Girl in Translation

Kimberly Chang and her mother moved from Hong Kong to New York, in search for a better life. Their life however was not as what they expected - living in a vermin-ridden apartment and working in a factory till late night. Life was hard for Kimberly and her mum. 

Kimberly however was an excellent student - she have always had a knack for school. Even though she had to help her mum every day after school at the factory and barely have any energy left to study after she finished working, she was a high-achiever in her school, especially in Mathematics and Science but that wasn't the case for her English.

She was offered a full scholarship to a private middle school and high school - which was extremely rare. Being an Asian, what more a Chinese was hard for her, she was the only one in her school. Due to poverty, she can't even afford panties and was occasionally teased by her rich white friends (it's a private school, remember?). But she has Annete, her best friend by her side. She matured a lot through time and improved her English. 

So, the whole novel is about how she survived those tough moments of being in school, the pain that poverty caused and yes - a story isn't complete without love. As not to spoil the fun of reading this book; the simplified outline of the love story in Girls in Translation would be : Kimberly likes Matt (another Chinese immigrant) since she was eleven. Then she loved him. But Matt felt that the smart Kimberly is too hard for him to chase, so he went out with Vivian. And Kimberly, heartbroken, made out with every single available guy in school (seriously, I respect this gal!) and even the most handsome coolest guy in school, Curt likes her. But the thing about love is, of course when she's with another guy the only guy in her mind was Matt.

Eventually, both Matt and Kimberly realised they couldn't live without each other. So, the went back together and guess what, Kimberly got pregnant! (oh my, whyyy? I was frustrated man!) And Kimberly was offered a full scholarship to Yale! Knowing that Matt will never let her pursue her dreams and wanted to marry her if he knew she had his baby, Kimberly left/dumped Matt.

Kimberly tried to abort the baby, but come on! How can you kill the baby of the man you love? So 12 years later, she met Matt who was married to Vivian (yes, he married her!)with a daughter and a baby on the way.Kimberly is now a surgeon, still raising Matt's son with her mum and she's happy that way.

In my opinion, this story has somewhat a very typical story line, but I like it that way. I'd rate it 7/10 and it really is a good read. After reading it, I felt the sudden urge to study so hard till my head breaks because Kimberly's story is a bang in my head. People like her work so hard to change their lives and why can't we do the same thing? We don't have to work in some factory, we have ample time to study, we have our friends and family to support us - things that Kimberly was not lucky to have and yet she made it. I felt that I've taken things for granted and it's embarrassing. And my very personal liking towards this book is that it portrays how strong single mothers are. Kimberly's mother and Kimberly herself are single mothers trying to raise their kid and the love they had as a mother is fascinating. A plus point was that, the romance in this novel was not very cheesy or cheeky or jiwang or whatever you'd call it. I like the very practical approach of romance in this novel.

For more information, visit Jean Kwok's website. Highly recommended for girls, I don't think guys will enjoy these kind of books, but who am I to say? And remember, "Brains are beautiful" - Kimberly Chang. Apparently I think the same way too, women are way prettier and sexier if they are smart (and the definition of smart varies anyways. Beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder).

A Place Called Here

Cecilia Ahern was a hit, with her novel, which is also now a movie with Hilary Swank as the lead entitled "P/S I Love You". I haven't read any of her books yet, even P/S I Love You, although I did watch half of the movie (which I didn't finish watching because I was so sleepy and I watched it online, you know the loading of videos!). I bought A Place Called Here (published 2006) a week ago, and it was an instant love.

A Place Called Here is about Sandy Shortt, an Irish lady who is six foot tall (in contrast with her surname-Shortt) and has dark black hair (another contrast with her name - Sandy). At the age of ten, Jenny-May Butler, neither a friend nor a foe of hers went missing, and she was never found. Sandy didn't like Jenny-May, she threw stones at her and embarrassed Sandy in front of the guy she liked. But somehow, the missing of Jenny-May effected Sandy, for the rest of her life.

Ever since Jenny-May went missing, Sandy didn't like the idea of missing things. She would label everything, organize everything and keep everything in it's place - so that it won't go missing. Yet, things disappear and she couldn't find them. She abhorred the idea of unsettled business, unexplainable missing things and how people simply forget everything they've lost and moved on with life. To cut story short, she lived her life like that, even as an adult. After high school, she worked as a garda/gardai (info), and searched missing people. She devoted her whole life finding missing people, and kept in touch with their families. Even after she quited the job, she kept on finding the missing people and met their family. She never gave up.

