but these young Muscovites didn’t seem to care. That or it was too warm to care. They did seem to have a time of their life there. It was hilarious to watch; by this time I have concluded that in summer Muscovites have become somewhat "gila air". That, or the water supply in their houses were cut so they resorted to free water around town. What I don't get is how they could simply jump inside the river with all their clothes on, even shirts, jeans, skirts... don't tell me they are going to go home by parading across town dripping wet? 
Entering the park. The fortress is the Kremlin.
Lively Sunday in the park.
I just remembered that I've forgotten to snap a 'Spring-theme' picture this year, so this shot pretty much compensates for the missed shot.
It was still pretty much the peak of the afternoon so we decided to once again walk around the park beside the Kremlin walls where a lot of people were having picnics, couples dating about, some taking advantage of the sunny weather to get some tanning done. As it was a Sunday it was also very lively in the park. I spotted a lot of couples doing what is shown in this picture, so mischievous me decided to snap them in action! Haha. Buat lagi kat tempat awam...as if they care. :P 
Let's go to the Red Square! :D
Ada hantu terlepas! kat Red Square! Eh...silap, rupanya perempuan gila, or berpura-pura gila...
Afterward we went to the Red Square. Here’s the place where a lot of tourists were focused at, and we heard a lot of different languages spoken about here. It wasn’t my first time here, but it was my first time here during summer so I snapped loads of pics around here because it was going to be my last time here.
Resurrection Gate - one of the entrances to the Red Square. The blue structure before the gate is the Iveron Chapel.
Red Square, and the State Historical Museum northbound.
The Kremlin walls.
Lenin Mausoleum and Kremlin Wall Necropolis.
GUM Supermarket, where everything is so cut-throat expensive, don't bother going inside if shopping is your intention. :P
Colorful onion-domes of St Basil's Cathedral.
From Red Square, overlooking the city.
Mari lepak di atas bumbung shopping complex
It wasn’t gonna be dark soon we noticed, so we decided to take a breather on a park above the underground mall. The park is actually located on top of the mall's roof I think. There we located an empty bench and decided to wait there for dusk to come by. Now we know why some people love to loiter around, watching other people. It was kind of fun actually….wasting some time analyzing the people around you. 
Not that I’m recommending it – I did it because after slaving myself for six years studying I think I deserved an hour of melepak…and I did it because I was waiting for twilight to come by to get my shots. 
To pass time I decided to become a paparazzi as well, secretly invading other people’s privacy by snapping their pictures. I don’t think they could care less though but I was careful enough to switch off the flash function to avoid anyone noticing - that'll take away the fun of snooping around these Muscovites :P. There were families strolling about, enjoying the evening weather, couples lost in their own world, teens hanging out with their friends. Pretty much reminds me of KLCC park. :P
Anyway soon two ladies approached our bench, asking whether it was okay for them to sit there because me and Ahmad only occupied half of the bench. We said that it was okay, it wasn’t our bench so they were free to sit if they wanted so. One of the ladies looked a lot like Christina Aguilera during her younger years, albeit a bit tanned. 
Her companion I didn’t remember who she looked like. Just as they sat on the bench and were about to light a smoke, several pesky teenage boys walked past the bench and wolf-whistled the two ladies, one of them obnoxiously exclaimed, “Hey, girls! Which one of you is Angelina Jolie?” The girls ignored them – obviously they thought the boys were not up to their standard or so. Heheh.
However then there was a man (these girls really are guy-magnets) approaching them, with a proposal in hand. I didn’t manage to listen in to their whole conversation but I caught something like “I live on the third floor…blablabla….let’s go to the discotheque …blablabla…here’s my number…blablabla…..if you’re interested….” 
And the guy sat down in between us and the girls, thinking that these two foreigners wouldn’t understand a word he was saying. The girls however appeared interested. Ahmad and I decided to leave the bench, and from afar we snap, snap, snap their pics, teeheehee…. Our theory? Well, maybe it’s a business proposal, or a ‘business’ proposal….get it? Haha. Not gonna elaborate more on it. It’s a norm around here, not that we’re endorsing it. 
It was already dusk then so off we go back to the Red Square to get our twilight shots here. The clock was already showing an alarming 10.30PM but we spent half-an-hour around here anyway since Kurskaya station is just a metro-stop away. Even more visitors were around this time around. We got our shots and decided to call it a night, heading back to Kurskaya to catch our train back home. By this time I was too tired, too sweaty, probably a bit smelly too although I made ample use of my perfumes and deodorants, hahaha. There was no time to change. Upon boarding the train I instantly set off to dreamland, and I woke up when the train was arriving at Kursk.
A great day at Moscow! Kurskians, if you have some time to kill and some cash to spare during a free weekend, just go there and have some fun.
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Home Away From Home
I'm back from my weekend at Moscow. Alhamdulillah everything went well and I had fun. Didn't actually buy anything from Moscow - it was definitely not my first time there and this trip was just for me to cram all the sightseeing I could in one day before going back to Kursk. Also I have never been at Moscow during summer time, and after seeing Mel's entry about her one day at Moscow I became curious of doing the same thing. More on that later though....I'm a bit fatigued after one whole day of nonstop walking around town all I could think of now is sleeping Monday off on my not-so-comfy bed....if I can kick Kiro off from it first. That fella has been conquering my bed when I was not around!
And another thing...I have received the photos from our graduation photographer. Am satisfied with the results, I will just update the conclusion of the Doctorpalooza series with them instead of making a whole new entry for it. :) Read More......
Doctorpalooza: Perfect Mementos
I didn't actually think that we'd get 600++ photos!! Although considering that all of us aren't exactly camera shy that day, it wasn't really unexpected. I know I've said that I'd include the latest pictures in the previous Doctorpalooza entry but since there are lots of them I think they warrant an entry of their own.
