halfway dinner 2007

halfway dinner:
a time to have fun, catch up with mates.
it's also the time to reflect on how far along we have come, and how much more we have to do.
it was a great night. despite the fact that the venue was pretty difficult to find.. the food was decent. the drinks were well priced. the awards were hilarious... and the video made by ken was so funny and touching!... made me realised how much we have all grown even though we still think we are young at heart :)

vic and i all dressed up! waiting for the ham car.

da boozer bros. (alfred,vic,alvin)
without them, my life will be bubblywine-less and cornyjoke-less.

Chelsie, Me, Steph
Su Chuen, Jebrrine, Joanne
THE GALS! notice how jebbrine is the odd colour out.

Jess, Martini and Me
HOUSEMATES UNITED

3am in oxford
me, daniel, minnie, ian, sakiko
we survived the night of jaeger bombs and tequila shots!
we went danced to music (that i cant remember the tunes of)

I could post up more pics at another stage but right now i have to conquer level 89 of my game.
heh heh! oh last day of ACC was quite.. pale in comparison to halfway dinner. shall tell u more about it in another post. :)

update

I JUST GOT TO LEVEL 89!!!....
this game is sooo addictive.

haha and victor only got to level 13.

hippie tales

oh my gawwwd.

scrubbed in on a total hip replacement.
it's really like what people say it is -- crude and gruesome!

oh well, not really. only some parts. especially when they clean out the insides of the femur (thigh bone) and make sure it fits well with the prosthesis. the patient's entire leg shakes and moves violently. whilst the poor bone marrow from the thigh bone gets flying in all directions.

and so sorry to whine but my poor feet and back hurts so much now. all that standing for 3 hours. O.O im lying in bed typing this. and all i want is for a warm tub of water to soak my feet in, plus a good massage, plus nice aromatic scented oils to spice things up a lil and tickle my senses, PLUS someone to cook my dinner for me.

Is that too much to ask for? >.<

PS: i have been totally addicted to this: http://www.sobicsschool.com/fun/fun_game2.swf
I AM CURRENTLY UP TO LEVEL 53!! :)
that took my an hour to accomplish man.

cookie overdose.

ugh. woke up with a big headache.
i hate headaches.
i blame it all on the damn cookies.

-.-

monday blues

and i found the perfect cure for it.

solitude in baking.
baking is so therapeutic! except my hands are freaking dry and coarse now from the endless dish washing. but i got coooookies! COOOOKIES! yummy yummy coooookies! and they are my fave type - oatmeal and dark choc chip cookie!... heh heh. am so happy.

but..

ugh.
i feel sick now. i ate like... 5 cookies. ugh ugh.

case write up to hand up on friday.
there's still TKR and THR to see before friday!
and probably do my last take on wednesday.

PSYCHIATRY NEXT WEEK!.................
uughhh. hope that will be nice.

i realised. the less i expect out from a rotation the more i get out of it.
i should seriously not have any expectations anymore man.

i am so bored today. HELP

0630

mobile phone alarm goes off. pressed snooze

0632

clock alarm goes off. pressed snooze

0635

reluctantly dragged my sorry self out of bed. showered and brushed teeth half awake.

0700

made myself strong coffee. no mood for brekkie. eyes still half opened.

0715

walked to the hospital. realised it's not so cold today. winter's ending, perhaps?
little silly songs popped into my mind. still dazed.

0740

ward round started. 3 out of 7 med students missing. only 2 registrars around.
took forever to go through the motion of seeing patients.
the most interesting part was seeing Lars' kid ( his 1.5 year old son Luca) pictures on his mobile.
we oohed and ahhed over how CUTE he is. and how BLUE his eyes were.
** Lars is our RMO. german dude with a huge sense of humour.

0830

gathered in the pantry room in the dept building.
Mr Pohl treated us to his secret 'stash' - twinning's teabags, green tea, chocolate sachets, plunger coffee. we helped ourselves to his hot choc. *in choc heaven*
listened on as Mr Pohl talked about his experiences in a mission hospital in Africa.
i was simultaneously flipping through April 07's Vogue. Oogling at Expensive Handbags again.
we left the pantry feeling lucky and chocolate-fied.

0840

morning xray trauma meeting starts.
daphne starts drifting off again.
Mr Pohl suddenly asked who were the students on take. (Hans, Mel and I raised our hands)
subsequently chose Shannyn to intepret the xray.
she did a great job :)

more questioning from consultants to students.
daphne still in dreamy land. zzz.

0900

wandered off to the library coz there were no outpatients/tutes going on for me.
should i go for OT? nah, didnt feel like it today.
read some ortho book.
tried to remember smelly muscles in the hand. (did not succeed)
used the library computer for abit.
got REALLY DAMN BORED.

