The PBL

Sorry for the "irregularly irregular" in updates recently. (for those not in the know, that phrase is used to describe pulses!) Well, a med student's life is never that free, ain't it? Been busy as a bee lately. Not to mention s.t.r.e.s.s.! *starts pulling hair tradition*

Wondering why? yesh, I know, our exam just finished last friday too. Well, the obvious wud be pointing fingers towards my first PBL 2 in GI... with none other than Htin Aung as a fasci!! *gasps*

To be truthful, it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. But then I have been told that I've a vivid imagination that I tend to use towards pessimism. Anyway, although it wasn't that bad, it wasn't that good either, but it could have been worse. (getting confused? Let's just say I rate it as moderate, but I definitely could do with some improvement.)

Anyway, I was really uber stressed the night before, been preparing for this for quite a few nights. So stressed out that my normally nice smooth face was suddenly invaded by a few acute-onset pimples! Ish. I know, silly me. Well, at least now I know a considerable lot abt esophageal diseases now! lol.

Alright, I confess, I did a solid good preparation for almost everything except anatomy. Was alsolutely stressed out that I was like "to hell with the anatomy of the pharnyx, tongue and mouth"! I figured that I'd know enough to cheat my way by.

Alas, it was not to be. Apparently a lot of that knowledge had somehow trickled out of my dumb brain. And as I'd NOT have it, I was quite unfortunately chosen to present the anatomy of the pharynx to the group (which coincidentally consist of two PBL group that were merged, totalling to more than 20 ppl!). And presenting something that I'm not very sure of to so many ppl was definitely not an appealing idea. No way.

And I didn't have the presence of mind to keep my composure. I'm pretty sure that I was visibly-as-humanly-possible-nervous. (well, public speaking ain't my strong point, so cut me some slack here!) I'd have been better if I'd known the subject. Anyway, thks a bunch to Dejun for lending me his notes, real life-saver! Arigato!! ^o^

Anyway, thks to my nervousness, I had to confuse btw oropharnyx and nasopharnyx. -_-" Everyone probably think I'm a fool by now. yeah. Okay, I'm just exaggerating but stillll...

I think Htin Aung let me off coz he saw how nervous I was. I know that's pathetic of me.. but what to do. I promise myself I'll work myself even harder, next time! Anyway, I think I managed to redeem myself a little bit by venturing answers here and then & managing to answer the one question he threw at me alone. Due to my suggestion that myaesthenia gravis can cause dysphagia in the first PBL. Thank god I was able to answer that one coherently enough. I probably managed to convince him that at least I wasn't an idiot. Or have the intelligence of a low-life amoeba. Riiight.

Besides, he sure was more strict with some of my other group members. Kelian. Hope next time will be better ya! Smilez! =)

After poking fun at myself for the heck of it (it's essential to maintain a sense of humour to keep oneself sane, you know), I declare that PBL for once was really informative. Learnt loads from him. Well, at least he's intimidating enough to force me to down tons of info in preparation for PBL. yeah. I foresee a crazy 6 weeks with him. I'd survived the first, that leaves another 5 weeks. [so do pardon me if there are less updates within this period okay]

Anyway, I'll try to do a better preparation for the next few helluva weeks, and yesh, not excluding anatomy. Everythang.

As he'd always say: "Would you let me treat your mother (or insert any close family member you can think of) if I only know 60% of what I know now?"

The correct response was of course a shake of heads.

But truth to be told, what he is saying is true. I'd not want to be a half-past-six doctor if I could help it. Although he have lots of droll interesting stories to tell us of when he were in our shoes, at least he inspired us, or me at the very least, to study and amass more knowledge. *fired up*

PS: Myasthenia Gravis is a disease that affects mainly striated skeletal muscle. So it causes dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing) coz it can affect the upper 1/3 of the esophagus plus upper esophageal sphincter which consists of that sort of muscle.

PPS: Two PBL groups were merged becoz his wife was busy with some uni event. I think they are a funnily cute couple. lol. Btw, his way of doing PBL is that we prepare ALL topics and then he will randomly pick one of us to present. And he gave us so many topics too! (yeah I'm sucha whiner :P)

PPPS: Htin Aung is a great teacher, I'd not give any less praise than that. Can you believe that he read Gray's Anatomy a mind-blowing total of 32 times?! o.O And he has a fren that has read the whole Robbin's an unimaginable total of 37 times! *OMFG*

PPPPS: Went out to destress on thursday night after a crazy three hours of PBL (note: double the normal length). Kee and I went to Sunway to have dinner at Kim Gary (luv it! besides got to use the discount voucher!) and catch Sunshine the movie. The movie was pretty good, I like it, altho it got a bit too gory for my liking at the ending. I might blog abt it sometime. These precious nights out are just too few in btw.

PPPPPS: Am back in penang while typing this post. For less than 48 hours though sadly. Going back tmr morning for more crazy studying! :T Could have had 1 extra day if only the time for PBL could be changed. *sigh* Well, at least I'd sufficiently recharged during this short trip. I slept more than humanly possible imo anyway. There's no place like HOME~! :D

Whiners

Yes. They do exist, somewhere out there.

However, they usually don't present appear so on first impressions. They might even appear to be nice friendly people.

But get to know them a little bit too better, you will soon hear all the whinings that you never tot was possible.

"Aiya, I always don't get to eat the nice parts wan..."

"Where got? The notes always tak sampai me wan..."

"Huh? Yeah meh? You all always never ask me out wan..."

etc etc... *insert other examples of whining here*

There are countless examples which I'm too lazy to conjure up, besides I think they are too ridiculous to complain abt anyway. But apparently not so for that particular subset of people.

If you ask me, there are some things which you just hvta take the intiative to do it yourself. You can't expect things to be handed to you on a silver platter. Seriously. -_-"

Remember this, although people ARE your frenz, it doesn't mean that they MUST attend to your every whim okay. Open your mouth, walk over, approach someone and ask. Doesn't cost a penny, doesn't hurt anyone.

And one thing I've noticed (and why am I not surprised *rolls eyes*), they seemed to have a selective memory too. Or maybe it's a propensity to exaggerate things a tad too much for my liking.

There are many instances where I definitely did take the intiative to give them the prized part of whichever delicacy; to purposely walk over and hand them the notes etc... Which they have oh-so-conveniently push that fact out of their minds when they start their whining sessions. Saying that EVERY freaking TIME people "always" leave them out.

Puh-lease. -_-"

Okay, I won't be so high and mighty to think that I'm below such a fault. I do whine sometimes. But I think I do save it for purposeful reasons. And not those I'm-so-pityful-people-always-bully-me sort of thing. No, thank you. That is sooo not my thang. (erm.. think american black accent, lol)

Come to think of it, this post is whining abt whiners, ain't it? Ironic... I just might be guilty of what I'm accusing other ppl of doing afterall.

Aih, whatever.

