Emo Over A Relatively Insignificant Test

I've never tried studying for 4 days just for ONE single paper. And the 1st time I did it here, the results was beyond disappointment. A prosector (student teacher) even gave me almost 2 hours of "tuition" the previous night. And yet I still can screw up my Anat paper inside-out. Guess I'm just too dumb to do med.

On the happier side, 1st Anat class test is finally over. Actually it only weights 3.33 marks for our Block Exams, and block exams will be counted into our internal assessment for University Exams. So all in all, after scaling so many times, the class test is relatively insignificant. But still, I'm emo-ing now. T.T

Recently, life here has been kinda dull. The same routine repeats itself everyday. Or maybe it's becoz I've been spending more time studying indoors . Can you believe it? I did not take alot of photos in the past 3 days. Or rather there isn't anything interesting happening recently. Oh wait!! there was UTSAV!! It's a inter-college competition on singing, dances, fashion shows and certain sports. I didn't participate, but I did watch some of the performances to support my friends. I'll blog about it next time.

2 days ago, WeiYi taught me how to ride a motorbike. The bikes here are manual bikes. Beside the usual controls, they also have a clutch and gears. The whole concept is same as a manual car. Press clutch, change gear, release half clutch, press accelerator, move. But the messed up part is hands control clutch, break, and accelerator, while leg changes the gear. TOTAL OPPOSITE OF CAR!! Anyway, he only taught awhile as he was going for dinner soon. So I still don't know how to ride a bike.. Haha!!

Time to hit the books again. I'm so lost in Biochem and Physio classes now. Haih. I need more internal HD space, and probably another 320GB external HD to store all the facts that are bombarded in a day. zzZ

CORTISOL LEVEL SKY-ROCKETING WITH AN INFINITE VELOCITY~~!!

Stressing to the MAX now. And apparently I'm not the only one. Tomorrow we have SDL presentation on thermoregulation, and I have not even started reading up on it. I'm not even done with revision on today's lectures, which includes the back part of the body, brachial plexus, membrane transport, etc.. The brachial plexus is darn confusing. I'm currently on caffeine to keep myself awake. Gonna chiong till 2am!! Hopefully that gives me enough time to complete today's work.

My messy study desk with my cup of caffeine source.

For now, it's just me, the brachial plexus, and my Kuchiki Byakuya bookmark.

10mins break over. Back to the books. Tata!

*I should not have played that 2hours of dota and another 2hours of basketball in the afternoon till evening. I need more discipline!!

Busy Weekend

With reference to the previous post, apparently I wasn't the only one who didn't dare to prick myself. There is this other Indian guy, (Darn LCLY, walks with his nose 45' above the horizontal x-axis and looks down on everyone else..) who didn't even dare to get his finger pricked. At least I used MY OWN BLOOD to do the experiment. He took someone else's blood. Picture this, big macho mafia-looking guy scared of pricks. I felt darn good after hearing that news =D.

On Saturday, instead of ending at 10am, they added an Anatomy Problem Based Learning (PBL) at 10.30am till 11.30am. Just when I thought that was bad, they added another Physiology Practical at 2pm till 4pm. WTH!! I feel that I've betrayed my entertainment side by attending a full-day class on a freaking Saturday..

Yesterday, I attended Bread Of Life Church. It's a Charismatic Church. I've heard so much about how hyper and hardcore charismatics are, but I didn't really believe, until I witnessed it myself. The pastor was super energetic, as in, if you shut off your ears, you'll think he's dancing on stage. Seriously hyperactive actions with exaggerated motions. They have meetings every Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. And if you get involved in that church, you're expected to attend ALL of it. If not, according to the pastor, you don't love God. Wth.. I have different views from the pastor. Ever heard that going to church doesn't make you a Christian? I think a relationship with God is personal, and worship isn't a church thing, it's a lifestyle. A church to me is just a place to learn God's word, fellowship and get spiritual support. Nevertheless, they had real good music, vocalist and musicians were great, but just abit too loud.

