Supervisory visit to Sri Aman and Betong

Onlookers,

I took up the chance to visit my Sri Aman abode by volunteering for a supervisory visit there and Betong.

It was an excellent feeling to come back and I was warmly greeted by familiar faces. Two main questions that were asked: “why lost so much weight!?” And “are you married!?”

Hillarious!

After seeing 72 out of 111 outpatient and 6 inpatients, we resumed our day with an hour of CME about a transfer checklist. I went home later to see a superficial defect in my master bedroom probably due to aircond leak😭. I ended the day with dinner with Kak Pija and family.

The next day was the trip to Betong. All 42 cases came and we ended at 1pm. After lunch, prayers, inpatient visit and CME, I headed home to Kuching which took 3.5 hours drive.

I felt more useful and appreciated in district setting. I guess id be happier in August 😊

Hunting Weekend

Onlookers, I would say that last weekend (7-8 feb) is one of the most fruitful ones I’ve had as it fulfilled most of my alter egoes. The puzzleteir, the hobbyist, the kiddoc, the explorer, and the foodie. (5 of 10! Not bad!) I travelled to KL for the weekend with return tickets worth RM199.00 with the aim to bring back a portion of my belongings back to kuching. I reached KLIA at midnight and reached my Kl abode around 1 am. It was nice to see my best bud again. He was stressed out at work and i think really needed this break. I packed up some things that i need to bring back to Kuching (including two new game boxes).

The next day, we finished first in THS KL leg 2 treasure hunt in Bangsar.

We had lunch at marmalade BV and rushed to Kamal Medical Bookstore, to buy some books. We then headed to my eldest sis place after picking up my second sister who arrived from Penang.

Two rounds of Blood Bowl later, we headed home to rest.

Woke up early to start our journey from KL to Ipoh for the second hunt. It took 2.5 hours to reach there with ample time for breakfast and subuh pitstop. We were 3rd in the Ipoh hunt, beaten by 2 penangite teams.

We drove from ipoh to KLIA and had burger King there. My flight was at 10.20pm and I had ample time to eat my favourite chocolate banana cake from Secret Recipe. 😁👍

I reached home at midnight only to prepare for supervisory visit to Sri Aman and Betong the next day…👍👍 I just love it if i had the chance to fully utilize my time 😍😍✌️

Prosperous 2015

Onlookers, Its the 7th day of January and yet i haven’t uploaded a single blog entry :(. My Turkey trip entry was put on hold. A lot of things are happening very fast. Post Turkey trip, I had 5 days to pack up my 4.5 years of life in bags and boxes and fly back to my hometown. During this MAS flight only had i known that Malaysian airlines only accept two pieces of checked in luggage with a combined weight of 30 kg. Even if the first two pieces of luggage is lighter than 30 kg, the 3rd luggage is considered an excess baggage and therefore charged extra. (MAS would waive this if you are a Gold Enrich member). Since I am only holding a blue Enrich card, I shall strive to fly more to earn more points so that next time, i don’t need to wrap my two boxes into one, to create an illusion of a two piece luggage…Lol

My flight was on December 30th at midnight and the very next day the whole family agreed for a new year eve barbecue. We were a complete set of 10 this new year, and we had a feast of lamb, chicken, fish and grilled brinjal.

The get-together didn’t stop there when on new year day we were served the best Laksa Sarawak in Kuching; homemade by my sister in law :).

And on January 4th seafood galore at Lim Hock Ann! The must-haves here were Midin in Shrimp-paste and Sea-cucumber soup. 😉

