Awareness. Rather, the lack of it.

Awareness is something that gains you insight. It changes your mind, deepens your understanding and prevents you from embarrassment or making out-of-this-world remarks. No kidding.

Lately I had a personal encounter with a person (given the benefit of the doubt) who lacked awareness. And obvious tactfulness. either that or he was really evil in nature. lol.

I was having lunch with a friend who is blind. 100% loss of vision. so something startled her in the coffeeshop and she was afraid and clutched my hand. something along that line. and this dude sitting next to our table, looked at me in the eye and asked 'Is he toothpick?'  i was like ...??? Sorry??? he repeated it like 5 times. forgive me. his pronunciation was really hard to comprehend. finally i got what he was saying. he said 'Is she stupid'. 

can u believe your ears? even if he was dumb enough to think so, it was utterly unacceptable that he asked me that.

i retorted NO SHE'S NOT and ignored him. I mean a person this ignorant and blunt (saying he's blunt is giving him a MOUNTAIN of benefit of the doubt that he didn't mean to be rude) isn't worth the time explaining to or giving a response to. 

now lets look at the situation. there are two possibilities.

a) He really didn't know she was blind and might have meant mentally handicapped but didnt know how to phrase it so he used the word stupid. he might have thought the word stupid is acceptable bcz (now this part of reasoning is really hard) bcz.. er... in his upbringing he uses the word stupid like saying hello or bye to his friends. 

in this case, he stone cold lacks awareness.

1) how do u recognise blind people?

2) what are their needs?

3) how do you help without causing more trouble?

4) what does it mean to be mentally handicapped?

5) how to greet people without getting beaten up.

Interestingly, I learnt a little about how to help the blind without causing more chaos on that day n thought it'd be helpful to share it here.

1. if u wana lead them to cross roads or to navigate them to places, they usually hold the white cane in their right hand. so take them by their left forearm (upper arm). 

note: left. and upper arm. cz they tend to feel insecure if u hold their hand (as in the lower arm/palm/fingers) cz they need to feel/sense ur body movement as u walk to get a sense of direction.

2. if due to religious hindrances u cant hold a girl's arm, u can just lightly put her left hand on ur shoulder. do not, hold the end of her white cane. xD (has happened)

3. after crossing the road or leading them to a place, let them know that they have crossed and where they are (direction wise), and whether there's drain or steps in front. do not just say You're Welcome and walk away leaving them clueless to where they are.

4. if u see any of them trying to hail a cab, take some time to help them stop the cab and get in. cz roads tend to be busy n noisy so they cant sense whether a cab has stopped in front of them n they dont know where the cab door is.

5. u dont hav2 carry him/her into the cab (true story no kidding some1 has tried doing that b4 xD) what we can do it open the cab door and put his hand at the edge of the door. try to preserve their self dignity by letting them do what they're able to do. :)

6. if u're having a meal with them, let them know where their eating utensils n cup are. indicate positions using the clock system. eg. there's fish at 9 o clock of ur plate, veg at 2 o clock. etc. 

The blind can sms and facebook too. pretty cool right. :)

this post has gone on to a bright side that i dun wana talk about that weird dude anymore. lol. 

b) is suppose to be that he was inherently a mean person and just asked that question to provoke me. which in this case i'm not even going to waste my time acknowledging his presence. there were hurtful words -my friend heard it. 

so yeah, awareness is important. i was amazed at how blind ppl today are so empowered, motivated and  leading successful lives in society. u think u're unlucky? try blindfolding urself (no peeping! :P) and live for a day. u wouldnt, i wouldnt survive 5 minutes. i'm filled with so much respect and awe for them. 

if u would like to volunteer and wonder how u can help, u can approach the MAB (Msian Association for the Blind) and give ur time to help turn ordinary books into Braille by reading/typing. 

have a great day ahead folks! :)

Peter

Reading the book of 1 Peter, I realised that Peter had a good hand in writing gentle words of wisdom and advice! The entire book encourages the people, advises people on ways of living and when u read it, u just feel his spirit of gentleness washing over you. you just feel as if it was a grandpa or elder sitting down and giving you those wise words that yield with it so much strength and love. *awe*

Sidetracking a little, I wonder how it's like to have cute grandparents sitting in a rocking chair (ok a one too many of the Grimm brothers fairy tales or cartoons) or baking cookies and knitting not by a fireplace xP

pictures.net

my grandparents passed away young and my oldest grandpa who was in Penang lived up to when i was 6 or 8 (sorry was young and was pretty confused) though i have the sweet privilege of having a very loving lady of currently, 81 who is just like a grandmum to me. she was my babysitter, not my baby's sitter teehee, she was the sitter when i was the baby. ok hehe slight confusion? aside, (yikes punctuation fail) i grew up communicating in english from my pre-pre-school days bcz she spoke to us little kids in english. at home, my parents tried training us to speak Mandarin but me answered them in english every time they spoke to me in mandarin. oooookay sidetracked way too much. *slaps forehead.