1030

walked home.
still using computer.
ate cereal. (brekkie? brunch? dunno...)

1130

tired.
maybe sleep? but there's tutes at 1pm.
should i go? argh

1131

still typing this blog entry


ok guys
byebye.

dark and twisty

some days, i honestly think i am dark and twisty inside. like my mind's all warped.

3 of us, reading new clippings off the noticeboard in the dept of orthopedics and trauma. one news clipping about how it is a fashionable phenomenon to do limb lengthening in China because it increases your chances of getting a public sector job. the cut off was like 1.7m for males and 1.6m for females.

fren 1:
oh my, imagine if i did limb lengthening! wouldn't you be wasting a year of your life waiting to be taller?

fren 2:
yeah, that's an awful waste of time. i totally agree. and i heard that one of the complications is that you could never walk again! or if it went really bad you might even have to get it amputated! infections! ahh!

fren 3:
oh no, that's really sad and 'poor thing' for them. so sad. aiyoh

me:
well they totally deserved it. serve them blardy right. u are going through an operation that you didn't even need in the first place. and who needs a stinky govt job anyway?

fren 3:
*stares at daphne* huh... how can you think that way?

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

problemo

i have a problem.

WRONG NAME CALLING

my registrar, who's like a really cool and nice dude, has been calling me stephanie. normally i wouldn't really care. BUT alas, there is actually a real life stephanie in my rotation. and she's chinese, malaysian, long hair... and you know how angmohs always think asians look alike? the real stephanie is a nice girl and stuff.. but what if he has been mixing us up? then when it comes to filling up assessment forms it's all mixed up too? i think it has been going on for a while, but i have only noticed it TODAY. sorry, im abit hard of hearing.

and yeaaa noooeee haaww da aussies slaaang.

daphne and stephanie do sound very similar in the whole aussie slurred speech method of communicating. and you guys probably think like, hey, how difficult is it to correct someone about this? well, i dunno. he might think im a total idiot for not doing so earlier. haiz.

ramblings

Do 2 people in a committed long term relationship stay together cos they
a) love each other very very much
b) think they have a future together
c) are used to having each other in their respective lives?

when friends pour out their stories to me and i assume the aunt agony role, it seems to me that whilst a) is the right answer ie: the one that gives you 1 point in the module 'how to be a great lover 101', most people think that is not the sole reason for being stuck to each other. love is known to be right, idealistic and very perfectionist.

except when option b) becomes a part of the reason to be together. is having a common goal for the future essential? whatever happened to negiotation and compromise? i thought love is supposed to bring you to places you'd never thought you will be if you stayed single. love is supposed to nurture and transform you, and make some room in your heart for another being.

c) is a product of being together for too long or just an excuse people use to stay together? routine is great, i'd admit to that. but unless you are implying without the other person u cannot live... routine is a shocking reason to be together. if u do not love the person wholeheartedly, keeping the person by your side simply because you are too selfish to let go of habit and routine is a pretty weak argument.

i dunno what i think anymore.
should it be a combination of factors to sustain a relationship?
what about stuff like respect, honesty, trust... etc etc etc
or is love supposed to be enough to last us?


Someone wrote the following about love -

I want it to be inconvenient, I want to sacrifice my life for it.
I want the kind of love that wakes me up at 3am.
I want love that hurts, love that I have to work for.
I want love that tests me.
I want the kind of love that is hard to find, and hard to keep and never easy.
I want the kind of love where you get hurt.
I want love that makes me cry.
I want to hold on to it even if it takes me through my worst nightmare.
But most of all I want love that is worth it!!


maybe worthiness is the answer?

why do i lurve med?

so that i can spend my time dressed up in armour like gear, complete with heavy LEAD aprons. and at the same time be in a sterile room filled with people dressed up similarly, not even passing a slight giggle around at how absurd we will look to people outside of the theatre..

anyway, this is what late nights do to you. you snap pictures while the poor surgeon tries his best to align the nail in the patient, with his leg half dangling in the air.

steph, irwan (porkchop) and me.
notice how i got the unglam 80s look-a-like lead apron whilst porkchop got the cool blue dude one.

steph, me and hans
hans obviously is a big photowhore. check out his hand pose!
notice the scrub nurse in the background. she actually can pull off the whole lead apron look. am jealous. :(

porky in his full glory. check out his blakava cap! we usually only wear them for surgeries that involve opening up joints (eg: total hip/knee replacements). but because porky has a man thing called beard, they made him wear the special cap. te he he he.

and he is blardy skinny. see how the lead apron bottom is slipping off his twig like body frame. he has no butts, no hips and no flesh!

