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.

london thru my eyes

us outside the ice skating place at tower of london

london eye (on a gloomy day)

tower of london at sunset

tower bridge at sunset

say hi to the queen! outside st paul's cathedral

the painted hall. at the royal something museum.

the ceiling in detail

view from the royal observatory

buskers at covent garden

helping each other

happy us!

life in the gastro ward

top 5 qns patients get asked by nosy but caring doctors in Gastro.
1. Any vomiting? (amount, relation to food, contents - food, bile, blah blah, any blood present)
2. Any problems with ur stools? (colour, any blood, amount, consistency, frequency)
3. Any abdominal pain? (where, when, how, ...)
4. Any weight loss/tiredness/fatigue experienced recently?
5. Ate anything in particular or travelled out of singapore? (top of the list: clams in cha kway teow, 'lamak' food, trips to bangkok etc)

top 3 coolest groups in Gastro
1. Patients who exhibit an inability to maintain intrinsic muscle tone, ie the hepatic flappers
2. Patients with distended bellies ie: the ascites troop
3. The gallstones gang - they keep coming back to remove more stones.

it's been too long!

i realised hardly anyone updates their blogs regularly these days.

i've been away from the blogsphere for a tad too long. not sure how or where to start writing. london? fidel's wedding? thing at sgh? my personal view of the world?

A brand new year

Well, that's not exactly the image i see outside Fidel's apartment but it's close. :)

Just wanted to wish my dear friends all the very best for the new year ahead.

2006 has been pretty challenging for me. I am absolutely thankful to be in 4th year, have a bf who is willing to accommodate me in every single way, a wonderful family that love me so much.. and friends (not many) who has proven to be there for me time and time again.

All i hope is for 2007 to be the same, or better.

Happy New Year guys!

Victor goes home

*weep* Vic just left London. Well, in actual fact, he has even left Barcelona! And victor is so sweet.

Daphne and Victor in Fidel's living room. Victor proceeded to showing Daphne his new jerseys and tracksuits from FC Barcelona.

Daph: Hey, those jerseys are nice. Why didn't you get one for me?

Daphne frowns.

Victor: Oh darling, I didn't know you wanted one.

and when he was in Barcelona (for a night) last night, he bought me a jersey!

And.

I finally got to my first gay bar in London, which according to fidel, is not a cream of the crop type. We will be going to be countdowning for new year in G-A-Y bar in Soho.

Last night's bar was more of a local bar sort of scene. It wasn't rowdy (which i like) and we just stood around with drinks and chatted. And the most hilarious thing happened in the bar when I had to go to the loo.

Daphne stood outside a bathroom meant for the disabled because Fidel and gang said the toilets meant for ladies.. men are using them.

Man approaches daphne.

Man: are you disabled?

Daphne: No i'm not, but there's no real female toilet here.

Man: Well, I am disabled. Let me go first.

Daphne: err, oh well go ahead.

Other man in toilet took way way way too long.

Man: Sod it, I'm going upstairs.

Daphne was left feeling bewildered. >.<

Christmas in London

Hello everyone! I am currently in London. 5 minutes away from Earl's Court tube station.
Fidel's place is so nice and cosy. complete with a cute christmas tree and pretty lightings. The weather has been pretty kind to us. Although its a little grey, at least it hasn't been too rainy or windy. Phew :)

I arrived yesterday morning and the 3 boys had to be up at 5am just for me. awwe. we spent alot of time walking through the 3 big parks in London city. St James, Hyde and one more that i can't rem the name of at the moment. hee.

Went to a wine warehouseish sort of place and we picked up 2 bottles of moscato d'asti. yum yum. and we had .. fish and chips for lunch. haha. was pretty good except it came with a truckload of chips. after lunch, it was time for some shopping! err we didnt end up doing much except hang out at Harrod's food hall - which we didnt have any money to buy anything except the christmas pudding. haha

by then, we were dead tired. so we headed home and rested and napped. :) and we had some fast food sort of thing for dinner. accompanied by some prosecco from italy.

we started late today. and we had quite abit of fun opening christmas presents! I got a perfume and a wallet from vic, and a box of truffles from hotel chocolate and a money box (in the shape of a Red London postbox) from andy and fidel.

just came home from a very very filling Christmas lunch.

and we are going to make cottage pie for dinner. hohoho

Hope everyone had a great christmas! ahhhh i love london!! :)

bling blings in my mind

i spent a freaking long time today exploring the world of bling blings - chanel, LV, Loewe, gucci and what nots. every label shone and all of the goods were screaming "buy me! you will look fantastic when you carry me around".

and i don't know what got over me but i suddenly felt a tinge of jealousy.


