Gluttony trip to Kuching

So, one random day I suddenly decided to buy tickets to Kuching. That was how my amazing trip began.

Gelang Patah Seafood Hunt

One of the best seafood place that I have tasted (in Johor).

Yummy Laksa Johor

The famous Tampoi Laksa that would make anyone's salivary glands working.

Trip to Palmerston North

So, from Dunedin, I flew up to Palmerston North for about a week for my placement in Palmerston North. Though it was meant to be strictly business only, I managed to have fun and as usual, just hang out with friends I cherish most. :)

Pancake Rocks

Popular stop for tourists when they are travelling along the West Coast of South Island. These rocks are actually limestones that were heavily eroded by the mildly acidic rain, wind and seawater formed about 30 million years ago from minute fragments of dead marine creatures and plants that landed on the seabed about 2km below the surface.

Wednesday 8 July 2015

Finally stepping into 'the real world'

Well, I can't believe that it is almost 2 years since I graduated from Uni. So that's me saying bye to 20 years of education and saying hi to the many years of working life. 

Well, why 20 years? Here is a breakdown of what I went through. I started kindergarten when I was 4 and there I spent 3 years trying to grasp on how to interact with people my age and learn the necessary skills like respecting a teacher, eating on my own, wearing my own uniform etc etc.

Then, there's 6 years of primary school and 5 years of secondary school which makes up 11 years of my life as a student. I wouldn't say it was 11 years wasted because yeah, while people whine about going to school, I kinda enjoyed it because I get to see my friends for 6 hours 5 times a week and on top of that, we stay back after school for games and what not. Absolutely loved it. I wouldn't say that I am somebody who aced school but defo enjoyed it. Well, that's because I was one of those lucky ones who went to schools that were considerate enough to give us enough homework to make us learn but not too much to make us gloat. :) PS: I have to admit that if the homkework was too much, I sometimes can't be bothered. Sorryyyyyyy...

Well, then there comes another 2 years of college where I sat for SACE (South Australian Certificate of Education) and another 4 years at uni. Yeap, that sums 20 years of my life.

But hey, why am I posting this now?

That's because I have just officially ended my year as an intern and about to embark my journey as a fully registered pharmacist. Yayy... (*overly excited) but I have no idea what is waiting for me after this. More responsibilities for sure but I hope the 20 years of education and a year's worth of training have prepared me to face my future. (staying very positive here) :)


PS: picture is unrelated but just goes to show that I need coffee at the time of posting this. :)


Cheers
Min ^^

Friday 26 June 2015

Gelang patah seafood hunt

My parents came down from KL and we decided to stay in Tanjung Kupang for a few nights just to escape from the city for a bit.

So for dinner on the first day, we went to Tian Lai restaurant (non-halal) in Gelang Patah which is about 10 minutes from where we were staying. Not knowing what to order, we asked the lady for some recommendations and we were not disappointed. The food was really good.


This is the seafood soup and after tasting this marvellous soup for entrée, we held our expectations for the other dishes high. All the dishes were not disappointing.  :) 

The prawns were really big and very fresh. My brother (also a picky eater) was praising the prawns endlessly and since they removed the shell, it made it easier to enjoy the fantastic flavours of the fresh prawns. They had squid, fish cake, mushroom, carrots and veggies in them too (cant remember what other seafood were in there as the prawns made the biggest impression of the soup).
So in short, all of us enjoyed ourselves at the dinner table and because the food was good, the kdis were just quietly seated in their baby chairs devouring their food. As for the adults, we were definitely enjoying the peace at the dinner table and the great food in front of us.

We were lucky to get a table as we were there early. We rrived at about 6.30pm whereby there are quite a few empty tables but we waited quite a while for the food but all our dishes were served at almost the same time which explained why I was so busy eating that I forgot about the pictures.

Hot plate tofu. They added in pork mince and the combination of the sauce and the tofu was just perfect. The sauce was not too salty and the egg underneath was perfectly cooked too. The tofu was needless to say very soft and yummy.

We ordered some veggies as well as most of us love to eat veggies.

This is by far my favourite dish on the table. Sambal sotong (stir fried squid in sambal). I am not usually a squid lover as they are usually quite tough and I develop an allergic reaction to them quite quickly but this was different. Firstly, the squid was not tough like rubber and it was very juicy. Secondly, i don't know why but I wasn't all itchy and red after ingesting several spoonfulls. Definitely a bonus point for that.

This was one of the dishes that according to their waitress was their specialty. Cury pork ribs. It was indeed very yum. The meat was tender but not too tough. It was just right to my liking. The curry was blasting with flavours but not too spicy so it was just perfect. My vocabulary may not do justice to this dish but it is definitely a must try at this restaurant.

