it's nearly 2008.

view of the pacific ocean hokkaido, japan



I know I say the same damn thing this time every year - time really passes so so fast! I have completed 4 years of medical school, gosh who knew I had that in me to do that? I have been a legal adult for a good few years. I have been in a stable relationship. Best of all, everyone around me have been blessed with good health.

It's hard to recollect the year in entirety using a few sweeping statements.

Yet it suffice to say that all I really wish for the new year is for the good stuff to stay good, and to improve on the not-so-good aspects. That's all I hope. Oh, and one small teeny wish - to pass 5th year!!! (after that, imagine the sweet sweet tender feeling of being in 6th year!)

I have so many things to be thankful for, so many people that have touched my life and helped me along my way. Whether you are an old friend or a new acquaintance, whether you'd laughed through my pathetic jokes or made those tortorous 7.30am wardrounds abit more bearable, I still thank all of you.

Ok, enough thanking here.

I still have so much to do, so much I have yet to experience.
May the year ahead bring all of us happiness, love and satisfaction!

Happy 2008!

back from outerspace!

yeah japan may only be 7 hours away from little old singapore but once you land on it, you feel like you are miles and miles away. Everything is different, every experience is new and exhilarating. From the types of vending machines they offer, to the fresh seafood, great biscuits and chocolates, hell even the milk tasted better.

I just you just have to be there to feel the difference. Or maybe the bitter and cold winter got to my head. haha. I gotta upload the pics soon but I have to do a million other little errands for now. so hang in there folks.

Anyway a weird thing happened. My Maths tutor from NJC (Mr Chan Yew Fook) ADDED ME ON FACEBOOK! gosh, you can't run and hide anywhere with these new techy internetish stuff we use these days. not that I have anything against Mr Chan, in fact I think he was a brilliant tutor, partly responsible for our class performing so well in that subject. (the other parts are hard work and a little bit of brains) but it's just a teeny bit weird chatting on facebook with a previous figure of authority I suppose.

Enough crap. Just for those of you who don't know (including me up to 2 days ago or sth), you can actually check your banding for the papers in the 4th year exams (MEQ, MCQ and OSCE). Just log onto the MLTU website and look under course assessment. I think most people know it already but I thought I'd better do a 'public' announcement.

and that's that for now. Need to sort alot of other things. seeya! :)

joy to the world! :)

despite all the serious doubts about myself, complaints about the format of the exam paper and countless bad stories from the osce...that ultimately resulted in the plummeting of my morale..

I PASSED!!

5th year here i come.. 5th year here i come..

this is such a big relief..! now i can go on my holiday to japan in peace. it's amazing how i use the word relief, rather than happiness or delight or glee or something with a happy connotation.
oh and since vicky has no blogging spirit in him, let me tell you he passed too! :)

*runs off to eat beef noodles for lunch*

rain rain rain!

it has been just pouring and pouring. gosh, welcome to the monsoon season! where rain doesn't stop and you have to waddle outdoors.

at least there hasn't been any major floods. last year was bad.

on the other hand....

my poor Kangaroo Island (7 times the size of Singapore no less) has been suffering from BUSHFIRES! so far only a few humans dead but the sheep community haven't been so lucky. oh well, kangaroo island is a beautiful place, i hope the fire wouldn't destroy it. com'on firefighters! put em' out!

heh.. i can't really blog about malaysia yet because i have yet to get the photos from Mr Victor Chia. *ahem!!! GIMME MY PICS* but soon..soon i will.

meanwhile i'm gonna continue my massive dvd watching! :) it feels so good. My sis and I would snuggle under the blanket together on my bed and both of us would share one headphone and watch the dvds together.

and results is gonna be out next week!.. prolly tues/wed i think since the BOARD of EXAMINERS meeting is on MONDAY. oh dear, all the bad memories of all the crappy things i said, did and wrote in the exam papers are all coming back to me. and i guess they will continue to haunt me until i know if i make it to 5th year

GOSH!....

it's thursday!

i have been back home for a couple of days. really feels so good to sit in your old room!
anyway guys, i will be heading to KL (and malacca for a day or two) with vic this friday. gonna stay with quinnie.. and probably catch up with all the med people who live in kl! pakyeap, jessica, su chuen.. yeaps.

should be fun. except i forgot to bring my camera back from adelaide. dammit. so i have to use the vic's camera, which should be fine i suppose...

so seeya all when i'm back! :)

hello world.

*stretches my arms* i slept so soundly last night. slept without any worries or stress. it was SO GOOD. everyone should try it. haha. oh well and so the summer has finally arrived! it is VERY VERY HOT outside (about 37degrees) and I need to pack my luggage, pack my room and put things in order before I fly back home tmr! YES TMR!... so happy. not that singapore is any cooler.. but at least i am home. and the freaking flies dun stick onto your face and dun move for the life of you.

i could talk ends on about the osces.. (dysphagia??!!) (stupid CXR?!) ... oh well. it was really stressful and funny whilst it lasted. just gonna end here with a little joke made by my dear old porkchop.

senario:
patient presents with dysphagia (swallowing problems) and after asking him a whole load of questions, porky decided that the diagnosis was pharyngeal pouch.

porky:
ok sir, it seems to me that you have a pharyngeal pouch that is causing you these problems.

patient:
oh.. okie. so what should i do?

porky:
well we are going to run some investigations to confirm the diagnosis.

patient:
that is great, what sort of investigations will i have to undergo?

porky:
first of all we will do a barium enema on you.

porky (1 split second later, after realising the change in mood in the room):
OH NO I MEANT BARIUM MEAL...

