Church of man

For those who have been in Kuching for the couple of days leading to Gawai, you would know that it's been insanely hot. Todays' no different. So when my parents asked me to join them for daily mass, I was reluctant but eventually agreed, despite the uncomfortable heat.

So this was what I wore to mass just now. Still felt warm because the fan inside the church was just recycling the warm air. Then after mass, a nun (with her full habit) tapped my left shoulder and started (nicely) lecturing me about my innapropriate top.

"Please respect God. Some priests won't give you communion (the bread) if you wear that."

I was like, "Oh, ok..." But in my mind I was thinking screw her. It's fucking hot so it's only common sense that we dress comfortably. Seriously, I don't think what I was wearing was innapropriate/sexy/vulgar or whatever she was offended by.

I thought she should be saying, "God bless you my child... it's so good of you to come for daily mass..." There were only about 20 people in the whole church for the mass just now.

But later my aunt told me that the nun was a bit off. That's why everyone was avoidng her (which I didn't notice). She once barbequed a cat for a priest she was cooking for.

Anyways... whether that's true or not, which didn't matter, she still told me off in public just now, and she must have gotten the idea from somewhere in the church, I'm just so turned off sometimes by the do's and don't's (man-made mind you) of the church.

Which reminds me of how disturbed I was when a priest was telling a group of us (working youths) about the theory of relativism in particular about how wrong it is to think that "it doesn't mater what religion you have as long as you do good".

I was sooo disturbed during that session that I actually jotted down a lot of questions on piece of paper to ask the priest , but he had to leave immediately after the session to rush for another appointment. But I haven't forgotten. I'm still keeping the paper.

What the hell is wrong with accepting that sometimes it doesn't matter what religion you practice as long as you respect each other and do right by the people who your are sharing your breathing space with?

Whatever. God blessed and graced us with common sense, so we must use it right.

McDonald's generation

McD kids (you and me la), know how much calories are in your typical McD indulgent:

McDonald's USA - Bag A McMeal

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My typical meal includes a double cheeseburger, large french fries and strawberry/chocolate sundae! :) The total calories, just let's say it's a lot. :) *shy*
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I seriously don't remember how my chronic affair with McD started, but I know it's the juicy and seriously yummy double cheeseburger that's keeping the flame burning between us.

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So after seeing the crowd at McD 3rd Mile (and also now I'm seriously dying of boredom) I decided to "educate" myself about McDonald's.

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Because I know with the Internet, you can dig out dirt from virtually anything.

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It's interesting you know, but I'm still in the process of reading up more to see how true some of the claims are...

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Check this site out.

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And just type "anti-macdonald's" in Googles on Yahoo search for the rep sheet...
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Meanwhile, I'll be having my doublecheese burger....

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My take is that if you're not making changes in your own life, not making any conscientious effort to save the environment (recycling for eg.), who the hell are you to accuse others of clearing the rainforest in the amazon for cattle rearing for beef, stuff like that.

I'm speaking from experience as a silly idealistic teenager and later medical student. As part of our public health studies, we were exposed to recycling, water treatment, sanitation, etc.

We were challenged to make an effort to practise recycling. Having separate bins for glass, paper, plastic, alluminium, etc. That lasted only a couple of days. It's so hypocritical of us to condemn other people.

A little goes a long way, and if each and everyone of us have a little of that, we don't need protests, lawsuits and boycotts.

But the world does not seem to operate that way. It appears that we are in the path of self-destruction.

And meanwhile I'll be enjoying my double cheeseburger. :)

Happy Gawai!

Sorry about the picture... best I could do. Wanted something authentic to reflect what the festival's about, but I think I failed miserably... the other pictures were of warriors dancing and beauty pagent contestants... anyways... it's the thought that counts.

Happy Gawai to all my dayak friends! And to our Sabahan counterparts, Happy Kaamatan!

I just got back from a drink with the 3 A's (Angie, Adeline and Alison) and Alison's sis, Marianne. We initially wanted to avoid the jam from the bak chang festival procession in town so we met at MacDonald's at 3rd mile, but I was sooo disturbed by the crowd and the number of shrieking children playing at the plastic playground inside... so I quickly suggested Sidewalk at Airport Road.

I had the something, something triple ice-cream which was supposed to come with an assortment of nuts and yummy toppings, but it came out melted (and yucky) with 2 hollow "secret letters" (you know the tubular biscuit sometimes with chocolate filling, but those I had just now were hollow, no filling, only stripes of chocolate colouring, and no chocolate taste) and ONE piece of a thin-sliced caramelized orange about the size of a 50sen coin. The orange slice was nice though.