PS: Sometimes I just feel so pissed off. I do not like being used by others. Get this into your thick skull, although I might appear friendly self-sacrificing sometimes (and I can be depending on the situation), I really DO NOT appreciate being used constantly. Pls don't be such a selfish jerk. Frenz do not exist just so you can use them. ARRGH!

What Students Do...

...when they dunno how to answer exam questions. Be prepared to laugh your asses off! =D

(I got this in an email, and tot it was farny enough to be posted up.) Enjoy!

Wahliao... use objective answer sheet to shade out a Mashimaro... Really creative!

The boy probably said: "But all I did was follow the instructions!"

Teacher: "-_- I didn't mean for you to 'expand' the maths question LITERALLY."

lol. The student did the question until cannot do, then progressed to the 'hangman' stage.

Creative usage of mathemathical symbols. =P

Erm, this student didn't answer the question. Instead, wanted to find out the identity of batman using calculus. o.O Creative, nevertheless.

Talk about being finding x 'literally'.

Wonder what the student was thinking when he wrote that...

"The teacher must be blind!"

PS: Congrats to those who won the SRC election! ^o^ I'm glad that most of those who are elected are from M106... Yayz! We rock!

Diamonds Flowers Are A Girl's Best Friend

Hmm, scratch that. Flowers will do nicely too. =) I don't ask for too much, epecially most of us are still students, depending financially on our parents.

Anyway, I promised a long time ago that I'll put pics up of the flowers that my dear dear gave me on Valentine's Day. Finally I've gotten the pics from him and have time to put them up. Do enjoy!

Isn't it lovely?? I just lurve it... <3

The bear bear that came with the flowers is also very kawaii.. *pinches its cheek*

Well, I still have the bear bear with me (of coz!) but the flowers have all wilted. blek. Wanted to press-dry the flowers but it didn't work. I knew I shld have dried the flowers first! Anyway, used my papa Dorlands and Marieb to squish it, sadly, in the end, the juice just ran out and dirtied my book. -_-

Nevermind, I'll know what to do next time. Well, depending on whether there is a next time of coz. (sorry for being pessimistic, but then I'm just preparing myself for all possibilites)

Right. I'm tired out from watching so many tv series and anime. Marathon leh! haha. So gonna take a rest before going swimming later. Hope it doesn't rain. yeap!

Anyway, for the summary on how I spent this year's Valentine's Day, do click here. [but it's old news though] ^v^

Jumping Hurdles - On Not Giving Up

Finally, I've time to sit down, relax and blog a proper post. Both hurdles are over - mock OSCE and haemato exam. *heaves sigh of relief*

I shall talk abt the exam first, coz emotions abt that are overwhelming.

Well, I didn't do well for the exam, despite the relatively larger amount of effort I put in. I did studied hard for it, but guess luck wasn't on my luck this time (unlike during respi). There were quite a few MCQs that I were not sure about, and I changed my answers countless times, but in the end, the wrong answer was chosen. And everyone knows that too many wrong MCQs can totally kill one off, as it's worth 2 marks per Q. I'm SO dead due to this.

Why oh why didn't I study that BS paper? That alone caused me 4 marks. =( And it had to come out Qs that can't be answered using common sense the ONLY time that I didn't read the BS lecture note. Bah.

Why oh why so few Qs abt pharmaco came out!! I think I'd have been able to answer better if they set more Qs on that. I see a general trend now, they like to focus on patho more, and pharmaco less. There were so many drugs against the parasites, but none came out. bleh. Do you know how much effort we students put in to memorise the stupid drug names?! Seriously, I think the paper shld be more balanced leh, pharmaco is important too... What is the point if you can make a diagnosis but can't treat the patient, right? Ish.

SAQs isn't too good either. Got quite a few wrong answers too. Hope the lecturer would accept some of my answers. *prays fervently coz I really need it this time* One thing that I don't like abt my uni's exams is that the way they phrased the Qs are always too vague, there are a lot of times I know the answers, just that I dunno what they want. ARGGH! [shld I start the "tearing hair out" tradition? o.O]

OSPE was generally bad for most ppl (as keeping to the usual tradition, gah). I cud answer a few of the Qs ("tembak" correctly the parasite!) but some of the answers for differential diagnosis is just plain weird. I'll admit that I really dunno. Guess I still hvta study harder!!

So that's the overview on the exam. I really am afraid that I'll fail again. ='( But this time, emotions are different. Last time, I'll admit that I didn't prepare properly for it, so I deserved to fail. But this time, it was the best preparation I had for a paper so far, but look at what happened. Luck really does play a role.

Sometimes I really wonder what the hell am I studying for. What is the use of studying, when the results don't match the effort put in? Don't you feel it, when your brain is oversaturated with too many facts, but you still can't answer the Qs? It's just absolutely, undeniably sad. I mean, what is the point of torturing myself with countless hours of studying? Sometimes I feel really super sien of studying. Have almost come to a point that I'm starting to become desensitized to exams...

Anyway, this is another wake up call I guess. Maybe the way I'm studying is not suitable. Might try to change a bit, thks for the suggestions, frenz. =) But this wake up call has given me the much needed oomph to study harder! (have been feeling lots of sien-ness lately) I must do well for GI~! And of coz, after that is the nightmarish EOS3! Prob shld have started preparing by now [shyt!!], really hope that I'll be able to find the motivation to continue on the battle for greatness! Gambate, fellow frenz, together we'll be able to go thru this!

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Okay, finally got that out of my system. Time to blog abt mock OSCE. Hmm, funnily it wasn't as bad as I imagined.

Anyway, for physical examination, peripheral arterial disease and pleural effusion came out. I wasn't really good at the PAD station coz haven't really pratice that. Guess need to relearn that. oh well. Fortunately, I did quite well at the pleural effusion station. The lecturer even praised me! Yayz, all that practice paid off!! ^v^

Well, for history taking, it wasn't that straightforward. Cudn't do a lot of the Qs. sigh. Hvta improve on that... which means learning more. Back to the same old thing abt studying. Aih. (still, learning and studying are two total different things!!) >.<

BS station wasn't that good for me. I got nervous since the BS lecturer is sitting beside, listening. Cudn't concentrate on what the patient is saying, which isn't good. The patient retorted back that she'd had already told me that she has fever with the night sweats when I asked abt whether she had fever. Blek. Well, at least I managed to soothe the "angry" patient down easily, but I think she's more upset then angry. Before this, I'd seen an SP that looked really angry. She was a good actor, didn't even want to shake hands. -_-""

Okay, that's about all. Blogging has always been the best way for me to let up all the pent up emotions inside...

Reminder to self: Search for the fire inside... and keep it burning brightly! Rmb the ideals! Rmb the dreams...!

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Oh ya, one last story b4 I go. Had a weird (bad) dream the night before mock OSCE. I dreamt that I was in the lecture hall with a few ppl. There was a grand piano in front of the hall. Apparently, I was there to sit for the practical piano exam. [wahliao, it has been so long since I sat for piano exam!] I waited impatiently for my turn, I was last, alas.