ahhh! look! hans is a naughty boy. didnt wear his mask.
while i am the good girl. even wore the one with the eye shield.
you cannot imagine how suffocating that damn mask is ok.
someone needs to improve on it.

sore arms.

happy times are when.. u can sleep in until 11am on a school day! especially if you have been getting up at 6.20 the last few weeks for 7.30 ward rounds.

last night's take was pretty exciting. well, with a 7 car pile up and an industrial injury.. we were kept very busy. i woke up this morning with a very sore right shoulder. and then i remember how i was holding the patient's arm for the surgeon to fix. not very glam i know but oh well.

so it has been a whirl of plating, screwing (not that way you dirty bastards), drilling and nailing.

i'm really glad i have this morning off to catch my breath. so that when you are back in action, you really enjoy every minute of it. :)

oh and during xray meeting, which is when the registrars discuss the surgery list with the consultants and we students just sit quietly in one corner and stone (listen i meant). the consultant turned to us and offered us the opportunity to leave and "do something more productive - like study anatomy"...

but there were like 3 of us. (nic, steph and me). nic WALKED OUT OF THE ROOM WITHOUT A SINGLE BIT OF HESITATION. she just zoomed out of the room. gone with the wind, literally.

steph and i, being nice asian girls who are too polite to even walk across a room filled with big shot doctors, decided we should stick around until the next available opportunity to leave.

one of the consultants decided that it would be fun for me to go up and interpret the xrays. (since i didnt leave right away)

daph's mind: "WHAT THE>@#)*#$)#(*$)#(*$#"


all i can say is that it wasn't the best experience being the most junior student, presenting to the hot shots who had done unimaginable numbers of procedures. but i did get my answers right (on first try!) and my registrar was really encouraging. so it was not too bad. just unexpected. but then again, im a poor lil' med student - OF COURSE THEY ARE GOING TO PICK ON YOU NITWIT. shit, next time must not daydream. must not stone. must not stare into blank space.

and most of all, LEAVE THE BLOODY ROOM WHEN OFFERED TO DO SO.

update

i found my folder! yeay!

that was a huuuugeeeee relief.

i am so careless

i have no friggin' idea where my black folder is. >.<
i am really upset!


i hope it's just careless me.. leaving it around in the tute room.

if it's really gone, i will freak out cry and die on the spot for you to see.


for ALL my notes are freaking in there.

ALL. everything. i am left notes-less.

if it's lost i will evaporate.

on a totally different note, ACC has been really fun.
i totally believe it's the people that make the rotation.
i have great doctors that are always willing to teach and correct ur mistakes without being cynical and sacarstic. they are like really happy people. they possess this cheery disposition that i have yet to see in other doctors. it's bizzare, these orthopods. and i know some of my mates better; we laugh and learn together. we whisper on ward rounds, we help each other along when we get quizzed by consultants. it's such a positive environment it's not even real sometimes. we also discover who are the annoying people.... but otherwise this looks like it's turning out to be one of the most fulfilling rotation.


*snaps back to the problem*
I NEED MY DAMN DAMN FOLDER BACK. *big big sigh*

rainy days

the weather seems to be getting better. the rain has stopped, the grey clouds have flown away. it was even sunny enough for me to put my clothes outside! yay!

did some work, packed my room, did my laundry.

i feel.. accomplished. *beams*


AND AND AND!

the wireless internet is working! finally! yay! but my housemate seem to be having some trouble with it.. hmmm not v good. sorry we are all abit excited about it, even though its just internet.

i would love to put up some pics.
but i have not been taking pics... maybe sometime soon.

and tiffy. PLEASE BLOG

what a day!

what can i say about today...except.. SLACK AND WASTED!?

i went to the hosp at 8.15. the meeting did not start until 8.35.
we had to endure sitting in a very dim room with little ventilation, going thru slides of x-rays.
most sleep inducing session ever.

afterwards there was the whole orientation/timetable thing, which was not too bad. only made me more confused though coz there's the addition and subtraction of stuff that were printed on the original timetable. den there was the tour around the parts of the hospital that our team uses..

we collected this CD - "how to report on radiographs"

and from this point onwards my day was just.. wasted.

went back home for lunch and nap since there was a 2 hour break before Outpatients at 1pm.
1pm - went back to hospital, all eager to learn :)
1.05pm - the nurses told us to come back later. the earlier OPDs were running late. "come back at 2.30 ok?"

we obliged. i went over to hans' place to kill time.
we read magz and chatted. and hans fell asleep -.-"

we dragged our sleepy selves back to hospital again.
this time less enthu, plus it was starting to drizzle.