Umm...Mel, I didn't know that we got the best photographer, but the photos did turn up well. =)
What I like the most about our photographer(s) is the fact that we all received near-equal amounts of individual shots. Heheh.
Okay, okay, next up is the Moscow trip entry. :)
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Doctorpalooza, Part III (Conclusion)
Okay, okay, perhaps you're bored of the whole me graduating thing. But I did promise to include more pics. I haven't gotten the pics from my friends or the professional photographer we hired still because yesterday had been an extremely busy day with me having to go back and forth between the hostel and the university just to get some documentations done with. Our M.D. diploma (yes they call it diplomas here because internationally a diploma is most of the time at equal rank with degrees. Only in Malaysia I think it's considered lesser than a degree.) is in Russian language, hence the need to make a translated English copy of it and get some certifications done by the powers that be in Moscow. A bit irritating at most, I'm glad that it's done with and I can rest easy while waiting for my flight back home which will be in 2 weeks time.
So, the conclusion of the Doctorpalooza series. This will be in picture-description format to make it more pleasing to the eyes. Some of the pictures are too blurred in their original format; I had to crop them in order to make them salvageable, at least for this entry.
Before the ceremony begins. Here we are with the former dean of the international students - Professor Ludmilla Anatoliyevna Severyanova.
Entering the hall; inside the hall; a speech by Professor Serayev the head of the State Exam committee; Vanitha getting her diploma.
Head of the Group Leaders committee (considered as the head of the international students in general too), Jeewadas, leading the graduates in delivering the Hippocratic Oath. And there's our group at the frontmost part of the hall.
There were also speeches by the representatives of the students, rep. of the teachers, rep. of the first year students (the Russian has a tradition where during graduation a first year is selected to give their speech for the graduates), as well as a couple of songs sung by Moses and our very own Razi. The ceremony was officially ended with the Russian national anthem. Then ensued the photo sessions, and inside the hall most of them was done by our photographer so I don't have any to include here. Outside the hall, however, is a different story. ;)
Strike a pose - this is actually requested by our group photographer - a crazy shot instead of the usual stand-straight-and-smile kinda pose. We willingly obliged.
With some of my groupmates' parents who have travelled all the way from Malaysia.
Now I think I've mentioned a few times already about my groupmates but never really have I introduced them, right? So here I'd like to introduce the doctors of Group 10.
Well...there's me, for starters. Heheh. My group kan, of course la I'm in it!
Our groupleader Dr. Ahmad and his little sister Adnin.
Dr. Anna and Dr. Murni - keepers of my best-kept secrets! :D
Dr. Piyaman (Pipi) and Dr. Vanitha (V) - my fellow travel-mates to the hospitals.
Our very own Charlie's Angels - Dr. Farhana, Dr. Umi, Dr. Amy. Without them, our class will be just too quiet you'll hear the sounds of crickets emanating from out of nowhere. :P
Well, they're not our groupmates but have close relations to me and my group. Clockwise from down-left: ex-roommate Dr. Razi, Dr. Darwin, fellow blogger Dr. Melissa and Dr. Annie.
Afterward we headed towards the main building of the university for the compulsory mortar-board throwing shots as well as some shots around the compound.
Our photographer's unique idea of shooting some shots amidst the greenery of the university's grassy area. I think we weren't actually supposed to step on this area. He insisted and after telling him that he'd pay the consequence (and his fees cut off completely) if somebody come to tell us off about it, we finally obliged.
Group 10, normal pose.
Group 10, practicing for the mortar-board throwing.
Practice lagi....
Whooppss!!
Finally, we did it! Yaay us!
Heh. The end. Of course after I get the shots from the photographer, I'll add a part IV to the Doctorpalooza series, but for now let it be a trilogy.
Oh yeah, I will be taking a short break from blogging - for two days - because I'll be going to Moscow this weekend for more camwhoring to accompany Ahmad in sending his sister Adnin to the airport. See you guys again this Monday insyaAllah.
Doctorpalooza, Part II
Hey, I've graduated. Still can't believe it. It's so surreal.
Anyway most of the good photos were snapped by the professional photographer that we hired especially for our own group. It'll be a few days until we'll get the copies he had shot. These however were snapped by my own personal photographer a.k.a. my roommate who had been so kind in taking some of these wonderful candid snaps. All of these are those that took place after the ceremony; during the ceremony only the professionals were allowed to roam about the hall to take pictures, the amateurs weren't allowed to do so.
There are abundant of pics, of course, but I'm too tired to edit and include them all plus there are still those from the other cameras which I don't feel like taking just yet because it has been a long day with the ceremony, photo session and dinner, but all in all it is definitely one of the most memorable day of my life.
We did it!!
Group 10 doctors.
Mortar board throwing.
More pics will come as soon as I got them all. :) Read More......
Doctorpalooza, Part I
Today is the day before the long-awaited Graduation Day for my batch. Out of all groups, my group is probably the last one who got the graduation robes and mortar boards from the tailor. Yup, unlike other places we had to buy our own robes because Russians don't use the robes during their graduation day. The previous day was spent at the tailor's to amend whatever needed for our robes and what I had gotten is quite okay, considering the hell we had gotten from the previous tailor (We took another tailor beforehand but she proved to be the unholy spawn of Satan and a troll joined in an unholy matrimony, so we had to take whatever she had done to a more competent tailor which done quite a remarkable job in restoring our robes plus making catty remarks of how incompetent our previous choice of tailor. Yeah, yeah, rub that in....).
So we got our robes and today we had the photoshoot with a professional photographer - a day later than the rest of the batch. While waiting for him to come to our hostel, I wanted to make sure that I'd have the best of smiles for my graduation photo, so I practiced lah. A lot.
You call this practice? This is camwhoring!!!