At that time, batchmates were trickling into the hall for the next lecture. The examiner put pressure on me by saying: "your batchmates are here, so you better do well, okay. Don't embarass yourself."

I gulped, I swear I cud almost feel the sweat dripping off my forehead. like this --> -_-"""""

Anyway, she was supposed to ask me a few Qs before starting. Guess what she asked me?

"What is a malignant lymphoma?" *zha dou* Before I cud answer, she then said: "what is a malignant neoplasm?" I ventured to affirm which Q she was asking, stating that all neoplasms are malignant.

She nodded, a bit like trying to cover up her mistake, while repeating her first Q. [I haven't cover that lecture yet then, but cud answer it due to AIR topic.] She was satisfied with my answer and let me off. Then, it was time to play my piece.

I wasn't really good, so decided to go kinda slow. Well, at least there's the melody, right? lol. (I wonder what song I played in my dream, still can't rmb it...)

Then I woke up, left wondering whether it's a bad omen for mock osce. Coz I've never been a person good at practical exams, always messed up due to nervousness. Luckily, mock osce went okay. So it shows that one shld never generalize things, and that practice makes perfect! *winks*

Alrighty, time to ciao... need some rest! =)

All will be fine one day, as long as we try our best. For the dreams. For the goodness. For the ideals.

The Urge To Be Random

There's this inner urge to blog these days, but somehow I haven't been updating anything really intriguing recently. The urge is probably due to the fact that man is a creature of habit.

If a few days passed without me updating my blog, my fingers will sure twitch and itch. Like now. yesh, I've been updating, but nothing interesting enough for a second read.

Blame it on the exams and studies. It gives me the urge to blog, but drains my inspiration on what to blog abt. My mind is blank, like a white canvas; whenever my hands rest on the keyboard, ready to type out anything, I get "blogger's block". Hmm, sounds funny.

Actually, can you guess that today I've nothing to blog about too? Well, maybe except for the fact that I never really like studying abt parasites/bacteria/virus/fungi. They just don't really interest me, except when they prove they are really smart at evading the human immune system. Now, that is what I call interesting.

trivia: do you know that some parasites (forgot which) are able to shed their outer skin to evade the human immune response that only recognizes the antigens on that original skin? With their new skin, they can swim happily about in your blood circulation while you continue to suffer.

Erm, dunno why I blog abt that. Probably due to desperation to write something, anything. Besides, it's always good to learn some trivia. hehe.

Hmm. I'm out of ideas to talk about. Since I'm not a camwhore, I can't post picture after picture of myself here either to fill up space.

Okay, better not try to length this post out with my crap. I'll sign off here. So many things to do, and so little time! *sigh*

PS: Yerr... Why episode 12 of Heroes cannot be streamed!! Cannot find the torrent for it either... Aih, I wanna know what happens next eh! = suspense =

PPS: Oh ya, I've a theory. I reckon its karma that made me got htin aung for fasci for GI. See, complain so much abt PBL everytime lah, now only know lah. blek. -_-

What I Do Between Notes

I'm so so bored now. I've spent most of the day either "trying valiantly" to study (rbcs, platlets, wbcs and what-nots) or watching movies/anime! I've read all the blogs I usually read. And checked all my usual sites. Oh ya, not to forget, played some o2jam too! Btw, am at level 12 now leh.. hoho.

Can life get any more boring-ier than this? *sigh, looks around and melts into a puddle*

Anyway, been watching Death Note 2 on this website that streams lots of Asian movies and of coz, Heroes! =)

Both are very interesting! And I can't seemed to stop myself from watching. Luckily it takes quite some time for it to stream, so at least there's some time in between to study a bit.

But haemato is kinda confusing. Everything seems to be similar! Oh no... The bone marrow is either hyper-or-hypocellular. Reticulocytosis! Splenomegaly! Target cells! Emperipolesis! -_-"

Erm. Pardon me. Went bonkers just now. Didn't fancy having so many similar conditions thrust down my throat. The more I read, the more I get confused abt which is which. Bleh.

Right, enough of ranting. Again it's back to the notes, and the movies (hehe). Cya!

PS: Emotions have since settled down. It's time I take things into hand. Wish me luck!

PPS: Oh ya, currently on the mend. Shld be in good health in no time! =) Thank god. I tot I was going to cough out my lungs that night. Painful...

PPPS: Btw, I dunno what this post is exactly about. Unless you count me ranting abt how bored I am as smtg worth reading. lol.

Rather Farny

Just tot that some of you guys might need a cheering up like I do. Enjoy the funny icons below!

My fav one is the one with the cigarette. Find it hilarious. hehe.

PS: Life's not as bad as you think it is. Try to cancel the negatives with the positives. yeah. =)

Yesterday Was Not A Good Day

Had blogged half a post last night, but due to a "sudden matter" that was brought to my attention then, the post was left hanging in the air.

And now I'd abandoned it, coz I tot it sounded stupid anyway. Might as well write a brand new post.

Hmm. Had been on hiatus for the last couple of days becoz I'd fallen ill!! Started with a sorethroat on tuesday, which resolved itself with the help of antibiotics, then started having a really bad runny nose on wednesday. (ppl kept asking whether I am okay onot!) Feel abit paiseh that I sneezed so loud so many times during lecture that day! Gomenasai..

That evening, I started feeling feverish and developed a fever after dinner. Can't believe that I slept for more than 12 hours that day! That's really a record. I'm not sure whether the pattern of my fever is intermittent onot. Aikz. And now I've a cough. Why do I always get sick at the wrong times? Due to the "sudden matter" that I mentioned above, I'm now worrying like hell and it definitely isn't good for my sickness. *Arrgh* Just hope that I'll get well soon, coz need to study for next week's OSCE and haemato exam~!! o.O

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Well, probably shld blog abt the "sudden matter" but maybe not today. Don't feel like ranting. Anyway, I'm so sick of the unpredictability of human nature. Sometimes, you wonder if you will ever know someone at all, for who they are and what they think.

Right. I might blog abt that in another post if I feel like it. Now it's time for some problem-based solving!! Not emotional-based solving, as taught in BS. yeah.

So, anyone wanting to rent out a room in block B2 (or knows anyone who do) around August, pls contact me ya. Preferably masterbedroom and almost fully furnished. Price is negotiable. Pls help me out! Thanks very much!

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Oh ya, before I end today's super random post, found out yesterday that the fascilitator for our PBL group for GI is... Htin Aung!!! Omg. *faints* Those that do not know the man in the flesh might wonder, but starting from GI (that's GastroIntestinal, for you), our lives are gonna be such a living hell. PBLs which normally shld take around 1 and a half hours wud be longer... and he wud pick ppl to present certain topics... which is worse than individual or discussion method! o.O

Yesterday wasn't such a good day after all. I really need to rest. Bye.