Why did i choose to do med? a career with not alot of bling blings and a big intrusion on personal life and stuff. a careeer which doesn't always repay you for the sacrifices you put in it. a career that takes away far too long of your time, your youth and your money. (yes medical course costs alot thank you very much) thus leaving behind very little for the bling blings you need in your life - be it pretty handbags or nice cars or big houses.

For once, I wished that I was in banking. Or investments. or something along those lines. I have a friend whose starting pay in a consulting firm is 5.5 K. Which frankly, is something I would only earn *count fingers* 5 yrs from now if I am terribly lucky.

Hai. for now. bling blings shall only be an eye feast, not a wallet trip.

my blog is collecting dust

hmm.

i realised my blog is lonely. haha. i guess when i am in sg, i have alot less time to spend in front of the computer.

and my friends are freaking scattered ALL over the world.

Hong's in Sydney, fidel is in London, Yup is in thailand, Chu is in Aust, Tiff is in LA, daph twin is in USA too. the list goes on and on. Even vic is in Europe. Tamade.

See! when i am back home everyone is away.

Lucky I am going to London next Saturday! Escape the weather in singapore. I bet I will freeze myself to bits in London. But I am really looking forward to it! We have alot of stuff planned out - outdoor ice skating, muscicals, museums, boxing day shopping etc etc. Hopefully there wouldn't be too much rain when I am there. The weather forecast been pretty shitty recently. plus fidel told me that there was a tornado (!!!) in London. whee.

relief

I PASSED 3rd yr!

oh well, i didn't check my results on my own. vic did it for me as i was working in the clinic. but still! the suspense! anyway, i am so glad PBL is really over for me.

i'm looking forward to clinical years.. and hopefully i would learn more stuff, see more things and mingle around more with other students. coz in uni, i always hang out with the sg peeps.

yay for me! haha.

sticky and humid

it's been a while, folks.

been back home for a while and everything is like so different. i guess when you are away for nearly a year, changes seem more pronounced.

like that new washing machine sitting in the laundry room.

and my mum finally threw away my sec school textbooks

new clothes in the wardrobe that i have not seen before.

furniture all moved around.

eeips. so weird! >.<

anyway, i'm part time working at a clinic, and i spend most of the rest of the time slacking. and being online. meeting up with peeps.

i am looking forward to london! :)

summer holidays

and so the hols started.

tue was spent catching up on sleep.
had a steamed fish for dinner! *yumm* it was very fresh and nice. esp with the chinese mushrooms and whatnots.
den at night we went to distill, a new hangout place on rundle street.
the waiters were all cute, the drinks were very interesting.
i got one got jericho - had lychee and basil in it. nice and refreshing.

wed... i slept more.
watched re-runs of friends on youtube, never fail to make me laugh.
oh! and we caught the new episode of house.
argh i hate that cop in it. he should go away and leave house alone.
which reminds me, i watched the episode of friends with hugh laurie as a guest star. absolutely hilarious.

i cant rem what happened on thurs.

friday
we went country road shopping! because there was a 20% discount for country road members (ie: victor chia) so he got a pants and a shirt. while i got my DRESSSS.
very happy about the dress.
nah-hah-hah-hah
oh, plus we had crazy food for dinner.

saturday
daph is very broke.
had $3.95 subway sandwich for lunch.
planning to have instant mee for dinner.

it's over!

