Erradicate severe poverty in this world

Since 1982, the percentage of people in this world living in poverty has more than halved (52% down to 22%). But this is not enough. I can not go on living the way I do knowing that there are approximately 1 biilion of the 2.2 billion children in the world are living in extreme poverty. With 1.4 billion people living like this in total.

I went to a Global Poverty presentation. I can choose to turn away from the solutions but I can no longer say I didn't know how to end extreme poverty.

www.globalpovertyproject.com

This website is great for helping us all to have a better awareness of the issues and what we can do. A movie will be released in the near future that will educate us about the issues. There is hope for a better world. Erradicating poverty isn't just up to the superheros and the saints. We can all do our bit.

New Years and the resolutions attached

Is it cynical of me to boycott New Year's eve since society puts pressure on us all to party?
Avoiding the drunken chaos and/or the overcrowded nature of the evening. The romantic side of me wants to go for a trek, camp near the top of some peak in NZ and watch the sunrise that welcomes the start of a new year. New opportunities, or second chances for missed opportunities of years gone by. The longer I've been on this earth, perhaps the more that it'll mean. Whereas the idea of a new year's party seems tedious, repetitive and mainstream.

I'm heading into this new year as an adult. big picture time? maybe.

my contemplations have left me lost for words. Time to ponder.

I passed!!!

I'm a Trainee Intern starting Monday, woo hoo!!
Just got back from Indonesia yesterday. I had such a great time. Was in Bali then Jakarta. Bali was definitely the highlight. Such a beautiful place with so many breathtaking views.

OSCE

So the day is now here. I'll start sitting my final exams in just a few hours. First, the practical exam. Temptation now is to revise some things but i know deep down, I need to just rest my mind so that I'm refreshed for the actual assessment.

History taking, examinning and eduating patients, in just over an hour, it'll be over. I'm ready, bring it on! I'm looking forward to the huge weight being lifted off my shoulders. I've had a few hiccups this year but all in all, I'm a good student. I certainly deserve to pass. All will be well.

It's just another huddle to get pass till i can be a good doctor. wow, to think that this is my 7th year of university. crazy.

The crunch

So... the time has come, finals are creeping closer. I think I might actually have my sh*t sorted. It has taken me this long to actually get into the frame of mind to actually to content with where i'm at in life and actually start the prep.

I know I can do it. I just need to have a goal and want it badly enough (to be a doctor that is). I haven't had the passion or the motivation for sometime now. I think that it's prefectly understandable since this is my 7th year of tertiary education!!

So what now? Now that I've pretty much got my head around life, I can re-focus and actually have a passion of medicine. wooo hoo.

Not a moment too soon either. 7 more days til I enter my second quarter of life. Time to grow up? maybe. Depends on what your definition of growing up is :)

old posts

There is a real beauty to blogging in that you can look back in time to find the exact dates of certain evidents (if you're diligent enough to write about them).

I wish now that I'd blogged in more detail about Cambodia. It was just really unfortunate that I was soooo busy. maybe I need to start carrying a laptop on the road :)

I had such a wonderful time in Cambodia, I'm sure i've said that a million times. I really can't wait to go back. At the mo, I'm sorting out my elective and I'm starting to ponder an elective in Cambodia and Germany instead of America and Germany. I think I'll just leave it for the next week or so and see where fate sways me.

I'm at the last leg of my race (Med School). Final exams in November and then I'll be an intern, woo hoo! I'm looking forward to it :) oh, look at the time! beauty sleep calls

Cambodia cont...

There goes my grand plans to blog lots while I was overseas. To be perfectly honest, I was just soooo busy that I really didn't have anytime to. For those that know me, you'll appreciate my busy shedule when I tell you that I spent less than 3 hours (total) shopping while I was in cambodia.