The Simple Mundane Life

Actually, these few days there's nothing special or interesting to blog abt, except the mundane-what-I-did-today-with-who-and-who. Which hardly interests anybody, with myself as the exception, probably.

Is that how a medical student's life supposed to be? Mundane (insert other synonyms of "boring" that you cud think of) and filled with books? Even our conversation and jokes are littered with medical jargon!! :O I reckon it wud be soon before we start dreaming of ourselves studying! *gasp!*

Don't really have the mood to study these few days. Dunno why. Just feel a bit sien. Which is bad, coz haemato exam is next friday, not to mention my mock OSCE is the day before! omg!! Btw, I feel a wee bit more confident after yesterday's practice, coz got to try out the whole physical examination myself. Oh ya, thks to TeckJian and Leong who were willing SPs. =)

I think I shall stop here now. I don't even have the mood to blog. Aikz. Let's hope smtg interesting happens so I've smtg to share tmr. ^v^

PS: Normally, when we do PBL, we will do the important parts like the pathogenesis rather half-heartedly, haphazardly. Hmm. Half-baked is a good description. But yesterday's one was one of the worst I've ever seen. I'll use the word RAW. yeah. Anyway, didn't feel like doing my usual bit of contributing, coz I was down with a bad sorethroat... so pls excuse me. Bleh, whatever.

PPS: Aikz! Dr. Thani told us yesterday that the AIR topic will not be allocated the 3 marks as rumoured for EOS3. Which is good for other ppl who haven't started, but not so good for me coz I've already spent lots of time on it. The only consolation he cud offer was that it cud come out for EOS3. Right... Well, nvm. At least I learnt a lot abt extra-nodal lymphomas along the way. lol.

PPPS: Yesterday was the annual No Dress Code Day. It was really fun, being able to go to uni in sneakers and jeans. How I miss my comfy jeans, lol. Some ppl really went casual.. A lot of guys came in shorts and t-shirts. Oh ya, smtg different this year is that even CSU and library approved this no dress code thingy. So for once in my life, I was able to walk into CSU with jeans and my hair down!! :D

Between Idealism & Realism

- A Young Doctor Wonders...

Been meaning for some time to share this poem with my frenz who are doing medicine, but kept forgetting. Anyway, this is a poem that I found in one of the medical newsletters sent to my dad. It's really intriguing. And cool~! =) Enjoy!

Five years of hard work gone by

A certificate in my hands lay

Written MD - Doctor of Medicine

My future is marked with distinction

Full of ideals, filled with altruism

To serve mankind of all mannerism

Regardless they be old or young

Rich and poor, weak or strong

I start work filled with enthusiasm

I start work with a heart of absolutism

Putting a smile, lending a hand

I shall serve my utmost above band

Alas, the sick I cared for did not get better

They just got worse, downhill rather

The well and healthy came by to chutzpah

A stepping stone to shy from the work path

My mind is boggled, what the dickens!

My heart is disturbed, my conscience stricken

I wanted to be strong and firm

I pray for a guiding hand to reaffirm

The Joneses to keep up with I detest

They are nothing but thorns in the flesh

Relatives wanting MCs and free medication

How to tell them No! No! No! and No!

Write the worst report, the patient said out loud

I need that for a better insurance pay out

Honesty, truthfulness - do they exist at all?

Perhaps they are lonely words after all

Nice, isn't it? The poem I mean. The future predicted in it isn't that nice. Aikz. Thought it was really relevant. Hope you guys like it~! Time to chao... Tataz!

PS: Blood bank visit this morning was super boring! And the lady who gave us that "lecture" was really condenscending. (for eg. she asked us: "Do you know what is DNA?" even when she knew we were med students. It's in the tone.) Bah.

M107 Orientation Pics

Right. Here are some of the random photos that I promised that I'll put up some time ago. All these are abt M107 orientation. Some of these are leeched from others' blogs (arigatogozaimasu!), some are taken by Kee's phone, whose camera is better than mine.

Okay, hope you guys will enjoy them.

Welcome to the Abyss. How far would you go to survive?

Our banner is nice right? =)

Original sketch prototype for backdrop by Sree.

You'll see how different it became soon.

Voila! This is Batgirl, brought to life, full-sized.

The coloured portion has been added glitter, so it looks super chun!

Yeap, this is Wonder Woman. Same goes for the glittery coloured portions.

She's my fav out of the four. =)

It's not a bird, it's not a plane, it's Supergirl~!

Her miniskirt is so kawaii... took us a long time to do eh.

Character that was added in later. Guess who is it?

Jean grey! Or Dark Phoenix if you prefer.

And in the flesh (so to speak), Dark Phoenix herself~!

They look really similiar to the original ones, right? :)

And TADA~! The whole masterpiece! Isn't it absolutely lovely?

Really thanks to those who helped in making this come true! ^v^

As you can see, I got this from k0k's blog.

A photo of the video of the imccs' introducing their lovely selves. hehe.

Erm, actually that's about all the photos that I've of M107 orientation. Didn't take any of my own coz moi doesn't own a camera! aikz. And yesh, most of it were abt the backdrop, well... becoz I'm really proud of it. So many weeks' of hard work oh... =)

We changed it from the original sketch becoz the original one was too rectangle-ish. We needed smtg wider to match the stage. And we decided to put these four superwomen in in rectangles of black and they themselves wud be black and white mostly, with certain areas highlighted in glitter which denotes who they are... and the backgrounds would be in colour so that they can stand out. Cool, ain't it? I like this concept~! It's unique... ^o^

Right, feel a bit tired now so will go rest! That moutainous pile of clothes took damn long to iron. I think I watched around 5 or 6 episodes of naruto while ironing. bleh. Okie, byez, people!

Regularly Random

Let's see. Where shld I start? Lots to blog abt today.

Hmm. For starters, results for respi in-course assessment came out yesterday. I did fine, it was so much better than cvs, which was a hell of a paper. I'm so glad that I did okay, altho I was really busy with orientation then. *phew*

Apparently lots of ppl did well too this time. A mind-blowing total of 73 ppl got A and only 21 failed. That's considered a good record for our batch. yeap, there you have it.

Must work hard for haemato this time, as I've no excuses like busy with orientation stuff etc to bluff my way around. hehe. Altho lectures for haemato are fewer, there are still lots of stuff to read up on. aikz. ~Gambate to self~

Oh ya, the AIR topic this time is damn difficult too. It's not like the usual summarizing-an-article-sort, which is easy. This one, we hvta find our resources ourselves. And extra-nodal lymphoma is not a topic by itself, which makes it harder to research. Aih, will find a way somehow.

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Oh ya, last night during dinner, suddenly we beria-ria decided to go watch movie after that. In the end, we decided to watch Meet The Robinsons.

yeap, these ppl are the quirky Robinsons

I wonder if Dr. Graham Robinson are related to them. :P Just kidding of coz. haha.