Bread Of Life Church

In the afternoon, we jogged to EndPoint again. This time with Dawson, Denise and Flora. 9 of us in total. I didn't take much pictures this time since the views are more of less the same. But this time, I accidently bangged the edge of a bench and injured my knee. Hence, there is a blue-black palpation on the superolateral region of my right patella T.T (Understand?? LOLz)

From left: KokMun, Shawn, Leon, Edmond, Benny, DeZhi, Dawson

On the other hand, we finally got our Biochem syllabus handbook. And if you just look at the picture but don't read the words, what will come into your mind??

Perhaps it's becoz we have more JPA students..

That's about it for my weekend. Back to the books now!! Tata..

I'm Not Fit To Be A Doctor!!

The title says it all..

Today, we had Physiology Practical and our experiment was on determining our own blood group. You know, the A, B, AB, and O type, and also the Rhesus factor, which is either +ve or -ve. So, we had to prick our own finger tips with a needle, make a blood cell suspension and test it using the antigen-antibody coagulation process. I never knew what my blood type was. Even my parents never knew. So I was excited that I can finally find out my blood group. But at the moment I had to prick my finger tip, my hands shaked like hell!! I saw other people pricking themselves one by one, some even had to prick few times to get the blood out. And I didn't have the guts to even prick myself once!!! WTH!!! I had to ask teacher to prick me.. Anyway, just to clarify, I'm not afraid of blood, I just don't dare prick myself. I have no problem pricking other people. Give me your fingers and I'll prove it. LOLZ!!

Blood Group Test

Damn! My blood group is O+. For your info, O blood is a universal doner, but it can only accept back O blood. Which means O blood would be kinda rare in hospitals as anyone can accept it. So in case any accident happens, all you O blood people must come and save me k!! Especially those O+ people in MMMC batch 24!! You know who you are, don't smile behind the computer screen =P

On the other hand, I saw the funniest shit ever!! No not cow dung, an incident. Our lecture hall is on the 3rd floor of Interact Building. So after lecture ended, we walked towards the lift and saw a whole bunch of penguins students patiently waiting for the lift. Not wanting to freeze to death, we decided to walk down the stairs. And one level down, we saw the cleaners holding the lift while cleaning the interior part of it!! OMG I LAUGHED LIKE HELL!! Immediately I took out my HP, snaped a picture, and ran off laughing. Imagine how long would they have waited there, just imagine..

LMAOLOLZROFL!!

Ok I better hit the books now. Until next time, when I see more funny stuff happening around here. =)

End Point

I didn't plan to go to church today as I didn't know where are the churches and when are the services. (I know, I'm a lazy boy..) But last night, Chris called and provided answers to my where and when questions, hence I decided to go. God's work perhaps? Haha! So this morning, Chris, Shawn, Benny, Leon and myself met up at 9am, took an auto to a near by church. However the auto drivers brought us to Grace Home instead of Grace Church! So we decided to just try the smaller one today, and the bigger one next week. Grace Home is a Brethren Church, somewhat similar to a Baptist/Methodist Church. Just that males and females sit on different sides of room. (Talk about gender segregation..) Overall the service was O-K-A-Y, but the people were extremely friendly.

Grace Home Chapel

Later in the evening, Shawn, DeZhi, Edmond, Leon and I jogged to End Point (EP). Since most of you wouldn't know where and what is EP, I'll do a little description based on what I think and know. EP is, if you check google maps, at the end of a road in Manipal, hence the name "End Point". It's approximately 1.5km away from Amartya Sen Hostel. According to the Dean, EP is a pollution-free place since motor vehicles are not allowed at the peak of EP. Apparently Manipal University built a garden at the peak. It took us around 15-20mins to jog to the car park area, and another 10mins walk up to the garden. And boy the place, view, scenery, environment and feel was magnificent!! One of the most peaceful and relaxing place on earth!! As I always believe, a picture speaks a thousand words, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Journey up

Sun at 6pm

De Zhi and Shawn

Shawn and Edmond. Edmond emo-ing coz of *ahem*

Edmond again

Car park area

Ignorance is bliss..

Beyond the petals..

Finally, the garden..

View from the garden, beautiful combination of nature.

Vegetations..

