Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

There is still few hours remaining for the year 2009, and after that the world will say 'Goodbye' to 2009 and 'Hello' to 2010. A lot of things has happened in the past one whole year. Some are good, and you might as well say some are 'not-so-good'.

During the early months of 2009, I lived in a university students' hall - Whitworth Park. It was a nice place, and is really close to the medical school. I could even popped out of bed 10 minutes before my class starts and still managed to attend it on time. Plus, it is also located near to John Rylands Library and Mcdougall Mosque which made my life as a student a whole lot easier.

Then, it was summer. The 3 months of holiday - no hassle and I was completely free from any burden of medical studies. I've done so much travelling during that time with my friends who is studying as well in Manchester. We went to all sort of places, mainly in Malaysia, where we have friends to visit and show us around. For instance, we went to Penang where Afif and Klone, who were the hosts became our 'tourist guide' and brought us to the fascinating places in "The Island Of Pearl". The yummy taste of 'kuey teow longkang' and the stunning, picturesque scenery of Batu Feringghi is still vivid in my memory.

After a long holiday, it's back to the books again and I started my second year as medical student in September 2009. Currently, I live in a house that is located quite near to Rusholme and my medical school. There are six of us in this house and we came from different backgrounds. Believe me, it is not easy to live in a rented house together because there are so much that needs to be done. But our long-lasting friendship that were built when we were in first years has unite us together to live under the same roof. Lots of things has happened in this house - from the endless teasing and joking around between Nageb and Apip, Muslim's loud and vibrant singing in his room, Icam's wonderful cooking and to Klone's never-ending business. All of these has lit a spark of light in 'Manar' and colours to my life.

In all, I hope that the memories of 2009 will stay on forever in my mind and may there be a wonderful future ahead for me in 2010.

Malaysian Students & Curry Mile

My house was really crowded with people for the past few days. There was like more than 40 people came here. It is a holiday for students studying in Europe. Some came here to visit friends, to visit the 2 major stadiums in Manchester and shopping as well.

But, the main reason for this crowdedness of Malaysian Students in Manchester is due to the presence of PMS participants who decided to take a pit-stop before they proceed their journey back home from PMS. For those of you who don't know what PMS is, PMS stands for Perhimpunan Musim Sejuk a.k.a Perhimpunan Main Ski (according to Apip).

These people could not stand the attractions in Manchester - Jazeera's half chicken with rice, Moonlight's falooda and sundaes, Krunchy's lamb ribs and lots more. And also it's not often for them to go up north of England just to taste the tantalizing delicacies that the Curry Mile in Rusholme has to offer.

These guys came from different parts of UK - London, Southampton, Portsmouth, Keele, Lancaster, Surrey and Plymouth. There's even a group of people who flew from Ireland, Germany and France just to feel the 'food atmosphere' in Rusholme. Frankly speaking, they were really amazed by the fact that in Manchester, there is a whole mile of fast-food stores which serves halal foods. There's this one guy, who I managed to be acquainted with, said to me:

"You are so lucky to have a whole bunch of halal food stores just in front of your door steps. At my place, you can barely find one."

I had a mixed feelings at first when he said that to me. I don't know whether I should be proud or felt sympathy for his unfortunate situation. But, I guess I do feel a little bit proud because I'm studying here and Curry Mile has attracted a lot of Malaysian students for generations. I know for a fact that the existence of the Curry Mile has nothing to do with me, but somehow deep down inside I felt a sense of belonging to this place. I have been for for almost a year and a half now, and this place and the halal foods has never failed to amazed me. =)

Shopping!!

It’s a common knowledge for all of us to know that 25^th of December each year is Christmas Day. But, do any of you guys know what the day after Christmas is all about (26^th December)?

26^th of December means it’s Boxing Day in UK!! And when I say ‘Boxing’, it has nothing to do with the kind of sport that you have to punch your opponent until they knocked out. It simply means that on this eventful day, all of the shopping mall, clothes stores and designer outlets will have sales on most of their products. As much as 70% price reductions on most products will be sold to consumers on this day only. Yes, you read it correctly, 70%!!

I guess those of you guys who are living in UK and Ireland are familiar with this ‘tradition’ each year. Boxing Day is the most highly awaited event of the year for shopaholics and girls who are still not satisfied of what they have in their wardrobe.

And actually, it is also my first time to experience first-hand this year to shop on Boxing Day as I was not in Manchester last year.

I woke up as early as 6 am in the morning and geared up quickly for that day. My seniors suggested to me to get up early as possible on Boxing Day because some of the big shops will open at 7 am. Shops that have big brand names products such as NEXT, River Island, Topman and ZARA are main targets for shopaholic on that morning.

When I arrived at Arndale Shopping Centre, there was already a huge crowd of people outside NEXT. And when the metal gate that separates the restless customers and clothes rose completely, the huge crowds rushed into the shop like a stampede of elephant running from predators. They grabbed any clothes, jeans, t-shirts and anything that they could lay their hand on without even looking at their price first and bring all of it to a corner to try it on. I was utterly speechless and amazed by this phenomenon. I know that it was a mega sale and it would receive great response from customers. But I don’t know it would be this MASSIVE!!

What disappoints me the most is that the shops that I hope will have huge discounts on Boxing Day apparently DO NOT. Apple and Fossil do not have any sale on their products. And if there is, the discounts were not much and it is only for the non-popular products. After a little bit of pushing and thorough search, I finally bought a pair of shoes from Adidas, a White Musk perfume at The Body Shop and a Superdry jacket. It’s not much I guess for Boxing Day. What the heck! I’m not into shopping as some of my girl friends are. Buying the things that I need is already sufficient and satisfying for me. And there is still next year.

See you again next year Boxing Day!