After visiting a few more sites in Saudi -Arafat and Masjid Namirah, Muzdalifah, Mina, Jabal Nur and the Hira cave, among others- we flew to Amman, Jordan. Having been stored in my dusty brain for more than 9 years, my memories of the entire experience are sketchy, save for a few vivid ones that stand out either for the emotion they evoked or the beauty they possess that is hard for the mind's eye to erase. I remember an image of the Masjid Al-Haram from inside the Hira cave, framed by the rocks which form a large crack in its wall. A few of us younger ones in the tour group had hiked up the mountain at night when all was quiet and still. The knowledge that the eyes of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) once beheld the kaaba from that very vantage point was surreal. During our descent of the mountain, I felt nauseous and faint, and had to sit on the rocks for a while. The group proceeded without me and so even after I'd composed myself, there was still about 10 meters between us. I didn't mind - the solitude was peaceful.

We spent half a night in Amman, departing for the Israeli border in a bus/ coach at midnight. My memory may be sketchy but my habit of keeping journals since I was seven helps tremendously - I'm writing this with my 2000/2001 journal open on the table next to my laptop. Before I digress further...

At the Israeli customs, myself and several other young travelers in the tour group (pretty much the same few who climbed up the Jabal Nur) were requested to step into an adjoining room with our luggage bags. A thorough search was performed of our belongings. I didn't think much of it at the time as my bag had activated the metal detector - turned out it was the clippy metal rings in my file binder. I had an exam coming up, remember? I brought my lecture notes to study at night before bed.

Kids, this was way back when you didn't have to put all your liquid toiletry containers into a ziploc bag. When you could have a 1L bottle of Coke with you on board. When your airplane meals came with metal cutlery. This was merely 3 months before the intifada.

We had lunch in Jericho. I distinctly remember that the food was excellent.

Whilst in Jericho, we visited the Tomb of Prophet Moses (as). Our first stop in Jerusalem was the Dome of Rock on the Temple Mount and its immediate surrounds. I marveled at the architecture and was fascinated by all that our guide related to us - Isra Mi'raj, the Crusades, Salah a-din... I was happily immersed in an experience inspired by history and legacy.

My parents gave me free reign to the camera. I've only recently realized how generous it was of them to have done so. Now, kids, this was way back when we still used film, before digital cameras became the norm and you can take 47 shots OF THE SAME THING and then pick the best one! My parents let me waste/ use (arguable) as much film as I wanted and developed them all. My favourite photograph that I shot was that of a man pushing a wooden cart filled with bread up a cobblestone path, almost silhouetted against the light coming through an archway in the background. The picture evokes the comforting yeasty scent of freshly baked bread.

It's a pity that although I have my journals with me, the photo albums reside in our family home in Singapore. I'd love to share a few shots with you.

After our long journey, we slept well that first night, leaving our hotel rooms before dawn to make it to congregational fajr prayers at Masjid Al-Aqsa. I remember I was a little late, the prayer had already begun, so I joined the jama'ah immediately upon my arrival.

It wasn't till I sat down in contemplation after salat that my eyes fell upon the bullet holes on the walls of the mosque. And something clicked in my 17-year-old brain. For the first time all the news I'd heard growing up about the Palestinian struggle on the radio and on TV -to the point of desensitization- became real. Later during our visit, we drove past a few Jewish settlements, dumbfounded by the tall concrete, electric-fenced walls. We passed the security checks at the Western Wall and the Ibrahimi Mosque, my naïveté wondering why we can't just all coexist in peace like we did during a better Age than this.

I listed a few other sites in my adolescent journal, mostly of burial sites of notable individuals. My favourite, not surprisingly, was that of the female Sufi poet Rabi'a al-Adawiyyah. Our last stop before crossing the border again was the Dead Sea - no time for a quick dip though. Back in Amman, we visited the Kahf al-Raqim, the cave of the "seven" sleepers mentioned in Surah Al-Kahf.

That Sunday, the 18th of June 2000, we touched down in Singapore. I sat for my Mathematics exam at 8am the following day. Life went on, irreverent of the significance of the preceding weeks.

So apparently, I don't actually need to turn up at the hospital the next two days. My assessment forms have been submitted and I'd have to do something REALLY MINDBLOWINGLY SIGNIFICANT for the form to be retrieved and my grades altered. Examples include: single-handedly performing an emergency craniotomy in the angiography suite or, conversely, tripping over and stabbing someone in the eye with a paracentesis implement. If I stay at home, all I'd be doing is maintaining the status quo.

That means I'm done for the year.

Check on me tomorrow, or later this weekend. It hasn't sunk in yet. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I can't bring myself NOT to dress up and get ready for "work" tomorrow morning.

See, that's the thing: it's not even work that I do. If I were in a service rotation (ie. one where I'm part of a team based in an inpatient ward) I'd definitely go in and stick around till the end of the day, no doubt. Coz then I'll actually be free labour for the hospital helping the team out. But I'm not really being of service to anyone in Radiology. If anything, everyone's been of "service" to me - the Registrars and Consultants and Radiographers who teach me while they work and answer my questions, and the patients who allow me to be there during their procedures. I reckon I should give them a break from the hovering Med Student.