Peaceful and relaxing, isn't it?

KokMun's photography shots =)

From left: Leon, Edmond, Benny, Shawn, DeZhi

Clouds just before sunset

Sunset at 7pm

So, how's End Point? Magnificent ain't it? I think I'll spray a whole bottle of mosquito repellent and study there before block exams. LOLz!

5 years down this path, how would things be like?

Journey Into Manipal

Let's back track to my journey into Manipal. In short, it starts with a 3.5hour international flight from KLIA to Bangalore, stay a night there, then an hour domestic flight from Bangalore to Mangalore, and finally a 2.5hours elephant bus ride from Mangalore to Manipal.

Leaving KLIA wasn't easy for most of us. However, we all share a common GOAL, a common DESIRE and a common DREAM. Hence we had to take the 1st step to leave. We'll be back! Be afraid, be very afraid..

I'LL BE BACK...!!

On board MAS MH192, I played cho dai di with Chris, Arvend, Xiang and Denise. Time flies when you're actually engaged with something. Food was horrible on board, curry veg with rice. zZZ.. And their dessert was some hard cake, and that cuboidal thing was the classic definition of diabetes.

Upon arrival in Bangalore, we headed straight to the hotel. It was an hour bus ride from the airport to the hotel. I heard the hotel was rated 5 star, but from the food they served for breakfast, I wouldn't even give it 2. Minus-ing off check-in/supper/wash up time, we only had 1.5 hours of sleep rest. Everyone looked like panda-s in the morning.

Grand Lotus Hotel

They even have a flat screen LCD!! That's Chris, my roommate for that night.

Flight from Bangalore to Mangalore was, speechless... I wouldn't even call that flying thing an aeroplane. It was like, a mini flying bus jet. Seriously. 2 seats on each side, a walk way in the middle, only 1 entrance, and 1 toilet behind. The best part was when they were demonstrating the safety measures. 1st it was explained in Hindi, then repeated in English, fortunately.. And as usual, I didn't pay any attention until I heard "Please pay attention to our safety measures because it is slightly different from other airlines." That caught my attention. And you know what was the difference? This aircraft do not have life jackets!! In case of emergency landing on water, we were supposed to HUG OUR CHAIR'S CUSHION!! Seriously, I'm not pulling your legs. I was laughing like mad in the plane and the air stewardess gave me that stare while demonstrating other things. I even took a photo of their safety card as proof!

Bangalore Airport

Jet Airways' mini flying bus jet.. [Pic taken by Denise]

Doesn't it look like a bus?! That's Arvend on the right.

LMAO-ROFL-LOL!!

Landing in Mangalore was like landing in the middle of a dessert. After the plane touched down, we saw a half-built building and were like "don't tell me that's the terminal ar.." There was no other planes there, we were the only one. And the plane stopped right beside the terminal entrance. We got off the plane, less than 30 steps and we're in the terminal. And from there, one eye see all. Standing by the terminal entrance, on the left was the luggage belt (at least they had a moving electrical belt), and 20 steps in front was a counter and the exit. WALAO!! Bus station meh?!

One eye see all.. [Pic taken by Denise]

The bus ride from Mangalore airport into Manipal was horrible. If you close your eyes, you'll think you're riding an elephant. Seriously. Btw, That reminds me of what my cousin's husband told me. "In India, trains have 4 differenct classes.. Bad, very bad, extremely bad, and unbelievable." Lolz! Nevertheless I managed to sleep in the bus. Geng leh!

After arriving in Manipal, we had a welcome lunch + briefing session, then checked-in to our hostel rooms. After that, the previous posts would have explained it all. That's about it. And one last picture before I go.

This picture needs no captions. LOL!

Dead Tired

Today was a very tiring day for me. We got a new Anatomy lecturer who has serious accent problems. Bad enough we couldn't understand most of the lesson, somemore he discourages note takings! He told us to close our note books!! "When you take notes, you won't be able to listen to what I say." WE CAN'T EVEN UNDERSTAND A DAMN THING YOU SAID LA!! zzZ.. Anatomy for 2 straight hours can kill. But thankfully it's 2 different lecturers, each will take 1 hour and teach a different subtopic.