I'm not alone - my friends decided to join because you gotta admit this 'practice' is fun. Plus remember the old adage: practice makes perfect!
Then it was my turn to get shot. Here I was snapped by Anna while being instructed on how to pose, how to hold the mock-cert, how to smile, how to hold myself in front of the camera....
And walla! A masterpiece, perhaps? Thanks to Anna. :) Shot by my own digicam but the professionally-shot version is just like this one. I was shot three times and people thought that they were all pretty much the same. Haha. Kejang pipi aku woii senyum memanjang.
Photo session complete, the rehearsal for tomorrow's convocation event ensued. My digicam died on me so no photos here. We were instructed on practically everything and the rehearsal went on for two hours. Hopefully everything will be fine tomorrow, which I'm positive it will be. After the rehearsal, Ahmad and I went to the nearby Italian cafe to had our breakfast-lunch-dinner all rolled into one - both of us didn't have the chance to eat at all since morning (I survived on pudding and Snickers bar) so both of us didn't hold back. I ordered a pasta AND a roll of Philadelphia sushi, and a glass of vanilla milkshake. Kenyang gila, had to force myself to take the loooong way back home instead of the shortcut so that I'd burn off the sudden food influx I had given myself.
Tomorrow's the Graduation Day. 1PM, PharmaCorpus. Hope everything's gonna be great. Read More......
Jejak Mesir 2006: Day 1 - Cairo's Mosques and Tombs
30th January 2006
Since we had just arrived that night, it was decided that today's program would be a light one so that we would not feel too tired for the ensuing days where the planned activities were heavier. We only slept for three hours before it was time to start our Egypt tour, and yet neither of us felt too tired. Semangat, kan? Though light the first day's program was, we still had fun covering some of the famous tombs and mosques around Cairo. And for that day, our mushrif was Ustaz Md. Nor and his best friend Ustaz Muhammad who also was the one who drove us around town today (and the next day). Ustaz Halim was tour-guiding a couple whose son was getting married in two days time. But of course, our first stop for the day was breakfast, at kafe rumah negeri Perlis.
Our first destination for the day was Maqam & Masjid Imam Shafie. It was said that nearby the tomb there was a hardened remains of Rasulullah S.A.W.'s footprints. We wanted to see it but couldn't; there was this uncle who approached us to ask for baraqah (berkat, but actually he means money by that - give sedekah to him and get berkat. Sneaky.). We were advised by our mushrifs to just ignore him because apparently it was quite a common occurence for the people there taking advantage of poor tourists such as us. That didn't bode well with the uncle and he got so angry he told us off and didn't allow us to take pictures inside the maqam anymore. As if the tomb was his. Well we actually had snapped enough pictures, sans Rasulullah S.A.W.'s footprint unfortunately.
Outside Maqam Imam Shafie.
This is Imam Shafie's tomb. Very unique and beautiful with the wooden carvings.
The mosque. The boat perched on top of the dome signifies how Imam Shafie travels far and wide in pursuit of knowledge.
Then, we headed to the mosque as Zuhr was approaching. At the time, I did not know that even as a musafir who's privileged to perform the Jamak and Qasar prayers I still can join the regular jamaah prayers because it is after all more afdal than praying alone. Start with the regular prayer in jamaah, then continued my Jamak/Qasar prayer afterward. Thanks to Md.Nor for teaching me something that day!
After that we decided to head to Arma - or Dewam Malaysia Abbasiah for lunch because all five of us were getting hungry. However, we didn't have any Egyptian notes with us, so eventually Md.Nor ended up giving us three poor tourists a treat. Thanks! I had the chance to wander around the Malaysian Hall in search for a toilet, ending up as far away as the hallway with the students' rooms there. Found my way back with help from Muhammad. After finishing our lunch we headed outside to snap some pictures before heading to our next destination.
Our next stop was actually two massive mosques built side by side - Masjid Empat Mazhab (Masjid Sultan Hasan) and Masjid ar-Rifaii.
We explored Masjid Empat Mazhab first. Perhaps you're wondering of the reason this mosque earning the name empat mazhab? Well, as far as I know back in the olden days the studies of the four schools were all conducted here in this mosque, under one roof. Each school got its own corner inside this mosque.
One corner for each school.
No shoes allowed. Behind me and Ustaz Muhammad is the wuduk area.
Praying area.
We heard this ammu's (uncle) recital of the Quran and were deeply fascinated, for it had been quite a while since we heard such lovely recital. It touched our hearts - just see the girls' faces (don't look at me, I'm always snap-happy). This ammu was sporting enough to let us take some pictures with him, unlike the baraqah-seeking-ammu earlier.
Then we headed to Masjid ar-Rifaii. There were a lot of tombs inside this mosque but for the love of me I really can't recall any of them. It has been two years. And I really can't figure out why didn't we take any picture inside this mosque - it's just as grand as Masjid Empat Mazhab. No battery, probably. The only one with a digicam was Im, actually, both Anna and I didn't have one. A mistake we rectified the day after. :)
Masjid Amru al-As. Not our picture; I found it during image-searching but forgot the source...
Anyway, it was getting dark so we zoomed towards Masjid Amru al-As, the biggest mosque in Egypt! It is named after Amru al-As who is said to be the one who opened Egypt. Really wonderful designs. It is said that every year on 27th Ramadhan, an ulama known as Imam Jibril will visit this mosque and will lead the prayers. At that time, people will be pouring in the mosque to seize the chance to be led in prayers by him. They said that he had a wonderful voice and his recitals were extremely well done. Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to be there during fasting month, but at least we got the chance to be here.