*whistles*

it's over! :)

okie, granted it wasn't the easiest papers of my life.. it should be okie.

i hope?

bought a fish, and we are planning to steam it! ok. totally out of point

off to play!
bye!

its the end of the week

i have not slept as much as i did just now.

a full 6 guilt free hours of sleep.

i mean, granted that theres the mcq paper on tues.. i so need a break man.

this week's been harsh. had papers on mon, wed and friday.
it was just zoom zoom zoom!

i just hope that i emerge from this... by being in 4th yr.
(omg can u believe that thats actually possible? daphne let loose on the wards..heh)

examsss

my first paper commences in less than 12 hours time!

everything is swimming inside my head.

"just keep swimming, just keep swimming.."

just like dory in finding nemo.

i shall go squeeze in as much info as i can right now.
hugging buddha's legs.. tsk tsk. that's my forte! hee

daph is dying!

omg.. im freaking out!

and im drinking redbulls and coffee by the dozens.

and the weather is like shit

and im talking crap

bye!

LAST PBL!

Today marks the last day that i will ever have to do PBL (problem based learning)
pre-clinical years are FINALLY up!
(and hopefully i wun have to repeat yr 3 again)

Medical school was in a flurry; people taking photos of each other, lots of hugs, drinks, food, saying our goodbyes to PBL tutors and stuff. the whiteboards, instead of being filled with cool mechanisms and details of diseases, were stuffed full of silly drawings and bets to when priya (poor girl, was caught in a car accident) would arrive for PBL today.

Priya arrived at 9.27, the winner went to Allison (she betted 9.29), and she's the girl who bakes yummy muffins and is capable of making a mean fat yummy chocolate cheese cake. I will remember her by the cute tub of vanilla yoghurt that she must have, followed by the cup of green tea that sits by her side, smelling ever so fragrant and exotic.

Danny, the guy who LOVES to scribe on the board. he is terribly enthusiastic about learning and is highly motivated. He makes yummy ham and cheese croissants and he cracks funny jokes and brings us off tangent all the time. Jim the tutor will always go "Danny, you had your restless moment already.."

Laura is the quiet one with a pretty face. she is sweet and smart, but abit blur at times. Plus, her handwriting is unique and neat - makes it such a pleasure to read the notes when she is the notetaker.

Clara is the one who wears pretty clothes to school all the time. She is a fellow Cresentian! *whistles* She is also terribly smart, and contributes both food for the brains (wisdom) and food for the soul (muffins and cakes)

Andrew sits by the side, always listening attentively and absorbing knowledge like a sponge. he is really into rural health and all, being in the rural society. and he turned up for PBL today high from champnage, which made him alot more comical than usual.

Priya, although sometimes turning up late, is soft spoken and funny. she told us she had polio as a kid. and in turn, we taught her how she could catch the free bus to uni and actually arrive on time. she normally walks 30mins to uni - not a smart move when you are running late.

and of course, there is Alex(andra) who caught glandular fever 2 weeks back. she was pale, with enlarged spleen and lymph nodes. she lives on a farm an hour's drive out of the city, but she mostly hates the animals. Her sister was premature, her mother has pancreatitis and her friend is undergoing chemotherapy. (cases we did this semester) Empathy is her forte - she's a queen at being the 'compassionate and kind doctor everyone wants to see'

oh! how could i forget Victor, the one i fight with all the time. He always try to outdo me; come up with a better mechanism, research on more topics, read more widely. It's hilarious how our tutor asked us 3 weeks into the semester, "daphne, are you close to victor?".. We blushed and our group members spent a good minute laughing. of course he is good member, he lends me notes when i don't do my work, and he confirms any doubts that i have. haha

Last but not least, there is Jim.
A tutor who is like a father figure, who insist on knowing our learning strategies, our living circumstances and what we like to do in our leisure time.
He is also environmentally friendly - he walks to uni! He enjoys our jokes and silly conversations, and he is a positive contributor all the time, bringing into the group the years of experience that he has got.

So guys, there you go. My pbl group in a nutshell. *tear drop*
Probably one of the best group that I ever have, and might ever will have.

I make it sound a little like a 'graduation'. Maybe it is.

Somehow or another, 3 years of med school has flown by.
Friendships were forged, alcohol was drunk, homemade cakes and food were baked and eaten, PBL was not done (until the last minute before the exams) and coffee kept us awake through it all. to witness the pleasure, pain and horror of being in medicine.