flashback

2012 - what a year! possibly the most important year in my life yet. hit a couple of milestones, experienced life-changing events, started a brand new life, said some goodbyes... definitely a year to remember until the day i die (if i don't develop dementia).

the year started off with high levels of stress as i sat for my medical school finals, which i had subsequently passed as i'd "satisfied the Examiners"! 

and then it was byebye medical school, hello Malaysia for 3 amazing months! did my elective at my local hospital, went to the beach, crossed the south china sea and saw mount kinabalu for the very first time, met up with my favourite people, and discovered the awesomeness of gong cha. home is where the heart is and always will be.

hit the quarter-of-the-century mark. uh-oh.

back in the UK, pre-graduation. care-free, fun-filled period of my life. roadtrip with friends to the southern tip of england!

graduated! now a doctor. double uh-oh. 

did the whole scotland roadtrip thing with my parents who were in the UK for my graduation.

my best UK buddies moved up to glasgow. extremely sad but glasgow is now my second home in the UK thanks to them. just to clear up any confusion, they are not (and never will be) together. 

started the ever daunting job as a doctor at north manchester general hospital (shit place, don't go there). thank goodness for amazing colleagues - work would be extra shitty without them. 

received news from home that our dog Kiki had passed on. we got her as a puppy 13 and a half years ago. she had lived a comfortable life, had hardly any health problems, was showered with lots of love, constantly amused all of us with her weird behaviour, and was a good pet overall. i miss her loads and i still find it hard to accept the fact that she will never be there to greet me anymore when i arrive home from the airport. rest in peace, my baby.

and then, whaddaya know... it's christmas time again!

2012 - i'd re-live it all over again if i could. i wonder what 2013 has in store for me, but so far, so good! 

frankie says relax

home is simply amazing.

i'm currently doing my elective in paediatrics at ipoh GH, and i can tell you that it has exceeded all of my expectations. i know that many have told me that it is by far the best department in the whole hospital, but i am still very impressed. the head of department is without a doubt the BEST doctor i've ever seen in my life. i kid you not. and with all the inspiring doctors i'd crossed paths with in the UK - that says a lot. day after day i am blown away by his sheer passion and thirst to help his patients (and their families), and his neverending quest to improve the local healthcare system.

of course, all work and no play makes swee leen very dull. haha to tell the truth, it's more like lots of play and very little work! i've passed my finals after all, and i very much deserve to have a nice break.

so... i had my annual pilgrimage to penang - this time with tr and away from the city for some sun, sand and sea (mostly sun, though. sand and sea at batu ferringhi are less than ideal). it was a sweet little getaway nonetheless.

we stayed at the Lone Pine Hotel which i highly, highly recommend! it had a nice mixture of colonial and modern feel to it. service was top-notch from check-in till check-out. daily breakfasts were very good, with a lavish spread of asian and western dishes. definitely malaysian hotel breakfast at its best! 

the Super Deluxe Room houses a giant bed, private 'mini lounging pool' (ie bathtub) on the balcony, a separate day lounge room, and don't get me started on the bathroom - very huge and very chic! we were also constantly impressed by the hotel's fine touches and details, such as cocktails on arrival, cupcakes in the room, complimentary flip-flops and good quality teas and coffees! you definitely get what you pay. 

what we did the entire time we were there: lounged and lazed while taking in the sea breeze and listening to the soothing sound of the waves!

:) someone so handsome

sunset

we spent one morning at the Tropical Spice Garden. i'd been here once before with peishern, howai and adrian, all the way back in 2008! geez. so long ago. 

so i suggested that tr and i went there for a leisurely walk and some photography. 

tranquility.

glasgow!

i was in glasgow 2 weekends ago as i've promised amrita for ages that i'd visit, since my last trip did not actually happen. i was also keen on seeing the largest city in scotland. i absolutely loved edinburgh when i was there, but the scots i know hate edinburgh with a passion - they say that it's pretentious, "too english", and that glasgow is the true capital of scotland. *shrugs*

i've always heard the same things about glasgow prior to my visit: that it represents scotland more than edinburgh does (as said above), that the university of glasgow is gorgeous like hogwarts, that the city itself is ugly, and that there are a lot of orientals (chinese/koreans/japanese) and indians there. hahaha. well i've seen glasgow with my own eyes now.

i arrived on friday and was brought for dinner by dear amrita and her housemates. jap food at Nanakusa! nyumsters. we then headed to Hummingbird for after-dinner drinks. funky place with nice cocktails, some served in fishbowls for people to share.

we went to the outskirts of glasgow on saturday. would've been an excellent day if not for the weather. it rained the whole day! what a shame. oh well, welcome to the united kingdom. we went to a distillery called Auchentoshan (sounds so german). paid £5 for a 1-hour tour of the distillery, learned how whisky is made, and most importantly, whisky-tasting! not that i'm a fan of whisky, but hey i was in scotland.

it was still raining when we reached loch lomond, the largest lake in great britain which lies between central scotland and the scottish highlands. had lunch at this quaint pub and then went for a cruise on the lake. it was nice, although i'm sure i would've appreciated the scenery more if the weather didn't make everything seem depressing.

back in glasgow where we had korean dinner with the dundee people who were there for the day. and for the very first time, i introduce to you my DOCTOR friends, drs ben, michelle, huiling and yuen khai (who went all the way to glasgow just to cut his hair wtf lol).

sunday was a much, MUCH better day. very lovely. the sun was out with white fluffy clouds decorating the clear blue sky. amrita showed me what glasgow had to offer - starting with a relaxing walk from her place to the University. this is the Kelvingrove Art Museum in the background, on the way.

