Auscultating : Back home

Taiwan was extremely fun, and plenty of adventures attained as well!

I didn't do any research for the whole trip this time round, because the 8 days of symposium plus 7 days of post-symposium traveling was all covered. All I needed was to pack and go.

There are quite a few number of Firsts this time round in Taiwan for me:

1- My first trip to Taiwan itself

2- My first International Veterinary Student Association (IVSA) Symposium


3- My first time meeting an European students dominated program

4- My first time bunking in with 7 other different boys
5- My first time falling sick in a foreign country(heck I was fine 2 months straight in Thailand and Japan)

6- My first time seeing a doctor in a foreign country
7- My first time drinking liquor from over 15 different countries and not getting drunk

8- My first time experiencing undying cold
9- My first time going around a whole country within 7 days in a bus

10- My first time experiencing earthquake
11- My first time extending my airplane ticket just to stay 2 more days
12- My first time sleeping at 3 am for 4 consecutive days

13- My first time trying so hard to squeeze sing-able Karaoke songs for Europeans in a Taiwan K-box
14- My first time being in a white shirt party.

Quite the crazy first times encountered in a foreign country isn't it?

But there are stuffs which are recurrent like,

Another Thai came in through the social media again. But I'm pretty sure this Thai is just trying luck in hitting random people, as people I know actually asked if I knew this person adding everyone else.

Despite numerous attempts, I'm glad this Thai stopped the game as of today.

CNY has been crazy, food and getting fat. I'm trying my best to control though.

On the other hand, I can't help to realize I've been getting a little close with a teacher figure. Maybe I'm over thinking and this figure is just being nice. But maybe it isn't.

Likewise, the date I had before slowly dwindled; probably because I'm showing a lack of interest. So and so when I talked about the date with some of my Taiwanese friends during a midnight sharing session it seemed to me like now its just not the right time for me to date, or think about long term.

So, the Thai, the figure, the date.

No no no, Japan and PhD come first.

I'll post official posts about Taiwan soon.

Buffetting : Getting Real

It has been a while hasn't it?

A few updates:

1- Japan has been great. I wouldn't miss it because I'm definitely going back
2- I wanted to call off with N. But N wants to go for a second go. Should I bother?
3- Year 4 kicked in hard. For the first half of the semester I will be zombified because of all the rotation in small animal clinic, ward and surgery. I should survive.

4- I've decided to pursue internal medicine in companion animals for now, until I find a way to apply it in wildlife medicine
5- I've also decided which lecturer to go to for my Final Year Project. I was a little afraid to go to the lecturer before because she is pretty prominent and I wasn't sure if she would be open to the idea. However, the recent email I got opened up some doors, and I'm probably sticking to this one.

Life has been good so far.  I'm moving into my new house soon, and I can't imagine living alone in a house myself yet. But, I have to say I'm a pretty lucky boy.

Buffetting : Kyoto Day 1- Fujimi Inari Shrine

As far as I'm concerned, I was going to ban MAS for the rest of my life on Day 1.

I took an overnight plane because it would save me a lot on lodging, as well as some logistic issues if I were to arrive late at night in Japan; which turn out to be a great decision.

What was bad was delayed flight by MAS from 2200 to 0230 in the next morning, a hefty 4 hours and 30 minutes delay; and my whole 1st day in Kyoto went haywire.

With great luck I managed to land in KIX at 1130, about 4 hours later than expected arrival in the ticket.

Checking out wasn't a problem because I literally could read everything around; what was a little problematic was when I wanted to leave the customs. An officer kindly stopped me to ask for my declaration form; and I had to fill it up because I never knew I need to declare stuffs like: I'm not holding drugs, not holding weapons etc.

I had a short chat when I've submitted my form, while she still kindly asked to check my backpack. If it were to be a grouchy one I would have been more careful; yet she was extremely nice so I manage to have a good practice of my Japanese with a local right before I begin my journey.

KIX was huge, and extremely impressive. I would wanna go there again and just spend one whole day exploring it again if I had the time. With ample Japanese I managed to navigate myself to the post office to retrieve one of the most important thing:


1) The B-sim made my travel for the 10 days so much more easier; I could get in touch with people, with places and even with food. The wisest thing to do for travel is always, be prepared. Although I wouldn't mind some adventures, I still want to have guarantees in some aspect of my travel.

