08-09

I was thinking the other day bout the past year, and how it has changed my perception, my outlook of life. 2008. A year of many events, many happenings. Both good and bad

The year started off great. Room 502,KDU college penang campus.Ah the memories. I made some of my best friends there, and renewed some very precious friendships. People like Leena, Shobina, Gajen, Nigel, Vanessa, and all of room 502, are very dear to me. They will always be the people who i know i can turn to in times of need. There was my much awaited 18th. My parents threw me a huge party on the beach of the Tanjung Bungah Beach Resort. Everyone room 502 came, and even some doinks like My kutu boy,who despite being and irritationg doink, is one of the nicest people i ever met.

Sharmeen. Sharmeen is one person whom I love. No matter what happens, shes always there. Always supportive,always encouraging. Shes the one who tolerated me for 2 years as desk-mate in secondary school, and shes the one whom ive confided in over the years.

Leena. Leena's the person who's got the most commen sense. Even thought that common sense might ( more often then not) come in the form of the lyrics of a beatles song(:P),shes the one who fetched me to n fro college soo many times last year, and shes the one whos always been there... my fellow debater since school days, the numerous conversations we've had over the years... i'll always treasure those.

Shobi.WOOBY. what would i have done throughout A-Levels if she wasnt there? from thinking of ways to skip class(but enver actually doing it) to keeping me awake in class. Shobi did it all. N now, were in the same country :P

Gajen. Even though he was irritating... with his " MALEH u know what i saw on the way to college today???!!!"...even though wat he saw was a CAR.. yes a CAR.albeit a special car.. but its got 4 wheels and an engine... :P I still cant imagine surviving 18mths in KDU without him LOL

there are so many more from KDU .... each n every one of them having a different impact on my life. Nigel, Janine, Vanessa, Misha... all of them important.. :)

FASTFORWARD.
It was the 14th of September 2008. A day of my life that i will never ever forget. I left home. I left my comfort zone. I left it all behind. I came to a new land, a new place, to study a new course. I took tht great leap.
As I sit here now typing this, I realised tha i worried in vain. I came here, I'm surviving. I adapt, I adopt new ways of life. Im living by myself now, and the independance is at once fulfilling and daunting. I realise the true meaning of the word responsibility.

2008 was a good year. The things that at first seemed to be incredibly horrible, the things that made life seem so bleak, turned out to be positive. It showed me that life often throws the hardest challenges your way, only to enable you to receive the fruit that is truly wonderful. So on a happy note, I bid 2008 farewell and welcome 2009 :)

that is all

the day the auto ran out of petrol on the way back to manipal from udupi

So today.. we went to Udupi after class... my friends wanted tog et some stuff to bring back home ( YESSS WE ARE HEADING HOME IN EXACTLY MONTH!)... and i wanted to get a hot plate/cooker.. cos im so sick of having loads of MASALA in my food. I want simple things.. like steamed fish,basic chicken... things like that.
And the only way to get food like that is to cook it. So thats what im going to do. Cook my own food.

So naturally after shopping, we were laden with bags.. tons n tons of BAGS.
So after dinner we get into this auto, with a very friendly unicle driver. He tells us he will drop each of us back at out respective hostels!
So we go. His auto is old. It is noisy. We laugh. We talk. We joke.


SUDDENLY.
Then engine gurgles. It coughs. It dies.
Sandhya: "uncle no petrol ah????!!!"
AUD(auto-driver uncle): " Yaar No petrol yaar"
Kat: How now uncle?? You go buy petrol n leave us here later someone kidnap!
Lin: Kat.. ppl see the number of bags we have... they also will run away!
AUD:*SPITS??BLOWS???Into ppetrol tank,,manages to start engine
Kat,San, Lin:" GO GO GO AUTO GOO!!!"
AUD:* grins*
we then head to the petrol station.n fill up
San,kat,Lin: *proceed to cheer all the way back to manipal*
AUD:GRINS

:D
fun times

that is all

Shudders of the night..

So i had another( not so nice) experience in Manipal. It all started out on tuesady morning at 10.15am. I was STARVING after the mornings lectures. So as usual, we all headed down to the CBS canteen to get their oh-so-addictive pastries. And so we ate.

Fastforward. Its 1.00 pm. We head to chef inn for lunch. My stomach churns. This is not normal. So i decide to skip lunch,for fear that what i might hv eaten might have ended up outside my tummy. More churning

Fast-forward. It's now 7.00pm. SMS: dinner at 7.15.... got bbq tonight!... and funnily enough, instead of being appetized, i feel sick. Rush to the toilet. Throw my guts up. This continues for about 8 times... untill what comes up is netiher food nor water. It is.... HEPATIC Bile... es. The alkaline stuff that is excreted from the liver and stored in the gall bladder. At a pH of 7.3-8.something. That yellow liquid that from personal experience i can tell u tastes disgusting.

