Fudge Brownie

sinfully sweet dessert!! :)

Here is the really simple recipe:

(no oven baking required! only baking weighing scales and measurement spoon needed)

FUDGE SLICE:

• 1 egg
• 80g of butter
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of sultanas (raisins)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 225g plain biscuits crushed (I used Digestive biscuits coz it's healthier)

METHOD:

• Crush the biscuits into tiny crumbs. The finer the better.
• Crack the egg into a small bowl and beat it till its colour lightens.
• In a medium saucepan, add the butter and sugar.
• Heat and stir till the butter and sugar dissolves and bubbles.
• Remove it from heat, add the vanilla essence and beaten egg. Mix it well.
• Then stir in the crushed biscuits and sultanas, mixing it thoroughly. (I added some white choc chips in here too!)
• Press the mixture well and flat in a container and while still warm, cover the top with the icing. (will be mentioned how to make below)
• As you can see, I'd added some chocolate chips right onto the icing! I love choc chips!
• Then chill it in the fridge for a few hours. (It's up to you how long actually, coz I did mine overnight.)

ICING:

• 1 tablespoon of water
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 50g of choc pieces (the type for baking sort)

METHOD:

• In another saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and water.
• Stir over low heat until it is dissolved.
• Bring to a boil.
• Then take off the heat and add the choc pieces stirring until they are dissolved and let it cool for 5 mins or until good spreading consistency.
• OR you can do it this way. For me, I added the choc pieces in straight after, but to prevent the chocolate from being burnt, heat it using the double boiler method.
• After that, spread the icing evenly onto the biscuits mixture which you had press evenly into a container just now.

SERVE:

• After taking it out of the fridge, cut it into small bite sized pieces.
• You can eat this on its own or add it to vanilla ice cream, it tastes absolutely heavenly!
• Serve and enjoy the sweet goodness! ^v^

To make the fudge brownie in the picture above, I had doubled everything in this recipe as I wanted a thicker slice. Especially more icing haha!

Btw, I'd made some modification to the original recipe, hope you don't mind, Michelle! (I minus out some of the sugar and butter as the first attempt was a bit too sweet/oily, and since I'd added some choc chips too!)

Original recipe can be found here.

Isn't it so simple? This dessert is definitely a favourite of mine. :D Yes, I have a sweet tooth! haha.. Anyway, hope you guys will like it too! Lemme know how it turns out.

The Gathering

Finally it is time to blog abt the gathering! Yeah this post is backdated by a few weeks, but better late than never right! haha.

On friday night, we went to meet those arriving from other states and we had dinner in this posh place called Kensington. To celebrate Jane and David Lee's birthday too. :) The atmosphere there was rather romantic and the food delicious! My carbonara-sort of pasta was yummy but it was too cheesy that I couldn't finish it in the end.

That night, we went back and some of us (namely the girls, Kee and me of coz!) started work on our Fudge Brownie. Coz it needs sometime to be chilled in the fridge first. I shall post up the recipe later up in this post k? By the time we finished, it was quite late ade. Half dead. x_x

------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, we rose early and Khee Chun brought us to this famous curry mee place in Seremban. It was some distance away but it was worth it. Word has it that this place is often packed with visitors so we're lucky that we arrived and ordered just b4 a throng of ppl appeared out of nowhere. haha.

Anyway, the difference btw this curry mee and others is that the gravy/soup is really genuine curry! And they are very generous with their servings too! For me, the best part was their "tau pok" (those spongy bits floating in the soup) coz when you put it in your mouth, it has this fragrant buttery taste and when you bite, all the soup accumulated inside fills your mouth.

I'm salivating just thinking abt it. Hey maybe I have a talent in food reviews after all! Didn't that sounded absolutely yummy? :P

After that, we went to have one of the last karaoke sessions in Greenbox! We started around 11 and finished around 3. It was fun, but seemed to be missing a few of the usual singing kakis! sigh.

Anyway by that time, us girls and Eugene who offered to help were pretty rushed for time coz we still needed to cook so much stuff for the dinner party that night! The rest of the afternoon was spent solely on cooking and catching up!

We had so much fun mashing potatoes, mixing pasta, frying nuggets (alamak had to experiment summore rmb? non-stick wok very hard to use), didnt we? :) The whole process took longer than we expected so we arrived abt half an hour late. But no matter la, due to msian time, some of the guests just arrived in time.

The only two cameras available died pretty early so only got 2 photos of the food. Forgot to take pics of the pasta!! Nvm, I shall make it again next time then show you guys okay? ^^

So this is the mashed potato, following Pui Fun's bro's recipe.

took pretty long to make but turned out very smooth, buttery and yummy!

would be nicer if we're able to make gravy though

Don't have pics of the pasta nevermind, I shall describe it to you. Li Yann and I copied it from the one of the pastas we tasted in Italinianies once hehe. Pretty successful imitation, I must say!

Just imagine pasta mixed with thinly slices pieces of apple, sprinkle in some sweet raisins and with a dressing of mayonaise and served chilled. When you eat the pasta, the perfect cold sweet taste of the apple and raisins lingers on your tongue and blends with the mild saltiness of the dressing. The result? Yummy-licious!

See? Told you I'm good at describing food eating haha! Anyone want me to review their restaurant? *wink wink*

Hopefully I'll be able to upgrade my cooking skills more when I get to aussie. :)

Before I digress more, the other foods available were nuggets (fried by us), kfc bucket, cordial drinks and vanila ice cream (contributed by the guys who didnt cook haha). Sounds delicious, right?

And now time to announce one of the main stars of the night!

*Tada* The lovely Fudge Brownie!

our sinfully sweet dessert

Taste especially good with vanila ice cream :)

I can sense this post is getting a bit too long so the recipe shall be in another post k? sorry! This picture I included as a teaser first k? hehe.

Okay enough abt how yummy the food is. we know. :P

Despite that not-so-little-hitch, I am still glad that some of my close friends were able to gather under one roof that night, enjoy dinner and talk together. (Though I must say, the topic of conversation has much to be desired for a party of coz)

I realised my previous notion of reliving the success of the previous surprise dinner party was naive. The people are slightly different. The activities are different. The feel is different. Even the time is different - 2 years later.

I think all I can do is hold close to my heart the memories of that night of fun and laughter. :) Of coz, who wudnt laugh when you remember the image of the 2 guys playing matrix ping pong? hehehe..

So.. the dinner party passed just like that. After months of planning. I guess age is catching up on us, coz we didn't stay up to play mahjong or chat the night away. Well we had been up and running since morning anyway.

---------------------------------------------------------------

On sunday morning, Khee Chun brought us to this nice dim sum place. Lemme tell you, the dim sum is CHEAP!! The place was air-conditioned and we ate till our hearts' content (which is saying something as there were quite a lot of hungry guys in our group!) and each of us paid less than rm10! cool.

