Brissie Trip Photos I I have bits of them put up on facebook, but I thought I’ll put some up here too… (They are actually in chronological order) After this, there had to be something else right? The happy couple at the pre-cake/pre-surprise dinner… Linda has no idea there was anything else after this. Three monkeys at three monkeys?? Count the candles!! Haha The adorable Elena The group who turned up to surprise Linda Now, for the non-Birthday pictures… Adrian, always the driver Linda & Hooi San at Kangeroo Point, Brisbane Excited girls as we look forward to a day at Sunshine Coast Eumundi Market, Sunshine Coast Loads of stalls about, but Zen & I will not forget to camwhore. ;) Yummy strawberries!!! Mmmmmmm…. They had them before I did!! Tsk tsk… The winery we wanted to go to was closed, but we came across a small, but very interesting one. Love the name. ;) It really used to be a morgue! Linda, Hooi San & Zen after wine tasting… note Hooi San’s wonderful colour. Happy girls camwhoring at the beach… To be continued… End of Trip Thoughts My month long trip to Brisbane has ended, I’m actually typing this on the flight from Brisbane to Singapore. It is a 7 hours long flight and I’m less than halfway through it. I’ve just seen “Ironman” and am watching “Prince Caspian” right now. I obviously don’t find the latter all that wonderful, or I wouldn’t be writing this, would I? This time last month, I was worried about the impending trip, about spending a month out of my comfort zone. I didn’t know what to expect an Australia hospital and didn’t know what they expected of me. I’m great friends with Adrian and Linda, and Adrian was my housemate for 2 1/2 years, but I didn’t quite know how things will work out with me staying with the happy couple for such a long time. Honestly, I was worried about outstaying my welcome too soon… (I get the impression that when she reads this, Linda will want to smack me, but bleah, I’m too far away!! Haha…) At the same time, I was looking forward to meeting all the wonderful friends who were studying in Queensland. I had not seen most of them since they left for Brisbane in January last year, or even before that. Anyway, all that worrying proved unfounded. Things went alright in the end… :) As always, I am amazed at how it feels like old times again when I meet up with good friends after a long while. It was good to catch up and hang out… and the excuse to indulge in some good food never hurts, right? The attachment at the hospital passed uneventfully and my only regret with that is that it is too short. Waiting to check in… If any of my batchmates from M2/03 are reading this, here’s a little update on those we went to UQ. Like all the other Aussie folks, they are stressed up about intern jobs and this coming week will be the toughest for them. Some of them have offers already, but I’ll leave them to tell whoever they want to tell. Now… on a lighter note… more about them. Linda bites, hard… so keep away from here. Adrian’s fat, and I don’t think anyone can resist teasing him, it is actually quite funny, that, and his bird’s nest. (Just kidding, Adrian…) Richard’s the same ol’ Richard and I’m sure anyone can imagine the way he is all worried about work and stuff… heehee… and of course, the same way Elena is keeping him sane by being the exact opposite. Elena’s ever so cute, though I am quite disappointed to see that she has got short hair once again, she had some long hair pics on her blog some time ago!! Raj and Daniel are largely the same people we knew. I didn’t get to spend much time with Daniel, but from the few times I did, I don’t think he has changed at all. As for Raj, I found out that he has a thing for purple… more specifically, purple coats, but he is also in denial about that, so please give him too much grief over it, just a little will do. Heh. I didn’t get to meet TJ during this trip, so can’t say much about him. I had a great time in Brisbane and it is thanks to all my friends in Queensland, especially Linda and Adrian for letting me stay at theirs. Thanks, guys. And of course, there is Zen, who was there with me too. Glad we had a chance to hang out together in Sydney, babe. The Doughnut Treatment Some time last week, I woke up with a throbbing headache and could not go to the hospital. Some time in the afternoon, Linda had to run an errand and I said I’ll tag along since I’ve slept the entire morning and was feeling better. I wasn’t allowed to go until I took ibuprofen, but I found the best treatment for my headache in the city centre!! My “medication” Happy headache-less me. See?? Great treatment right?? Linda loves her doughnuts too! Two Weeks On This is the end of week 2 of my elective, things have been