Kelantan. Redang.

To equip myself better and to get use to hospital pharmacy practice, i went to Kelantan HUSM with coursemates (Sheh Ki, Yin Ying, Xin Yun, Kok Eng, Chee Hau), with the hope to learn more as HUSM is a teaching hospital. Before going there, i already receive info that the motel room we'll be living is pityfully small, and small keong there are very healthy and macho. 10 hours of bus, started a series of clerkships: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Unit, Pharmacy Satellite Unit, Drug Information Unit, Outpatient Pharmacy Unit, Aseptic Dispensing Unit (included Total Parenteral Nutrition, Intravenous Admixture and Cytotoxic Drug Reconstitution). No clinical ward pharmacist as there are too few pharmacists in HUSM, except in ICU.

Orang Kelantan is indeed kind and friendly, and speaks a unique bahasa kelantan (different pronunciation from conventional BM e.g. make for makan, pahem for faham etc.) Relax. Slow tempo, maybe not so crowded as general hospital. Not much entertainment and going places at Kota Bharu, no karaoke, no clubbing, no cinema (except one that seperates male and female audience with family in between). We went to Wat Photivihan which has the largest sleeping buddha statue in South East Asia and Pantai Cahaya Bulan.

I ended my clerkship earlier and head off to Redang, with PPB friends... 17 of us. All of them, except me already start working as they graduated a year ago. I won't forget the room no.4 chat, long table dinner, snorkeling together, SSing in cafe... Though we do not join each other's life so often, but there are no gap between us, still have the same goal in life... seeing u guys, spending memories together, is worthy.. The island, only a word to describe, wonderful... 美到...漂亮到...可爱到... the postcards became real breathtaking scene... Took a flight back to KL... Can hardly imagine we are flying at 800 km/j while the plane seems static in the sky... 7 hours of bus ride=45 min of air flight... This is the first time for 6 of us, and we nearly lost in KLIA. (乡下佬出城记)

Today is the second day i reach home, juz finish straightening my hair the fourth time... looks like 埃及妖后abit.. ha...

Four everyone's information, 14 Aug evening is my convo... if u happen to pass by USM dat time, pay me a visit ya... To all my coursemates and friends, in USM and otherU... HAPPY CONVOCATION!! ^_^

Alokarama, Light of Wisdom

Just back from 5 days of Alokarama Youth Camp. First time going to Alokarama Retreat Center at Asahan. We are guided by Venerable Mahinda and Sister Sumaggala, and Mr and Mrs Lim, as our parents in this camp, cook meals for us... Sadhu to them... (Sadhu=excellence)


Every morning we will do chanting at the shrine hall and meditate at stupa (pagoda that houses Buddha's relics, 舍利塔). The stupa is situated on top of a mount, with spiral-like walking path all the way to the top. In the dark we walk all the way up, with concentration on the steps we are taking. After a short meditation, sun ray approaches us when we lift up our eyelids. Breathtaking scene catch my eyes and peace my minds..

We are given many talks and exposure to the natural way of living. We learned various kinds of herbs and its usage there, and try to harvest some of them for a meal. We prepared ulam rice, but i can't have it nicely with my face turn red and tears running out.. hav to practise more in accepting spicy food coz though i can't tolerate it, i LOVE it.

In one of the talk "In time of challenge, are you really prepared? Be ALERT", given by Aloka Emergency Readiness Team (ALERT), we learned to keep an eye on the possibilities of facing natural disasters such as flood and tsunami in coming years and be prepared in physical fitness, psychological and spiritually. Although Malaysia is quite a safe zone for natural disaster, but as the result of global warming and change of earth plate patterns from earthquakes, we can see places other than flood zone being flooded, feel the shakes and tremors from neighbouring countries etc. I don't know much about the details, but this talk taught me to be prepare while we are in comfort (Hope for the best, Do what you can, Prepare for the worse). We are advised to prepare a emergency bag with food, drinks and surviving kits which can sustain our live in case of awaiting rescuing. We also have to be prepare for case of fire emergencies at home. After that we are separated in few groups to make our water filter by using natural material, but all groups failed to turn a dirty soil water to crystal clear water. Inform me if u are interested in knowing what to be included in a emergency bag etc.

From the talks given by Bhante, the most i learned is to not just learn the dhamma, but to practice it diligently, to be mindful in my bodily actions, speech and thought. This is the first time i go to Alokarama, and i'm looking forward the subsequent visit... For my kalyana mitras who wish to visit places that Buddha being born, gain enlightenment, giving the first discourse (4 Noble Truths) and ceased (maha-parinibbana), Aloka Foundation is organising trips to these holy places in this few years, around 2 weeks, in Nov.

Aloka's website: http://www.alokafoundation.org/

你和佛陀之间只隔着一条线

这是在《星洲日报》介绍过的一本书，前几天在大众书局看到。

最主要告诉我们的是，学佛不是什么都不要，而是在拥有的时候，以平常心看待。“只要我们懂得不执著的去感谢一切，所有的过程和体验都是美好的。为何我们要去执著或强求这种甜蜜和感动，要永远不变地重复出现？”作者是想厘清许多学佛者的盲点，不只是拘于形式教条，而是以更明觉的心，全然接受生活中的每一个当下。

值得一读。