I had recently attended a work-related induction programme at Felda Residence Trolak (FRT) in Sungkai. It's a compulsory 1-week programme for all new staff of the organisation. I wish I have pictures to share here, but I haven't got any yet from the facilitators at the moment.
The things that we went through, in a nutshell:
1. Early Morning
Physical exercises and jogging started as early as 6.45 am every morning. Went up and downhill the compound of FRT. I felt extremely heavy to get up early when in fact we're only allowed to go to bed from 1 am onwards (5 hours of daily sleep for 6 days).
However, I realised the things that I've been missing for the past few years since I left school - vigorous physical activities. Nonetheless, with the teamwork and motivation gathered from each other, everyone managed to complete everything smoothly.
2. Briefing Sessions
Some of the sessions were fun, while I felt drowsy in a few other sessions. Insufficient sleep at night, so it's not unexpected and obviously not because the speakers were boring, but it's all because of my own exhaustion.
3. Outdoor Day
a) Low Rope & Flying Fox
It was my first time experience with Low Rope. It wasn't scary, but was exhausting. We had our activities in the recreational jungle nearby.
As for Flying Fox, this was my second time. So, I was better-prepared at this. The first was during a workplace-related activity at Klana Resort Seremban back in 2008.
b) Cooking the Old Way
We're only supplied with matches, some bamboos, rice, tapioca & salted fish. In an hour, each team was required to cook these things using limited resources by the riverside. In the end, all teams had their tapiocas & salted fish pretty well-cooked (surprise). But all had raw rice.
c) White Water Rafting
We had one session at Kampar River. To get there, we went past the area near Gua Tempurung and some hills. Since we're expected to get wet, 2 lorries were assigned to transport us, the participants. It felt nice to be on the lorry on the outside because it allows clear viewing of the countryside.
We went through Grades 1-3 of the river. Safety is of utmost importance; from proper safety attires (life jacket, helmet), to the proper technique of holding the paddle and what to do in case if the raft overturns. It's also important to fully listen to all instructions from the raft masters who are professionally-trained. Ours was conducted by Riverbug.
d) Paintball
I don't fancy paintball, even before I started to get into the compulsory game. And my worst nightmare turned into reality as soon as my eye got a mysterious shot and before I knew it, I felt paint being "injected" into my left eye on the sideways. It's mysterious because I was well attired with suitable and well-fitted helmet. It's okay to be shot, but it isn't okay to feel pain on the eye. So, I stopped.
I took a look at the mirror and asked my pals. There wasn't redness when it was painful. Already afraid, so I removed the contact lens on the left eye to see how it goes. Fortunately it was just a 1-day lens, which means it's ok to throw it away just like that. However, when the pain disappeared, came redness. A few others saw it and told me. Seriously concerned, I spoke to the facilitators.
This is something that I didn't tell anyone at home though. Later that night when everyone's supposed to go for a blind-folded jungle walk, I stayed back. Instead of participating, I had to forgo it because I had to get medical attention. A staff from Felda drove me to the nearest hospital, which is Slim River Hospital for help.
Over there, the waiting time wasn't long because there weren't many patients. As opposed to the emergency units of any G.H. The MO checked on my eye, told me that it's nothing serious, and gave a prescription. At least I know it isn't an internal injury, or else the redness surely will be accompanied by great pain. Thankfully...
What was next:
Fortunately, the redness went down partially after a night's sleep. After applying the prescribed eyedrop, the redness reduced significantly and became almost invisible in 1 day. However, if I were to take a close look at my left eye, I could see a few fine capillaries. But things looked much-improved.
But I remain afraid to wear my contacts. Having said that, I didn't wear glasses either, because I didn't bring them with me (yeah right, so confident that I won't injure/irritate my eyes. I forgot). So, I lived by what I could see and was glad that I managed to get my way through everything. A colleague tried waving at me from a distance and had asked if I could see him. I could...not his face, but I could recognise his tall and built figure. It's okay anyway, because I'm not severely myopic and can more or less make do temporarily without glasses or contacts. Let's not divulge any deeper about this and my vanity, which are different matters altogether.
Speaking of which,
Digressing to another point, I've always end up with urges to cut my hair short whenever I'm back from similar events. Perhaps, by going for such activities, I had pictures taken of myself and could therefore have a better view of myself. Gosh, I always feel that while long hair makes most girls look sexier, it makes me look older and... tired. Maybe because I don't know how to care for long hair and letting it free pushes up my age, appearance-wise. Especially when the fringe has grown long, since I need a little fringe to suit my feature (from advice).