10-2pm was our study break+lunch. We used this time to get our bank account letter from ICICI Bank. After which we had lunch and went straight back to our rooms. I felt so lost, my 2hours of Anatomy lecturer in the morning was like a sheet of white paper in my mind. So I read it up all over again from the text books.

Lecture Hall view from my seat. Happy Birthday Chen Soon!

Later at 2pm, we had another hour of Anatomy. Again that same lecturer came in!! That instant I knew I had to go back and self-study again.. zzZ.. Physio ended early at 4pm, so we rushed to Udupi to get our police registration done. We took an auto to and fro for 60rps per person. Bus would have been alot cheaper but I was too tired to bother. I'm just glad we're done with all the registrations for now. I heard there will be more to come later. zzZ....

An auto. That's Edmond, a.k.a YanYan on the right.

Udupi Police Head Quarters. Not a single soul at the entrance lobby.

I'm supposed to be studying now. 3 hours of Anatomy lecture left me with 40+ pages to self-study. I did some during lunch break, somemore after dinner, and alot more left to go. I still have x amount of Biochem to read up arrr... !@#@%$@&^%$(@%$!!!

Wth is there a tree in the middle of the road?!!

First Day Of Lecture

Life has been good so far. We had ALOT of things to settle. Uni, hostel, HP line and bank registrations, Internet application and also police registration. We have been walking up and down, in and out so much until we're all sick of walking already. If I ever return home dark it'll be because of the excessive exposure to the burning afternoon sun. Anyway, we've settle everything except for the police registration coz we need to wait for our bank accounts to be activated.

Lectures started today. Morning was just introduction of subjects by head of faculties. Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry. Their marking system is quite strict. For uni finals, we have 120 multiple true-false questions (MTF), total of 120marks, with a duration of 1 hour. On an average, 2Qs per minute. 1 mark if answered correct, but negative 0.5 marks if wrong. Then, x/120 will be scaled down to y/30, in other words those 120 MTF only weights 30 marks in finals, each Q is only 0.25 marks. zzZ.

My uni books. 10 in total, for now..

Official lectures started at 2pm. Our seats are fixed according to our roll number. I sit at the corner of the class, front most left. I have to tilt my chair 45' just to look at the slides/lecturer! wth la.. Biochemistry is ok for now.. More or less similar to what we learned back in SAM/SPM. However Anatomy was madness. There were so many terms and definitions. We spent 1 whole hour just learning the terms!! And our anatomy lecturer have a very heavy Indian accent. OMG la!! Wa ka lu kong ar, I laughed like hell when he started talking. I had to turn my head away and hide under the table to laugh. Dissection starts next week!! w00t!! Can't wait for it =)

Yesterday, our immediate seniors, student of batch 23, prepared a welcome orientation performance for us. They had dances, singings, a video presentation and a fashion show on class attire. Everything put together in just 2 days. I must say it was really impressive considering the little time they had to prepare. It was almost mission impossible!

Singing performance

Para-Para Sakura dance. Notice that they are wearing their labcoats.

Did I mention my hostel room is like a prison? They use real huge locks on the doors and the corridor is really empty. But I guess it's very safe here. Oh ya! I haven't mentioned about the mirror right in front of my bed! It's damn creepy k!! Especially during the time I switch off the light (there is only 1 fluorescent light in my room, but I bought another desk lamp.) and climb into bed. Don't forget there it's pitch dark during electricity cuts. @.@.. I'll let the photos talk more about my hostel prison room.

Amartya Sen Hostel

Corridor

Door lock from outside..

My bed's front view

Electric Stabilizer

Laundry basket and floor mat

And just to show how much I appreciate all your presence in KLIA that day, I'm using your photo as my laptop wallpaper. My original wallpaper was the black Kuchiki Byakuya by the side of the desktop. And in case you do not know, I'm a big fan of Kuchiki Byakuya. I like his cool-ness. Anyway the following photo was taken 2 days ago, and its still like that now. Anyway, Anatomy terms seriously freak me out, hence I got to go study now. KOKMUN IS ACTUALLY STUDYING GONNA STUDY!!

