Variations on My Guitar Frets

I created a new blog!
Don’t worry, I’m not running away half naked as shown in the picture.
And I’m not trying to escape, it’s just… I’m doing as if a hermit crab!

As a hermit crab grows, it’ll abandon the small shell and look for a better fitting one.
So, My new blog is a much improved version of the old one! :)
All are welcome to visit: http://daniel-jian.blogspot.com/
Tell me whether you like it or not! :D

I attended a special session in my school today.
I chatted with a lovely lady who's having a chronic disease.
It's part of my University's course structure, that we are exposed to the practice of a pharmacist right beginning from Year one.

I'm in my very first year of Pharmacy course.
So far, I manage to cope with my academics.
However, my current knowledge in Medicine is poor.
Rest assured with the practice of medicine. There's still so much to learn.

Due to patient confidentiality, I am entrusted not to disclosed any information that I gathered in the session without the patient's consent.
It's a basic courtesy, and an ethical response to have the lady's personal issues confined within the four walls of the room.

Yet, I was inspired.

In academical lectures, I was taught about drugs, diseases, and the way of curing them.

Today I realized, we're not treating diseases.
We are treating our patients.
We are dealing with human individuals.
Our ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life of individuals, of humanity.

There should be an element of care, love and kindness in our practice.
Not sitting at the counter, dispensing drugs, and counting our wages behind.
We act out of empathy, not as a mundane routine in our daily job.

After the chat, my problems seem insignificant now.
There are so many out there that need our help, and more importantly, that we're capable of helping.

So why do I study Pharmacy?
No, It is not because of my interest in Biology and Chemistry.
And no, it is also not because of the prestigious degree, nor the reputable career.

It's just, I would like to learn, so that I have the ability to help as a professional.
To love and to care.
To live, how a humane individual, having the blessings to be borned as a human in this impermanent world, should live.

May I grow in wisdom.
And may blessings and happiness be with the lovely lady.

I must confess that I probably spend a significant amount of time watching youtube videos.
Perhaps that explains why I always used up more than 90% of my total bandwidth allowed in a week. Fyi, International Hall impose a weekly bandwitdh cap of 7.0GB to all Internet users in this hall. That's ONLY 1.0GB per day.

But it's good though. It spurs me to limit my Internet usage (in order not to exceed the cap and have myself quarantined with no Internet access), then I'll focus more time on my studies, instead of watching youtube. haha.

Anyway,a typical routine that I always do after logging in into blogger is that, I'll search for my friends' blog page, and watch the youtube videos posted by them!
I sincerely thank them for posting such interesting videos.

Then I thought,why not I post those videos here, so that for my own convenience, I get to avoid the hassle of opening my friends' blog pages one by one.

Haha.

So, introducing the song that I'm currently addicted to. Stephanie Sun's new song, original soundtrack for the film 花木兰。The lyrics are intriguing, and I love the background music! I realized that I'm really into those traditional Chinese instruments, the one you'll hear at the intro of the song.



And by the way, Stephanie looks good with long hair! :)

Then another, it's the song used in tv commercials: Everyone connects by TMnet Malaysia.

Bunkface - Through My Window. Though I've never heard of this band, but this local Malaysian band is worth supporting! You'll see why.
Support local artist, support Malaysia! :D



Last but not least, these videos are so good, you just have to agree with me. :P
Marching band rocks!



And this, I regard it as the best drill ever!



I miss my trumpet :) And I miss my guitar too!
Enjoy the videos. I hope you guys will find them entertaining. Cheers!

I've been blogging about how happening my weekends are, and the previous weekend was without any doubt a jolly good one. :)

Highlights: My friends came all the way to London from Bath, and as the host, I definitely have to do all the planning for the great weekend! The extreme fatigue that I suffered and all the effort I put on it were simply worth it as everyone had an enjoyable time. :D

A few photos to share. Picked out randomly, of no order. :)


On the other hand, there's something about my hall mates. Apparently, Friday nights have became the hang out time that we look forward to!

Last night, we gathered in Krystle's room. And we played heart attack! (You know, the one which involves hand snapping, or rather self torturing. Haha)

Friday 21/11/09: The night of pain and utter FUN.