Conscience, may I?


PS.
Truth #1: I'm happier about finishing Med Sch than actually being a doctor.
Truth #2: I'm more excited about my family flying over for a holiday than for my graduation.
Truth #3: If I'm still undecided in 5 years, Radiology's definitely my Plan B.

(At the risk of weird, psychotic strangers hunting us down on Google Earth:) we live in a suburb called Oaklands Park, within the City of Marion. There are a few historical landmarks in the area - old cottages, churches, almond groves, etc. And there are these bronze statues of Little Marion doing various (inquisitive and/or playful) things, which I like very much.

I'm trying to prepare for my Radiology assessment tomorrow and presentation next Wednesday but as usual, whenever I've actual, legitimate work to do my mind goes off wondering about something else. I started thinking that I should inform the department about taking this Friday off to attend Eid Al-Adha prayers and then I realized that even after going through the rites of hajj countless times in various classes and study circles, I can't rattle it off from memory. So I thought I should make a flowchart.

I started scribbling phrases and arrows in my notebook when it dawned on me to just google for one. All these fantastic Islamic websites and blogs and not a single flowchart? Impossible! Didn't take long before I found one to my liking... on a travel agent website:


Further notes (in brief, so they'll make more sense if you're Muslim):

• Hajj is invalid if you don't spend the afternoon of the 9th of Zulhijjah in Arafat.
• Muzdalifah is where you gather the pebbles.
• The rest of the world celebrates Eid Al-Adha on the 10th of Zulhijjah. (This year it's this Friday, 27th November, insya Allah.) This is the day the slaughterings are done.
  
• Tawaf Al-Ifadah is also known as Tawaf Az-Ziyarah.
• "Rummy" on the afternoon of the 11th. Then leave Mina for Makkah before sunset in the 12th. If you're still in Mina for whatever reason after sunset on the 12th, "rummy" again on the 13th before leaving for Makkah.

Ok. Hopefully I'll remember it now :) If there there are any mistakes do tell me!

I *love* this duo! Found them on capucha.tumblr (linked in blogroll on the right). It's been raining all night and all morning, but the wind blowing the clouds away, a gorgeous sunny Sunday summer afternoon revealing itself and THIS HAPPY VIDEO makes me wanna take a walk round the neighbourhood.

After visiting a few more sites in Saudi -Arafat and Masjid Namirah, Muzdalifah, Mina, Jabal Nur and the Hira cave, among others- we flew to Amman, Jordan. Having been stored in my dusty brain for more than 9 years, my memories of the entire experience are sketchy, save for a few vivid ones that stand out either for the emotion they evoked or the beauty they possess that is hard for the mind's eye to erase. I remember an image of the Masjid Al-Haram from inside the Hira cave, framed by the rocks which form a large crack in its wall. A few of us younger ones in the tour group had hiked up the mountain at night when all was quiet and still. The knowledge that the eyes of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) once beheld the kaaba from that very vantage point was surreal. During our descent of the mountain, I felt nauseous and faint, and had to sit on the rocks for a while. The group proceeded without me and so even after I'd composed myself, there was still about 10 meters between us. I didn't mind - the solitude was peaceful.

We spent half a night in Amman, departing for the Israeli border in a bus/ coach at midnight. My memory may be sketchy but my habit of keeping journals since I was seven helps tremendously - I'm writing this with my 2000/2001 journal open on the table next to my laptop. Before I digress further...

At the Israeli customs, myself and several other young travelers in the tour group (pretty much the same few who climbed up the Jabal Nur) were requested to step into an adjoining room with our luggage bags. A thorough search was performed of our belongings. I didn't think much of it at the time as my bag had activated the metal detector - turned out it was the clippy metal rings in my file binder. I had an exam coming up, remember? I brought my lecture notes to study at night before bed.

Kids, this was way back when you didn't have to put all your liquid toiletry containers into a ziploc bag. When you could have a 1L bottle of Coke with you on board. When your airplane meals came with metal cutlery. This was merely 3 months before the intifada.

We had lunch in Jericho. I distinctly remember that the food was excellent.

Whilst in Jericho, we visited the Tomb of Prophet Moses (as). Our first stop in Jerusalem was the Dome of Rock on the Temple Mount and its immediate surrounds. I marveled at the architecture and was fascinated by all that our guide related to us - Isra Mi'raj, the Crusades, Salah a-din... I was happily immersed in an experience inspired by history and legacy.

My parents gave me free reign to the camera. I've only recently realized how generous it was of them to have done so. Now, kids, this was way back when we still used film, before digital cameras became the norm and you can take 47 shots OF THE SAME THING and then pick the best one! My parents let me waste/ use (arguable) as much film as I wanted and developed them all. My favourite photograph that I shot was that of a man pushing a wooden cart filled with bread up a cobblestone path, almost silhouetted against the light coming through an archway in the background. The picture evokes the comforting yeasty scent of freshly baked bread.