Back to my usual place now and browsing through a few recent photos, I'm seriously thinking of getting a haircut now. "Sayang" to cut what I've grown for the past few months, but my "ai sui"-ness keeps me wondering whether I should go for a difference rather than keeping up with flatness. Plus, long hair tend to break more easily and have dry ends.
Go for a dry cut after working hours (dry cut, because it's only what I can afford)!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Nostalgic Batu Gajah
Batu Gajah, or simply known as BG is my adopted hometown, besides my real hometown in Ipoh. During my latest trip back to Ipoh, I was glad to have the opportunity of stopping by at Batu Gajah, which is about 20 minutes away from my home in Ipoh.
One of most exciting things of all was the long walk from Jalan Dewangsa to Changkat. It brought back the sweet memories of the days when I was at St Bernadette's Convent.
Below are a few random phone-captured photos during my stroll up the slope of Changkat from the town center:
1) The town playground:
I used to go to this playground a few times in a year when I was in pre-school. I used to go there together with my brother, being looked after by my babysitter while my mom went to work.
2) The old Court House in Changkat:
This building used to house the Magistrate's Court of Batu Gajah until the new court building was completed about a decade ago. It's obvious from the architecture that this building was built during the British colonial times. If I'm not mistaken, this old Court House building accomodates the land office now.
3) St. Joseph's Catholic Church
The church looks pretty far away from where I stood to take this picture with my humble Sony Ericsson S302.
What's sentimental about St. Joseph is that it formerly had a pre-school, in which I was one of the pupils.
Not as if I've attended many different schools though. But I notice that all the schools that I've attended consist of Catholic schools. I suspect that this is possibly attributed to the fact that my dad is educated in a Catholic school (St Michael's Institution - SMI), and thus, he's prone to sending his beloved kid to similar type of school. Maybe because (now formerly) missionary-run schools are mostly old and pretty well-known?
Conclusion
It's been many years ago since I formally bidded farewell to BG. However, I was there for a few times in between. Meeting my friends on a few occasions, and going there with my mom for her business one a few other occasions.
One of most exciting things of all was the long walk from Jalan Dewangsa to Changkat. It brought back the sweet memories of the days when I was at St Bernadette's Convent.
Below are a few random phone-captured photos during my stroll up the slope of Changkat from the town center:
1) The town playground:
I used to go to this playground a few times in a year when I was in pre-school. I used to go there together with my brother, being looked after by my babysitter while my mom went to work. 2) The old Court House in Changkat:
This building used to house the Magistrate's Court of Batu Gajah until the new court building was completed about a decade ago. It's obvious from the architecture that this building was built during the British colonial times. If I'm not mistaken, this old Court House building accomodates the land office now. 3) St. Joseph's Catholic Church
The church looks pretty far away from where I stood to take this picture with my humble Sony Ericsson S302. What's sentimental about St. Joseph is that it formerly had a pre-school, in which I was one of the pupils.
Not as if I've attended many different schools though. But I notice that all the schools that I've attended consist of Catholic schools. I suspect that this is possibly attributed to the fact that my dad is educated in a Catholic school (St Michael's Institution - SMI), and thus, he's prone to sending his beloved kid to similar type of school. Maybe because (now formerly) missionary-run schools are mostly old and pretty well-known?
Conclusion
It's been many years ago since I formally bidded farewell to BG. However, I was there for a few times in between. Meeting my friends on a few occasions, and going there with my mom for her business one a few other occasions.
Dining in Ipoh
It's been a really long time since I had time to blog. It's good in a way, because it means I either have no time to rant (because my blog consists mostly of rants and reminiscences) or that I'm too happily occupied with work (really?). :P
Here's a little update on what's in Ipoh recently. I was back for the new year, and the week after.
Ipoh & I - An Introduction
Although I'm born in Ipoh and my home address is somewhere in "31650 Ipoh" (yes, exactly in the city of Ipoh), I'm actually a stranger to Ipoh. I've never studied in Ipoh before, and I used to spend only 30% of my time there over the weekend when I was younger. It's only in Dec 2003 that my family are officially back in Ipoh for good.
Each time a new friend asks "where are you from", I'd just tell the fact (Ipoh), but deep inside, I hardly consider myself "Ipoh-girl". Physically yes, but not at heart. The only factor that attaches me to Ipoh is the fact that my family lives there and my home is there. Speaking of home, again, I question how often am I there to call it my home as in the place where I grow up. The worst thing is that I know where to go for nice dim sum in KL, but not knowing the number 1 dim sum in the whole of Malaysia - right in Ipoh itself. So near and yet so far.
