M.acabre S.cary K.ill

Busy with a humongous big ass B. Up to my neck in notes. Often procrastinated with Zuma Deluxe and reading my left-for-very-long-untouched-till-now storybooks. Didn't use much of the internet in uni because just too busy. Studying. Chilling in mamak. Lectures.

I think you get the drift how my past few days has been. Even though they were done in that abstract and oh-so-cool-hey-let's-keep-punctuating format.

(btw I just noticed that becoz I was so busy and internetless that I never bothered to change my comments to be associated with the musculoskeletal system, which lemme tell ya - it ain't no easy shyt! - lol why am I now trying to sound like some Texan cowboy)

Anyway, I digressed.

MSK exam is tomorrow. Yikes? Totally. Am I ready? NO!

And I believed I have already tried my best to be the studious person a medical student should be these past few weeks. No going out for movies - have been in bukit jalil and around for so long ARRGH that it's starting to get on my nerves. And only went out shopping once and also with a guilty heart but I really needed to get my prom dress earlier ma… No internet at my command at my comfy home so can't procrastinate much with that. Thank god in an ironic way. Relaxed with Zuma and storybooks as mentioned earlier.

God can I be more nerdy??? ='(

My blog is so dead that probably nobody is going to read this coz they think I'll update after the exam. I hate this. I miss blogging. The next time I look back at this period, it shall be a blank 4 months filled with only countless hair-pulling rants. What a way to rmb the last few months here. *sigh*

Oh right. I shld be studying eh. Sorry, one's gotta survive so let's get back to those notes.

*gives them a dirty glare*

I'm so not looking forward to CNS next week. blah. As usual, wish me luck for the exam tomorrow! Am gonna need it..!! Ciaoz!

PS: They were shooting Qs at each other during mamak last night and omg so many I dunno how to answer.. and I knew I read those notes before. =/

PPS: oh yes, the post's title stands for msk :P It's gonna be one big monster kill alright.

Adaptation

*looks at previous few posts*

Wow, looks like I'm gonna be blogging at a rate of one post per week for the next few months. That's a real lousy rate by my usual standards.

I miss watching my usual dose of anime (Bleach! Naruto Shippudden! D-Gray Man etc)! I miss reading my daily dose of blogposts! but if I were to think carefully, in the long run, my no-ready-internet-at-hand-state can be a real life saver as this frees up alot of time for me to study procastinate.

Oh well, I can probably slowly and painstakingly catch up with my feeds at bloglines when I am back home. (I think it probably might have run into the thousands then! yikes!) The same goes for the anime. It's not gonna go anywhere anyway.

*eyes wide open at what I am typing - is this the same zzzyun a few weeks ago?*

Oh ya, today is the 2nd day of msk where I don't have something in the morning. Can you believe it? So for once, I am able to relax back home before heading here. So I guess my mood is relatively better now. hehe.

And I think I have been hit by writer's block. There's nothing glamorous or interesting in the life of a 3rd year medical student. So what gives?

I shall take my leave now. Till then, may the power be with boring medical students. huhu~

The Emotions And The Physical

Classes started at 8am today. Followed by helping out for our food fair which spanned a length of 4 hours.

I am dead exhausted.

But I can't go home yet coz I need to use the internet here to do my AIR topic which is due this friday. Aihs I really hate it when I hvta depend on the uni's internet for my usual online quota. Which I hate to say, have greatly decreased in the past 3 weeks. I declare that I've officially been weaned off my addiction to the internet.

Nowadays, I can go without surfing the net for a few days (it would have been a total miracle a few months back), depending on how busy I am on those days. My bloglines feeds are piling sky high and I don't have the time to read them properly. *sigh*

Anyway, the food fair went okay I guess. Our stall was selling something like kebab, but consisting of sotong ball, cucumber, sausages and crabstick. Sales were so-so only coz the price was slightly expensive at first and normally ppl would want smtg more filling or special.

Oh well, we did our best. Cucuking the stuff was fun! I made so many sticks hehe. yeah there were quite a few leftovers, so I'm gonna go home now and reheat them then bring it for my friends to eat during dinner. well the guys do often complain of how hungry they are anyway lol.

Okay time to go! I really wish I have more time to update my blog with more meaningful posts. I guess I gotta wait till after my big exam this early july.

Alrighty, time to ciao! =)

PS: As they always say, when you do something good for others, one shouldn't expect something in return. And I didn't. But guess what I got? Distrust and false accusations. blah. I am sick of it.

Stretching The Limits

Hi guys! I'm back again. *mumbles* I foresee many of my future posts starting with this phrase lol. What to do, sem 5 has the worse timetable EVER, if you ask me.

PBL starts at an almost ungodly hour of 8.30 am. Can you believe it?? And nowadays every morning, we hvta wake up early for briefings/labs and what nots. And our daily lectures are from 4 to 6.30 pm. YES, we are forced to be in uni from morning till evening. My body and brain is seriously dying from overuse. >.<

But I think I'm coping slightly better this week. Suffering toughens up the mind and body, so they say. huhu.

So what's new this time around? (yes I foresee alot of my posts to be about updates also lar)

Let's see, elections have come and gone. And the results are nothing short of stunning!! I seriously cannot believe it that the opposition has managed to get 5 states (perak, kelantan, penang, selangor, kedah) and managed to deny BN from getting a two-thirds majority.

Penang is under DAP now!!

Nothing is impossible now, ain't it?

Btw, the tv news abt the elections really sucked. Their updates were so super slow. I could get more info from phone calls than it. bah.

Anyway, I guess this shows that malaysians have finally awaken from their shell and are finally ready to show their voice. This is really one of those times I can feel the unityness among malaysians. I feel glad that for once, is it not always about race. Can you feel the pride of being a malaysian? =)

BN is still the ruling party so they still have one more shot at proving to the ppl that they are able to give to the ppl what they really want. As I always say, with competition comes progress! Let's see if they can do a better job this time around.

I shall end it here coz I have a photoshoot for my convo mag profile pic soon and I don't want to get into trouble for causing pollitical dissent. lol.

Alrighty, toodles for now!

Hating That "To Do" List

As the song "Untitled" by Simple Plan plays on in the background, I sit here staring at the computer screen, thinking how apt the black hopeless atmosphere of the song clearly suits my mood now.

Sometimes when I think back, the past was much easier. Don't you think so? We had less worries and fears when we were younger. Nowadays, all I can think about is my studies and my other responsibilities. Every day is a "to do" list. And that sucks.

In the cover of the black night, I feel vulnerable. And emotionally weak. I used to think that I was a strong person mentally, but I guess it just shows that it all just depends on how much one can take before one breaks.