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

HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!!

LIFE IS GOOD AFTER ALL.


*runs off to play!!*

morning!

heh i knew my decision to sleep more last night was a good one.

woke up today feeling heaps better. decided there's no point crying over spilled milk. i'm just wanting to get Cs for the papers. oh gosh.

anyway it's time to look through more ECGs! and CXR! and EUC, FBE, LFT, TFT, ABG, XR of #...

dammit. so many abbreviated terms for med. hmm.

oh and not forgetting HIV, HBV, HCV... and erm.. MRI? CT? CTPA? ...

heh heh.

oh shit.

the 2 papers in the past 2 days have been.. challenging, annoying.. and difficult!!.......

i'm really worried.. the impending doom of failing 4th year could happen!...

i should really shuddap, go study more, practice more physical exam and hope for the best.

eeeeurgggh.

now, this is getting awfully scary.

how my pre-exam mood fluctuates.

2-3 weeks before exams: stressed, trying to study, some distractions present, mind is thinking "oh still have some time, should be able to do it"

1 week before exams: shit!! have so much more to study, and i have forgotten alot of what i have studied.. HOW HOW HOW? *flips thru past year papers*... can't do them!

2 days before exams: still studying. still freaking. and very worried about the prospect of failing the year.

sigh.

gosh

it's monday already.
SWOT is half over. exams are twice as near.

and in 11 days time everything will be over!!.. 11 days! that's not even 2 weeks!..

I CAN DO IT!.. i have to. i can't give up... not yet!


haha. i liked how inspirational i sounded. :)

PS: do my test if you have the time.. or if u got bored of ploughing through notes!..

yawn

it's my baby sister's 20th bday! happy birthday little one!... welcome to the 20s! :)

Anyway, that aside.. i still have a mountainload of notes to go through. my head feels like it cannot hold anymore information already!.. it's so scary!..I guess if i keep reading it, something HAS to sink it ..right?

we have been eating alot of instant mee. eeeick...and alot of take aways!.. hai. oh well.
but today i made chicken soup.. because it's good for the soul! and the mind i think. it tasted really good so i guess that's all that matters :)

haha, vic and i threw our poor turtle toys into the washing machines..they went spinning' mate!.. now they are drying. they smell nice :)...

ok back to the notes.. @.@

PS: victor is a smelly boy. when i was getting some blank paper to feed the printer, he thought i was trying to STEAL his notes. grrrrr.

it really is the end of the school year.

sometime during april this year, i stared at my "MLTU (medical learning and teaching unit i think) - used to be called MEU (medical education unit)" online timetable. It was bare, even though I had finished surgery at that time because the folks at MLTU isn't the best when it comes to efficiency. Results/Lecture notes take a while to be ulploaded. This is something that we have all learned to 'accept' over the past few years here in adelaide. and when we do not accept the nonsensical 'technical errors', we all pull our hair in frustration and bitch non-stop about it.

I distinctly remembered thinking to myself: "damnit!... when would the end of the school year approach? Would I be able to fill up this list with some decent grades?"

In a blink of an eye, ok maybe a few more blinks than that, I am absolutely DONE with the year. like done. like no more medical home units and surgery home units for a long time. i think the med/surg placements in 6th year are probably the closest thing to them. it's just plain surreal thinking about it. It wasn't too bad whilst it lasted, but I want to move on. I want to learn new things (say O&G, peds etc etc) and I want to gather fresh experiences under my belt. In fact, I felt like I couldn't sit still and wait for all this exam crap to pass so that 5th year could start rolling in.

As I handed in my last assessment form for the year to Ann Francis (the lovely lady sitting at the front desk of clinical studies in Eleanor Harold), it was a true sign that, YES I AM REALLY DONE for the year.

I am just hoping I wouldn't have to repeat all this!! O.O

because...

1. If your doctor told you TODAY that you were pregnant, what would you say?
say? NO WAYYYYY.... freak out or something.

2. Do you trust all of your friends?
depends on what sort of trust we are talking about. trusting my life.. versus trusting my friend to turn out for dinner as promised.

3. Would you move to another state or country to be with the one you love?
yes, because i am a hopeless romantic.

4. Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?
yes, or else if everything is random.. life would be harder to comprehend.

5. Name two things you would NOT tolerate in a relationship?
disappointment and .. infidelity?

6. Which one of your friends do you think would make the best doctor?
well, hopefully all of us!

7. Are you afraid of falling in love?
no....

8. Is there someone who pops into your mind at random times?
my dead grandpa. heh, no just kidding. no one really.

9. Would you stop talking to your friends because you hooked up with a new person?
no!

10. When was the last time you flew in a plane?
end of june. SGP - ADL flight on SQ...

11. What did the last text message you sent say?
to quinnie.. telling her how much the photocopying cost.

12. What features do you find most attractive in the opposite sex?
intelligence and humour.. oh and NICE VEINY ARMS! *slurp*

13. Fill in the blank. I _______ you in my life
would like to punch

14. Att or Single?
attached.. attached... very very attached.

15. If you were to wake up from being in a coma for a long period of time who would you call?
hmmm would i be waking up without my memory or with?
if i lost my memory.. i will be calling for HELP!
if memory is intact... calling for mum and dad.

16. How many kids do you want to have?
now? zilch.
in the future.. 2 i guess?

17. Love Someone?
yesss. plenty of people.

18. Where was your default picture taken?
erm. vic's smelly couch in adelaide!

19. What's your middle name?
wen hui?

20. Honestly, what's on your mind right now?
i should be studyiing. mugging and studying.

21. If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be?
did better for the A levels?
but im happy the way life was... and is at the moment.