It's a pity that although I have my journals with me, the photo albums reside in our family home in Singapore. I'd love to share a few shots with you.

After our long journey, we slept well that first night, leaving our hotel rooms before dawn to make it to congregational fajr prayers at Masjid Al-Aqsa. I remember I was a little late, the prayer had already begun, so I joined the jama'ah immediately upon my arrival.

It wasn't till I sat down in contemplation after salat that my eyes fell upon the bullet holes on the walls of the mosque. And something clicked in my 17-year-old brain. For the first time all the news I'd heard growing up about the Palestinian struggle on the radio and on TV -to the point of desensitization- became real. Later during our visit, we drove past a few Jewish settlements, dumbfounded by the tall concrete, electric-fenced walls. We passed the security checks at the Western Wall and the Ibrahimi Mosque, my naïveté wondering why we can't just all coexist in peace like we did during a better Age than this.

I listed a few other sites in my adolescent journal, mostly of burial sites of notable individuals. My favourite, not surprisingly, was that of the female Sufi poet Rabi'a al-Adawiyyah. Our last stop before crossing the border again was the Dead Sea - no time for a quick dip though. Back in Amman, we visited the Kahf al-Raqim, the cave of the "seven" sleepers mentioned in Surah Al-Kahf.

That Sunday, the 18th of June 2000, we touched down in Singapore. I sat for my Mathematics exam at 8am the following day. Life went on, irreverent of the significance of the preceding weeks.

So apparently, I don't actually need to turn up at the hospital the next two days. My assessment forms have been submitted and I'd have to do something REALLY MINDBLOWINGLY SIGNIFICANT for the form to be retrieved and my grades altered. Examples include: single-handedly performing an emergency craniotomy in the angiography suite or, conversely, tripping over and stabbing someone in the eye with a paracentesis implement. If I stay at home, all I'd be doing is maintaining the status quo.

That means I'm done for the year.

Check on me tomorrow, or later this weekend. It hasn't sunk in yet. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I can't bring myself NOT to dress up and get ready for "work" tomorrow morning.

See, that's the thing: it's not even work that I do. If I were in a service rotation (ie. one where I'm part of a team based in an inpatient ward) I'd definitely go in and stick around till the end of the day, no doubt. Coz then I'll actually be free labour for the hospital helping the team out. But I'm not really being of service to anyone in Radiology. If anything, everyone's been of "service" to me - the Registrars and Consultants and Radiographers who teach me while they work and answer my questions, and the patients who allow me to be there during their procedures. I reckon I should give them a break from the hovering Med Student.

Conscience, may I?


PS.
Truth #1: I'm happier about finishing Med Sch than actually being a doctor.
Truth #2: I'm more excited about my family flying over for a holiday than for my graduation.
Truth #3: If I'm still undecided in 5 years, Radiology's definitely my Plan B.

(At the risk of weird, psychotic strangers hunting us down on Google Earth:) we live in a suburb called Oaklands Park, within the City of Marion. There are a few historical landmarks in the area - old cottages, churches, almond groves, etc. And there are these bronze statues of Little Marion doing various (inquisitive and/or playful) things, which I like very much.

I'm trying to prepare for my Radiology assessment tomorrow and presentation next Wednesday but as usual, whenever I've actual, legitimate work to do my mind goes off wondering about something else. I started thinking that I should inform the department about taking this Friday off to attend Eid Al-Adha prayers and then I realized that even after going through the rites of hajj countless times in various classes and study circles, I can't rattle it off from memory. So I thought I should make a flowchart.

I started scribbling phrases and arrows in my notebook when it dawned on me to just google for one. All these fantastic Islamic websites and blogs and not a single flowchart? Impossible! Didn't take long before I found one to my liking... on a travel agent website:


Further notes (in brief, so they'll make more sense if you're Muslim):

• Hajj is invalid if you don't spend the afternoon of the 9th of Zulhijjah in Arafat.
• Muzdalifah is where you gather the pebbles.
• The rest of the world celebrates Eid Al-Adha on the 10th of Zulhijjah. (This year it's this Friday, 27th November, insya Allah.) This is the day the slaughterings are done.
  
• Tawaf Al-Ifadah is also known as Tawaf Az-Ziyarah.
• "Rummy" on the afternoon of the 11th. Then leave Mina for Makkah before sunset in the 12th. If you're still in Mina for whatever reason after sunset on the 12th, "rummy" again on the 13th before leaving for Makkah.

Ok. Hopefully I'll remember it now :) If there there are any mistakes do tell me!

I *love* this duo! Found them on capucha.tumblr (linked in blogroll on the right). It's been raining all night and all morning, but the wind blowing the clouds away, a gorgeous sunny Sunday summer afternoon revealing itself and THIS HAPPY VIDEO makes me wanna take a walk round the neighbourhood.