The process of retrieving took me less than 5 minutes as I had the required tracking number. Setting up was a little hectic, but I managed to get connected anyway.

2) JR ICOCA-Haruka Package.

You can read more over here. Some people was thinking about a lot more other alternatives; I was only going to be in Kansai for 10 days with about 4 days stagnant hence the Haruka express was really worth my money, while the ICOCA card serves as a perfect souvenir and great Touch-n-Go in Japan for myself.

Everything was so organized along the way to Kyoto

The Haruka-Express connects KIX to the main towns in Kansai with the final destination in Kyoto Station; the station which I need to be in in 75 minutes. The package entitled you for a non-reserved seat, but the train was spacious and good enough for a 75 minutes ride and a good nap before a busy day.

As I reached Kyoto Station, the first thing I wanted to do was to get to my host's place. A good thing was I have already had the ICOCA card on me, I just needed to get to the right platform with the right rail-line to my host place. As my host's place was near Kokusaikaikan(International Convention Center), I only needed to take the Tokaido Main Line on the ICOCA card for 25 minutes.

Walking about the streets from the subway in my first winter experience wasn't THAT bad; but I have to admit only my hands were having problem coping with the cold.

Rumi' place was very very Japanese and I had the best Japanese experience in her place. But I had to put that to a halt first as I wanted to make use of the lost time from the delay. Originally planned to explore around Higashi-ku, I've decided to go for Fujimi Inari Shrine instead, thanks to the recommendation of a fellow host-mate Ms Liu from Beijing for a free and easy instead of my original plan.

From Karasuma line, I had to take a change in Kyoto Station using JR-Nara line to Inari Station, for which the shrine is just right in front of the railway station.

My suggestion : Buy some snacks and drinks in the convenient store before the sight-seeing because the hike will drain your energy, seriously.

side note: You will be seeing a lot of couple's pictures in my series of posts from Kyoto, because I enjoy taking their back silhouette a lot; there is an indescribable feeling behind them.

The whole mountain in Inari is filled with the torii, the gate-like orange structures which are stacked extremely closely to each other. Corporates in Japan fill this place up with these torii as they believe worshiping them gives a better return in the subsequent years in their business. Inari refers to the paddy fields, and paddy fields were the main commodities in the olden days; hence worshiping for a good harvest to the God.

It is peculiar that these torii doesn't have their faces facing towards the entrance, rather facing backwards instead towards the mountain itself, as there's where the God will be looking at.

However, these are just the tip of the juice the shrine had the offer. The best part is the hike.

I spent about an hour and 45 minutes from the entrance to the top of the shrine. It has been a long while since my last hike, I swear my lungs were literally burning from the cold air and a profuse inhalation due to my body needs. 

I followed the trail by passing the original stairway hike which everyone gave up from the base of the mountain, and managed to see a different side of the shrine.

You'll be surprised on how many residentials they are in the mountain, confusingly with the same modern outlook in every other levels of the hike.

After a long hike, which almost everyone passed, trust me you will not regret what you see:

This was possibly one of the best scenes I had in Japan, with the right time, right place, right weather and with the right people-no one around me. I took my time strolling, enjoyed my first winter, reaching the top in the evening and with less crowd in the area. The sight was breathtaking, and the ecstasy from the tiring hike totally boost one's morale to its peak.

The hike down was easier thanks to gravity, though I spent my time walking around the town before I take the train to Gion for my night exploration, despite my tiring body.

when it hits evening, the station had less than 10 person lingering around, as compared to the afternoon.

Ironically, Gion somehow was 1000000 times more bustling than Fujimi Inari at night, serving its Shopping Street name very much to par. From the Shrine, I took the Keihan Lin to Gion-Shijo for a pit stop and tour around the most bustling place in Kyoto at night.

I was supposed to look for some Geisha or Maiko to snap pictures, but I had little tough to no luck with them throughout my stay in Kyoto. However, I managed to get myself one of the best ramen I had in Japan, even better than Ippudo could offer.

You should look for Miyashi Ramen, for which it is in the Kiyamachi Street, by google map default search. A good stroll will lead you there as the area ain't that huge. 

The taste of the broth was very porkish at first sip, but it turned out to be the best broth I ever had. The lard managed to blend in with a great combination together with the spring onions, while the char siew was just too different from the sweet ones we have in Malaysia. I had to finish the broth because it was so damn good and the only regret I had was to not grab another bowl of rice to go down with it. 