22. Shoe size?
hmmm.. US 8. ( i know..big feet! sob)

23. What are you wearing right now?
trackies, t shirt...

24. Righty or Lefty?
LEFTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... LEFTY! YAY!

25. Best place to eat?
Iggy's in singapore... in adelaide.. hmmm. the Manse?

26. Favorite animal?
Goat and turtles

29. Favorite juice?
most fruit juices... except banana and papaya.

30. Have you had the chicken pox?
No..

31. Have you had a sore throat?
what kind of qns is this? yes of course.

32. Ever had plastic surgery?
not yet. lol

33. Who knows you the best?
the smelly victor..

34. Do you get along with your family?
yes..

35. Do you wear contact lenses or glasses?
both. glasses because it's convenient and it makes me look geeky. lenses when i go out or have make up on.

36. Ever been in a fight with your pet?
no pets before.

37. Been to Mexico?
no.. but i would like to :)

38. Did you buy something today?
hmmm. i bought subway for lunch. and den 6 cans of red bull and 1 packet of shapes.

39. Did you get sick today?
no...? sick of studying.. does that count?

40. Do you miss someone today?
i miss my family..

41. Did you get in a fight with someone today?
does pretend-fighting with victor count?

42. When is the last time you had a massage?
LONG time ago. in june in sg.. i think.

43. Last person to lay in your bed?
me myself and i

44. Last person to see you cry?
umm. i can't rem the last time i cried..

45. What was the last channel you watched?
channel 10.

46. What are your plans for the weekend?
study.. and freaking out for the exams.
oh and go marketing for fruits and vegs :)

47. Who do you think will repost this?
no idea? don't think anyone else is as bo liao.

48. Are you happy?
no... i need to study!

49. Who was the last person you hung out with?
the boyfriend.

gosh

sometimes, i think i am the one who needs reminding!.. thursday would go down in history as the last day of 4th year med!... and i was so busy studying and doing stupid things (group presentation for radiation oncology) that i forgot it WAS the LAST DAY!.. at the beginning of the year, i could not phantom how ANYONE can go through with 36 weeks of clinical years, with only 3 weeks break in between.

but guess what? all of us did! :) i wouldn't say 4th year has been an easy feat.. learnt alot of new things, some things changed while other things stayed the same. but i would like to think that we have all got out of it stronger and wiser in one way or another.

4th year was a good time to start thinking about future career options. oh, that's what surgeons are like. *chop slice chop, scalpel please!*ooooh, physicians and their 'holistic' discharge planning *should this PT go to a nursing home? or dom care? ACAT assessment please!!*,.. and who can forget the PSYCHIATRY people? gosh.. and then there was ACC. ahhh, good times..

now i have to concentrate really hard till the exams are over. that's not going to be easy!.. but i'm sure we will all be okie!.. good luck guys.. study hard!...

IMPT IMPT!!!...

South Australian summer time (daylight saving) for 2007-2008 will be observed from 2:00 am South Australian standard time on 28 October 2007 until 3:00 am South Australian summer time on 6 April 2008.

Don't forget to turn your clocks forward one hour at 2:00 am on 28 October 2007 then back one hour to 3:00 am on 6 April 2008.

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service brought to you by the girl-who-has-nothing-else-better-to-do.

a post to distract me from studying..

surfing online and look what interesting things i found!...

starring from tod's: i like the buckle look. and the colour. woo hoo! classic look.

from chloe: look! so white, so pristine.. with key&lock too! chunky look. heh heh.

from fendi: recall what i said about the buckle? neutral colour (but probably wouldnt go well with the asian skin tone)

last but not least.. JIMMYCHOOS! ahhhh! for that gala-ball/executive dinner/charity ball that i will never go for.
otherwise, nice to oogle at :)

alright. end of oogle session.
go and study everyone!!!..

Question at hand -->
what does everyone do to keep themselves sane during the intensely stressful SWOT period? blog surfing? blogging? running? eating? sleeping? watching TV? playing games?

would lurve to hear from you :)

@.@

hmmm. After re-reading my latest entry and noticing the comments from my friends - I realised I might have kind of over-reacted to a small matter. Call me sour-grapes or whatever you want, I think I have the right to vent.

Guess life can be extremely unfair.. and extremely out of your own control.

Oh well, even if said med student gets A in one miserable rotation, his/her medical career is probably not going to be affected by it. If he/she continues to be that incompetent, surely fellow doctors would notice it. It's just a matter of time.

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and I want to bake! any good recipes anyone?

vents of frustration

how.. tell me how one can retain knowledge about things?

i swear i distinctly remembered the holistic management of COPD and asthma. However, as I read through my old (like from 2nd year med) notes, I freaked out at how much at

1) how much I seemed like I used to know.
2) how LITTLE I know at the moment.

This is NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD AT ALL!

and.. I found out that the way consultants/registrars have been dishing out the As have been WAY crazy. How can an idiot who cannot even interpret an X-ray of a wrist fracture be allowed to be considered an A student...???!?!... especially since A = above expected for a 4th year student.