Then we headed back to our villas for a quick rest, before heading back down town for dinner. This time around Muhammad didn't join us, but Halim got back from his tourguiding and joined us alongside Md.Nor. We went to town using the tremco - a taxi-van actually. There we were further exposed to the attitudes of Egyptians while on the road, something that had been nothing but surprising for us throughout the day. Our trip to Egypt coincided with the African Cup 2006 held in Egypt, so the people there were overzealous of the fact that their homeland became the host that year. They kept on honking like nobody's business, and there seemed to be a certain tempo for the honkings that everyone seemed to know about; one car can honk half of the tempo and the other car would continue with the second half of the tempo. Interesting but after a while it was rather headache-inducing.
Anyway, as if knowing of our cravings for Malaysian food Halim and Md.Nor brought us to Restoran Nil at the Sabiq area - a Siamese restaurant. Viva la Malaysian/Siamese food, I really enjoyed the dinner! There as we had our dinner we discussed our plans for the rest of the week we were going to spend in Egypt. After that we took a tremco back to our villas. On our walk back to the villas I saw a stall selling fruits - they had very deliciously tempting strawberries I couldn't resist buying some! As soon as I arrived back at the villa I called it a night, wanting to get up early the next day, for it was the day that we would visit the pyramids!
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Jejak Mesir 2006: Day 0 - The Journey to Egypt
29th January 2006
Ironically, our Egypt trip actually begun as a short Moscow trip. :D
Me, Im and Anna arrived at Moscow at dawn, while our flight to Egypt was much later at 9PM. So we had a lot of time to kill, thus our first destination that morning was the Manesh Underground Shopping Complex located right beside the Red Square, where there was a McDonald's for us to eat and hang out until it was time to go to the airport. Our friends from RSMU came by to accompany us because it was after all a holiday season for all of us. With them around it was possible for Im and I to sneak off to the Red Square to do some sightseeing. It was already my third time there, but since we were there might as well stretch our legs a bit. Anna stayed back at McDonald's with our luggages and the RSMU-ians.
Im wanted to see Lenin's preserved corpse inside the Lenin Mausoleum set up inside the Red Square, so off we went to look at it. I had been there the previous year's winter but I tagged along as well because it was free of charge. We couldn't bring our cameras in and the guards politely told me to take off my cap as a sign of respect to the deceased Vladimir Lenin, the first de facto leader of the Soviet Union. From the mausoleum we headed to Saint Basil's Cathedral, and luck be with us we actually thought of asking the guard there whether we could enter the famous church for free by showing our student cards. The guard allowed us to go, and since neither of us had gone inside the church at the time we immediately seized the opportunity; chance like this did not come everyday for us who were living in Kursk. Don't you think that the domes of this cathedral look a bit like a regular mosque's onion domes? It is said that the cathedral is a symbolic structure representing the unique position of Russia being in between Europe and Asia.
We spent some time exploring the insides of this church and having fun climbing the ancient spiraling staircases before heading to the souvenir section to buy some souvenirs to bring to Egypt. Afterward we headed back to McDonald's for lunch and to give Anna the chance to go to the Red Square along with our RSMU friends. When they returned, we decided to do some light shopping, and of course I headed to my favorite store - Reebok - and saw a nice red cap I had been eyeing since my trip to St. Petersburg's during summer 2005. The store was having a sale so I bought it instantly, thinking that Egypt would be sunnier than Moscow despite also being in winter season that time of the year.
Around 4PM when it was getting dark, we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Egypt, arriving there on midnight Egypt time. To get through the immigration was a hilarious experience: the officer on duty was baffled of the fact that the three of us were Malaysians but our details showed that we came from Russia. Anna and I surrendered immediately when the officers lambasted questions one after another in Arabic. Im who had some knowledge in Arabic tried to converse with the officer......before Anna and I noticed something really familiar in Im's 'Arabic' drawls, and the confusion etched on the officer's face.
Im had accidentally mixed up Arabic and Russian! Too many languages can be confusing. In Kursk alone we just love mixing up Malay, English and Russian in our daily conversation so our official language should be called as...err....Marunglish? When we quietly pointed out Im's error, Im's Arassian suddenly became Maarasian. (Malay+Arab+Russian). Finally the officer decided to let us through without further question. We gleefully walked past the immigration counter and ended up stumped at the unfamiliar surrounding after stepping out of the airport. There was no one to welcome us?!
Luckily I had my roaming 019 (I demand a commission for promoting this in my blog) so we managed to contact Im's friends here. Turned out that they were waiting at the international terminal for us, but we arrived at the 'old' terminal. Maybe that was the reason of the confusion earlier? Not sure, but we were just glad that they were finally there to pick us. After some brief introductions we were taken to our rented apartments - the guest apartments at the Selangor Villas at Asyir. Anna and Im went with Halim and a friend of his who was driving the car, while I went with Md.Nor and a friend of his.
Inside the car, I didn't remember what the conversation was about but I do remember my initial confusion of the way the students in Egypt addressing themselves as and the way they were addressing us. They used Ana and Anta, meaning I and you. Well, long story short silly me was blatantly ignorant of that simple fact.... Md.Nor was telling something about himself so I kept hearing 'Ana' being repeated a few times before confusedly pointed out that Anna was in the other car with Im. Md.Nor and his friend realized what was going on and shifted instantly into the more familiar kata ganti diri, while I sat at the back embarassed of my first folly.
We reached Asyir and I was astounded to see that for the price I had paid, the apartment which I got all to myself was very nice. It was actually too big for me alone; Anna and Im shared an apartment at the girl's building. Md.Nor and Halim eventually crashed in for the night as it was already too late and everyone was tired.
Tourists and main Tour Guides. Occasionally we had several guest Tour-guides as well.