It might not be much to some people but all this stress is killing me up inside. I feel like I wanna curl up into a ball and sleep the night away. But I can't. I got pbl to prepare for. I got notes to read up on. People to cheer up and comfort. Lectures which I don't understand due to the high-speed rattling of the lecturer to catch up on. Responsibilites to fulfill.

But my brain and body just ain't cooperating.

Nowadays, we seemed to be dealing with stress in a weird way. After being awake for too long, I tend to go into a cloud of spouting nonsense. My friends can attest to that, the way I have been acting during the dinners these few days. Don't worry, I haven't been acting too crazy to warrant arrest as of yet, but heck, I'm dealing it by laughing maniacally. Laughter is still the best medicine eh?

Well, at least this rant seemed to make more sense than the few previous ones. I guess my fluidity in writing comes when I’m inspired emotionally. Weird.

Now, would you please excuse me? I need to go exercise those lacrimal glands of mine.

Stress Mounting

Omg I have abandoned my bloggy for so long that I can't help but apologize, but really - I have been horribly busy the past few days. And I see many more such days ahead. *sigh* =(

Expect more nonsensical rambly posts by me up ahead lol.

Anyway, here's a fast update (have CSU later aikz):

Sunday: It was my first time that I went to MEET THE PARENTS *major gasp* and boy was I nervous! And they were rather quiet too.. which put everyone in a relatively silent and awkward dinner. haha.. Anyway, the dinner was very luxurious! My first time eating abalone and real shark fin soup! woots! (sry lah, before this no money and not really into eating seafood ma..) but if you ask me, the much exclaimed abt delicacies weren't worth the money spent huhu~

Sigh I'm so lazy to blog these days. I have tonnes of things to say abt the dinner but my brain and hands doesn't seem to be working in synchrony. blah.

Whatever, will add later if I see fit. >.<

Monday: Start of new sem! Can't believe I'm a 3rd year medical student now~ woo. And tell you what, MSK (musculoskeletal system) is horribly difficult! I'm only 2 days into lectures/pbl and I already feel burdeoned by the stack of work beckoning to me. AHHH! Oh ya, we finally went to the long-ago-planned steamboat dinner in Yuen in sunway. The varieties are definitely more! lurve the food and icecream!! hehe..

Tuesday: Rushing for super crazy early pbl and convo mag meeting and trying to get my ECA form in order. Don't forget the lectures too. Was half dead by the time I got home. I am really not an early morning person lahh..

Wednesday: Which is today. Hvta go for early briefing on the matching process. And I'm still not sure abt my choices for the pms matching! aihs.. And later there will be csu and then 2 lectures.

It's only been 3 days and I want back my break.

I hate this life. *stressed*

Somewhere Between Boring & Interesting

Hi guys! I'm back again! It's been quite a long time eh... what to do, I don't really have much inspiration to blog using the library's computer.. which is what I'm doing now. so expect a boring post ahead, I hope not.

Anyway, my past few days has been pretty interesting.

Me and the bf went for our belated V-Day celebration which I shall blog abt in a later post. And the gifts are soooo cute! Anticipate that! keke..

And my cousin has just started the medicine course at my uni so yeah, I brought his family around for the past few days. They went back yesterday, after getting him thoroughly settled and everything. Lucky kid.

I brought them to nearby hawker stalls and helped them carry some furniture - with the help of the bf too - which hopefully they will bring some good comments back to the ears of my parents. :P I also guided and answered the numerous Qs of my cousin. Farny, ain't it? He reminds me of the feeling of having to get used to a new place and new ppl again. I'm sure that feeling will come again in no time soon. *sigh PMS sigh* I certainly remember the feeling of loneliness during my first sem here. I'm really gonna miss my frenz here...

Anyway, on sunday night, we went to another uncle's house for steamboat! Yummy~ Homecooked food is still the best! Hehe so cute, the bf went too and brought them a watermelon as he thinks that watermelon is the best fruit to be eaten after the heaty steamboat. (but got ppl bring watermelon to ppl's hse wan meh? as a first time visit gift :P)

Well, I guess that's abt how 'interesting' it could get these few days. It's still holidays ma for my batch.. But no fear, tomorrow is PuiFun's birthday and we're doing something! (nope, it's a surprise!)

So here's an early shoutout: Happy Birthday, Fun Fun!! hehe..

Back To The City

Tomorrow, I'll be halfway across the peninsular again, to that concrete jungle called KL.

A place where not everything will easily fall into my hands. A place where every meal or chore has to be toiled by my own hands. But if truth were to be told, I don't really mind it that much.

Because it is also the place where I will have freedom. To me, if I had to make a choice, I would pick freedom over convenience any day.

But I hope to have the best of both worlds someday. I'll work for it! To have the money to buy my own home and furnish it any way I want! hehe..

Anyway, just to let you guys know, one of my housemates has just moved out suddenly due to certain circumstances and has taken the internet with her. *sobs* So I will be in an internet-less state for a few days. Unless I drag my lazy butt to the library lah.. lol.

Don't worry, I'll find some way to solve this crisis! (it IS a crisis for an internet addict like me okay!)

I'll still update of coz [what to do, looks like I hvta drag my butt there] but posts might be a bit slower. And why don't more of you guys commmmment?? My hits has been increasing daily but not the number of comments tho sadly. haha.

Alrighty, must comment ah! At least on the interesting posts ma.. no, this is a boring rambly post.

Okay, I take my leave here. Cya guys! The next time I'll be back in the city! ^v^

Till Now And Forever I Remember

This is another tribute to my teacher. You can read the previous entry here. And it's really sad that we never took a photo together.. *sigh*

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Today, I went to visit my beloved teacher's grave for the first time since he passed away. It was also the first time I visited the christian graveyard in Youth Park.

After stumbling upon his grave, the photo of his face plastered on the cold black marble stone seemed to bring back many memories.

Too many memories just came flashing back...

He loved telling stories of his past years. And he was a great storyteller - his face would be full of emotions and his voice's intonation would change with the pace of the story. Till now, I still rmb many bits and pieces of his wonderful stories.

It pains me now to think of the fact that he kept hidden from us the fact that he was suffering from bone cancer all this while. How long had he known? I really wished that he had let us known the truth earlier.

So I might have had the chance to be able to talk to him for one last time.

But I don't think I could bear it. When I was standing and looking at his kindly smile in the picture, tears had already started filling my eyes. I think I'd have broken down in front of his bed.

I don't think that I could bear that one of the adults that I'd admired most while I grew up was going to die. In front of my eyes. And I could do nothing abt it.

NOTHING.

It made me realised the fragilty of life. And how helpless and miniscule I was.