I like dim sum with yam.. oops too random ade. haha.

So after that very fulfilling brunch, I went back with the girls for some last catching up. Before Li Yann and Pui Fun goes back to KL. And Eugene then went back a few days later.

And thus that concludes our gathering. Hope there will be many more to come in the future! And hopefully more ppl will turn up please!!

Dinner Gang RAWRS!

(Btw can we find a better name please?)

Listen

I realised that what I have always wanted has always been that - an escape.

I know I said that a few months ago, but apparently some things do not change. Some things are IMPOSSIBLE to change.

Why do I even keep making these futile attempts?

It's like I am the child who plays with fire, who still foolishly continue to play with it, even though I know it's hot and will burn me.

Maybe I'm a coward for wanting to runaway. But I finally came to the realisation that sometimes, there are some things in life that can't be changed, no matter how much I try.

It's true the chinese proverb: "it is easier to change the landscape of a land, than to expect a person to change his character".

And the only thing one can do to make oneself happier is to put some distance between the negative thing and oneself.

People often use their own circumstances, their own experiences as a sort of measure - at times without even trying to put themselves in others' shoes.

Sometimes, all I want is someone who can understand and not judge me by what I'm saying. To listen to me with an open mind.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I wrote that last night but couldn't post it up as something went wrong with the internet halfway.

Anyway, I think I've found someone who will really listen. :) Thank you for the nice FB message! You know who you are.

Now, I think I finally know why people often like to come to me with their problems. Coz I listen with an open heart and an open mind. I try my best to understand their situation and put myself in their shoes, and think "if it was me, how would I feel?"

If you keep judging people whenever others tell you their problems, they would not want to confide in you the next time. Coz what's the point?

It's easy to HEAR but not easy to LISTEN.

V-Day Gifts

Okay this post is like SUPER backdated (I mean it was during february this year ah!), but I was waiting patiently for the last photo ma.

Anyway, as I continue slowly photoshopping other photos and writing posts I long ago promised, here's a post featuring the V-Day gifts the bf and I gave each other! XD

So this is how he presented his gift to me!

sucha nice box, filled with hearts! <3

Guess what was in the box?? It's this!!

omg the lil octopus is just too cute for words! haha..

and you know what, you can use it to record a message!

press the red star to record, and the blue star for playback

Thank you, dear! =)

-----------------------------------------------------------

Here's my prezzie to him.

what's in the envelope? *suspense suspense*

do you like how I decorated it? :)

Here's the back part.

okay nothing much, just to show off~ :P

Tada! Get ready and check out the gift!

yup it was a handmade puzzle, forgot to take pics when they were still in pieces

and I had so much fun watching him slowly piece them together!

To form the lovely picture below!

nice ah nice ah???

*jumps up and down*

I drew it from scratch leh!! and I coloured it using colours pencils! then cut it into puzzle bits hehe.

As you probably can guess, the picture signifies something that I hope will come true in the future. ^v^

And yah, here's the last picture!

I was waiting for him to get it framed!

Nice right? Can hang at home as a decoration ade leh..

haha maybe I have a talent in this :P

Okla, that's all for now. Thanks dear dear, for your gift and I hope you like yours as well. :)

And guys, maybe from this post, you can get more ideas on what to give to your other half for Valentine's day!

PS: If you are so kaypoh interested, here's how we celebrated V-Day this year.

Old-School Games

Finally got the influx of pics. Will slowly photoshop them before putting them up here k?

Anyway, in this post I wanna share with you guys some of the popular games I played during my childhood days. I'm refering to video games coz I grew up in an urban sort of environment so only had minimal experience of playing those traditional games (eh but I did play 'Iceman' wo? smtg like 'Fire & Ice' I think. and also jumping boxes drawn on the ground wan, what do you call it ah?)

Well, I'm sure those born in the 1980's (Generation Y!!) would probably have at least seen some of these before. It was the era of game consoles before the PlayStation started taking over the market.

And now, comparing them with the current ones, one can clearly see the difference in the advancement of technology. And start reminizing/laughing at how noob the old ones were, but dont play play le, in those days, they were the forefront of technology le!! And provided us kids with hours of endless fun =)

So do you remember this?

lol the way the penguins wobbled abt is so cute!

and this is not easy to play le, the floor alwix very slippery wan =/

How about this?

Road Fighters! omg I rmb getting hooked on this during primary 6

coz someone sneakily installed it in the comp labs :P

this is where I learn my driving skills from (no wonder they are almost nil lol)

Eh this next one not bad too! Needs good hand-eye-brain-coordination!

goal of the game is to manoveur the cat to avoid the mice while picking up the items!

I like bouncing the cat on the trampoline boink boink :P but be careful coz it'll break!

Okay the next one is a favourite of my sis. yah dont be surprised, even Generation Z kids might find these games interesting, even tho they have more high tech ones available now! haha..

I tried playing it too with her insistence, not bad woh.

very funny when u upgrade ur level from normal boxing gloves to a tank!

And this one I clearly rmb playing during my childhood, I quite like it somehow hehe..

Must bomb open all doors with a skull on it to get the keys or rescue a miniature fren.

of coz must avoid the rats and the fat gun-shooting uncles haha!

Okay I think the next one is funny. Still remember it?

first level you are supposed to tame a lion to jump thru all the fire hoops safely.

I think the next level you are supposed to walk on a tight rope and jump over chimps! >.<

For the next one, I don't think I played it before last time but my frenz did. and it was a shame, coz this one is really fun!!

I later only realised apparently can take things to throw at the stupid robot dogs!!

my sis loves this too, before that it was just a hassle having to try to avoid everything! now can throw ade lol

Next one is Battle City! I love the theme song in front!

needs a bit of decisive planning and quick action!

I remember playing this alot during the good ol' days~

And last but not least, the most classic of all old-school games. You at least shld be able to remember this!

one of my favs! Despite how it looks, it is not easy to play also haha..

you guys loved this too, right? Mao Xian Dao rawrs!!

oh no I think I used too many exclamation marks in this post!!! sry must be too excited ade :P

Guess where I got these cool games from? Yup, Zherlin was the one who gave it to me when I was in Seremban, he got it from his cousin, which got from someone else no doubt haha.

Many thanks to the original person who compiled the whole huge list of old games, some also I never see before le..

So now, I will have something to occupy my time during clinicals when I get fed up of studying! ^v^

PS: Anyone who wants it can ask from me, it's a small file only, so shld be quite easy to send to you guys =)

A Lil' Advice

It's hard to describe life here without going into specifics. Dirty laundry rule, rmb?