Then it starts again!! but this time from the other end( if u know what i mean). They call. I say no. No way am i going to KMC. NO WAY.

They come. They insist. They drag me away.

There i stayed. Charaka 2. N15. From tuesday night, untill now whne i write this...... another truely Manipal-ian experience :)

Silent Night

Christmas.
We celebrated it our own way here in Manipal. Our very own way. First off, We cooked. Yes you heard right.We cooked, in our little hostel rooms, with our Littler rice cookers, we cooked. Kathy, Linda, Me and Nevi. All in my room. We made Spaghetti and Mac n Cheese, enough to feed about 20 people. Then The guys got chicken from Chef Inn( the BBQ'ed it for us) and we all went to KMC Greens and had our very own christmas eve dinner. We said grace, we ate, we talked , we laughed. This has to be one of the most memorable christmas's ever. Not only for me.

At home, it is the first christmas(in many years) that my grandparents and parents and aunts n uncles are celebrating with NONE of us kids around. :)
It is the first time that me Vic and Sub are all away from home for Christmas.

In Manipal, it was great to see all of us, just coming together in the spirit of Christmas. Some of you know bout the problems ive been having here, the problems showed up to. Im so sorry, I let it affect me for a while. But i got over it. I swear i did. I understand now that its not my loss. Its theirs.
Christmas has always held a very very special place in my heart. It brings back memories of scrapping off Icing and Marzipan from grandma's christmas cake, Of Nasi Minya and Turkey for lunch, Of rendang, and Fried chicken, of Opening presents with Pam n Mandy, the two boys, Viack and Sub, Cassie n Heather, of being together all of us in Grandma's house, eating talking laughing.. Of us watching Home Alone 1 n 2, of love and happiness..

So being away from home this christmas, means alot to me. But here in Manipal, my friends and i managed to capture taht essence of christmas. It is a time of giving and forgiving, a time of sharing and caring, a time of love and a time of joy. I think I spent christmas in a meaningufl way this year. I hope the next one will be too

Blessed Christmas to all!!!
that is all

Rain

Its been a TRYING weekend.. im THIS close to blowing my top at people. Im going nuts. Life sucks..

Im getting impatient. Im getting angry. I dont want to be. I cant help. it. Its not that i dont wanna help, its that i have to get my priorities straight. And for me being here, that means studying first. I know I wont be able to cope if I dont read tonihgt. so im sorry. I really really am.

A picture play

Brush!!

All got new toothbrushes n colgate!! :DA picture play

Huluran Kasih Outreach project.. teaching kids to brush teeth.. such cute kids!!

Hungry.. waiting for food.....

Udupi's equivalent of Gurnye.. Sai Ram textiles...

Girls day out in UDUPI... at Saai Parivars... good good lunch!

Helena( Aka Rempit's) birthday... From the left: Sepet, Kathy, Me , Syahmi, Joe( Danial) and Rempit


Rashidi( AKA Dato) Me n Hafiez

Rempits Birthday at Guzzlers inn..

All the girls... MMMC Annual Nite... :D

Some of the people of my batch during the annual nite

Of Masalah and Masala

I opened Volume 3 of BD Chaurasia with good intentions to read and store what little i could about the larynx,pharynx and soft palate... Unfortunately when I opened the book, the little interest in the subject(head and neck) vanished. Hence the Masalah!

So as I sat there, in the chair, at the table, in my room, I pondered, what to do. Physio seems equally unappealing, biochem even more so! So what to do... I got up and walked around.. ending up in my little kitchenette and boiled some water and made a cup of masala tea..

Funnily enough with a cup of steaming masala tea in my hands, the red book seemed a little more appealing. As i took a sip of tea and sat in the chair,I unconsciously reached for the pen lying next to the abandoned test pad next to the book. I put the cup donw on the table and started reading and writing.

So I have come to a conclusion. Masala tea is good for studying. Especially when VK is your table teacher, and just opening the book induces extreme stress and anxiety. Anxiety at being ridiculed in front of the whole table whether or not your answer is right. Stress ebcause what VK says and what Chaurasia says is sometimes diffrent.. which accounts for all the little post it notes in my notes which go VK=..............................so that when VK asks us.. we give him his answer. But for the real exam, we use chaurasia.... confusing stuff...

Problems which are all solved by the staeming cup of masala tea:D

that is all