Kuching ooo Kuching

Pengembaraan saya bermula di Melaka Sentral pada awal pagi menaiki Bas Ekspress Transnational ke LCCT dan kemudian naik pula penerbangan AirAsia ke Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuching… Cuaca di Kuching sangat bagus (langit cerah dan suhu 32*c je, x panas macam semenanjung).

Sepanjang di Kuching, saya menginap kat homestay dan bersiar2 dengan kereta yang disewa. Ni bukan homestay rumah panjang tuh tapi homestay rumah biasa je kat taman perumahan…

Tempat-tempat menarik yang saya dah lawati :

Waterfront Kuching

Cultural Village

Muzium Sarawak

• Waterfront Kuching – Kawasan tebing Sungai Sarawak yang dibangunkan dengan cantik. Kat sini boleh tengok bangunan-bangunan cantik di seberang sungai seperti Astana dan Bangunan DUN Sarawak.
• Muzium Sarawak – Masuk percuma tapi tempat untuk parking sangat terhad. Dalam muzium ni boleh tahan jugaklah. Banyak pasal cara hidup etnik-etnik Bumiputera Sarawak dan pasal spesis-spesis haiwan kat Sarawak… 
• Muzium Seni – Kat sebelah Muzium Sarawak je 
• Jalan India – walking distance je dari waterfront. macam bazar je tapi barang yang dijual x menarik sangat r, bukan barang-barang spesel Sarawak 
• Muzium Tekstil – Muzium ni menarik tapi tak ramai sangat orang coz kurang promosi. Banyak tunjuk pasal baju-baju dan perhiasan etnik-etnik berbeza di Sarawak 
• Muzium Kucing – ini kat bangunan Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara yang kat atas bukit tuh. Kalau anda peminat kucing, jangan lupa datang sini, tapi pameran kucing jelah, xde kucing hidup kat sini... Koleksi barang-barang yang bermotifkan kucing memang banyak... 
• Fort Marguerita – Dekat je dengan Bangunan DUN Sarawak, mengadap sungai tapi xde access road untuk kereta buat masa nih (kena berjalan kaki dalam 400m). pemandangan dari tempat ni cantik 
• Main Bazar – juga within walking distance dari waterfront. Kat sini ada banyak kedai cenderahati, ada kedai bukak sampai pukul 8 malam, jadi xperlu rush sangat. Memang banyak pilihan, ambil masa jugak r nak pilih barang-barang untuk dibeli (rambang mata)… huhu 
• Tasik Biru, Pekan Bau – tasik ni serius betul-betul biru pekat, x nampak jelas dasar tasik tapi boleh nampak baying-bayang gunung lagi dalam tasik nih.. Cantik, tapi boleh tengok jelah, x boleh pancing dan mandi kerana tinggi sangat kandungan arsenik dalam air tasik nih… Mungkin arsenik tu yang buat air jadi warna biru pekat kut…  
• Cultural Village Sarawak – ni memang tempat yang mesti pergi kalau kat Sarawak. Bayaran masuk RM60 untuk dewasa, RM25 untuk orang yang lahir kat Sarawak (cam saya), dan RM15 untuk student universiti (kena tunjuk student card)… Ada banyak rumah-rumah setiap etnik di Sarawak… Dalam setiap rumah tu ada tour guide yang akan terangkan pasal cara hidup setiap etnik tuh, perbezaan rumah-rumah panjang etnik berbeza etc… Yang paling menarik adalah persembahan kebudayaan etnik2 sarawak setiap hari pada pukul 11 pagi dan pukul 4 petang je… 
• Pasar Satok – sini tempat membeli ikan terubok masin yang terkenal dari Sarawak tuh
• Kilang Pasu Sarawak

Barang-barang special yg biasa pelancong beli kat Kuching pulak adalah: 

• pasu Sarawak 
• Kek Lapis Sarawak
• ikan terubok masin
• lada hitam
• kraftangan ukiran kayu
• nanas
• kain pua
• batik sarawak
• etc 

Selepas 5 hari 4 malam di Kuching, kami pulang dengan bagasi2 yang berat... Jangan lupa, limit berat bagasi untuk AirAsia adalah 20kg je, so kalau nak shopping tuh agak2 lah k...