2.30: hans and i were back in hospital
2.31: the ARUI)#W*($)(*$ rheumatologist decided to send us home. "oh no new patients" crap.

so now i am back home again!

but i have a feeling from tmr onwards.. it will be so full on i might pass out on the spot.

main course or dessert?

when choosing a life partner, do you prefer a main course or a dessert?


The 'main course' guy might not be perfect but he's nice enough. He makes you feel hearty and warm after each encounter. You feel like you can not do without him, just as living a life with skipped meals is unhealthy and lacking. He can be a little different, like rice for noodles. but they are nonetheless made up of the same blocks of starch if you notice. He will be steadfast, he will be around for a long time.

The 'dessert' guy is tasty, sweet, nice and yummy. He leaves you wanting for more, he lingers in your thoughts long after you wave good bye to him. he does not fill you up, if you have too much of him, it might be too potent for your good. It might leave you hurt, and just like desserts, it might not always be good for you.

so is dessert or main course better?
is it possible to find a guy who is both?
can love be simply classified as such? or is there a main course and dessert in all of us?

argh

It has come to the time of the holiday where I am settling down nicely to life in singapore.

the busy traffic, the humid weather, the good and cheap food...the warm and sunny days.

and I gotta leave on Saturday (again, yes yes I know)

How many more of these cycles do I have to endure? (the number is actually finite. phew)


Gonna start my ACC1 rotation on monday.

Hello fractures, g'day wounds and a warm welcome to joints and all.


Will write more when I have something cooler to tell.

it's already thursday

the weather's been great. in fact, sunnier than never before.

lotte + joel + vic + me went off to bishan to play badminton! after just one hour, i was soaking in my own perspiration. it was really gross man.

i have been a good girl. eating dinner everyday since i've got back. dunno why also. maybe coz everyone else is busy and i think i should spend more time at home with my old and frail granny. she's getting quite forgetful, which is kinda sad. especially since she cannot remember how to cook many of my favourite things anymore. recipes are gone.... but i guess when you are 85... dementia is quite common.

gonna play nintendo wii tmr at vic's house! haha... so going to get trashed.

wheeee

I ATE MY LOVELY DURIANS


*burp*



sorry for being gross.

I HEART DURIANS!

home

needless to say!.....


not really up to much, except i am going to hang out at the new amk hub. which ian and lotte claim it to be really uber cool. we shall see. heh..

and i thought about swimming. but for some strange reason the SKY IS FILLED WITH GREY CLOUDS. tamade. i thought i left the grey clouds behind in adelaide.

and because i have time on my hands... check out the slideshow! showcasting adelaide. he he.

argh

is there a way to prevent unwanted people from viewing my blog... other than changing my blog address?

and i dunno why. but i CANNOT STAND IT when people i hardly know/don't really/cannot be bothered with call me daph.

it's like.. an infringement of human rights.

LESS THAN 48 HOURS TO SG!!

LESS THAN 18 HOURS TO MY TEST

blogging is bad. bad blog. bad bad bad.

i feel kinda looney right now. i think vic's kinda going down the same path too.

OSCEs on friday!

and.... best of all... Singapore on saturday! YiPpeEeeEeeEEee!~!


(i cannot express my happiness in the form of proper english anymore. sorry guys)

the real deal

well guys, you have to wait for another week before i post pics of the gorgeous food we had.
auge is a great place to have italian food, especially if you have loads of cash and just intend to pamper yourself to the max!

this is the ONLY picture of me and vic the whole night can. the rest of the time we were focusing on the damn food. which was nice lah. damn nice in fact.

we polished off 2 bottles of wine. one red (shiraz something something..wolf blass something something platinum label something something - sorry bad hangover can't rem much) and one dessert wine. (DAMN YUMMY CAN) and Lucky Edward got to drive us back coz that was how wasted the birthday boy became.

and poor victor. woke up this morning after such a big night, with only one thought in his head.



"DAMN I AM 25!!!! O.O "

poor victor. poor him.


tehehehe

V is for victor!

Happy Pseudo Birthday Darling! :)
Glad you liked the cake! yay!

We had dinner at sosta.. hurray for grilled meats. keep everybody happy :)
followed by a trip to buddha bar!......

ok im abit off for words.
enjoy the pics!

pendant for me?

i don't know why but there is something very mesmerising about this pendant. and i think i am the only one that feels that way. -.-

it cost 32 USD though. Argh.

anyone...for a belated present? o.o

oh nooooo.

i feel like i am becoming one of them.

the kind of med students that just rush into a patient's room. and hurriedly ask em'

"can I have a feel of your spleen? I heard it's big"

OR

"can I listen to your chest? I understand that there are some noises in there from your pneumonia"

OR

"can I check out your neck lump? Everyone has told me how cool it is"

.

.

.

