Tuesday 28 October 2008

The battle continues

He chased her for 3 hours before cornering her
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It took me 1 hour to get to where he was, 1 hour to admire his lair, and 1 hour swimming away from him.
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Even the most kawaii panda has to start running.

Monday 27 October 2008

Tagged by Ernie

Ernie, why of all people, you have to tag me. More homework to do now.

RULE #1 People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any 1 questions that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

RULE #2 Tag 5 people to do this quiz and those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by and continue this game by sending it to other people.


1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
If I had one in the first place, extremely angry and upset. Might bear hatred towards that person for life.

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?
Can I be greedy and wish for more? Ok, ok. If I only have one - be extremely happy in life.

3. Whose butt would you like to kick?
My sister's butt cause she's being so rebellious now.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Invest in knowledge of the share market so that I can multiply 1 billion to billions of billions of dollars.

5. Will you fall in love with your bestfriend?
Don't think so.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
I want to love and be loved as much.

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you really love?
It's not up to me to decide right? Maybe let me find someone to love first.

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
I would wish that person happiness.

9. What do you pray each day for your loved one?
That they're happy and healthy.

10. What makes you fall in love the fastest?
If he treats me sincerely.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?
Almost or already a consultant, stable financial wise, married to somebody I love, maybe with two kids which hopefully won't be the mirror image of me as I gave my parents a hard time when I was younger.

12. What do you really want at the moment of responding to this tag?
Oh, nothing because I was bored and thanks to this tag for giving me a task.

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
My senior in Liverpool who graduated last year. Miss her so much. We used to go to the gym together and even got caught trying to use her membership. She's really lovely, caring and we get along really well.

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
Difficult question. I don't know! Maybe married but poor at first, then hopefully with my skills and determination, earn money to become rich later in life.

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
Turn off the alarm clock.

16. Would you give all in a relationship?
Yes but I can be selfish at times.

17. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?
Is it possible to fall for 2? One random thought just came to my mind when I read this, it's going to be like me deciding what to buy while shopping, I'll take an extremely long time. I think in the end, it's going to be an impulsive decision. So, whoever will convince me at that crucial moment in time.

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing the someone has done?
No. I'm the type who doesn't get angry easily but once I do, it'll be really difficult for me to forgive and forget.

19. Is there a relationship that you regret working hard for it?
Still too young for this.

20. Would you leave your family behind just to chase your dreams?
Yes cause I won't disappear forever and nowadays, it's so easy to keep in touch.

Now, I want to pass the headache and I'll tag:

  1. Helen Ngu
  2. Lee Pei Pei
  3. Lee Yin Hui
  4. Puan Mei Lin
  5. Ee Pei Lian

Sunday 26 October 2008

The battle of two MSN pictures

Today, F decided to show me something really interesting. According to him, he's been chasing after her for about half and hour to get her picture. Hmmm....was wondering who's that lucky girl. So, he put her photo on his MSN profile picture:

Very cute and from this angle, she does look a bit plump.

So, I told him that I had something interesting as well. Met him during my trip to Cambodia. I spent half and hour just being mesmerized by his looks. He wasn't very into posing for photographs as eating was his sole passion, but luckily he didn't mind having his photo taken during his meal.

Who won? If it's judging by the reaction towards the photo, I think the answer is very clear. Monkeys in Cambodia are clearly cuter than squirrels in England.

P.s. This was how I wasted my 1 extra hour as we shift to Winter Time.

Thursday 23 October 2008

Best day of being a medical student

While writing this, I'm seriously hungry (still waiting for my frozen lasagne to cook in the oven), sleepy, having a headache (which is a rare occasion for me), but extremely satisfied. Started my day at 9 and completed a whole circle back to 9 before I made my way home.

I was posted to the Midwife Led Unit this morning. With the suggestion from my registrar whom I sat in with at the antenatal clinic last time, I mustered up the courage to ask the midwife if I could assist in conducting the labour as well. She was hesitant at first, asking how many normal deliveries have I seen, if I was allowed to etc. etc. In the end, I managed to convince her. I don't know how, but my patient gave implied consent as well.

She was a multip with a history of fast labour therefore we were expecting her to be really fast this time around but no, I ended up staying 2 hours longer than my session, missing lunch, teaching and half of my pbl session. But it was all worth it.

What you read in text books are so different in real practice. It was magical. I think I'll remember the birth of this young human being together with her two really witty parents for my whole life.

My emotions throughout the whole thing was like a roller coaster, there were peaks where I thought everything would start and go smoothly, then the unexpected free fall, when the mother said she doesn't want to push anymore, a minute later, she starts pushing but stops too early and the head went back in again (causing much panic to me), and all this while worrying about missing the teaching and pbl at the back of my mind.