Then I realised why you did it, teacher. Why you didn't want us to know about your illness and continued teaching while you could. You didn't want us to suffer, right? You were your usual kindly selfless self till the end.

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Do you remember how we met, teacher? I would like to say it was Fate - you can laugh if you want - but I still believe it was Fate that brought us together.

We had always laughed together about the weird antics of the "fat girl" staying beside my house. [well she really was obese ma...and really smtg wrong in the head!] You didn't want to teach her after a few lessons, becoz you felt she was wasting your time with her weird "attention-seeking behaviour". oh yes that was what you said.

And my mum so happened to meet you while you're on the way out from her house. And after my mum enquired abt your services as a tuition teacher, the rest is history, so they say. I had known you since I was a little girl of 9.

How many years has it been since?

12 years.

Twelve years of friendship and trust. You had touched my life as I am certain the same way you had touched many others.

Till now and forever, you shall be fondly remembered in my heart. I still miss you...

Gifts With Love

Happee Valentine's Day, everyone! ^v^

Unfortunately, I won't be able to celebrate this special day "physically" with the bf this year as we are in different states at this time. Oh well, we'll get to save money as everything is crazily overpriced today anyway~ lol.

Thinking back, our first Valentine's Day was certainly a memorable one. I can't help laughing and grinning when I think abt it. It's funny how love can make one deliriously silly. hehe.

Anyway, since we won't be able to celebrate it together this year, I've decided that I shall do a post showcasing the gifts that we gave each other on our one year anniversary.

And this is what my dear dear gave me. A scrapbook + photoalbum of sorts! teehee.

isn't it elegant? and cute at the same time?

And the bear bear in the picture is strangely familiar, no? It's the very same one he gave me that came with the flowers! *pinches its cheek*

the first page

So nice right, the 2 hearts that he had drawn? =) oops some of the words had been blurred out, sowie lah, this is private stuff ma, hehe..

a collage of the cute pics inside

hehe the cartoons he drew of us so kawaii!

yeap, the scrapbook also included many of the delicious food that we had together!

guess we really are into good food! hehe

Many of the photos were taken from my blog, so a bit blur. Because so unluckily, his laptop was stolen just a few months ago. =( so everything is gone.

some of the food we cooked together yummy~ cooking with him is fun!

well this shows that we not only know how to eat, cooking it also can! huhu

The scrapbook also follows a timeline of how we were first introduced to each other, the days of getting to know each other, days of uncertain feelings, till where we are now hehe.

Attached with photos and messages detailing the events! ^v^

the days from orientation and how I first met him thru my groupmate

some ppl's faces have been blurred to stop them from killing me save their reputation

omg I'm in pyjamas! gosh o.O

nice picture of us holding hands

I decided to be creative with photoshop, guess which is the real one? Tada~ the right side one is the photoshopped version keke.

some of the memories we as a group had together

I'm gonna miss you guys a lot!!! *sniff sniff*

The photo in the bottom left corner shows us having dinner in Wang Di Mian. A shop selling different types of wantan mee in Sri Petaling.

The photo in the top right corner shows us just relaxing and talking crap, while waiting for our usual cater dinner in Keeping/Eugene's hse. I really am gonna miss those times terribly, though I didn't like the food much of the time. But it's the company that counts ma! hehe.

The photo in the bottom right shows us posing in front of the pretty Variety Night backdrop that Kee Ping, Kee and me had lovingly crafted. Took us a lot of sweat and effort! woah I still rmb those days~

Well I had only let you guys had a glimpse inside of the scrapbook he gave me. But I think it's enough ade right. =P

Okay, time for me to show you what I gave him as a one year anniversary present!

This was the little card that I made for him, nice onot??

so cute right? I am particularly fond of the heart in the envelope! nice leh?!

However, the main present I gave him is this. Words are hard to explain what is it so I'll just show you thru a few photos.

Behold, my masterpiece! *drum roll*

Are you awed yet? I amazed myself too seriously!

I guess it's called a model. Purposely made a miniature pair of us standing in a miniature basketball court. Almost everything is in 3D!

The basketball stands which hold the hoops were the most difficult to make! Tied them together with thread and glue. And I even went to the extent of googling images of the basketball court to make sure I got the pattern correct hehe. I like the effect of the orange lines on the black court. Rather striking~ The twinkling stars are cute too, right?

*rotfl* Basically to me, everything is cute lah! =D

Here's another close up pic:

what do you think? Comments puhlease!

Maybe I should have taken a course in making miniature landscapes haha..

Well, I guess that's all for today, folks. Hope you guys enjoyed this post about the gifts we gave each other that day.

Happy Valentine's Day and show them the money love! (this includes everyone wonderful around you, not only lovey dovey couples!)

Tis a money making day for many too haha! Toodles!

One Year

365 days.

8760 hours.

525,600 minutes.

31,536,000 seconds.

It all boils down to the same thing. We have finally come so far as to reach the one year mark. Sometimes when I think abt it, I still can't believe it.

[btw this post is super duper delayed becoz I was lazy so you will never know when is our anniversary! hehe]

One Year Anniversary. Even the words taste sweet in my mouth. =)

I still rmb the day when we offically became an item. Wasn't it funny how embarassed we were when our frenz saw us holding hands? That scene is deeply imprinted in my short-term-memory brain, so I shall declare it a feat indeed!

I could go on and on but oops I really shouldn't be mushy in my blog. That will certainly put off many of my readers. *shields eyes with hand and looks around* I can see some of them puking in the wastebin now.

Actually I'm just looking for an excuse to get off the hook. Coz however unrestrained I may blog abt some of my thoughts, there are still some things I prefer to keep private okay. huhu..

Anyway, I shall blog abt how we spent that memorable day then. As I am afraid one day my memory will really fail me, so I'll have some sort of journal for me to remember the past! Besides, it's fun to read back ur own old entries, right? It's like seeing youself slowly grow up then old and become more mature to the person you are today.

Digressed. Here we go.

We had something like a 2-day celebration as there wasn't enough time to do all the things we wanted to do in one night. So it started with us watching a movie the night before. oops I suddenly can't remember what movie that we watched. >.<

On the day itself, it was ngam ngam a public holiday [nah a hint for you! hehe] so we went to Sunway Pyramid for a nice dinner.

But before dinner, we decided to splurge on some yummy Baskin Robbin's ice cream first! yay~

Flavours are Straberry Cheesecake and Pralines & Cream

Omg, any flavours with cheesecake in it is my favourite haha! The caramel in the pralines & cream is not too bad too. Looks like I really have a sweet tooth! :P We wanted to have more flavours but the person serving us was in this super dark mood and had already scooped it full of two flavours. So we decided to leave it at that.

