Putting the spot in full-stop.

Assalamualaikum...

Life, is like a dice. Toss it, and the amount of dots that face upwards, determine your next steps. Some people even recite du'as before the throw; others, couldn't care less.

In the snakes and ladders of life, at times, you may consider yourself pacing towards the apex. But what you do not know, is that climbing hastily may make you trip, and you'd fall back to square one.

At times like this, you'd just wish that your life was filmed on screen, so that you could click the rewind button anytime desired. Except that, if it does, well..it wouldn't be called life then. It's called cheating. And cheating is never good.

Tonight would be my last at home for 2007's summer holidays. Packing back is never good - it's like you're packing altogether those gloomy feelings that you wish were never there in the first place. And it's at this moment when you'd be wishing that the holidays are about to begin, but the truth is, two months of vacation has slipped by in a wink.

The hardest part is, mode transition - from 'wiggling-your-feet' mode to stay-ups and coffees. Hope it'd be easier this time.

Despite the poignant and miserable thoughts, I do feel that this summer break, has, in a way, sparkled some glitters in my textbook of life. Some may say that 21 is the key to freedom. Literally, it may do so, but I define freedom as in the ability to control your own wits.

It's at this age, when the family bond suddenly gets tighter. When conflicts and dilemmas, dice your own thoughts. When you start pondering - are my deeds, enough for the Hereafter?

It's when you have a jigsaw puzzle, depicting your future - but there are still those missing spots, in pursuit.

And yes, up to now, I am still searching for those missing spots.



Ariff's first performance on stage. He represented his ABIM School for the nasheed competition. Despite the loss, he succeeded in controlling his stage-fright.



In the upcoming pictures, you may see little of my second sister Hani. Well, she's got the A-level finals to sit for. Goodluck, girl!



My first elective postings at Hospital Serdang. Agak jakon bila terjumpa disposable tudung surgery yang tak ada di Ukraine.


Makteh will be furthering her studies in Notts, and the whole lot would be tagging along. Balik kampung untuk attend kenduri depa lah nie.


I spotted my little cousins playing 'mak-mak', and couldn't restrain myself from taking these snaps. Reminded me of the good old days.

Rumah kampung belah mak. Still as lovely as it was two decades before.

My cousins. Again. Siapa suruh comel sangat? Kan kak Sarah dah amik gambar lagi. Hehe.


Erm..these aren't my cousins. You may identify the likeliness of our looks. Haha. We had a trip to JB and Singapore, and blasted some fun at Sentosa Island.

Oceanarium. What the sharks were doing remain mysterious.

Vivo City.

The Merlion.

Dolphin-strike.

After 19 years, I have eventually touched the grounds of Kelantan. How couldn't I, it was my best friend's wedding (Fana and Kimi). I did drop a tear during the akad nikah ceremony. How..sentimental.



My Kelantan Smapian friends reunited - from left, May (erm, okay, exclude her from the Smapian list), Mumtaz, Me, Aten and Salma. Salma lent me her room for two nights, and also chauffeured my out-and-abouts. Her roomate, Shud, and classmates - Put and Ema, were a sport. They even made me hitch along to do some barbecuing and waterfall-showering!!Seronoknye~~~

Lata Hujan Waterfalls, Tanah Merah, Kelantan.

Last week, dad treated us to some place 'yang mana korang akan rase lain sikit suasananye. Abah nak bagi korang makan somewhere where the atmosphere is more unique'. Turned out it was this gigantic, Islamic, Kurma Royal Restaurant in Sri Petaling. The view inside was deadly marvellous (so were the prices). We spotted lots of chinese families dining here, despite two more gigantic chinese restaurants that sat opposite the road.





Erm...okay, tukar topic sekejap. Hehe. I found this pengantin dress at one of the shops at Jalan TAR. Black, is so awesome, but...pernah ke ade perempuan Melayu kahwin pakai baju warne hitam? Hmm..



After the dine, dad took us sightseeing the lights of KL at night. Splendid. You don't see this in Ukraine, people.


A few nights after Merdeka's Eve, we spectated the dazzling Fireworks Competition at Putrajaya. Somehow, a few of them reminded me of..microbiology.





My home at night. Countdowning the days for the next summer holidays to come...cepatlaa!!Huhu.

ps: Pictures (not all) courtesy of my SE p990i camera. Never thought they'd look this good. Ngehehe~~

pps: After previewing, I think some missing spots have been unearthed.

ppps ( is there so..?) : Aisha, I nak dedicate...slamat jadik matangg!!!Ngehehe...just kidding. Will do a better post dedicated specifically for you in the future..arasso..? *wink*wink*

Chicken soup from a mum to a daughter.

Salaamun alaik...