Kesimpulannya, Kuching memang destinasi percutian yang menarik... Harap-harap ada orang yang membaca entry nih dan tertarik untuk mengunjungi Kuching satu hari nanti... Huhu... Selamat bercuti

Rancangan Malaysia ke-10 : Apa yg saya rasa korang perlu tahu....

Beberapa minggu lepas, PM Najib telah mengumumkan rancangan Malaysia ke -10 yang merupakan blueprint untuk pembangunan Malaysia untuk 5 tahun yang akan datang... Dah lama saya nak post blog entry nih tapi sibuk bercuti dan tiada akses internet 2 minggu sebelum nih... Teks asal ucapan PM memang panjang berjela-jela tapi saya x baca semua pun, pilih yg berkaitan jelah kan... Berikut adalah sedikit ringkasan berkenaan subtopik yg menarik minat saya:

Subtopik : Peningkatan Kompetensi Graduan

·                  employability akan dijadikan satu daripada KPI universiti. Penyediaan peruntukan kewangan kepada universiti akan bergantung kepada sejauh mana universiti mencapai KPI yang ditetapkan.

·                  Kerajaan akan memberi autonomi kepada universiti secara berperingkat bagi mengukuhkan peranan dan  prestasi universiti.

·                  Kualiti staf akademik akan dipertingkatkan dengan menambah peratusan staf akademik berkelulusan PhD, iaitu 75 peratus bagi Universiti Penyelidikan atau Research University, dan 60 peratus  bagi universiti awam lain.

·                  sebuah lagi IPTA sudah diiktiraf sebagai universiti penyelidikan iaitu UTM.

Subtopik : Meningkatkan kecekapan pengangkutan awam

·                  Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD) telah  ditubuhkan sebagai agensi tunggal yang bertanggungjawab bagi  merancang, mengawal selia dan menguatkuasa sistem serta operasi  pengangkutan awam darat.

·                  projek mega Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) berkapasiti tinggi.

·                  Pembinaan terminal bas dan rel seperti Terminal Pengangkutan Bersepadu Gombak juga akan dilaksanakan bagi memastikan  kelancaran perjalanan pengangkutan awam.

·                  sistem Bas Rapid Transit akan diperkenalkan di Wilayah Iskandar

Subtopik: Kemapanan alam sekitar tanggungjawab kita

·                  Penekanan  akan diberi kepada penggunaan tenaga boleh diperbaharu (renewable energy) dan  peningkatan kecekapan tenaga (energy efficiency).

·                  Kerajaan akan  memperkenalkan Feed in Tariff dan Dana Tenaga Boleh Diperbaharu  bagi menggalakkan perkembangan aplikasi tenaga boleh  diperbaharu.

·                  menggalakkan  pewujudan peluang ekonomi daripada usaha pemuliharaan alam  sekitar (contohnya, eko-pelancongan).

·                  menggalakkan pewujudan perumahan mesra  alam dengan memperkenalkan Garispanduan serta sistem penarafan  hijau. Putrajaya dan Cyberjaya akan dijadikan model perintis bagi  bandar hijau contoh.

·                  Kerajaan juga akan menerajui usaha  melaksanakan piawaian bangunan hijau. Bangunan baru Kerajaan  akan direkabina untuk mematuhi piawaian bangunan hijau.  Kecekapan tenaga bangunan sedia ada Kerajaan juga akan  ditambahbaik, dan sebagai contoh suri tauladan, bangunan Pejabat Perdana Menteri akan dinaiktaraf untuk mematuhi penarafan hijau  Gold Standard.

Sekarang kita sama2 tunggu dan lihat implementation cadangan2 kat atas ni pulak... sama ada berjaya atau tak...