In the end, even tho the ice cream was superbly delicious and we did managed to finish it, we were of the same opinion that the quart sized tub was not for suitable two people that were gonna have a good dinner soon. lol. And even 2 wonderful flavours can get a bit cloying after a while. >.<

Next time we shall take the pint sized tub okay! Sadly, February doesn't have 31st, hvta wait till March ade.. *boohoo*

We walked around the shopping mall for some time, trying to expend more calories so that we'll have space in our tummies for our dinner.

Which leads me to the fact that the bf was so nice to had made a reservation at TGIF. Coz it was packed to the brim when we're there. [I did mention it was a public holiday ma..]

nice slogan on the napkin

I'll certainly agree to the "fun" part

I dunno whether it's because they had just opened but the workers there are mightily enthusiatic abt their job! They were singing, joking and wishing customers hello/goodbye all the time!

I had to admit, their smiles were certainly infectious. I couldn't help smiling while watching them. There was this guy at the bar that was trying to juggle cutlery too. Damn farny. He was also the same guy leading the rest into the cheering sort of songs.

The service was fabulous too. Very attentive but not over-intruding into people's privacy. *thumbs up*

Anyway, the food was here after a reasonable wait, where we were kept adequately entertained then.

First up is appetizer.

not too bad, certainly thick and full of mushrooms

But I won't say I super like it coz I think we unfortunately got the bottom part of the pot so the soup was a tad too thick. But on the overall, not too bad. Can't rmb the price except for the fact it was rather pricey due to the fact they had hiked up the prices on that very day! aikz.

I had heard that one meal they served in TGIF is enough to feed two. So we of coz decided to order one set only.

This is what we decided, after running thru all the choices.

very nice! one of their specials

The breast meat was really succulent, so juicy when we bite thru them. And tinged with some sweetness as it was cooked with slices of pineapple. The mashed baked potato was rather delicious too!

Hated the gree vege tho, coz it reminds of the time when I ate the very same vege in my high school and I found a dead white worm! yikes.

Imho, this set was rather expensive for the portion given. Abt RM 30 smtg I think. It was lucky that we had stuffed ourselves silly with ice cream earlier or I don't think this would have been enough for two of us. And it was a pity the portion was small because it was really delicious. sad~

Maybe we will go back some other time, when the prices are cheaper. =/ I heard there's this promotion set that includes appetizer, main meal plus dessert at a reasonable price? And that this set is enough for two? Anyone who knows abt this please let me know ya. kthxbai.

So that was how we spent our special day. Nothing really fancy, but the meaningfullness of that day remain in our hearts. <3

Here's to a year full of happiness, memories, occasional tears and most importantly, love. =) I love you, dear dear. ^v^ Let's hope there will be many more years to come ya? *hugs*

Gifts? That shall be left to another post! It certainly deserve one of its own! Highly anticipate it alright! Ciaoz!

Convo Mag Fund Raising Project - IMU Idol!

This post is at Kevin's request. Copy and pasted from his blog. Please do show ur support! ^v^

As you all know, our convo mag is in dire need of funds. With most of our solid ideas either being hammered down or have already been done by other, IMU idol seems to be the only real hope to generate funds. The target for this project would be an estimated RM 3000. The Blind Date project previously collected a whooping >RM3000. I’m telling you, ‘If we can get enough of people to organize this, we’ll make equally as much if not more!’

IMU idol will span a total of 4 weeks, with the first week being the audition, followed by semis and finally the finale. Each stage of the competition will be filmed and shown everyday at the atrium where our voting booths will be. The public can vote for their favorites by purchasing a vote (and MIGHT include a freebie like chocolate OR NOT) at the voting booths. Prices to be discussed later.

The audition is to be held at the lecture halls where else the semis and the finals will be at the atrium. We are trying to organize the semis in conjunction with the food fair by the ball committee. As the competition progresses, half the number of participants will be eliminated each time. The winner, first runner up and second runner up will be given a prize respectively.

The basis behind the creation of IMU idol:

1. It is an efficient money making scheme that requires zero funds to start, which is why we’ll need all the man power to make this right!
2. It’s never been done before and the idea appeals to most of us.
3. IMU has plenty of hidden voice talents.
4. To create an atmosphere of competition which hopefully will give us the edge of more votes. Here, votes = money.
5. It’s finally a chance to organize something that’ll suck money out of other batches instead of the usual self generated profits.
6. Since it involves other batches, they’ll no longer hesitate to contribute to OUR convo mag.

IMU Idol committee proposal

For effective handling of the events, I propose a 4 team committee.

The first team’s task is to sort out the promotional aspect of the event. This includes job such as drawing up posters or banners and preparing wallpaper for the computers in the e-labs. Other reasonable suggestions for the promoting team would be to design human billboards and flyers for circulation. If there’s sufficient time, a video to advertise the event would be highly recommended. I personally will be filming all 3 events, from the audition to the semis and the finals. I hope to gather around 4 to 5 people for this team and upon completion of their tasks, they may or may not join the other teams as to their liking. It is important that people work as a team here. Each individual may have a specific style but a blend of all styles may sometimes yield better results. So, please compromise!

The second team will handle the booths. Collecting and counting the votes are a priority to this team as all incoming cash flows from here. It is advisable to draw up a timetable in order to rotate the person in charge each day. As the event will span for about 4 or 5 weeks, it is essential to have responsible people in charge of the booth. The team also needs to come up with a chart to show the number of votes for each contestant. In this case, Size (of the chart) Does Matter! I propose about 4 to 6 people for this team, with 2 people on stand by at the booth each day. The operation hours are up to you guys but try to cover a span of 4 to 5 hours each day and you may split the hours throughout the day for longer coverage.

The third team is the event team. The jobs here are the most tedious involving both the semis and finals competition to prepare for. This team basically has to organize and beautify both the events in order to draw in more crowds for the votes. For the singing competition rounds, the team is encouraged to invite our very own IMU bands to perform along with the singers. It doesn't need to be very high standard (like the Friday night), but must be equally nice as well. Positions to be filled include team leader (1), emcees (2), stage crew (2), spotlight (1), and decoration (2).

The last team would be the organizing team. This is a fundamental team as all activities have to pass through this team. Individuals with interesting ideas may join and contribute to the IMU idol idea. Right now, this team comprises of me (Kevin), Han Ying and Naomi.

The whole IMU idol is still in its preliminary planning. So, I apologize for the inadequate information in this notice. Feel free to contact any of the numbers below for further information or if you’re interested in joining us. Participants will be awarded a certificate at the end of the event. Thank you for your attention. It is greatly appreciated.