Jejak Mesir 2006: Prelude
Looks like Egypt got more votes...although only two people voted. Heh. No matter. Egypt it is. The picture above is a teaser for what's to come. The posts will come up throughout the next one or two weeks alongside graduation news, kitten news and probably some Kursk-related posts. I have blogged about my Egypt trip in my old dead blog and it's just a matter of retrieving the old posts, doing some revamping on the descriptions and writing style, and digging up the photos which have been burned inside DVD-R, editing and plastering them with the posts before they are good to go. That's a lot of work too, but since I have some free time in my hand... they'll be up soon.
I'd have started blogging about the first day at Egypt, but somebody kept me busy. **looks at Kiro** And I feel a bit down today because everyone's gone back except for our batch. For the past few years it was always me who went back to Malaysia early, now I'm the one waving goodbye to others. ~ sigh ~ Am feeling that sweet sorrow thing.
Anyway, the first day's post will be up within this 24 hours, insyaAllah. Read More......
Sigh of the Kitten
Today my roommate and I got a third roommate...ummm....a third third roommate (we actually had two other 'third roommates'). And he'll be staying for the whole summer with us. Well, with my roommate - I'll be flying back home on the 25th this month, but while I'm here I'll be watching out for him as well. Say hello to Kiro!
I've mentioned Kiro already before. His owner Nellysha was going to Moscow for the next few days, and then flying back to Malaysia for the rest of the summer. So Sandun had agreed on caring for Kiro for the summer, but he had something to do right now which kept him busy, so Selva and I took Kiro in. And the best part is: neither of us has the experience of caring for a pet before. Selva never had a pet before, and as for me....I had three cats once but they weren't mine and I was not around much when the cats were taken in by my family. The reason was simple: I was allergic to animal furs/hairs. So when I was staying in the hostel back then, my family began taking cats in.
At least with Kiro around I get to keep my parting anxiety in check. But then again....I'll be missing him too when I go back. Ah well, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, it seems that we're doing each other good - there was a moment while he was on my bed that he had this sad look on him. Probably thinking of his partner-in-crime sort of big brother to him, Ruii, who by now is at Malaysia in quarantine methinks. And all his other caretakers are away as well, leaving him with me, my roommate and my neighbor. Sandun has the most experience with taking care of pets, but I guess me and roommate will be learning a few stuffs on our own along the line. But we're glad nonetheless of the new addition to our room.
Let's just hope that he won't pee and crap around the room. He's supposed to be toilet-trained, but then again he's a kitten and has been living in nomad his whole three months of life, so who knows. Read More......
One Fine Day
Two days in a row I've gone out for lunch instead of staying at home and save money. What to do when your own cooking is making you puke because you're bored of the same old thing you're cooking.
When Abu and Firdaus came over to claim the microwave, bread toaster and the book shelf that they have bought from me on Wednesday, I decided that since there's only a ghost of a chance that I'll see them again once they all fly back home this Sunday, why not have a final get-together? So I asked them to gather around the other members of our usrah group and we'd decide on where to go eat on Friday. While they decide on that I called up Aysha and asked her to join us as well.
After Friday prayers, at first we decided on going to Dudu's, a Turkish cafe which these guys frequented a lot (I haven't gone there in years ever since other eating establishments bloomed like after-rain mushrooms). However the plan changed when we realized that Aysha was at Manesh shopping mall, shopping. So we decided to join her there, because there was another cafe at the mall's food court that I hadn't tried, but had heard of from others. And I have only been to Manesh once to shop for stuffs for my Euro Trip, so I was pretty much game for anything. My main intention was only to have the get-together. The venue was not so important.
Then we went straight to the topmost floor to eat - I was starving because I hadn't eaten any breakfast and dinner the previous night after going to Vremya Yest with Anna. I'd do an entry of that, but haven't gotten the pictures from Anna yet. It was impromptu decision after settling some payment pertaining to the legalization of our MDs from Russian to English. Okay, out of topic.
For a flat-rate of 100Rubles (that's roughly around RM12), it's all you can pile up in one single plate, up till 900g - 1kg of food. That's a lot actually. No refills, however, so we have no choice but do the Malaysian attitude and pile up everything we could for our money's worth (I don't do this if I go to hotels for buffet but since here I didn't get to refill.....).
There was these mixed veggies that looked tempting so without hesitation I loaded a spoonful of them in my plate. Then I saw strips of meats in there and I asked the counter girls...
Me: Eta kakoy myasa? (What kind of meat is this?)
So I carefully and successfully extracted the can't-be-eaten stuffs to another plate and set it aside. One would think that I'm having a toyol with me for doing so.... hahaha. Then I could eat the rest of the stuffs in peace. It was lucky that I had the insight to put the veggies at the corner of the plate. Well, actually I had created an Everest of foods on the plate, there was no other place to put the porky-veggies other than the sides. See, being tama-hak actually had its benefit for once! :P
Aysha joined us after her shopping spree - Manesh is having wonderful sales now so it's perfect for shopping. I'd have seized the great deals too, but the idea of going back to Malaysia for good is to have as little unnecessary stuffs as possible, and I already have a lot in my plate for now. Zamir joined us after half an hour or so, and while waiting for him we ate as slowly as possible. Then Zaid - our usrah's naqib - called us, regretfully informing that he wouldn't be able to join us. That's just too bad. Well I have gone and met him a couple of days back and we had tea together so I suppose it's okay...
Chit-chat, jokes and being snap-happy are always the main highlights whenever we have this kind of get-together. For memories what. Whoever invented digital cameras should get a Nobel prize if they hadn't already gotten one. Pure genius.
Verdict for food: 3- (Satisfactory with difficulty, as our professors would say if we barely pass our tests). Just invest the money on something better. It's nothing remarkable. But the eating area was perfect for us to spend an hour idling around.
After this summer, who knows when I'll be seeing them again. Well, I suppose it's safe to say that my path with Aysha's will cross again one day because our families are 'almost-neighbors' at Saudi Arabia, but for the others....who knows? Ada rezeki adalah tu. I choose to be optimistic. There's a quote I heard in a movie I watched when I was young.
