Archipelago on the Indian Ocean?

I'm referring to Indonesia. The suffix -sia is applied to archipelago. Micronesia is tiny islands, Polynesia is lots of island, Melanesia is black islands? Or is it islands of the Blacks. Melanin is a black pigment. So Indonesia is Indian islands.

When I was in my early teen, my father bought a lot of Indonesian Agricultural Publications. On how to raise rabbits, fish, sheep or how to grow chillies, lemongrass to how to extract essential oils. There's even a book on how to train dogs. That's after he met and befriended an Indonesian cook at his workplace, Bapak Deddy. Before that, most of the agricultural articles were from Universities from United States like OSU (Oklahoma State University) and TAMU (Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University) or other state universities in the prairie region. Sometimes from 4-H too.

Agricultural practices in this region are different from the States. Climate-wise it's hotter. And food regulations are different. So most articles are on basic agricultural stuffs which are applicable here, such as composting, building water well, garden sheds, solar drying or energy efficiency.

Bapak Deddy showed him some of the books and in a month, our book 'population' doubled. My old man ordered not less than a thousand of those books. Indonesian is not our first language, so my old man also ordered a big Indonesian-English dictionary.

In a way, it expanded my Indonesian vocabulary. Sometimes it helped me. In my former school, there were 3 lecturers from Indonesia. My favourite is an Occupational Health Doctor, I do envy his job. Not wearing white coat, not using any stethoscope, doesn't look like a doctor and always on a field trip. I'm also one of his favourite student too. He likes to tease me. If only all doctors are like that.

Another doctor is a pulmonalogist. He's an expert on respiratory health, so he can't ditch his stethoscope. He's educated in the Netherlands so some of his words are 'different'. We never heard the word PROBANDUS and ANAMNESIS before. He said it's commonly used in a continental medical universities. We use patients all the time. One day, he had a problem with explaining a rubber stopper. So he reverted to Indonesian. KARET. Stopper made from KARET.
"I forget the word, but in Indonesian, we called it karet" "What do you call it?"
Then I replied. "Oh, rubber stopper. Karet tu rubber kan Prof?"
"Yes, rubber stopper"
My Indonesian saved the day.

The third is a paediatrician. All I can say about him is he is strict.

I watched a lot of Indonesian TV too. Thanks to my pop's 6 feet parabola. Besides watching TV is do watch Indonesian YouTuber. Mostly their cooking vlogs. And not to forget Sacha Stevenson.

Yesterday, I was shopping for some vegetables. In this city, Some of the TKI works in retail. Even our hypermarket hire TKI. Some said, when comparing this little city with the big city, "The little city is like Los Angeles or any cities in SoCal, while the big city is like New York or any city by the Eastern seaboard". I'm quoting my best friend. With this equation, our TKI are like Mexican working in San Diego or Los Angeles.

While picking my vegetables, I said sing-songy "wortel, jahe, jeruk dan tomat" (carrots, ginger, lemon and tomato, those were in my shopping list as I need them to cook vegetable curry) The shop assistant heard me and smiled. "I heard you.., singing in Indonesian"

I wish one day I'll visit Indonesia.

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*TKI = Tenaga Kerja Indonesia, overseas Indonesian worker. Analogous to OFW which is Overseas Filipina/Filipino Workers

Probandus, definition in the link below
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/probandus

Indonesian YouTuber I follow
Sacha Stevenson
http://www.youtube.com/user/sasaseno
Masak.tv
http://www.youtube.com/user/masaktv
Kokiku Tv
http://www.youtube.com/user/KokikuTv

Edinburgh rhymes with....

I pronounce Edinburgh as 'Edin-bra'. Yup, my Edinburgh rhymes with bra. However, that's not the case to everyone in this region. For some, Edinburgh rhymes with an iceberg. So 'Edin-berg'.

On day I was asking a colleague of mine, how would they spend their time in the scariest city for their elective posting. I tease them that Edinburgh is notorious for their ghosts and haunted castle. An 'amoi' overheard our conversation and started to yell at me in a high pitched voice. "IT'S EDIN-BERG NOT EDIN-BRA...". I defended myself that that's how it is pronounced. And even asked her to find the correct pronunciation in Forvo if she still insist that her pronunciation is correct. Had she not yelled at me, I would not sound condescending. Typical ah mois and ah liens looking down on shabbily dressed person like me. I may not wear a Rolex or Zegna shirt or whatever brand is the most expensive or classier but at least I'm not a hello kitty fanatic like you. Everything is HELLO KITTY, grow up! (actually I wore my Renoma shirt that day... but the fact that I don't mingle with the upper crust makes her think I'm a simpleton). My colleague then verify and agrees with me.

One time, I pronounced Framingham Score as Framing-um. Like Buckingham or Birmingham, the H is not pronounced. H-dropping. I got the whole class confused. Well, that's my bad. Framingham score is indeed pronounced with a H. It's in Massachusetts, so no H-dropping. I'm not sure about New England pronunciation though. Do New Englander drop their H?

Well, in my defense, my colleague do make me confused too. They pronounced McIsaac score as MOSAIC score.

Scottish names are not pronounced as an English name. Another Scottish/Irish name that most medical student mispronounce is McLeod. Yup, Mac-Lee-Odd. Until a neurologist rectified us on the correct pronunciation. It rhyme with Cloud. So McCloud. Then I realized that's why is the Oz TV series pronounced that way. McLeod's daughters.

