Madrid Liverpool Champions League Finals 2019

I was there. I was in Madrid when Liverpool became the champions of Europe! Another berani mati act of going to where it matters and should be there because we dont know when will be the next time! hahaha Unfortunately I could not get into the stadium because of the atrocious price as compared to Kiev! Well, its Liverpool, the greatest football club in the world :) 

 with Fiqar (Liverpool loyalist)

St Bernabau 

5th Mission Cambodia - Siem Reap 25-27 October 2019

Insha Allah our istiqamah and it has been ongoing strong. This time we took a location faraway from Phnom Penh as the GA machine is not working at the moment if we plan for surgeries. hence the mission this time is much more relaxed with only circumcisions to be done. I brought with me Syafiq my long time accompliced in Perth and it was a good reunion for our craziness. hahaha It is such fun to have him around as he is one creative person who is very intelligent and wise. 

 We had our programmes in two different places. One was right in the mid smack of Siem Reap CBD and the other at least 7 hours journey by bus. This was the biggest contingent ever with another NGO (besides Muslim Care) Dana Kita with Tauke Baloon Nasron to be amongst us. A group of students from SAS volunteered as well to be in the group. (for obvious YDP reasons hahaha)

 This time around it was 180 plus kids - i got to do a few. There was a different contrasting population that we served - town vs kampung and it was obvious. The town one, it was a war with sounds of agony going around from the first second! The kampung- we get to see small kids but brave and resilient! I guess the upbringing certainly affects a child's strength and mentality. I had one kid who was sucking his lollipop while i did my local anaesthesia and I chose him as my subject for sunat hahahaha

Alhamdulillah, the event went well. There is always lots to learn from each programme with different participants. I enjoy this a lot and really happy to continue this again and again. 

Happy 43rd Birthday

This year it was a low key affair. 2018 was a blast because I peaked Da Feng and had a birthday celebration there last year. 

Alhamdulillah, I am 43 years old this year. A year older and circumstances has made it that it is the most challenging year of my life so far. But hey, no regrets yeah! Alhamdulillah, Syukur for all his blessings and I would not ant my life to be any other way. 

Its ironic when you thought you've settled down but the fact is you are challenged with the most fundamental reasons to live life. Allah is great; there will be no time where you are not tested to your cores.

Got myself a cool pulut cake. It was just not nicely designed but at the same time nice! Thanx to my staff for organizing it.

43 and beyond and may Allah bless :) 

AOSRA Kochi.. Part 2 after a long time

I'll just post some pictures from the trip justto complete the post i wanted to write earlier hahaha

 first dinner in town with sushi special

 Conference centre

 Manoj preferred to sit with us lot haha

 ponteng event

 with founders of SIGRA

 jalan2 pantai Jepun

dinner in Indonesian restaurant

Stockholm syndrome

And i did it again... haha Wow, no blog post since May!! no excuses.. its just the thought blocks and issues that I am having with my own feelings.

What had happened since then? Mmmm.. I was in Madrid for the Champions League Finals and Liverpool won!! :) and my MBA group came over to JB and we went for our Singapore trip! We were in Ipoh for Anaesthesia MSA. Banyak la jugak benda.

But my highlight would be last week; PPD programme with MSF in Stockholm Sweden! That was a surprise but worth the travels to be in Scandinavia! I was shocked in the beginning of the venue as the usual GAS week is in Hong Kong. However, when i received the email I just said YES!! Haha It was quite unfortunate that i had to cancel my trip to Carstenz Pyramid which would have been a cool achievement. Had to cancel it because of the unrest in Papua. Well, the mountain is there and I will conquer it sooner or later.

Anyway, it was an interesting course that I went for as I was the only Asian with the rest of the world! We were in a small summer camp like place which had a long history of being the place where the previous royals went for holidays. The house that we were in was more than 100 years! It was in Karson but pronounced "ShaSho"! It was amazing being in Sweden and I am thankful for the opportunity.

I truly enjoyed the programme and of course the company! I met so many wonderful people who share same crazy like mindedness of humanitarian work. Insha Allah, I do hope to get my mission soon as it would be a different kind of experience to work in MSF environment. My hats off to the MSF organization who had gone from strength to strength since their initial gung ho days :) 

 midweek dinner in Stockholm

 beautiful Karson morning

 GAGAball!!