Steamed golden snapper teochew style. Since we are teochews, we cannot resist the temptation of steamed fish especially teochew style. The fish was very fresh and my nieces love them (they are only 1 and 3 years old). This is a good choice especially for the kids because my niece is a very picky eater and kids need their protein to grow especially at this age. She ate almost a quarter of the fish so I don't think I was exaggerating when I say its fresh and yum. 

Having it steamed in teochew style means that there is a combination of salted vegetables (salty), pickle (sour), chillies (slight spice) and ginger (to remove any fishy smell). After steaming, the sauce from the fish in combination with all the ingredients above  make every bite of this dish gastronormic.

Okay. Let me declare that I was busy serving the other dishes to everyone that I didn't have enough time to take a picture of this dish. It was cleared from the table very quickly. This is the oyster omellete (oh-jian). Don't judge by my terrible photo taking skills because the oysters were big and juicy. It was very fresh and the omelette was cooked to perfection. Definitely a must try here.

Stir fried mixed veggies.

Okay, this is another one of those dishes that finished really quickly and the kids love them. It's also one of the restaurant's specialty. Honey chicken wings. Firstly, the chicked was  juicy and the meat literally falls off the bone with every bite and melts in the mouth. My nieces loved the honey glazing as it was neither too sweet nor salty.

It is difficult to miss this restaurant as you will see many people flocking the place and the restaurant name is quite prominent too.


We were too full to go anywhere after dinner so we just went back to our accommodation and crashed.

Cheers,
Min ^^

#tianlairestaurant #gelangpatah #seafood #yummyseafood #johor #prawns #freshsquid #honeychicken #curryporkribs #freshoysters

Thursday 25 June 2015

Yummy Laksa Johor

The best plans happen when you least expect them. I started the day thinking that it would just be another day at work but suddenly, a good friend whom I have not spoken to for 2 years buzzed me to say she is in town.


Well, what are good friends for right? So I decided to bring her out for some good Laksa Johor.
Since we are both nearby, we decided to head to the famous Tampoi Laksa. It's located on Jalan Dato Muthuthambi, Tampoi. It is quite hard to miss them because the place is so busy and people enjoy patroning this stall because the laksa is sooo good.


Just looking at it, one may think it's not all that good but trust me when I say it taste awesome. Firstly, the soup was filled with umami flavour and the taste of the coconut milk blend in so well with the soup. Then there's the yummy clams that made the trip there worth it. I'm glad I chose the rice noodles (meehun) option as I could really enjoy the taste of the soup.



The rojak was good too. I liked how they had 'charkuey' (crispy fried dough) in it and the rojak gravy was good too. This is the small portion and it was enough for 2 people as we had a bowl of laksa and a drink each.

In short, I really enjoyed the food there. My colleague brought me there once and I can never forget the taste. Yes, I love to eat. Hahaha. Head there if you have time. It's going to be worth it.


Cheers
Min ^^

#tampoilaksa #goodfood #johorfood #rojak #jbfood

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Gluttony trip to Kuching

So, one random day I suddenly decided to buy tickets to Kuching. That was how my amazing trip began. My friends from Sibu and Limbang were also excited that I was headed to East Malaysia so without hesitating, they too bought their flight tickets (yes, i have amazing friends).

After a long day at work, 5pm finally arrived and I excitedly drove home and took the bus to JB Central. Surprisingly, for travellers on Air Asia, we get to go on a free non-stop bus ride to Senai Airport (woohoo. Thanks Air Asia and Causeway Link).

Having arrived in Kuching late at night, after picking me up from the airport, we went to a few makan places but they were all closed. So we decided to call it a night.

I had an amazing time with these lovely girls (yes, I have very pretty friends).

Before the trip, Michelle (the host) asked if I was craving to eat anything (it's my 3rd trip to Kuching so yes, it naturally became an eat-as-much-as-I-can) trip. Since I really love eating, we had a variety of cuisine ranging from local Sarawak delicacies to Thai to Korean.

From the top left, working my way clockwise, that's some yummy kimbap, japchae, seafood Tom Yum soup, Sarawak laksa, kolo mee, satay, mee tomato (with crispy noodles), pineapple fried rice and right in the middle is peanut spread toast with chocolate drizzle.


The picture actually only showed half of what we ate in Kuching. On the first day, I was excitedly taking pictures and stopping my friends before they dig in but after that, I could not resist the temptation of the food any further and before I know it, the food was all in my tummy already. Haha.


The next day, I rang up a friend who happened to work in Kuching as well out for dinner. This time, we had Thai food and honestly speaking, the seafood tom yum soup and the pandan chicken was awesome. My tummy was very happy that day.
My trip is never complete without desserts and so ta-daa. Here they are.

