I have been coughing my lungs out since waking up this morning. My throat is itchy. One nostril is blocked, the other felt raw. I must have caught some nasty bug early last week because I already had symptoms of an impending sore throat then. I refuse to see a doctor for the simple reasons that I do not like the effects of codeine in cough mixtures and antihistamines, and the invariable antibiotics that they usually prescribe. I have to be especially careful with antibiotics because some can damage my kidneys further. Besides, the last urine culture and sensitivity (C & S) test showed that the bacterias in my have become antibiotic resistant. In order to counter bacterial infections, I need stronger than common antibiotics. Anyway the common flu is a viral infection and cannot be treated with antibiotics. What I usually do is get a lot of rest and drink a lot of water. This I am going do for this episode too. One consolation is that after recovering from this cold my body will have developed a resistance to this particlar virus. One down, a few hundred more to go.

Looking at the make up of the bloggers for the past few meets, I have a feeling that I am closer to their fathers’ age than to theirs. I am almost twice older than most of them. How lar to hold a decent conversation after the customary introductions? Any “old” bloggers out there game for a meet with those closer to our age group?

Photo by Wuan.

The letter that I had been waiting for since end-December finally arrived last week. Unfortunately, it herald unsavoury news. My appeal to the Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan to allow me to renew my driving license that expired in 1996 was rejected. I was not even given the exemption from taking Bahagian I which encompasses the Ujian Undang-undang and Sijil Kursus Teori dan Amali.

Photo by Wuan.

Last Sunday, Wuan took me to Safety Driving Centre in Petaling Jaya to register for the driving course. The entire course cost RM890 but I was given a 30% discount. Before anything else, I needed to attend five hours of Kurikulum Pendidikan Pemandu. It was fixed for today. I had expected it to be a boring five hours but I was far from wrong. It turned out the lecturer who introduced himself as Cikgu Ali kept us entertained and educated throughout the entire course. His memorable line was “Cikgu bukan marah, cuma beri nasihat.” Most of the time, he kept us in stitches with his jokes.

Cikgu Ali and I.
Photo by Wuan.

As Wuan will be busy with work and with the Chinese New Year just around the corner, I have registered to take the Ujian Undang-Undang Berkomputer secara online at the end of this month. I am in no hurry to sit for the test too as I have not read the two manuals provided yet – Kurikulum Pendidikan Pemandu and Buku Latihan Undang-undang Jalan Raya. At the same time, I still find it difficult to believe that I have to go through all this again.

2003
Me: Hello, my name is Peter Tan and I am a blogger.
New friend: You are a what?

2007
Me: Hello, my name is Peter Tan and I am a blogger.
New Friend: Hey, me too. Small world huh!

Wuan and I have started a blog for our pet arowana called the Arowana Tales - The Dragon, The Fish, The Intrigue. We felt that a fish as majestic as the arowana deserves a blog of her own. We hope to share interesting snippets the Red-Tailed Golden from King Kong Aquarium that we took home with us from when we visited the Aquafair Malaysia 2006 at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on November 18, 2006.