Spending time together

"Life was about spending time together, about having the time to walk together holding hands, talking quietly as the sun go down. It wasn't glamorous, but it was, in many ways, the best that life has to offer..."

ps: untuk yg dh berkahwin saja yerk... :P

Menonton SUKMA "live" bersama TYT Melaka

Akhirnya, saya dah pun gi menonton SUKMA secara “live”... dan game yg saya tengok tidak lain tidak bukan adalah gimnastik... Kenapa gimnastik yer? Kenapa bukan acara lain kan? Sebab, tempat acara gimnastik tu Politeknik Merlimau, paling dekat ngan rumah saya (xde sebab lain ok)...

Actually teringin gak nak tengok acara lain cam wushu or basketball, tp jauh plak venue dia, malas r... Walaupun bukan peminat tegar gimnastik, tapi lepas dah tengok, ada r timbul minat sedikit sebanyak...

Kami (me and my friend) sampai2 je kat depan Dewan Platinum (venue), ternampak lah truk Milo... Dengan x malunye, kami pun gi r beratur ngan atlet2 gimnastik dan coach2 utk minum milo free... Huhu... Minum milo dulu, baru bersemangat sikit nak menonton sukan kan... huhu

Lepas tuh, naik ke tempat duduk penonton kat tingkat atas dewan tu... Mula2 masuk x ramai sangat pun, banyak penyokong2 kontinjen je, setengah jam lepas tuh, penuh giler, sampai duduk atas simen pun ada... Penonton2 yang ada kamera DSLR pulak lagi semangat, duk bersila atas simen kat depan sekali... TYT Gabenor Melaka pun dtg tgk acara nih, tp dia dpt tempat special r...

Acara yg kami tengok pagi ni adalah acara “Gimnastik LELAKI Perseorangan”... Maksudnya setiap peserta yg layak kena melengkapkan beberapa acara sebelum jadi pemenang...

Acara gimnastik apa yg ada?

Ada acara kekuda pelana, senam lantai, gelang, palang sejajar, palang tunggal, melombol... Memang pelik pulak nama2 dalam bahasa Melayu ni kan, tp ni acara yg biasa2 kita tengok kat tv je... Kalau korang google gambar acara2 nih, faham kut, x payah penerangan...

Ada atlet tu kecik n muda giler, macam form one je badan dia, tp setanding ngan atlet2 lain... Overall, semua atlet lelaki gimnastik semua muda2, kebanyakannya nampak macam umur2 baru lepas SPM camtu... Xde peserta yg dah berumur masuk sukan gimnastik, mungkin sebab joints dah kurang fleksibel bila umur meningkat...

Semua acara pun menarik... my favourite one would be palang tunggal... Kagum giler...

Lama gak r kitaorang tgk, dari pagi sampailah lunch break... Pastu, bila lunch break, atlet2 ni suma duk berkumpul ngan kontinjen2 diaorang kat tempat penonton... Dapat r tengok atlet2 yg hebat beraksi secara berdepan, tp xde r nak mintak autograph ke ape kan... tengok camtu jelah... Atlet2 ni walaupun hebat beraksi, tapi diaorang macam orang biasa je kat luar gelanggang...

Walaupun berharap dapat masuk tv or sumthing, tapi x kesampaian hajat nih... Banyak gak media datang, tv3 pun ada, tapi sebab penonton dah diletak jauh kat tingkat atas, jadi, hancur harapan nak terselit masuk tv... huhu

Lepas tuh, kami pun gi makan tengahari kat kedai Wan Mansor... Lepas makan lunch, balik berehat, menulis blog entry nih... Menarik tak? Kan saya dh ajak menonton SUKMA, meh dtg melaka, tp kalau leceh, tgk kat tv pun boleh..

Ps: terima kasih kpd encik fadhil yg sanggup pergi menemani saya menonton SUKMA... Kat bwh ni video yg saya rakam dari jauh, so kualiti x bagus sgt r... enjoy...