Anyway, the movie started off with a weird old cartoon from walt disney showing mickey mouse and his koncos. I was rather surprised by it and tot that we went into the wrong cinema. Imho, I think that that introduction was rather laggy and boring. Cudnt concentrate on those old cartoons. Am I getting too old too fast? Or is my taste in shows getting a tad too sophisticated? lol.

Well, after a looong boring slip of cartoon showing mickey and crew acting silly, they finally started the movie. Which luckily was really NICE~! I'd recommend you guys to go watch it... it's one of the nicest movies I've seen in a long time. And tell you what, no vulgarities or obsence stuff too! Just plain clean fun. =) Suited for family viewing since it's a cartoon. There was a kid at the back giggling at everything during the movie. We giggled at the kid in the end. blek. :P

And as always, disney movies are feel good movies. There's always a moral story at the end. Which I likey~ I like to feel good! ^v^ hehe. I always love movies where you can piece all the jigsaw pieces in the end. A must watch!

Oh ya, I really hontoni want to watch Just Follow Law too, starring Fann Wong and Gurmit Sing. I alwiz love Jack Neo's films. Coz I can relate to it. yeap!

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There is no way celebrations can ever exclude eating. Altho we weren't exactly celebrating anything, we had a good dinner at Pizza Hut today. We ordered the set meal [1 large & 1 regular pizza, breadsticks, 1 bowl of mushroom soup each, and unlimited pepsi] and were really full at the end. Cheesy crust is nice! *yummy!* Love the sprinkled cheese! hehe. (can you see that I'm a cheese person? lol)

And yesh, tmr morning, we're gonna have dim sum for breakfast! Woohoo~ It's been a long time since we went. But hvta wake up early, since we're going at 8am. aikz. Hope I can wake up in time. I'm so not a morning person. Totally nocturnal. hehe.

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Heroes is nice! I am at episode 4 now. But there are a few gory parts. Really must get used to watching ppl getting mutilated. o.O Gonna be facing REAL cases at the A&E department in the future. yeah.

Okie, I think it's time to go now... Today wasn't really productive in terms of studies. Well at least I swam for an hour today. Gotta exercise more. Have been swimming at least twice a week recently. Good!

Right. Ciaoz peeps! And before I forget, beware coz tmr is April Fool~! :P

To Brighten Up Your Day...

...I have chosen a few funny icons to put up here. Actually there are more, but apparently I've exceeded my limit for photobucket wo. Will put up the rest next time ya! lol. yeah, I got these cute farny icons from photobucket. Go check it out!

Funny, right? :P Hope this managed to put a smile on your faces. =) Toodles!

Prevail I Will

As the feelings of anger die away, they were slowly replaced by feelings of gratefulness. That it wasn't worse. It is a bad situation, but defintely cud have been worse.

Just read a post on a fren's blog. Now, that's what I call bad. Cheated by someone you loved.

Anyway, I'm going to put this behind me. Although it isn't resolved yet, I'll try not to let these petty things affect me. I must prevail. I will prevail. yeah.

Oh, btw, I'm glad that I've so many frens that are indignant on my behalf. That alone is worth every ounce of anger I felt. =)

When life throws you a lemon, might as well make some iced-lemonade, yeah? ^v^

Right. The crazy life of a medical student goes on. Time to hit those books! Lots of stuff to do...

Difficult PBLs, complicated CSUs, hard topic for AIR, practice for OSCE etc. The list is loooong. Gotta get to work! Ciaoz, peeps!

PS: Oh ya. This site is absolutely marvellous. They stream so many cool shows! Definitely a must try! I'm currently watching Heroes Episode 2. Yayz~!

You Wish

Previous post was deleted. If you got to read it, lucky you. Those that didn't, you are luckier. (don't really think you wanna know abt the contents of that post)

But I'm still pissed off. *insert angry face emoticon*

Anyway, if you are really REALLY concerned abt me, you can come and talk to me lah...

Right. Shld be studying now instead of thinking abt this nonsense. Waste my brain cells only. Bleh.

More Artworks Using Photoshop (Part II)

Well, peeps, once again it's time to serve you guys some servings of my latest art creations! Specially made for computer backdrops!

(btw, I did not made this from scratch, just modified some artworks I found on DevianArt...)

You are free to used it for your own! Just leave a comment to make my day okay! Right, time to feast your eyes! ^v^

The Phoenix is Reborn~

Those who have seen my past works might have rmbed seeing smtg like this. Yesh, I modified it from an older artwork (coz eley wanted it like this). hehe.

Venturing Beyond in a Waterlily Pond

Looks familiar again? I modified it from those backdrops that usually comes with your comp. Doesn't it look nicer this way? :P

Blossoming in Surreal Reality

Glow From Within

Through Heaven's Eyes

Imagine this, looking up at heaven while swimming underwater among beautiful jewels.

Sparkle only from deep down the Heart <3

Do you know of The Other Side?

Looks familiar? I used this for my other blog's header. Like the opposite colours (black & white)... esp the pink background!

Catching Dreams

Listen to the Underwater Rhapsody~

Right, that's all for now, folks. Took a long time to made those. My personal favourites are the last two. ^o^ Comments and constructive criticism greatly welcomed.

For those who are new, click here to see some of my older works i.e. Part 1~! =)

Okay, till next time! Hope you enjoyed them...! Ciaoz~!

PBLs & CSUs

Shld be doing something, actually anything remotely useful now but can't seem to find the energy to do anything of the sort. Except laze about, of coz. haha.

Well, woke up damn early yesterday morning for our own 1st extra csu session. (hey, mock OSCE is in 3 weeks' time leh, must practice or sure die!) And it definitely wasn't a good predictor had we not choose to practice beforehand.

First of all, thanks to Li Shan, the senior who came to guide us. Without her, we'd totally been LOST! aikz. All the knowledge that we'd learnt all this while seemed to have sipped away unawares. Besides, the difficult thing is tat we're all taught by different lecturers which hav different preferences in doing the physical examination... not to mention the different things tat were left out during the teaching sessions. blah.

Anyway, it was a really informative session, learnt lots!! Definitely need to have a few more sessions to make sure that I know my stuff well enough to answer the lecturers' Qs. Yikes! Must do well in OSCE coz I'm afraid tat they will make it stand alone during my time. (meaning if fail either 1 paper consider fail ade) o.O

Oh ya, need to thank Eugene too for offering to be our SP. =) Really helpful and knowledgable SP he is. haha.

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Then, there was PBL. Which was a disaster in imho. =( Unfortunately, I was leader for this week's trigger. And I knew hvta "chap sang" (cantonese for save myself) this week coz the scenario below often happens.

Leader: Okay, let's talk abt the pathophysiology of systemic lupus erytematous SLE). Anyone?
*silence till can hear a pin drop* [yesh I'm exaggerating but still... -_-"]
Leader: Erm... Right. I'll talk abt the pathophysio then. Well, SLE is an autoimmune disease...

Yeah, so that's what happened yesterday. For almost every learning issue. Normally, there are a few individuals who are quite willing to help the leader out, but today, some of them seemed to have been hibernating (for certain reasons, I'm not blaming anyone okay).