The price of the Ramen was 600YEN, pretty pricey by default but Ippudo was much costlier. The ramen did its job for cooling me up in a cold winter night and a tiring day, and so far it is still the best one I had. 

After a good strolling in the Maru Maru for some Blue Label Burberry hunting for my sister and mom, which turned out to be a dud due to the wrong season of bags, I went back to the hosts' place for a good night sleep.

Overall, day 1 was insane. But at least I managed to do these:
1- Visit KIX
2- Visit Kyoto Station
3- Visit Fujimi Inari Shrine
4- Visit Gion
5- Have authentic Japanese Ramen
6- Hike Inari Mountain
7- Be in Kyoto

Buffetting : Hectic

As much as I want to flaunt great looking pictures, my schedule doesn't permit me. What's scary is test 1 is in just 2 more weeks while I'm freaking out!

Maybe this can just be one of the teasers:

These are the multiple shrine structures named Torii( 鳥居) only found in the Fujimi Inari Shrine in EastSouthern Kyoto, accessible via the Keihan Line right infront of the shrine itself. The main reason this place is filled with these is due to the worshiping of corporations, including famous ones like Uniqlo to the Inari mountain to get the blessings from the God.

This is my first majestic view of the Fujimi Inari prefecture from the top of the Mount Inari. It was a long climb, it literally took my breathe away; but it proved my love for Japan 7 years ago was never wrong.

Now that we are done with the teaser, time for me to get back to renal pathology.

Buffetting : Anxiety

I think Thailand was so much easier compared to Japan because of the whole demographic background and the proximity back home; not to mention accessibility since the range of currency utility is still predictable.

Kyoto, is just in 6 days' time and boy am I anxious about this trip.

Anxious because I feel like there are more to be researched and prepare for this trip.

The fact that:

soon I will have pictures with my own watermark!

1- It is winter.
2- I'm going alone.
3- I'm on cash, maybe credit card just for my parent's Burberry
4- The time constraint.
5- There's too much to go around

just builds the anxiety to the top.

My host suggested for me to blast my way in Uniqlo Japan instead for my winter wear so I would know what I should be getting; its a good idea because its pretty near and I would figure what would suffice.

What's bad is I wouldn't know what to be worn in my flight to Japan.

Let's hope my Japanese friend who is sleeping over knows what to get before I fly.

Buffetting : APVC Bangkok 2014

Finally back from the long hiatus!

Just for the continuity from the previous post on my grades, thank goodness one of them was a barely safe A. Another subject probably wouldn't too nice to me.

I probably wouldn't strangle myself if I hadn't apply for the Asia Pacific Veterinary Conference 2014 in BITEC, Bangkok last October!

The whole batch wanted to go at first, but after all the deliberation and stuffs, it boiled down to only 11 of us going for the conference.

My intentions for the conference originally were to learn more on large animal, make connections as well as get insights of my future career path. Yet, the conference geared more towards small animal practice; something which I don't mind learning at all though it isn't in the top of the list.

Back to the conference, it was held 3 days in BITEC, a very strategically placed trade center about 15 to 20 kilometers away from the city center.

Our stay was in a pretty budgeted hotel around BITEC named Avana Bangkok for a stay of about RM80 for a king size bed for 3 person wasn't that bad.

The promotion we took named Trendy room was located in the new building of the hotel, probably for more economical budgets compared to the old building which is obviously more posh and well furbished. But, our room was pretty comfy for 4 nights stay with minimal hassle. Good bed, TV, pretty decent toilet even a tub, complimentary bottles of water everyday; its a good deal to have 3 person sharing the room.

I spoke Thai throughout the stay in the hotel and to everyone else's delight I'd actually understood almost 90% of the conversation between the staffs in the hotel and transactions were smooth. The staffs in Avana Bangkok were also extremely helpful and nice throughout our stay. The only downside was wifi wasn't complimentary and you need to pay for it. It ought to be better to get broadband services for a cheap RM7 from the nearest 7-11 for 1GB.

BITEC is about a 3 minutes taxi drive from Avana Bangkok, making the hotel one of the best hotels in terms of distance to BITEC. Taxi services are really fast and safe here, and it really only take about RM4 just to get from the hotel to BITEC. If I were to come to BITEC again, I'd probably still go for this hotel.