If in doubt, ask Forvo

*McLeod is one of the recommended book for physical/clinical examination.
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Nkosi sikele la, thina lusapho lwayo...

My fascination to South Africa starts when I was reading about Tierra del Fuego, a remote island. So I was compelled to read more about this rainbow nation.

First, I learn to sing their national anthem. A hybrid of African gospel song with previous Afrikaan national anthem. A unique blend of languages reflecting this multicultural, colourful nation. Even the flag itself is colourful.

That was last year. This year, I tried to memorize the states in South Africa. Initially, there are 4 provinces namely, the Cape Province, Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal.

Now there are 9 provinces after Cape province and Transvaal divide itself into 7 more provinces.

Natal was renamed to KwaZulu Natal (KZN), Orange Free State is simply known now as Free State.

Transvaal is divided into Gauteng (pronounced as Hauteng), Mpumalanga and Limpopo
Cape Province is also divided into Western Cape, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape.

Wait, earlier I said 9 provinces. Did I miss any. Yup, North West Province. Historically, it was part of Transvaal and Cape province.

South Africa has 3 capitals. Cape town in Western Cape, Pretoria in Gauteng and Bloemfontein in Free State. No Jo-burg is not one of the capital. But it is not far from Pretoria.

One more trivia. There used to be an enclave in KwaZulu Natal. It's part of Eastern Cape. Speaking of enclave, a whole nation is also an enclave in South Africa. Yup, it's Lesotho.

If I can name all 50 states of USA, Why not Canadian provinces and territories...

Previous entry is about how I memorize all 50 states. Now, it's Great White North's turn

10 provinces and 3 territories

I'll usually start from Manitoba... alphabetically

M
Manitoba
northwest to Manitoba is
N
Northwest Territories
on it's east is Nunavut Territory, and also Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
O is for Ontario,
P is for PEI (Prince Edward Island)
Q is for Quebec

A and B.C. are also neighbour
Alberta and British Columbia

YeS,. Yukon and Saskatchewan


that's how I memorize these provinces and territories of Canada, although I must admit, I'm always confused of the prairie provinces. I'll usually name them by their biggest city like Winnipeg instead of Manitoba or I miss out Saskatchewan. Oops sorry. Maybe I'll remember if they build a giant mall there. Just kidding.

How I memorize the 50 states of USA

One day, I was watching my favourite sitcom FRIENDS. Chandler was challenging his friends to name all 50 states. Nobody can. So, I challenged myself to memorize all 50 states, not in particular order. Below is my respond to Bobby Tonelli in MunahHirzi official. I hate to retype, so I copy paste my response. Here, Bobby admitted that he can't name all 50 states of USA when Munah challenge him to name all 14 states in Malaysia. 

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPYh88jZnd4

#SGWomenDrivers: Malaysian Quiz (Ft Bobby Tonelli)

oh Bobby, the 50 states of USA is easy to remember if you know the tricks.

I'm gonna share with you how I memorize the 50 states. but not in order.

 there are 4 Ws,As and Is. 3 Cs and Os. 8 Ms and Ns. 4 of the Ns stars with New, 2 starts with North. Because there are 2 North, there must be 2 Souths i.e 2 Ss. Besides S, there are 2 Ks, Ts and Vs... other states starts with D,F,G,H,L,P,R,U
So I'll sing WAI4CO3 8MN 2KSTV DFGHLPRU... (I know it doesn't make sense but that how I memorize them)

Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, Wisconsin (if there is West, there must be East...eh... nope. It's just Virginia)
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas (aka Ala... Ala... Ar Ar states)
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Idaho (first 3 are neighbouring states)
Colorado, Connecticut, California
Oklahoma, Oregon, Ohio
Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Mississippi, Missouri (this is the hardest part... but I'll make sure I don't miss any by screening my mental map from east (Maine) to northwest (Montana) plus the 2 great rivers (Mississippi and Missouri)
New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, Nebraska (4 New, 2 North 2 'Nay')
Kansas, Kentucky
South Carolina, South Dakota (obviously if there are 2 Norths, there must be 2 Souths...)
Texas, Tennessee
Vermont, Virginia
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah.

There you go 50 states.
That's how I impress Americans
Have a nice day!

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Yup WAI4CO3 8MN 2KSTV and DFGHLPRUwhy WAI4CO... thanks to my upbringing WACO incident is always emphasized by my mother, how one should not commit heresy. Yup Waco, Texas. I guess you get the hint which church I grew in by now.8MN is easy, Most states start with these two letters. I got this fact from a children encyclopaedia when I was 12.KSTV is actually an imaginary TV station which I created for this mnemonic. Wait, let me search if there is any real KSTV. Apparently there are many KSTV. wakakakakaka... just a coincidencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSTV-LPhttp://mycn2.com/kstv/http://www.worldcat.org/identities/nc-kstv%20tv%20television%20station%20seattle%20wash/DFGHLPRU... it's too long. Actually, I'll run all the alphabets to remember the remnant states. Usually this is what I'll do... A,B,C,D-DELAWARE, E,F-FLORIDA,G-GEORGIA, H-HAWAII, I, J,K,L-LOUISIANA,M,N,O,P-PENNSYLVANIA,Q,R-RHODE ISLAND,S,T,U-UTAH...... ok 8. I always have problem naming states from M. So I'll use my mental map.Bye bye for nowLovegeography geek.