Evidence of PAIN. Bruised for life.

And then, we switched to another game. Truth or Dare.
With Jamie's Iphone, which has 'Truth or Dare' featured in it (I know, this is so cool right?), the whole session was so funny, everyone's laughing their heads off.

So, have you ever wanted to play Truth or Dare with a bunch of friends, and yet can't think of what questions to ask, or what interesting moves to dare them with? The solution to this is, get an Iphone! HAHA.

Since it's my blog, I don't mind disgracing myself with an unglamorous photo of myself. Hana's magnificent work of art:


Anyway, just wishing to share something with you all.

I've been busy, life's so packed, and time flies real fast.
I'm dealing with heavy workload due to my Pharmacy course on weekdays; And weekends are all about having a splendid time hanging out with friends.

Moreover, all the trips planning and extra curricular activities that I attend to are just so energy and time consuming.
Then I thought, what are the priorities in my life?

Family. I skipped University of London St John session on Wednesday to skype my parents instead. My parents miss me, and in order not to make them worry, I wanted to skype them!

Though learning how to protect and take care of others' and our own physical injuries are important enough, I feel that it's even more important to protect and take care of our parents' heart.

Try not to make them worry. My parents are 6557 miles from here, yet on a brighter side, they are just a phone call away. Making a phone call is effortless, and it makes wonder in getting the family all together again.

My parents have been worrying that I'm not having proper/ sufficient meals.
It came into my mind that I should take a picture of what do I eat in the hall. haha.
And for those friends who have been wondering what diet I'm on that resulted in me getting thinner, this lot is what I eat every dinner:

The fish is named 'Malaysian cod fish', though I wonder which part is Malaysian-ish. And the cheese cake is soooooooooooo good! :D
This doesn't solve the mystery of 'why am I getting thinner?' at all. LOL.

On the other hand, I've finally called my friend, Wei Chian after ages of arranging a perfect time to skype together.
We chatted, and I really enjoyed the more-than-an-hour conversation! It's nice being able to chat like that.
Have a good life alright?

And I started writing letters, postcards and stuffs.
Being able to adapt in London doesn't mean I'll forget all my friends back in Malaysia. You guys are equally important to me!

Besides, I kinda reluctantly refused to go to Portobello market with friends today. I rested, then I went to London Fo Guang Shan instead.

I've been planning to go there even before I arrive in London. And finally I have a free weekend, or more accurately, I took the initiative to arrange a free time at last. Then I visited the Senate House library, which is also one of the places that I wish to go.

It's just that, I would like to uphold my principle: Study Hard, Play Hard, and more importantly, rest well.
I'm allowing myself to relax, and I'm avoiding being deprived of sleep.
Health is wealth, people! Cheers! :D

I feel utter remorse at what I've done. The sense of guilt is so overwhelming, the very thought of it haunts me even in my deep sleep.
I just want to say, I'm sorry for...

buying a 8 inch scissors!! LOL.


This might be shocking for you, as even I couldn't believe my own eyes when reading this myself:
In the UK..
I have to be over 21 years of age in order to buy a pair of scissors?!
What happens if I'm at the age of 6 and I need a pair of scissors for my cut-and-paste art project?
I'm not really ranting, I just find it hilarious to be mentioned here.

However so, I confronted the risk of violating the law, and bought the scissors anyhow, because...
it literally says MOOOO~Childish or cool, it depends on your judgement.
But I just feel that, why not make my dull-looking pencil box a little more interesting with a pair of cow-like scissors?
Haha.
The best part is that, the scissors comes with a tag, stating this:

Haha. Am I eligible to use it then?
Anyway, I really do need a pair of scissors (I've been cutting stuffs with nail clippers since I got here.), and it costs me one pound. Give a tick for buying necessities at a reasonable price :)

At night, I headed to Alexandra Palace, near Wood Green for the Germany Beer Festival and obviously, the FIREWORKS DISPLAY! :)
This looks like Sakura petals falling down from the sky..