NoGAPS 2010

It has been weeks since NoGAPS 2010 and I still haven’t write anything about that memorable event, so I think I should start soon before I forgot sweet juicy details of the programme…

NoGAPS is the “national gathering of pharmacy students”, the largest gathering and most important event involving Malaysian pharmacy students from all pharmacy schools all over Malaysia… The activities were mostly having fun with a little bit of serious pharmacy-related time…

This biannual (but already turned into annual event) was hosted by different pharmacy schools each year and this year it was AIMST University (Sungai Petani) turn (yes, this is the first time an IPTS hosted the event)…

 I went there with Apip and Shamel, taking a ride the legendary Avanza… We arrived at Sungai Petani (Semeling to be precise) late in the evening and headed straight for registration… There were already many participants there… I was grouped into group 4: GREEN…

The accommodation in AIMST was superb… It was like living in an apartment with 11 housemates (divided into 3 rooms)… There was even a common room with sofa… Each apartment unit has 4 bathrooms (with hot shower) and 4 toilets, amazingly comfortable… The bedrooms were ok, all the furniture (bed, desk, chair, huge locker) were brand new… The only downside to this was that there is no privacy between the 4 roommates living in the same room (there is no partition or etc)… Overall I would rate the accommodation as 9 out of 10…

Later that night, the program started with ice-breaking and briefing… As usual, there were games to be played in ice-breaking, it was fun… One particular game that I remembered vividly was finding people who match the description in our paper… Everyone goes around searching and asking for autograph just write name actually… One of the things I signed for was “drive a Honda”, which actually I referred to my Honda Wave… Hahaha

Then, there was opening ceremony which we were presented with performance from the committee… They sang songs from glee… It was like the Malaysian version of glee… It was enjoyable… Dr Syed Azhar was there too (the only other dean from outside of aimst who attended)…

Pharmrace (sort of like explorace with bits of pharmacy in it) was fun…. We ran around Sungai Petani town to solve questions and get to the next checkpoint… The “images” from this race still make me laugh until today (only those who went will understand this).

Community service was done as Rumah Amal Kulim (>1 journey from AIMST). This is a daycare/ school for special children (down syndrome etc)… Here, we did senam aerobic, dancing, sukaneka, teaching children to make lovely cards and watch performances by the children and the participants…

 Patient Counseling Event in which I entered representing IIUM… I made it into the finals, so I guess I’m not as bad as I think I am… It was fun and I really learn a lot…

Symposium with the title “Pharmacy leading the wave of change” was truly inspiring… John Chang even dished out some things which are in the planning for the pharmacy profession… Things like not being restricted to just one premises (thus enabling locum), pharmacist specializing in every medical sub-field etc…

The grand dinner (also closing ceremony) was on the last night of the event. It was colourful as everybody was wearing traditional clothing. Most of the participants wore their own traditional attire but some do other ethnic’s attire… We were assigned to sit at different tables, and my table was the farthest from both entertainment and food (buffet)… There were many cultural performances by the committees, all entertaining… We also got to see Prof Naeem that night (kinda miss him though), he still remembered us (most of us anyway)… huhu

I hoped that the new friendship that was cultivated during this NoGAPS would remain for many more years since we can meet online and in facebook… Some of my new friends are apparently active facebook users which make it a little bit interesting now to be online… I think I’ll try to go to the next NoGAPS in UM next year since this year’s NoGAPS is so much fun…

Without words

I should've just looked away
I should've just ignored it
Like something I couldn't see
LIke something so beneath me
Why did I look at you at all

I should've just ran away
I should've acted like I
Couldn't hear you at all
I wish that I could silence
That voice thats calling out to me

Without a word, you showed me what its like
To feel so alone, then suddenly inside
A feeling overcomes
That I cannot control
I can't escape what i've become

Without a word, this blessing they call love
Turns into a dreaded painful curse
You left me standing here
Threw me away
What can I say? There are no words
You left me without words

Its not been long since then and
I've start a new beginning
But then I seee your face
So close but so far away
My heart it went back again