In the end, after putting the baby onto the mother, cutting the umbilical cord, hearing its first cry, it was all worth it. All the pain just for this ugly looking creature to be born into this world. Ugly now but will melt your heart later.

Rushed for pbl after that, I do feel guilty for not staying till the 3rd stage of labour. Finished pbl after half and hour.

No, my day's not done yet. Ran out of the hospital, flagged down a bus, rush to town, caught another bus and made my way to Bootle for a sexual health clinic which was supposed to run from 5 till 8pm but I got there at 5.50pm due to the rush hour. By that time, if you gave me a pillow, I would have dozed off straight away.

How I wished I would have met this doctor earlier. She was so passionate in her job that it drove away all the tiredness in me. Contraceptions was always a dull topic in textbooks but she could make it so interesting just by demonstrating it through her interactions with the patients was just amazing. Even though I didn't get to do much, I truly enjoyed the session.

I was planning to go off at 8pm as that was what my timetable says, but I stayed till her last patient as I was (for the first time) really enjoyed a clinic. By the time she finished, it was already 9pm. It was really nice of her to offer me a lift into town as the buses from Bootle into Liverpool were infrequent at that time. I was of course, thought of my own safety for going home at 9pm from Bootle as well.

I guess when you're passionate about what you're doing, you won't feel or look tired at all. She told me that she started at 8 this morning, which was 1 hour earlier than me and it was abnormal for her to finish this early in the evening. 1 word - superwoman. She does remind me of a few doctors whom I met at Selayang Hospital during my electives as they still looked so energetic and fresh at the end of the day. One of them ever mentioned that you won't feel tired if you are passionate about your work. Another piece of evidence to add to the book after today.

Althought I haven't found my beloved Obs and Gynae handbook yet, it wasn't such a bad price to pay to end this rotation with a bang. My aim now is to find my passion in medicine, and hopefully I can be like them, sharing my passion with others and inspiring them.

Monday 20 October 2008

Case of the missing book

Since I brought this book for my O&G rotation, I left it at the operating theater on the first day of the attachment itself. I only went back to get it after about a week as it was very troublesome to change into theater clothes and shoes just to retrieve it.

I even have my name stamped on the 2nd page of it and it's still missing. Sedih.

2 days after carrying it around, it went missing again! This time, I couldn't even remember where I'd left it. It was just so weird. Seems like we're fated not to be together. On the day it went missing, I went for Ultrasound clinic in the morning. In the afternoon after lunch, I decided to stay back to get some histories from patients. It was when I wanted to refer to it while presenting a history to a doctor that I realised that it wasn't by my side anymore.

The worst part was, I searched every inch of the hospital and still couldn't find it after one long week. This week will be my last week attached to this hospital, if I cannot find it, then I think it'll remain the hospital's property and may it benefit any medical student who comes across it.

It's just weird that my book can just go missing like that as I don't remember being so absent minded before. How can it hide so well from me for the past week? When will this mystery be solved?

Sunday 19 October 2008

Free meal at Nando's

On Saturday, I went with M and V to Nandos to claim our free 1/2 chicken voucher. Usually we don't get such good deal for students but this offer is available nationwide.
Just visit http://www.winningwembley.com/, fill in your details and you can enjoy the same deal which we had as well.How extra was extra hot? Not even on par with the normal big chillis we get in Malaysia what more the bird's eye chillli (cili padi)? I think I still like the Garlic peri-peri sauce the most.
We went to the Nando's branch at Liverpool One and the layout and atmosphere of the restaurant was really lovely. Spacious + calm ambience = relaxed dining.

The voucher only offered exactly what it says - 1/2 a chicken. I paid an extra 1.70 pounds to get the coleslaw, it's just for the sake of having at least 5 portions of fruits or vege in a day. Just joking. I just wanted something with sauce or gravy other than chilli to go with the chicken. There are 5 flavours to choose from for the chicken, namely:

  • Lemon & Herb
  • Mango & Lime
  • Medium
  • Hot
  • Extra Hot

As you can see from the picture, I went with the Mango & Lime and it was delicious. Too bad I couldn't really detect the Mango flavour.

We went to the Disney store after. I could feel the Christmas atmosphere already. Preparations for the festival can be seen everywhere.

Even the soft toys are all geared up for Christmas.

So cute!

Side note:
I just received my results for SSM5 last week. It's an irony that I'll definitely meet all the requirements to get Honours but just because I failed CTM and have to redo it this year, I lost my chance of even getting Commendation. So sad! I've been working hard to meet all the requirements and now they're all going into the bin.
It's going to be my last week on Obs and Gynae. Next I'll be posted to Paediatrics which is noctorious to be the busiest rotation of all. Hopefully I'll survive. Till then.