But really, it's no big wonder why I prefer to be elsewhere. I miss the carefree relaxed feeling of freedom. Without having to deal with unreasonable circumstances. But no worries, it ain't too far away now.

Seriously, with antics like his/hers, who needs enemies anyway?

Age is no measure of maturity.

After what I'd observed all these while, I've given up hope of affecting change. Now, it's up to yourself to change when you head out to face the realities of the outside world.

Don't gimme that crap about not needing friends. When you hvta do everything yourself, only you will know how important true friends are when your family is not around you.

It gets lonely outside if you are on your own.

And remember something, your friends don't owe you anything.

So what sort of ppl you choose to associate with and how you treat them in the long term will be what you get in return. If you treat ppl with cold suspicion and keep them at arm's length, don't be so surprised if they turn on you in the future. Coz what you reap is what you sow.

People who always think they are right are the hardest sort of people to change. Broaden your perspectives a little and start to think - maybe it's partially due to my own fault too? - instead of putting all the blame on others and walking off smugly.

With all that said, it is all up to you now. And since I can't do anything else, I rest my case.

PS: Please don't use your own experience to measure up with mine. It's always differs with individuals' circumstances... you'll never know unless you've been in the person's shoes. Or at least know what shoe size the person is wearing, so to speak.

Get Prepared

Clickety click.

Yup, that's how I spent most of today. (actually most of other days too :P) But at least I can claim that all my clicking today is 'fruitful research' in the name of preparation for life in aussie.

Anyway, thanks to Debbi's recommendation, finally there is a site where I can get answers to some of the burning questions that needed to be answered. I am sure some of my batchmates heading to oz will find this useful too.

Here's the link to the forum where malaysians that are in australia currently give tips to those who are going to study there in the future.

Granted, there is quite alot of crap talking in between the pages, but hey, you always gotta sieve through dirt to hit gold haha. That's like about 90+ pages of sieving and still counting btw. I am @.@ like this now lol.

They have quite some useful information there like phone services, internet service providers, how to approach things financially there (apparently bank drafts are the way to go!), airlines etc.

Though I've yet to see anything abt shipping services. Anyone have any suggestions on which shipping service to go for? I've tried searching those so-called reliable services' websites. And I've no idea how their sites work at all!! How user-unfriendly can it get? bah.

And there's this site that tells me for my parents to send me a 25kg package (my medical books VERY heavy lar!! need to save the luggage space for clothes and others ma) cost rm10000 plus? Wth? It can't be true right, there must be some error on my part while entering the info. I hope. *gulps* Le sigh.

Oh ya, if you guys have any info on studying/living in perth (any info at all!), please share it with me okie? ^v^ That would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Besides trawling about in the cyberworld, when I get bored of looking at lines and lines of words, guess what? I started watching cooking videos on YouTube. Well, no harm in being more prepared right?

I'd learnt a few dishes during life in vista, but after reaching aussie, will need to cook almost everyday - so yeah, better to learn more of those simple chinese dishes - so that we can save time/money, have more variety and especially when we start missing the food at home :P

I love cooking. It's just that preparation and washing up really take up a lot of time. aikz.

Anyway, here's one of the videos that's quite nice. Straight to the point, easy and looks yummy. the guy is good.

how to make steamed pork and chinese cabbage

Rest And Relax

Yeap I'm back again in penang. Just got back from Kelantan yesterday.

The family trip was not too bad, it was as much fun as you could have in a place like Kota Bahru. To do it justice tho, I must say, the place was more developed than I imagined. The last time I was there was like 5 or 6 years ago, so a lot of development must have happened in the past few years.

Wei, the place now also have traffic jams le!! dont play play haha.. sry too jakun ade >.<

Uncle Chew and his whole family are a very friendly bunch, easy to talk to. Thank you for belanja-ing us all the nice food there! ^^ And for bringing us around for sightseeing.

I'll blog abt the food/places of interest when I get the pics from my bro. (I seemed to be saying that alot eh? How come I dont get the pics wan..?)

Some of you might be wondering what am I up to now? Hmm let's see. Back to the old holiday lifestyle. Chill and relax, man.

I shall get the rest I need these few days. Seremban has deprived me of some proper rest! Which in all foresight, shall be the case when I start clinicals. If only I could store lots of sleep now then use it later when I'm desperately needing it..!! lol.

But after experiencing life in seremban (especially the exhaustion omg!!) and seeing how the others study so, I really must start mentally and physically prepare myself for life in clinicals.

Am not sure abt the physical part - do push-ups and force myself to tahan heat so I don't get any vasovagal attacks? - okay maybe that is pushing it a bit lol. Mentally, wow I must say, quite a bit of the knowledge that should be there is already gone from me brain, luckily I acquired some new bits and pieces while in Sban, haha.

Well, I probably shld start gaining some momentum in studying again once I had rested enough. Hopefully the procastinator in me won't win again!

Okay time for more beauty sleep! :P nites!

Goodbye Again

As you read these words, I'm already back in penang.

Would have like to do a scheduled post but just couldn't find the time to squeeze it in yesterday. With the clock ticking away, every minute was precious.

Anyway, the realisation that the month-long trip was over hit me hard yesterday morning. I think before that, I was in denial - I chose to focus on what the remaining few days ahead had to offer instead of mulling over the remaning hours.

But yesterday morning, when I forced myself to awaken from slumber (omg hospital hours are so early), I suddenly realised: "I am going home tomorrow."

The thought shook me up. That entire day was tinged with sadness.

Anyway, I just wanna say a big thanks to all the lovely people who made my visit here a wonderful memorable one. It was great to see all of you again. =) And Dear, I feel happy that we created many more memories together. Simple but fun. thank you.

------------------------------------------------------------

I realised I am not getting any better at goodbyes. In fact, come to think of it, I think I'm getting suckier at it.

It was so so difficult to say goodbye to my close friends and my dear dear especially. I think the one thing I hate about this trip is that I have to say goodbye all over again. I know there's another one coming up next year when I leave for australia. I wonder if I'll be able to take it then.

But for now - come what may, I must take it in my stride.

My friends tell me to be strong and spend my last holidays with my family fruitfully. I must try not to miss them too much, coz one day I'll be able to see them again.

When there is a will, there is a way, right? =)

For now, let me slowly acclimatized myself to life back home. without friends around me. I know I can do it, coz I did it before - slowly but surely.

G'nite.

PS: Will be on a family trip to kelantan for the next 3 days. Expect more regular updates after that coz I'll be back to my very free holiday state. Cya then.

Recharged

Had finally recharged! It's certainly been a hectic few days.

Let's see. The bf and I went out on a nice date on saturday and guess where we went? Shogun!! Thank you for belanja-ing me, dear =D

We went to try the one in Sunway. Our verdict is that it's not bad. The sushi there were wrapped so beautifully, tempting me to try them! haha.. I tried a little of almost everything. But regret that I didn't eat more tempura. Was sidetracked by other food lol.