Getting back, I look at the Bible in a different light now. If previously I had thought of it as a serious formal compilation of scripture -hehe well yeah it still definitely is one- , I now look at it as a book of life experiences of different people being shared to us. you can feel the Author of each book telling you his story as he journeyed along time. and each author had different characteristics, personality and style of story telling. like. ain't that awesome :D

Curiosity burning. I'm wondering, what was Peter's background. *Google! 

Peter and his brother, Andrew were fishermen. He was described as a slow learner, but when given responsibility is mature and capable. He was the spokesperson among the 12 disciples of Jesus. It's interesting that, whenever there was a list of the disciples, Peter's name always was the first.

The famous stories of Peter are when he walked on water but sank when he lost faith (Matt 14:28-31)

and his denial of Jesus three times when Jesus was being captured (Matt 26:75)

Peter was the first man (after the 2 women) that Jesus appeared to after Jesus ressurected. :)

He went on to preach the Gospel and performed many miracles in the name of Jesus. He was famous for preaching at Pentecost. you can refer to this link for more on Peter http://www.bible-people.info/Peter.htm 

Interesting :)

I'll end here with a word from Peter (1 Peter 3:8). Such gentle words. 

Hong Kong, looking back..

i thought i should get to it before i completely get lazy and decide to store all memories in the not so reliable soft disc of mine.
i'll make it short and sweet. just a few takes on my recent trip to Hong Kong with my girl buddies Pei Sun and Pik Sien. :)

if u ever plan to travel to Hong Kong, it's very self-navigatory-possible. yeah i just created that word. umm on the account that u can read chinese words. a plus point if u speak cantonese. if u don't but can speak mandarin, just as long as u have thick skin and good observation skills, u'll do fine. :) but be very ready to be thought of as a tourist from Mainland China.

1. Point One, once at the airport, equip urself with maps, maps and more maps. zoomed in and zoomed out view, tourism board's recommendations on places to tour, bus schedules, all. it is very possible to survive by taking the MTR and then walking to wherever u wana go through map navigation cz the street signs are reliable. :) that says all about how well planned the city is with great road sign-age and all. :D

2. Hong Kong has a fast paced lifestyle. they walk fast, cross roads fast, eat fast, board the train fast, train also comes fast (1 train every 1-2 minutes can u believe that?? WOW), whip out umbrellas fast, talk fast, weather changes fast - kidding, but yeah it rained on n off in all the 5 days i was there. u get my point. hehe. thank God pei sun talks at jet speed and we managed to survive the food-order-at-the-table scenario. no time to look through menu and think what u wana order. u just gotta spill it all out the moment the waiter comes. (random note: the trains going to disneyland have mickey windows!)

3. Hong Kong public toilets grade A. they're super dry, clean and well maintained. *level up*

4. Macau is super different from Hong Kong. It has loads of Portugese influence. (which i didnt know til a day prior looking at the road maps, all the street names are 'Avenida '. super long street and building names wow. the buildings there have Portugese architecture. makes u feel like u're in Europe. :P







5. Shopping in Hong Kong is pretty good! i used to think the things thr are superrr expensive, but heck, no! nice places to shop at Jordan Street, Wong Kok and Tsim Sa Tsui (pronounced Zhim Sa Zhui in canton, and Chim Sa Chui in English) hehe.

6. Before going to Hong Kong, plan out ur trip first. micro-plan to the point u know the exact address for the breakfast shops u wana go. i mean, if u dont it's not going to destroy ur trip, bt if u've got limited time like mine-just a 5 day trip, u wana make sure it's maximized. :)

7. Accomodation- staying at Tsim Sa Tsui is ok. it is still pretty safe. it has kind of a Chow Kit Road environment. slightly better in fact. so if u're from KL, u're well trained for it already, no worries. hehe. we stayed at Carlton Guesthouse in the Chung King mansion. the room for 70HKD per night was 10 times better than i expected. there was aircon, tv, hot water, water supply provided. very happy. :)

8. walking all around hong kong and macau gave me the feeling of the apostles back in those ancient days after Jesus ascended. we walked n walked n walked like no one's business. our sandals got wet in the rain, dried, then wet again, soaked, dried, vicious cycle. dear sandals, u have served me well. dear purple umbrerra, u served me well too. i got a little taste of how the apostles felt, minus the fact i had maps, street signs, an umbrella and money. salutations...!

so here's my itinary for my 5 day trip. it might help u if u plan to go HKong in future. super duper credits goes to Pei Sun and Pik Sien. i was like a protected species going ard with them. xD i cant speak canton or mandarin well enough. so i just smiled at ppl throughout the whole trip. lol.