Darn forgot to take a picture of the ice-cream. I've lost touch with writing, so forgive me if you can't imagine whatever I'm trying to describe.

The damn ice-cream not cheap. RM9.80. Could have had 3 of McD's chocolate or starwberry sundaes. :(

But I enjoyed the company. As usual we were remisniscing... recurrent theme, Joyce Ho. She's getting married end of this year, and I know each and everyone of us on the table just now secretly thought that we would only believe it when we see her walk down the aisle with our own eyes still intact in the sockets...

She's really a character like no other. Outrages, volatile, annoying..... but a dear friend. :) Joyce Ho.

Then we talked about traveling, organic food, genetic engineering, cancer, former teachers, driving, relationships, money... yeah that's it. :)

Talking about marriage, Jo's wedding is in 6 days time! She must be going crazy with all the preparations, with all last minute stuff to settle and all. For me, I have only to check with my tailor for the dress I asked her to make for Jo's wedding reception. Note wedding reception. I still don't know what I'm wearing for her wedding ceremony/mass... I have a couple of new skirts which are appropriate and a few sleeveless tops, but my mum was saying that it's innapropriate to wear sleeveless to church! Yikes.

Even though I don't really care about the sleeveless issue, but my mum has this effect on me. Once she disapproves of something, I would look at that thing differently. Only my mum is that powerful.

I felt kind of drowsy the whole day today. I attribute it to ZERO caffeine intake today. I decided to do a little caffeine-detoxification during this holiday. Hopefully by the time I start work, I wouldn't need as much caffeine as I did during study and that my caffeine sensitivity would improve.

I was told that the huge mall in KK is open. Yipee! Now I truly have something to look forward to. :)

Enjoy the festivity people! Cheers!

Belated birthday wish...

Sorry Kai Chin! I totally forgot yesterday! Happy belated birthday friend! :)
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I started my skipping and boxing again today. I stopped right before exam because I twisted my right ankle, a recurrent injury from my tennis days. But it felt great, though 600 skips and 20mins of hard-punching didn't work up as much sweat as I hoped for. But that will do for a start.
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Didn't do much today. Spent some time over at the religious article centre that my parents are temporarily helping to man. But the shop is too small for my liking.

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So when sight-seeing around the church compound... that's the shrine of St. Peter, the patron saint of the church.

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Then for lunch we had ABC and belacan bee hoon at Song Kheng Hai... That's my favourite drink stall, Golden Triangle Drink Corner... try the ABC special or Lo Mi Thng (I think that's how it would spell)...

That's mum and dad... dad's giving his "The Dog" look.
Yummy! Belacan bee hoon... ask them to throw in the century egg! Double yummy! That's why I need to start my exercise again.

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Remember I said that I was spending too much. Yes, it's true. Guess what I got today? A RM109/- (yes, I repeat RM109/-) batt-operated automatic contact lense cleaner! Quite cool, and of course super convenient. And the concept is good, supposedly would reduce hand contact with the lenses, hence reducing contamination. Tried it out just now, thought my lenses looked pristine after! Only setback is that the gadget feels a little too plastic toy-like.

And yes, I bought some more tops. :) Gorgeous no? :) I promise these are the last 2 I'm getting until I go to KL. :)

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I'm hoping to go for an authentic long-house Gawai celebration this year but no one's invited me (largely because I don't know anyone who's from an actual long house) except Tiong, who I've lost contact with.

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Heard from Hema that Mun Foo left this morning. She bumped into him when she sent her parents to the airport this morning. Funny guy, didn't even tell either one of us.

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Cheers!

Enjoying my holiday!

Caught up with Doreen before she left for her hometown Penang today. That's Doreen (L) and her sis Dorothy. They look very different but have similar mannerism. Very cute actually... which I find rather endearing... the congenital "tey". :)

Seeing everyone leaving is like reluctantly finishing my favourite chapter of a book. But I'm never quite affected by parting and saying goodbyes. Sure I'll miss my friends dearly, but I know that the parting usually means forging ahead, going for better things. So that's why we can only wish each other the best when we part. :)

But Kai Chin and Mun Foo are still mopping around in Kuching. Got couple of SOS sms from Mun Foo today... first wanted no. of Air Asia or Operator, then wanted to get hold of a plumber. :) Haha. Poor guy. Must be quite disorientated all alone.
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I was having itchy fingers and decided to make a video out of the photos I took on Announcement Day. I'm still trying to get accustomed to all this video editing thingy and the hosting provider. It's kinda fun. But I have no idea why this particular photo is the "cover" photo for my video, can't do anything about it now.