I went to Neak Luong (my birth place) at one point. And yes, I have dual Citizenship. Woo hoo! This makes me feel special :)

Went to Kep and stayed at my Uncle's resort. It's call Veranda Natural Resort. It's very flash, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. You can find it in the lonely planet guide (though this guide is very much due for revision since room quality and prices have gone up by about 10 fold!). We went around Kep for a bit and looked at some of his land (and islands). We went along many dirty roads and hilly country side. It's not surprising then to hear that he drives a Hummer. A vechicle like this is very sensible for the sorta places that he drives to. It's a very silly thing to drive if you're in a Western city where you pretty much only encounter well pathed roads.

One of my 2nd cousin owns an awesome karoke club in Pehnom Penh (XO is the name). Very flash and in a completely different league to the crappy places in NZ. Their sound system is fabulous. Makes you wanna sing and sing cos you actually sound good :) We were in the V.I.P. room in which is very clean and styly and the sorta drinks served are top self quality e.g. Blue Labelled Johny Walker.

We went to Preah Vear in one point to do some more charity stuff. It was so hot! There's no such thing as AirCon in the country - but I survived.

It's quite sad to see the extremes of wealth and poverty. Some times during my trip, I was associating with those that earn $60 a month if they're lucky. At other times I was with those that spoke of private helicopters, 7 star hotels, 1st class travel and buying islands. A very different world to simple New Zealand but in saying all of that, I had a wonderful time. Can't wait to go back!

Pursat… Battambang… Siem Reap and back

So much has happened in the last week it’s insane! I’m been in several temples in which my family has done what Buddhist’s call “merit”. It’s sorta like charty work but not quite. Hmmm… look it up if you must 
I’m meet Danny’s God father (who is now also my God father). He’s pretty cool, a little scary when you first meet him but you soon get over it. He is a monk and has set up the largest (and most well organised) temple in Pursat with the help of funding from many generous individuals that can trust his ability to do good. And he has while maintaining a relatively humble existence. After a few hours of meeting me, he managed to get me some very sound and necessary advice about my life at home – which I really needed to hear. A little concerning that he knew but the advice was very good.
Battambang was great. Meet and hang out with lots and lots of family and also managed some R&R by the hotel pool. Good food, great company; awesome times were had by all.
Siem Reap – “Siem” meaning Thai people and “reap” meaning flattened to the ground. In other words “The Thai’s defeated”. It’s ironic in that the thai’s defeated Angkor Wat and controlled it for about 150yrs from 1794.
I’m back in Phnom Penh again now. Went and bought some fabric and getting a dress made. Lived the city life today and hang out with family again.
I’ve eaten frog now. Tastes like chicken (surprise, surprise).
My mum’s side of the family looks VERY different from my Dad’s.
I’ve discovered that I’m part Laosian.

Phenom Penh - Cambodia

I’ve arrived in Phenom Penh, Cambodia. Final destination was certainly a mission to get to. Chch – Sydney – Brisbane – Bangkok – Phenom Penh. I definitely rate direct flights and will more adequately research the travel options NEXT time. For the longest leg of my journey, I was fortunate enough to sit next to a VERY well fed energetic girl. She was challenging in that she could not comprehend MY seat space. Taking the arm rest as her space is one thing BUT my actually space is sacred. Grrrrr. On top of that she constantly bumped me for at least a good half of the journey. I managed to stay civil though.

My Bangkok to Phenom Penh flight was less dramatic. I just had 2 Thai guys try to make the moves on me but they respected my personal space so I didn’t care too much  They only managed to gather the courage to give me their cards and maintain polite conversation in English. They said some interesting things to Thai but were unaware that I could understand. Sometimes it’s better to just play ignorant.

At the airport I kept a look out for my brother (Danny) who was scheduled to arrive from Singapore approx 10 minutes before me. Mum has already been in Cambodia for weeks and I assumed was waiting outside the arrival gate. Once I sorted out my Visa, surely enough, there he was. To my surprise though, I saw a few other people standing next to him in the security area (We still needed to clear customs). Amongst the group were 3 officers, Danny and a woman wearing a glowing dress and designer sunglasses – my mother!!! Connections ay?

