An 8-year friendship and still going....

Visited an ex-Cambridge friend's home for the full moon (1-month) celebration of her utterly adorable baby girl.

Can't believe that she is a proud mummy now, and she still strikes a dashing figure, despite being post-partum.

I can even remember when we first met, 8 years ago. We met at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, as we were on the same flight to London to start our undergraduate degree at Cambridge University. She was reading Economics while I read Medical Science. Despite our different degree subject and college, we somehow started a friendship which has remained until now.

In that 3 years at Cambridge, we each had our ups and downs, from the endless cookouts to the stress of Tripos finals, from the exhilarating joy of being in love to the bitter tears of sorrows. And we were there for one another. I can remember our outings in London, our rants and bitching session over lunch and our super-long phone calls for just about everything and anything under the sun.

She eventually left Cambridge for Malaysia, while I stayed on to continue my medical degree. Despite the time constraint, and the distance between us, we tried(!) to stay in touch but failed miserably. Nevertheless, all was forgotten when I returned home for holidays, as without fail, we would make time to meet up. We always ended up meeting at KLCC as I was not allowed to drive and taking the LRT was the easiest method for me. And during those meet-ups, it was as if nothing had changed. We still gossipped about people, rant about work and discuss our current love affairs. It was never a dull moment between us.

Now, she is happily married and a proud mummy! Admittedly, I am envious, but I am equally happy with joy for her. I look forward to watching her baby girl grow with each passing year, to be as pretty and intelligent as her mummy. And here's wishing that our friendship will continue to grow, despite the distance between us.

Congratulations, LM and may you be forever blessed with endless love!

Return trip to UK

Have just returned from my trip to the UK. Gosh, it has been a hectic 10 days.

I stayed in Cambridge the first night as my sister had come down to join me. She only stayed for a night to mainly catch up with me, and to collect the things that I had carried over for her from Malaysia. The next morning, I travelled to Cardiff for my Diploma exam the following day. It is a distance-learning diploma which I have been undertaking for the past 2 years. After completing all the assignments and coursework, it made sense to complete the Diploma by doing the exam. I had to stay in Cardiff for 2 nights as I might be called for a pass/fail viva, thus had to stay, just in case. Luckily, I was not called for the viva, which means I have passed the exam and now have an extra credential to my name.

From Cardiff, I returned to Cambridge to meet up with friends and then for the May Bank Holiday weekend, I travelled to Cotswold with the same 2 friends I went to Budapest with. Looks like that wasn't our last trip together but this one probably is. I am leaving to the US, one is leaving for Australia and one is remaining in the UK. Not forgetting another friend who is now back in Malaysia. Who knows when we will ever get the chance to travel together again....

At Cotswold, we visited the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway where they were celebrating Hogwarts weekend, and we got to sit on the Hogwarts Castle locomotive.

It reminded me how much I love trains. Especially steam trains. In my next trip to the UK, I will definitely go on the Jacobite Steam Train, up north in Scotland.

Soon, it was time to go home. Funnily, although I am now leaving UK for good, I wasn't sad yet. Or maybe because reality hadn't set in yet. Or maybe because as I haven't officially resigned from my UK job offer in London, which starts in August, I can always come back to the UK if things don't work out in the US. I have about 1 1/2 months in the US before August for me to see how I do there. Although I do pray that I won't have to come back to the UK. Not that I don't like the UK, but more that I have sold everything and have nothing left, thus if I come back to the UK, I will have to start from scratch!

And to complete my experience in the UK with a bang, I managed to used up all my Enrich points in exchange for a First-Class Ticket Heathrow-Kuala Lumpur. I first arrived in the UK on 27 September 2001 on an Economy Class ticket as a student and finally left the UK on 26 May 2009 on a First Clsss ticket as a medical doctor. I sure have moved up in the world...=)

Forever 21

Celebrated my birthday yesterday. The last time I celebrated my birthday in Malaysia was in 2001, and I remembered a close friend buying me blue roses, which I had requested for. How time flies.....

This time, I arranged to make it a birthday celebration cum ex-Cambridge gathering. We had it in this restaurant called Bubba Gump, that specialises in shrimp galore. More importantly, I got to meet up with my close friends whom I have not seen for awhile. Everyone is doing well and one friend is currently expecting to deliver anytime soon.

Towards the end of the dinner, my friends had cunningly informed the restaurant staff, and I was asked to stand on the chair and shake my bootie in order to get a free ice-cream sundae. I have never been so embarassed in my life! Oh well, I was among close friends and you only get to celebrate your birthday once a year, so what the heck, I shaked my bootie! And I have a video to proof it. Although I will never ever show it to anyone ever!

Oh, and I just found out I passed my MRCP Part 2 exam. I am stunned and shocked. This is the best birthday present I could ask for this year. Yay!