going relatively alright. Well, not one of my best rotations, but well, average, I suppose. I haven’t been well for the first week and since yesterday, have developed a stupid headache. So yeah, to be able to say that the attachment has been going fine is an achievement in itself. Going to Sydney with Zen this weekend, it should be good, I think. :) Just a short update in case anyone’s still reading this blog. heh. Birthday Greetings HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINDA!!! The best birthday present an overworked medical student can have… S-L-E-E-P. Zen wanted to make sure Linda doesn’t starve… so, Tim Tams?? I think hydration is very important! We love you, Linda!! Thanks for not turning us out into the street…. and no, you can’t do that now. NONONONONO.. It is too late. We know where you stay… You’ll miss having us in your bed, sweetie.. ;) Weather It is supposed to be Summer in Belfast and Winter in Brisbane.. but uhmm… look at the weather forecast on my iGoogle page. ;) The Blue Man I’m blue, da ba dee da ba da… I never understood the song, but I suppose they were talking about “blue” in a figurative manner… It seems like now, there is someone who can sing the song and it will apply in a very literal sense!!! Paul Karason puts a whole new spin on “feeling blue.” For more than a decade, the 57-year-old has been living with a blue face. Fourteen years ago, Karason developed a bad case of dermatitis, which results in swollen, reddened and itchy skin. He started self-medicating, using a treatment called colloidal silver, which is made by extracting silver from metal. Source Impressive, eh? I imagine a patient looking like this in the hospital bed and a med student is told to do a physical examination… “This 57 year old man is lying comfortably, doesn’t appear to be in any pain or respiratory distress. He is blue… very blue… OMG.. he is BLUE… BLUE!!!” Happy In Brisbane Here I am in sunny ol’ Brisbane! Compared to the Irish accent, the Australian one is definitely a lot easier to understand… but it still takes a little getting used to. Landed at about 9.30am yesterday morning and got through immigration and custom without much hassle, even the queue was bearable! Custom and quarantine checks was a little slow-ish, but that was expected (anyone coming to Aus would have heard of it’s custom, I think). Finally got through everything an hour later and met Linda, Zen, Linda’s car.. and oh, the one driving, Adrian. ;) It was absolutely wonderful meeting those three after a long time apart. The last time I saw Linda was like… uhh… 2 years ago! What’s even better is that there wasn’t that distant feeling that sometimes happens when friends meet up after a long time apart. I was whisked from the airport to a local shopping centre… muahaha… the shopaholic in me loved it! Nevermind that I didn’t manage to sleep much on the flight here, I still managed to buy a couple of things. The first thing I learnt about this place is the water restrictions that is in place, I was duly informed about 4 minutes baths and the impending droughts… while sitting in the car as rain was falling outside, no less. O_O Now, that is going to be tough. One of the first things that popped to mind was “thank goodness Ray’s not here… him and his 30 minutes showers will break all water restriction guidelines! Heh. Thank goodness I’m not one for excessively long showers!! Brissie!!! I’m at the airport, waiting for my boarding gate to open… nope, I’m not going back to Belfast, not just yet. In fact, not for a few months yet!! I’m going to Brisbane!!! Woohoo!!! I don’t know how Adrian and Linda feel about me invading their Brissie home, or how the other UQ folks feel about me bugging them for a whole month, but I am soooooo excited! :) This time tomorrow, I will (ok, might) be updating from Brisbane. Heehee… The Seniors They were the group of people who helped me settle in when I first got to Belfast and throughout my 2 years there, they’ve continued to be great friends, always willing to give me that piece of advice when I need one. :) I am sure life in Belfast, especially the initial months, would have been very difficult if not for them. As for the whole MSSNI thing, I don’t think I would have survived the “ordeal” if not for them… To the final years 07/08, congratulations!!! Something about you lot makes me believe that patients who meet you will be in good hands. Whether you’ll be working in NI, Scotland, England or other parts of the world, all the best!!! Waiting To Board Yup, that’s what I’m doing right now. Sitting in heathrow airport, waiting to board. I think my MBP’s battery will run out before I am even due to board and I can’t seem to find a working