Day 1 - from airport took the airport express bus 21A from outside the airport to our guesthouse.
lunched Dim Sum at a shop near the Central Station.
then took the multi level escalator pass Soho.
worked our way to the Medical Science History museum but unfortunately it was closed..

walked up to the Peak tram station. dinner-ed the wanton mee up thr. springy noodle!



watched the Symphony of Lights. pretty cool.

back with supper -Pork Burger at the Woodhouse beside our hostel.


Day 2 - breakfast at Cafe de Coral. it's a franchise so u see loads of it ard HKong.


Disneyland!
The Lion King Musical is truly spectacular :D this picture shows a float carrying timon and pumba :D forgive th

*i just realised my post got cut right here. either my blog was hacked or some random thing happened while editing =( there was a day3-5 account but its gone nw n i cant exactly rmb what i wrote. sorry folks.. *hearbroken.

Growing Discoveries

This year end holidays, being the longest of all my uni break so far i think :P gave me the liberty of going back kuching for 6 weeks =D officially have 9 weeks of hols, 2 i spent in uni to collect data for a research module, 1 to a coming trip to hongkong. :D

while stil in kl, bumped into a long lost sister! hehe.

and went to a hot air balloon fair in putrajaya. thanks Alisa! :)
such cute balloons. my 1st time seeing a kiwi bird, bday cake and tree shaped balloon.

Along the way, I had the fun of discovering the little things in Kuching that even for the past years of bringing friends touring ard did not reveal to me. had the opportunity to bring Ai Jing and her 3 friends -Amy, Elaine, Alex up and around town. i didnt think i could discover anything newer (if u dont count the new buildings under construction around town - Cue: new shopping malls coming up! hehe. hopefully by next year).

1. We went to the Semmongoh Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. I've visited this place quite a number of times and had the oppor to see some cool climbing gymnastic routines -kidding. no sommersaults. - by middle age orang utans (ok i dunno how old they are but i think they're equivalent to our middle age. or young adult?? ok. maybe adolescent. ok nvm i hav no idea how to judge an orang utan's age). they were medium sized. xP and a mother orang utan dubbed Hot Mama (such a cute diva name) whom i was looking for this time but she wasnt at the centre anymore. maybe they shifted her to the Matang Wildlife Centre. and her baby. and a grandmother.

this time, I saw Ritchie. a male orang utan with super duper giant cheekpads of machoness. I never failed to be wow-ed when coming here!

2. ok better cut down on the rant. holidays has made me over-ranty.
Found out that Kuching has a river kayaking package that brings u kayaking up to 11km in the wilderness?? ok maybe not wilderness. through the pristine rainforests of Kuching. :) the one my friends took up was RM188 per pax, day trip n all, food, transport included. i didnt go, but from the photos it looked like a tonne of fun. :)

3. Discovered Sunny Hill ice cream parlour has a schedule for the ice cream flavours they make for a particular day. (sorry! i think this i ought to have known earlier than just now) lol

4. n that the ikan bakar place beside McD in Central Park doesnt open til maybe 8pm. and that the foodcourt at Jalan Song is called Peach Garden. had my first try at the 101 Avenue food court (didnt know it existed). and umm.. owh. the Hui Sing pasar malam with the famous White Lady n Metahon closes on Wednesdays. (so weird i didnt know that. but it wasnt like the 1st/15th of the month pun).

5. just realised that there was a reason the Fairy Caves was named that. my friends found a fairy. hehe.

5. more photography tricks

had lots of fun. :)

Back in Kuching I joined the Lifeguards & Watchmen for life group under Johnson and Lina. Have been really blessed by the brothers n sisters here. the 1st life group itself witnessed my car breaking down (alamak. yes another car crisis by xu vin driving the Proton Wira - hv never been short of stories on this) n who but them came to my rescue! *hooray? !* =P
They take a group shot after every Life Group. such a cute 2012 resolution. (so yay i get to be in a group photo) lol =P

Have had a guitar in my room since KTSN days in Year 2 but have been neglecting it (guilty of having an awesome guitar but not making full use of it). this holidays is a time i challenge myself to practise playing it properly b4 going back to kl. hehe. found a guitar sifu @Johnson. thousand thanks. :D

Been reading some books as well. and as I read, I somehow found back the love for reading (I stopped reading for fun since secondary school days n never really had the habit of reading since.)
A book that i found most inspiring was Divine Mentors by Wayne Cordeiro. Check out his books. the way he writes made me just wana keep turning the pages. really amazing book. I rediscovered the joy and excitement of hearing from God daily through the Bible. and it daunted to me the urgency to build my foundation strong in His words.

