You are Qui-Gon Jinn

Overall, you’re a pretty well balanced person. But maybe you focus a little too much on the here and now. Think about the future before its too late.

Click here to take the “Which Star Wars character are you?” quiz…

Some brave but anonymous soul left a very colourful comment on this blog

‘Bloody hell!!! You claim to be a average Londoner, but at the end of the day your a dirty smelly paki.‘

Damn, my secret is out. Though I strongly object to the smelly comment.

Born and brought up in the UK, yet will always be considered a humble paki. Reminds me of the time an Immigration officer at Heathrow asked me if I was Indian (!!??).

Can I get a refund on my income tax?

My interview in Kuala Lumpur went well. If all formalities are completed in time, I shall be starting my new job in November. Unfortunatly, I had to fly back alone to the UK to finalise the move and complete my employment contract. Ever since my return mid-July, I’ve been working flat out. Being apart from my family has taken its emotional toll and the only way I have been able to get through these past few weeks is by keeping myself occupied with work.

A ray of light finally emerged from the horizon when the University approved my application and so, in four weeks time, I shall be turning my back on the UK and returning permanantly to Malaysia.

Flying out on the 28th, the plan is to take a welcome family break and stay in Kota Bharu for a couple of days, then take a road trip to Kuala Lumpur via Penang and Sungai Dorani.

The four-week countdown begins.

I’ve just promised myself retirement from professional pharmacy. Never again will I have to:

dispense another prescription,

put up with being chastised by patients after asking them to sign their prescriptions since they are exempt from payment (after being scolded for asking them to pay),

give advice (pharmaceutical of course),

face another methadone addict (though most are quite pleasant),

accept the ’small’ basket of toiletries with that prescription (arrraggh!!),

accept untrained (or un-trainable) support staff,

tolerate department managers who are just interested in the bottom line (nothing wrong with that in principle, though a bit of context, and knowledge, never hurt anyone),

be looked upon (with envy) by managers who think I get paid way too much for what I do (I deserve it),

listen to patients who rant on about the substandard UK NHS system when in reality all healthcare professionals provide a fantastic service for free (it’s a great privilege to get free healthcare),

look on with disgust at parents who refuse to purchase ‘Calpol’ for their sick child but rather wait for a GP appointment to get a free prescription,

dispense (free) prescription after (free) prescription for amoxicillin (probably now ineffective due to the development of resistance). The public refuse to accept antibiotics are ineffective againts the common cold,

deal with sneezing customers in the summer (hay fever) and snivelling customers in the winter (cold and flu) (why are the British public so fragile and predictable).

The four-week countdown begins.

When I was signing the paper work 10 months ago, little did I realise my life would soon be changing again (for the better of course). Its true, a new car will depreciate most during its first year.

Cost new £9500. Manged to sell it after 10 months of good use for £7000. A joy to drive and own.

It was wonderful to be back in Kuala Lumpur. Setting foot into KLIA more then made up for the long and painful flight. It was the first and last time I shall be flying with Emirates. Technically nothing much wrong with the flight, just could not adjust to the environment in the Boeng 777, suffered from a headache all the way to Dubai. The three-hour stopover did not really help either. Ended up wandering around (and around) the small airport, no doubt looking rather suspicious taking pictures of passenger planes docked at the boarding gates. The airport was very overcrowded with not many places to sit and minimal places to eat. It is quite simply a transfer hub for Emirates airlines, forcing passengers to stop and shop in the overpriced and very cramp duty-free area. The onward journey to Malaysia was not much different, my headache moved up a notch and in order to get some sleep I had to ostracise a fellow passenger. An elderly Sri-Lanken gentleman was having a go at one of the Emirates stewards, accusing him (rather unfairly) of laziness. ‘I am a GOLD card member’, blah blah blah. ‘I expect to be treated better’, blah blah blah. Cabin crew may be accused of many things, but at the end of the day it is a tough job and I certainly could not do it. The passenger then began to question the poor man on his race,

‘Judging from your attitude you must be Philipino?’

‘No sir I’m Malaysian’, came the surprised reply.

‘That explains it’.

At which point, I had just enough. My head was pounding and other passengers were simply laughing. This I found simply inappropriate, I have never really been one to stand (sit) by and watch people getting verbally abused. I began lecturing the (now) startled passenger on the dangers of racial stereotypes. Thankfully, he never made a sound for the rest of the flight. Unfortunately, my problems did not stop there. My headache was eventually joined by severe nausea. This became quite unbearable, especially considering it was getting in the way of me enjoying Rocky Balboa. Drastic action was in order. A trip to the loo was followed by forceful vomitus ejectus, which made me feel a lot better. I enjoyed the rest of Rocky and we touched down in Kuala Lumpur International Airport at around 3.30pm local time, one and a half hours later than scheduled. Stepping off the plane into familiar KLIA’s surroundings made up for the entire ordeal. The airport is quiet, relaxed, open and above all, comforting.

I must admit I’ve a new found interest in EBAY. Introduced to the whole auction phenomenan by my better half a few weeks a ago. I have found that EBAY can be a great source of cheap (new) goods, if you know exactly what your looking for and more importantly where to look. Buyers and Sellers are motivated into honesty by an ingenious method of feedback. Both parties are able to leave each other comments after a particular transaction, thus improving (or not) their percieved marketablility and intregity within the marketplace.

I’m amazed however at the amount of money buyers are willing to spend. People are very often prepared to pay unrealstically high prices for what are no more then bog-standard second hand goods.

Just came across the following auction for a digital camera. Well, actually it’s the original box of a digital camera. The camera is missing; all that is being sold is the box and its contents of a manual and CD of driver, which can be downloaded off the net for free. The winning bid : £36 plus £2 delivery. An expensive piece of cardboard.

Taman Tun Dr. Ismail has emerged as the winner in the Housing Estate Category as the cleanest and most beautiful of neighbourhoods in KL.

Blogging has taken a bit of a back seat of late. Not really high on my list of priorities at the moment with far too much on my mind.

Looking forward to flying out to Malaysia for two weeks in June. A chance to see the wife and kids again and attend a job interview in KL. International call charges really have come down these past couple of years and talking daily to the twins has not made the separation any easier.

Being peak season, flying via Malaysia airlines is more or less out of the question. At the time of booking, £700 pounds was being quoted for a non-stop return flight. Thus I had to settle for Emirates, cheaper but with a three hour stopover in Dubai and a connecting flight (after another three hour wait) from KLIA to Kota Bharu (flying to KB first to meet up with the family).

Most of our personnal effects are already on there way to our place in Taman Tun Dr Ismail. It will be great to see the house again and I’m really going to enjoy unpacking and taking steps towards building a permanent home in KL.

The final move will take place around October and from the looks of things, saying goodbye to the UK is going to be easy.

The count down has begun.

Another six months (I hope) in the UK to allow me to settle a few things and I shall be flying back to Malaysia. The Wife and kids have already flow back and I’m missing them like crazy. I just hope I can get through the next six months without any major setbacks.