690 - KMD 08 Sets New Record!!

Kempen Menderma Darah 08 comes to an end today after a period of 5 very hectic days. In the process, we managed to get a record breaking 690 donors, beating last year's haul of 589.


Needless to say, such an impressive result would not be possible without the contributions of all AJK of KMD 08. In fact planning for an event of such scale began last semester, during the busy exam month. And continued into the first week of the semester. So much need to be done, banners & posters need to be hanged, pameran stuff to be completed, VIPs need to be contacted etc etc

Sometimes, we had to work till the wee hours of the morning.


The actual event begin on Monday on the 7th of January with the customary officiating ceremony. The boring speeches, the cutting of ribbons, the presentation of cenderahati & most important of all-the jamuan after the ceremony, you know the drill.

Waiting for VIPs in front of the foyer

Everybody seated & ready to go

Sila undi saya, calon 001

Trying my best not to fall asleep

Unfortunately, we did not manage to borrow the projector from pejabat for our multimedia show. So for those who missed it, here is the clip featuring some fine acting from our very own members ; )

The actual donation can only begin after the ceremony. Even though the perasmian took up precious time, we still managed a respectable 128 donors on the first day.


On the 2nd day, donors increased to 157 and peaked on the 3rd day with 186. To cope with such large amount donors, Pusat Darah Negara had to increased the number of beds from the initial 12 to 15. But still, the waiting time is very long.

You have to wait to have blood taken from you

On the 3rd day is also the day we get our most macho & handsome donor, Mr Tan Mok Keat

So cool, no wonder people like him

In addition to donating blood, there is a booth for donating your organs as well. Even though it's less painful, donating organ isn't very popular. I really salute those who sign up as donor on the spot, as I still do not have the testicular fortitude to fill in the form.

Those who wish to donate organ can get the form from me

The 4th day experienced a drop in donors as it's a public holiday. And that's where I came to the rescue. In order to increased the statistic, uh...I mean to save lives, I chose to donate on Thursday.

Before

During

After

Those who say donating blood is painless is bluffing, but I am sure everyone can tolerate a small amount of pain for a good cause. This is my bag of blood. Looks kind of abnormal, don't you think so?


On the final day, we managed to get 121 donors for a grand total of 690 bags of blood. Bloody Impressive!!!


Before I end this, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who was involved in making this campaign successful. From the AJK who busted their asses to the juniors who duty during this 5 days. Also not forgetting seniors who spared time to help out even though they are already retired. Thank you very much for the support.

Kempen Menderma Darah 08

Those returning to UKM should be greeted by these banners around the campus.


Or posters like these


In case you missed it, Bulan Sabit Merah Malaysia (BSMM) Det.88C is organising a blood donation campaign. Details below :

Date : 7 - 11 January 2008
Location : Foyer Kolej Ungku Omar
Time : 9am - 4.30pm

In addition, people from Pusat Sumber Transplan Negara will be there as well. Those who are interested or wanted to find out more about organ donation should visit their booth.

So,spare a little time & head over to UO. Make sure to spread the word as well.

Needless to say, your donation will go a long way in helping those in need & saving lives.

Oh, by the way, please meet our mascot, The Red Blood Cell ; )

Chinese Fear Factor

They say that the Chinese will eat anything with their backs facing the sky. And in Guangzhou, I was able to discover the true extent of that saying.

After all Guangzhou is famous for their Cantonese cuisine & the people over there took their food seriously. Everything must be fresh ( alive & kicking ) before being put on the dining table.

In this particular restaurant that we were brought to, there is this huge live section. The restaurant alone has 4 stories & seats more than 10,000.

Walking through the live section is like visiting Aquaria KLCC, the only difference being you can pick any of the living stuff to have it cook & served on the table.

Such as these large garoupas


Or do you fancy some crabs?


These geli stuff are actually called geoducks. See, reading my blog can be educational too


I dunno what they called these. Look like some water dwelling worms to me.


These are water cockroaches. Needless to say, it is part of the menu as well. Tasty according to my relative but we are too chicken too try it out


If you are desperate for something alcoholic, why not try some wine enhanced with snakes, lizards and other reptiles.


However, the most shocking discovery of all is this....



Yup, live crocodiles in a restaurant. Alive and kicking, destined for the cooking pot.

4 Days In Hong Kong

After my previous post on Disneyland, you probably knew that I went to HK. But HK is actually 1 of the stop. The whole 10 days of my vacation was spent in Shenzhen-HK-Macau-Guangzhou-Shenzhen ( yup, in that manner ).

Having watched Hong Kong made movies and series since I was young, visiting HK was a bit surreal. Instead of arriving in a strange foreign land, everything here looked & felt curiously familiar.