Anyway, at least there were some ppl who tried to help, so I'm grateful. =) Some ppl are really smart, they can figure out stuff by themselves. I think that's so cool, I wish I can be like tat. To do that, well, back to the same old thing, I need to study more lo and rmb what I learnt... aikz.

Sometimes I wonder why some ppl do not want to share what they'd read or found out with others. They prefer to keep their mouths shut, listening to others talk. I tot that PBL is for learning together? yeah, right.

Sadly, I've almost given up all hopes on PBL since sometime ago. After so many untoward incidents. Bah. But I still remain hopeful for the future. ^v^ Now I use PBL to read up on stuff, as long as I do my part, sharing what I know with others, I consider my work done. I've fulfilled my responsiblilites as a PBL mate. Yeah.

sings: With PBLs and CSUs and accents we don't understand, it hard to be in IMU...

Don't understand? Watch a really cool video in the post below! (created by my seniors) Cheers!

All about IMU (Ball song)

All you need to know abt life in IMU... lol~

A General State of Things

Well, haemato has been okay so far.. I like Dr. Ammu's lectures coz she's very organized.

Dunno why, feel tat haemato is the 1st system that I can really sit down and take a breather. And relax a bit. And study a bit more consistently. Coz for the past 2 systems (cvs and respi), have been really busy with extra-curricular activities, so much so tat I've reverted then to my old and bad habit of studying at the last minute. yeah.

Anyway, was just back from csu 1. Was not bad. But not really sure how do enlarged lymph nodes feel like, so kinda dunno what I am feeling for! lol.

Oh ya, reminder to self: Mock OSCE in 3 weeks' time! Damn scared... coz I'm really not prepared for it. My physical exam skills are not really good. Must practice more... anyone willing to volunteer to be my SP? haha.

Okla, gotta go now. Have PBL tmr and I haven't start preparing. (Is the patient suffering from megaloblastic anaemia??) Will find out soon after some reading up.

Right. I'm signing off. Not so free to update so often these days. *sigh*

PS: See the new thingy at my sidebar titled "Your Choice"? Pls be nice and click on those links! Honesty is good! Btw, whoever who was the 1st one to choose the adjectives really knows me well. Thks!

PPS: Hmm. Am still trying to keep to my resolution of being kinder. (good progress, but still slip up occasionally tho) And not meddling in others' affairs too. It might not be appreciated. Besides, let them settle their own problems, right? yup.

PPPS: Oh ya, went to E-box karaoke in endah parade on tuesday night. Was fun... but a bit rusty coz so long didn't sing ade. And the service isn't tat good now, wonder why. And still wondering if I shld take part in the singing comp in May. Wondering if I'm good enuf. Don't really want rotten eggs thrown at me eh. haha.

PPPPS: Did you notice tat the funny names for my comments suit the system that I'm doing currently? eg. For cvs, it was x little hearts. For respi, it was x puffs of breaths. For haemato, I have chosen x red blood cells. I wonder what I'll put when it comes to repro. LOL!

The Exam & Its Post-Celebrations

Yup! Finally respi exam is over and done with. *Phew* Next is haemato.. Busy busy life eh?

Hmm. The respi exam was okay, I guess. But definitely could have done better if I'd more time to do a bit more revision. I didn't finish my usual glance-over-and-flip-page sort-of-revision. Which was a pity coz I cudnt rmb what sort of drug was acetylcysteine... And it was a mucolytic. And I did know the mechanism of a mucolytic. Aikz. 2 marks gone even when I know the answer. Blek.

Then I got confused btw which pathway that aspirin blocks! *arggh* And wrote the wrong pathway (I wrote block lipoxygenase pathway, shld be cycloxygense pathway). Shld have tot abt the fact that leukotrienes were the slow-acting substance of anaphylasis ma. Alamak. Don't think the lecturer wud give marks even tho the concept is correct. 3 marks gone again.

And all of this plus some others I definitely cud have answered properly had I had just 1 extra hour to go thru the whole system thru my way of revision. Yeah, I know. I was procastinating the night before, coz I knew that I defintely cud cover all my notes at least once. Which made me lack the oomph to slog on. Blek.

And the 1st ospe question was hard. Histology came out!! Funfun, never say never okay, now you see, histology came out ade, and I dunno what sort of cancer is it! Aikz. Got it wrong. It was squamous cell carcinoma and I wrote adenocarcinoma. Erm, didn't really cover that topic well enuf. Shld have read up abt that more, sigh.

The objective questions were tricky as usual. Same thing applies here, cud have done better if I'd time to go thru it all.. Didn't know tat nasopharyngeal cancer is more prevalent in those of chinese descent.

Paiseh, have been using super medical terminology in my past few paragraphs. Frens who don't understand, just ignore all the BIG BIG words ya. Hehe.

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Okay, back to normal talk. After the exam, we went to The Curve to celebrate Lishan or meow's birthday. We had a very late lunch at Sakae Sushi coz we cudn't decide where to eat. I had Chicken Katsu Don, which was really tasty! Loved it! *yumyum* Then, there was the bday cake, Cheese Oreo from Secret Recipe. Nice.

After that we went for a lil window shopping. There was this shop called Cocobeach which sells nice accessories. After a lot of choosing [sorry for making you guys wait, I cudnt make up my mind], finally bought a lovely ring. Really shiny, bling alert! haha. But the time to shop was too short lah. I like to pamper myself a lil after so much slogging. hehe.

Here's the ring I bought. Nice, right? ^v^ *bling bling*

Then, it was time to go home. Coz the guys have a 3 day long aikido seminar to attend. Erm, I didn't go becoz I was lazy. hehe.

Went for a swim alone that evening. Sometimes it's nice to go by myself, as I can just swim with my own thoughts. Serenity. Was a nice almost-full 1 hour workout. Will go more often in the future! hoho.

Oh ya, can you believe this? I cooked dinner for Suewen and Leong~! =) Okay, Suewen helped too. (scared tat afterwards she scold me for not crediting her for stirring the sauce, lol) And managed to get both of them to help with the chopping and slicing of some of the ingredients. haha. Finally get to see Leong do hsework. :P

Oops, forgot to mention what we cooked. I cooked my own recipe of spaghetti~! Was quite nice since we put in lots of ingredients esp vege! ^v^ Healthy leh.. [Aiya, forgot to take a pic. Nvm, next time lah.] Since self-praise is no praise, well at least both of them say PASS! hehe.

Since the night was still young, we went to Suewen's hse later. I played O2jam using her comp, damn fun. So long didn't play ade! Leong was considered really good as it was his 1st time trying out the game.

I'm addicted to O2jam! It's super fun!

After that, they forced me to play mahjong since they needed at least 3 kakis. But I was unusually reluctant as my eyes were tired and was a bit addicted to o2jam ade. lol. But relented in the end. :P Luckily the other guys came back soon and took my place. I went back around 2am coz the connection wasn't working so cudn't play ade and I was kinda tired out. What to do, old ade ma, haha. Can you believe that the rest of the gang played till 8am in the morning? Omg!!