Good journey to you all, my young friends. Those three and four years you still have left will fly by quickly. Take it from one who's been there.
Man I feel nostalgic and melancholic. It's really true what they say: separation is such sweet sorrow. I feel this way now, and I'll feel this way again when it's time to leave this place once and for all. And I actually Googled on why it is termed as such. Here's what I have found.
As Ella Fitzgerald sang, every time we say goodbye, we die a little. This is, of course, better than dying altogether, which may explain why there is sweetness even in sorrow. Juliet's lament about her separation from her very new acquaintance was enhanced by the thought that it would be temporary: that she would see Romeo again. In song and story, life goes on, even if something is missing.
Real life, however, offers no such certainties, and neither does Life the Guardian supplement. In a here-today, gone-tomorrow world, there is a certain satisfaction in having existed at all. The exuberant joy of being is tempered by the wistful knowledge that nothing is forever. The Romans had a phrase for it: ave atque vale, hail and farewell. Psychological literature is rich in studies of separation anxiety, grief and loss. There is a denial phase to grief in which the bereaved believe that the lost one will come back. Then after a while, this denial gives way to anger, fear, guilt and depression. Loss of energy, fatigue, headaches and chest pains may occur before the inevitable adjustment.
Parting, neuropsychologists say, is a stretching of emotional bonds: the sorrow is tinged with the sweetness of the memories.
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Nicks
Saya telah di-tagged, tetapi hanya berminat menjawab soalan pertama sahaja, iaitu mengenai nicknames kerana saya mempunyai banyak juga nicknames. Yang lain-lain tu macam sudah biasa sangat kelihatan di mana-mana soalan tags jadi saya rasa tak perlulah menjawabnya. Dan hari ini saya tiba-tiba berminat untuk menjawab dalam Bahasa Malaysia, tapi adalah campur sikit-sikit dengan English juga.
Nama sebenar: Nik Mohd. Adzrul Ariff bin Raja Azlan
Adzrul - Nama yang paling kerap dipanggil oleh keluarga dan kawan-kawan. Kadang-kadang tersalah eja sebagai Azrul sahaja, saya tidak kisah pun. Sama je. Adik-adik menambah honorific Abang kepada nama saya ini.
Rul - Parents saya kadangkala memanggil saya sebegitu. Somehow ex-roommate saya Razi pun panggil macam ini juga.
Adz - Versi pendek nama sendiri. Time chatting juga dipanggil begini, dan saya juga senang membahasakan diri sebegini dalam alam maya. Lama kelamaan sudah biasa dengan nama pendek ini. Nama blog ini juga datang dari nickname yang ini.
A-D-Z - Nama panggilan dieja pula. First time semasa Form 4 dahulu, dan lebih kerap semasa di universiti.
Nik / Nick - Guru-guru di Russia lebih suka memanggil saya sebegini (hanya cikgu Bahasa Latin yang memanggil saya Adzrul), kerana lebih senang dan serupa dengan nama orang Russia. Groupmate saya Vanitha juga memanggil saya sebegini, dan bila dieja dalam chatting YM dia tambahkan lagi huruf 'C' itu. Haha. Pernah sekali dapat seorang guru bernama Nikolai....habis saya saja yang asyik dipanggilnya untuk menjawab soalan di dalam kelas.
Kawan-kawan di matrikulasi dahulu juga lebih maklum akan nama pertama saya ini dari nama panggilan saya yang biasa digunakan. Hanya kawan-kawan aras bilik saya sahaja yang memanggil saya Adzrul, itupun dua-tiga orang saja. Pernah sekali bila saya balik rumah, mereka membuat prank-call dari telefon awam matrikulasi, menyamar menjadi orang yang tidak saya kenal. Akan tetapi mereka menggunakan nama Adzrul, terus saya dapat tahu siapa mereka sebenarnya, tapi time tu saya played along lah. Kui kui kui....
Nikmokhd - Apabila orang Rusia berusaha memanggil nama pertama dan kedua saya, beginilah jadinya. Saya meletak huruf K di dalam nama itu kerana bahasa Russia tiada bunyi seperti bunyi huruf H, tetapi ada pula bunyi seperti "Kh". Pelik kan? Misalnya Ahmad akan jadi Akhmad, Mohamad jadi Mokhamad. Sudahlah begitu, mereka juga tidak tahu yang "Mohd." itu singkatan kepada Muhammad/Mohammad. Jadi mereka main hentam sajalah panggil saya Nikmokhd. Mula-mula tu saya betulkan juga, lama-lama saya malas. Saya minta saja dipanggil "Nik", mereka pun lagi suka sebab lebih mudah. Lagi haru sekiranya mereka terkeliru dengan huruf H, kerana di Russia bentuk huruf H mereka bunyinya seperti huruf "N". Jadi "Nik Mohd." kadang-kadang jadi seperti "Nikmon".....seperti spesis Digimon pula. Nak terbatuk saya pertama kali dipanggil begitu, sebab saya juga minat anime tersebut. Hahaha.
Abang Az - Nama panggilan yang dicipta Aysha. Habis semua kawan-kawan perempuan satu batchnya memanggil saya sebegini. Tak mengapalah, dah empat tahun beza tahun pembelajaran. Groupmates saya kadang-kadang suka menyakat saya dengan nama ini juga.
Begitulah ceritanya, saya dan nicknames saya. Panjang juga entry kali ni.
Satu lagi pesanan penaja: cerita-cerita Euro Trip 2008 sudahpun tamat. Saya ada banyak masa lagi sementara menunggu graduation ceremony dan urusan penterjemahan ijazah saya, jadi saya terfikir untuk bercerita pula pengalaman-pengalaman semasa pergi ke Mesir dan United Kingdom dulu-dulu. Tapi yang mana satu dahulu yang para pembaca semua hendak tahu dahulu? Pilihlah ya.