electrical socket. I suppose I’ll find something near the boarding gate… but the question remains, WHICH GATE?? ARGH. I hope I find something to plug my computer into before I board… ‘cos otherwise, I don’t be able to use it on the long (omg long) journey home, and that won’t be very fun, right? Bliss Got my new desk. Life is good again. Yes. i am kind of sad that way.. :D As Summer Nears Alright, the sun has disappeared, the rain’s back again and over all, summer looks like it’s gone from Northern Ireland. The “summer” I’m referring to here is the summer holidays. One more week to go before I sit for the last exam of the year, and prepare to head off home… there always this anxious feeling in me just before I go home. Strictly speaking, I’ve been away since Aug 2003 and am used to the freedom associated with staying out. I know that I have the common sense to look after myself and not do stupid things. But at home, I’m always the youngest one, the kid… Sometimes, it does get very frustrating. Don’t get me wrong, I do look forward to going home, seeing Ma after such a long while will be great, and my friends and relatives too! It’ll be wonderful, I’m sure. As for Malaysian food, I’m not even going to go into that, because it’ll only make me start missing home even more. :) Tired Part of me dread the coming of final year (and exams), but an even larger part of me can’t wait for 4th year to end. It has been an fun and exciting year… and also a very very long year. I’m tired… I need a break… I want a week when I will have proper and adequate sleep for the entire week… I want to go home! :( Yes, it is the time of the year, when the end is almost here, but not here yet and I’m beginning to feel more and more restless. Argh. In other news, I’ll be back in Malaysia from 30th June to 4th July, then from 5th Aug to late sept/early oct… so yeah. :) If anyone wants to meet up, let me know, ok? Heh.. (as if I’m very popular..haha). Last Note We (her friends and family) made an agreement a year ago to take down her blog and more significantly, restrict who reads her very last post… I don’t think I have a right to put up the entire note but what was said to me, belongs to me and I’m putting it up here. In time to come, I may take a picture of the postcards and put them up to… Dear Yee Pei, You’ve been a wonderful friend. Please forgive my actions. You’re always been my encouragement, the angel on my shoulder. One of the very few forces that kept me going. Thanks for all you have done. I’m sorry I couldn’t wait till you come back and say good bye one last time. Tell your Ma, thanks for taking me in the few times I was over. I felt so at home. — Dear Val, Thank you, babe… We didn’t know each other for a long time, but you were one of the closest friends I’ve ever had and always someone to depend on. I miss you, girl. There are so many things in my life now that I want to share with you, some of them, I know exactly how you will respond. I’ll be graduating in a year’s time, and I remember how we used to joke about MCs, now, it’ll never happen. I can never understand why you chose this path and why you didn’t wait till I got back. But, babe, I doubt anyone will ever understand. I met your Ma when I went home last summer, and tried my best to give her a complete picture. Everyone seemed to think I will know why and how … but I didn’t. I suppose I disappointed them, but all I knew, I told them. I miss you, girl… and I suppose I always will. A year ago This time, a year ago, I was stressed up with 3rd year finals and was moving house at the same time… then I got the first of her SMSes, instructions to publish a blogpost, her last message to her family and friends. I still remember how I felt then… “What??? What’s that silly girl up to?? OMG. She can’t be for real. No. She can’t be. It’s just one of her odd calls for help! She won’t do it for real” I called her, and called her, AND called her somemore, she didn’t pick up the phone. And I smsed her… and her replies scared me even more. I was in tears and at a loss… I got in contact with J, neither of us could figure out where she was. Fei got me on the phone, and when I told him about the 2nd msg, he could guess right away where she is. He found her, but too late… Till this day, I hate myself for not having contacted him earlier. I should have!!! What was I thinking??? He lives the closest to her, he grew up with her, of course he’d have known where she was when she said she was 30 floors up!!! I remember being on the phone with Paul when he was at Vista. I remember talking to Nick and Fei as they were crying. I remember the countless phonecalls I made to our group of friends. I remember not being able to say goodbye properly. I