The Soro & The Boyo

Overslept & woke up late for the flight to Surabaya this morning. The trip was planned well in advanced. Paying airasia Rm 182.00 for the return trip for 2 person is what I call an exceptionally super bargain. Reached LCCT just in time for the check-in. Being fairly busy over the last couple of weeks, I must have forgotten to book the hotel on line. And as usual, the flight was delayed by almost 40 minutes (a trade mark of airasia I suppose). Just a couple of months ago I was cursing when my flight to phuket was also delayed by almost 4 hours.

Reaching Juanda International airport 2 hours 30 minutes later, I was presently surprise to see that the airport was fairy big and modern (according to indonesian standard). Booked the hotel through the local travel agent at the airport. We settled for Surabaya plaza hotel, a 4 star smoking free hotel (knowing how well the Indonesians smoke, i do really need some breathing space !). I’m fairly surprise that JW Marriott in Surabaya is not a smoke free hotel!. The thing I always admire about Indonesia (medan excluded) is their taxi drivers. First and foremost, they make you welcome, they are generally polite, proud of their profession, uses the meter and hardly cheat on you (apply to the bluebird group of company). This is in sharp contrast to our very own breed of taxi drivers (of course the government of present has to share some responsibility for indirectly protecting this unscrupulous and selfish bunch of homo sapiens).

According to the local myth, this city witnessed the great battle between the white shark (suro) and the white crocodile (boyo) who fought each other to gain the title of the strongest and most powerful animal. Being the second largest city in Indonesia, the city is undergoing rapid transformation with a lot of modern high rise buildings in the making. Fairly typical of Indonesian cities, the only set back is the traffic congestion (macet). Like most other cities in Indonesia, I must say as a whole there is nothing unique about Surabaya. Tunjungan Plaza is perhaps the largest mall with a lot of internationally branded outlets. Opps, I just love the freshly chilled avocado juice from excelso.


(the land mark of the city)


One thing that excites me about this once glorious majapahit kingdom is the abundance of small street kiosks trading in gold jewellery. No wonder the people from east Indonesia is so obsessed in buying gold jewelleries as they can easily disposed them off without hassle for quick cash at the numerous buying back street kiosks.


( if only our ah longs can set up kiosks like this to render their service !)

On a different note we were quite dismayed as our intention of bringing back our second domestic helper did not materialize. It seems that 10 days is still insufficient time for our embassy in Jakarta to process all the required travel documents.

Dearest Alumni

It's been almost 25 years since we left the medical school. The chance to meet long lost friends and former teachers and mentors was an opportunity not to be miss. A few former teachers flew in all the way from Jakarta for the auspicious night. Little did i realized that 13% of our total alumni are consultants and specialists in their respective fields. and to Tan Sri Dato' Dr. Sharifah, I'll always remember you as my physiology lecturer (sorry, i never did like the subject anyway!) and not the present vice chancellor of university kebangsaan malaysia.



(these girls has grown up.....none wore skirts any more i suppose!)




professor freda meah, a world renowned endocrine surgeon. i was very much indebted to this great lady. needless to say many top surgeons in the country has benefited from her unselfish guidance. she has instilled good and meticulous surgical skills in her trainees.Thank you prof.thank you, thank you, thank you




(somehow our teachers appear younger than us !)


And thank you Jack @ Major General Dato' Dr. Razak for organizing the event. and not forgetting my good friend Din snake @ Dato' Dr. Zainuddin Wazir for donating RM 1 million ringgit to our alumni(so proud of you bro!).unlike the present day medical students who can afford to tour Europe with their scholarship money, the amount we received then were barely enough for our basic needs. well bro,i'm sure you still remember the hard days when we had to swallow maggie mee for lunch & dinner and the days the three of us had to share one nasi bungkus from our favourite warong bamboo.

Life Goes On ......

Since early September Puan SN has been convincing me to join her on a mission to cambodia. Been a regular volunteer to the country, she really assured that our service is much needed there. Unlike other NGOs with thick pockets (donated by the ever generous malaysia public), we set on our mission with our very own resources.

So there we were,on the morning of November 25, the seven of us (2 medical specialists, 3 young nurses, puan SN & husband) were in cambodia. From the airport we rented a van and travelled north to kompong thom some 200 km away from phomn phen. On arrival, we were greeted by the local imam who also offer us his house for us to sleep.It's a far cry from what we're used to ....but then we're here not on holiday.