My luggage was no where to be found. Nooooooooo! I made my report claim. Not really much else I could do, besides, I’m on holiday!!! I’m here and well - especially after being well fed and having a much needed nap. It’s quite cool that I can fluently speak Cambodian too. The airport just called and they’ve located my suitcase. It’s in Bangkok and will arrive this evening. Yaaaaay!

At the start of a new adventure...

I'm currently in the transit lounge at Sydney Airport on my way to Cambodia.

"Definitely Maybe" was the feature movie on the chch-syd flight. I'm so glad that I didn't get around to seeing it in the cinema. It was a great movie and just the chicken soup for the love bug that I needed. If you haven't already seen it, you should. It tells of a great story of life and all the wonderful love (and lost) that we encounter. That sometimes, it's not the person that we love that's wrong but the timing or vice versa. Also goes to show that you simply can't force it (Love/Life). It has inspired me to live life to the full, to travel to my heart's content and to pursue my dreams. You might not get the same message that I did but it's a good movie anyway.

So, transitting through Sydney was an experience this time around. I got stopped at Security! Me, what has the world come to? I've done lots of traveling and I've always been able to walk straight pass due to my innocent/ clean-cut appearance. How could anything dangerous come from me? I think I hide the rebellious side to me pretty well. hehehe. Their reasoning? "You look very young to be traveling alone, may I have your passport?" How silly! Sure enough, she was surprised to see how old I saw, HECK, I still get shock by my age. lol. I looked downstairs at them later on to find who their next suspect was - a dude with dreads. Hehehe, that's more like the prejudice that I'm use to seeing ;)

I'm excited about my adventure to Cambodia. I've never been there before. I am well equipt with insect repellent, sunscreen, Summer clothes and of course -the Lonely planet guide to Cambodia. My suitcase it fulled with NZ apples and a few other essential goodies (e.g. Chocolate) that I'm sure the locals (and myself) will appreciate.

For Abbey

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

WHAT WERE YOU DOING 5 YEARS AGO:
1. Studying Anatomy at Otago University
2. Going to Christian groups as a buddhist
3. Attempting to put my physical appearance at lowest priority
4. Rediscovering myself
5. Having accomodation issues - growing as a person

FIVE THINGS ON YOUR TO-DO LIST TODAY?
1. Sit my OSCE (exam)
2. Hang out with Yasmin
3. Visit Suss
4. revise CV
5. wash my car

FIVE SNACKS YOU ENJOY?:
1. Chicken salad (as a meal or snack, i'm not fussed)
2. Chocolate
3. Wedges - I make the best wedges :)
4. Potato chips - mainly the healtheries ready salted variety
5. Fruit -esp in salad form

FIVE THINGS YOU WOULD DO IF YOU WERE A BILLIONAIRE:
1. Travel - I'd spend a significant period of my life doing this. There's just so much to learn and see!
2. Finish off my medical degree and do my elective in reasonable luxury :)
3. Give to charity after decent researching and contemplating
4. Take some Business and investment papers, then invest
5. Give to my family - no hurry, they're not desperate at the mo

FIVE OF YOUR BAD HABITS?:
1. Speaking before thinking
2. Trying to squeeze too much into a day
3. Daydreaming
4. Being impatient
5. Being impulsive (though this can often be a good thing too)

FIVE PLACES WHERE YOU'VE LIVED:
1. Clydesdale St, Christchurch
2. Carrington Hall, Dunedin
3. Elder St, Dunedin
4. York Place, Dunedin
5. Queen St, Nelson

FIVE JOBS YOU'VE HAD:
1. Paper run
2. Berry picking
3. Waitressing
4. Waitressing
5. Waitressing

TAG YOU'RE IT!:
Nam
Pierre
Emma
Lydia
No 5th person cos all other bloggers I have on my list have been tagged

Love

I have an announcement. It's too much to keep inside. I'm in love with Joe Roth. He's goregous, funny, strong, tall, creative and much much more. So... he's only a charcter in a book, does it make me that lame? lol, don't answer that question. Just in case you're wondering what book it is 'Last Chance Saloon' by Marian Keyes.