Finally, after what may seem like a month, I have eased my fingertips to do some keyboard-tapping, squeezing out those bluntless thoughts eager to pop out into text format. Things have been pretty busy nowadays. For starters, I have just enrolled myself for practical training at Serdang Hospital yesterday, and will be performing the matter for the upcoming 3 weeks. Due to a vast number of students, we will shift departments every week; Nephrology, Orthopaedics and Emergency Department, accordingly. Alhamdulillah, for the first day, everything went smooth sailing. It so seems that our doctor (me and my 3 fellow colleague-mates) is the Head of Nephrology Department; he taught us much about communication skills, on how to explain about a disease to a patient. Failure of communicating and influencing patients effectively is a major cause why the public nowadays at some point revert to "bomohs' '' he says. When you are treating someone, assume that you are selling a product. You must convince your consumers to purchase them. If you fail to do so, people may lost confidence in you. Hence, you may end up being that 'not-so-good' doctor you wish you never were. Nauzubillah. Tomorrow we'd be rounding the wards, checking up cases at the HDU (Hemodialysis Unit), and the following days would be spent at the transplantation unit, clinic etc.

Of course, the headline above has nothing, no correlation whatsoever to do with the practicals, hospitals and roundings. Neither do the pictures below.

Last sunday, I tagged along my mum to send my 3rd sister, Amira back to her school, SBP Integrasi Gombak (they champed the National PPM SBP BM Debate Tournament. A big congrats to all INTEGOMBS...hohoho). The route was just the same route; same signboards, tolls and all. The traffic was indeed heavy, for most cars showed sorrow faces of students that gave the 'i-don't-wanna-start-school-please-gimme-some-more-holidays' looks, with big dumpels aside. Little did I realize, that something big (well, not THAT big; just the little-going-to-medium big) was about to happen.

We had a chat. Me and my mum. A rather long one. Big. And important. I was all open at that moment. We talked about private stuff; friends, relationships, clashes, career...and, the future. At that instant, I never knew I would spill out nearly EVERYTHING to my mum. Well, yes, of course I do tell her some wee bit details of my ins and outs, my ongoings, my circle of friends and all, but I never knew it would go way deep. Once, years back, I remember reading through a sentence in a motivational book ( or was it one of those lines from Ustazah Bahiyah's talk? terlupa pula) stating that there would be a period in a girl's life when her mum will be her bestfriend, and they'd share nearly all secrets together. Sounds more of like Gilmore Girls, I think.

For the first time, in my whole life, I have finally felt myself able to think maturely. Act maturely. In other terms, the sentence goes "I feel mature". Wow. Blame me not, for in the past, when it goes to secrets deep down under, private stuff and all, I'd feel embarrassed, shy to reveal the whole lot. As if a big barrier, a huge wall, a virtual door is locked; limiting my inner senses to convince myself to express everything out.

"Kita kan dah besar..kenapa awak nak malu-malu lagi cakap pasal benda ni..?"one once said.

(Should I clap my hands for this? teehee~~)

Congratulations to myself. =)

The pictures below were taken in Istanbul. Had been stranded for two days over there, due to the sudden ticket date forwarding that we did. Tapi takpelah, stranded pun dapat berjalan dengan seronoknya, kan kan :)

The Sea that divided Istanbul into its Europe and Asian side.

Hagia Sophia

Grand Bazar (we got an initially-priced YTL 120 sejadah, for YTL 10 at one of the shops here)

Blue Mosque from inside

Blue Mosque/Sultan Ahmad Mosque (outside)

Inside

Route to the sea

Balek Lama/Fish salad..anyone?


View of 'I-don't-know-what' building from the ferry

Some of these men kept saying "Do you want to take my picture?" Tergelak. Kelakar, macam mencapub.


Yellow, expensive cabs, like in New York.

Nak Istanbul lagi boleh..? =)

The procrastinated Warsaw pictures

Deep down within, I do feel a bit reluctant to upload these photos. Why, for the incident took place some 2 months ago. Rather late. Tapi, sebab saya dah janji dengan Kak Sarah untuk tunjukkan gambar-gambar ni..jadi, saya kuatkan hati juga.

Below are some shots of my 3 days 2 nights conventional-trip to Warsaw (saya agak keberatan nak menulis panjang-panjang. A little description will do, I hope).

At the edge of a castle (forgot its name, though).

View from The Tower of Culture and Science.

The tower at night.

Old Town/Starie Measto

Warsaw City Centre. The transport mode is alike London's. Very neat and in order.

The 1st Medical Students Convention Committee. The lady in blue is The Malaysian Ambassador to Poland. She made some hundred slices of sandwiches for our journey back to Simferopol. Macam keibu-ibuan kan :)

ps: This picture makes me feel short..uhuh~

pps: you may identify some Warsaw photos in the previous post.