The first day in the conference was pretty cool because you get to see people from all over the places. The speakers in the conference were almost, if not all Americans from the North America Veterinary Council. The talks spanned from orthopaedics, nephrology, emergency care, clinical pathology, soft tissue surgery, diagnostic imaging, cardiology, neurology, infectious disease, internal medicine, and feline medicine. The catch of the conference is the topics in a day for one subject links from one lecture to another. To get the most of it, the best thing is to go for all the lectures under the same subject for that day; which was what I did.

I couldn't appreciate the other subjects, hence I went for nephrology, cardiology, emergency medicine as well as a small session on internal medicine. I personally adored all the speakers of the subjects I have attended , and they are probably the reason I could stay in the talk for the whole day 9am to 4pm.

The conference was extremely useful even for veterinary student like us because the lecturers were concise and pretty basic. It is probably like a refresh for all the veterinarians attended, as well as a little bit more on the new approaches in handling cases and discussions. It was fun looking at how the veterinarians discuss their cases and views in the end of each talk with the questions flying across the halls; someday when I'm good enough I would probably do the same as well.

For 3 days, the lectures were conducted in the day. And I have definitely exposed more on the field of small animal; or rather companion animals. It is not a bad field, but I'm not too certain if I'm the type which stays in the hospital one whole day. Maybe a mixed-practice veterinarian will suit me better? Going to the conference is like entering a national scale of a veterinary faculty; and almost everyone knows everyone around there because the veterinary circle is just so small! So small till the point that every little mistake can be noted by everyone in the field too.

The best part of the conference is, we are paying the price at RM300 as veterinary students, while the working veterinarians are paying RM3000! It was a 90% discount for us, with access to all the facilities available under APVC 2014. The 2nd best part of the conference was probably the food! World class standard food for lunch every afternoon, man I gained like 5 kg when I'm back from the conference from the good food.

The good food doesn't end in the lunch because we too had great food at night.

On the first night we've decided not to be too adventurous because we barely had time and we wanted somewhere close. We went for the nearest 7-11 for good ol' Chareon Porkphand on the go food. Not much pictures here, but I definitely love Thailand's 7-11 1000times more than Malaysia's.

The second night we've decided to be a little more adventurous, but time caught us in our back because we were taking too much time resting after walking back from BITEC. We went to a close stop taking taxi, namely Central Bang Na for a food court experience. The food was so so, not very cheap but we had an okay meal. We were baffled when we found out there were street food vendors right beside of the mall when it closed at 10.30pm!

Grilled seafood, padthai, friend insects, som dtam and grilled pork were the main attraction in this area. The seafood was great because of the chilli and spice sauce which goes with it, and the grilled pork was downright juicy and breathtakingly good. We stooped by 7-11 nearby again before we walked back to the hotel, with some little pups feeding along the way.

The 3rd night was probably the best because we've finally decided to try our luck on the BTS from the Bang Na station. We didn't know where to go until the senior we met in the conference suggested that we head to the Victory Monument for the famous Thai boat noodle. We took our chances, and heck we totally loved the experience there. The BTS sky train in Bangkok is extremely efficient, similar to the LRT in Malaysia. It connects the central of Bangkok to a little bit further in the outskirts of Bangkok, far enough to the BITEC station to our glee. The map of the BTS probably will show where you need to board and get off to the places you wish to go.

BTS was a little costly from station to station, and for station hopping the unlimited pass would probably be better; but since we are only there for a week, pay per ride is probably a much wiser thing to do. Although the taxi can be cheaper, BTS skips all the jam and saves you all the time. We probably only waited tops 3 minutes for all our rides on BTS. Thumbs up for the services of BTS.

Victory monument is an area not only for tourist but for the locals as well. The place there is famous for their boat noodles, in while the noodles are only RM1.20 each but you can finish them in like, seconds. The idea is for you to order more and eat more with less portion in a bowl. There are other side dishes like pork curry, fish curry,sliced beed, and fried pork skin to be ordered for about RM4 to be shared among 5 or 2, and they were really good too. They have several different flavors of boat noodles too, some including tomyam, braised pork, braised beef, braised chicken, spiced chicken, and a few others. I adored the braised series because the broth was yummilicious~~

For every 10 bowls of noodles comes with a complimentary bottle of coke too. Something really cute in this business; I meant the cups. The restaurant had like multiple competitions along the streets, but I guess everyone have their own no.1 in their mind when they step in. The local Thais infested the whole place, and we are probably the really odd aliens around with me as the pseudo-thai speaking to the waiters and boss for order.

