Friday, December 31, 2010

Bon Voyage 2010… Holla 2011…


    I barely had time to digest Christmas and its spirit when New Year crept up on me quietly. I was just getting into the Christmas fever and the next I knew, it was over. Now 6 days later it is New Year’s Eve. It feels more like 6 minutes than 6 days to be frank.

Now that the New Year is just hours away, let me ponder on the last 12 months and how my life has been. Well, 2010 was a series of ups and downs; which made my “Book of Life” colorful. Hmmm… Let me see… Apart from just getting married, what else was there? I guess one of the biggest changes for me was my relocation from Taiping to Ipoh. It left me with mixed feelings. One half of me feel sad as I had spent a good 6 years there. It was where I learned how to walk and talk in the world of medicine. It was where I began my training as a doctor. I had grown to love that little town and its not-so-little hospital. It was also a place where fate and cupid hand in hand orchestrated my love life; met my wife there. 





    The other half of me was happy because I’ll be coming home to my family after being away for 6 years. The only hiccup in this whole was my wife was transferred to Selayang instead. Damn!! I have to be separated from my wife after 6 months of getting married. Thanks KKM!!! As usual we got on with it and now 6 months later we kind of got used to it.

                                                                                             There were other little things which happened throughout 2010. Making new acquaintances here in Ipoh, reconnected with old ones, working in a new environment, all leave impressions of its own in my life. Though there are couple of things which are 8better left unsaid along this year, 2010 is generally a good year. 


 

                
So what’s in store for me in the coming year? A big 2011!! I hope for many titillating things to come. One thing for sure is there is a lot of studying to come. What about my resolutions?? Though I have a couple in my mind I think doing this resolution thingy is pretty outdated. I mean what’s the point?? I’ll probably forget half of my resolutions by the time March or April come along.
                                             


I guess 2011 will be what you make of it. Your canvas is right there in front of you and you have 365 colors to paint it. I’m sure it’ll go well; with a little help from up above and Lady Luck everything will be fine. Eat, drink and be merry. Someone dear to me sent me this and it is only fair to pass it on. “May the good times of the present become the golden memories of tomorrow?”  Happy New Year guys….



                                                                            Happy 2011!!!!!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A New Christmas?

  The two main celebrations in the Christian calendar are Christmas and Easter. The former celebrates the birth of my best friend and the latter gives us Christians hope and deliverance.  For some reason Christmas seems to bring warmth and comfort to the soul. I guess the birth of Christ subconsciously sensitizes our softer side.

  These days the Christmas tree, Santa Clause, his rein deers and Christmas gifts are synonymous with Christmas. I suppose for non-Christians and little kids it is OK to tacit it but not for Christians. If you are a Christian who solely believes Christmas is all about Santa and his tree I think you ought to be shot!! At point blank!! Right between the eyes!! With probably a Magnum!! We frequently hear Christmas is a time for giving. What does that actually mean?? And does “giving” only meant to be during Christmas? I guess we get caught up and engulfed in the whole Christmas celebration we sometimes forget the less fortunate. Many of us; including me, myself and I fall victim to the cliche of Christmas which we see in the idiot box. We celebrate in style and extravagance. We throw parties; buy expensive gifts and splash on almost whatever we can.


This year should be different and I wanted to do the “giving” thingy for personal satisfaction.  I must thank my mom for making this possible for me. You see; my mom used to be a kindergarten teacher and ran her very own kindergarten. Due to certain reason she had to close down her school with a very heavy heart. Upon closing it down, she was left with her stuff and was rather troubled about her miniature tables, chairs and a couple of other assets. She decided to give to a children’s home hoping they will benefit from. The joy from the faces of those kids and the caretakers was priceless and was our reward.  Yours truly here helped made it a reality. My mom has always been a person for the needy, helpless and troubled children. She often gave free classes to needy children. We completed our charity by giving away some of our
                                                                  pre-loved” things


So naturally Christmas came. My wife came down to make my Christmas complete.  We went to church on the eve of Christmas; wished my best friend a happy birthday and had a simple family reunion. For the first time I felt I celebrated Christmas the way it was intended to. I felt complete. As trivial as it may seem others, it was a good start for me.
  Christmas I presume is how you perceive it. As a Christian, if you acknowledge the birth of Christ and have had your quiet sincere moment with Him then I suppose you have celebrated Christmas to the grandest. It is not wrong to put up the eagerly anticipated Christmas tree decoration or getting the perfect expensive gift for your loved one (I must say I’m guilty of it both!!) but I feel the Nativity should take central and pivotal role in the entire Christmas package. I hope you guys have had a wonderful and meaningful as much I did and have found your very own personal connection to it.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year……




Monday, December 20, 2010

28th of November 2010……. An Anniversary To Remember…..

