Linkin Park concert

I still cannot believe this experience!

I could not believe that I actually went to see Linkin Park performing live. It happened very randomly when my flatmate, Eliza, asked just few hours before the concert, asked if I would like to come along with her to see LP. I thought, yeah why not. Afterall, it's not like you get to see LP often. In fact, this is your first time seeing them live. Your very first concert, in fact. It was furthermore an excellent bargain where she managed to get £37.50 ticket each for just £15!

So I went without any high expectations of the concert. But that all that changed when the concert started. I must tell you that I was BLOWN AWAY by their awesome performance. They played all of my fav LP songs (Bleed it out, Numb, Breaking the habit, and From the Inside)! Chester's (LP lead) could really sing and scream without screwing up his voice. The performance was raw, honest and most important of all memorable (music still playing in my head now)

The venue was the O2 arena, with a capacity of probabbly 30,000. That place was packed! It was a sold out event! It was a great concert where the cheers of fans beamed across the arena as each of LP's performance ended! The atmosphere was electrifying! Despite being at a high place, our seats was dead-straight facing the stage!

Before it started

LP!

The crowd

Posing maut lepas konsert. heh

A flavour of the atmosphere that night

My new baby

Presenting my new wife: Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21M

I looooooooooooooooooooove!!!!

Damn

If only I live in Dawson these next eight weeks for my PPD module, I would so much happier than the state I am at.

Living in whitechapel means that on a daily basis for the next 8 weeks I would have to force myself to wake up at 7, so that I can continously snooze my alarm clock over and over until I it's nearly 8. Then quickly rush to get the bus

I have this impression that rush hour = more frequent buses considering the amount of people that needs to be transported. However, I learn that's not the way it's like here, including the tube. I reached my lecture 20 minutes late only to find that my lecturer had not arrived until 5 minutes later. Buses are just very unreliable, and only I knew such thing is bound to happen, I might as well walked all the way to my lecture, rather than just anxiously waiting in vainfor buses to arrive, and finds myself a) not being able to take the bus because it's too packed
b) be stuck in traffic jam

At the moment it feels weird to be back to lecture-based teachings after spending a lot of fun time in the hospital for 13 weeks. The topics including psychology, public health and ethics - are very not worth the trouble of waking early and rush to Barts to make it on time.

I'm contemplating whether I should skip tomorrow's lecture

Charlie Wilson's war quote

I love this quote from the movie "Charlie Wilson's war" (Charlie Wilson is not related to me) quote:
Its underlying philosophy is very true for many things in life.

When a boy in a village gets to ride a horse, the villagers say, "Oh how lucky is that boy"
But the Zen master says, "Well, we'll see."
The boy broke his leg after falling off the horse, the villagers say, "Oh, how terrible is that boy's fate!"
But the Zen master says, "Well, we'll see."
Many years later, the village is involved with a war, and all the men were made to go to join the battle, and the villagers say, "Oh how lucky is that boy"
But the Zen master says, "Well, we'll see."

Chaos

This is a letter I received from the Coordinators for Kenyan Orphanage Project, a project that I was personally involved in. Recently there has been a political distress following the Kenyan election result, affecting many Kenyan districts, including Kisumu - the very place where most of the volunteering projects were done when I went there last year during the summer holidays.

Kisumu, during its more peaceful days

From: Dan, Beccy and Owain

We are writing as you will certainlyhave heard about the trouble in Kenya and thought you would appreciate an update. Sadly the worst affected area appears to be Nyanza and specifically Kisumualthough towns across the country have been in flames. The larger scale concerns for the country are about the descent intoethnic and potential civil war. There have been many attacks alreadyon Kikuyus by Luos (and vice-versa) including a very bad one in Eldoret and in Kisumu there have been similar reports. Whether Kibaki will give way/be ousted by political means remains to be seen. If not,the coming weeks could be very bloody indeed.

Meanwhile the streets of Kisumu are very ugly. There is a 1800-0600 curfew in place, many buildings are still burning, the supermarkets have all been looted or destroyed except for Nakumart, the waterhasbeen cut offand the mortuaries are full of dead victims mostly ofpolice shootings but also of gang violence and ethnic beatings. Port Florence ran out of food yesterday and the Kikuyu medical staff havehad tofleebut Joshua has managed to get supplies through and the staffare managing as best as they can.

Port Florence Hospital

TheVima kids have got enough fooduntil thursday. We are organising for a delivery of food to thembefore they run out and will make provisions to ensure theirsafety.The projects and children in Kochogo and Ombeyi are ok but Ahero by all accounts looks like a refugee camp with people fleeing from town. The street kids remain a big concern as HOVIC itself in the middle of townis in the middle of a battle field and therefore inaccesible. And because the kids have been targetted by the police who are shooting to kill- if we try to round them up for the purposeof food/protection we are likely to put them at greater risk.

Kochogo Children Feeding centre

HOVIC

These are indeed worrying and sadtimes. But we intend to stand infull support of our friends and projects in Kisumu. Along with ourcolleagues, partners and friends we will take all possible steps totry to secure the safety and wellbeing of people there. We are stillintending to go to Kisumu in 2 weeks' time and should be able toupdate you fully then.

It feels real to me. I still cannot believe that the very street which I used to walk when I was there is now not a safe place anymore. The very staff and kids that I talked - I don't know how are they doing now.

Lawrence,Hassan,Rose - the backbone of KOP in Kisumu

Hope you are fine

My prayers are with you guys....

We've completed another cycle!

There are 365.5 days in one year. And for every 4 years, it becomes a leap year as the quarters are completed (0.5 x 4 = 1). We therefore have 366, an extra day in a leap year.

2008 has 366 days.

An extra day. Extra chances.

First post of 2008

Life's interesting when you are full interests. People might just notice how interesting you are when you have many different things to talk about.

That's what I want to achieve this year. Not to be just single-surface, clinging on to just old interests, but to also discover other things in life. Not to be just stuck with my medical studies.

Medicine itself is undeniably attractive to me. Never fails to impress me everytime I go into hospital. However, I don't my interest to be cold quickly, so I must occupy myself with more things to do this year! Now with the raise in JPA allowance, I hope this year I will do more traveling, be involved with more things (not just choir and MSoc). Hopefully they will help me to perform better, academic and non-academic wise.

Then probably I have more things to blog about =)