.
.

i feel so damn bad when i do that.

ideally, i would like to take a day for history
and another 2 days for examination......

but life is too short.

clinical years are like a whole bunch of youtube clips joined together.
and hopefully by the end, you will get all the ingredients required to make a qualified intern.

shopping spree!!

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PIC?
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1. dress was not intended for my use. it's for lotte
2. my smelly boots lurking in bottom left of pic
3. my hair looked like shit.
4. kaypoh sales girl peeping in and checking on me.

NOTE TO SELF: no more camwhoring in changing rooms!!

this is fun!

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

yeay & booo

I OWN THIS BAG

YAY!!

I AM SO SORRY FIDEL
I WILL SEND YOUR CDS OUT TOMORROW
I PROMISE
>.<

rain..

it's been raining non stop since last thursday.

For the driest state in the driest continent in the world, this is no small feat.

The drought-striken farmers in the Murrayland must have been doing their rain dance conscientiously. I can picture them jumping up and down for joy in the rain, thanking the heavens that water has finally poured unto their corn and wheat and barley and what nots.

Initially it was nice, I loved the change in weather to bits. It brought the temperature down, it helped clean the windows and it made it so so nice to sleep at night.

Now it is just getting plain annoying. the park that i walk through every day to reach the bus stop is flooded. the pond that was previously the size of a small backyard has miraculously transformed into a big splashing pool much to the joy of brown native ducklings that inhabit that area.

It is no fun walking in the rain. Everything you own gets wet. You get drenched. The wind blows mercilessly at you. and you enter the house yearning for a cup of hot tea to warm your chilled insides up.

and this annoying rain business only reminds me dearly of one place on earth -- London.

I was blessed with minimal rain during my stay but there was the inevitable sprinkling period. (thank goodness NOT on the wedding day) The grey clouds would hang like sad dolls that nobody wants to buy in Hemley's, and no one, not even BBC, can predict when the next rainpour would occur.

However, the lively atmosphere in the streets embraced me like an old friend. It was easy to navigate around, the underground was a old but mostly faultless system and for places that the underground wouldn't go to, our dear sturdy legs would bring us there. (not without the help of andy and fidz) London is a place with the oldest and most historic buildings in the world, but yet it boosts some of the coolest new abeit weird things too.

London is where I witnessed how special weddings are meant to be. I was brought up to think that weddings have to be big, noisy and grand events where you invite every human being you are remotely connected to. From the classmate you sat next to in secondary school to the Auntie of the 5th son of the husband of your grandma's sister.... Most people just spend their wedding day shaking the hands of these people that they may only see once every... 5 years or something.

My dearest fidel showed me how intimate and special weddings can be without the 50 tables of guests. Just a small group of close friends, champage and a crazy photographer is enough to cause spark and magic happening.

Most of all, london is a place (I think) I can never get sick of. There is always something new happening. A new musical, a new eatery around the corner, a new bear collection at Harrod's.. Alright, maybe not a new queen anytime soon.

So now when it rains, I think of dear old London.

And that, that really makes me smile.

my 1st code blue

witnessed my first code blue.

it's so depressing when the patient deteriorates suddenly in a matter of hours.


-sigh-

i hope she will come out of it very soon.

my easter weekend!

i ditched my plan to travel far and away to the land of victoria and soak myself full of melbourne. imagine the delight i would experience - greco's cheesecakes, factory outlets on smith street, gelato on lygon street, possible road trips to yarra valley.

Instead, I stayed on in good ol' adelaide.

What could i possibly do? (in the land of the boring brown grass vegetation)

I was a good girl on friday.
Pack my room, did my laundry, ironed my clothes, went out for a run around the park, had dinner in (sausages and mash and corn) and baked 2 yoghurt cakes.

saturday was abit more exciting
vic and i hiked 8km from waterfall gully to mt lofty! the views were terrific. and despite all that whinging about how steeep the freaking trail was, vic and i made it! came back home and rested. went out for a fantastic meal at The Manse. so damn yummy.

sunday was even more packed with activities!
drove to barossa valley - had wine tastings, jam and chutney tastings, etc etc.
came back
headed straight for adrian's bdae party.
lotsa good food, wine, people...

monday
slept in (YAY! for me)
went for a touchy rugby session with the med people. now i noe how the game works! and it's quite fun :) we are hoping to make it into a weekly event. hope that works out

back to the hospital tmr.
8am tute with horowitz... WAHHH

looong weekend!

i cannot believe that my only "holiday" in 18 weeks is right now.

and i have spent the last 2 hours folding clothes and reorganising my closet.
how cool is that!

looks like victor is getting more noise from my blog audience than me!

anyway....

it's 20 months! check out the sushi cufflinks!!! :) :) :)

the things stress can lead to...

molten choc cake making!