WHICH PART OF MISDIAGNOSING AN X-RAY IS ABOVE EXPECTATIONS?!

argh.

i shall retreat.

and return to the old dusty notes.

the things med students do..

to keep themselves entertained can be oh-so-silly!

i got vic's (bigger) leg hung loose. and i was trying to see how many knee reflexes i could elicit at one stretch. so his poor leg was like overwhelmed with sensory input!.. jerking on and on and on. he was trying his best to contract his muscles, clench his jaw and whatsoever to try stop the reflex from occurring. Whilst I, Miss Sadistic, happily strike the hammer on his patellar tendon repeatedly. I was laughing myself silly. I was on a ball...!

oh..the things we do to keep ourselves happy (and insane)

don't worry guys. vic had a go at my legs too.
seems like my legs are less responsive than his... te he he

a bad saturday

was feeling pretty crap the whole of yesterday.

well it sort of started on fri night.. with a mild headache.
didn't think much of it, ate 2 panadols to counter it :/

woke up on saturday morning. with a headache. felt kinda crap.
thought that maybe if i had something to drink and eat (and throw in another 2 panadols) i should be fine.
went out for the wine tasting.

BAD IDEA!!!!...
the wine selection was fantastic but i was in no shape to even try like 10% of the 200+ types that they had on offer. the event was either held under a tent or inside a shed. both of which is bad if the weather was hot (which was the case yesterday). plus all that people squeezed together like sardines in a can... my headache pain scale pretty much skyrocketed.

decided to go home (alone) and sleep. vic stayed on with his booze buddy alfred.. and they each bought like a dozen bottles of wine. (nothing surprising)

i woke up. still headachy. took a cold bath and finally got some relief.
ate some porridge... and then the headache came back!.............. ()#$*)(*%$)(*%

i caved in. i went back to bed.

but i'm better today.
well i hope i will be!!..

shooeeesss.

pretty shoes!
i can't resist!
go and study daphne!!!!......


PS: i'm just really bored. drugs don't rock my sox

crazy weather.

it was 29degree yesterday. and it's going to be 31degs on thurs!.. gosh.

radiation oncology is so slack!... i could get used to this pace of life. heh. just plenty of planning in the CT simulator suite.. supervise administration of treatment.. consults with patients in clinics..it's mostly a 9-5 job. you still get proper patient contact. you are still a specialist in a field.

and something i didnt really know.. is that for all solid tumours (ie: minus the leukemias and lymphomas and a few other cancers) - 50% are cured by surgery, 48% by radiation and 2% by chemotherapy. and in alot of palliative cases, radiation can provide good symptomatic control, especially for pain. so it's not really doom and gloom :)

possible consideration as a future career? oh i dunno.. lemme deal with the damn exams first..whee!...

a snob?

victor calls me a snob.

times where i snub people.
times when i don't really include everyone into dinners/gatherings/etc
times when i come home exasperated from the day's events.

i call myself selective.

it's not like i'm rude to people i'd rather not talk to. i still say hi, do the small talk business and generally still capable to engage in a relatively benign and interesting conversation. but i do not see the need to be NICE to everyone, to help every soul, to bring out the best in every single human being. i choose who i want to hang out with, i choose who i share my jokes with, and i even choose who i superpoke on facebook.

i used to be the sort of person who was loud and nice to everyone in high school, then i realised that it was really stupid. you must be joking if you'd send christmas cards out to everyone you considered a friend. and it's ridiculous to make sure every single one of your so-called friends get a souvenir from you when you return from your little trip overseas.

as one grows older (and hopefully wiser), you just get better at reading people. on the basis of first impressions, i would now be able to tell if

a) i like you somewhat.
b) i like you and would like to be your friend. and we will be so cool together.
c) i don't like you one bit.

i know i know, it's very sad that i label people, put them into boxes and objectify their existence. but you know what? life is complicated enough as it is. all i need is a group of close friends that i can relate to and be myself. and for the rest of the world, i attempt to handle it the best i can in the way i know best.

i really need to study hard

victor the boyfriend is currently sitting NEXT to me, studiously scribbling away at his notebook, internalising all the different types of micro-organisms that God has provided this planet.

now, you might want to know what I am doing.

I was facebooking, then i was reading crappy news then now i am blogging!
what efficient use of time. there is just this weird inertia crap hindering me. i can't see it but i certainly can feel its powers. eeeick.

we went to watch the kingdom last night (another distraction... -.-") it was a pretty okie movie except the fact that the cinematography revolves around the camera shaking whenever an actor/actress starts running or shooting with weapons. i felt like i was sitting on a rocky ferry boat more than anything else. otherwise, the kingdom has excellently portray the americans as a heroic, we-save-all-in-need population of people. there were interesting plots at times but it was mostly really predictable. oh well. we should have known better i guess.

alrighty. i shall attempt to read something.
that victor chia is a studious piece of person.
he is freaking me out!!!....

warm sunday nights

the nights are getting warmer!.. the fan needs to be dusted and taken out from the storeroom already! the last day of neurology went by without much drama, if you don't count waking up late as drama. hahaha. i woke up a full hour late! because the night before i was all dosed up on red bull half studying, half watching re-runs of grey's anatomy. so dear old a/prof brophy went through my case write up with me, thankfully it was full of ticks and nods and "ahh yes, good point you made here"..

and i bought a new book shelf from ikea!.. oh dear old ikea. i love your cheap and student budget-friendly budgets :) it measures 80cm wide and 2metres tall!.. i'm gonna put all my files and books on it. it should be enough space.. and the old shelf is going downstairs to be a shoe rack. many have commented about the fact that quinnie, jess and i own enough shoes to start a shoe shop.. eeeips. they are sort of right. oh well.. we are girls what!!!..