Euro Trip 2008 - Days 8 & 9 - Return to Stockholm and Helsinki
Warning: Picture-heavy entry!
DAY 8: 3rd FEBRUARY 2008 - Return to Stockholm, Sweden.
In Stockholm we didn't bother taking lots of photos there because we had done so the first time we were here, and it was just too cold to do so.
We were left to explore the city on our own again. So off we went.
The first thing we saw was lots of ducks and swans. They weren't a lot of them when we were here before.
I like this shot so I include this here.
The Norrbro Bridge, or North Bridge - is one of the oldest bridges in Stockholm, and one of the first bridges to be built by stone. Since its completion in 1806 it's been one of the most important bridges in Stockholm.
The first time we were here we went to the Old Town part of Stockholm, so this time around we opted to explore the 'newer' side of the city where all the shopping malls and shops were at. Had a look around, window-shopping and such after a dose of our usual meals (McD's).
Lounging around. It was nicer to stay indoor where it was warmer, although coming from Russia we should have gotten used to the bitter cold - in Kursk alone the temperature can drop all the way to -30"C during the peak of winter.
We couldn't stay inside the shopping mall forever so we walked around again. No maps, no directions, just pure instinct.
I bet in summer people were queuing up to get on these boats. In winter though, nobody but us were around here.
Then we went back to the Old Town because I wanted to get some more souvenirs. I like Stockholm so much I wanted to buy more souvenirs. And we still had time to do so.
A Viking statue we found. Sweden is known as the Land of the Vikings.
The Old Town at night.
Then it was time to leave Stockholm to catch our cruiser to Finland. It was from the same cruiser line Silja, but we only spent little time exploring around this ship. Just went to the cafe to grab a bite, the shops to buy something to munch and then headed back to our designated cabin to sleep. It had been two days since we last had proper beds to sleep on so we made use of it - afterward it was a day at Helsinki and a whole day journey back to Kursk.
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DAY 9: 4th FEBRUARY 2008 - Return to Helsinki, Finland.
After disembarking on Turku, the bus brought us back to Helsinki. We reached there in the afternoon, stopping at the Helsinki Central Railway Station before letting us roam the city on our own. This place would be our checkpoint to come back later.
So off we went to explore the city, which we hadn't done the first time we were here. We got our usuals (McD's) for brunch, then it was time to look for souvenirs. First things first, since we hadn't bought any Finland souvenirs as mementos of the trip.
The Svenska Teatren, or Swedish theater - the first national stage in Finland.
When it comes to looking for souvenirs, we had as hard of a time as we had when we were at Hamburg. Luckily a Finnish guy we asked pointed us to this place - Stockmann Department Store at Christmas Street. He said that it's the only place he knows where souvenirs are sold. What's interesting about Stockmann is the fact that it is the largest department store in the Nordic countries (Northern Europe countries Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland).
We got what we were looking for, it was time to do some sight-seeing around town.
Mr.-Ugly-Faces statue. I don't know what are these actually, they were just there along the street.
Some monument. It was just there, no explanation, nil. nada, zilch. Good for the snap-happies, though.
European countries had a lot of statues and monuments. It wasn't really a strange sight, even Kursk had a few statues looking like the one in this pic, but my camera had loads of space to spare so what the heck, right?
I guess in summer this boat/yacht must be in high demand. In winter all it is good at is for travelers like us to snap some pics with.
Found a stall selling souvenirs as we walked around. The deal was good, the stuffs sold weren't as attractive. Just browsed around here, snapped some pics, and left.
The cruiser that took us to Finland from Sweden was like that one in the background.
All of a sudden these guys had caught a duck! Poor duck.
The Green Tram is one of Helsinki's unique landmarks.
Looks like these kids had school to attend to, while we were still on our holidays.
Finland is where Nokia phones originated. We didn't get to go to the manufacturing factory, so we made do by snapping some pics in front of one of many Nokia shops around here.
Finally, a place bearing the name Helsinki.
Then it was time to head back to our checkpoint. Around the same area was the Finnish National Theater. The others were already heading back to the bus while I was still busy snap-happying myself around the square.
It was really a great trip. Before deciding to join this trip I had earlier planned to go to Paris on my own. But something came up and I was forced to cancel. So I quickly looked for other options and put my name in this trip. I never regretted it. This being my last chance to have a look around European countries before I complete med school, I'm glad that I have chosen this trip to follow it. And more importantly, I had a blast spending time with the younger ones during the trip (in my group of six, I was the only 6th year, the other five were 3rd years), for we didn't get to do it often back at Kursk due to different schedules and hostels and the like.
Ahh...fond memories.
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My Tomorrow
C'mon, start running now, to a place that's not on maps
Things to be afraid of, there are none
Only courage can be put into a little chest
In the rain, I'm alone
The insides of my pockets are empty
But I'm only looking forward
Open the unknown door to the other side of the world
Advance, advance, I'm not lost anymore
C'mon, start running now to a place that's not on maps
Things to be afraid of, there are none
Because it's only the now that can create tomorrow
Take off, My faraway Tomorrow
From the valley of buildings, the wind blows through
On a night when even stars disappeared
My clenched hands are trembling
But I'm looking up at the sky
In the flowing time, to the things that I truly want
Hold on, hold, unhesitatingly
The day when the clear brilliance will envelope me will come
Because surely, surely, I'll be able to change
C'mon, start running now, on this path that I chose
Not something that looks like it, I wouldn't want that
Since only I can create the future
Wake up, My new Tomorrow
Start running now, on this path that I chose
Not something that looks like it, I wouldn't want that
Since only I can create the future
Wake up, My new Tomorrow
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Hi. Just a 'theme song' to what I'm feeling after my title as a student has been relinquished automatically after completing yesterday's exam. Take a look at the translation of the song and you'll see what I mean.