Romance novels are so bad for making girls dream. Buut, the comforting thought is that surely, this sorta guy must exist somewhere in my future. Prehaps in another world when I don't have an Ethic's essay due tomorrow and MASSIVE finals at the end of this year. Oh well, no harm in dreaming but that little bit longer before I do more work

Richmond - bigger than you think?

I was very pleased to find out that we have over 14,000 people living in Richmond. I thought that it was pretty cool until someone pointed out that my school in chch had about 2,000 pupils. That means it's only 7 of my old high school! oh dear, at least we can say that we're down to earth...

My cousin Lin and I went to the richmond summer yesterday. This market occurs once a year. Managed to score some bargains at the secondhand book stall. woo hoo!

I'm meeting up with my dear friend Yasmin today. She's young, beautiful, intellegent with a wonderful heart for God. hehehe, almost sounds like a personal.

I'm blogging while in my dining room in Richmond with 3 people in the ajoining kitchen. There are few moments when I'm alone in the house. It's not actually a big thing, quite a pleasant contrast to being home alone in chch. I'm constantly getting interrupted but oh well :)

home sweet home

It's so good to be back in NZ. Just walking into my house. It has a distinctive home smell to it, not stinky, just homely. It's sooo incredible to be back home. It's really late yet I'm not sleepy. There just seems to be a lot that needs doing.

Traveling is fun but it's soooo good to be home. One of the things that I LOVE about traveling is coming home. I appreciate it more everytime :)

hmmm, restlessness. It's 2am but I'm not ready for bed. strange. Oh well. I'm going to sort through my mail now. Maybe that will help.

good bye Hong Kong

It's so sad. I had lots and lots of cool things to write about when I was in HK but I was so busy with all the cool things that I didn't actually have time to write about it. HK was fantastic for so many reasons. The vibe, the ppl, the food, the real coffee, the pampering and just all the fun that is waiting to be had.

For once in my life, I felt like I belonged. You see, there are lots of expats in HK and many of them are asian looking (like myself). I met asians from England, Whales, Canada, Australia, NZ... you get the picture. They were either born in a western country or grew up in one. Proud to see an asian when they looked in the mirror but very aware that they were pretty white on the inside.
On top of this...

There were plenty of Christians that drank. I don't mean drinking til you're drunk, but ones that could appreciate a few drinks. Going out and doing the usual things that I enjoy and being on a similar wavelength to myself. It was great.

Tues- I went to Macau for the day. You actually have to get your passport stamped cos it's an international destination. Different currency too. Sorta funny that my first portugese experience was in Macau, only a 1 hour boa ride from HK.

Hong Kong

I arrived yesterday and I already like this place. Politeness and curteousy seems to be a lot more prevalent here. Aaaand, I can access my blog. Woo hoo.

Kristy lives in the new territory, just north of Hong Kong. The view from her family's 58th floor apartment is spectacular. I will definitely take lots of photos. The building has about 75 floors so that makes the Jaimao Tower seem very unimpressive in comparision. I left my guide and map of Hong Kong at the apartment this morning but that's alright, I think I'll just wonder around near Kristy's work this morning.

Kristy's office is right above a cafe. "Graze Cafe", the company that she works for owns it. I had real coffee this morning. I don't mean starbucks but actual coffee with real milk. Yaaaay, it was a fantastic way to start the day. So now? I'm off to explore my surroundings.

http://hk.bcmagazine.net/hk.bcmagazine.issues/bcmagazine_webissue237/12megabites.html

Shanghai in Style

It's been so long since I last posted. It seems that when there are lots of cool things to blog about, there just isn't anytime to do so.

I spent 3 days with a friend from high school. Dave, he's in China at the mo teaching english. He managed to get a few days off so we could hang out in Shanghai.

 

Day 1.