I couldn't help feeling so sorry for them. many children were just malnourished and running around without a shirt and slipper.(a typical scenario in our own kampongs way back in the 60's or early 70's) One could see the grateful glisters in their eyes whenever puan SN handed them a small token of candy she bought from mydin.Sometimes it's just unimaginable ... the sarongs they wore were so worn out that one would not even think of using it to wash his car!




The imam was kind enough to allow us to use the masjid annexe as our clinic base. The patients were endless and the crowd kept growing.Despite working on a very basic and limited resources, we could feel how grateful they were. We felt so sorry for those who had to walk several kilometers away only to be told that we're running out of medications !!! (oppss, thank you to some of our GP friends who were kind enough to donate some of the medications)




Lining up were young boys eagerly waiting to be circumcised.It was tiring but thanks God, using the clamp technique, between us we managed to circumcised 105 children in 2 days. I could sense the tears of happiness in their parents knowing that their children underwent a relatively short and painless procedure. Even on the morning of our departure, there were parents who were begging us to circumcise their children.




Insyaallah we'll be in cambodia again in a near future (hopefully in kompong cinnang).Hope to bring more circumcision clamps (costing rm 35.00 each, ... sponsors are most welcome). Self sponsored volunteers are also welcome to joint us !

Reunion

SATURDAY November 17, 2009 @ Ri-Yaz Marina Resort & Spa

...." hey where have you been ??????. why do we lost touch ???? ". well at a glance i didn't realized that it was her. it's been more than 30 years since i last saw her and the rest of them. of course i still remember her and our little secrets ... how could I ???.

The Reunion brought fond memories of the yesteryears. meeting most of them for the first time after more than 30 years was just too touching & emotional. there was so much things to talk (had to adjourned the session to primula over dinner !). quote from one of our former teacher - "seems to me that all the naughty students of mine is doing well in life!". i might have forgotten some of the faces, but their names sound familiar. well, growing up together in a small town was such a fun. regardless of the ethnicity, we were just like a big happy family - i would say we practice 1 Malaysia years ago.

To all friends,.... thank you for such a wonderful and memorable evening. please do get in touch. and ,.... oppsss, she still owe me a coffee !!!!

MaKan & MaKan Lagi

To all Friends yang sempat berkunjung semalam .... Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. Nice meeting you all (oppss, after soooooo many years!)

Pada yang tak sempat jumpa semalam, see you all in Ri-Yaz Heritage Resort & Spa next Saturday, October 17. Please be informed that the venue is at 'VERENDAH' and the function will start at 3.00 pm sharp.

Good Luck Dear

To Adik @ Geena

BEST OF LUCK IN YOUR PMR EXAM













P/S - didn't realise that you're a big girl now.
alway thought that you're still our little darling .....

What A Raya .......

Sampai tanah malaya dah nak hampir senja, dah nak masuk malam raya. capet banget deh sebab gak bisa tidur masa dalam pesawat !. tekak dah mula perit dan batuk semakin menjadi jadi -sinario biasa aku setiap kali lepas pulang dari tanah haram. preparation untuk raya tahun ini below par. lepas beli lemang & rendang di pasar dato keramat terus tarik selimut sebab temperature sudah rising. the whole night jugak tak boleh lena sebab asyik terbatuk batuk !. bangun pagi dah kol 10.15, confirm solat sunat edul fitri terlepas. suara pun dah tak keluar !!. walaupun jiran-jiran di sebelah dan depan rumah juga tak balik kampung, tapi tak terasa pun seperti hari lebaran !!!!. well, the whole day berayalah kita sekeluarga di rumah dengan instant lemang & kueh kueh kering.

the problem started on the second day of raya. kata adik "kok jadi begini buk, gak ada papa yang enak mau di maken". and as usual adik came up with a bright ideal. so, there we were ....hari raya brunch in our favourite serena in nikko.

Hopefully we had a better raya next year .....


(hidangan hari raya 2009)



(waduh, kok uda besar mau di suapin !)



(makan tetap makan)

Looking forward to a better raya next year
& to all friends, a belated selamat hari raya dari kami sekeluarga.