2 ramekins worth were produced!

hmmmm. *in heaven*

stay away! both are mine!

molten lava smoooooth centress

gone!

*burp* -satisfied-

its so cold!

the weather's turned all wonky on me.

its mostly cold... plus i have been getting my headaches.
so annoying.

just been lying in bed all day.
feel crippled.

a new rotation awaits me on monday!
the hospital is nearer (yay) and the teaching and all is supposed to be good (yay)
i just hope i get attached to a good team with friendly doctors and all.

weirdly,
i think i might even miss surg at lyell mac.

3 days to friday

having a test on friday.

end of surgery test.

how can a 50mcq test be so stressful to study for??

argh.

i wanna get out of the house and run.
but there are 5 books opened, waiting to be read.

argh

weekend.. be here !!!

moooooore!

more pixxxxxxxx :)

just for the sake of my nosy sg frens:
quinnie + jess = my housemates
jo + klara + david + ian + veni + von + mus + aishah + adrian = med classmates
david + june = engaged
alfred = happy chef!

what have i been up to?

brioche toast with smoked salmon and salmon moouse

candles and rose petals

chicken ciabatta sandwich!

potato stacks topped with anchovies and some herb thing

pan fried scallops with red sauce and pistachio paste

adrian, ian, yvonne

edward in a cocktail making frenzy

da girls! venita, me, june, jess, quinnie, joanne

card games time.

alvin and venita - drunk

it was such a wonderful party!
a combined alfred-quinnie-me bdae party.
we turned the house upside down preparing for this.
moulding potato mash into shape... slicing duck... shredding everything in sight..
moving furniture around. putting out candles.
playing nice soft music in the background.
people holding wine glasses, walking around, engaging in small talk.

everything worked out in the end.
lots of yummy food -which took forever to prepare but tasted so yummilicious!
enough alcohol to keep people happy and chatty (and trigger happy)
and everyone dressed up so prettily. *touched*

*beams* thanks guys, for giving me a night to remember :)

even the cleaning up was worth it!

of pet names

people always call their other halves by weird pet names.

they mostly revolve around dear, darling, honey, sweetie....the usuals.

i was kinda amused when vic started calling me chewbacca. well, it sounded quite cute. in a cute furry tame dog.. here kitty kitty kinda way. so i left it at that.

at least it's more original than many other names.

UNTIL he decided to show me how the real 'chewbacca' looks like.

this freak-until-i-poop-in-my-pants creature from star wars, is, my ladies and gentlemen, chewbacca.

100% original chewbacca.

IN WHAT WAY DO I RESEMBLE CHEWBACCA!!?

post birthday blues

shit. when i run on the treadmill tmr, i will have to input my age as 23. i wonder how that would affect my running performance. haha.

everyone seemed to want to know what i did for my birthday.

nothing much really, considering it was a school day.
went to sosta for dinner. it's an argentinian place, famous for its charcoal grilled meats. i got the veal ribs and vic got the beef fillet. both were very nicely done. all tender, juicy and flavourful.

not forgetting to mention the sheer size of the portions.

it's blardy huge.

*shakes head* not good for normal human consumption.

we figured if we go there again, we'll have to share the mains in order to prevent stomach perforation. (as if)

besides that... got alot of hugs, smses and well wishes from friends. which is all good. esp from old friends, warm fuzzy feeling all over. :)

birthday blues

i will be 23 in a couple of days time.

O.O

Anyway, just for my own sake. I'm going to construct a wishlist.

1. CDs
- Gary Jules By Gary Jules (I blame Grey's for this)
- Taking a Long Way By Dixie Chicks (Blame Australia)
- 9 By Damien Rice

2. Vouchers from the following places
- Country Road
- FCUK
- Witchery

3. Unlimited copious amounts of best wishes and hugs from my loved ones.

happy things

things that made me smile this past week

1. cny gathering on saturday.

it was a massive laugh-till-ur-head-drop session. factor in the truckload of yummy food that everyone brought along with them, add in a few ang moh friends who were game enough to stuff themselves silly with us, mix in singlish and stupid jokes!...was a great night. and all achieved without alcohol. the angmohs were so bewildered.

"you guys sound like you are bloody high on drugs or sth"

the cleaning up was horrendous though

2. cny card from an old friend

huiqi.. my fellow crescent classmate and NCC friend, sent me a cny card all the way from sg! she'd asked me for my address a long way back and i totally forgot about my little conversation with her in december. it's just so heart warming to know that people remember about you and puts in the effort to find out how you are and stuff. and sec 1.. was a damn long time ago. like 10 yrs ago. like in 1997. like when my crescent blouse was bright yellow and starched up and the peacock blue skirt was covering my knees. like when all i cared about was school and NCC.

