Mediocrity

Mediocrity. Is it really insulting? (picture courtesy of Flickr.com)

[MEDIOCRITY]

The quality of being not very good, just acceptable but not very good.

I was chatting with a friend today. We talked about random stuff. We talked about him. We talked about me. Then a little bit more about me. Then it was about me, again. He said that I was very talented. He said I was a jack-of-all-trades.

Now, I haven't heard this of word in ages.

A jack-of-all-trades all-in-one gift hamper.

The jack-of-all-trades is naturally a person who is capable of doing a wide variety of tasks, as they possess a multitude of such skills which enables them to do so.

Oh. WOW. That's great.

Suddenly it struck me that MAYBE this jack-of-all-trades is not so much of a good thing after all. PERHAPS he is CAPABLE of doing a wide variety of tasks, but not really GOOD at neither one of them?

Then I reviewed myself. I am quite sure that I am capable of carrying out a wide variety of tasks, and employ certain skills which not all might have - but I found out that I wasn't good enough in any of them.

I am an average student - never the Genius Mathematician.

I am an average musician - never the modern day Mozart.

I am an average cook - never the next Chef Gordon Ramzay.

I am an average athlete - never in a league with Roger Federer.

I am an average person - never the twin of Brad Pitt.

I live an average lifestyle - never second to Bill Gates.

I am very much an AVERAGE ACHIEVER.

So does that mean I am just MEDIOCRE?

Bummer. I never wanted to be mediocre. I've always wanted to be one of the best - at least in one field. Sports. Education. Social. Is it too much to ask? Maybe. Then I thought further:

Some people are born filthy RICH - but might look unattractive, or even slightly retarded.

Some people are born to be GENIUSES - but live a poor life and looks undesirable.

Some people are blessed with GOOD LOOKS - but unfortunately a bit slow in thinking and dirt poor.

Sometimes if they are better off, they'd have 2 out of the 3 desirable qualities.

Lucky ones get all 3.

How about those who gets average scores for all 3? Not so good, but not so bad either. A bit undecisive here. Although you don't get the high-ranked priviledges, you won't get to hit the bottom of the drain either.

So, is it okay to settle for MEDIOCRITY?

*will be continued*

What I wish for Christmas...no - I want it ASAP!

I was so relieved when it was finally the end of my insanely boring Gynae class today. My grouppies were all hyped up about the 50% discount offer on the pork meat in Billa. So me and my best bud decided to check it out - and maybe we will be having some nice steak tonight.

Unfortunately, it seems that the hot offer was so hot - that all the meat on offer was all long gone by the time we reached Billa. I guess a mob of dedicated housewives stormed the place earlier and snatched up each and every bit of meat that was there.

Oh well, since we are here in the Pushkin Mall - might as well go window shopping at all the designer shops around. Maybe we could find a good bargain or two.

When we entered Francesco Donni, I saw a really really REALLY smashing mini-duffle bag. It looks somehow like the Burberry Warwick Bag - only cheaper :)

Should I buy that bag or not?

But it costs 1790 roubles which is about RM200+.

Aargh - it is hard being a shopaholic!

Running Late for Lecture

Recently, I have the strange knack of waking up exactly A MINUTE before my alarm sets off in the morning. I woke up for a few times at 7.29 a.m. Then I would wait for the alarm to ring, only to shut it off and then most probably continue sleeping, or just lying pointlessly on the bed, daydreaming - AGAIN. Usually if I fell back asleep, I would wake up the next 15 minutes or so - thanks to my secondary backup alarm at 7.45 a.m.

BUT TODAY IT WAS A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT STORY.

Woke up as usual, at 7.29 a.m. Waited for the alarm to ring. Shut it off. Laid pointlessly on the bed, daydreaming. Fell back asleep. WOKE UP AT 8.30 a.m.

And I have Gynaecology lecture at 9 a.m.

(Usually I don't go for boring morning lectures e.g. Epidemiology (useless), Paediatrics (lecture was practically non-existent since 2-3 years ago, as everyone got the lecture handouts), Dermatology (same case as Paeds.) Social Medicine (crappy) and some others...)

Gynaecology is a bit different. It is A BIT exciting compared to the aforementioned lectures - although I hate this subject. And I hate the Head of Department. She is an EVIL BITCH. Whenever her name was mentioned, it was somehow synonymous to titles such as The Witch, The Bitch, The Crazy Lady, and the list goes on and on and on...she is just plain psycho.

I got on her wrong edge once, where I was BLAMED for sleeping in her lecture (Hello, its the person beside me who was trying hard not to appear sleeping! She could just have painted fake eyes on her eyelids.) But then not long after that I was CAUGHT (my bad) "illegally photographing" her lecture slides. She shouted at me and cried foul for infringement of her copyrights to the lecture material (Hello, I knew that you copied the information from some other sources - because the slides were written in PERFECT ENGLISH. And how does your gramatically- and phonetically-challenged Russianized English match up to your allegedly "copyrighted slides"? It is not even THAT close (emphasizing the distance between my thumb and my forefinger)

Okay, so I have been a little bit emotional just now. So - where was I? Oh yeah, I woke up late at 8.30 a.m. So I did my best to take a bath, dress and groom up in 30 minutes (which I kept on thinking was personally impossible) although my best timing was 42 minutes and 34 seconds. So miraculously, I did it in about 25 minutes. HOORAY, new personal record. (thanks to the swept back hairstyle which took only minutes to complete.) So I was set to go at 8.55 a.m. As I was getting ready to go, another problem surfaced.