• Kevin Yong – 017 2753300 (zephyr_kev@hotmail.com)
• Lim Han Ying – 0123891633 (hanying_lim@yahoo.com)
• Naomi Ting – 0169752797 (ah_mi_jie@hotmail.com)

Happy Chinese New Year

I'm going to my grandma's hse for reunion dinner soon. So before I chao, here's a shoutout to all my readers:

Happy Chinese New Year!

May the coming Year of the Rat be a year full of prosperity and most of all, happiness! =)

PS: I'll be back soon with most posts! Tata!

so cute and farny~

Eternal Clerking

After the previous few posts tinged with sadness, I guess it's time I moved on with some humour in the world.

Voila! I present to you a video made by some of my batchmates for the video competition during Friday Night.

It was really funny, made us rocked with laughter when they showed us the video. Medical students would love this especially. Enjoy! =)

Eternal Clerking! :P

Memories From A Memorial

I've never been to a memorial before this.

Well, I guess I've been lucky. But not anymore.

full house - photo courtesy of junlin

Yeah, the hall was filled to the brim. That was how many ppl that came to Nianz' memorial. Extra chairs had to bring in too.

The ceremony was pretty simple. It started with a few speeches by her dad, her close friend and a 'brother' in sunday school in the temple. The speech by her dad and close friend, Amy was really touching. I do not dare to imagine the pain her family and close friends must be in now.

Anyway, after that there was some chanting by the monks. Took a pretty long time. In between, we observed a minute of silence for her. I didn't want to be bored as that would be rude, so I indulged my mind with the few memories I had of her.

Some memories of her speaking her mind during English class and how Mr.Ranjit would agree heartily, nodding his head. A memory of her coming to class with a bandage over one of her eyes because she was hit in the eye with a shuttlecock while praticing for the tournament in college. She was quite good-natured about it too. Another memory of her tall frame walking beside me during that hot afternoon to the carpark. And I commented on how tall she was.

I think that was about all. I'm not known for my "amazing memory" ya know. And it's a pity that I could only remembered so few.

It's surprising how so many of my frenz are linked together after all. After this incident, I found out apparently many of my frenz knew each other or thru a mutual friend. The world is indeed a small place after all...

I was hoping to see more of my college frenz during the memorial as we needed more ppl to make a huge impact. But sadly, only a few turned up. And it was kinda sad that we could only meet up (after so long of virtually non-contact) when a classmate of us has passed away, isn't it? That was what I felt when I suddenly saw them.

Well, what's done can't be undone. Let's just hope that this incident can make a change in the world so that her death won't be in vain.

Sign the petition now if you care!

PS: So far only Sin Chew Daily has reported abt the event. You can read it here (sry for those who can't read chinese). We need more papers to cover the event! The media is a major catalyst for change!

Update: Looks like there are more newspapers that covered the event. Read abt it - The Star and Guang Ming Daily.

Memorial

I'm just trying to do my bit, however small for someone I once called a friend. I always believed that if everyone would to work together, however tiny our individual efforts might be, together we can move the world.

Please take note:

A memorial for Nianz will be held at the Kampar Road Temple tmr, sunday at 10am.

For those who are interested, you're welcomed to turn up. If not, please, say a prayer for her to find peace and be in a better place.

We all still miss you dearly. But who are we to hold you back on this mortal plain when I'm sure, it's a better place you're in?

SMS from Chung Lern: Ning's Memorial

• Date: 3rd Feb 2008
• Time: 10am
• Venue: Mahindrama Temple (Kampar Road)

For those not sure of the place, here a map to the place.

Please do come, as a huge but peaceful crowd gathered might just be the thing for change. And we need the media's attention to make this a success.

Therefore, if you are free, we need you to be there!

Balik Kampung

It's been quite long since I last posted, huh? Well, just been rotting away in my vista home. -_- yes I know I should be revising but it's kinda hard to get my engine started! with chinese new year coming so soon too aihs!

I guess studying is a lost cause after all. =/

Anyway, just got back to penang today in Beh's car. Traffic was pretty horrible. The journey which normally would have took abt 5 hours took around 7 hours today.

Many of the KL people balik-ing kampung I guess since today is some sort of public holiday for them. Some federal territory day. I'll never understand the line between KL and selangor whenever the local people try to explain it to me haha...

Alright, what should I blog about now?

Hmm... Erm... Right..

Okay looks like I'm not in the mood for my usual verbal fluency rambles. I do have some content in my drafts but just kinda lazy to blog abt it.. blek.

Just gonna make this short and sweet to let all my frenz know that I'm back in penang okie! hehe. Toodles for now.

PS: Happy 21st birthday to Sin Yee! =) Hope you had a great day!

D.e.a.t.h.

NEW UPDATE: The petition is finally up! You can sign it here. Please do join the fight!

You can go to buscrashnomore.blogspot.com for more information. They have put up related blogposts, timelines of bus crashes and what are their current plans to continue the fight etc up there.

It's time we do something about this!! People shouldn't need to put their lives in the hands of strangers (aka bus drivers) just because they had to take the bus to go home. Let's hope that someone, anyone will help to enforce that change!

Don't let Nian Ning, Mohd Zailani and Poon Eng die in vain.

Put this link on forums, bulletins, emails… whatever. Just put it out there!

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UPDATE: Chung Lern and Nian Ning’s families would like all families and friends of the victims, dead or alive, in the Slim River Bus Crash to come forward and join them in taking action against the bus company. Stand up to seek justice for these three innocent individuals, who were all so young and full of life.

If you have a blog, please call out to ANYONE who knows someone who survived or did not survive the crash to come forward to join the Lee family.

Make a huge difference, make a huge fuss.

For now, you may contact Lee Chung Lern at chunglern@gmail.com or preferably on his handphone at 012-6670368.

To know more about the real incident, please go to this link.

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It's ironically funny how such a simple word consisting of 5 letters can evoke such a range of emotions in people.

Everybody knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it.

~Morrie in Tuesdays with Morrie

Isn't it so true? Nobody really wholeheartedly believes it, especially the young.

We young people somehow have this notion that we are invincible, and being the optimistic people we are, it seemed as though we can live forever! The world is full of endless possibilities and no one can stop us!

Well, that sort of optimism comes crashing down when gradually, we face the harsh realities of the ugly world outside our brightly painted bubble.

Death is one of them.

grim reaper - harbringer of death

I admit, I'm still young. I'm lucky that Death hasn't really touched me that much with his dark wings. But slowly and surely, I can feel his presence creeping in.

The first death that came was when I was 12 years old. It was my grandfather. He passed away due to colorectal cancer, the night I was waiting to sit for my 2nd paper of UPSR. It was also a day before my birthday.