 

  I have always wanted to surprise my baby with a trip to somewhere special. Now that my mind has conceived this idea, I needed an occasion to put it into action. What better time to do it on our 1st wedding anniversary. I made all the necessary arrangements well in advance and all I had to do was wait. Well, to be honest, it was a long grueling wait. I had to drone on to my wife for a very long time regarding planning for our long awaited anniversary agenda. I had successfully deceived my better half into thinking that we were going to Penang. Oh wait!! I have not told you guys where I was taking her! You guys will just have to wait…. After a month long infuriating wait, the time finally came.
  We reached LCCT and by that time my baby was going crazy. She was about to explode!! That’s it! The time is now!! I kissed her and said, “Happy Anniversary Baby,” and gave her the ticket and our bookings. “Krabi!!!” she yelled. To see that joy and excitement in her face gave me a natural high money can’t buy. To watch her face glisten made the entire wait worth while. We checked in, said our prayers and we were off.
  An hour flight, a two hour car ride and 2 ferries later we reached our destination. As our taxi dropped us at our spot; my baby and I stood there dumbfounded. It took us a good five to ten minutes soaking up the view of our hotel. There it was; Sri Lanta Hotel, Located in Koh Lanta, Krabi. It was perfect. It was   better than what we had expected. It was as picturesque as it can be.
  The hotel staff greeted us with a refreshing welcome drink and scented towels. They checked us in and walked us up to our villa. Our villa was nestled well away from the hustle and bustle of the busy Krabi streets. It was tucked away nicely on a hill overlooking the beach. It was made of wood and had a verandah with a cleverly planned bathtub right at the edge of the verandah. The room had been beautifully furnished. A four post bed stood at the corner of the room with a view of the lush green hills of Koh Lanta to its back. A small hallway made the room more comfortable with low lying diwans. We felt so comfortable and relaxed.
  We arrived at Sri Lanta in the evening and after freshening up we headed to the hotel restaurant for a well deserved long quiet romantic dinner. The restaurant sat strategically on the beach front. It adopted a Japanese style seating where we sat on the floor buffered with lots of mattresses and pillows scattered all over the place. I guess they planned it that way so their patrons can nap right after eating their scrumptious Thai cuisine. We had dinner exactly the way we planned; authentic Thai cuisine, light Bossa music playing in the background, comfortable seats, perfect weather and well mixed cocktails. The ambience was just perfect. Once we had successfully stuffed our pie holes, we took a long romantic walk on the beach. (Like what you see in movies J Common now!! I had to make it complete right!!!) We retired to our villa shortly after that.
  The following day greeted us with a light shower in the morning. Nevertheless we were up early; had a complete western buffet breakfast and decided to check out the hotel in detail. To our astonishment this hotel was self sufficient. It had almost everything you will ever need as a vacationer. The lobby was beautiful, warm and inviting. The waiting area was stocked with cozy sofas, fountains and lots of reading material. Sitting there you wouldn’t realize if you taxi was late. A wooden gazebo stood right in the center of the landscape, it was surrounded by a water way which had lots of carps. It housed a foos table, board games and books. The pool looked pretty cool in its own way. I’m not much of a pool person. Why have pools when the beach is right in front of you?? The spa was situated to the left of the hotel and my! My! It looked amazing. We booked ourselves a massage appointment later for the day and continued our escapade. The hotel had a well looked after lawn with lots of hammock. The entire view looked like something you would see in a postcard. It is a honeymooner’s paradise. We completed our survey just in time for lunch. We rented a bike and decided to ride around town to see what is was like and got back just in time for our massage.
  The massage was heavenly…. We were given our massage in an open air hut with the sound of the wave’s right behind us. It was and hour and a half of pampering. Once that was done we hit the beach. Pristine clear waters!!! I could actually see my feet below through the crystal clear waters. We had our fun and swam our hearts out till sunset. We got back, cleaned up and got ready for another round of dining.
  Our last night there left us contented, happy and grateful to Our Father above for blessing us with a beautiful and memorable anniversary. We left the next day after saying our goodbyes to the warm hospitable crew of Sri Lanta Hotel. It is a place where guests are treated with care and pampered. The warm inviting scenery is picture perfect to the eye and the ambience is soothing to the soul. I recommend this place to anyone who would want a beach retreat. The entire experience left us begging for more but unfortunately time was not on our side. We promised to ourselves that this will definitely not be last time we came here.  It was a perfect way and place to spend our 1st Anniversary
  Thank You Sri Lanta …….

                                    The View from one of the ferry Ride of the few neighboring islands

                                         My Baby Trying Her Best to Contain Her Smile...
                                       Our Villa ....
                                       A Beautifully Crafted Deco ..... I Guess They Knew It Was Our Anniversary..
                                       I wonder Who Told Them???

The Hotel Restaurant with Its Japanese Style Layout
 
The Outdoor Restaurant

                                      

The Beachfront

Guests Are Free To Go Kayaking
The Lawn Area 

A Well Designed Landscape
The Walkway To Our Villa
Stairway To Our Villa
Our Villa


The Entrance to Our Villa
The Verendah Overlooking The Hills
A Cool Concept of Having The Bathtub Oudoors
View of The Room From The Verendah
Beaches of Koh Lanta
Our very own massage hut
Sri Lanta Hotel at Night
The Lobby
The Gazebo
The Outdoor Restaurant
The Pool as Seen At Night
The Hotel Gazebo
A Very Warm Comfortable Waiting Area
Sri Lanta Hotel, Koh Lanta; Krabi....