Oh ya, the varieties are slightly different that the one in 1-U but then the first and last time I went there was almost 2 years ago, so maybe many things have changed. Don't have the cod fish cheese fusion I was looking forward to!! =(

Luckily they have this soft-shelled cheese mayo soft crab. But only managed to finish 1 coz I need to save more stomach space for others haha!

It was good that this time we didn't overeat. Health is more important! Cannot be too kiamsiap/kiasu anymore :P

------------------------------------------------------------------

Supposed to meet up with Liyann and Puifun at 1-U on sunday but in the end, only Funfun turned up. Poor Liyann couldnt make it last minute. (I shall not divulge more here - unless she wants to tell more herself? :P)

Anyway, we went to this nice place to have lunch. It was called Cafe 1920 and lemme tell you, their cheesy foods are heavenly!

We shared this chicken lasagna called Tambollini or something like that lol and omg, it's really sinfully delicious! I said sinfully coz there's a lot of oil and cheese in it haha. Imagine soft pieces of chicken in between thin pieces of pancakes, topped with baked cheese. Yum yum.

And their little slices of cakes are really nice too! Different from those by secret recipe, certainly worth a try!

Okay better stop talking abt food. My stomach is grumbling now. haha..

------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday I literally spent the whole day in hospital + library. Clerked some patients again in the morning (wah a lot of cancer cases le..) and then pseudo-studied in the library in the afternoon. I said pseudo study coz it was more like sleeping very uncomfortably (lots of compressed nerves!!) on the hard tables. I didn't want to but I was just so tired..

Then went on-call in the A&E at night. Saw an emergency scope done and omg, the poor lady had massive UGIT bleed! so much that it formed a huge clot..

And a poor premature baby that had vomittus blocking its nose, causing apnea. It looked so tiny and fragile, that my heart couldn't help going out to it. sigh.

And that was it for the whole night - the more interesting cases. I guess ti was an untypically quiet night eh.

I was already feeling like a zombie during the shift. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation setting in. =/ My brain was chugging at a very slow rate.

How do doctors here do 36 hours of work straight??? It's really unhealthy and would you want to get treated by a doctor that has been working for godknowshowmanyhours and probably cant think straight? Something really needs to be done abt this.

I wonder, is the workload in Aus medical schools as heavy as the ones in Msia? If so, I better prepare myself to get addicted to coffee! And acclimatized myself to less sleep and more energy! oh noes..

Sometimes, I wonder what did I get myself into.

But then when you see the patients smilling at you - happy that you spent some time talking to them - all the tiredness just melt away, and you feel happy that you've made their lives a bit better. Just a bit, because I'm a lousy medical student who knows nothing (it's a relative thing actually, not that I really know nothing), but a bit is better than nothing.

And sometimes what medical students can offer are the most precious of all - their time, sympathy and sincere care - things that sometimes doctors can't help but lack in giving.

I'm not blaming them, they are really overworked. When you are at the verge of dying of exhaustion yourself, you find that it gets more difficult and difficult to really care. If you don't believe it, you haven't try it yourself.

Anyway, I still have 3 years to go, since I can't do anything but advance ahead, then I must just do my best to get that degree. But I must not forget why I am doing this while in pursuit of the goal.

This quote summarizes it nicely. Why are we in the healthcare?

To cure sometimes, to relief often, to comfort always.

And yeah, I know, what a lot of hard work, sweat and tears just to get that extra 2 letters in front of your name.

In The Midst

After the previous negative post, let's get back on track. I just noticed that my hits have been suffering dreadfully due to a lack of (interesting) posts in the recent weeks.

What to do, I foresee less time to recollect my thoughts here when I start clinicals in 2 months' time. omg, that's not much time left actually!

When I get back to penang, I must start the arduous process of agonizing over what stuff to pack and what not to. Only 25kg baggage allowed. =( But yay, starting clinicals also means I get to buy some new formal clothes!

Yes coz before this, sadly I only have a handful (yes you actually can count using fingers) of clothes that are deemed passably 'formal'. I wanna buy some of those nice comfy clothes that looked so professional on some of my frenz here!! Yeah can't hide under that white coat anymore coz apparently we are not needed to wear one there!

Oh ya, I probably need to hunt for a pair of super comfy almost flat shoes that are really "meant for walking" haha. And I think I'll probably still get aching feet from all that standing/walking. Really salute to those few who can still wear 3 inch heels to the wards. I saw a few rare specimens, ya know. :P

After much thought, finally bought the Oxford handbook of Clinical Specialities, many thanks to Suewen's mum for getting it for me from Kamal. =) Now still pondering on whether should I buy the Churchill's pocketbook of Surgery. Coz I saw my frenz using it, and borrowed it for some browsing and it seemed pretty useful and best of all, straight to the point. Price is reasonable too.

I think buying the medical books here plus the shipping cost is still cheaper than buying it straight in Aus right?

Okay, enough rambling for now. The library's aircon is certainly a god-sent in this hot weather! lol.

PS: Clerked some patients with my frenz today. Felt kinda sad to see some of the patients' conditions. sigh.

Egoistic Hypocrite

In case you were wondering what happened to me, I am back here again!

Have been really busy for the past few days and didn't go near the computer at all. serious! haha.

So the gathering came and gone. in a flash. I barely was able to catch my breath.

If you ask me how was it, I'd say I'm happy that some of us managed to make it for the gathering and it's nice to able to sit together and enjoy a yummy dinner together... but (it sounded like there was a 'but' coming right?) I must say, I am a tad disappointed with what happened to the post-dinner entertainment slot. I've been looking forward so much to it, and although it looks easy, I really took quite some effort to plan the gathering.

Oh well, I've no one to blame but myself. Who asked me to be soft-hearted. I shall not say more.

Okay maybe just this. I hate negative limelight hoggers who thinks the world revolves around their freaking damn huge egos. And fail to see that the very weaknesses they frequently expound in others are freakingly obvious in their ownselves. Damn hypocrite.

I have always thought my opinion of him/her was a bit biased and tried being nice to him/her, but most of the time, my efforts were met with rude baseless retorts.

What?! I am too lowly for your attention now issit???

After this time, I am not gonna revise my opinion of you anymore. you can keep on living in your own tiny world filled with self-worshiped godly images of yourself. Someone else can have the honour of pricking your bubble. See if I care, hah, so there.

I can go on and on. With vulgarities even. But I think that shall suffice. so glad to keep it off my chest.

And you know what, I don't even CARE if the person in question reads this. (but I can bet he/she wont, coz hey, they can't see past anything besides themselves right?)

