I can make it through the wind

What most people say about the weather in England, especially Liverpool is so true. You do get to experience 4 seasons in a day!

It was summer this morning....warm, with bright sunshine. Nobody would have expected it to rain, let alone snow. Wind was stronger than usual...but it's Liverpool. It was expected.

Ok, it drizzled a bit while I was taking the bus to hospital. Then, it started hailing when I was making my way back! It was painful when the small pieces of ice hit my face. Luckily I had my umbrella to shield my face. Found out from my friend that it snowed a bit in town as well. The wind was stronger comparatively.

Forced myself to go to the library as I was planning to attend this talk about Paediatric Neurology in the evening. By the time I made my way there, the wind was extremely strong. There were times when I had to stop walking as it was taking too much effort. I even saw the traffic light swaying. That was how bad it was. I did wonder if it can be strong enough to blow me away. Now was the only time I felt glad that I was fat.

Fought my way to the old lecture theatre to find that they've mistakenly emailed us the wrong venue. Made my way to the new lecture theatre through the icy cold wind but it was all worth it.

Presented by one of the 42 consultants in Paediatrics Neurology around the United Kingdom, he was not only amusing, lively but really inspiring.

My favourite pointer from him was on aspects which medical students need to consider when taking up a speciality.

1. Money
2. Variation
3. Academic challenge

Money

Yes, that is quite a major factor. One of my dream was to retire young and rich, but have given up now as I can predict that I will be retiring old. Actually, I don't think that is such a bad idea. Looking at my dad, he is constantly finding something to do, like learning about options, investments, going for new courses, looking after my mum and sister. I mean, he needs to find things to keep him occupied at such an old age. People do say that the retirement is the time when you get to do what you've always wanted. But to me, that time will be too late. I prefer to do what I like while I'm still young. Besides, I'm just too lazy to start thinking what will I do with my life after retirement. But things will change and I might start to look forward to it when I start working.

So, is there a speciality where I can earn a lot of money and have a lot of free time to take regular vacations?

Variation

Would I want to do something which is repetitive for the next half a decade? An example which was given by him was an ENT surgeon. Basically, they do only 3 types of surgery for the whole of their career but they are highly specialised in them. Hmmm......I think I wouldn't be able to cope with the monotonous lifestyle. I would like to see a variety of cases. Maybe come across some rare cases which will at least spice up the medical world a bit.

Academic challenge

This part was quite funny. I don't know if it's true or not. On average, a student will know about 680 words prior to entering medical school. After graduating from medical school, the average medical student will now know 3280 words. (I just hope that I've subconsciously learnt something. Must be at the lower end at the moment.) The difference between a specialist and a GP is that, a specialist knows an extra 180 words. Hmmm....doesn't sound that difficult to be a specialist then.

Seems like dermatology has the highest academic challenge among all speciality. Considering how lazy a person I am. I think I'll pass.


It was important that we know which path will we go down at the time of 4th of 5th year of medical school. From that stage onwards till Foundation 2, we were advised to build up our cv as the competition for Specialist Training was getting tougher and tougher as time goes on. It was estimated that about 30% of F2 would not be able to get into specialist training as there were not enough places for everyone. That is really sad. Come to think of it, why are there only 42 consultants in Paediatrics Neurology?

To reach his stage, it begins with entering specialist training in paediatrics, then sub-specialise in paediatrics neurology. It does sound difficult.

While I was doing IB, my friends and I used to motivate ourselves by telling ourselves that we would only have to work hard till we achieve the results to get into university. How naive we were then! The hard work just doesn't stop there. We have to pass each year in medical school, graduate, complete the housemanship, maybe specialise, constantly reassessed for competency throughout our whole career. Come to think about it, retirement seemed like a dream come true.

What the speaker (I cannot remember his name) said today was very true. The most important factors were neither money, variability, nor academic challege. It was to follow your heart.

I want to end up doing a job which I truly enjoy, truly love, truly feel satisfied, and truly feel that it was worth all the effort. Only then, will I be happy.

To continue chasing this dream or give up?

Recently, there was an advertisement on a Japan exchange programme for 2 Liverpool students to conduct their electives in Japan with all expenses paid for. It is really tempting and since coming across this advert, I kept on day dreaming about it.

It will be conducted where 2 Japanese students will act as hosts during the 4 weeks of electives in Japan in the month of July, and they will follow you back to Liverpool for their 4 weeks of electives in August where you will act as their host.

I mean, I wouldn't mind bringing them around UK as I am keen on exploring the country myself. I am so curious about Japan too as I haven't been there before. Plus, I'm really into anime, Japanese movies, etc. Hear and seen so much from the media but to be there yourself, what a new experience it will be.

