leaving

august is the month for amazing things!
so yup, a total transition for me, in less than a week i would - be packed and ready to leave, also i would have to sit for my exams and yup, in a week from now i'd be in a different part of the world (on a holiday) and 10 days later i'll be back home, with the home-folks etc.

a part of me feels a bit sad about leaving here forever. it's not that i like this place. but you know, two and a half years - especially the last one and a half years have been really, quite amazing in some ways - it's nice to live on your own especially in a place where you can get some things quite easily - home delivery right to your doorstep and easy transportation. of course the place has its flaws.. but i've really had some of the most amazing memorable events of my life here.

1) goa - of course it's pretty much over-rated if you ask me. i think any place in thailand is much better - nicer people, better food and weather, better sceneries and calmer seas. BUT i made a couple of trips to goa and they were quite memorable. whether it was the clubs and the different types of people you meet, or the cheap cruiseship, or the one ride around the island on a bike (only if you have the right company), a visit to all the beaches and forts, a hike up the hill from the beach to the fort, reaching the peak in complete exhaustion and then feeling the satisfaction of the achievement. bargaining for cheap items at the side stalls (not a big deal if you're from penang); sher e punjab restaurant in panjim and how yummmy the food is, yum yum, the pizza shop, the late night drinks and even how the dominos tastes a million times nicer, the random lanes we got lost between villages and beaches, the beach-shacks and the overpriced food, the djs and the whole works, the holiday homes, getting stuck in a shade during the worst of the rains, the dona paula, the cathedrals etc. the full day trip - a bike, a map of goa and the whole day ahead of us.

2) and the other trips to the other places:  bangalore a couple of times, murudeshwar, nearby places - a ride all the way up to agumbe hill on bike - but the beautiful scenery on the hillstation that was totally worth the ride - despite getting completely drenched on the way home! and in manipal itself - the river, the hikes down and up the hills that made me complain so much much! although in the end i'd say dammit it was amazing. i can really be whiny at times. late night walks around the campus, the cheap coffee sessions, the trips to unknown random places like the management campus brightly lit at night and how beautiful the mist can be during the pre and post-monsoon season in the more hilly areas. trips to the rivers and beaches nearby and how they were pretty good.

3) things quite unique to the place. beggars and cows, and all the bullshit locals try to cook up when they just want your money. frustration with slow service and the cleaner lady, the laundry man, the phase i had so many stalkers (seriously some black magic shit im sure), the monsoon rains and how its so frustrating that it's so wet but at the same time the cool weather is a hundred times more bearable than the hot summer weather. how we get to skip class like crazy and then make up some ridiculous excuse for it and get away with it. how every exam was so stressful but we get by anyway, how people think med students are just nerds but dammit we have damn lot of fun in between but when we have to study we really TRY as hard as we can.. some make it, and some just don't..and of course the cheap transportation and the home delivery food!

4) lessons. i've gained many throughout my life here. really, i came to this place as someone and i'm leaving as someone else. not a different person, but just someone with more knowledge, and not just in the medical sense, but also in life. i've learnt lessons, about myself, about life, and people, friends etc. it's quite amazing how an educational experience doesn't really teach you bout your course but also about so many things in life. especially when i decided to take that step, to live on my own. my days in KS can never be replaced - it was a very beautiful life, i guess the place really plays a role. i was independent and loving it. i guess everything comes with a price, rent was pretty much a lot but it was good. and then how my stupid manager kicked me out (heartless retard!!!) and then i had to move to a crappier place but i guess it played a role as a transition before me leaving this place for good. met many people, some were good, friends forever, some came, showed their true colours taught me painful lessons and then left, and some just turned out to be people you know well for one moment and the next moment became total strangers. people, whoever and from wherever, happen to cross paths with you for a reason. i think everything happens for a reason. and most of the time you shouldn't run away from things. leap! and learn :) and of course, trying out new things in life. haha, two ways of looking at this and i shan't go deeper into the subject.

5) education. well i must say it isn't too bad. we got to learn a lot of stuff from the place. probably coz lots of people fall sick/die here. so everything is abundant. everything is allowed. everything happens here. in the medical sense. so i've really learnt a lot. teachers are not too bad also. i hope i can just retain more.

i do feel a bit sour bout leaving. at the same time quite optimistic about being back in the homeland. sour because i've already adjusted, to this place and how things work, a particular life and lifestyle, i have things working in certain ways for me to make my life easy.. and now i have to put a stop to it and start fresh in a new place and the whole thing all over again, different environment and new things. it won't be too bad but you know, i guess i'm a bit attached to this. and also how i'm just so settled in my place here and stuff. place makes a big difference. hostel life sucked so badly and now we're kinda forced to move back into that again when we're back. goddammit.

of course i look forward to being closer to home, family and friends. better malaysian food, no monsoon season (though it will get pretty hot). i'm not looking forward to the fact that there wont' be long holidays, home delivery food and auto-rickshaws. no privilege of being an international student and blah blah, and life gets more serious because you know, the next 2 and a half years is like the last lap of the race, with a more strict attendance policy and dresscode (here you can some how get by with just leggings and a random top even, and flip flops are pretty much allowed in the monsoon) and we can't use the excuse of not knowing the language when in the hospitals.

nevertheless i look forward to having an amazing time. being closer to KL and home. and learning more about life, from life. being a better person day by day. being awesomer than i already am. and you know, life's just great like that.

that's it. 5 days and this chapter is going to be over. but these 5 days are pretty much the most hectic 5 days of the semester and i have to get everything done!