The Golden Pavilion

From Fushimi, we took a cab to Kyoto Station, followed by an underground ride to a station near our next destination. Next up, the Golden Pavilion. Or known locally as Rokuon-ji.

A bit of an anticlimax really after the splendour of Kiyomizu-dera. This place is more streamlined in terms of what you would expect to see. Not much to discover, and all you do was pay for the entrance ticket and follow the route. Not much room else to do as the crowd would be building up behind you. And it was already noon then, and the sun was pretty fierce for this time of the year. So, I just shuffled along with the rest of the party.

After the entrance, I was fascinated by the moth garden they had around the walkways. Well manicured as you would expect but I was sure that the attention to details to make sure that these moth thrive took plenty of effort as well. Before I knew it, I was already in front of this magnificent temple. With the reflection from the surrounding lake, it sure was a vista. Shame that we were reached there late morning as the light earlier in the day would have made the scene more photogenic.

Walking up the hill towards the entranceNice mossTicket in handWe spent around 20 minutes lingering around here before heading out towards the exit. More souvenir and then it was time to head back to the conference centre.

But before that, my Boss told me that by the exit, the would be a vendor who made the meanest wasabi peanut in town. And she was not kidding. It was a family business and they sold their wares on a simple table, but tasting was believing. The peanut got kick!!!!

They do the meanest wasabi peanut in the world here!A quick drink - this being a really warm morning, and then off we went again on a cab, back to the conference hall for lunch, followed by the afternoon lectures.

The slideshow of the visit can be seen here. Alternatively, you can catch the photos on my Flickr feed or direct from my host at SmugMug. More on my Kyoto trip here.

After Dinner

Anita went out for the groceries today after I complained about not having any drinks when I felt thirsty before going to bed last night. So, guess what I saw when I opened the fridge just now?

Imagine if I were to turn around and said to Anita, "I don't drink coffee anymore". I'd better find a place outside the room to sleep then .....

Day +2

It had been a couple of days, and the stain on my nails especially was still pretty obvious. According to my nurses, it was because I didn't help out with housework. Hmmmm ......

So, enough about the rumors about the stain not being long-lasting. I reckoned if I was really desperate to get the stains out, it could be possible. But I couldn't really the rush to do so. I would rather tell the whole world that I actually voted .....

The Walking Wounded

It was a long evening in the end, going through the streams of results which came thick and fast by midnight. Twitter definitely helped me sift through the confirmed results and I was able to post them straight into my own stream and to Facebook with minimal fuss. Sorry about the updates on my Facebook feed to those who were expecting something else.

In the end, it was a simple majority, which is about what everybody could sensibly hope for. Although I must say, I was expecting a much closer results. A few surprises and a few lessons to be learnt, although not sure if those in power would be taking heed or not.

Studying the streamRan out of fuel by midnightIn any case, I felt compelled to write about a candidate who I hoped, or least in my eyes, the one who carries the aspiration of my generation at least, a far who a Malay UMNO candidate should strive to. Basically, if I ever grew balls to go into politics, and aligning to my political belief and demography - no! I am not Bangla! - I would hope to progress along the line of this person. It is not Abang Bung and his hot wife. It would not be my senior from school, Dato' Razali Ibrahim - sorry bro! It would not be one of my cousin who frankly I don't rate too highly who won Kepala Batas.

It would be Dato' Saifuddin Abdullah. He was the Deputy Minister for Higher Education, and he lost to PAS's Nasruddin Hassan by just over 1000 votes. Why he gets my time of the day? Maybe the video below would explain it better. I wish you the very best Dato' and if the current government understood the young Malay voters, they could do no wrong by selecting him as a Senator. He is an asset. That was it. Enough politicking! Good day all …..

Done My Bit

A mad dash right after sorting out my early morning admission and ward patients across time, I started my queue at the voting centre at around 10.20 in the morning. It was actually late, as some of my colleagues had already passed their votes before doing their morning rounds. Being on call last night left me with little choice. And the sun was blazing!

It was a couple of hours later before I casted my vote, but it was a worthwhile wait. Some friendly banter all around. I was still registered at my mother's place at Bukit Antarabangsa, meaning that my state seat would be Bukit Antarabangsa and the Parliament being Ampang. Both were held by Pakatan the last time around.

I parked my car at my Mum's place, not risking having to find space nearer the polling station. As soon as I arrived, my Mum was already there waiting for me in a political party vehicle. A free ride. And then I started my long queue which snaked around the polling centre.

At the start of the queueLate canvassing was happening, with both parties offering drinks. Those more than 60 years-of-age were ushered to the front of the queue - which nobody minded. I had twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep me company, and pretty soon, I was laughing away in the bright sunshine, snapping pictures in between.

I was due to be joined by my sister, but she was held up in Melaka as her husband was voting there. She only arrived as I was about to leave.

The was no drama at the polling centre. Everybody seemed in jovial mood. The lady and her partner in front of me declared that they were first-time voters and were excited about the whole process, kept checking on a piece of paper with them as to which lane they would be using later during casting. I finished a couple of bottles of drinks before it was my turn to vote.

The checking of the names on the list through a computer came first, after which I was given a slip as to which lane I should be follow and which room I should use. I got the lucky number four. Luckily, there were not that many people on my lane.

In the voting room, I handed the officer my IC and the lane slip with a serial number on it for them to find my name in the main registry. My name was read out loud, and a tick and a cross was put by my name after it was announced. At the next officer, I was asked to show my left index finger, which was later smothered with the now famous blue ink. The next officer handed me my ballot paper, which I inspected for marks. It was clean. So off I went into the booth.

There were two pieces of paper to cross, a parliament and a state seat. They were both two-prong fights between BN and Pakatan, UMNO and Keadilan. All Malay candidates. Then came the folding of the paper and inserting them into the two ballot boxes, one for parliament and the other for the state seats of course.

BeforeAfterI have done my responsibility, and now, I was hoping that those at the receiving end would be executing their duty in counting the votes honestly as well. May the best candidate win …….