25 posts tagged “photography”
I was sponsored for a weekend talk held in a luxury hotel :) There has been on and off debates whether this is an unethical practice. In fact there has been an explicit circular from the director which barred doctors from accepting any form of sponsorship.
Well, I accepted it anyway. So did many consultants and even heads of departments from hospitals all over Malaysia including participants from Korea, India, Japan, among the many Asian countries. In any case, there was a disclaimer stating that the sponsorship is "not conditional upon any obligation to use, recommend, promote or purchase the product or intended to influence you to do so", which I take it as face value. In any case, it is the only opportunity to listen to 2 prominent researchers, one from Italy and the other from a renowned institution in Texas. I don't think the government can or rather will sponsor them to come to Malaysia for our benefit. Sure, the company promotes their product but it is also for the benefit of our patients. Sad to say without the pharmaceutical industry support, we will probably be still living beneath our coconut husks.
The hotel was luxurious. But the best part was meeting up with friends and have a good chat.
It was great, but after 2 days I can't wait to get back to my spartan room. I suppose I'm comfortable with familiarity. I wasn't able to sleep well despite the luxurious bed and pillows. It just shows that money can't buy some things. There wasn't the familiar feel, familiar smell, familiar touch. And I didn't even use most of the things in the room.
However I managed to take a few snapshots of the surroundings with my camera ;)
A beautiful sunset today. Aah, life feels so calm looking at the sunset by the beach. There's something about the sun which is so magnificent.
I shall post the pictures of the brief history of WW2 in North Borneo for those who are interested to read them ;) Click on them for a bigger pic!
Just to add, the Sandakan Memorial day is held on 15 August in memory of the death march of Allied/Australian Prisoners from Sandakan to Ranau where only 6 men survived! Here is the information site
I have my deepest respect and admiration for the men who were willing to leave their home in Australia and serve in the jungles of Borneo, weathering the tropical storm and malaria. To fight and defend North Borneo. I don't know if Australia got any benefit from sending in their troops to North Borneo but my respect and admiration for these men stays nevertheless. I do not say these words very often. I mean would you go to, say Papua New Guinea, to fight a war that wasn't your own?
A friend recommended this "good old" coffee shop museum tucked away in a remote corner of town. It was an mesmerizing coffee shop which pays tribute to the many men in the Australian armed forces who sacrificed their lives during World War 2 in North Borneo. I really like this coffee shop which sells charcoal toasted bread!!! Wow! The tables and chairs are made of wood and marble not the plastic stuffs which wobbles. There are numerous historical pictures, poems, artifacts in this shop. And I love history! It is run by an elderly Chinese man who looks like 80 years of age with interesting features.
This is definitely gonna be my regular joint. Fantastic shop!!
Last night the sky was angry, lightning striking every 5 minutes. Angry at the rise in petrol prices I guess....hehe. But alas it was blocked by the clouds. Anyway it was fun trying to capture the pics :)
My next aim - rainbows!
But...it's good to be home. Home sweet home. Nothing beats the sun, the sea, the mountains, the trees, MY SPACE and MY CAR.
Transited in Dubai and flew to London. Luckily I'm still on the happening side of 35 ;) , so we could still check into a backpackers hostel. Man space is really a premium around here. Bunks of beds packed into a really small room. Other than the really tiny space, a backpackers hostel is a great place to stay and mingle around. It's rejuvenating to be able to communicate in a non-medical manner. Man...almost forgot how to start a sentence without using "Ada apa sakit?"
Transport is really convenient in London and even more so in Paris. The underground train system is really efficient. Perhaps RapidKL can learn a thing or two here. It's still packed though and people do rush to go in, but in a more subtle manner. For example in Paris I did not have to wait more than 3 minutes for any train for any connections to anywhere! After taking the tube for a week, I've decided I'm NOT giving up my car even if petrol goes up to USD300/gallon. Perhaps can consider the Hybrid Toyota Prius in the future when the price drops ;) I need some breathing space man...
Visited the usual tourist attractions in London, then took the Eurostar to Paris and stayed in a better hotel in Paris hehehe. Cannot "tahan" staying in a 'prison cell' for too long. I must say Paris is fabulous - Paris didn't get the No 1 tourist destination tag for nothing. London, in my opinion is nothing to shout about.
Spent a couple of nights in Paris, ate some really great meal there after eating bread, cold sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs or fish and chips in London. What's the best way to spend some extra cash? Yes...food.
Oh yes...and there was this cabaret thing with a glass of champagne to go with it ;) Not the famous Moulin Rouge (which would be grossly out of budget) but a similar one nearby. I'll skip the descriptions hahaha.
The Louvre museum is spectacular. The exhibits inside really overwhelm the senses. Also saw the famous Mona Lisa which was kept on the wall behind some special glass (with everybody snapping their cameras non-stop!).
After that went back to London to spend a couple of days more, including a trip to the city of Bath and Stonehenge. After that the grueling flight back to home sweet home :)
This trip made a huge dent in my wallet but then well, I've always been thrifty and this is a "once in a blue moon" kind of thing ;) and more importantly it brought me back from being burnt out - seriously exhausted, from work. A wonderful trip! Now when can I get a hot Char Kuey Teow..
Managed to get up close and personal with the Olympic Torch thanks to an ex-Malaysian Olympian. A bona fide torch which he ran with, during the Malaysian torch run. Each runner can keep their torch.
The torch is made of metal in the upper half and plastic in the bottom half. And there is a keyhole at the back which requires a key to 'activate' the torch before it can be lighted!
And my new lens is fantastic :)
Getting immersed in a new hobby costs lots of $$ unfortunately. Trial and error costs $$ too. Learning which lens is good and which is "not so good" and how to get the best bang for the buck unfortunately requires some initial investments. Mistakes can be costly. Reading reviews can be biased too. For every person who says A is good, and equal number say A is bad. Moral of the story : My old lens is for sale. Got poisoned...hahaha
Reminds me of the card game "Magic" which my good friend introduced me to when we were in university together. He got me a pack of starter pack and we got hooked playing. Alas, this particular game requires heavy investments, at least initially and I'm kinda reluctant to part with that amount of money for cards. Hey they are just cards! Anyway he had a pretty good career with the Magic game but I'm not sure if he's still into it. As for me, I just retired early. I understand some people are making big bucks from this game.
At least I'm sure I'll be happy with this lens for quite a while and it won't depreciate that much with time :)
And I feel I've been spending too much time with the computer and internet too. Time to take a break. No computers, no blogging, no internet for the next 2 weeks. Just backpacking with new lens and snap snap snap :)
Gotta pack soon
With the fantastic weather today, I attempted to capture some shots of the green parrots at the beach again. Alas, they flew pretty high and beyond the range of my zoom (beyond 400mm on a 35mm format!). Anyway managed to get some shots with my new Canon 55-250mm IS lens :) There's something about sunset at the beach which is so calming and rejuvenating... ;)
As opposed to its name, it's no place for the untrained to climb this forest reserve. With some time to kill the next day, my friend and I decided to climb this mountain in a forest reserve in Tawau. I was told it used to be quite popular. We drove his pick-up truck to this place a few km from town.
The first thing we heard was the cry of hornbills!!! Before I could whip out my camera, they flew away...how disappointing. This is quite an amazing virgin forest. I saw some extremely large trees and some interesting plants and animals. There was also a canopy walk near the peak. The view was magnificent!