The dilemma is, I haven't been back last summer, and I will be away from home for 2 years this coming summer. Do I miss home? Hmmmm....difficult question.

Come to think of it, would the Japanese student want a Malaysian to bring them around UK? With the language barrier, will I be able to do much over in Japan? Most importantly, am I wasting my time putting in effort in applying for this?

Haven't been to Japan. I was actually at Japan Fair in Manchester last year with Pei Lian

I was on the verge of giving up after considering all these factors last night. But my heart still didn't want to give up. So, I dropped by the Division of Haematology this afternoon after meeting my convenor for SSM5 to enquire about the application.

My hope lifted when the lady in-charge of advertising told me that she didn't see why can't International students apply for this as well. The documents which I need to submit were just a covering letter and my CV. Later on, the selected applicants will be called for an interview.

This got me thinking really hard. I was happy that there was a chance, even if it was a slight one that I might get it. However, if I really did, then I don't know when will I be able to see my family, when will I get to eat Malaysia food, when will I be able to get pampered at home, the list just goes on. There will be problems of accommodation in August, when I get back, will I be able to survive in a place where I cannot really communicate easily for 4 weeks? Am I capable of becoming a good host?

So many things to think, so many dreams to dream about as well. Should I chase this dream? Or should I just give up? I think for the time being, let me sleep first, think later.

Keyhole surgery

It was an exciting day for me compared to the normal weekdays with hospitals, pbls, etc. I was supposed to go for Hepatitis A vaccination this morning at 9.40am, but had to postpone it till next week as I just paid 15 pounds to make my life busier 2 days ago. Signed up for an introduction to Minimal Access Surgery a.k.a. keyhole surgery.

Ok, this may be an too artistic representation of it.

It was interesting how early the idea of laparoscopic surgery came about. It was 1902 when keyhole surgery was performed on dogs and 1910 on humans. Later on, came the improvement of video camera and fibre optic technology which greatly improved the vision. It was about the 1987 when the first successful removal of gallbladder using keyhole surgery was done in France. The presentation lasted for about half an hour followed by the exciting bit - 1.5 hours of hands-on on models.

We carried out the exercise in pairs, where one had to hold the camera and the other arrange tiny beads to form 'X O' pattern and even stack up cubes of sugar. Record of highest sugar cube stood at 13....I only managed a maximum of 4. Without realising it, the session was soon over. I wasn't even satisfied with playing with the equipment. Hopefully there will be another opportunity.

Currently thinking of a career in laparoscopic surgery. It's interesting, not as gruesome as open surgeries, plus there is great prospective in it. Now, should I sign up for the suturing classes? It does cost 15 pounds. Let me check my bank account first.

J'ai la patate!

This was really funny when I was talking to my flatmate in the kitchen a while ago.

I was planning to ask her what J'ai la patate! mean as soon as I got back from my ski trip but I kept on forgetting until tonight.

Any guesses?

Direct translation (you wouldn't believe this): I've got the potato!
What it really means: It is an informal and strong way of saying I'm fine!

Don't believe what I've said? Check this BBC link out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/cool/moods.shtml

There are even phrases like I've got the peach, bananas or even fries which mean the same thing. Interesting how food can be used to represent this.

My flatmate did say that you can use this among friends but not with your teacher.

Come to think of it, we started our ski lessons just outside our resort, near the restaurant. By standing just before the stairway outside the retaurant, it was the most strategic place to watch what was happening to us. In no time, we attracted a whole big group of audience consisting of all the chefs who diligently prepared each meal for us.

It was at this very first lesson that our ski instructor, Charles, taught us this phrase. Inexperience and foreign to skiing, we were really struggling with that tiny slope. Even screaming our heads off while tumbling down. Charles made us say 'J'ai la patate' every time we fell or just to motivate each other. Each time we said that, it was accompanied by laughter from the group of chefs.

What we do after ski lessons - play with snow!

We were stuck at the resort even on boxing day. Nothing to buy except maybe snow, even if there were really good sales going on there, we wouldn't be able to afford as all of us invested our life savings into this trip. Was it worth it? Definately!

My friends and I were telling each other, even if j'ai la patate really meant 'I am stupid' or 'I just cannot ski', we wouldn't know and can only take our ski instructor's words for it. Never will I expect it to be related to food in any way! No wonder the chefs were laughing. Not surprising, we did have potatoes for lunch that day and a lot more potatoes for the following meals.


Imagine if someone came up and asked you what would you like to cook for dinner and you have to answer knowing that one only phrase of French.

