SHOPPING AT THE MORNING MARKET IN MAKASSAR

16th OCTOBER 2017 ~ I had to go the market as I wanted to buy certain local products to bring home. Among the food items bought were "tempe" [fermented soy cake] and raw "belinjau" crackers. There were not many people so shopping could be done easily.

I just wished I could buy the fresh vegetables but they would all be rotten by the time I arrived home the next morning.

[MY MAKASSAR TRIP MAIN PAGE]

SPOT THE ERROR 107

Look at the top part of the calendar.

The correct version should be:

"Let your dreams lead your way."

MY FIRST VISIT TO IKEA JOHOR BAHRU

the IKEA staff is an ex-student

I was finally here - the latest attraction in town: IKEA. I just wanted to have a look what this place had to offer and at the same time, to see if there was anything that might catch my attention. (I almost bought a carpet). It was a working day so I could walk around peacefully. I thought I would not rub shoulders with anyone I knew until I saw an ex-student of SMKTUN, Siti Farhana, who is on duty.

The place is real huge. This should be a good place for walking, if I need to do some physical exercise.

The next time I come to this place, I must try its famous meat balls at the food court.

MY FIRST TIME AT URBAN TRANSFORMATION CENTRE (UTC)

15th JANUARY 2018 ~ If you think I was at this place called Urban Transformation Centre (known as UTC) to make the world a better place to live in or overcome life-threatening crisis, then you are wrong. This is a one-stop centre where people can pay their bills or do other business with government or non-government agencies. The offices here are operational until 9:00 p.m. daily, I think. I am not sure whether these people work on weekends too.

I managed to renew my road tax at JPJ (Road Transport Department) and paid my bill at SAJ (waterworks). You would have to use the auto teller machine to pay your bill for SAJ though and you cannot pay the exact amount as the machine neither accept small dollar note (like RM1 or RM5 I supposed) nor return the balance of your money. In other words, you will have to pay extra unless your bill is exactly RM50, for example.

The last two counters visited were to pay the taxes. I had to wait quite long at the station operated by MBJB. There were many people but only one officer was entertaining the tax payers.

I was still happy I could complete all the regular annual chores just within 2 hours. I should have come here before but ignorance could be the reason. Situated at Plaza Kotaraya, at the heart of the city but away from the crazy road congestion, the place is quite convenient. I will definitely come here again early next year.

SULTANAH AMINAH HOSPITAL REVISITED

WARNING: Photography is prohibited within the hospital compound.

Today was the second medical check up I had to do at Sultanah Aminah Hospital after being released on 27th November. I was there as early as 8:10 a.m. and went to do the chest straightaway. There were not many people around so I did have to wait for long.

Once I got my x-ray film, I went to see the Chest Specialist at the other building. However this time, the queue was quite long and I only managed to see the doctor by 10.30 a.m.

I was ready to go back to school by 11:00 a.m. The doctor offered me a medical leave but I opted for a time slip for the excuse to get out of school for a few hours. The good news: my left lung was much healthier by comparing the first x-ray image taken in November and there was no more antibiotics to be taken *a big sigh of relief for no more (bitter) pills*. The bad news: I will have to come back here in 2 months for another x-ray and meet-the-doctor session. But I am not complaining.