3. an unplanned valentine's day dinner

with flowers!! i think this is like the 3rd time i've gotten flowers from vic. we went for yakitori on melbourne street. as yummy as ever! :) but yeah, the flowers were a big surprise.

4. results from last semester

nothing to say, except it was WAY better than expected :) and the fact that it made my mummy happy and reassured that i wasn't just partying my life away in adelaide. she thinks im a awful daughter who squanders money and sleep too much. (can't say that is false..lol)

it's a quiet friday night

..because everyone else is out. it's just me and the rabbits.

i also don't know why i decided to stay in. guess it's just too warm outside to enjoy myself. those ang mohs are mad. weather so hot, they like to eat around and drink jugs of beer, sweating and mingling with one another.

i miss home! it would have been so nice to sit around having steamboat.. lots of delicious food. plus my favourite orh nee! and all those cheng teng type desserts. it's weird to miss chinese new year. yes i know.. when you are in singapore.. you don't think much of the whole notion of it. eat.. ok loh. get angbao..thank you hor.. and simultaneously getting irritated by your kaypoh relatives who demand to know why you've grown over the past yr, which school you are at, what your grades are.. and.. everything else in your life really.

missing chinese new year really sucks.
hope you guys enjoy yourselves okie?
have a happy cny! :)

NB: the rabbits are not mine. they belong to my housemates.

canto night

i am truly a computer idiot.

saw "jessica's jukebox" appearing in the left column of my itunes player.
i was bewildered. like.. what the heck is that??? turns out my housemate said yes to sharing her library of songs... and it just appears on my itunes.

so now i am swimming in lots of canto songs. it really is quite cool, this sharing music thing.

this week's been pretty interesting.

finally became proficient at taking blood. the less i care about causing pain to the patient, the easier i get the tube to fill with oozy deep red venous blood. heh heh.

saw a distal pancreadectomy and splenectomy. (removing pancreas and spleen) which i still dun really get my head around why they took them out since the cancer has already spread. apparently my consultant says its for pain relief...

what happened to filling patients up to the brim with morphine?

and then there was a distal gastrectomy. the surgeons took out all their big toys and happily stapled and glued the guy's small intestines to the whatever's left of the stomach. so cool i tell you. all these new gadgets.

and this stomach removal procedure was done on this 89 yr old man. right after the op, he was all quiet and in pain. and i was so worried he wouldn't make it. but the very next day, he was ordering nurses around and scolding doctors. oh! i was so relieved he was back with us. i was happy being scolded by him when i screwed up the angle of his bed.

sorry to go on and on abt the medical talk.
i am eating drinking and living med these days.

and we are going to have a cny gathering next saturday!
since there's no family here with us.. i guess we all have to keep one another company.
going to be a potluck. i think MJ and gambling's on too. ho ho ho.
our ang moh neighbours ain't going to be able to sleep on saturday.

but still.. no angbaos. no visiting relatives. no abalone to eat.

NO PINEAPPLE TARTS! *burst into tears*

BY the way, stitch prime is still with us. no one called for him. -.-"

my mental age is 22

[x] I know how to make a pot of coffee
[x] I do my own laundry
[x] I can cook for myself
[ ] I think politics are exciting
[ ] My parents and grandparents have
better things to say than my friends
Total: 3

[ ] I show up for school/college/work
every day early
[ ] I always carry a pen in my
pocket/purse.
[ ] I've never gotten a detention
[x] I've watched talk shows
[x] I know what credibility means
without looking it up
[x] I drink coffee at least once a week
Total: 3

[x] I know how to run the dish washer
and or do the dishes.
[ ] I can count to 10 in Spanish.
[x] When I say I'm going to do
something I do it.
[x] My parents trust me.
[x] I can mow the lawn.
[x] I can make adults laugh without
being stupid.
[ ] I remember to water my plants.
[x] I study when I have to.
[x] I pay attention at school/college
[ ] I remembered to feed my pets.
Total: 7

[x] I can spell experience without
looking it up
[x] I clean up my own mess.
[x] The first thing I do when I wake up
is get caffeine.
[x] I can go to the store without
getting something I don't need.
[x] I understand jokes the first time
they are said
[x] I can type fast
Total: 6

[x] I have realized that the weather
forecast changes every hour.
[x] I have realized that no one will
take you seriously unless you are over
the age of 25 and have a job.
[x] I can read a book and actually
finish it
Total: 3

Now add up your totals and that's your
mental age!!!

my mental age is 22!