I don't remember much. Just the ringing of the phone while we were sitting down for dinner. The tears that fell over the plate of rice. Now I still wonder how did I managed to pull thru the rest of the exam.

The second death came last year. It was my beloved tuition teacher, Mr Chin. Who was more like a mentor to the young me. It may not sound much but his death really affected me. You can read more here. Everytime I think about it, I still feel like crying...

The last time I went back Penang during last year xmas hols, I heard of the third death. It was a close neighbour. I didn't even know his name, haven't seen him in years. I only called him "uncle". He passed away due to heart failure caused by valvular incompetency. Happened suddenly while playing badminton. That must had been a big blow to his family. *sigh*

Now? I had my taste of the fourth death. Nianz and I were college frenz. She passed away on friday due to a fatal bus accident on the way to KL. You can read more abt it here. The news came to me in the form of a blog post yesterday. I was in denial at first, even now sometimes when I think abt it, I still can't believe it.

She had so much ahead of her. Her future looked so promising. She was so young, pretty, intelligent and a doctor-to-be. Too much to be lost just like that... tragically.

We were never really close. The only clear memory I have of her (sry my memory is getting worse) was us walking to the college carpark on this hot afternoon. I commented on how tall she was and why was she still wearing heels. And that at this rate, I would never measure up (yes it's a pun)! She was laughing and smiling. I remembered her looking so lively. I guess I'll never get to see that smile again.

Somehow this death scares me more than the others. It taught me about the fragility and unpredictability of life.

what is the business of death exactly?

It's true they say, life is short, you never know when it is gonna end. Gotta appreciate it when you are still alive.

Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.

~Morrie in Tuesdays with Morrie

Her death affected many more people around her that she could have imagined. At least, her death wasn't totally meaningless. It taught many people that time is running short and it is important to live life to the fullest.

That is what I'm gonna do from now on. And I hope you will too.

Last but not least, rest in peace, my friend. You will always be remembered.

Gombak Posting - Not What It Seems

Yesterday marks my 3rd and last day in gombak hospital.

And I gotta say this, whoever who ever said that gombak hospital is boring were wrong! We had a really great time there! Don't forget the many interesting cases we were so lucky to see there.

In case you didn't know, gombak hospital is an orang asli hospital (it's for the aborigines of the land) so everything is free for them there. And it also means that there is an enormous language barrier when we were taking history from them! o.O

Our only common language is malay. My spoken malay wasn't so hot to begin with, add in with the fact that their malay wasn't so great too. Many many questions were met with "tak tau" or just shakes of head.

And they don't keep track of time. at all.

I'm serious. Ask them how old they are, when they were admitted, how long everytime the pain lasted etc will just get incredulous looks from them. *pulls hair*

Anyway, abt the interesting cases. On the first day, my group was considered lucky to clerk this pediatric case of a 17 day old baby with an imperforate anus, hole in the heart and most of all, Down's Syndrome.

Isn't it so pitiful? A baby having so many problems. *sigh* I'm not sure even if the mother knows abt the other problems, she seemed pretty preoccupied with the imperforate anus only. She never mentioned the rest, we only got to know them thru reading the case notes.

Not so luckily, I was the first one asked to present my case in front of the entire group (imagine standing in front of 30 of your peers who are sitting down). However, that wasn't the thing that put me off. Try being asked to greet your peers "good morning" 5 or 6 times before I could even start. That definitely was enough to put me into a jittery mode about my presentation.

Okay fine I was stupid enough to start without greeting (but I really didn't think of that!) and didn't present my case according to the format we were taught. But I'd never clerk a pediatric case before... and lemme tell you know, it ain't easy. So yeah, cut me some slack.

I was asked to stop in the middle of my case presentation. Apparently, it was too bad to continue. ='( *shamed face*

Defeated, I returned to my seat, looking at the floor. I didn't want to see the pitying faces. [but I'd prefer pitying over smilling faces, thank you very much] I felt my entire self-esteem was on the floor, destroyed, stomped - out of shape.

Don't you tell me: if it were you, you would just deal with it as though nothing bad has happened. Just smile and get on with it.

You were not the one who had to be the first to go out, so that others can learn from your mistakes. You were not the one standing alone in the firing range, being "humiliated". You were not the one being forced to go back in the middle of the case presentation.

Most of all, you are not me. So we don't see things the same way anyway. so hey, let me deal with it in my own way okay. All I needed was a smile, maybe some comforting words. that's all...

I will admit here, that wasn't exactly the most pleasant thing to ever happen to anyone. period. But after some thinking back, I guess I needed that "scolding" to put me back into the frame of mind.

That when I chose this field, I knew it was not gonna be easy.

CSUs and PBLs recently has been quite smooth sailing (as in no harsh scoldings) because I have been doing my work. Preparing beforehand. Something I never did during sem 2 CSUs and got a lot of flack from that. After that, I vowed to try my best to read up before going to CSU. And the preparation paid off, nowadays don't really get much scolding for not knowing the basics.

But I guess that has made me rather quiescent lately. The fact that I'll still get a lot of harsh reprimands, like it or not, when I'm a housemen, medical officer etc somehow slipped to the back of my mind. But now I remember.

I guess, the overall of result of all this melodrama was that at least it managed to make me feel like studying for the benefit of my future patients. Fire up that spirit, girl! so guess it did more good than bad after all, huh? =)

oops I seemed to have digressed from the rest of the cases that we'd encountered. I'll just list them down here, for convenience's sake.

• Right sided heart failure caused by pulmonary hypertension = Cor pulmonale. Presented with swollen legs.
• A man with laryngeal TB.
• A boy who came in for post-chemotherapy care. He had a tumour of the brain. so pitiful..
• A man with end-stage-renal disease (ESRD).

See? Interesting cases, aren't they? I only managed to clerk the first one. The rest were clerked by my friends.

The cases that come here were quite serious to begin with. In my opinion, the orang asli are quite far behind, they are not enjoying the benefits of modernization. Many of them live in wooden or bamboo houses without water or eletrical supply! The government really should help them out more.. Education is the key here.

Okla, on the overall, I think I really learnt a lot from this hospital posting. History taking is a very essential part of diagnosing a patient! I also enjoyed myself tremendously too! Gombak posting is not boring at all! ^v^

PS: We went to many nice places to eat! hehe... I *hearts* Ampang Yong Tau Fu!! :>

PPS: Will be having some form of hols now. My GP posting is after CNY break. But will be staying in kl for 1 more week instead of rotting at home haha..

Of Anime And Rotations

Oh I know I know *waves hand* I have been neglecting my poor blog for the past week! Out of a laziness to blog and I just had better things to do. bleh.