WHERE IS MY HOUSE KEY?!?!?!

Arrgh. Things are never there when you really need them, and when you don't exactly have much time to go treasure hunting for them. Sigh. Arrgh. Nevermind. Hope my roomies are in the room when I go back home later. Thanks to that ridiculous key-hunting event, I wasted another 5 minutes of my precious time - which I could have used to hightail my sorry late ass to lecture.

So, I hurried...

Hurried past a traffic jam across the street (luckily I have moved to a place nearby the University - so traffic jams are a thing of the past now)...

But I had to run up a few flights of stairs in the main corpus still...

And at last I reached the door of the lecture hall.

Okay. Deep breath. Regain composure. Straighten coat and scarf. Open the door...and OH NO. Is that HER  voice? The Evil Witch's voice? She is giving the lecture for today?????

NOOOOOOOOOO~~~~!!!!!

And I'm nearly 15 minutes late. Ah well, I might as well just go back home and do something else rather than to attempt suicide by trying to enter the hall when SHE is the lecturer and I am terribly late for her lecture. There goes my attendance mark - into the drain!

Well, at least I can take the slow walk back home :)

p/s: I DESPISE YOU, EVIL BITCH.

Unproductive Day

Today is another unproductive day by my standards. I could have done at least something, anything that has a significant amount of benefits, but NO - I did not do anything at all. Hence, the term UNPRODUCTIVE. So, as I sit UNPRODUCTIVELY at my table, I started to day-dream (which I do so often now and then) about a lot of stuff. First thing that comes to mind is about the upcoming practical exams - how I wished that the hospital was blown away by the chilly autumn wind so that I do not have to take that exam. Or I could polymorph the examiner into a monkey.

 Then suddenly I thought of the nice lavender pashmina scarf I saw last Sunday in Terranova. Oh and also the other black arab scarf. Only 399 roubles each item! Should I buy it or not? I need to spice up my wardrobe for this season - are scarves the right choice? Or perhaps I should find a new trench coat? Hmm. Yet to find the latter. Sigh~

[Oh purple pashmina scarf, how I adore you...how I long for you to be wrapped around my neck and draped across my chest...]

[Oh black Arab scarf, how I adore thee as well! The rough but warm feeling of you around me is so inviting, how I want you to be among my most adored items!]

Enough shopping for me if I wanted to enjoy myself in Central Europe in the winter. I hope I can contain my shopping urges until then. But, its HARD - argh, NOOOOOO!

Then as I stared at my wall, I realized how cluttered it was with ALL KINDS OF STUFF I collected from all around the world; postcards, shopping tags, pictures, a bronze athletics medal - all arranged around my prized lucky Adidas poster. In a way it looked somehow creative, colorful and messy - which practically screams ME. No wonder my friends said that just by looking at my wall and my table, people can really REALLY judge who am I. Hey- I thought judging others was a sin?

[Just a small portion of my personal paraphernalia on the table. Spray, mousse, cream, gel, gum, wax, clay...you name it I've got them all! Just look at the amount of chemicals that I load upon my hair. If they had voices, they'd probably be screaming their roots off by now.]

Oh crap. When will I be freed from non-productivity?

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Wishing all Muslims in the whole world a happy Eid al-Fit'r especially to all Malaysians. 

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir Batin.

Being far away from Malaysia for Raya or any other big festive occasion really strikes me with self pity. How is it that I am attending classes on a National Holiday??? While everyone else is enjoying the holidays back at home, I am here doing what everyone else are NOT SUPPOSED TO DO. Sigh.

This however, taught me a valuable lesson - which I have, for countless times already, learnt through I wade across the waters of life.

NEVER TAKE THINGS FOR GRANTED.

Yes, never take things for granted - no matter how big, nor how small the thing maybe. Once you are not able to experience it any more, you will start to think about how good it felt when it was still there. Same thing goes for Hari Raya. It used to be just "another holiday" back in Malaysia, but since living here in Europe, I kind of miss all the good times.

Top 5 things I like about Hari Raya:

1. You get at least 2 days of holidays.

A good time to get the family to gather together. I don't get much time with my family because everyone is busy with their work and studies. Now, come to think of it - I kind of regret the fact that I didn't make much effort to spend time with my family whenever opportunity arises. 

2. You can go and eat free food at people's open houses.

Whenever I go out beraya, I will usually target the houses which serve lemang and beef rendang with lots and lots of kuih raya. How do I do that? I'd call in earlier and asked about the menu offered! LOL.

3. I get to see people get dressed up (finally) in fashion-disaster-stricken Malaysia.

Malaysia, in my opinion is one of a country stricken with the fashion disaster syndrome. I don't think the population in making a commendable effort in trying to look good and appealing. So during festivities, this condition usually self-alleviates as a small percentage of the nation dresses up to celebrate the big day.

4. I get to wear my baju melayu without looking ridiculous - it's my favourite national costume!

I have a myriad of national costumes in my wardrobe - but my definite favourite is the baju melayu cekak musang. It is very light and comfortable, elegant if worn with a matching samping songket, and no matter how fugly a guy is - he will get extra points for wearing it!

5. I get duit raya!

Besides getting free food from the open houses which I went to - I also got some pocket money! Like the hong bao, it is also presented in small paper packs, but it is green in color. Who cares about the packaging anyway - I'm more concerned with the contents of it!