LOST A STITCH?

the weirdest shit happened to me this morning.
i left vic's apartment and was heading for the market with him.
we walked out of the lift and walked towards the exit, as per normal.

next to the exit, someone placed a STITCH TOY on the ledge, as though that is the normal thing to do.

daph: OOOOO! stitch! so cute! *picks up toy and hugs it tightly*

vic: omg, it might be a bomb or it might be coated with anthrax. don't touch it!

daph: *snaps back to reality* DID YOU PUT MY STITCH HERE?!?!?! IS THIS MY STITCH BECAUSE IT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THE ONE I HAVE? IS THIS MINE!?

vic: *shocked* NO IT WASNT ME! I SWEAR

daph: then you can jolly well tell me who in the right mind would leave such a BIG cute toy abandoned here like that

vic: *pleadingly* it really wasnt me!

daph: ok, im going back upstairs. if my stitch is missing im going to kill you.

and true enough. my good old stitch was all well..and now i have a 2nd stitch.
i pasted a note where i found the 2nd stitch

LOST A STITCH?
CONTACT ME AT XXXXXXX

thus far, no one has called my 'retrieve a stitch' hotline.

i don't know what to do with the new stitch.
-.-

surely surgery!

it's been 2 days worth of feeling lost.

haven't been up to much, since the scrub tute by the nurses are held tmr morning. so i guess after that we can start roaming around and checking more things out. apparently we don't even have to ask anyone if we can scrub in. just appear and be ready 10mins before the scheduled time and say hi to the surgeon.

Haha, i could get used to this. that's the good bit about small and faraway hospitals. everyone is so friendly and accommodating towards the students.

registrar handover was today, so the surgical teams were in a mess, no one knows for sure who is staying on their team and stuff. so they sent us home. at 11.30AM! tomorrow, they promised, we will have reg and consultants for you. ok we said. and home we headed.

but it's been tiring. i tell you its the waking up at 5.45 for 7ish ward rounds.

and they sent us off to read weird stuff like varicocele and hernias. shouldn't we start with sth more 'normal' like.. i dunno.

we are going to work very hard tmr! 6 of us promised one another. interview patients! go for outpatients! and scrub in on surgeries! do takes! (yah right)...

meanwhile... back to weird readings.

PS: i catch lifts from my friend, Kerri-Anne. She's so nice to drive via the city to pick Cynthia and I up in the mornings and deliver me back to the city in the afternoons. So no buses yet :) I am so so thankful!

rantings

for the people who are not interested in my crappy life... just move on to the next entry. it has pretty pics.

i just feel as though the MLTU, for one reason or another, actually knows who i dislike working with in med or something. every single freaking rotation i get this year, i have someone i have major issues with in the same group as me.

ok except acute and chronic care coz i have hams. and psych coz i have ian wu.

going to start my first rotation at lyell mac. for the non-adelaideans.. it's a hosp that is light years away from the city. i fear for myself if i have to stay late in the hosp or do takes. argh. ok im exaggerating. its about 1.5 hours by bus. but adelaide isn't the safest place on earth at night. so there.

den there's the issue of dinners (who's cooking? who will have time to buy groceries?) and the issue of meeting up and making time for vic. not a pretty sight ahead folks.

the only thing i can sorta take comfort in is the fact that for surgical home i only have like 6 people in total in my group. i guess the consultant or whoever will be able to reach out to everyone more easily? i dunno. im just making stuff up to comfort myself.

9 weeks! argh. if i ever survive and pass the freaking 9 weeks! i am so dreading school.
9 weeks is like.. 5X9 = 45 days. minus one public hol.... 44 mornings!

and i only see my other friends once a week during common program. boo hoo!

more london for the interested

tower of london where they keep the crown jewels :)

windsor palace? princess diana used to stay here.

gold plated gate

some royal something. shit im bad with names

us! in the parks.

mutant fat geese running loose

nut-loving squirrel enjoying our treat

on a walk around the city. tower bridge in the background

condolences

some london pics for you guys to see. it's actually a very random selection.. which i intend to enlarge when the blogger allows me to load more pics. it's behaving strangely tonight.

anyway. i met up with hong and ian today for dinner. was the usual talk and laughing, casual without being too superficial sort of chatting that you just cant ever get tired of.

time really does wait for no man.

we have all moved on in vastly different directions in life. some of us are still studying, some of us are going to start working soon, some of us got married, some of us still don't know what to do with our lives. we will no longer be the immature, fun-loving kids who were happy sitting in class and idle our time away with laughter and jokes.

and i just want to say that i've been deeply saddened by the news that our bio tutor in njc, Mrs Che, passed away a while ago. I only heard of the news a week back but it's just so scary. she was a wonderful tutor who was passionate about the subject and devoted to teaching. she was motherly, nice and very patient. she was always full of smiles and twinkly eyes.

the world has suffered a great loss, and may she rest in peace.