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!