and so, its just 3 more weeks to SWOT. 3 weeks of radiation oncology. 3 weeks of trying to study for the finals...!!!... >.<

breathe in, breathe out

3 weeks is a really short time. my stint in neuro/neurosurg is almost over! tomorrow is friday and it's the last day!.. just finished the case writeup. neurosurgeons are a succinct lot. the head of department (who's going to assess the writeup) insisted on keeping the 2 page maximum criteria. he said, "if you write more than 2 pages you automatically fail the rotation". what a contrast to the physicians and the psychiatrists! they LOVE flowerly and cool description of every damn thing, whether relevant or not to the patient's current problems. alright, they are usually relevant but it can be such a pain addressing issues surrounding a patient's ability to take care of him/herself. can this patient go home? nursing home placement in question? maybe meals on wheels?

i got my MSAs (cool abbreviation for electives that we can sorta choose) for next year. I said sorta because they gave me a damn long freaking list making it seem like we have tons of choices. but they subject us to randomisation and so you do not always get what you want. I got Pediatrics ICU [poor sick little kids], cardiology [lup dup lup dup.. lup dup dup dup..swoosh!], gastro and hepatology [sick tummies and livers] and rural General Practice [epitome of pap smears apparently lol]. i'm pretty happy with my electives! :) going to be doing rural GP with christine and jebbs. that should be fun!.. and from what i heard from seniors, the rural GPs would bring the students out on the weekends for some good ol' fashion fun - think crabbing, cycling, picnics... etc.

another weekend is almost here. eeeips!!!...

it's a cold friday morning

i realised that i love putting days/weather conditions as my blog titles. oh well. am sitting in vic's living room and the view from here is really quite dampening. gloomy grey clouds, strong-willed wind coupled with spattering drops of rain.

absolutely terrible weather.


and to think that i'll have to walk to the hospital in 10 mins in such weather. *gosh!!*....


played badminton last evening with only 3 people. sometimes single, mostly ian and i were trying new tricks on poor victor. he was really really tired. heh...

and i made pasta sauce from scratch using the latest recipe from Orangette (check out my links) and it was a success!.. what i meant was i modified the recipe by the addition of tuna flakes and chicken pieces and i left the onions in there too.. tasted really yummy. but i don't think i will make it that often. the quantity of butter called for scares the hell out of me.

the long weekend is almost here! I can smell it!... I can feel it!...but for now, i have a gruesome friday to endure.

7.30 ward rounds
9.00 neuro OPD
after lunch - back to wards for more torture.

i foresee ending at like.. 4?

i can't wait.

pies!

this is a pig. pig parcel.
in fact, it has more than just pig. there's chicken, bacon and mushrooms.
all happily rolled up together :)

whilst this is a poultry pie.
filled with chicks, vegs and mushroom - all snug together in a creamy base.

the fate of the pig pie.

the yummy bakery we got it from!

all gone!... YAY

the aftermath

having friends over at your house is an addictive thing.
you know you'd love to have them, and you know you kinda shouldn't at the back of your mind.

why so?

you'd realised u will let loose with them.. not study for a whole week.. and even end up spending alot of money (or munny should i say? lol) eating out. >.<

not goood!

but at the same time, friendship is like a drug man.
you keep wanting more :)
oh well, it was time well spent...

on another note,
HOUSE IS ALMOST OUT!.....
and this year, channel 10 is showing house season 4 one week after USA airs it!... HOW COOL IS THAT?.... californiacation and life (new dramas) likewise. eeeips.

i'm so looking forward to grey's anatomy.
cold turkey for the past 4 months!...

ting ting ting!

**scroll down to start from the first part of the trip.
tis' in reverse order.. sorry mate!

excessive caffeine consumption

my dear boy consumed at least 3 cups of coffee daily over the weekend.
WHY? WHY this sudden surge in caffeine intake?
well.. it all boiled down to the fact that we had a NESPRESSO machine in our hotel room. i have to say that this machine was extremely user-friendly, easy to clean, no spills/waste anywhere, and you can have a different blend of coffee everytime! (each colour in the box corresponds to a different flavour coffee blend)

but i am not as easily taken in by advertisement and bright shiny equipment as victor is. he spent the weekend awake, watching random TV channels whilst i slept like a pig every single night. lol...

so yes. this is the tale of the coffee machine.

the big night out!

because we are lazy to set up the self-timer function


Saturday night was spent in Apellation, a restaurant on-site with our accomodation. we tried it 2 years ago and it was so good, we had to eat there again this time around :)

sorry but we didn't take any pics during the meal itself. it's just kinda corny to take pics in a posh place! lol so it suffice to say that the food was really yummy. we also polished off a bottle of shiraz viognier -- locally produced; 'the vineyard is just down the road!"...

we spent a long time talking (and talking and talking) even though the food came out pretty quickly. we took a moment to gaze at the star-lit sky. i'm not sure if this is a rural thing but i reckon there are more stars in rural locations. te hehe.

we went back to the room, lit candles, attempted to dance but ended up laughing instead. i kinda spoilt the evening coz i developed a major headache (alcohol was the culprit!) so i was lying down with a cold towel over my poor little head. ughh.

but was a great night! yay!

saturday part 2

And then.. we went to salter's for lunch. salter's is the restaurant at the saltram winery.
so whilst i waited for my food, victor scooted off for (more) wine tastings.
we went to 3 winers before lunch.. and i think i drank enough wine for a morning.

view from our table at lunch.

lavenders! At Bethany Wines

MORE lavenders! oh they smell so good.
even better than loccitane or crabtree+evelyn combined ok.
fresh! lavendery! crisp! all natural!