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Hoping to meet up with an old schoolmate Angie tomorrow together with Adeline and another former school pal, Alison. Angie's planning a trip to the new UNIMAS campus on Wed with her semenanjung friends... maybe I'll ask her whether she would take me with them... I've always wanted to visit the new campus, but never found the right time and the right company. :)
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I think I'm spending a little too much. Since the start of my holiday, just slightly more than a week ago, I've already bought myself about 10 tops and 3 skirts. Yikes. I'm an impulsive shopper. That's why when I really come to think it, the only motivation I have to work is to earn more money to shop. That's one of the reasons why I think I won't make a suitable wife/mother.

Hey, I'm just a girl after all.

Geryl's not well. Woke him from sleep when I called him just now to set the time for our blood donation date. Hehe. Get well soon ya! In time for Gawai and hopefully well enough to bleed next week. :)
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Cheers!

Check registration with SPA

Thanks Yek Song for the info! :)

http://spa2000.spa.gov.my/pertanyaan/status_daftar_view.html

ER06

Surprisingly I enjoyed the concert like, a lot! Eventhough I had a bout of tinnitus after, I remember that I danced to the music, and I just had so much fun with my friends... planning to go for next year's. :)

And I was surprised at how a "Christian" concert would be sooo fun. You know, maybe I had this silly preconception that it would be inhibited because of the tag. Everything was proper, but the energy was super.

Oh if you're wondering why I'm wearing my old specs, I broke my current in the morning before the concert and decided against contact lenses because I knew they would be irritative since I would be there the whole day.

Sorry, in case some of you are wondering. :) So perasan.

It was held in this hall in Inti College, Kuching. I thought the college was kinda small. Impressed with how clean it was, but hated the cafeteria... remember our faculty cafeteria, where once you walk in, you'll smell of recycled cooking oil the whole day.

Anyways, I was in charge of ticket sales that night. We didn't exactly get the turn out we expected, but secretly I was happy because if the crowd we expected did turn up, I really can't imagine the havoc. We had some problems with people smoking, and we had to go all out to erase any traces of it because the college's very strict about it...

If I had bumped into any other the kids smoking, personally, they would wish they stayed at home last night.

Oh ya, of all people, I met Julia, Philip's younger sis. :) She's very sweet and friendly and was chatting alittle with me, but she surprised me with, "I asked Philip to come to the concert..."

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I never mentioned to her that I knew her brother. Then the siblings must be close... :) Now have to be more careful with my stalking. :)

Anyways...

But overall, I enjoyed myself. Had a bit of work out with all the chair-moving, and boxes and boxes or mineral waters to be mobilized and distributed. Thought the kids were great. It's hard to maintain an air of senority (which I was advised to...) but in the end I just followed waht I thought was the way to go in terms of leading them in their duties, and in delegating responsibilities.

"Don't worry... just be alert for anything unusual and inform the leaders... have fun!" I found myself saying constantly. Some of the more serious kids gave me a skeptical look. But everything turned out great. Thank God.

Then we had the youth mass this morning, as a closing to the easter rally weekend. Celebrated by my fav priest, Fr. Joe. :) He's very cute. He looked dashing last night during the concert in all black (minus the collar of course). But no photos. :(

I'll definitely try to make it for the ER next year if I'm in Kuching. Whether as a participant or helping out in some ministry. Will let you guys know.

I had dinner at Good Day at Padungan this evening. They're big on taste, maybe a bit too keen because everything was overly tasty (salty, sweet, MSG) but I thought the price was really good for the portions they were serving. Really good for those who like quantity.

I was attracted by the light works outside the eatery. (above)

Shared our meal with this poor skinny cat who was begging for food.

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Lastly, I miss you guys! Hope you guys are having a blast!

Lotsa love, Sharon.

Busy weekend

I'll be busy this weekend helping out as pretty bouncer cum first aider cum usher at a church activity. I'm ok with except that I've not been around soooo many teenagers with their still very shrieky voices and excess energy. I felt like a prefect in school... paranoic about the boys and girls sneaking into some corners of the concert hall doing hanky-panky stuff... I mean their parents trust us with their children, so if that makes me unpopular, so be it.

Last night I thought the PA system was a bit too loud for my liking, so now I'm having a pounding headache... so I excused myself from the morning session, will join them for the afternoon session onwards. The afternoon one is expected to be more docile because the talk is for working youths (that's me). But after that, tonight it's the BIG concert. Yikes. *scared* I'll be packing some paracetamol.

Wish me luck.

Oh ya, my sis' last goldfish died, and was found macerated in its tank this morning. Cause of death, NEGLECT.

Cheers!

It's over!

I'm back by popular demand. No lar, perasan only. Don't have much to say but felt like posting some pictures.... only want to say that

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I'M SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OVER MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!