To my understanding the song speaks of one who is optimistically looking forward for their future ahead, despite thinking that they might not really be prepared for it. They assure themselves that there are nothing to be afraid about, and that only by taking that one step ahead we can chart our course for a better tomorrow.
Truly inspirational. And that comes from an anime theme song.
***
P/S: the language flow of the translated version of the song might be a bit awkward and jerky at times, but that's because the translator has translated the song word for word. And the video shows the shortened version of the theme song.
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A Journey's End, A New Beginning
The scene after our final paper this morning.
"Hey doctor!"
"Yo, doc!"
"How did you do, doctor?"
"How was your questions, doctor?"
"Wanna go celebrate, doctor?"
"Come-lah let's celebrate, we are doctors now, after six years!"
Doctor this, doctor that. The truth is, we've completed our finals today, and like Dr. Mel mentioned in her blog, we rocked it. Well, actually she said she rocked it but all in all, we all rocked the exam in our own ways. The exam has been unpredictable at best, but it all worked out fine eventually.
So after slaving ourselves for three long weeks (kononnye lah kan?) three officially newly-titled-before-graduating doctors decided to go celebrate. Two of them had set it as a date earlier but soon decided that the more, the merrier. But many wanted to go home to just relax, catch on some well-deserved sleep after juggling between studying and Euro 2008 final match. So that just left the three of us from Group 10 - Dr. Adz, Dr. Ahmad and Dr. Anna. Even our names all start with letter 'A'. Cool!
At first we went to Manesh but changed our mind when we got there, deciding to go to the new Italian restaurant Chantal instead. Ahmad was recommending it since he and Umi went there just the day before - delicious foods with affordable prices. He even had booked with the restaurant to host our group's graduation dinner with the groupmates' family members who will be arriving soon. Since Anna and I have not been to Chantal before but have heard of it, we decided that Chantal it is.
The ambiance is definitely welcoming here in this posh restaurant. We were welcomed cordially and since the house was rather empty as it wasn't even lunch time yet we got to choose wherever we'd like to seat. We eventually settled by sitting near the window to enjoy the view outside.
The waiter came promptly and took our orders, recommending some of the house's specialty and whatever that he deemed as delicious because we couldn't really make up our mind, only telling him to mention about the vegetarian and seafood stuffs. We eventually settled for seafood pizza between Anna and Ahmad, three seafood spaghetti, a jug of Vinograd and I wanted an extra drink because I was thirsty so I asked the waiter to recommend a chilled cocktail for me. Finally we chose the desserts, and the waiter left. We were left playing with our cameras.
The drinks came first. Here are what I have ordered.
Ooo... Vinograd poured in wine-glass some more. After tasting the somewhat bitter but okay-ish cocktail I decided to call it 'Spiked' and the Vinograd retained its name. Cooling to the throat lah, suitable for a warm afternoon. **
Seafood pizza. Actually this is shared between Anna and Ahmad but I got to sample a slice. Okay-lah, but I preferred Zharpizza's still. But this is good too.
Tu dia Ahmad makan pizza....dengan penuh etiquette sekali. Biasa orang makan dengan tangan jer...hehehe.
Seafood spaghetti. This is NICE! Very filling, very delicious, no complaints.Well, actually I initially got one complaint. Mine was the first to arrive, and I was already impressed, but when Ahmad's and Anna's spaghettis came I saw that theirs had more gravy and looked twice as better. And they tasted better too because they were gravy laden.
Tak puas hatilah!
So what did I do?
Decided to be a bit bratty but still calmly and nicely I asked the waiter whether I could have more gravy. Probably a weird request but then I pointed at my friends' spaghetti and sadly pointed at mine. Point taken, I suppose, when the waiter assured me that he'd see what he could do.
Five minutes later he returned with a small cup of gravy. For me! Yay! Then only my spaghetti also is twice as delicious. Hehehe.
My dessert, recommended by the waiter - Ice Cream a la Chantal. Basically chocolate and vanilla ice-creams topped with syrup and whipped cream and a wafer. Nice.
Anna's Tiramisu.
My drinks and dessert, after the meal. Tiramisu's not mine. Just felt like posing with it. I can't stand Tiramisu truthfully. Give me ice-creams anytime.Nampak selekeh sikitlaa...penat wooo study semalaman tak dapat tidur, bila nak tidur lepas subuh pun macam insomnia je, tau2 dah pukul 7 bila roommate kejutkan. Mamai je bila nak siap-siap gi exam, siap ala kadar je lah, takde extra point utk appearance pun haha... nama pun written exam. Kalau viva pun....sama je. So hentam je lah.
Anna posing with her Tiramisu which she alone struggled to finish up.Serius kena layan macam anak raja. Well technically I am 'anak raja' as my groupmates loved to point out but anak papa saya Encik Raja Azlan lah ye, bukan putera raja.
We thought of giving the 'nice brotherly waiter as Anna put it' tips for excellent service. Then we saw the bill. 10% service charge. Heheh, patutlah sangat-sangat baik. But anyway he deserved that 10%.
How much the whole meal cost us? Hmm...dunno about my friends but my bill was Rb536. That's...roughly RM77. Spaghetti, Vinograd, Spiked, Chantal icecream... for Kursk's standard this was okaylah. But kalau kat Malaysia jaranglah nak makan mahal2 camni, pergi food court je. But today is a special occasion so takpelah kan. Bukan selalu pun. We left the restaurant with full stomachs feeling very satisfied.
After this I'm gonna eat at home for the next eight days, until the graduation dinner. :D
** Vinograd = Grape Juice. Tapi kalau Vino = wine.
** Spiked = Lime cocktail with mint and ice.