Most of my free time this week was spent on finishing my addiction to this anime called NANA. yeah I'm kinda out-dated right, it was so popular eons ago... And they have even made it into a movie!

looking cool

Anyway, the anime is really very superlicious nice! It definitely pulled on my heart strings! (yalah lacrimal glands working overtime ade T_T)

So for those who haven't watched it yet, pls pls do give it a try! Can be found at the anime index at crunchyroll.

It's about a story of 2 very different girls called Nana meeting coincidentally, becoming friends and their trials and tribulations while they struggle with love, ambitions and friendship. omg so touching ya know!! I finished season 1 consisting of 47 episodes in less than a week leh! Madness for me lol.

introducing the characters

Hmm when is the anime for season 2 coming out? Anyone knows?? I know they say that they wanna wait till the manga gets well ahead only they'll animate it - to avoid fillers. (yes I've been doing some homework) But it was quite a long time ago so when is it coming out? *wails*

Okay, you must try ah, after I specifically recommend! >.<

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Since I've been lazy with my blog this week, I shall just give a brief update on how uneventful the 1st week of rotations was.

Monday: Community medicine. Can't help but admit that the lectures were pretty boring. After the so much more interesting literature selctive, com med which discusses similar issues to a certain extent seemed drone and dull. Can be summarized by snore snore snore.

Tuesday: Presentation for com med. It was really a hard task for me to help beautify and add more content to our powerpoint presentation. Cause my group's topic was about code of professional conduct and the laws associated with it!! So boring, right?

I never could understand the language of laws.. isnt it kinda like beating around the bush? Guess that is to prevent loopholes, but still... *raises eyebrows* Anway, luckily I did managed to make it more interesting by adding pictures/comics and arranging it in a simple manner so... yeap! *phiew*

Wednesday: Lab sessions plus clinical case studies = ultimate stress! Couldn't remember much with this leaky brain of mine. Gotta plug up the holes soon!! lol. Seemed to have totally forgotten my endo, repro and renal leh.. as usual. -_-

Thursday: CSU. Breast examination plus endo short history taking. Breast examination (on models of coz!) was quite interesting. Learnt a lot. But the plastic models were kinda hard to palpate tho. Ppl tend to apply too much pressure to keep the fingers from slipping off haha. Endo short history taking was okay, altho some cases hard to reach the diagnosis. But not too bad for this leaky brain.

Friday: Behavourial Sciences. We got to learn on how to break bad news to a patient. Which I must say, is one of the hardest things a doctor has gotta do. Everyone got a turn in our group and I must say, it wasn't that easy.

Normal 5 stages of reactions to bad news: Denial, Anger, Sadness, Negotiation, Acceptance.

I got this old lady as my SP and boy, she was good! I could almost believe that she was a real patient! I had to tell her that due to infection of her 2 toes (she had uncontrolled diabetes), there was nothing left to do but amputate them. Naturally, they added in a lot of social scenarios to make it harder for the patient to accept - like lack of financial support, has school going children etc.

My SP was in a lot of denial at first, didn't really go thru anger stage but was pretty sad about it. Later, she negotiated on other ways to go about it. In the end, I managed to get her to half accept it and ask her to go back and think abt it then come back the next day with her husband.

talk about being descriptive!

Guess I did okay for a first timer. *sigh of relief* But then I believe we can only learn theoretically with SPs but we only really learn when it comes to breaking real bad news. Let's hope I can do a good job then!

Well, that's all folks. What an uneventful week, isn't it? Next week I'm going Gombak hospital for 3 days. Can see the natives apparently! *eyes big big*

So yeah probably will neglect my poor blog again. Unless something cool crops up that I feel I must blog about it lah hehe. Okay ciaoz for now! ^v^

medical students probably can relate to this lol

The Distant Moon (For Dummies)

Alright, time to show off what my group did for our literature presentation. yay!

Each group was randomly given a text that we'd discussed in class and were supposed to interpret then present it in any creative form. (song, video, mime, play etc) Really, anything goes.

And my group got one of the hardest poems I've ever seen in my life. The first time I read it, I couldn't make head or tail of it!

If you don't believe or want to gain some background knowledge first, pls do read the poem here. Recommended to read first so that it would be easier to understand the video!

Since the poem was so difficult, in the end, we decided to do a video to make life easier for ppl, hence the video's title. yes I finally got to put my photoshop skills to use :P And we presented our video in the form of a talk show so that it wouldn't be that boring.

Okay enough rambling - enjoy the video!

Group 6 proudly presents The Distant Moon (for dummies)

[group 6: Ee Pian as doctor, Han Chung as patient, Valene, Hui Ying and moi!]

(some parts were edited out to make it fit on youtube so it's not so smooth as the original one *sigh*)

btw I'm the one offering the cookie!

This was my first time partaking in making a video, and I must say, editing is very important and definitely a tedious job! I must say, it gets gross rewatching your own video umpteen times.

Anyway, for those who didn't realise, we wanted to show that there is an inner voice in everyone, and that doctors and patients are not excluded.

What you see on the outside might not be the total truth. Humans are made up of many layers, as you peel off each one, sometimes you will discover something totally different beneath.

So do not judge others when you do not understand the entire picture.

Okay, hope that you guys enjoyed the video! Any comments puh-lease? teehee >.<

PS: Me and Nick had written a poem each from the doctor's and patient's perspective respectively. The poems can be viewed at my other poetic blog. Check it out!

PPS: And won't any of you guys comment on my grp's video?? =/ pwetty please? *eyes big big*

Children Answer The Darnest Things

Filler post but it's funny, no fear. I got this from an email and some of these children's science exam's answers are hilarious! Enjoy~

Q: Name the four seasons.

A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.

A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q: How is dew formed?

A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour? (brilliant, love this!)

A: Keep it in the cow.

Q: What causes the tides in the oceans?

A: The tides are a fight between the Earth and the Moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature hates a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.

Q: What happens to your body as you age?

A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.

Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?

A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.

A: Premature death.

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized? (e.g. abdomen)

A: The body is consisted into three parts -- the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain; the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels A, E, I, O, and U.

Q: What is the fibula?

A: A small lie.

Q: What does "varicose" mean?

A: Nearby.

Q: Give the meaning of the term "Caesarian Section."

A: The Caesarian Section is a district in Rome .

Q: What does the word "benign" mean?

A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight.

LOL!! The children's answers are so cute and innocent!

Resolutions For The New Year

Resolutions. resolutions. resolutions!