From the moment we step out of the MTR station at Yau Ma Tei ( our hotel was located there ), we were assaulted with colourful signboards like these. A familiar sight indeed.


Not far from where we were staying is this the Yau Ma Tei police station. I dunno about you but I think I have seen it in more than a few cop movies.


Heck, we actually lived within walking distance from the infamous Temple Street.

Another favorite movie location is surely the HK waterfront overlooking all those tall buildings. This is also the place where you can find hand prints of famous superstars both past and present.



And this statue....


The other side of HK ( the island ), more specifically Central, is more bustling, where all those high end shops are located. Including this gigantic LV store.


If you want to find some gweilos ( for whatever reasons *shrugs* ), just head over to Lan Kwai Fong. You will find so many gweilos drinking, it looked like a Heineken commercial.


We also visited the Big Buddha in Lantau Island. Those who watched Infernal Affairs should be familiar with this place.


But what they didn't show you in the movie is the steps leading up to the Buddha. Damn high you know.

To complete the experience, we had our breakfast in a char chan teng, just like the locals. But instead of the overpriced,Bosco Wong as mascot restaurants that we get back home, the char chan teng outlet here were more humble and unpretentious. And served tasty egg tarts to boot *stomach grumbling*


But the best thing about Hong Kong is...........it is very banana friendly. All the signs have an English equivalent translation.




Definitely make life easier for those Chinese character-ly challenged people like me ;)

Disneyland HK

Remember the time when we were kids & used to bug our parents to bring us to Disneyland? Regardless of your level of irritation, your folks must have been pissed. Because that either means bringing us to America or Japan.

Luckily, now there is one in Hong Kong ; )

As with all other Disney theme parks, their attention to detail is legendary. Everywhere you look, you see Mickey's head.

This is the train that we took to the theme park. Notice their windows?

Walk further & you will see this fountain. If you do not want to enter, just snap a pic here and take the train back.


To proceed further, you need a ticket. Of course not comparing it to Sunway Lagoon's pricing will probably save you from getting a mild stroke.


In front of the Disneyland train station


Once inside, there is this long queue of people waiting just to have a pic with Mickey & Minnie ( including us of course ). Donald Duck and Goofy were there also, but their lines were almost empty. So kesian.


Adrenaline junkies expecting to get their fix here might be disappointed to know that most of the rides here are family friendly & mild.

Like this one

To infinity & beyondI dunno bout you but I expect the castle I always see in pic of Disneyland to be big, like um, a castle. But in reality its real tiny.


Disneyland is all about business as well, so it's filled with stores selling all kinds of merchandise. You feel guilty for not buying them.

Who could resist these cute Stitches?


Since It's Christmas season now, Disneyland is lighted up beautifully at night with snow falling down.
Makes you feel like you are celebrating Christmas in Europe until you notice the fan blowing out soap bubbles on the roof. Kinda took away the magic a little ;)

Heck, they even put on extra lights on the castle making it glow in the darkness.


After the fireworks, it's time to head back to our hotel, to reality. But the whole journey is, in the words of Disney, magical.

When Newspaper Lies

November 10, a historic day for Malaysia, yet many of us were not able have a clear picture of the events due to the distortion by the mainstream media.

Last Saturday, a rally calling for electoral reforms were organized by BERSIH with more than 10 000 people took to the streets to join the peaceful march. Yes, more than 10 000 people!! Nope, not 4000 as reported by The Star.

One,two,three,um...4000? Really?

The march of the monks in Myanmar created major headlines in our local newspapers but strangely a rally of this magnitude can’t even make the front page of our local daily ( not even the 2^nd or 3^rd page for that matter )

It’s at page 8 of The Star with no pictures. The television news were no better with the local channels reporting about the success of the police in foiling the rally.

This couldn’t be further from the truth, as the rally successfully hands over the memorandum to the Agong with minimal disturbance.

Is this sponsored by Digi?

Luckily, we can rely on the foreign media to give a truthful account of the event with al Jazeera having a correspondent in Masjid Jamek ,right when they were spraying chemicals on the protesters. The poor journalist was one of the victims as cameras captured FRU spraying water and throwing tear gas to break up the crowd.

Our Info Minister was so furious with the channel, he made a mockery of himself on live TV.

But I must admit though, what he said does have a point, that Malaysia is a democratic country, unlike Myanmar or Pakistan. Because you see, when the monks march in Myanmar, the military junta let the peaceful protest go on for weeks before a crackdown.

But in so called democratic Malaysia, the police set up roadblocks leading to the city to prevent people from gathering. When they managed to evade those, they used water cannons and tear gasses to disperse the crowds before they can even start marching.

Hmm…go figure