The markets. Firstly, we went to the biggest market, Chipulu. This experience with Dave, Kenji and Peter was completely different to when I went with mum, Danny and XiaoYi. You see, the second list of people don't stand out in a crowd of chinese ppl (apart from the fact that we're incredibly good looking of course). So... Dave (the tall white boy) and Kenji (the Japanese boy) attracted lots of hagglers. It was horrible!! They kept following us around, trying to take us into certain stores. I hated it! I felt so preyed upon. It was intense and I didn't feel safe at all! It's one of the few times in my life that ever second word it my head was a swear word or some kind of aggressive phase :(  We didn't stay there for as long as we initially planned. There wasn't much that Dave saw anyway so it was no great lost. We didn't have this problem at Jiang market. In between this, we went to Nanjing Rd to have lunch at one of the side restaurants. It was a noodle place where you get to pick and choose the vegetables, meats, meatballs and tofu. It was quite nice and very cheap.

 

Before we left Jiang market, I needed a coat since it was almost evening and I was starting to get cold. This meant that I didn't have to go back to the hotel to get one. I can't say that I do that regularly in NZ. Kenji and Peter left after that since they had dinner plans. Dave and I came across a CD and DVD store. It looked nice so we went inside, down some steps which led to a slightly dodgy looking store. They were selling DVDs for 8 yeun each! pirated ones ofcourse. I checked out the CDs. They were alot more expensive. I'm not certain about whether they were pirated or not.

 

Haagen Daz icrecream was the next stop. Really yummy but definitely western prices.

 

We walked aroung afterwards looking for the mexican restaurant that was in out guide book. It didn't exist. We found a posh looking french restaurant. We decided to share a bottle of wine. Wine is 2-3 times the price of what would be charged in or the rest of the world. They had Montana Pinot Noir that we can get in most NZ supermarkets for about $15 and many restaurants for about $35. They charged $80. We went for an Australian Pinot. They didn't have the tasting notes and our waitre couldn't tell us what each bottle was like. Our choice fortunately turned out to be good and the waiter did an above average job of serving it, better than many NZ restaurants.

 

Day 2.

We walked along the bund river, had brunch at another western restaurant (my chicken and avocado grilled sandwich was fabulous) before crossing the river to explore the other side. We discovered that the observation deck of the Jaimao tower (on the 84th floor) that we wanted to go to would cost us 70 yuen. I called Danny. He gave us the inside info. He told us that we could get onto the 87th floor for free if we went to the bar and restaurant instead. We spent a few hours in the Shanghai historical meusum before browsing in the giant mall. We were waiting for 5pm to arrive which was when the bar in the Jaimao tower ("Cloud 9")would open up. While walking there, Dave observed that I was hungry. He commented that I get quiet just before meal time. So we did a detour. Thai restaurant. It was ok. Their Papaya salad made me happy though. By the time we arrive at Cloud 9, the city lights were out. We enjoyed the 100 million dollar view while sipping on cocktails. Oh the life!

 

We went back to the hotel to freshen up and so I could get more of my money off my brother. The taxi fair was quite expensive. Danny and his 2 flatmates said that the taxi driver probably took us for a detour. We've learnt to always grab the taxi receipts. They suggested where Dave and I could go for a night out on the town. They weren't keen on coming out because they had school the next day and 2 of them were quite sick also.

 

The taxi driver dropped us off. We got the impression that the bar that we wanted was close by. We wandered briefly before deciding to go into a nearby mall to ask for directions. We asked a styly girl at the counter. We told us about a bar at the top of the mall and said she'd take us there. We were treated very well. She gave us her card and said we could contact her whenever we came. Aparrently there was a cover charge but she said we were with her. Then we filled in our names and email addresses before getting a free drink voucher and having 2 people finding us a good table. The place was very popular and way more hip and funky than any bar that Dave's found in China. We had a few drinks (expat prices) and danced the night away. In between that, we had a photographer taking a few pics of us and at one stage, the bar top was lift of fire and there were bar men pouring drinks into people's mouths. Fun Times!!