J'ai la patate! (now we know why potatoes are in shortage)

Opening to Liverpool European City of Culture 2008

The opening for Liverpool European City of Culture 2008 took place at St. Greorges Hall opposite Lime Street Station on the 11th of Janurary 2008 at 20.08 hour. Very creative of the time.

Practically everyone whom I knew went for it. There were so many groups of friends going and I ended up going with Michelle, Vivien, Karoliina and Caroline.

Predicting that there will be a huge crowd turning up for this event, we decided to make our way there earlier. We eached St. Georges Hall at 7.25pm. It was cold at first, but when we positioned ourselves among the crowd, it became quite warm. It must be due to the heat generated by everyone.

Some people were there ages before us and they got the best spots. This was the time when I wished that I was taller. It was a real disadvantage especially when the people standing in front of you are all taller than you.

After 15 minutes, they switched on the lights. It made the buildings and surrounding area really beautiful.There were 2 wide screens set up next to St. Georges Hall and there was a projection on the side of Holiday Inn Hotel's building. We were busy taking photographs and catching-up as we haven't met each other for a long time.

Finally, the countdown begun. It started with some fireworks and a display of 2008 above St. Georges Hall.There were 2 cranes which were used to transport containers labeled 'Special Cargo' and suspended performers in the air. There were a few acrobatic acts which wasn't very impressive. At least they were high enough for me to watch.

Ringo Starr, the ex-drummer for Beatles performed in a container placed on top of St. Georges Hall. He received the loudest applause compared to the other performances.

There was one really loyal supporter of Ringo standing near us. How did I know about it? It was quite obvious. He kept shouting 'Riiinnngoooo...!' every now and then starting even before the event and even after the performance. Every time he did that, it was followed by laughter from the crowd.

There was a choir performance which sounded really soothing and nice following the drum performance by Ringo.

Other performances included new songs from Wombats and Ringo himself. I preferred Ringo's song, which I today found out from the papers that it is entitled 'Liverpool 8'. It was to be released on Monday.

My mother is a big fan of Beatles. I wonder what will she think of this song. Hmmmm....

The ceremony ended with fireworks. It lasted less than an hour but overall, it was enjoyable. I was really glad that I lived within walking distance as I cannot imagine if I needed to take the public transport home. There were so many people. The announcer kept reminding us not to rush as there was an incident last year due to rushing.

Took the opportunity to take more pictures when the crowd was lesser

My friends and I decided to visit the World's Museum. They specially extended the opening hours till 10pm for museums and art gallery around that area in conjunction with this event. There was a performance using recycled objects as musical instruments outside the museum which was quite entertaining. There was even a jazz performance inside the museum.

The number of times I've stepped into this museum was increased to 6 after that night. This is because everytime someone comes visit me, I'll most probably bring them into this museum as it is entertaining, and most importantly, it is free. I even got a pair of miniature plastic boots which can be used as pen holder while i was in there.

I was lucky to have met my housemate and her group of friends in the museum. After parting with my group of friends, I joined my housemate for takeaway and made our way back home. One funny things which happened with the takeaway was, I ordered spicy chicken set meal and when I got back, I found that they had given me a burger instead. I thought that they might have mixed-up the order but after double-checking with my friends, what I'd ordered was actually spicy chicken burger. Misleading.

Lyon, France

I'm really happy that I've managed to finish CTM a day earlier. The feeling of relieve when I handed it in made all the hard work worth it. Don't worry, I still haven't forgotten about my other work like PBL and SSM 5 proposal yet. Just needed a small break before getting a start on it.

To continue where i left off about Lyon.

I am really bad with names regardless of people or places. So, bear with me if I don't mention some of the names of famous places.

We made our way toward the city centre and went hunting for the tourist information centre which is the first place I always search for whenever I go travelling to a new place. There was a ferris wheel next to it when we got there. The statue of King Lovis the XIV was there as well. Before approaching and knowing that it was King Lovis's statue, we just took a photo of it from far as it was all shown in the Lyon map. We do practice the policy of 'take the picture first, find out about it later'.


I mentioned about taking the furnicular up the mountain to reach the hugh cathedral. Posted the photos here.



We went down to the old town after that. It is a very orange and yellow town. The unique thing about Lyon is that there are bicycles for rent practically everywhere!


You just need to pay a small charge using credit card before you can rent the bicycle. Talking about bicycles, I still remember the 10 hours of cycling in Amsterdam during my easter trip in first year. Might blog about it next time when I'm free. I think those who were involved in the trip has developed bicycle phobia. Anyone knows what phobia is this called?
Souvenirs! See the shop on the right, that was where I bought my postcards from. Bought a few other items as well.Real or unreal. It looked too real to be true. (Looks closer) It is real! Just that it is really tiny in size. Took this photo outside the Miniature Museum. You'll be surprised at the actual size of it.