remember hearing her songlist being played in the background when I spoke to friends at her wake. A year on, I still cannot understand fully why she did it. I miss her… a lot… I can’t read her postcards anymore! I need her to come back, where is she??? Phase 5 Coming Up We had a 3 hours long briefing session for final year yesterday afternoon, and I think I have no choice but to accept that in less than a month’s time, I will be a final year medical student and that is how I will be introducing myself to patients. Not 1st, not 2nd, not 3rd or even 4th… final. *gulp* As of now, we also have the exam time table for Final MB I and know the week when we’ll be sitting for Final MB II. I cannot imagine myself prepared enough to be sitting for those papers, nor do I want to imagine what failing them will mean. This is absolutely horrible. 4th year has been a lot of fun so far, more comfortable than 3rd year because most of us now feel more “at home” on the wards, less stressful than final year because of obvious reasons. Sigh… I’ll miss this feeling, I think. You know, I really should start studying… House Moving I’m moving house this week and the amount of stuff I have is quite ridiculous, I must say. I thought I had loads when I moved out of Guthrie last year, but now, uhhhh… uhhmm…. that seems very little. I definitely need to look through my shoes and clothes and sent a bag (or two?) off to Oxfam. I have stuff that I don’t wear for various reasons and it is just stupid to have them sitting around. Apart from the fuss, there is something else that I will always associate with house moving. Just over a week from today was the day I moved last year, it was also the day I received some of the most upsetting SMSes I had ever received. Moving house makes me think of Val, a lot. Come next Wednesday, it will be a year since she left. Sigh… Ok, this is getting entirely out of hand, I should stop. Yeah. STOP. Congratulations This post is dedicated to Dr. S. Y. Khoo, otherwise known as Caryn. Yes, notice her new title? Woohoo!!! The girl graduated yesterday! Babe, you’ve worked so hard, crossed so many hurdles, to get to where you are today. I think it takes a definite amount of strength to deal with the issues you had to sort out and still be able to achieve academic excellence. I’m so proud of you and very very happy for you too! Congratulations!!! Caryn must be one of the most caring and most genuine friend I know. I’m not great at keeping in contact with friends, and we could very easily have drifted apart when she left for Canada and i came to UK. But somehow, I know that till this day, we’ll be able to chat like the good old days… and I look forward to the day when we can sit at a mamak at home and have nasi lemak ayam together. – Now, for the grumbly bitchy bit… “Aaarrgghhh!!! The Dal people have graduated, the Aberdeen and Dundee ones are graduating this summer, the sban ones are graduating in Aug, the Aussie ones are graduating at the end of the year, and I won’t be going anywhere till July 09!!!” Last Bit Of Forth Year It’s been quite a while since the last update and I have certainly been ignoring my blog more and more these days. I’m in the middle of my last module, Perioperative & Emergency Medicine (POEM) and the fact that final year is looming ahead is starting to become more and more real. *gulp* Enough of scaring myself, more about POEM… It’s a sort of 3-in-1 module, with 2 weeks in Anaesthetics, A&E and Fractures each (and 2 weeks of lectures). I just finished Anaesthetics and am due to start A&E on Monday Tuesday. Cannulas, LMAs, intubation… a whole lot of fun so far. Just didn’t like the sitting around very much… The anesthetists either take that time to ask loads of questions or ignore you totally and work on their crossword/magazine/book. I don’t know which one I dislike more, feel very silly or be bored. Heh… Got the hang of it towards the end though, “the white stuff, the clear stuff and the gas!!” ;) LOL. I couldn’t possibly take out my Palm and play bejewelled on it (it just felt wrong, nevermind that he’s doing crosswords), and kept being sent to “take a break, have a cup of tea”. Honestly though, i think i like anaesthetics, and it is one of those things that just uhmm… makes sense. It’s altogether a good 2 weeks, I managed to get the required stuff done in the first week and could spend time seeing interesting surgeries and taking time off to run various errands this week. Yippee!! ;) Now, on to A&E and the dilemma of “it’s bank holiday Monday, should I go in???” Trust Don’t you hate it when things fall short of expectations? Hmm… I do. Well, this is especially so when it comes to the issue of trust. I am generally a trusting