Wow, can't believe this turned into a whole-hearted rant. Well, since this is sucha negative post so I shall leave it at that. The whole weekend round-up will be in a separate post and when I get the pictures!

PS: If you still can't guess, yeah I am well again. Of coz lar, can still rant abt people summore woh. What you think? But really thanks to those who wished me well. :)

Self Clerking

I know I haven't been blogging much lately due to a lack of interesting topics. But but! I have a valid reason for the past few days.

I have been sick since monday. =(

The past 3 days were spent mostly in bed. Yes literally. I started with abdominal discomfort (and a bit of nausea) on monday, which was still bearable.

Then I had a really uncomfortable sleep that night due to the emergence of generalized body ache. And it lasted the whole of tuesday, only becoming worse. And don't forget the headache and slight fever that had to add into the fray then. The aches/fever were relieved by panadol but came back after the drug effect wore off. sigh.

And I tot I was slightly better yesterday morning, manatau both the abdominal discomfort AND the body aches came to say hi again yesterday afternoon. And my abdomen felt like super bloated. arggh.

Now it's thursday. Am feeling much better. But am keeping my fingers crossed. Still don't feel like eating much as there's still some residual nausea.

Am desperately hoping that I'll be at 100% full health by tomorrow evening! Coz the gang is coming down to seremban! Have been looking forward to this since like.. forever?

Speaking of the gathering, well I feel kinda sad that quite a few couldn't make it!! Oh no, it doesn't really feel like a reunion now, does it? sigh sigh.

Anyway, hope that does who can make it will enjoy themselves to the max then. =)

PS: yah I know this post isn't up to my usual standard. the wording is incredibly harried and whatever. Spare me pls, this is one ill blogger here.

First Week Of Visit

Today is Day 8 but I'm not in seremban. Followed the bf to his real home in Kepong for the weekend. Will be going back to that hot place later tho. =/

They had finally finished their family med posting and will be starting surgical next week. Which means no more extra lessons for me, except the weekly ones =( I want to learn more...

And talking abt learning, have not been doing much self-studying the past week. Must buck up during the next few weeks! But I really can't study in hot weather!

Anyway, I finally test-tried making the Fudge Brownie on friday. Turned out really nice for my first try! yay! I got the recipe from Michelle's blog here. We enhanced it a bit by adding choc chips hehe. I will be making them again next week for the gathering so that time only I'll post the photos of the awesome yummy food we'll be cooking! :D

Yup you got it right. Most of the gang will be coming down to seremban during the coming weekend for a party of sorts. woots! Can't wait to see everyone again! ^v^

Yesterday, I went to meet up with Li Yann (supposed to include the girls too but they cudnt make it, sigh) at 1-U. Had an awesome time! Pictures are with her so will post them up later. Loved the 4 pasta choices promotion they had at Italiannies. We are gonna try making the one called Apple Coronation pasta at the party coz it's just too yummy for words!!

Okay, that's all for now. First week of my visit has passed (wow so fast!) and nope I don't feel bored yet. Happy, that's the word. =)

Day 5 And It's Still Hot!

Haha Liyann says she's not used to me not updating this blog regularly. But so far I'm not missing it. Actually too tired/busy to miss it! :P

Today is day 5 I'm here in seremban and I'm relishing every minute of it (but spare me the hot weather pls, coz it's killing me!) Am learning a lot of stuff that I normally wudn't be able to learn in the past few months. And I'm very grateful that I'm allowed this opportunity. =)

Let's see. I learnt abt fundoscopy yesterday, heart murmurs today plus a lot of other random topics. But I think one of the most important skills I learnt is organization of thoughts. Personally, I think it's really important and it's certainly a shame that it's something rarely emphasized in phase 1. Sound clinical reasoning is really essential! I hope I'll be able to cultivate a good one in the near future.

Okay, signing off now. I know, this post is shorter than my usual ones, but hey the heat is killing me and I need a rest before going for a jog later!

yeah can you believe it? But I really need to start having a healthy lifestyle that drs are so gung ho in advising others about. lol.

Going South

Greetings from Seremban! Moi had arrived safely yesterday and has already settled in.

Boy, it felt so good to see the bf and my kor again. after almost 3 months!! (that's like a quarter of a year, ya know) So far only saw 2 peeps, waiting to see the rest soon! ^v^

Well, nothing much to report except the weather here is freaking hot (you know how much I cant tahan heat!) and there's no air conditioner here. sry I guess I'm a bit spoiled when it comes to that. =/

I reckon I'll be complaining abt the cold when it's winter in perth next year. :P But if I have a choice, I prefer cold over hot lah. hehe..

Okla, I'll update more when there are things to add! Now to play facebook and sims.. I wonder if I'll continue my studies as planned here. :P

It Will

Suddenly have the urge to write something here... but nothing much of interest to say actually.

Oklo, talk abt my study progress (as if that is very interesting like that -_-)

Glad to report that I should be able to finish the Diabetes chapter tomorrow! omg finally! I was really getting bored of it. 40+ pages is too much for 1 disease! Multiple non-specific clinical features, complex treatment, overwhelming complications... o.O

I wonder if even a slicker of what I'd read the past few weeks registered in my slippery brain. =(

*shrugs*

Maybe it will pop up to say hi someday when I need it. hopefully.

Will be heading out to seremban on the coming sunday. I will continue my studying lists while I'm there as the rest will probably be busy with uni stuff most of the time. (I can't play sims all day, can I?) Anyway, a change of environment would do me a world of good. Okay, it's not really the environment, it's the people. yeah. miss all of them lots! =)

After finishing the lists, which will probably take some time, then I might start on Hypertension as it is also another important chronic disease. I hope it's shorter than diabetes.

You know, the more I read, the more I realise how little knowledge I have. Welcome to the world of Medicine. where trying to amass knowledge is an uphill task filled with potholes and cliffs.

Sometimes, I wonder.. would what I learn in the next 3 years be actually sufficient for me to make an accurate diagnosis plus give the appropriate treatment to the patient? He who trusts me, this person he calls doctor.

Maybe they have some secret way in clinicals that are able to polish us little medical students into the good brilliant doctors of tomorrow. I hope so, coz I'm counting on it.

Yes I know, a lot of it will depends on my own initiative. I also hope that I'll have the perseverance to see it through. To keep on remembering why I chose this line of work in the first place.

I tell myself. It will all be worth it in the end - the hard work, the sweat, the tears, the time spent - when you see your patient smile at you and thank you, in a much better state than when you first saw him.

Yes. it will.

Tag of Facts

This blog seems to be lacking in posts recently. Well, I don't have much to say that can be written publicly here anyway.

*no life person alert*

Anyway, to fill up the emptyness and provide thy random nameless stranger [who still refuses to reveal ur presence I must add] with something to read, I'm doing this tag by Junlin.

yeah after sucha long time of not doing tags.. what to do, all medical students are verrry busy and hence no time to do tags, no need to say tag others la!