Graduates Sept 2019

AOSRA-PM Kochi,Japan 2019 Part 1

When Abbvie asked me whether I was interested to go to this conference, I wasn't sure what I should reply. I've not planned this but i knew a number of my SIGRA members are because they were invited to talk at that conference. Thats why I decided ok lets do this. This was the first place where i did not research anything about it before hand despite this will be my first time in Japan.

So there I was on my way to Japan for the first time. I decided to take the Changi-Haneda route as i thought it would be more convenient especially when coming back. Mahal sikit je la to hire transport from JB to Changi.

Nak buat cerita, the flight was at 1am so i decided to come into Singapore at 9. Guess what? No not the traffic, it was pristine at that time. The van that drove me in had some sort of record with the police and ICA! hahaha Kena la tahan kejap! Apparently the owner before had a record of hitting somebody on the road last year. So kena la jadi cam wanted for awhile. I did not press my panic button but was quite worried if I miss the flight! haha Such an experience to have.

The flight to Haneda was 7 hours. I was on board Japan Airlines. It was comfortable but my seat was a bit warm i thought. Arrived in Haneda Tokyo and transit there for my flight to Kochi later that day. That was my first introduction to Japan:) Everything was fast and instructions were clear. I had my first go at their toilet in the airport - the fully automated seat warming toilet hehehe Such a wonderful experience and very clean indeed! 

The flight to Kochi was a bit later in the afternoon. MAti kutu jugakla duduk airport haha It was very convenient to have free wifi all around as well as charger ports. Had my first pure japanese sushi for lunch! It was an effort to look for what kind of sushi I was taking hahaha 

Avengers endgame finale

The finale of all finales! Avengers Endgame :) I watched it last night courtesy of GBS Iskandar. Its good they have this movie night outs. The first was Captain Marvel last month - and now the epic ending of the MCU saga.

Will i write spoilers for this? Hmm.. i dont think it matters in blogosphere because its not as widespread as fb or twitter. Blogs do not hold any impact as in the 2000s. It serves more of as a personal journal and i don't mind that:) In fact, happy to know that this will stay forever and be referred as per wanted.

The first hour was a bit draggy. Lots of emotions being put into the scenes. Hardcore fans would not mind, the wannabees may be bored with the melancholic story board post Thanos finger snap. When Captain Marvel appeared, Thanos was killed immediately! Haha gile anti-climax! I was laughing because everybody knows that was the point of the story but was ended so swift and easy beginning of the 3hour movie! 

But what came next was wonderful. Multiple peaks into the past of Marvel universe and i enjoyed every bit. Its about quantum physics, wormholes etc.. Tony Stark as usual the genius fella that in the end saved the day! Go team ironman!! :) 

Thor was the anti-hero of the day! haha Boroi is the trend :))) 

"Whatever it takes.."

"I love you 3000 times"

"Part of the journey is the end.."

Goodbye Thanos, Ironman, Black Widow.. huhu 

4th mission Cambodia Part 2

The usual routine of our project after the surgery was to go into deeper areas to offer khatan. This time around Syariz chose a different province, 4 hours from Phnom Penh - next to Kampung Cham province; Thom in Chetil & one other place (haha i cannot remember the name as i write this). Its always a humble experience to go to these kampongs; it reminds one of the simple life one leads. The priorities are different with different goals. It is such a reminder of one to be humbled and of course syukur to what Allah has provide. It is a reminder to myself especially and being aware of who I am, where I go and what I do. May Allah see this as my deeds insha Allah.

As usual, my role will be the person who anaesthetize these kids; in short, the pain they have to go through is with me and Azmil! haha But I've refined my technique by applying local anaesthetic gel before poking them. I find that it reduces anxiety and a whole lot better experience for them. We do get the typical boys who would try to resist and escape from the process! 

That is part and parcel and a true reflection of our society at large. Some may face their challenge, some may dodge and some avoid altogether. Its a one of a kind experience and with the last few projects, all different experience. Alhamdulillah :) Would I do it again? Of course :) Some might vest in negativities for this; only those who wants to do it, will do it. The joy one cannot describe the peacefulness of mind.