The University of Glasgow, which the glasgow students are so proud of. :p

who wouldn't be? what a gorgeous campus.

view from one of the sites on campus.

after a tour of the University, we went for ice-cream and took the subway to the city centre, only because amrita wanted me to see what a joke it is. it's so small it was like sitting in a toy train. i found it really cute though. hahaha. we had lunch at MUSSEL INN! i was so excited. loved the Mussel Inn in edinburgh.

some pictures of the glasgow city centre. you know what. i like Glasgow. it reminds me of Manchester - ugly but happening. good shopping, amazing food, interesting night life, cosy places to hang out and have cake and coffee. my kind of a city. i don't want to live in a city which is pretty but where everything closes by 5pm. i want to live in a city which is fast-paced (but not as fast as London) and has everything that i need.

as a response to what i've been told about glasgow:

• represents scotland more than edinburgh does - to be honest, i think edinburgh has a more scottish air to it. glasgow is much larger and is more of a modern city, but it doesn't really scream scotland, if not for the glaswegian accents heard at every corner.
• gorgeous uni - YES, definitely
• ugly - quite, but there are individual buildings which are nice.
• filled with orientals - YES, but doesn't beat manchester :p
• lots of indians - not really, in fact the only indians i remember seeing were amrita and her housemates. HAHAHA

thanks amrita for the lovely weekend. finally fulfilled my promise to you. now leave me alone! :p hehe just kidding, i had a fantastic time and i'd really love to go again.

barcelona!

as mentioned in my previous post, i now consider barcelona as my 2nd favourite city after sydney. granted i haven't actually been to many big cities in the world, at least certainly not the ones i so badly want need to go to (new york, tokyo, amsterdam...), i still think it's a big deal if i say i prefer a city over paris and london - both of which i absolutely loved and wouldn't mind going over and over again.

to me, barcelona is a mix between sydney and paris. it is definitely not as expensive as the two, but very similar in terms of culture, food and the abundance of activities. although paris is anytime a class above every other city i've been to, i cannot say enough that it can be somewhat intimidating. barcelona on the other hand emits this air of warmth and comfort that you get just by being there.

barcelona is so incredibly colourful and this was especially accentuated by the golden sunshine we were blessed with the entire time we were there (except for the day we arrived - but we didn't do much on that day, so the rain did not really matter). this vibrance is evident from the diversity of scenes: from gaudi's famous architectural ingenuity, to the lovely beaches at barceloneta and the breathtaking view of grand yachts anchored at port vell. then there's the myriad of food at the la boqueria market, the endless shopping opportunities in the city, various museums (like the museo picasso, which in itself is so colourful) and countless places that you can kick back, relax and have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine - whichever you prefer! i really can't see the people of barcelona ever running out of things to see, do and eat!

we stayed slightly off the popular street of La Rambla (in a quiet little alley thank goodness), which is ever busy with tourists, vendors and street performers. such a strategic location to stay at as it is filled with restaurants and shopping outlets, and very close to transport links.

the vivid mercat de la boqueria (la boqueria market) along la rambla. fresh produce, local catalan and spanish foods, wines, trinkets...

walk off la rambla and you'll find the barri gotic (gothic quarter), which houses the barcelona cathedral. barri gotic is also a nice area to explore - less crowded and has very nice little shops and cafes.

walk further down barri gotic and you'll come to another quarter called la ribera. this is the basilica of santa maria del mar. free entry, so no harm going in. :p also nearby is the museo picasso, which i realise we have no pictures of.

on the way to the beach we found music everywhere! so we sat with the crowd and listened to this amazing band who played world music (like putumayo, haha love it!). that's the life.

barcelona is not barcelona without their beaches. this was at barceloneta.

look at the amazing clear blue sky!

barcelona is also not barcelona without the famous Gaudi works, and it would be exceptionally foolish to go to barcelona and NOT see the breathtaking Sagrada Familia *cough*adrianlow*cough*.

i don't think i've ever been this impressed by a church, not even st paul's basilica at the vatican which i really loved!

the magic square featured at the Sagrada Familia's Passion façade.

"The magic constant of the square is 33, the age of Jesus at the time of the Passion." - wikipedia

the Nativity façade, signifying the elements of life.

SO majestic!

the interior of the Sagrada Familia: subtly colourful columns, arches and ceilings.

beautiful stained glass window.

view from the top of the Sagrada Familia.

another of Gaudi's works, the Casa Batlló, which i was not fond of. i'd say the façade did look quite interesting, but it's not something i'd pay 15 euros for to go inside (which i unfortunately did).

La Padrera/Casa Mila: another Gaudi creation. better worth of my money at least, and quite remarkable both on the outside and inside.

Parc Güell: a huge park on a hill with interesting designs, again by Gaudi.

lunch at La Rita near the upscale Passeig de Gràcia, recommended by Ben. quite a posh restaurant but with reasonably-priced meals, and very good food indeed! and very friendly staff members too.

i think we spent most of our time hanging around Port Vell. this is it at sunset. very lovely.

for a harbour, the water was super clear and clean! could actually see fishes swimming!

Maremàgnum mall, at Port Vell.

L'Aquarium Barcelona also at Port Vell. ONLY because we had nothing to do while waiting for our bus to Madrid :p but it was a nice aquarium anyway.

a live band on one of the streets, where anyone can dance to their music! how sweet.

public water fountain. it's bad enough that boiled water in barcelona was horrible, so i did not dare drink from this!

Arc de Triomf, the Spanish version. haha. came across this on the way to Barcelona Nord, the bus station.

i THINK these elderly men were playing petanque.

some of the food we ate in barcelona, at random places: seafood paella, iberia ham and eggs, catalan fried squid, patatas bravas, and of course sangria! the sangria de cava (the white one) pictured above was AMAZING.