This tag reeks of a previous tag I'd done long ago but then, some things has changed so here's a newer updated version then.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Rules of the game are:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules in your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Here we go!

*scratches head - at a loss of abundant ideas so shall recycle one or two from last time*

1. I walk up stairs on tiptoe if I'm walking barefooted. It has been like that since young so no idea why. And I never took ballet in case you are wondering. Nevermind, I hope that will eat up some extra calories! :P

2. My pet peeve is wet dirty toilets. Which is a horror I have to face on a frequent basis since I'm living in Msia. -_- I absolutely cannot stand the wet part as god knows what yuck you are stepping into! eeww..

3. I abhor shallow superficial people, especially those that think the world revolves around them - just becoz they are physically more perfect, rich or influential.

4. I love trying out new foods, especially sinfully sweet desserts!

5. I'm short *cough* undertall. Wish I was taller but nevermind la, shall try to discover benefits of being a petite person. so far still none tho.

6. People used to think that I must be a serious stern grumpy person coz I don't smile much. But I'm glad to report that I've been smilling so much more in recent times! *big beaming smile showing all teeth that blinds all of you lmao*

7. Apparently, I look way younger than my age, according to many strangers, especially the patients. I have been mistaken for a high school student T_T, a college student (still acceptable) and get this, my 13 years old sister's younger sister?? omg I think I need a way to look older or smtg or else my future patients wont trust me ade!!

Okla, are you guys entertained? Hope that with this tag, you all can get to know more abt me.. haha.

Won't be tagging ppl. Last time tag ade also nobody do wan. So you! yes, you who is reading this, you want to do then do la. It's a free world.

This post is kinda sucky coz I'm tired and sleepy. Time to say goodnite. Still not very successful at turning my internal clock back to normal. >.<

Countdown: 2 more days! woots!

Maple (Love) Story

I got this video from Caryn's blog. And found it rather cute and touching..

It's a pity the captions in the movie are only in chinese, sorry for those who can't read it! But maybe you can guess from the scenes, it's certainly simple enough...

Maple (Love) Story

LDR is never easy. I wonder when will the ending happen to me.

Funny Keywords

Was supposed to blog abt this yesterday but I procastinated until now.. haha..

Anyway, I log into my Nuffnang account once in a while to see the analytics (which have been on a perpetual high btw - omg who is reading? why dont u comment once in a while? pretty please?) and also to see other stuff like which blogs are the one referring people over etc. Just for fun, of coz.

And one of things we get to see are the keywords people typed that landed them on moi blog. I noticed some funny ones in the past 2 weeks.

Check this out:

lol. I hope my blog didn't provide any info on murdering ppl with gloves! o.O

Here's the recent week's one:

omg hamsap ah pek! abo why got 'spanking' wan?

and when did I ever write abt that? lol.

Oh noes! I hope this post don't provide more weird keywords for them to land on this very normal blog. wahaha..

If they are expecting lots of those chio sexy pics, they are very wrong! Coz I'm neither and even if I am (indulge my occasional SS moment pls), I am not the sort of person who post them up here! hehehe :P

First Shot

Yeap, I did my first IM injection yesterday!! Isn't that cool?

In case you are wondering who was my first victim, haha it's my dad again.. :P No, I did not simply inject him for no reason la..

After his blood test came back, his Hep B antibody titre was a bit on the low side so he needed another booster shot.. So that's where I come in!! :P

Anyway I think it was much easier (and safer) than taking the blood sample haha.. Was a bit clumsy on filling the syrine tho, coz had absolutely no idea how to do it.. blek. But thanks to dad's guidance, I must say, it went pretty well! =)

Okay granted, IM injection is probably a walk in the park compared to the other stuff we are expected to know. But to me, who is doing relatively nothing these days, it is something alright.

This week I've been to the clinic twice and on both days, there were quite a lot of patients. Saw a few slightly unusual cases.

So here is this week's study list:

• Psoriasis
• Addisons' Disease
• Grades of Fever
• Types of Angina (esp Prinzmetal Angina)
• Marfan Syndrome
• Beta and Alpha receptors, agonists/antagonists

And nooo, I haven't finished studying the Diabetes chapter!! Been procastinating the whole week! oops.. dunno why but I don't have any 'oomph' these few days. >.<

Okay okay tmr I will study ahhh... *sound fades away*

Time to sleep! tataz~

Countdown: 1 more week! This week passed relatively fast somehow. Even tho didn't do anything remotely useful =/

Happy 22nd To Him

Today is my dear dear's 22nd birthday! :D

Sadly, this time I'm not there to celebrate with him... :'( He also didn't get to celebrate my 21st birthday with me.. Nevermind la, we celebrate our belated birthdays together-gether when I go over to seremban, okie? ^v^

Btw, share a secret with you guys hehe... Okla not actually a secret also la.

Anyway get this: Our birthdays are exactly 1 day, 1 month and 1 year apart!! How cool is that right? I mean it's quite hard to have birthdays on the same day la.. so to me, this is pretty cool already lo haha.

Okay ending this post with a special shout-out for him:

Happy happy birthday, dear dear!! Hope you will have a wonderful one... =)

May you have all the blessings in the world & most importantly, may happiness always be yours! Love you! <3

The Paradox of Our Time

I got this wonderful piece of writing from an email who claimed the author is George Carlin, a comedian of the 70's and 80's. But a 'google' unearthed some claims that it is by someone else altogether.

But doesn't matter. What's more important is the message below.

The absurdity of humanity captured like no one else can:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.

We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.

These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for some day that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

About Life

Shall do this post in reverse chronological order. Just for fun.

Right, today I managed to try out my own new self-thought-of pasta recipe. Turned out pretty good (well how could it go wrong with campbell's cream of mushroom as a base anyway? haha) Was quite creamy and all, only part that spoiled the overall taste was the extra mushrooms I added which somehow tasted kinda weird. Maybe because it was different from the brand I normally use.

Anyway, will try to improve on it next time. Was thinking out of trying out fried spaghetti next (I ate that once at a hawker stall and woah, it tasted great!!) so does anybody have the recipe?

-----------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday morning, I accompanied my bro to his imu interview. yeap, guess he is doing medicine as well. (uh-oh, at this rate my dad is gonna go broke! o.O) I wanna start earning money earlier... which is still like 3 years away.. boohoo~ =(

Guess who I met there? Dr.Ranjit! He was one of the interviewers plus councellors for potential students. Too bad he wasn't the one that interviewed my bro. Anyway, I talked to him a bit (even tho he doesn't rmb me actually and tot I was one of the ppl going for the interview until I told him I was from m106) and he even asked a family to come to talk to me. haha.. dont worry, I acted very professional! :P the hesitation the teen has reminded me of what I was 3 yrs ago. God, how long ago it seems!