Without a word, goodbye finds my way
It finds me and it laughs right in my face
The game is set and done
And neither of us won
But I'm the only one in pain

Without a word, you took me by surprise
Without a word, everything 'round us changed
It'll never be the same
O oh no~
My mouth is closed there are no words

Without a word, you took me by surprise
Without a word, everything 'round us changed

Without a word, you showed me what its like
To feel so alone, then suddenly inside
A feeling overcomes
That I cannot control
I can't escape what I've become

Without a word, this blessing they call love
Turns into a dreaded painful curse
You left me standing here
Threw me away
What can I say? There are no words
You left me without words

I should've just ran away
I should've acted like I
Couldn't hear you at all
I wish that I could silence
That voice thats calling out to me

Melanoma

Not too long ago, if i were asked to list the deadliest cancers in the world, i would not have name skin cancer as one of them... But then, in these few months, i have been bombarded with new information about melanoma (skin cancer). The tv shows, books and internet have been increasing the awareness of melanoma in the media, informing people that more and more people are dying from this cancer... Thus, inspiring me to do my bits in spreading information to other people through my writing as well...

What is Melanoma???

Melanoma is a cancer that originates in the pigment-producing cells of the skin (melanocytes). Sunlight stimulates melanocytes to produce more melanin (the pigment that darkens the skin) and increases the risk of melanoma.

It is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, and the number of people affected by it has been increasing faster than any other cancer type over the past 30 years, according to the World Health Organization. Skin cancer annually kills 66,000 people around the world, the WHO said, and 80 percent of these deaths are attributable to melanoma.

As many as 68,000 new cases of melanoma were diagnosed in the United States last year, and about 8,600 people died of the disease. In France, 7,000 cases of melanoma are detected each year, and an average of 1,300 of them have a fatal outcome.

Melanoma can begin as a new, small, pigmented skin growth on normal skin, most often on sun-exposed areas, or it may develop from preexisting pigmented moles. Sometimes melanoma runs in families. Melanoma readily spreads (metastasizes) to distant parts of the body, where it continues to grow and destroy tissue.

Self-screening of Melanoma:

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) touts the following ABCDE’s for self-screening for melanoma. Melanoma can be quickly identified and treated but when ignored is deadly.

· Asymmetry (one half unlike the other half)

· Border (irregular, scalloped or poorly defined)

· Colour (varies from one area to another; shades of tan and brown, black; sometimes white, red or blue)

· Diameter (the size of a pencil eraser or larger)

· Evolving (changing in size, shape or colour)

To give yourself an exam it is best to have a mirror and a flashlight. If you see any of the above irregularities in moles or spots on your skin, consult a dermatologist. Doctors would do a biopsy to confirm the melanoma diagnosis...

Can melanoma be treated???

The less a melanoma has grown into the skin, the greater the chance that surgery will cure it. If diagnosed early, surgery can cure almost 100% of shallow melanomas.

However, melanomas that have grown deeper into the skin have a greater chance to have spread (metastasized) through the lymphatic and blood vessels. Melanomas that have spread are often fatal.

Chemotherapy is used to treat melanomas that have spread, but few are cured. Some of the people treated live for less 9 months. New and experimental treatments such as interleukin-2 and vaccines, which stimulate the body to attack the melanoma cells, have yielded promising results.

Can melanoma be prevented???

Because melanoma is often caused by long-term sun exposure, doctors recommend that people stay out of the sun and use protective clothing and sunscreen, starting in early childhood. It turns out that people who are revealing more skin will have greater exposure to the sun, which increases the risk to get melanoma, so... i think that people can actually imply what i am suggesting here...

People who is at risk of developing melanomas should go for yearly skin examinations. People who have many moles should have total body skin examinations at least once a year.

I would like to conclude that melanoma is very deadly... It is easily preventable (people can actually reduce the risk of getting melanoma) but when diagnosed at a later stage, have less chance for survival... Self-screening can be easily conducted at home and any findings should be referred to the doctors...