I found myself growing more n more (thumbs up to homecooked food. :P and also to good guidance from Christian leaders)

Heading back to KL for the wkend on the way to Hong Kong next week with 2 other friends. =D

Awesome Talent

An Awfully talented dude who's a songwriter/producer/singer and a great sense of humour. David Choi <3

He writes about friendship, love, life - all things that are meaningful and that you can relate to in your daily encounters. different from most songs you hear on the radio nowadays that's centred on crazy stuff.
His music also covers different genres, there's sentimental, upbeat, a bit of pop, rap, etc. and bcz he self produces all the songs, he plays any instrument you can think off. piano, violin, guitar-electric, classical, banjo, ukelele (i'm fazed already). I found out about him from the WongFuProductions videos cz he produces most of their video background music.

Check out his Youtube channel! (if u're not in the midst of exams. addiction forewarned) :P

Love Your Bones (and muscles)

looking at the whole picture, i think i finally understand why doctors fall in love with orthopedics. the mechanics of the body, fixing up fractures so that people can walk and use their hands again. it's all beautiful.

it only really caught me when mr azmi was talking about how paramedic training was a ground of focus in developed countries like the states, where policemen, firefighters know how to do cpr and know what to do in the event of some1 collapsing or in a motor vehicle accident. he told us about how he witnessed a person collapsing and within 5 minutes, a policeman arrived at the scene and performed resuscitation. 5 minutes later the ambulance arrived to give necessary support and transport the fella to the hospital. in episodes like this, every second counts in giving better outcome to the patient.
*cheers to all paramedics! booya!
this kinda superquick response to emergencies will prolly only happen here many yrs down the line?
at this point of time i am slightly confused to why the other dr.s thr werent the ones resuscitating the fella instead of the police..... ok maybe i didnt hear him correctly. lol. nvm. u get my point anws. :P

and the mechanics of how muscles work and bones growing and healing is pretty awesome. especially bone fracture healing in children. there was this child that broke the long bone of his leg (femur) and the bone was badly displaced.

3 months later it still looked pretty deformed even though the bone joined up together.

the parents wanted to sue the doctors. (i mean, yeah i understand. imagine if ur child's bone looked like this on xray. u would totally wana kill the dr.s) but knowing better from experience the doctors stood firm that the child didnt need any surgery or wadsoever invasive procedures to realign the bone.

A year later...... 

walah! it was back to normal. O.O Magic....!!

God is truly awesome.

and when mr azmi talked about the satisfaction he feels when seeing patients with horrible back pain relieved immediately after surgery, i started to get it. like, yeah... good feeling.. ok maybe i'm not really good in illustrating things but yeah nothing beats the satisfaction of seeing patients recover and having their quality of life restored. :)

bones are however still and will always be too heavy for me (all ATP drained from my body after doing 1 or a few knee examinations, legs are seriously really heavy. :S

*still hooked to WongFu productions videos
*and exam is still not over / not started

have a good weekend peeps! :)

*pictures not drawn according to scale so the thin bone in the 1st drawing didnt like become a huge monster bone after 1 year.

owh! and after experiencing how it feels like to have a cast on (i got into a fight.. :S shalisha was my back up - apparently she wasnt a very useful back up..)

kidding. the dr.s wanted us to get a feel of wearing a cast so that we'd understand what patients have2 go through. (i didnt make it through more than 2 hours and mine was only a half-cast not a full 1), i never ever ever want to get into accidents / fracture any bone in my body. wearing a cast is HORRIGIBLE VEGETABLE!!!! heavy and hot and cant bend ur joint and cant wet it cant do anything without looking like an elephant!!! and totally not outing/shopping-friendly. (okla maybe i'm exaggerating. xD but i sure hated it)

the picture was taken like 5 minutes after having the cast on when i was still happy. oh noes i posed really terribly Lala-ly here. >8( sorry.

owh ok this post is way too long already. bye bye!

youtubing

my current craze via youtube:
WongFuProductions
http://www.youtube.com/user/WongFuProductions?feature=watch

they have a store areyouaniceguy.com
and this is simply just so adorableeeeeeee!!!! *squeeeeeeee!!*

-pic taken frm their website

exam in 2 weeks. so not ready. tralalalalala lalalala... sigh..

anw check them out. pretty interesting stuffs :)