Guignol, the famous pupet which originated from Lyon. We did visit the museum after paying 5 euro for it.It was really dark inside. With all the liveless pupets around, it was more scary than entertaining.


FoodWas really hungry even before starting to explore the old town. Pei Pei treated us to pizza which she bought from one of the really crowded pastries shop situated at a corner. As usual, we would borrow the food to take photo first before eating it. Really delicious, especially when you're starving.

Next stop was at a proper restaurant. We were quite disappointed that the food at UCPA (our ski resort) was so much nicer compared to this restaurant. What to do, we have been pampered for a week with delicious food cooked by a ex-4 star hotel cook.I ordered spicy chicken with rice and Menaka ordered lamp chop. However, the highlight of the day was:He was practically a tourist attraction. We were all amazed at his skills of carrying, I estimate, around 50 wine glasses at a time! He was the one who attended our table.

Due to communication barrier, we had some trouble ordering. To my amusement, when we came to ordering our dessert, I heard something about cheese and just picked that. Thinking that it was going to be cheese cake, I soon found out that....What is meant by cheese was actually really cheese. There was goats milk cheese and Lyon cheese. Lyon cheese was hard on the outside, and really soft in the middle. Only ate the middle part.

Comparing to the 3 course meal we had for lunch, we went for kebab the night before for dinner.
Is that kebab? That was my initial reaction as it was my first time seeing frenchfries in kebabs. Maybe that is why they call it frenchfries. They put it in everything.

Our last dinner was in the comfort of our own hotel. We decided to take the recommendation of the hotel's receptionist to order pizza. It was delivered straight to our room on the 4th floor. That is what you call room service at a 4 star hotel.Even the pizza in France was unique. We tried the one with white base instead of the usual tomato base which was not bad. The funniest thing was, they put egg as one of the topping. Tasted unusual, but at least it was edible. Not recommended.Our last photo before we retired to our hotel. Liked the lighting but hard to capture properly on camera. Thanks to Helen's creativity and effort, we got a really nice picture here.


Being able to afford to stay in a 4 star hotel means that we have to travel to the airport with class as well. Took 2 cabs with 3 person in each cab to the airport. Cost of trasport, 14 euro each.

Actually, we didn't want to take the cab. We did ask the hotel reception which was the cheapest way to get to the airport and he told us that the shuttle bus cost 20 euro and it was cheaper to get the cab. When we reached the airport, we found out that the shuttle bus actually cost 6.50 euro. Well, we have to end our trip with class. It didn't end there. For the first time in many flights, each of us checked-in our bags. (Reason: BMI allows free check-in of 1 luggage).Last but not least, I remembered what Laetitia, my French flatmate who comes from Lyon as well, recommended - Le Coussin de Lyon. Came across that in the duty free shop at the departure area at the airport. Not bad tasting, sweet, a hint of mint and chocolate in the middle. Not a big fan of sweet, so, not a big fan of coussins as well.

Till next time.

What am I Doing?????

That is the question which I keep on asking myself since I got back from London 4 days ago. I was supposed to at least complete half of my Critical Thinking Module (CTM, 1200 words) and settle my Risk Assessment form for my electives application before the start of term, which is tomorrow. On top of that, I was planning to at least attempt the Professional Development Document and do some revision over the holidays.

Progress so far: Completed risk assessment form, but still need to go back to the travel clinic to get the revised version approved. Very complicated. Not only did I get something like a half an hour lecture on all the different types of diseases in Malaysia during my visit last Friday, plus I had to redo the whole thing to include risk of accidents, etc. Hopefully I can get this done asap.

CTM - have been postponing this again and again. Keep on saying to myself that it will be easy to do once I've started. But no.....it was really difficult. I don't know why. Just couldn't sit down and start writing. Either I'll feel really sleepy while starting to read the online journals, or some new episode of anime was just released. I have a feeling that anime, movies and dramas will be my downfall one day. Professional Development document? Will have to be postponed till after I've handed in CTM this Friday.

With so many things left undone, came SSM 5 at the worst moment ever. My convenor requested for a short summary of what will I plan to do before Sunday! Yikes. Thought that I could relax a bit this weekend, but sadly.

I hate this feeling when I can predict how hectic my life will be once the new term starts. There will be loads of PBL to do, loads of essays, loads of travelling to hospital attachments, clinics, GPs, lots of society work to do as well.