The Victory Monument is definitely one of the most bustling areas in town. The density of the people is probably double of that in Kuala Lumpur. In KL, you see more laborers around, and the density is not as packed as it is over here with all the locals. A great area to walk around for cheap stuffs and great food.

The 2nd night didn't end there because the boat noodles didn't exactly quench our hunger. We took another train trip to the Mo Chit station to get down on the mall Terminal 21. Terminal 21 is an extremely chique mall with the idea of an airport; hence the Terminal. Even entry to the mall require the security check and we were required to go through the metal detector.

Every floor has a different theme of destination; spanning from San Francisco to Tokyo, Istanbul to Hollywood; with also a set of security guard uniform and toilet to go with the theme. I wasn't crazy enough to enter all the toilets in every floor to snap pictures, but its definitely a good thing to do with your loved ones if they were to be of same sex; or with a crazy bunch of friends.

My favorite floor is none but the 5th floor- Pier 21. It's remodeled after the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco, but it collects all the food in the mall within this floor. There are the usual convention Starbucks, Bubba Gump, Ice Monster and etc; but we were all aiming only for the food court.

The food court collects probably the best and the cheapest food in Bangkok ranging from authentic Thai food and dessert to the typical Mediterranean, Asian and Western mix. We went all bonkers for the Thai food and dessert because they were THAT cheap. RM3.50 for a decent Pad Thai, RM4.9 for a really good Durian Sticky Rice and RM2.00 for a coconut shake about 500ml is definitely cheap in such a posh mall.

Our hunt for food ended in Terminal 21 on the 2nd night, and we headed back to the hotel on BTS and taxi for a good satisfying night sleep.

Our 3rd night was just so so because we had to go to multiple places to get multiple items, especially souvenirs for all the lost souls back in Malaysia. We had time, so we went to Siam Paragon just for a short 30 minutes to see how posh the place is, MBK Center to check out the cheap items; which were not all that cheap after, and the sleazy Patpong Road. 

I enjoyed Patpong road a lot because of the sleazy experience, as well me being so holy to fend my friends from the dealers offering sex shows around the streets. They were all extremely surprised when I spoke Thai and it really stopped them from coming after us. It's even more fun to talk about the people who'd actually pay visits into the bars or the deep rooms upstairs to enjoy those sex shows. It's not like its a crime or what not, but its just something to gossip and laugh over the walk around. 

I will definitely pay a good visit to Siam Paragon again because we really just walked to the Underwater World to see the entrance, and a stroll around the grocery area. That was it. I will want to explore it well, even for window shopping the next time I'm back in Bangkok; which is just really soon. I wouldn't really bother about MBK anymore, because Chatuchak market is much cheaper and better than MBK. It was just an airconditioned Chatuchak with more expensive price.

The last day, just 4 hours before our flight back home we took a short session to Chatuchak Market. Heck I'm definitely coming back here again to get more stuffs. 

This place has everything under THE SUN.

 From souvenirs to everyday domestic use items, from potteries and plants to exotic pets; I've probably seen almost every products to be sold in this market. 

We didn't haggle much in this place because it is already very cheap; what we do was rounding up a better price for the stuffs that we want. Saying so, we have still managed to get what we wanted for much cheaper price compared to the items outside of this market. 

Getting to Chatuchak weekend market is pretty easy. Take the BTS or MRT line to the Mo Chit station, walk along the Chatuchak park and you will see the market around the corner. If you wish to come from the Don Mueang Airport directly, taking the A1 bus for RM2 directly to the BTS Mo Chit station and walk towards the area.

Overall, this trip to Bangkok was extremely fulfilling. It made me loved Thailand so much more, and being an expatriate in this place ain't that bad either. The living condition is probably still fine, but really it has so much to offer. Maybe being a veterinarian here wouldn't earn that much, but I'd probably going for a regional work instead for me to get the best of my vet experience.

APVC Bangkok 2014 was a blast, and heck, I'm dying to go back to Bangkok again to experience the life there better. The next time, for a whopping 28 days!