I know most people say there's no use listing them down as they will never work out. But hey this year I'm gonna be idealistic and don't procastinate on this list (and this post is already delayed by one week btw) so in the end, even if they didn't work out totally, at least I know that I had tried. =)

So no more dilly-dallying. Here goes:

1. Try to procastinate less. Things should be done when there's time, not at the last minute. [I think I'm becoming better at this]

2. Study harder for sem5's system courses and of coz, eos5! Must do well and get that elusive A!! [somehow related to #1]

3. Try to lose the weight that I put on when I entered med school - not telling you how much till I succeed! hehe. Must be due to the rich food and the sedentary lifestyle!

4. Try to exercise more often. At least once a week. [doing great on this - went gym twice last week and swimming once! gambate! yes it's related to #3 too]

5. Try to adopt healthier eating habits. More veggies, fruits and less carbs, meat. Less frequency of supper as I always go straightaway to sleep after supper. [slightly related to #3 but I do check what I eat normally]

6. Try to be more forgiving and not mind petty things. Frustration over stupid small things never did any good, did it?

7. Must try not to make harsh (but sometimes truthful woh) remarks that I'll regret later. Be kinder!

8. Spend more time on the important things in life - my loved ones. (this lesson rings true after doing my literature selective)

9. Last but not least, make this year a happy year. It might be ordinary, but it will be a year full of happiness. =)

this list might be updated as I see fit in the near future.

Okay, let's usher in the new year with some resolutions related humour. The pic below show what sort of resolutions a pet might make, lol.

the cat is so smart while the dog is quite primitive haha!

Alright, let's end this post by wishing everyone a happy new year! ^v^

Caring Comes From Within

I know that my resolutions post is supposed to be up first (oops still procastinating on it!) but I wanted to write this down when the emotions are still going strong so this post will really ring true.

Well, I just got back from my 3rd week of literature selective where we had this forum with some invited speakers. The text that we discussed was "Tuesdays with Morrie". I'm sure some of you avid readers out there had heard of this famous book. But I'm not here to talk about how great the book is. I'm here to talk about what I'd learnt so far from this literature selective.

I know and saw what most people's reactions abt doing literature as a selective were.

"Har? What has got that to do with medicine? Very time wasting hor?"

Admittedly, literature was not my first choice when I numbered my choices on that piece of paper. But since I was randomly selected to be in this selective, I just tot I'll see how it goes and what I can learn from it.

And learnt a lot I did. Never once did I regretted taking up literature as my selective choice. [well it was my second choice]

I learnt how varied people's opinions on the same matter can be. And how we should try to reach a compromise if possible.

I learn how to speak in front of an audience. This selective has been rather helpful in easing my anxiety when speaking in front of a crowd. I feel more confident speaking in front of others now.

I learnt how doctors should really act when dealing with death of patients. (of coz, easier said than done!)

I learnt about doctors' emotional detachment when dealing with bad news of any sort. And how a balance between being humane and still protecting oneself from feeling too much should be reached.

After doing this selective, suddenly the huge responsibility of being a doctor really slaps me in the face. I might not have any experience in any of the hardships of a doctor just yet, but just anticipating such events in the future really scares me.

I'm afraid that my will might break. My resolve to not be emotionally involved might not be strong enough. Can I really make decisions in the best interest of the patient and not let my personal beliefs intervene? Can I be the sort of doctor that society looks up to?

Those questions cannot be answered now but I'm sure the answers will come to me in the future.

Before this, the question that people always love to ask medical students is: "why do you want to be a doctor?" didn't have a constructive answer from me.

I would just say "it just happened".

I still do not have a concrete answer but at least now, I'm sure I'm doing something that I know I want to do. I'm heading in the right direction. To where I cannot say, but it just feels right.

Cliche as it may be but maybe it is my calling?

For now, all I can do is amass as much knowledge as possible (and that includes non-medical knowledge too!), learn about life and people so that I would be able to face any hardships or obstacles that might come my way with my best effort to do good.

Socrates defined what are the goals of medical care which I think is rather appropriate till today. Doctors are supposed to:

Provide cure sometimes. Relieve often. Comfort always.

Food for thought, ain't it?

Looking Back On 2007

A New Year signifies a new beginning. Right?

Well, some things can't exactly be wiped off just like that but hey, if there's any time to start anew with a fresh optimistic attitude - why not now?

Since I was too lazy to write down a list of resolutions for 2007, I have none to refer too. Well at least that means I've 100% fulfilled my resolutions of nil. lol.

Anyway, 2007 was a year of changes for me.

(click on the links if you wanna know more)

In the first half of 2007, the effect of the first and second failure in med school was still haunting me. I was depressed and pessimistic. I went all soggy like a cardboard box that has been left out in the rain.

And till now I can't believe that I let such a little thing get me down and affect my entire outlook on life. Looking back, I feel like laughing at how stupid I was. One little failure doesn't mean anything! As long as you pull yourself back together, tackle the problem effectively, it goes away by itself.

What good is mopping around about it? It doesn't help at all.

Remember? Everything that goes up must go down again. We can't always be at the peak of success. It rolls down again someday. But no fear, if you work hard, you can slowly make your way back.

Anyhow, I got my wake up call around april in the form of an abrupt relatively harsh reprimand from a well-meaning fren. (and thank god for that! I dunno how long I wanted to be under that perpetual dark cloud)

Naturally I was upset at first and wrestling with inner demons is never an easy task but luckily I was able to see the sensibility of her arguements and finally, the sun dawned on my horizon and I came to my senses.

So all is good now. =)

In the later part of 2007, I learnt the happiness of working hard a tad more consistently and the happiness that comes when you get the results you justly deserved.

In 2007, I sat for my second very stressful major exam (aka EOS3) in med school and passed! So glad and thankful was I that day - that I finally understood the phrase "she shed tears of joy".

In 2007, I made a bunch of really good frenz in uni. They were there thru my ups and downs. They made me laugh. They comforted me when I was sad. I finally felt that I belonged.

In the early part of 2007, I finally got together with the bf. I learnt to compromise and forgive. It has been a happy blissful year, but try not to forget the unhappy tearful parts as those are the parts that make one look at oneself in a whole new light and make one a stronger person too.

In 2007, I was also exposed to the ugliness of human nature. I don't want to say more abt that but just wanna put it down as one of the turning points last year. (hmm feels weird to say last year huh?)

I guess thru all the ups and downs that I experienced last year (describing life as a roller coaster cudn't be more apt) I'd managed to survive it all, and maybe became a little bit stronger.

I think I shall put this looking-back post as a separate post. It's quite emo-ish already hehe. The celebratory and resolutions aspect shall be dealt with in another post alrighty.

Before I end the first post of the year, let me wish all my readers a Happy New Year and Welcome 2008!

I hope it will be another great year full of changes! ^v^