I always envy people who can juggle so many things together at the same time and who can live by just studying and not be distracted by any movies or animes. Just want to be like them. Was always hoping that I was a genius, don't have to study, can pass everything easily. How I wish but I know my own capabilities.

People always say there is no such thing as no time. You have to make time for it!

I always say, if there were more than 24 hours a day, I will use the extra hours to sleep :P

Thinking back to secondary school, I didn't know how did I manage to just focus and study that hard for SPM. I was still hardworking during the days in Banting but still lazier than SPM. It is just really bad that I am getting lazier and lazier as I grow older, but the irony is that there are more to cover and more things to do!

There's this saying which goes, 'Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it'. If I give up on anime, give up on movies, give up on drama.....and hopefully pass 3rd year without resit. Can I be proud of that? Sounds stupid, but giving all those up is like giving half of my life up. Maybe my first step will be to cut down.

So, new year resolution:

1. Cut down on anime, movies and dramas
2. Complete all tasks on time. Don't procrastinate!
3. Do PBL properly! (Keep telling myself this but I never do. This time I must!)
4. Start revision early. (This is going to be really hard...almost impossible)
5. Go for sports regularly. (Have to practice 'making time' for this one)

After writing all these, I do feel much better. I do wonder if there will be a time when I don't live everyday with regrets. I guess, it does feel great when I get to look back and remember that I did try my hardest to accomplish whatever that I am doing right now and not regret.

I just hope that this day will come soon......

New Year, New Blog

A new year, a new blog. I don't know if this will last as I am not a very dedicated person in writing blogs.

Experiencing the holiday withdrawal syndrome after coming back from a week of skiing in La Plagne, followed by the tour of Lyon, France, and finally 2 nights in London.

La Plagne, France - the place where I overcame fear and pain. Skiing was difficult, I must admit.

Went with 12 other good friends studying around the UK. With such a big group of people, there was never a moment when I felt bored. Even our ski instructor commented that we were too noisy.

There were really funny moments, there were sad moment, but worse of all, I had to push myself every morning at every new slope to conquer the fear of falling and the pain when first putting the ski boots on. It seriously hurt with each step I took. I don't know if it is the body's defense mechanism or was it just me that got used to the pain, this usually lasts for the first hour. After that, I wouldn't have time to worry about the pain but to worry about how am I going to get myself down that really steep slope. It was scary watching people fall on their way down while waiting for my turn. It was even scarier when you stopped halfway on the slope waiting for the person in front of you to ski further before proceeding. Even stopping at the same spot takes up a lot of energy.

My favourite picture! All the girls lying in the snow.













Christmas Eve dinner - Layout 99%, Started and Main course 70%, Desserts 100%.

Thought that I could lose weight while skiing, but I was so wrong. The food that were served at UCPA was really delicious. I think I've practically tried most of French cuisine during the 7 days when I was there.

Conquered Mt Blanc! I wish. First thought when I reached there. The view was breath taking! But how am I going to get down from here!!!! Noooooo..... The journey down was really scary. Had so many adrenaline rushes that I lost count of them. Glad that everyone made it back safely.

Lyon, France







What can I saw about Lyon. Really peaceful and beautiful city. Loved that place.

Our group was down to 6 when we reached Lyon. 2 decided to go back straight after the ski trip and another half decided to tour Geneva first before flying back to Manchester.

We started our Lyon trip with a pleasant surprise. We didn't know that we were staying at a 4 star hotel! The accommodation was really grand for the price that we're paying. just 43.30 euro for 2 nights! The hotel made a mistake that they didn't receive out booking for a 6 person apartment. In the end, they provided us with 2 rooms, one single room with double bed and another room with 2 double beds in it. The reception even told us that the jacuzzi and gym was free to our usage from 5pm till 11pm. Felt really pampered. However, due to tiredness and lazyness, none of us used any of that facility. Hahaha.

Ate Kebab on the first night as we couldn't find an affordable nice restaurant at the hour. Before that, we did ask the reception if there were any nice restaurants around for us to have our dinner. His first question was, did you drive here. I really wanted to say yes, but we took bus number 11 a.k.a walked all the way from the train station to that hotel. At first, he recommended some high class restaurant and even offered to book for us. After that, it was a hugh contrast, he recommended pizza delivery instead (which we did order for the following night).

Everybody....hang on!!!!!

Our tour of the town began the next morning. We walked around the old town area, went up to the old cathedral on the top of the hill. Luckily there was a funicular. I cannot imagine myself climbing up stairs that height to reach there. We could see the whole of Lyon from up there.

There are more to Lyon, but I think I'll save it for next time. There are just too many stories to tell. Haven't even mentioned about what happened in London. Till next time. Happy New Year.