Friends who know me would know that the highlight of my meals is always the desserts. Since I am a frequent Starbucks visitor, my friends naturally brought me there to satisfy my sweet tooth cravings. My favourite drink is always green tea frappucino. :) Then there's chocolate cake from Tom's cafe, methahon (superbly refreshing shaved ice dessert with fruits and jelly), Taiwanese shaved ice with fruits and ice cream, white lady (the local version of a fruit punch), teh-C special (3 layer milk tea) that is a MUST have, peanut spread toast with chocolate drizzle  and lastly the glutinous rice balls.
These desserts do not only look pretty but they taste excellent as well. Especially the Double chocolate praline cake from #Tomscafe. The chocolate was so rich and we were definitely satisfied by our cafe choice.

Of course what is a trip without some selfies. So here are some pictures of us being vain. :P


On the last day, I thought to myself why must this trip end so quickly (it was a short 3 days, 3 nights trip). I was so reluctant to go back (symdrome tak mau balik) but that morning, one of my friends suddenly reminded me that another 2 gorgeous friends would be in town for a mutual friend's wedding. So we immediately arranged for a quick meet up and we picked them up from the church after our breakfast with Michelle's mum and sister.

So, the five of us decided to buy some Sarawak kek lapis (delicious local cake with assorted flavours) both as souvenirs and to fill our tummies. To our surprise, Michelle brought us to the waterfront, parked and told us that we are taking the sampan across the Rejang River to buy the kek lapis. We were immediately excited as it was a long time since we have been on a sampan.

Obviously we had a wefie with our haul from #MiraCakeHouse (the kek lapis here was really good. It was not very oily and tasted just right as it wasn't too sweet nor bland) and then decided to go for some local tea-time delicacies. So that's another wefie with our 'Sotong kangkung' (cuttlefish and kangkung in rojak sauce topped with some peanut), umai (jellyfish cold platter) and belacan beehoon. The food was awesome.

That marks the end of my eat-all-I-can trip to Kuching. Although it was short, I spent some awesome time with the girls and though everything was last minute, we realised that we really enjoy each other's company and that's all that matters.

Cheers
Min ^^

#kuching #kuchingfood #goodfood #miracakehouse #tomscafe #starbucks #belacankangkong #umai #sarawaklaksa #tomyum #meetomato #kolomee #japchae #pandanchicken #methahon #whitelady #glutinousriceballs

Saturday 28 February 2015

Never take news lightly

Most of us would shrug off the idea that we are in danger and this projects to our circle of family and friends. This is a natural mechanism of our body to avoid ourselves from getting shock but how we react to these situations is the most important part.

I received a text from a friend recently claiming that he cant't breathe and I thought I know him well enough to think that it might be a prank. So I rang back and obviously he can't speak. Although I was in the middle of an appointment, I rushed to meet him and all along the way, I kept thinking of the possibilities that it might just be a joke. I was even prepared to shout out "This is not funny!" when I meet him. Anyway, all he sent was an estimated location and a picture of what is in front of him. With that, I drove along the highway but still did not see him. I tried ringing him again but this time, he picked up but did not utter a single word. I panicked and bad thoughts started flooded my mind. It hit me that this might be real.

I immediately make a u-turn and tried to look for him again. I finally found his car at the road shoulder. Without hesitation, I ran to his car, saw him gasping for air and assisted him into my car. Amidst all the confusion, I was glad that I was able to think rationally and searched his car for 2 most important things: his ID and his phone (to ring his family).

I drove him to the emergency department of the nearby hospital and when I sank at the chair of the waiting area, the reality started hitting me. I felt so bad for my late response. What if it was serious? Why did I even doubt my good friend that he might be playing a joke on me? It took me an hour from the time he first texted me for help to when I picked him up.

I heaved a heavy sigh of relief when I saw him walking out of the emergency department several hours later and mentioned he was discharged.

Well, I hope that this does not happen to anyone else for I strongly suggest that even when you think somebody is pranking you, take that seriously for you might never know when they are really in trouble.

YM

Sunday 18 January 2015

Understanding schizophrenic patients and showing a little love.

I am no psychiatric expert but I meet psychiatric patients on a daily basis. Don't get me wrong. I love doing what I do but I would just like to share what I have observed while meeting the families of psychiatric patients.

One thing that saddened me most was the lack of family support. It breaks my heart to see some patients being abandoned and institutionalised just because of the stigma that people with mental illness will never fit into the society or that they are just too difficult to deal with.

If you just understand what they go through on a daily basis and if you imagine that it were you going through all those, how would you feel if you were left fighting the illness alone.