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For most of my friends, words just cannot describe how happy they are. For me, I'm just sooooo relieved...

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"Learn from the past, live in the present, and plan for the future." -Dr. M-

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What is ahead of me now seems a gazillion times more daunting than medical school...

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But I need to enjoy my hols now as much as I can...

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Taken immediately after the results were announced... Yee Leng (L) and Hema (C)... we were all smiles...

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"I wanna a hug too!" -Yee Leng-

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That's Adrian "on" Mun Foo... Brokeback's big here...

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Photo-taking session in progress... yeeee.... look at the freak behind me.

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With Adrian (extreme L), Yang (2nd from R) and Adeline (extreme R)

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Love this picture very much.... Connie's sooo gorgeous...

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"Kontingen Myanmar diketuai oleh Cik Connie Chiew!" -Raj-

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MUAHAHAHAHA!

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4th year district posting group... one for the album!

. Bye-bye medical school! With Chris (L) and Connie (R)...

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"Don't miss me!" -ChrisMANIC-

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How can I not miss you girl? Glad you like the top I got you. Spent the whole day shopping for the perfect one. :)
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Was feeling kinda nostalgic (already) looking back at some pics, so started making some souvenir photos for some of my colleagues and lecturers....
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Made this for my Mentor, Dr. Chan, who's been soooo funny and cool!

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The idea of making this sequential photo stemed from Chris' little practical joke on me and Mun Foo... she pretended to be taking stills of us when in fact she was taking video of us... we both posed like idiots for some 20-30secs....

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But as usual, I made it into something innovative. :) Muahahah! Thanks Chris!

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Mun Foo useless one! -Yang-

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Mun Foo is a useless guy! -Kai Chin-

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Why??? -Sharon-
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With Dr. Padmini and Adeline... made this for her...

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Raj was telling us about how Dr. Padmini sarcastic but hilarious reaction to one student's ridiculous response that a child's herniating umbilicus was a penis...

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"Ooh, an albino penis! How exotic! -Dr. Padmini-

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Same thing happened with York Tien, but took me only about 10 secs to realize what was happening... :) Nice picture...

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Talking about York Tien, I must really give it to him. He simply has the talent. He still managed to piss me off today when we all should be happy and merry.

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He and Hema were planning a farewell dinner or some sort. He sms me at 5.07pm while I was driving down from the airport after sending Hooi Ming off... So I thought ok, eventhough it was kind of rushing, and actually I planned to attend church service with my parents.

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So at the traffic light stop I sms him for time and place, and he replied by saying that I should plan the place because Hema said I was better with all the eating places (since when?)

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So at the next traffic stop, I sms and asked them to plan because I have been planning for the past couple of days and besides I was busy, and he (not surprisingly) replied and cheekily insisted that I should plan, and quickly because he had to inform some other friends.

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That was it. I was pissed. How inconsiderate. They planned the dinner so late and didn't bother to plan the place, and invited me, and forced me to plan quickly for them.

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So I sent another sms and said that I didn't want to go anymore, and that I would see him when he comes for convocation.

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That was it. So easy. And then my blood pressure normalized. It's actually quite easy to maintain longevity. :)

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Only posting this picture because I promised Yek Song that I WON'T post it. This guy is damn shit hilarious! And horny too, and his brain very jaundiced. :)

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Good luck man!

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"I won't simply just shoot my semen anyway." -Yek Song-

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Had our final get-together at Siar Beach. Kind of disappointed with the very small and dirty beach... but thoroughly enjoyed the company, and of course the beach football! :) Hope to get the chance to play again!

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Unfortunately for Adrian and Kai Chin, we celebrated their birthday. But I thought the boys were being kind this year.

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First, they were blindfolded and led to the beach....

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So cute. Like 2 kindy schoolboys going to the toilet.

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They were then treated to a beautiful birthday message on the beach...

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As their present, they were each forced to eat 10 hard-boiled, and refrigerated eggs! 10 freaking hard-boiled eggs! Cold!

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Adrian finally puked.

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Kai Chin thought he was winning...

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Then they had to compete to blow out the candles....

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Before they could cut their yummy tiramisu cake, they had to do some Brokeback.... Kai Chin actually secretly loved it... see how syok he is in the picture...

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I know because when I hugged him the other day when our results were announced, he froze...

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Happy birthday boys!

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Oh ya, Happy birthday Christina today!

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I wonder what they would have done to you if you had gone to Siar with us?

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Wow, it's late. I have more pictures actually. Have to wait. ZZZzzzzZZZ... already.

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Everyone is leaving Kuching for good one by one.

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Bon voyage! Till we meet again!