TA-DA!! Spot yourself!!

Reporting Live From Manipal!!

NOTE: Scarily loooooong post ahead, with few pictures only. Close website if lack patience to read.

Finally!! INTERNET!! I'm actually stealing wireless Internet from some sad soul who did not set a password for his wireless. Its really slow, but who cares la, as long as I get to use Internet I'm happy!! My new definition of earthly-heaven is anywhere with Internet. Seriously, the past few days has been soooo happening, I have sooooo much to blog about, but no Internet. Imagine my pain. Anyway, besides this paragraph, the rest of the post was pre-typed out on Word and pasted here. Haha.

Anyway, this post is just to briefly INTRO my loyal readers and future MMMC students into Manipal, India. Generally this place is O-K-A-Y. Not as fancy as Malaysia, but similar to those kampung areas I guess. Time difference is 2.5hours behind Malaysia, time zone +5.30GMT. The exchange rate is around 100rupees to RM7.50. The Malaysian students here usually calculate it the lazy way, which is 100rps to RM10.

Us, getting briefed on flight details.

FOOD on the journey here was horrible, probably because we weren’t use to the food-of-the-Indians. MAS freaking served us curry vege with rice. zzZ. Lucky I had mcD before boarding the plane. Nevertheless, now I think the food is O-K-A-Y. It may be because I already got used to it, or maybe because Manipal has better food. Haha. Anyway, price of food to quantity of serving is magnificent. Back in KL, mamak style Maggie-goreng single with no meat nor egg will cost RM3, but here, similar mamak style Maggie-goreng with meat, egg and cucumber is 45rps, that works out to about RM3.50. But wait! That’s not the main point, the serving is not single, it’s at least triple or maybe even QUADRUPLE!! For girls, 2 to 3 people can share a serving, for guys, maybe 3people share 2servings. Seriously the first time I ordered that was my 1st dinner here. I was SHOCKED when the food came. I ate like, half only, or maybe less. But as my mum always say, “I rather it go to waste then into my waist!” Lolz!

Massive serving or mee goreng

Hostel rooms are comfortable. I’m staying in a single AC room in Amartya Sen Hostel, and it’s so called the most-luxurious-room for guys. I heard there is a girls’ hostel that is as nice as hotel rooms. Our senior told us, “we don’t call that a hostel, we call it hotel.” Lolz. Anyway I’m happy with my current room. Small and comfy. And since the room is small, it gets cold very fast especially when the air-cond is on. When I say fast, I mean really really fast, like 5-10mins only. I think I wouldn’t mind staying in non-AC rooms. The door lock looks like prison’s locks, but it’s really safe, so it’s ok. Nevertheless I have some complains too. Can you believe that the toilet has no window?! I mean there are 2 pieces of semi-transparent tinted glass, but there is no ledge to open it!! There is a small hole as exhaust, but I think it’ll take like.. forever for the toilet smell to clear. ARGH!! I need air refreshener!! But the nearby grocery shop will only get stock after 2 days. And if you think that’s bad, we get frequent ELECTRICITY CUTS!! WTH?!! I’m forced to use laptop with battery all the time. I guess my battery life span will be damn short. zzZ.. But the fortunate part is the cuts are usually for less than a minute. =)