They even had this slide show showing activities in imu plus the lecturers and stuff.. Looking at the photos, I suddenly felt this missing for life in imu.. *sigh* What to do, those days are in the past already and we will never be able to relive them again - only in memories. but we can do something tho. We can continue keeping in contact with the close friends we had made while we were there, hopefully in the future - we will be able to meet again. =)

Anyway, bro said that his interview went well. The journey in medicine is not an easy one so I bade him all the best in his.

I think once we start our journey in medicine, how we view life will never be the same again. It is a path that brings us nearer to maturity and growth, however reluctant we might be to accept it at first.. Compared to what I was 3 years ago, I think I'd grown a lot in terms of mental age. (sorry, still the same physically... wait! maybe more sedentary.. *wails*) well, I think I'd been thru a lot of challenges and experiences in these short 3 years that it has quite altered my perception of things.

But I'm sure the next 3 years will even be more influential on me as we take to the wards! so many things to learn, so many things to see!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay the last thing I'm going to blog is a grim thing. My sis came back from school last thursday, telling me that one of her friends had passed away. As 13 year olds do not normally pass away suddenly, I had to check with her whether she was kidding or not. Unfortunately, the answer was a 'no'.

Apparently, her friend had a terrible headache the day before and was admitted to hospital. She slipped into coma that night and passed away the next morning. The first thought that came to my medically-warped mind was: "berry aneurysm!!"

Discussed with my dad, looks like that is the probable diagnosis. As there are few disorders that do not have prior signs or symptoms. And the onset was so abrupt too. Rmb what we learnt? Patients normally complain of the "worst headache of their life..."

Anyway, I feel pretty sad that such a young life was lost so suddenly. It must be pretty hard on the family. The abrupt-ness of the situation only worsens things. This sort of condition is congenital (means they have it since young) and there are no warning signs at all. It's like one day one is healthy and all, and the next day - bam - one just suddenly drops dead for no apparent reason. *sigh*

It's true that life is really a fragile thing. You never know when your time might be up. We really gotta use the present to do the best we can, so that we would know that we had led a fulfilling life.

I hope that I will die knowing that I had made a difference in some people's lives with my presence on this earth.

PS: sry la, sound so serious so late at night haha.. just wanted to make a point =)

Slowly

It's night time now and I feel emo for no reason.

Okay fine maybe I do... but it's not really a huge deal. *slaps and chides self* I shld be more understanding, really. =/

Thought the chocolatey goodness of a cup of milo would help.. but hah, apparently I can't feel any endorphins being released..

*looks for an excuse*

Oh ya, it is near that time of the month again.. haha blame it on PMS then! Stupid hormones make ppl emo for fun! arggh.

---------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, have been consistently studying a bit everyday for the past few days (well it is considered satisfactory to me already - for someone who is technically on holiday and a big procastinator like me!) lol.

Trying to study some of the same topics as the seremban ppl. To give those lil grey cells some thing to do, as they seem to be wiltering away. Evidence abound when my bro asked me some Qs abt MHC class I/II or malaria and I wasn't very sure abt either...

Why are they learning that anyway? I don't rmb learning that in my college days. weird.

But those topics were never my strong points anyway. Especially microbiology! I suck big time at it. Never like those creepy sneaky little things haha..

Right. Currently I am covering Diabetes Mellitus. Which lemme tell is one ass of a topic. 40+ pages in the Clinical Med book alone. -_- I will slowly go thru it then, since it's an important chronic disease...

I'd covered about half of my previous lists (about time!) but the rest can't be found in Davidson. I guess I'll find online when I'm free.

But but! I'd also been lazy this week. Didn't do my weekly clinic duty yet... maybe I'll do it this friday. argh hate waking up early. yeah my dad starts clinic at 7.30 am. =( I am definitely not a morning person.

Anyway, I find the little bit of studying I do everyday keeps me sane. And less guilty of coz :P It makes me feel less "useless" and I feel better that at least I'm doing something for the future. however miniscule it might be.

Actually I think that might be the reason I've been doing quite well recently. "Doing quite well" here equals to no emo-ness. hence the lack of [emo] posts recently. Looks like PMS really is the culprit for my current state!

But I am quite proud of myself actually... Slowly and slowly, I can get thru this. Without noticing, I am already halfway thru my terribly long holiday. Yeah right! I think the days passed slower than a disabled tortoise! o.O

Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up. Well at least for the next 2.5 weeks.. till I get to see my frenz again! Maybe that will rejuvenate me. With them around, who needs a laughing potion lol. Kinda miss those days when we were so carefree and happy.. =)

*starts reminiscing abt the good ol' days*

Okie stop. that would go to no end. Wow I can't believe I had written so much. At first planned to write a few lines only. I feel better after writing this out.. blogging really is my therapy.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I have good news! Just checked my email (okay I checked my facebook, email and this blog religiously - sorry I have no life for now) and apparently my online visa has been granted!! Woots~!

After the scare earlier, this is good news indeed! yay yay.

So now to figure out... am I supposed to print whatever that is in the email? It doesn't look very official wo. Anyone has any ideas?

Okla, time to oink ade! Must slowly manipulate my time back to a relative normal. haha.. Good night, peeps!

Handbag Planet

Women just love handbags and shoes, don't they? How about free ones??

Handbag Planet is almost here. To celebrate the October 15, 2008 launch, they are giving away a free handbag every hour for 24 hours on the day of the launch. Their high fashion, trendy handbags are inspired by popular designer brands and priced between $30 and $80.

After signing-up in one easy step, you can select the handbag you would like to win. There's absolutely no catch - this means no shipping/handling fees or credit card required. Yes, it's really that simple!

After looking at the 24 choices on display, I was really spoilt for choice. After much thought, I finally decided on the shiny blue one. Yeah, my love for colourful stuff again.. so don't go choosing the same one as me okie, coz I really want it! hehe..

Do check this link out! ^^

Stuffed Toys

Was thinking of what to write to fill my recently pictureless and apparently "quite serious" blog.

So thanks to my sister's insistence that I post these pictures up on my blog, here's a funny nonsensical post showcasing her huge collection of stuffed toys that she insist on crowding my bed space with. =/

I dunno why, contrary to the usual norm, I wasn't really fond of these cuddly stuffed toys when I was a little girl. I prefer reading storybooks actually..

