A Few Of My Favourite Things 2006

It's that time of the year again when we dust off the year's memories, relive the highlights and reminisce about the events that made the year special. In keeping with tradition, this is my Top 10 list of two thousand oh six.

1. Grey's Anatomy

The title is a throwback to the 'bible' of human anatomy aka the bane of every Med student's existence. This medical drama about the lives of a bunch of surgical interns and their superior officers isn't terribly original nor are the stories groundbreaking. What kept me glued to the TV screen was the way they are portrayed as real life human beings, capable of making real mistakes in their personal as well as professional lives. My favourite is Sandra Oh's award-winning portrayal of the ambitious and witty Dr. Christina Yang who in one episode couldn't resist nosing around for cases despite the fact that she's technically a patient in recovery from a recent miscarriage.

2. Must Be Doing Something Right

This was a #1 single on the Billboard Country Songs chart way back in spring. What I loved about the song was the way the singer, Billy Currington delivered the song in his trademark laidback drawl. You could almost 'hear' him smiling as he realises that whatever he is doing for the woman sighing contentedly in his arms right now, he's obviously doing it right. And the video made me think of idyllic times at the beach in Redang.... anything that can do that is a winner in my books.

3. The Prestige

For favourite movie, it was a toss-up between Pixar's animation marvel 'Cars' and the Christopher Nolen (of Batman Returns fame)-helmed 'The Prestige'. In the end, the inner adult won. Solid performances by the cast and a moodily uncanny depiction of life in the early 20th century as seen through the eyes of two rival magician wannabes manage to overshadow the occasional gaps in momentum and story, building up to an understatedly shocking finale that left me pondering long after I left the cinema.

4. Homemade chai

Ok, it's not exactly homemade. I bought the spice powder at the local Indian food store. But it's my recipe. Ok, it's not exactly my recipe, I learnt it from my good friend Ajeet. But I modified it using the microwave instead of the gas stove - faster and less messy! And it's approved by the good doctor who drove 100km just for a cuppa.

Which brings me to No. 5

5. The good doc

This fella practically fell out of the sky to create 'havoc' in my life. Before I knew it, all kinds of files were flying through the Internet, from music MP3s to self-hypnosis downloads to pirated Mac programmes. This guy is practically an OS X guru despite having just 'converted' to Macology six months ago! If I didn't know better, I'd say he's an IT wiz. Turns out he's also a medical doctor. Yeah, complete with stethoscopes, the ubiquitous white coat and arterial blood-gas figures. Bro, you've been a blessing to me and I hope our friendship will go from strength to strength in the new year. God bless you!

6. iPod Video 80G

Doesn't it look ever so cool? How could I resist getting one? 80G of pure bliss. Plus it came with free gifts (Smartwrap wire organiser, Apple original universal dock and electrical socket adapter) worth RM300. And I can use it as a portable harddisk. And I can view (read: show off) my dive pics on its photoviewer. And I can play Bejeweled on it. And the latest Nelly Furtado music video.

Admit it. You want one too.

7. Hanoi or Prague or Bangkok or Singapore

I love my life. I love the fact that I can go anywhere I want to (budget concerns notwithstanding) be it on land, sand or sea. This year I think I went overboard with it (pun not intended) and my bank account suffered as a result. AirAsia should be giving me VIP status for all the flying I do with them. My mom is starting to get worried if I'll ever find the time to go back to work at all. Maybe I should follow Doc's advise and start selling my dive pics on the net to recoup the 'operating costs'.

8. iTunes 7.0

Firstly, let's be honest about something. iTunes for Windows sucks bigtime. It hogs up too much processor power and playback is at times dodgy and prone to hang unless you have like 2 Billion Gigs of memory to spare. On the Mac OS X.4 however, it (obviously) works like a dream and the latest version is packed with a lot of cool new features like the Jukebox display which allows you to scroll through the album art as you browse through your MP3 collection. Heck, it even automatically searches the Web for the album covers for you.

9. Kluang Station coffee shop

I've never been to the original Kluang coffee shop but the word on the street is that the charcoal-toasted bread with kaya is to die for. The franchise outlet in 1Utama is, IMHO, quite a good ambassador for the original. The bread tastes heavenly especially with Kluang coffee (which is almost as good as Muar's 434 coffee) but my personal favourite is the Mee Siam. At RM8.00, it's quite pricey, but you wouldn't know it from the crowd that seems to pack the place 24/7, even at 9.00 am on a Sunday!

10.Layang Layang

This diving mecca in the middle of South China Sea rivals Sipadan as the premier dive site in Malaysia. Leatherback turtle, Leopard shark, Hammerhead shark, Manta Ray, Pygmy Devil Ray, Ghost pipefish, Nudibranches, Giant Gorgonian Seafans..... the list goes on and on. It helps that I was with great company and also made new friends there as well. Thanks to Chris, Terry, Yanni, Asther, Jasper, Ajeet and the rest of the gang for a memorable dive holiday.

Ok. That's it for 2006. There were of course a few incidents and experiences I wouldn't care for (breakups, losses, arguments etc) but then again, the highlights above made up for the low points by far. To all my friends and family, Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year 2007!