Saturday 18 October 2008

Breaking

Time will probably heal, that's what I thought.
When did I abandoned my dreams?
Picking up the shattered pieces of hope,
Wounding myself deeper each time I tried.
Betrayed by my own stupidity,
Let down by everything that's happened.
I've sinked into a bottomless pit,
Screaming my heart out yet it reaches no one.
The music keeps on playing,
Who cares about them anyway.
It's so much easier not having a heart,
No more feelings, no more tears.
I would gladly trade happiness,
Just to disappear from this cruel world.
Walking on a thin thread,
It is a matter of time before it breaks.
The sunray catches my eyes,
Time to face it all again.

Alternative to Plastic Surgery

  • Have you yearned for the new expensive contact lenses which makes your iris bigger but cannot afford it?
  • Have you crave to have smooth and fair skin but the stubborn zits just seem to erupt and increase in size no matter what face care regime you practice diligently every day?
  • Ever considered removing that mole which brings you bad luck but not wiling to trust the roadside stall offering mole removal services? (This is very common in Malaysia)
  • Lastly, have you considered plastic surgery but too scared to go under the knife or can't afford it?

Well, I can only suggest a way where you can make your dreams come true but only limited to snap shots and the cyber world - Photoshop.

Come to think about it, maybe it's safer to Photoshop how you would expect as an outcome prior to going for plastic surgery. At least the surgeons know exactly what effect you want. Secondly, that new type of contact lenses might suit me after all but I'm not that vain, yet.

Sunday 12 October 2008

Busy weekends

Last weekend, there was the Hari Raya celebration organised by KUL. I didn't mention this in my last post as I was more preoccupied with the condition of my watch. In a nutshell, there were good food and good company. What I can say is, this year's venue was so much nicer. It is improving every year and hopefully it stays that way.

Photo stolen from Facebook. I brought my camera but with T carrying around a big black SLR camera, who will want to compete with him?

Recognise this baju kurung?

Fast forward to the next Saturday, I was supposed to be helping out at the 'Explorace' event by Malaysian Society, but I don't know how, and I don't know why I ended up being the participant in a group with M. Frankly speaking, my team was at an advantage as we were both in our 4th year in Liverpool competing against all the other freshers. On top of that, a few station masters told me where they were heading off prior to the start of the race as I crossed path with them while making my way to the starting point. Hmmm...it wasn't my choice to know where were they going right?

As you can conclude, we won the race after running around the city centre like crazy. I wasn't even wearing proper shoes to run and my feet did hurt badly after.

After collecting our prize money, we treated ourselves to a nice lunch.
It was chicken kieve served with fries and fresh salad. Delicious food are always fattening. Butter was oozing out as I sliced through the batter to get to the chicken meat. Yummy! For once, I didn't feel guilty as I did run+walk for 2 hours before this.

Sunday was my flat's open house day for Raya. We started cooking on Saturday evening and continued in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Most of the credit will have to go to the other 6 who were involved in this as the worn-out me couldn't really contribute much.

Tadah! At first glance, the yellow flowers were more attractive here in photos but if you're stood there engulfed in all the aroma, you'll definitely notice the food first.

Only 2 and a half dishes can be credited to me.

1. The nicely cut hard-boiled eggs. Boiling egg is not as easy as it sounds. I had to put the eggs in at the right temperature to prevent them from cracking prematurely, boiled them long enough to get to that precise level of hardness (careful not to over-boil or under-boil them as they can't be used for Nasi Lemak then), peel them carefully so that the white still reflects your face nicely when you look into it, and finally, cut in such precision that each portion was exactly 25.000% of an egg. (If one portion ended up 25.1%, it will ruin the proportion of the rest of the egg) Phew, that was hard work!

*all the above were of course expressed in hyperbole


2. The fried ikan bilis (anchovies). This one I must admit that it was my first time frying it. So, 1st batch was burnt a bit, 2nd batch was still a bit soft, 3rd batch was justttt... nice.

I did receive compliments for it and this time, I didn't cry wolf.

3. I was the one who cut all the nasi himpit (I think this is how you spell it. As my friend described, the rice cakes). All were of equal sizes as far as what my judgment tells me.

Chicken rendang. I will gladly lick the plate if the chicken runs out.
Note to self: get recipe from A.

Fried chicken. It was delicious. Don't ask me how many I took.

Colourful jellies! They look so tempting, don't they?

Groupie 1

Me, S, flatmate, and little I. He's so adorable. I'm giving him another plus point for being very photogenic
Groupie 2

In conclusion, it is just impossible to get work done on weekends with this many activity. At least I got a real break from medicine. Now, back to reality. How I wished weekends were longer.

Saturday 4 October 2008

Kena Tagged

I was tagged by my sifu. Forgive me if I don't respond to some of the tags cause I'm starting to neglect this blog due to time constrains.