this is victor.
all hyped for more wine tasting.

oh the view.
THE VIEW!
all so hilly and green and pretty and lavendery

the next morning (saturday!)

we woke up really early because everyone we spoke to on friday, kept on asking us the same 1 question.
"are you going for the farmer's market tomorrow?"

and we were like o.O

"what market is this we're talking about?"

so apparently there's this really cool market thing every saturday.
we had to check it out....

firstly - the morning view! (hasn't changed from friday afternoon te he he)

a row of vines - young, budding, tender green vines.
full of promise for the next vintage!

oh look! we found the right place :)

and we had to have this market special breakfast roll because 50% of the people at the market were ingesting this one special roll. (and boy was it good!)
for 5.50 - you have this huge ass roll with egg, big pieces of bacon, onions and the best part -- FREE FLOW SAUCES AND RELISHES!...
we tried the tomato and capsicium relish. total put-u-in-heaven food.

now...where now brown cow? so many things so little time.

cheap local flowers.

old man tending his fruit & veg stalls

inside the tent - chocolates, cheeses, sauces, dried fruits, milk.
and a funny looking scarecrow! :)

CAREME = yum yum yum!
one of the best pastries i've tasted in adelaide..
the danishes were buttery and flakey and yummy
and the pies (one whole post later on) were sooo good.

pics pics pics!

im trying to do this in a chronological order.. so be patient!! :)

driver for the trip... ting ting ting!.. victor chia
"so happy to be of service my lady.."

upon arrival... greeted with a GREAT ROOM! :)

sitting area

freaking king sized bed.
check out the weird 'sausage' decorative pillows. lol

this is bok choy, sitting on the sofa, enjoy the complimentary homemade cookie
(which was yummy by the way)

our private courtyard
and the view!
THE VIEW!
THE VIEW!

hello world!

hello world.

im back! ....

after the mad rush stuffing info in my head for the psych viva.. i rushed back home, packed all my stuff.. and went off to barossa for the weekend.

so now i have to unpack. do my laundry. and stop using (fluff)friends on facebook.

will be right back with photosss!! :)

eeick. 2 more days!

ok i'm deluding myself. it's more like 1.5days to the dreaded psych vivas.
all the information is just swimming in my head. eeeick.


the 'hairspray' soundtrack has been on repeat on the itunes so much so that it's getting abit too overwhelming. time for some soothing and melodious songs.

and when it comes to facebook... *shakes head*...
i HAD to adopt one of those damn (fluff)pets!
now im obsessed with collecting munnies, betting on races, feeding my pet, petting other friends' pets... argh.

ok back to benzoooos. i feel depressed and sedated just thinking about it. >.<

hairspray!

i have been listening to the hairspray soundtrack.
get it if you haven't!
i especially love 'good morning baltimore' and 'i can hear the bells'

i swear good music motivates me to study harder and stay at my desk for a longer period.

but halfway through my mugging, what had to distract me other than the FACEBOOK? sigh, now that more people are using facebook, i get karate chopped, high-fiveed and hugged and cuddled like 10 times a day. throw in the daily wall messages and the pervasive pattern of poking.. you end up with an extremely distracted daphne.

oh facebook. why do you have to exist?

the studying is getting along slow but ok. thankfully i finished the case writeups on wednesday. and that's due on monday! this is something that doesn't happen. i am usually the girl who stays up late the night before the assignment is due, typing frantically at the keyboard wishing God had given me more time.

heh. i am so proud of my self-discipline... only hoping now that it will lasts till friday....

and then i will be off to BAROSSSSA. te he he he!

friday.... hurry!!!!

case writeups.

in the midst of finishing the freaking case writeups.
i am running out of ways to describe a psychotic patient's delusions and complex belief system.
i think that the ability to pen down people's thoughts in a flowery and airyfairy way is a prerequisite to be a psychiatrist.



ugh.

it's already tues!!!.................

nothing much is gonna happen till vivas are out of the way.
oh except the international food fiesta this friday.

can we make 90 chunky sushi rolls in one afternoon?
can we cut salmon fillets into teeny slim strips?
can we cook enough rice to feed the city of adelaide?
can we raise up to the avocado challenge?

stay tuned for the outcome....

RANT RANT RANT

*punches invisible person in the face*

i hate being the object of people's bottled-up anger about the world.

a fellow med mate who shall not be named, went all ballistic on me for no real reason.

it's not my fault u didn't turn up for the tutorial 2 weeks ago.
and it's not my fault u didn't ask around what happened during the tute. (and too bad and too sad for you that the tutor was going away)
and it's even more so not my fault that you didn't confirm if tute was happening this week.

all the virtues of a good diligent medical student is lost the moment u flared up at ME.

I was innocently walking through the ED during the supposed tutorial time (because it was cold outside and my jacket was locked up in the CL office)
and you pulled me aside to rant.

I honestly do not care that you have other things on.
I don't give a damn you travelled down all the way in a bus from your suburban house.
And i don't bother if the bus ride took an hour.

HOW common is the phenomenon of tutorial cancellation in the world of clinical years at medical school?

