VENICE: The No-Car-Zone

Venice was one of the places which i enjoyed most. perhaps it was because of the company i went with. three cranky boys (weichung, chicken-back-side and benni), as well as my cousin sister Lea.

Venice is all about rivers and canals...


Also, gondolas and vaporetti...



And not forgetting, those gondoliers at their service...



The whole island is in fact a strictly no-car-zone! Ohhh, with exceptions like this below:-

~the only car seen on the island throughout our stay~

Besides, Italy is famous for its gelato. And among all the gelati we've tried in the four cities visited, Chicken-Back-Side and I agreed that this particular shop in Venice offers the best choice. :) we visited this shop at least twice! The picture below shows how CBS swooned at the sight of the italian gelati!!

There is a place in Venice which nobody could have possibly missed. It's the Piazza San Marco. Here's a picture of cousin Benni, feeding the famous pigeons at the Piazza. (credit to cbs for the picture :p)


Oh, feeding the pigeons may seem exhilarating, but it can turn out disastrous sometimes!!

Seems fun at first...


Gradually, when you attract more pigeons, the number increases exponentially!! Like this...



And before you knew it, you are under attack although you have nothing else to feed them!!


And the flock will feed until NOTHING is left!!!

16th September 2008: First day of PRP life

Was so anxious that i kicked myself out of bed as early as 5am today. Took a quick 'bull'-shower, took a light breakfast and stormed to Ipoh very early in the morning. I was plainly anticipating my placement as a PRP!

What's a PRP? It stands for Provisionally Registered Pharmacist. Life of a pharmacist for the first year. It is going to be a tough year, but i will be earning lots of working experiences, skills, techniques and knowledge before i can be fit to be fully registered with the Board.

I could now thank my lucky stars for having able to work at my choice of placement. I asked for the Taiping Hospital and I'm very happy to get it!!! After receiving the letter of approval from the Ipoh department, I rushed back to Taiping and reported to the Pejabat Kesihatan and then to the Taiping Hospital.

Colleagues and supervisors are very nice ppl, i can tell from first impressions. :) Many familiar faces too! mostly are seniors from high school.

Will work hard, play hard & earn hard from now on! Man, I do start to miss the life of a student now! Good luck to all the other pharmacists-to-be!!! :)

Answers

When the whole world is sleeping,
I ponder,
What have I done today?
What have I said today?
What have I learnt today?
How did I feel today?

Then, I ask myself,
Have I done the right thing?
Have I said the right words?
Have I learnt a great deal?
Did I feel virtuous?

It's a self-reflection, and i know, i have these answers in my own world.

Priceless expressions

Animals are as interesting as human beings are.

They portray basic instincts. They strive to survive. And most importanly, they show gestures and expressions too!

These are some of my favourite inhabitants at the Wilhelma... Their exprssions and gestures truly speak a thousand words!

affection between a baby and mummy monkey

idleness of a baby polar bear

reaching out for the next step

The dominance of its own kingdom?

Meerkat looking steady and guardful

and lastly, this is my all-time favourite:

A frog, expressing his hopefulness to turn into a prince charming?

I heard the lakes calling

Will be back home very soon.. The lakes would be one of the first few places which i will go to when i'm home. I do miss them sometimes...

On the other hand, there are still much experiences in Europe which i would like to reminisce. And i know when i am finally home, I will start to miss this place a lot.

Going home can be a happy event for some, or a sad one for others. To me, it's neither. I just know that it's time for me to be home soon. to go back to where i am from. coz home is where i will do some self-reflection, to think of what i really want in my life, and to do what i need to do to achieve my life goals.

Cant wait to be home. cant wait to see my family. to see my friends. and all the folks back there.

The Goat kao-peh at me

Today got this goat beh-shiok me, (Today, a goat dislikes me)
On first look, it's veli chu-bee, (On first impression, it looks really cute)
Wa just ka the goat sio-chio-mui, (I just want to greet the goat)
Then it start to kao-peh me lor!! (Then it started to show its anger!)

He think he veli en-tao, (The goat thinks that it's very handsome)
In reality, he looks like a lao-kao, (In reality, it looks like a monkey)
He looks like he very tu-lan, (It looks as though he's very annoyed)
I see him oso I beh ta-han! (I can't even bear the sight of it!)

Ee suka show-off his horns, (He likes to show-off/boast his horns)
So excited, siang-ka ti kua porns, (so excited, as though watchng porns)
Blady sharp la, eh chiam-si-lang, (They were so sharp, can stab kill ppl)
Wa cuak sai la, kia-si-lang! (I was shocked, almost scared to death!)

*** Could it be that he's hungry for some sort of sexual intimacy? hint: note the female goat at the other side of the fence! ***

Schweizer Alpen

And I'm missing the Alps now. On that very day, the mountains were especially spectacular. they spoke to my heart. they sang to my ears. they dance to my eyes... They were simply beautiful.

My very first experience with the Alps was actually at the Untersberg in Austria, a place so fond to my heart thanks to the the Sound of Music. And this summer, I'm glad to be at the Swiss Alps, right from the bottom of the hill to the top of the Pilatus Mountain, overlooking other parts of the Alps range of mountains.

The Golden Round Trip was enriching, bringing us around with different modes of transportations.. from the ship cruise to the bus and to the world-steepest cogwheel and finally to the cable-car. The only thing that we missed out this time around was the Tobogan! But it was okay that we missed out the Tobogan, for we had a good slow ascent to the top of the mountain!
It was unforgettable, it was as though seeing the familiar Alps pictures coming alive with my very own eyes.