1. 7 facts about me
  • I forget people's names easily. I need to upgrade my memory.
  • If I'm hungry and sleepy, I choose to sleep first.
  • I'm a really shy person. I will only approach people who I think I will feel comfortable talking to.
  • My laughter is very loud. Too loud sometimes.
  • I don't like feeling guilty
  • I take a long time deciding which brand to buy especially during grocery shopping
  • When I'm stuck, I have to talk to someone to help me make a decision.

2. 7 things that scares me
  • Pain
  • Not knowing what to expect for an important outcome
  • Any creepy crawlies or animals that stings, bites, or causes harm
  • Failure
  • Regret
  • Separations
  • Losing people I love

3. 7 songs that i like now
  • Arashi - Truth
  • Sam Sparro - Black and Gold
  • Lemar - If She Knew
  • FFX - Memories of Lightwaves
  • Harlem - 让我一次爱个够
  • Vamps - Time Goes By
  • Timberland - Way I Are

4. 7 things i always say
  • Sleep first, study later.
  • Nevermind-lah
  • Don't know
  • Har?
  • Don't want
  • Cincai
  • Anything-lah

5. 7 things of value to me
  • My achievements in life
  • My health
  • My family
  • My friends
  • My laptop
  • My watch
  • My pencil box including the things in it


6. 7 first-times in life (that is important)
  • First time traveling without parents or guardians
  • First time skiing and not breaking anything
  • First time stepping foot on UK soil
  • First time over sleeping and having a heart to heart talk to my alarm clock after
  • First time feeling that all my hard work paid off
  • First time picking up myself after a failure
  • First time opening a bank account

7. 7 people i want to tag

Tick, ..tick,...tick............and then it stopped

Watches have always been a huge part of my life as they were precious gifts from my parents for a special occasion. I am very fussy with my watch but once I choose one, I will treasure it a lot. My first watch lasted me for almost 10 years. It went through so much wear and tear that it has small holes from the erosion of its gold plating. It was still in working condition with a change of its battery. It was just a RM 105 Citizen watch given to me when I was 9 and it lasted till I was 19. I still have it kept away safely in a drawer at home.

My current watch was given to me by my parents before I went to the UK to study. It was this lovely Solvil Titus watch. Sadly, it stopped moving a week ago. I was expecting that it's because the battery has finished, so I went down to town today to get its battery changed.

My beloved watch. Went scuba diving, up Mt. Kinabalu, skiing in France, accompanied me on all my travels, hospital attachments...in short, it was with me each and every day since the day I got it.

I went to The Watch Lab at Clayton Square first. Paid 19.95 pounds to get the battery changed and resealing. I was told to come back after 45 minutes.

Went back, was told that it wasn't the battery but the mechanical parts of the watch that was giving problem and needed servicing. It will cost me another 40 pounds extra for it. That was extremely expensive considering the fact that my watch cost a maximum of 75 pounds brand new. I seriously hesitated. In the end, I decided to think about it first and then come back. When I enquired about my refund, he said they couldn't refund my money. In the state of disappointment and shock, I couldn't argue with them. I was told that the receipt can be used as a cheque note, in other words, a voucher for 19.95 pounds if I ever visited that shop again.

I'm the type of person who will find somebody to talk to whenever I'm stuck or can't decide anything. So, I called M. She advised me to go to another watch repair shop at Liverpool One. So, I braved the rain and went there. Meanwhile, I also disturbed another M in London and Y3 in Preston during this stressful period. Thank goodness they didn't mind it. Thank you for being there for me.

The salesman there was really helpful and he even helped me to double check if there was any problem with the battery. He told me that The Watch Lab did not put the cover back on properly and they not only didn't reseal my watch but broke part of the seal. I told him about them not refunding my money and he said that they should be giving me a refund but they might just try not to because I wasn't English. He told me that he worked there before and he even gave me the telephone number of The Watch Lab's head office and the address as well.

I made the phone call to complain after enquiring about the charged for watch servicing which was 50 pounds. Finally, the caller at the head office said that I should be able to get my refund if I went back to the shop.
Got my refund. It's up to you if you want to get any services from The Watch Lab

The shop at Liverpool one which helped me get my refund back and reassured me about the integrity of what I was told previously is called Watch Workshop. It's next to Debenhams at Liverpool One on the 1st floor. The salesman there made my day. Too bad the cost of servicing prevented me from deciding on it today.

Now, I'm in a conflict of servicing my watch for 50 pounds or just buy a new one. The thing is, it is going to be different if I buy a new watch for myself. That statement just pierces my heart. It seriously is not the same. Maybe it's better if I just survived without a watch.

Is it human nature to take advantage of others? Do we discriminate consciously and subconsciously? I always think that you should treat people how you will want to be treated. The treatment I got from The Watch Lab really left a very bad impression on me of the customer services here. It even gave me the thought that discrimination is not as discreet as I thought here. It seriously doesn't pay for not knowing your rights and not fighting for it.

To buy or to service, that is the question. May it recover from its suspended animation soon.