VERY.

why?
1. patients are doctors' first priority. all we pesky little medical students rank way low in the hierarchy.
2. doctors always have things that they need to attend (conferences, private clinics, this and that)
3. that's life in the real world. sometimes no one cares if we get tutes or not.

ooooh. i lurb my chardonnay

You Are Chardonnay

Fresh, spirited, and classic - you have many facets to your personality. You can be sweet and light. Or deep and complex. You have a little bit of something to offer everyone... no wonder you're so popular. Approachable and never smug, you are easy to get to know (and love!). Deep down you are: Dependable and modest Your partying style: Understated and polite Your company is enjoyed best with: Cold or wild meat

What Kind of Wine Are You?

jokes from the psychiatry world

my psychiatry registrar at glenside thinks he is bloody funny.

just a bit of background, the horses in australia are currently down with some flu outbreak. and apparently there is some horse racing thing soon so the horse industry is getting worried.

psych reg:

poor horses!

students, nurses, anyone else in the room:
yeah, it's so terrible!

psych reg:

well especially since it's difficult for horses to take tissue paper out of the box since they have such big hoofs.

students, nurses, anyone else in the room:
-.-" *bee buzzes by...*

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
and about a minute later.

psych reg:

it must be a nuisance having a "horse" voice.

rest of us:

*OUCH* STOP IT ALREADY!

25 degreeeess!

it was a HOT day. had to bring on the sunnies, short sleeved tops and sandals. it was such a lovely day but i had to spend it indoors or stuck on someone's sofa the entire day. i went with the ACIS (acute crisis intervention services) team today and did home visits to patients living in the eastern adelaide area. (my home inclusive!!)

yesterday martini, vic and i went swimming at the aquatic centre. apparently the water is extremely chlorinated because they can only change 10% of the water in the pool everyday due to water restrictions. South Australia has been pretty rain deprived and we are still practising water restrictions - ie: no watering plants with hose, no hosing down the car, no sprinklers and stuff.. but i swam 26 laps. felt SO good to swim. and we even used the heated jacuzzi and steam room as well. so i guess it was 5 bucks well spent. sigh i know i know, it cost only SGD1.50 to swim in the public pools in sg. argh. >.<

it's already week 4 of psychiatry. argh. 2 weeks to the vivassss!

teenagers - my chemical romance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6EQAOmJrbw

i am totally digging this new MCR (my chemical romance) song.
the weather is getting warm.

i am happy!! :)

i have been egged!

T.S of chicken egg. Magnification 1x

Rocked up for patient interview today at the rah at 9am.
bloody hell, doc did not appear, even though we hanged around for an hour.

ian and i decided to leave because there just wasn't much point in staying in the nurses station doing nothing. besides, there were only 3 of us today. the rest of the group evaporated into nothingness and thus did not attend. we headed to the etc cafe for breakkie.. vic joined us (he had a very very slack day too). and then mel called me to say that the doctor is 10 mins away. -.-" (that was like 10.30am already) ian and i were like... ponder ponder... den.. "NAH...."

because eggs for brekkie is more important than interviewing psychiatric patients anytime mate.

which reminds me.
i had eggs florentine (2 poached eggs)
ian had smoked salmon with scrambled eggs (5 eggs involved)
vic had baked omelette (5 eggs involved)

cholesterol levels must have skyrocketed since.

die hard!

just got back from watching die hard 4! felt it was quite a good show, considering it was a spontaneous decision to watch it. we were in the area getting post-dinner ice cream from baskin robbins and i suggested watching a movie since it's cheap(er) tuesdays.

went to brentwood, which is the ICU for psychiatric patients. i'm not sure if it is because i was so sleepy, but i felt that the patients at brentwood do no differ too much from the patients at cleland house (just a normal psychiatry ward facility). how do u distinguish the crazy from the crazier? must be difficult.

sunny days ahead :)

according to the weather folks, we are going to have a really nice and sunny week ahead of us! 21-23 degrees cloudless days on tues and wed! YAY! bye bye trenchcoat. bye bye scarves. HELLO sandals! hello sunnies! :)

with regards to my stupid flu, it's finally resolving. i'm really glad coz i managed to play quite abit of badminton yesterday and didn't die or something.

week 3 psychiatry. WOO! it feels like it's been going on forever and ever man... *ughh* didn't have that sort of feeling in ACC... -.-"

oh well. time to rock up to c3 (mental health ward in the hospital) and have lotsa FUN (bold and large font fun) with dr kopowitzz... king of soft speech. have a great week guys!

Picture of the day: "strong wind, take care!"

We saw this bloody hilarious sign on our drive to Kangaroo Island in Year 2 Med. We found it so funny we made a mental note to take pictures with it on the ride back from Cape Jervis. and the best thing was - it was really really windy on the way back! Hans nearly flew away!

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


rotfl. actually Jinquan was holding his legs up for that effect.
It took us something like 10 unsuccessful attempts before getting our KONICA moment
now all i hope for is that ham boy wouldn't run after me with a sharp object. TE HE HE.

my story :)

The story of Daphne is an example of an etiological myth, one that is strongly explanatory of why certain things in their culture were a certain way.

There are many examples of Greek myths that explain why certain religious rituals were performed, why some peoples may be named what they are, or even why varying objects, plants and animals were symbols of their gods.

The gods were known for punishing mortals for offending them, but occasionally they punished each other. The gods were a vengeful folk, and they did not take kindly to being insulted, by mortal or god. Apollo made the mistake of insulting one of his fellow immortal.

Apollo was a great archer, but sometimes he was a little full of himself. One day he caught sight of Eros, the son of Aphrodite. Eros was also an archer, and his arrows were responsible for instilling the twists and turns of love and lust in a person's heart. Apollo teased young Eros, putting down his abilities as an archer, claiming that one so small could make no difference with his arrows.