Before our farewell to my sisters, bro in law and niece, we had a buffet dinner at Waterfront Cafe Hilton Kuching. The cafe had a wide selection of chicken, beef, lamb, fish, duck, octopus and salmon sashimi, crab, crawfish, jelly fish and an array of dishes and desserts (including a chocolate fountain!). My top 3 dishes here were the jelly fish, stir fried lamb and cauliflower gratin. (pic of buffet) It was an excellent start (of feast and festivities ;))) for 2015. Looking back at 2014 and the previous awal muharram post, Several things had been achieved and some will be carried forward. I have settled on my 10 alter-egoes with a superior character to rule them all (courtesy from Lord of the Rings…) The Khalif – The one who rule them all, will try to be a good Muslim, a good son and brother, as well as a good person in general. 1. The Explorer -Achievements in 2014; Hot air balloon in Cappadocia Turkey, island hopped in Lombok, visited Jump street PJ, dined in the Dark, and watched a stand-up comedy show among others. Still a lot more in my KL list… 2015, will probably see me in Royal Belum Resort, Myanmar weekend getaway, Langkawi, and a transborneo trip. Any long distance travel? Haj perhaps? 2. The Foodie – I have been uploading lots of food pictures on Instagram. Perhaps it is time for a review on the food scenes in Kuching. 3. The Hobbyist – Mainly board gaming, and sometimes computer/ipad games. Joined 2014 BGC retreat. will surely join again this year! Will try to set up a boardgame community in Kuching. Will try to finish Mice and Mystics somehow… 4. The Puzzletier – Mainly treasure hunting and iPad puzzle games. Will update myself on happenings in HNN and probably join 2-3 hunts in KL/Penang 5. The Cinephile – Will try and continue my movie reviews 6. The Philanthropist – have to complete my Mercy training this year 7. The Kiddoc – Mrcpch2b? still a mystery… and a publication pending. More journal reads this year for self improvement 8. The Gentleman – Mandarin class will start tomorrow. YAY! Swimming? Guitar lessons? Maybe when i go to Sri Aman, ill apply for one of these classes. Will also try to read more! Lose more weight! (the same goal each year for the past umpteenth years…:P) 9. The Author – will stick to my goal to blog at least an entry per week… daily entry seem a bit too much (although doable). Short story? Probably will start when Im in the district workplace… Website called “All on Kuching”? I need a partner who share the same goal to make this project work. 10. The Entrepreneur – Wisma Mardawi, land clearing and reclamation, one of these (a shophouse near Swinburne, or a beach house in Lundu). I also plan to paint the gates of Nalissa, and fully furnish Catanonia. I pray that 2015 will continue to be filled with blessings and devoid of calamities.

Turkey Trip 2 (Bursa – Canakkale)

Onlookers,

Day 3 (16122014)

Breakfast started at 7am and we had a feast at Kervansaray Hotel. Turks seem to have a staple diet of soup, bread, olives and cheese.

It was 0800 when we departed by bus to Canakkale (aka ceramic castle). The temperature was 6 degrees Celcius.

The ride took 4.5 hours and it was again foggy most of the way. Towards the last hour of the ride the fog cleared and the view of marble sea was magnificent. We were also entertained by the tour guide, Ali, with the legend of Troy.

Troy is also known as the land of 9 cities. When we reached Troy, the ruins were marked into eras, between 3000 BC to 600 AD, of each cities built, ruined either by war or calamities and then rebuilt by anothe civilization.

Why is it so popular? Is it merely because of the beautiful Helen? 👸 The guide informed us that Troy is a port of landing to wait for wind, as most of the ship at that time uses sails. The location is strategic at tartanellus strait because it connects Aegean Sea from Europe to the Marble Sea and subsequently to the black Sea through Bosphorus strait towards Russia.

We reached Wilusa restaurant at 12.30 for lunch. We had soup and salad, kebab and cheesecake for dessert. It is sad that i can seem to see a pattern of the Turkish lunch set now (it is only Day 3 of 12!!! 😳). It was 14 degrees.

Troy was a vast area of rubbles. It was preserved well, but there was no obvious plan to rebuild the area. I think it is complicated enough to excavate and differentiate 9 cities from the ruins. The main attraction here was the famous Trojan horse (original size but not the original horse).

We finished the field trip in Troy at
1500 and headed towards Tusan Hotel in Canakkale. After check-in, we had a stroll towards the pool and beach. The pool was not well kept, probably because of winter season, but i dont think that made it right to leave moss-filled water in it! 🙊. The beach was well… also not well preserved. My postulation is that this Tartanellus strait is a busy waterway, and therefore a lot of rubbish should be expected in the sea… 😒

It was dark by 1700 and we has dinner in Tusan Hotel restaurant at 1830. Again the same entre of soup and salad, but there was an extra vegetarian popiah included. Lucky, the main dish was grilled mackarel and the selection of dessert was awesome! We called it a night at 8pm, there was nothing much around this strait side of Canakkale.

Turkey Trip (Istanbul-Bursa)

Onlookers,

Day 1 (14122014)
The three most eligible bachelors, started our journey started our journey early (unlike most times 😅) at 1730 KL time. We rode a taxi to KLIA for a fee of RM65.00. We were scheduled to meet Miss Hanim, the ground manager, for flight check in at 2000. After that, the 12 hours flight (TK61) took off at 2330 local time (GMT +8).