My hostel room

Btw, whoever told you Indians make stupid businessmen has never been to India. In Manipal, Indians are genius businessmen. They’ll start all kinds of BUSINESS near Uni campus that meets the needs of ALL foreign students. There is this grocery shop that sells literally everything at dirt cheap prices. From locks to cutleries to laundry baskets to floor mats to pails to mop to broom to air refreshener. Aiya you get the picture rite? EVERYTHING a student will need to survive in India. Just beside it is a mini-supermarket that is similar to a Carrefour Express. They have better selection of stuff BUT everything there is expensive. zzZ. Down the road is an electric shop that sells desk lamps, energy stabilizer, converters, extension cords, irons, etc. Then there are millions of many laundry services around. There are already 2 or 3 just in hostel alone. They’ll wash and iron your clothes for a little fee. Eg: pants and shirt is 5rps, T-shirt is 4rps, etc. We’ll never need to worry about laundry here. Haha! But then, Seniors recommended us to use the laundry service outside of hostel. Slightly more expensive but they clean better. Other standard shops include Kodak photo (damn cheap!! 16 pp-sized photos for 75rps only), broadband, banks, phone lines, tailors, Asian restaurants, etc. There is also this med school equipments shop that sells dissection kits, lab coats and name tags (wth, don’t Uni provide these??). Oh ya, there is this group of people who provides water dispenser for hostels. Rental of the dispenser is 275rps for life, and 20L refill of clean mineral water cost 75rps only. And if you think that’s everything? Think again.. There is this really small, close to unseen stall shop nearby that does leather shoes polishing. OMGosh la this place has EVERYTHING!! Now I finally understand why seniors said "no need to bring anything also can". Haha!

Water dispenser

Dissection kit

But then Internet here sucks. The hostel Internet application process takes so long. Indians are damn lazy k. Everything takes days/months to be done. Even INSTANT photos needs 15minutes. zzZ. Anyway back to Internet, broadband is quite similar to Msia’s Streamyx, hostel LAN Internet blocks off torrent downloads and certain sites. As for campus library computers, we’ll need to pay 10rps per hour. Those comps really block everything. MSN, facebook, Friendster and even youtube!! zzZ. The comp my friend used had loads of porn videos on the desktop. WTH?! They allow porn but block facebook?! @r$3h0l3s. I can only conclude that whoever did the Internet security settings is a perverted anti-social bastard. Anyway, I’ll be using the hostel LAN Internet, no more G00 and Bleach for me.. T.T.. The Internet application process is as messed up as the Visa application process back home. Firstly we have to fill up a form in the admin building, then a 10mins walk to ICICI bank to pay 200rps for installation. (Why the hell are we paying to the bank?? Aren’t we supposed to pay to the hostel management??) Next, head back to the admin building and pass them the payment receipt, get another paper, and pass it to the Information System Department, which is another 10mins walk. There, we’ll get our LAN cables and they will activate our hostel room LAN. WT* MAN!! One hell of a troublesome process!!

Transportation is not a problem here. Everything is within walking distances. Or if you’re lazy to walk, can always take the public taxi called “auto”. From anywhere to anywhere, as long as it’s within town, it’s usually 15rps. That’s like RM1.10!! LOLz!! Most students here own a motorbike. You can buy a good 2nd hand 125cc super bike for 20,000rps. That’s around RM2k. You won’t need a driving license nor helmet here, no one will bother to check them. Or if you’re paranoid, driving license can be bought. Really, BOUGHT. That’s what seniors told us, not sure if it’s true or not. Initially I thought motor was a luxury, until I walked around Manipal town. Every damn driver honks for no blady reason!! They’ll be like 50 meters away honking while you’re crossing the road. 50 METERS LA DAM*IT!!!! DO YOU LEARN MATHS AND PHYSICS??!! EVEN IF THERE ISN’T AIR RESISTANCE AND FRICTION, YOU’LL STILL NEVER BANG ME!!!!!! I’m so gonna get a bike to honk the crap out of those who honked me. It’s either you honk, or get honked. zzZ. Talk about friendliness. Zero!!

Communication here is dirt cheap. It’s almost free. Everyone here uses “Airtel”, it’s like Maxis back home. We paid 1000rps for the sim card, and there is 967.01rps inside. We get 100 free smses DAILY to all Airtel lines, but calling is so cheap no one bothers to sms here. Calls are 0.25rps per minute, that’s like RM0.02 only!! LOLz!!! Let’s do some maths now k, if calls are that cheap, and sms is free, how long will we take to use up 967.01rps? NEVER!! Unless we call back to Msia, 6.40rps per minute, or 1.5rps per sms. In the past few days, I’ve been smsing my parents a lot. Its so cheap we don’t even care. Haha!!

Ok I’ve been talking a lot. Should stop now. I’ll post up more pictures next time when I get my proper line. Until then, just know that I’m alive and well here!! God bless!!