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On to saturday. The gang had lunch at Kopitiam, one of my fav food outlets around in Sri Petaling. The food served was tasty but not too expensive. Had a really filling lunch... Then it was time for the guys to go to the seminar again. I went back home and cleaned up my room and toilet throughly. Yayz!

Then, spend the rest of the whole afternoon making new backdrops. (a blog post showing my recent creations will be up soon! stay tuned!) Super long didn't make all this stuff ade lo.. hoho. Around late evening, the guys were back so we went to endah parade for dinner. I had the cheese-baked rice at ayamas. Wasn't really nice, I think their normal sets are better. After dinner, we went grocery shopping at carrefour.

After that, we made a sudden decision to go watch midnight movie at sunway. Bridge of Terabithia was our choice, but alas, when we reached, it was sold out. Settled for Ghostrider in the end, altho reviews of it weren't good. And yes, it was true. The movie sucks. Totally. The storyline was mostly lame most of the time. Only the graphics were passable. But seriously, the director cud have done a better job, coz the movie did have potential.

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Lastly was Sunday. Woke up quite late. Went out paktoh-ing with the bf... super long didn't go out with him ade. haha. We went to Sunway to have lunch then catch a movie. Had lunch at one of my fav places again, Kim Gary!! I had my fav cheese-baked riced with fish fillet set! (yesh, again, haha) While my dear had his fav nissin noddles. The food here is really really nice!! Hontoni!

Poster for said movie. Quite mysterious looking.

After a really filling lunch, we went to watch Bridge of Terabithia. It was not bad. More storyline driven than relying on graphics. Coz it was so-so only in the latter department. The girl playing Leslie is cute! She's really pretty, looked like a younger and meatier version of Keira Knightly, nice! And the younger girl was kawaii too... not bad. Unfortunately, the main character playing the guy, Jess was a bit "kayu" at acting. Anyway, this movie is worth watching over Ghostrider as the storyline is not bad, and there are a few emotional scenes. So get ready your tissues, girls! haha.

Isn't she pretty? And the dog is cute too...

After that, it was time to go home. Went for dinner with the gang again, at this hawker store in Sri Petaling. The chinese ramen there is really nice. Pity my stomach wasn't feeling well, probably had been too greedy. haha. Spend the rest of the night ironing my moutainous pile of clothes while waiting for Death Note 1 to stream on my comp. It's a really cool movie! Totally loved the mystery part of it! Suspense! haha.

Kira is so cool! But went power crazy in the end. L is totally creepy! Looked like a vampire!

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Wow, you managed to read this long long post till the very end. I'm impressed. Kudos for making it this far. lol. Okla, I think that's all for now. Watch out for more updates in the near future!

Haematology is here! o.O As always, keep the fire burning brightly inside, girl~! ^v^ Gambate!

Figurately Sick

Sometimes I absolutely HATE myself.

There's this character flaw in me that I can't cant seemed to change a tiny bit. Even tho I'm rather aware of it.

You see, I have this terrible tendency to blurt things out without thinking. Stupid stupid stupid! *slaps self* Altho most of those things I say are true, but the tone which I used to say it, it's just not good! Why do I always sound sarcastic when I don't mean it...

My brain just can't seem to process speech abt whether it's approriate to say it onot at that certain time, certain place with the certain ppl around you. Why why why? I really dunno.

I'm really getting sick of this. Sick of myself.

Ppl always misunderstood me, they always think that I'm being sarcastic when sometimes what I wanna do is no more than state the truth. That's all. No hidden meaning behind my words.

And who is to blame? Myself. I should say things appropriately. I should convey whatever meaning I want correctly. And not get too caught up in the situation and say wrong silly things.

Why am I emo-ing at a time like this? I'm having respi exam tmr too (and it's a bleak situation there too! sigh).

Coz I just did that stupid silly mistake again just now. Yes, again.

When will I ever change?

It's true, character is hard to change. I'm so sick of myself now. *shyt*

PS: Pls don't be surprised if I talk lesser in the near future ya. Since I can't talk appropriately, might as well cut down on speech. I'm so afraid of making others unhappy just becoz I said the wrong things.

Optical Illusion

This post is just to allievate my sien-ness while studying.

(cue to scream: I'm soooo dead for this coming respi exam!)

Erm, don't bother abt the other crazy me. I tend to go bonkers near exams, blek. Anyway, below are some pics which I found while reading my email. Take a closer look at them.

Wow. The opposite reflection of Teach is Learn. Well, there must be someone to learn when another teaches. Or else there's no point, isn't it? Figures.

So what do you see in this pic then? I'm pretty sure you're able to spot the word Me. But look closely again, inside the word me is You. Interesting, isn't it?

Okay, you saw the word Optical. See anything else? This one is harder. Yes, the background shows the word Illusion. Really an "optical illusion", huh?

This one is my fav. On first look, you probably spotted only the word Good in black. But if you looked again, the word Evil is inside it. Figures that Good and Evil are opposites sides of the coin.

Fine fine, you might think this post is lame (i secretly think so too, blek). But I'm really sien, that's all. And the fact that my unique hits are at days still below 20 unique hits [there goes my money for adverts, sigh!] so probably need a new post to keep up the fight! Haik~!

*crosses fingers for exam and money from adverts! haha*

PS: Psst! I've added a little smtg to my sidebar. It's titled Your Choice. And the choice is between praising me or dissing me. Don't understand? Click and you will know. (have i aroused your curiosity enough?) Honesty is much appreciated. Thks! ^o^

PPS: Am proud of myself. Coz I managed to refrain from saying smtg mean yesterday altho he totally deserved it. I must not interfere with others' matters so much, altho my only intention is to defend my fren.

Kindness vs Selfishness

Sometimes, it's times like this when you can see the kindness of people. When they willingly sacrifice their own pleasure/time just to help others. *shiny eyes* And it's also times like this when the selfishness of human nature rears its ugly head even more apparently.

The world sure is made up of many different kinds of people eh?

Don't ask me why I'm suddenly blogging abt this. Was just thinking back on some things that happened recently. Hmm.

Well, if that's the case, may I pray that I'll always be surrounded by people who are kind. This wish sounds selfish, but I assure you, I'll try my best to be kinder as well. ^v^ It's one of my resolutions for 2007. [that reminds me, i haven't write down my list of resolutions for 2007 and it's almost half pass march ade, blek]

Okay, this is just another thought-in-mind-and-I-hvta-blog post. I'll definitely blog abt orientation and esp varity nite in another post soon. (besides i haven't got the pics yet!)

Ciaoz peeps!

PS: Respi exam on coming friday and I'm so dead! shyt, haven't been studying consistently due to orientation. *sigh* There is no room for failure!! NOOO...!!