Many would ask, "What is schizophrenia?" "If my relative or friend is diagnosed with schizophrenia, will they ever get well?" "Does this mean they are crazy?" "Will they harm me?"

The truth is, schizophrenia is a branch of psychiatric illness or mental illness that is stigmatised in today's society. There are many types of schizophrenia which I will not go into, but in general, these patients would go through a phase whereby they may hear voices that others would never pick up or see things that other people would never see. Many would describe this as seeing or hearing a ghost and this leads to fear that will conquer this person's mind.  They will carry on thinking about the 'why' and 'what if'.

"Why does it have to be me?"
Why am I hearing or seeing things that others can't?"
"Why are these things bothering me? Why not the guy over there?"
"What if I am really crazy?"
"What if people think that I am crazy if I told them I can see ghost?"
"What if these things harm me?"

These thoughts would eventually progress to another range of 'what if'.

"What if I take a knife and start stabbing this image? Will it go away?"
"What if I fling this bat at it?"
"What if it starts harming my family?"
"What if I don't do anything and this thing starts creating trouble?"

The next stage is when they start executing their thoughts. That is the stage where many people fear and many people would see. These patients would be seen talking (or smiling or laughing) to themselves, aggressive, annoying and sometimes criminals. This is the stage where we all see because this is when someone is physically harmed be it the patient themselves or someone else. These people may seem to have a disruptive behaviour but how many people actually try to understand the root of the problem?

Have anyone ever wondered what could have caused a perfectly healthy person like them to behave like this? Have you ever tried to put yourself in their shoes and know what the stressors are? No doubt some of these people acquired the illness by default as it is strongly linked to familial history of mental illness, but there are some people who succumb to mental illness because of the demands of the twenty-first century.

All the expectations to fulfil, achievements to acquire and all the trophies that one need to prove their worth in the society today. What have we done to the community?

After writing about all the negativities of this illness and made some of you reading this post think about what you are going to do the next time you come across a mentally ill person by the roadside or disturbing others. It is not civilisation to start tying somebody up just because they are mentally ill. Restrainers are over popularised in movies nowadays and many people actually do ask me if the psychiatric patients where I work gets tied up and thrown in a room built from padded walls. The answer is NO. Tying somebody up is not the first thing that should come to your mind when dealing with somebody who is mentally ill for this will just make things worse. Instead, use the beauty of LOVE.

For instance, I have seen a very caring family who would spend every weekend at the institute to visit somebody who might sometimes forget who they are. Nevertheless, they have never failed to turn up every weekend and talk to the patient. Some days I would hear the patient screaming at them for no reason and some days I would see the family as loving as ever. When asked what motivated them to visit every week, their reply was simple. "For that one chance that he might remember us and we can spend the day as a family." This not only made me think about life as a whole but also about how I treat the people around me. More often than not, I would succumb to stress at work or with relationship that I hurt the people that are dearest to me or say things that were never meant to be uttered at the spur of the moment. Alas, these things that I have taken for granted is something that somebody would sacrifice all they have for. 

This family made me appreciate the people around me and to have stronger faith in humanity. Love is uttered so easily nowadays but true love is so scarce. Love comes in many forms and the one that I appreciate more than the rest is familial love. There are many things that I would give up now to see that smile on my family's face. 

Most mentally ill patients who are institutionalised are elderly people who have no place to go and nobody to care for them. It makes my heart flip every time I look at them and this gave me the patience to carry on helping them. Some of them may behave like a child although physically they may be twice or three times my age but one thing is for sure. It is not difficult to put a smile on that face but all I need to do is have a little faith and show a little patience.

Love is all around. It is about how you harvest it and who you shower it to.

Live.Life.Happy

The start of a new beginning

What is a start? 

What is a good start?

What is a beginning? 

Well, everything is not as simple as how you see it. There are many ways that you can look into this matter. Many people would see opportunities as an open door to the next space. A space unknown and waiting to be ventured but how many would actually see that you are actually making a new path? A new path leaving behind the place that you have familiarised yourself in the search of that door? This place that you may have been in for a long long time just waiting for the door to open. Has it been comfortable?

Taking a step forward into that open door without looking back is probably what many would do but there are people who would just stare at the door and never make that step. For no matter how dark the current room may be, they have grown interest in the room and felt attached to the room. This is just life.

So no matter what you do, as long as you do not harm anyone whether intentionally or unintentionally, just live your life and be happy. What decisions you make today would determine what doors open up in front of you in the future. 

If you ever feel uncomfortable with your decision, it is never too late to turn back as long as you remember the path you have taken and learn something new from the wrong path. Always remember that regretting not exploring your other options when you are driven into a dead end is worse than taking the time and return to where you started. 

It is not time that is lost but experience that was gained.

Live.Life.Happy