A typical animal cell with a nucleus. haha
The Universe :)
Spot the love! Love is in the air :D
Last but not least, some of the friends who came along:

Cheers people! :) C'est la vie~

It's either I'll post it now even though it's passed midnight ( the wee hours ), or, I'll procrastinate and will never ever complete the task anyhow. I shall not pick the latter.
As straight forward as the title of this post can be, I just had the best weekend ever in UK!! :)

It all started from 30.10.2009. The auspicious day. Yean Hui's birthday :)

As what Cheok Ee has mentioned, the surprise was a success! Okay, she referred it as a HUGE success and she even posted it on facebook!

I told Yean that I'm departing from London to Bath around 5pm, and will be arriving at Bath around 8.30pm. That's a lie. In fact, I departed at 230pm and reached around 6pm. Opps, I ''cheated'' on her. :P But my intention was good. I have to hide myself, and surprise her!

Credits go to Cheok Ee who generously contributed her kitchen and Sin Yee who selflessly went all the way to the city to lead me to the university. Thanks to them, I was able to cook.

Alright alright. I know some of you may go: ''Daniel's cooking?!''. ''Are you seeeerious?!'' haha. Yes I did. And perhaps it's beginner's luck, it actually tasted good :)

The masterpiece:


Humongous mushroom stuffed with chicken and pepper, baked with cheese.
Roasted chicken (Thanks Wey Sian for the best sesame oil ever!)
And, Broccoli, her favourite.

I surprised her at the entrance of her accommodation hall with a rose.
Then we had dinner in her room :)
Oh ya, I cooked breakfast the next morning as well. Toast, Broccoli, and Eggs for both of us.

Anyway, I shall make this post short.
No doubt I had a pleasant evening.
Thank you for being so lovely.
Happy Birthday, once again :)
You know I love you.


Then..
The Nottingham Malaysian Games was a blast!
I carpool-ed the University of Bath's bus to Nottingham. And I feel a little bad for being only in the opening ceremony, then we headed to the city.

So, the blast I mentioned.. is actually referring to the fact that 31.10.09 is like a big reunion day!!
I had a splendid time meeting friends from all over the places! And also, knowing new friends as well. It just made my day! :D

-The Reunion-
Firstly the ucsi gang.
Yean Hui, Cheok Ee, Kenny, 194, Ang, Jackie, Sin Yee, Yun Yi, Jing Hui, Chiew Yee, Mei Chi, Corrinne, Wan Hui, Aileen, Aik Jin, Xin Yuan, Paul Aun, Nadiah x 2, Farah, Mutheerah, Fadhil, Izyan, EG~ Ili, Datin Yasmin! Hui Yun, Siew Leng, Sheila, Ayunni.. I think the list goes on.


Then, I was utterly excited to see familiar faces from Kwang Hua Klang!
Voon Huey! She's wearing bright pink :)

Jin Liang, Wey Kiat, Wei Jian, Wei Zhe, Yern Peng. Siew Leng's from Kwang Hua too, so she should be mentioned twice. Haha.

I met Ming as well! My Thai roommate back in Singapore Dunman High Hostel. He's the best! Thanks for bringing the whole gang around the city :) We should hang out again!

And Ik Hur. She's simply a nice friend to mix with :)

Not forgetting the friends I got to know from the BTN camp. Ainun, Aiman, Kai, Adeline, Hui Pin..

I met Ally and Nicole too. They are from London.
And, Sara, the girl who I met 3 years ago during the ASEAN scholarship interview. We talked to each other while waiting for our our turn to be interviewed. However, since then we didn't keep in touch, at all. Untill today, we met again! We were like, ''you look so familiar'', ''I think I know you'' and so on! Haha.

It just feel so good having able to meet all the buddies again.
The feeling of getting excited when bumping into a friend along the streets is simply exhilarating!
Fate works miraculously.
Forever Friends, to all :)

p/s: I had my chance to walk a dog for the first time! Sadly the photos are not with me.
And for more group photos, do visit my facebook profile. There's tonnes lots of photos.
Last but not least, I wish my family back in Malaysia can have the chance to taste my cooking :) I'll wait till the time comes..
May all be well and happy.