Progress = 100%

Yayz! The backdrop is finally UP~! And it looks totally chun!! Woohoo~! 6 weeks of hard work. *sigh of relief*

I can't believe that we took around 4 hours just to put it up. Many thanks to those who came to help! ^o^ Without you guys, we wouldn't have been able to put it up, esp since I'm quite vertically challenged. hehe.

Anyway, I can't post the pic up now coz it's not with me. Will definitely do it when I get my hands on the pic! haha. It feels abit surreal to be looking at it, thinking that finally our masterpiece is on display.

To think of the blood, the tears, the sweat that went into making this. I think we went a bit overboard with the design. Imo, it might be even be a bit too distracting. lol.

One IMCC said: "Wow, the backdrop is nice! Oh my, the ppl are gonna look at it, instead of me."

lol. Funny guy "girl". :P

Anyway, gotta go now. Kinda busy these days. Rushing up and down. aikz.

Well, tonight is the night - Variety Night, which is one of the coolest activities in the whole week of orientation~! =) I just can't wait!!

Blogging Safely

Edited- Blog, short for weblog, is an emerging form of medium used primarily for dissipating information.

The main thing that differentiates all the many blogs out there from each other is what sort of information that is contained in said blog.

Some blog about political issues. Some rant about how lousy their jobs/spouses are. Some bimbos write abt where to find the most fashionable stuff. Some blog abt their boring dreary lives. But I think a lot of ppl use their blogs as an outlet for expression of the strong emotions they are going thru at certain in their lives [hence the url name for this blog].

In most cases, they would not want others to find out abt their deepest darkest-most thoughts. But all is not safe in the cyberworld.

You need a certain amount knowledge abt how the bloggersphere works b4 attempting to do that.

Behold, my list of blogging to-dos or don'ts.

• For one, you shld know that writing certain ppl's names in your blog is a big no-no as search engines (eg, technorati) are acts of miracles nowadays. Just a few clicks and you can land on someone-that-you-personally-know's blog. I find ppl landing on my blog all the time by searching the names of ppl I mentioned on my blog.

• Secondly, if you are the proud owner of more than one blog, beware. For blogger, your profile will display ALL the blogs you own. So anyone a bit more kaypo can access to your other blogs that you never intend to show to anyone. Of coz, there is the option of making your blog "hidden" in your profile. Which I had done for this blog in light of me joining the m106 blog. No point making my senseless rambles known to the whole wide world. Tho of coz, I still take precaution not to write any degrading, humiliating, personal stuff that I'd not want others to know. Coz you never know. Better to be safe than sorry. (i was careless last time, but now i know)

• Thirdly, appreciate the power of links. Even one friend that knows abt your blog and linking your blog with your real name is enuf to cause havoc. Make sure those who know about your blog link it with your nickname or better still, don't link it at all. Oh ya, getting a nonsensical nickname is advisable. (dont want others to guess who you are straightaway even when they managed to enter your secret blog, right?)

• And yes, one more thing abt links. Besides not letting others link to you, you yourself shouldn't link to other ppl you know too. Coz they will be able to find you thru sites that find blogs who link to them. So you know lah.. They might be able to guess your identity after sometime eh. Beware!

• Still paranoid? Then password protecting your blog and entries is the way for you! Sadly, blogger doesn't offer this option yet. But there are other ways using html codes to help you do that. I'm still researching this but then most of my posts are rather public anyway, so doesn't matter for now. ^v^

Okay, I think this post shld be useful to at least some of my frenz. Of coz, the best way to not let other ppl know is to DON'T BLOG ABOUT IT lo. Duh.

After reading this, I hope that you shall be able to drive blog safely now. I shall bade my farewell~ Ciaoz!

PS: Treasure hunt tonite. Backdrop progress almost reaching 100%. Will finish up the last stuff tmr morning then hang it up after class tmr! I can't wait to see the end result after spending SO much time on it! It better be nice~! hehe...

Nuffnang

Okay. I had sold out! lol. Just kidding. (no no, this is called "blogger compensation")

I rmb those days where I was a little too apprehensive of trying out those advertistments on blogs-thingy. But today I've put away my fear when I read Jolene's blog on this new service called Nuffnang. It's apparently Asia's First Blog Advertising Community.

It sounded so promising and exciting that I had conquered my fear and signed up for it. So the ads would probably be up in a week or so. (they hvta monitor my daily unique hits for a week first! must be over 20 each day wo... so ppl, you know what to do! hehe)

Anyway, click here if you want to get started now! Bloggers and money advertisers are a match in heaven~ lalala... lol. Do try it out now! ^o^

Loneliness...

...is something that everyone of us would experience at different times of our lives.

It isn't exactly the nicest feeling in the world. A lot of people would go to crazy extremes just to shun it. But most ways to avoid it isn't effective at all, all it does is just shove the feeling aside for maybe a few hours. But after all the booze drinking and the partying, when you are all alone sitting in your house wondering how you got so drunk, the same feeling will overwhelm you once again in major bouts.

Some ppl try to convince themselves that they are not lonely by pouring all their energies into work. But at least it's smtg productive, compared to the clubbing scenario given above. But at the end of the day, they will have lots of money but still be lonely.

I'm a lucky person, I guess. Loneliness wasn't something that I had to deal with till recently.

I seemed to have forgotten how to be alone but not lonely.

Yes, yes I know the proverb - No man is an island. (And it applies to women too btw. -.-") Anyway, as humans, we definitely need to socialize, talk to other ppl etc. But let me tell you this, there are times when we need to learn how to be alone.

I used to be totally fine being on my own. I didn't really understand when ppl say they were lonely. I'd figure ways to spend time, either by reading storybooks or watching movies on my own. Or some other way to amuse myself lah.

But nowadays, "alone me time" is hard to come by, so when it does, I feel uneasy. Weird, even.

That is certainly not a healthy sign. Guess it's time I try to remember how to manage to be alone AND happy again.

Becoz the road ahead is not smooth at all. There are many obstacles. There will be definitely be times where I'll hvta be alone, on my own, in a foreign land, far far away from everything and everyone I've ever known.

I need to be strong. I need to re-learn how to do that soon. Pray that I'll manage to go thru this...

Just Thanks

Having PBL later so this will be a short post.

Just wanna say a big THANKS to those who came to help for the backdrop on wednesday!! (following the plea for help by our lovely batch rep, Kajen)

At least 20 ppl came, I think. So the work which would originally take us maybe 2 whole days to do was done in only 2 hours!! Really great~! We managed to finish the work for the whole wording in that short period of 2 hours... Really geng, the power of unity! ^v^

Hmm. So now there's only some work left on adding the glitter part and the phoenix. It looks really chun after we added the glitter! Nice! So we definitely can finish in time. Just hope to finish it asap so that we'll have some time to get our studies in order.

Okay lah. That's all for now. I'll definitely post up pics of it when we hang it up next thursday. Cya guys! =)

PS: and special thks to Swarna who drove out to help buy aluminium foil and double-sided tape.