But my sis? omg, she has such an ever expanding collection. Some are not in these pictures coz they have been kept away. Or else I would really have no place to sleep ade -_-

Anyway, I thought I'll make the pictures funnier by adding speech bubbles to the toys to illustrate what I think they were thinking :P

the doraemon and koala were gifts from her frenz

the bear behind was a gift for a donation

these are made using towels and patches of cloths by my mum

cute, aren't they?

the largest doggy is quite huge actually

CJ7 family!

dad looks stern, mum looks nonchalant while baby CJ7 is cute hehe

kawaii couple bears!

gifts from pharmaceutical company

but of all the above, this is her favourite! I wonder why..

it has been with her for more than 10 years lo..

brought back by dad - also a gift from the company promoting celecoxib

Now, looking at these pics, you know why my bed space is reduced to so little already.. haha~ Hope you all enjoyed this silly post - as a friend said that I sounded more cheerful in my older college-days posts. :P

Late Night Rambles

I know I haven't been blogging much recently, but there's really nothing much to update except for the fact that I'm kinda worried abt my visa application.

Coz Debbi told me that the doctor took her blood to do a blood test while mine didn't. And blur me forgot to ask him too.

I don't want to waste rm1000+ due to a silly mistake like that!

Anyway, tmr morning I'll call IDP and the clinic to see what's the real deal. Hope everything's fine.

So... what I am up to these days?

Let's see - online to play facebook games, read blogs and chat, feel guilty so study a bit, then watch anime/movies I've downloaded and not to forget - sleep!

lol I sound like sucha pig. I think I need to increase my time spent on studying more...

*self hypnosis in action: Must remember my goal in life, work hard for my patients!*

Okay I think I better get my sleeping time back to normal. Been sleeping quite late these few nights.

PS: 3 more weeks to go before seremban welcomes me with open arms! I can't wait!! ^v^

UPDATE: The lady at IDP reassured me that there is no need to do a blood test for the visa. and also cleared my doubt abt the answer I put for one of the questions there. Phiew, hopefully the whole thing will be successful!

Mirror

It's weird... but standing from the outsiders' point of view, everything seemed to became crystal clear.

It was as though I was seeing a mirror of myself.

Was I like that? Am I still like that?

I might be a lot of things but a hypocrite, I hope I am not.

Now there is this tiny gnawing worry that it was partially my fault. Maybe it was because I wasn't a better role model.

But I guess sometimes, in this world, whatever influences you might have on you while you are growing up, ultimately, it still depends on your own self to determine what sort of person you will become.

I am still afraid that I might accidentally lapse into my old habit again. The past few days have been relatively peaceful but then my strength and willpower in this has not yet been sorely tested.

We shall see.

Is this what growing up is about? It sure ain't as fun as it's all made out to be.

Up And About

Hello, I'm back again, sorry for the lack of updates the past few days.

Have been caught up with some stuff, plus the weather is so nice for sleeping in recently... yeah it has been raining almost non-stop the past few days so it's nice to take naps! :P

Anyway, here's what I've been up to the past few days.

Met up with a high school friend on sunday. We had lunch at this shop called Pasta Mania. The Creamy Chicken was delicious, but can't say much for the service there though. The waiter's face was pretty black for the most part, for unknown reasons. *shrugs*

We caught up with each other (my fren and I, not the waiter and I haha) and shopped too! It was Hari Raya Sales ma.. She managed to buy this super cute red pants (I want also..but only 1 left) while I bought a pair of short pants as the price was really worth-it and it's hard to find fitting pants due to my (lack of) height. aikz.

Anyway, guess what, because it was a sunday and raya holidays, I met quite a few of my high school friends in Gurney. It has been what...years? since I last met them. One group didn't recognize me when I waved at them, until we went to talk to them. haha. Unfortunately, the atmosphere was kinda awkward as both parties didn't know what to say. No one to blame but myself as I'm rather poor in this keeping in contact business. And the select few that I did try to keep in touch didn't seem really interested. silly of me.

But I think I shall try my best with the many friends I've made in university. Somehow, the feeling is more mutual. After all the ups and downs we had gone thru in this 2.5 years, I think I can safely say all of us treasure this friendship a lot. Cherish them I shall. =)

Okay I got digressed. I was supposed to be going briefly thru what I had done the past few days. Not reminiscing abt good ol' days. haha.

On monday, I went to IDP to get my visa application done. Costed rm150 but I guess it's safer than risking rm1200 to do it myself then get it rejected due to miniscule reasons. yes it cost tat much just to apply for an australian visa ohmygawd! The expenses are rising so sky high...

Yesterday I went to get my medical checkup done. Besides the whole package of a chest x-ray plus medical examination (which costed rm180 mind you!), I had an extra lumbar-spine xray done too. Just wanted to check if there's any cause to the back pain I occasionally suffer from. Luckily the dr said everything was normal. phiew, I guess it's due to bad posture then :P

And lemme tell you, the whole process of getting those xrays, urine test etc really made me think again. So this is what a patient has to go through plus the worrying fact of their presenting complaint.

It wasn't fun at all. The process of getting those xrays were - how shld I put it - exposingly humiliating. in the literal sense. I think you get what I mean right.. And it is rather uncomfortable to remain in those positions for too long. So this is how it is like to take those xrays that doctors seemed to take for granted for.

But I do have a bone of contention. When the dr was ready to do the medical examination on me, I was all ready to smile and say "good morning" but he neither said "hello" nor "good morning" and straight away started. Granted, he did tell me what he was gonna do before doing it and was quite professional too but the whole thing was rather too cold and stiff for my liking.

I dunno, but in medical school, we are taught the minimal thing we shld ever do is greet the patient. Isn't that like basic courtesy? I wonder.

I tell myself that next time I will try to be a better doctor and put patients at ease by being a tad more friendlier. Coz normally patients are a bit fearful inside when they see a doctor. I hope I will still remember this a few years down the road. And that the journey hasn't turn me cynical then. yeah..

Anyway, so glad that most of the things have been done. Now just hvta wait for the visa to be approved then continue to wait for news about accomodation. yatta!

Oh ya before sunday, I managed to strike a few things off my list of things to read up on. But the past 3 days, progress has been slow. Maybe my procastinating disease is coming back again! Blame it on the sleep-inducing weather! :P

Well that's about all. I think all that sleep is making my day and night topsy-tupsy haha..

PS: Finished reading The Jane Austen Book Club last week. Lots of flashbacks on the the individuals' life stories which were interesting to read about. Many little surprises popping up now and then. which gives insight on why the people are acting the way they are now. She has a different way of writing which I find it a refreshing change. a good book to read but not in a startling way.

PPS: I have a few good books lined up for my reading pleasure. Will slowly enjoy them in the rest of these holidays :) Currently I am reading PS I Love You which is turning out to be a touching read. I like the way she described those little memories the couple used to have together. I think anyone who has been in a relationship before would be able to relate to those tiny little things that seem unimportant to the outsider but actually matters a lot.

PPPS: Happy Hari Raya to my readers, by the way!