An Instance of Being a Stranger to My Own Hometown
Call me "ignorant about Ipoh" despite being somewhat "Ipoh girl". Prior to watching 'Ah Xian' food documentary on Astro AEC, I had no idea that the most famous dim sum is found in Ipoh. Jalan Leong Sin Nam, no, I had no idea where the place is until I became a regular user of Google Map. Oh, it's near Excelsior Hotel.
The Breakfast Place
I was rejoicing and excited when I unintentionally discovered the new Foh San dim sum restaurant at Jalan Leong Sin Nam. The place is big, beautifully-renovated and looks really nice! So nice that I couldn't help resist taking pictures as if I were not from Ipoh.
The front entrance... nice!
One of the windows at the first floor:
Roaring business...
Delicious egg tarts at the takeaway counter:
Another view inside:
As to whether I've dined in at Foh San, the answer is "no". In any famous dim sum restaurant, the key to getting a seat is to be there very early in the morning. That's what I was told. So, this is the place that I've been looking for all my life, and I've finally found it almost 27 years down the line.
The Dinner Place
Here's another local Chinese restaurant that I went in for the first time... Tuck Kee in Pasir Pinji, Ipoh.
The interior looks nice... I didn't know that until I went in. The restaurant looks so-so on the outside, but the inside is cosy and generally has all the pretty decors of a Chinese restaurant.
This was pictured on Chinese New Year's eve when the staff were busy preparing to open the restaurant for reunion dinner. Nowadays, there are quite a number of people who choose the convenience to dine out for reunion dinner as opposed to cooking big scale at home. The food there are generally good and very reasonably-priced.
Here's a little update on what's in Ipoh recently. I was back for the new year, and the week after.
Ipoh & I - An Introduction
Although I'm born in Ipoh and my home address is somewhere in "31650 Ipoh" (yes, exactly in the city of Ipoh), I'm actually a stranger to Ipoh. I've never studied in Ipoh before, and I used to spend only 30% of my time there over the weekend when I was younger. It's only in Dec 2003 that my family are officially back in Ipoh for good.
Each time a new friend asks "where are you from", I'd just tell the fact (Ipoh), but deep inside, I hardly consider myself "Ipoh-girl". Physically yes, but not at heart. The only factor that attaches me to Ipoh is the fact that my family lives there and my home is there. Speaking of home, again, I question how often am I there to call it my home as in the place where I grow up. The worst thing is that I know where to go for nice dim sum in KL, but not knowing the number 1 dim sum in the whole of Malaysia - right in Ipoh itself. So near and yet so far.
An Instance of Being a Stranger to My Own Hometown
Call me "ignorant about Ipoh" despite being somewhat "Ipoh girl". Prior to watching 'Ah Xian' food documentary on Astro AEC, I had no idea that the most famous dim sum is found in Ipoh. Jalan Leong Sin Nam, no, I had no idea where the place is until I became a regular user of Google Map. Oh, it's near Excelsior Hotel.
The Breakfast Place
I was rejoicing and excited when I unintentionally discovered the new Foh San dim sum restaurant at Jalan Leong Sin Nam. The place is big, beautifully-renovated and looks really nice! So nice that I couldn't help resist taking pictures as if I were not from Ipoh.
The front entrance... nice!
One of the windows at the first floor:
Roaring business...
Delicious egg tarts at the takeaway counter:
Another view inside:
As to whether I've dined in at Foh San, the answer is "no". In any famous dim sum restaurant, the key to getting a seat is to be there very early in the morning. That's what I was told. So, this is the place that I've been looking for all my life, and I've finally found it almost 27 years down the line.
Since I only discovered Foh San at about 10.30 am that day, there's no way of finding a place to sit in the restaurant, in light of the school holiday and weekend when the restaurant was full of customers. And thus, my mom decided to take away a few varieties of dim sum. At home, I was totally fascinated by the tastiness of every single piece of the dim sum - from the 'siu mai', 'ha kao', 'char siu pao', to the egg tart. They're as addictive as what I'm already addicted to - my all-time favourite sushi. Now, I've become a fan of Foh San's dim sum too.
Walking Around
Syuen Hotel from side way...
The Dinner Place
Here's another local Chinese restaurant that I went in for the first time... Tuck Kee in Pasir Pinji, Ipoh.
The interior looks nice... I didn't know that until I went in. The restaurant looks so-so on the outside, but the inside is cosy and generally has all the pretty decors of a Chinese restaurant.
This was pictured on Chinese New Year's eve when the staff were busy preparing to open the restaurant for reunion dinner. Nowadays, there are quite a number of people who choose the convenience to dine out for reunion dinner as opposed to cooking big scale at home. The food there are generally good and very reasonably-priced.
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