 

Day 3.

We slept in. We caught the bus to People's square, walked through people's park before finding a flash thai restaurant at the top of a mall. We were hungry and lots trat of how many dishes we ordered. Turned out to be 7 dishes!! It was no surprise that we didn't finish it all. One of the dishes that we ordered was gross so it was really only 6, but still!

 

We went to the Shanghai museum. We had just over an hour since the museum was closing at 5pm. We later went to the foriegn book store so that Dave could get a few novels to read. Then we walking along Nanjing Rd, it was absolutely beautiful. We were grinning from ear to ear that we were hanging out in Shanghai, living a high roller's lifestyle. We enjoyed some yummy desserts and snacks before heading back to the hotel so that Dave could grab his things.

 

We said "see you in Christchurch" to each other and goodbye to 3 fabulous days of our lives

The Circus

We went to see the Shanghai Circus earlier this week. It was incredible!!! There were no animals, just lots of ridiculously talented people doing the most amazing things. I don't even know where to begin. There were women that were as flexible as if they didn't have any bones yet strong enough that they could support other humans being balanced on top of them. There were insane dirt bike stunts, ferrus wheel stunts, a man throwing and catching large clay pots as if they were rubber balls; and much much  more! We were all every impressed. We found it to be more entertaining than the Kung fu show in Beijing (though that was brilliant too).

Sickness

I'm not well at the mo. Wasn't feeling 100% when we were leaving Shanghai and now it's just gotten worse. I'm not doing much today so hopefully one day's rest will put me back on tract. Prayers in general is much appreciated - thanks 

Sleeping Beauties

Mum and Danny had lunch and went straight to sleep. I'm still awake cos I'm tough (and clearly don't need anymore beauty) ;). We got back late last night from our trip to Suzhou and Hanzhou (they're both neighbouring cities to Shanghai). It was lots of fun but very exhausting too. A lot was packed into 2 days. Unfortunately we couldn't book with an english speaking touring agency for these two places, so we booked with a government touring agency instead. It included train tickets, accommodation and tours around the two cities. Hmmm, probably wasn't the best plan. It turned out to be a bit of a rip in some respects. The train ride was pretty terrible (by most ppl's standard). Danny has caught the train to Hanzhou before and he said it was VERY comfortable yet very affordable. He said that the agency must have gotten us VERY cheap train tickets. I wish I can go on some website to bad mouth that agency (and not get in trouble - I don't think they value freedom of speech here) since they would have made a decent profit even if they had gotten us proper tickets!

 

That's the main thing about the trip that I needed to get off my chest. Now that that's over... Suzhou and Hanzhou are both beautiful in their own ways. Suzhou is known to many as the Venice of China. It's a city with many rivers and waterways within it. We saw many Pagodas, went boat riding to capture some of the main attractions of the ciy. We went to another silk factory (much bigger than the one in Beijing). I bought many silk merchandise and learnt that silk doesn't burn (unlike other fabric). We went to many other touristy places before heading off to Hangzhou. We also went to a place that made and sold clay tea pots. One of them was very impressive. when you put a tea cup in a certain spot, the pot automatically pours and then stops when you remove it. No electricity or batteries needed. I didn't buy anything, partly because my budget wouldn't allow me (they were all very expensive), but also cos there was no real need. Danny already brought clay tea pots to NZ when he visited in September.

 

The highlight of Hangzhou would have to be the tea tasting. Tea appreciation in China is like wine appreciation in NZ (and other parts of the world). It is so much better than any asian tea that you can get in NZ! There were many different flower teas also. You place one into a glass, add hot water and watch as the flower expands. It looks beautiful and is drinkable (but expensive!) I loved it. I bought some tea to take back home with me. Mum said that China's dodgy and there is a chance that what I bought isn't what I tasted. She said that her and her friends experienced this when they toured around China last year. I haven't tried any of my teas but I really hope mum's wrong this time.