Monday, January 7, 2008

Chapter 4: Ipoh - The City of Hills (Part 2)

11 December 2007

In this fine morning, Grace and I decided to go cycling, since I wanted to cycle so much.


We cycled to this new housing estate near her place.


And met this cute little snail...


We cycled further...


And came across this interesting looking tree.


It's been raining all night I guess, there are lots of puddles in the road.


After that, we went home for some breakfast.

Finally, the moment I've been waiting for. I told Grace that I would tell her who I am giving the presents I bought to, after so many nights of suspense. I can't believe that I managed to keep it a secret up until now. Haha...she was surprised alright. So, I'd say my plans were a success.



Well then, my trip to Tanjung Rambutan is almost done. But of course, I'd like to visit the famous Hospital Bahagia. Well, my first impression of the hospital being a creequickly fades away once I've really toured the place. So, to you out there who have "bad" impressions of this place, you're wrong. This place isn't really that bad. Let's have a look then.

Since we did not have a car, we went there by motorcycle instead. Lol, weird, letting the girl drive. But once in a while right? Haha.


Well, we're almost there. Here's the sign that points to the hospital.


Ya, we're here now.


The first place we visited was the clinic and administrations office. Doesn't this just remind you of normal hospitals?


Here's a map of the entire hospital. The hospital is huge, really.


We went to the "Muzium Psikiatri" but apparently it was closed. What a waste...


Then, we toured the whole hospital on the motorcycle. Let's have a look at the sights of the hospital.

The wards

Be on the lookout for patients crossing the road!


This ward is for those suffering from more severe mental problems


They call this "Wad Psikogeriatrik"


Some of the patients even maintained their vegetable gardens...cool huh?


They've their own fishing pond, where there's an annual fishing competition.


There are also houses for the staff there.


Or some old, abandoned houses

A forensics ward...not sure what it is for.


A place for training and courses, I think.


Well, that wraps up our tour around the hospital. See, not nearly as bad as many people assume. So, unless you've really been to the place, don't make presumptions based on what you hear!

Next, Grace took me to her former primary school, S.K. Methodist.



Well, the school looks kinda old and gloomy now.


Argh, I can't believe I can squeeze into this thing...

We went to the administrations office. I saw a typewriter there and was tempted to play with it. But I got scoffed at by one of the ladies there. Sigh. I haven't touched a typewriter since primary school. I was just having some fun. =(

Well, we went home after that. Before going off, I decided to go for one last cycle before I leave Tanjung Rambutan.


We passed by this nice house.


And visited the grotto one last time.


Well, it was time to leave. I packed my stuff as soon as I got back to her house. I was going to meet up with a brother who I respect and admire a lot, someone who has been a major source of inspiration for me. So, we took a taxi to the Medan Kit bus station again.

Obviously, it really does rain a lot in Ipoh too.


At the bus station, I said farewell to Grace and her mom.

Soon after, I was picked up by Joash and his mom. They took me for a tour around old Ipoh. We went back to his house to prepare ourselves for tonight's music practice.

We had dinner.


Then, we went to Joash's church, St. Andrew's Presbyterian church.


Haha...we played a bit of pushing the wheel chair.

Well, here's the music practice.


After the music practice, we had supper before retreating home for bed.

12 December 2007

Now begins the second part of my Ipoh trip. Joash and I met up with 2 of his friends today at Jusco. But in the morning, we had some breakfast or 'hor fun'.


Jusco

Well, after meeting up with his friends, we went to buy tickets for a movie. We all decided to watch "Hitman". This is my second time watching it. I don't mind, because it was really good and I didn't really get the story the first time I watched it.


While waiting for show time, we went to have lunch at Pizza Hut.


We also went to the Padini Concept Store, Joash's favourite shop.


The things there are soooooo expensive.

This jacket costs RM 400 a piece!


Though the things there looked tempting, I didn't have the kind of money to buy them. So I can only admire them.

We continued walking around the place. The Christmas atmosphere is evident in Jusco.


Finally, it was show time! Overall, the movie was great. I still enjoyed it thoroughly and I wouldn't mind watching it a third time.

After lingering around that place for a while longer, we decided to head back home. We have dinner reservations at night. One of the church members, Uncle Ling (I think) decided to treat us dinner.


Well, some photos of dinner


Joash cooking himself

Joash's parents

Looking blur

Time to eat!


After the hearty meal, we went home and rested. I played DOTA with Johann, Joash's brother.
I also tasted some of his brother's brownies, which by the way, did not contain laxatives like what Joash said. -__-"

Then Joash and I had, well, an interesting conversation. It was kind of random. First, we discussed about some Catholic issues, with regards to Vincent's problems. Then, I asked him whether he's a person who takes risks and what drives him.

Well, apparently, he is a risk-taker and he is motivated by a his sense of responsibilities and duties. Perhaps that's makes him such a great leader. For me, I am certainly not a risk taker. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the greatest risk taker, I'd probably give myself a 3. Perhaps that's what I need - the courage to take risks. But I know I'm no leader. I simply do not have the charisma to lead. Perhaps I should just be who I am.

After some discussions, we had a good night sleep because we shall be meeting up with Jia Ji (or as Joash likes to say "Ipoh's prettiest"..."in INTEC"...Lol) tomorrow. Ya, I always seem to bump into her. Hehe. Anyway, that's it for now. Nitez!

BRIAN CHEE

1 comment:

Calvin Lim said...

Joash seems to luv making faces...