Turkish airline has a wide selection of entertainment. I managed to watch 3
movies that i missed on cinema (Secret life of Walter Mitty, Life of Pi & Sucker Punch). Looking forward to watch Benjamin Button on the return flight. 😁 We had two meals which were good. However, there were a few things lacking in this flight were, unfriendly hostesses, small leg space and the way they distributed bread were as if giving it to the homeless 😖.

We arrived at 0430 (GMT +2), 1 hour ahead of schedule. The landing was superb!

Day 2 (15122014)
It was 9 degrees celcius in Istanbul when we landed. There was nothing extraordinary about the airport but i was quite surprised of the lax of immigration security (given the current ISIS scare). No visa required and no declaration document needed to be filled upon arrival.

We had our subuh prayers at a nearby mosque and boarded the wifi-equipped tour bus along with 33 others heading to Bursa at 0600

It was a foggy day, and the ride to Bursa took 3.5 hours including a 40 minutes ferry ride across Marble Sea.
On board the ferry, we ate bazlama (a kebab bread fillled with salami and cheese and drank sahlep, i hot, sweet, creamy beverage.

In Bursa, we visited 2 places namely the Green mosque and the Green tomb, both constructed around 1421 by Sultan Belthazor (spell check required😅). We strolled towards a nearby pastry house and bought some delicacies and Turkish delight. Lunch was held at Yuce Hunkar at 11.30. We had Iskandar kebab and caramel pudding which were surprisingly delish!

We then headed to the grand mosque (ulu cami) at 12.30, and was told about the tales of 20 domes by our guide. Belthazor once vowed, that if he won the war, he will build 20 mosques, and when he did, he was dumbfounded about the location of all these mosques. The idea of this 20-domed mosques were proposed by one of his scholars.

Beside the mosque was a huge bazaar called Silk Bazaar. It was neverending with multiple sections including shoes, jeweleries and fresh market. The merchants there are fierce looking but not demanding/forcing. We only saw beggars towards the end of the walk.

We checked in at Kervansaray Hotel at 2.30pm and rested our tired bodies. Dinner at 7pm was at the hotel and it was also superb. Luckily that all of us were calorie conscious now, so we dont eat that much anymore. (Aging process, perhaps…🙊).

The night walk around the hotel area was our final activity before we called it a day. The cold breeze was biting into our skin and therefore we rushed back to the hotel.

Cant wait for whats next! 😊👍

Farm in the City

Onlookers,

Located in Seri Kembangan, Selangor, this is a petting Zoo not far from the heart of KL. I went there on 05122014 with Maia my niece, sis and bro in law. We sang Old McDonalds in the car, but apparently all that Old McDonalds had in his farm were chickens! (According to Maia…😂)

However, Farm in The City, offered more than chickens of course. There were sections like Bird Aviary, Reptiles, rabbit farm, and a duck lake. We were greeted at the entrance by two giant tortoises who were in a spinach eating frenzy. 😅

The highlights of the place were an albino skunk and the uncrushable ostrich eggs among others…they also have Timone!

It is an excellent place to introduce little children to harmless beings and provide desensitization by allowing them to pet these animals. However, it required better maintenance; it smelt really bad. For the entrance fee of RM30 that mykad holders need to pay, i had expected a cleaner petting zoo.

Magnum Cafe

Onlookers,

Magnum Cafe has landed in Kuala Lumpur since November 14th 2014 and I was eyeing for it ever since! If one knows the richness of the Magnum ice cream, that person can only imagine what a whole Cafe could offer! 😍 (there goes our diet…)

As one of my to-do list in KL, i went there at tea time yesterday with two of my colleagues and saw the queue was out of this world! (I blame the school hols) It is situated in Mid Valley Mega Mall, 3rd floor beside GSC Cinema. As we queued and asked the waitress, lo and behold, it is a two storey shop. The first floor is mainly ice creams with toppings for takeaway or having it in the side bar, whilst the second floor is for dine-in alongside some hot cuisine (eg soup, pasta, salad etc).

The queue on the second floor was much shorter (i blame the customers’ ignorance 😁). In less than 2 minutes, we were seated and ordered…

I even met a group of my staff there 😊

The food was excellent but you’ll definitely experience the sugar rush. I dont think its wise to order a dish for each person, but instead the group should order 1 dish and share to prevent sugar and chocolate overload. For choc lovers… This is definitely a place to go!