One of the people she tried to help was Jack Ruttle, whose brother went missing a year ago. After a few phone calls, Jack and Sandy decided to meet up and work on Jack's brother's case. However, like all those missing people, magically, Sandy herself went missing in action and Jack tried to find her. He thought it was awkward for someone to just disappear and conducted a search for her, with the help of Jenny's clients (families of the lost she had kept in touch with).

Jenny on the other hand, found herself in a strange place, in the woods of nowhere. Apparently, she is now in a place where all missing things went. She found the things she lost when she was a child, the people she devoted her life looking for, and most importantly, she had found Jenny-May Butler.

In the end, Sandy did came back to Earth (I mean, the real world, of course), and it was Jack who found her. Jack even found his brother, where he also looked for while he was searching Sandy and found out, his brother wasn't missing after all. He was killed, and to his shock, his brother's friend knew it all along.

Now, it won't be fun if  I tell you the whole story (which I sort of did hahah) so, I'd suggest you to borrow it from a nearby library or perhaps buy it.

My very personal opinion on this book - I think in a way every one of us is like Sandy. As for me, I think I just think too much and I tend to push people away from my life. I grew up as a sobered kid, with no friends. But I am kind of glad, I have opened up myself and my heart for friends, believing them and although some might betray me one day, God knows( another thing - I am very very negative, optimism was and is never my middle name) but I just think that's life. We gain some, we'll lose some. I loved the part where Sandy finally realised, she must move on and stop finding things because some things were meant to disappear - instead she should open herself up for her family and friends and most importantly to Gregory (The guy she loved her whole life but she can't seem to be with him, just because she's that kind of person). The journey to the other world, was actually an answer to all her findings, and a second chance for her to live her life to the fullest, for herself, devoting her efforts making her life meaningful and happy.

My most favorite part of the book, I quote from Chapter 40, page 359 :

I have found that the many imbalances within our individual lives result in an overall more worldly balance. What I mean is no matter how unfair I think something is, I need only look at the bigger picture to see how, in a way it fits. My dad was right when he said that there was no such thing as a free meal : everything comes at a cost to others, most of the time at a cost to ourselves. Whenever something is gained, it has to be taken from another place. When something is lost, it arrives elsewhere. There are the usual philosophical questions : why do bad things happen to good people? Within every bad thing I see good and likewise, withing every good thing I see bad, however impossible it is to understand it or see it at the time. As humans we are the epitome of life, in life there is always balance. Life and death, male and female, good and bad, beautiful and ugly, win and lose, love and hate. Lost and found.

This is a good read, and I strongly recommend it.

Read the professionally-written synopsis here. Visit Cecilia Ahern's website here.

How To Become A Good & Successful Medical Student(A Holistic Approach)

Author : Prof.Dr.Muhaya Mohamad M.D., Ph.D.
Published by : Rashidah Salleh, B-7-13 Oakleaf Park, Taman Bukit Jaya, Bukit
Antarabangsa, 68000 Ampang, Kuala Lumpur
Pages : 116

Synopsis

This book is all about steps should be taken to become a good and successful medical student. Many people think that it is easy to take medicine as your course if you are genius and perform well in your SPM, got straight A's or what so ever. Yah..it is true that only ppl who get gps 4.00 can take medicine, but it is not easy for you to finished your study if you did not have interest and passion. To take medicine, you have to enjoy and LOVE it.

Do you know that pressure of expectations of excellence commanded by the nature of the dicipline being demanded at every turn. This, compounded by the stress of having to master a profound body of knowledge could make the journey seem daunting. The process of moving from being a medical student to physician is complex. Due to the intensity and workload demanded by the dicipline, there is little time to reflect on other aspects of one's life.

So, there are a few steps should be taken to become a good and successful medical student :

- think back. did you have made the correct decision, can you be a doctor one day? or the possible career options after you graduate.

- time management. can you study and lead a reasonable life at the same time? manage your time and plan an effective study schedule. also, involve yourself in co-curricular activities. (Do not become book worm all the times, chill babe!!!)

- love all the lectures. pay full attention during the class to get maximum benefit from the lectures.

- search for effective study habits. like after "subuh". Have your own small study group (two heads better than one)

- Try to be a good friend. Try to deal with friends who are always depending on you for lecture notes. (even sharing is caring but sometimes we should "give and take"). do not envy of other people's achievement. take it as challenge!!

-well prepared for the exam. practise the essay questions.

- believe in Allah. He will always with you all the times.