Angry at this insult, Eros shot two arrows, one tipped in gold, one blunted and tipped with lead. The arrow dipped in gold had the power to create insatiable lust in a person, while the other created absolute abhorrence towards all things romantic and passionate. The unfortunate soul who was struck with that arrow would have no desire to love anyone. The arrow dipped in gold struck Apollo, but the arrow dipped in lead struck fair Daphne.

Daphne was the daughter of the river god Peneus. Apollo chased down the maiden, desperate for her love, but she wanted nothing to do with him, and she ran from him endlessly. Soon, she grew weary in her running and that Apollo would ultimately catch her. Fearful, she called out to her father for help. As all gods of water posses the ability of transformation, Peneus transformed his daughter into a laurel tree. Suddenly her legs took root, and her arms grew into long and slender branches.

Apollo reached the laurel tree, and, still enamored with Daphne, held the tree in a special place in his heart. He claimed the tree the as his special tree, and adorned himself with some of it's leaves. And that is why the laurel was, and still is, a symbol of the god Apollo.

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

and so that's the story of daphne :)

feng shui :/

poor jess :( she has been so sick! nausea and vomitting.. diarrhoea and abdominal pain. we brought her into the ED just now. waited about 1.5 hours to see a doc who told us that she got gastroenteritis, as though we couldn't figure that out ourselves. gave her fluids and IV maxalon. she seems slightly better. at least more hydrated. anyway its 3am now and that's the story of why im still online at this hour.

I CANNOT SLEEP.

we were talking quite abit in the ED and we really think this year has been a bad luck year for so many of our friends. let me do a little list

Martini - 'moving appendix' which turned out to be a rupture cyst
Ian - ankle fracture thus handicapped for several weeks
Hans - 4th MCP fracture thus cannot punch people.
Chris - appendicitis
Alfred - gastroenteritis....

O.O SEE!

we need to change our feng shui already.

surprise!

just got home from christine's SURPRISE party.
gosh, she got kinda teary when she saw her apartment filled to the brim with people she knows :)
but it's fun to know a surprise worked. hee.
we were suffocating. apartment for 4... was occupied by like 30+ people.


the cookies we baked were a success!! :) ^5 martini girl!
we got good feedback from the crowd. yay us!

glenside tmr.
gosh i want this rotation to be over soon!! :<

*runs off to bed

junkies

been loading up on vitamin c.
hopefully that will help me fight the infection!

anyway we are going to bake cooookies tmr!
oatmeal and chocolate (again) but this time with martini girl :)

and new tagboard..using an old configuration (thus the msgs from 2005)
feel free to leave msgs!..

and now. it's the time of the year where we experience renting blues.
apparently the rent IS going to increase. argh. why!??!
not sure of the future plans yet... but yeah i like living with martini girl and jess.
even when we have 2 rabbits in the living room. te he he. maybe i should get my own pet? hmmm. vic reckons i will torture it and leave it to die and decompose. -.-" so annoying.

anyway we attended this drug&alcohol clinic this afternoon. and we had the pleasure of speaking to this patient who was on a detox program for heroin. this patient was only 18 years old! and he started drugs when he was 15... but i guess the point is not how much drugs he has taken but rather the fact that he is determined to quit, go get an apprenticeship in building, and start a new life.

sometimes i think people always focus on the fact that they are junkies (drug addicts) and never really provide them the opportunity to prove themselves otherwise. a drug addict's life is really quite pitiful and sad. a large proportion of them suffer from anxiety disorders and depression. they often go hungry and lonely. they never really have the chance to build real relationships with other people. there is no stability in their daily routine. so i think clinics like the one i attended today are a very positive thing for them. go clinics! :)

anyway. it's late. i should stop rambling.
good night world.

feeling down and out

been feeling croak since last night. sore throat, productive cough (blood tinged!!) and headache. i feel hot and cold and just really really tired. i have officially caught the martini bug. a virulent strain of influenza something something that just puts med students house bound for a couple of days.

i was supposed to do the patient interview session today. but my dear Mr soft-spoken consultant psychiatrist did most of the work. it was a simple schizophrenia case.. argh. i couldn't even follow what the patient was talking about half the time simply because my brain was just malfunctioning. argh. oh well. but then again he was talking about the universe on one leg and the world on the other leg when he plays soccer. and how Pele uses telepathy to make him talented in soccer. hmm. but maybe i wasn't hearing right. *shrugs*

and the best thing? we were supposed to go see a patient with frontal lobe problem but he died over the weekend. that's right guys, the psych team takes that l-o-n-g to get around to finishing their consults. patients actually die waiting. how distressing is that!

so after getting over the 'shock' that patient number 1 died, we very swiftly shifted our attention to patient number 2. he was, according to the referral form, considered a 'treatment resistant schizophrenic.'

i was imagining the worst. catatonic patient who is devoid of insight and judgement, and probably exhibiting signs of extra pyramidal side effects like dystonia/akathisia/blah blah blah from the antipsychotic meds. but no. my patient could engage in a really decent conversation, minus insight and alot of other stuff.. but mostly there if u know what i mean. in fact, i think i was probably on par with him in terms of performance in an interview. argh

anyway the point here is..

i am sick.
i need rest
and i should stop talking about psychiatry.

and vicky bought me the truffle Parmesan!!!!............... all 400grams of it. i'm going to turn into one of those smelly old woman who eats cheese and knits or something.

and i had su chuen's muffins.
which were a better pick me up than the stupid sushi from sushi train on grenfell street.
err especially if i don't think about the fact that i might have consumed unhealthy levels of aluminum today. te he he.

more pics

veni - joanne - ian - me - kerri anne

alvin and veni - dancing away

irene - me

minnie - me - joanne