person when it comes to my friends. It is terribly easy to get me to trust a friend, though once that trust is lost, it is gone. I expect my friends not to lie to me, even what may be seen as a cruel and frank “no, go away, don’t want to hang out with you” is better than a lie. I believe that lies means “you’re too immature and weak to handle the truth and you’re too stupid to ever discover the truth anyway”, and that undermining sucks. I have been telling myself that the only person I can trust, is me… and not to expect too much from others. I need to find a hole and hide in it. BAH. Don’t mind me, this is a rant, a much much overdue one. Freaking Out Why? You ask… Right… here goes… 1. January is 8 months away — Final MB Part 1 is 8 months away 2. Final years have finish their exams and have started on their work shadowing — Guess what I’ll be doing a year from now? 3. Attended a talk earlier today (? yesterday) on foundation jobs application (read: housemanship). Yes, I am officially F-R-E-A-K-I-N-G O-U-T!!! Evil Look This is from the Scotland Trip over easter break… On a beautiful morning in Isle of Skye, three girls were wandering about before breakfast. There is one particular one who was somewhat obsessed about taking pretty pictures of flowers. While she was busy taking the perfect picture… Sien Hui: Hahaha… *snap photo* Sien Hui: Yee Pei, where’s your evil look? Grace: What’s going on behind me? Someone trying to push me over? Sien Hui & I: Nononono.. Don’t have. Sien Hui: Eh.. evil look lah!! Me: Hahahahahaha.. Like that? Sien Hui: Hahahahaha… Grace: *still busy taking pictures* Me: *puts Grace’s hood over her head* Grace: EEEEKKKZZZZ!!! COLD!!!! Me: *ROTFLOL* *Runs like mad* Oh gosh, don’t you just LOVE Grace? The Waiting Medical Student Waiting, that’s the first thing most medical students learn to do. In the “early days”, when you’re the wide-eye medical student, constantly overwhelmed by what’s around you and afraid of over-stepping boundaries. You seem to lack initiative, but in actual fact, it’s just because you’re a little on the shy side. You don’t know whether it is alright to walk up to random patients and talk to them. During these first couple of weeks, you walk into the ward or clinic 10 minutes early and let the relevant people know you’re there and that you’ve got a scheduled teaching session with Dr X. You’re pointed in the direction of the appropriate waiting area and are told that the said doctor should be around in a bit. At this point in time, you still have no idea whether anyone (be it Dr X or not) will make an appearance. Someone pops in and offers to bleep Dr X for you after 20 minutes but the idea of bleeping a consultant seems appalling, you thank him/her but politely declines. You’re aware that everyone’s busy and have patients to take care of. You are, in short, in the way and you’re lucky if someone has the time to teach you anything. You wait, usually for more than half an hour before anything happens. All the time, you’re thinking that this time could be better spent doing something more productive, be it reading a book, having tea with friends, taking a nap or clerking a patient. But uhm… you wait… As time progresses on, you learn to expect this long wait. You bring something along with you to occupy yourself. You familiarise yourself with the doctors who will eventually appear and the ones who will most likely call in to say he/she is too busy to take you that day. You weigh your options and decide what’s worth waiting for. And as you become a more senior medical student, things change. Teaching sessions seem to happen more frequently, you feel like less of a pest in the ward. You appear on the ward just on time and let the relevant people know that you’re here for Dr X and they offer to bleep him. You are delighted at the offer and thank them. Dr X is bleeped* and you’re told that he’s busy at the moment and will be there in 15 minutes. You learn to take this 15 minutes to talk to a patient you clerked the day before or to help to take blood, then you pop your head out just in time to see Dr X walk up the corridor. Perfect. :) *This depends on where you are and what type of consultant Dr X is. If he’s told you earlier in the day he’ll be there, you wouldn’t bleep him. If he is a scary old traditional type person, you wouldn’t bleep him either… and I suppose if he’s one of the conventional consultants and you’re in Malaysia, you wouldn’t dream of doing anything but wait patiently. heh. – And in case you’re wondering, this is not a rant. I just have a very long break in between clinics today and I was asked “will you be alright? can you occupying yourself OK during this time?” The Token Photos II Veronica’s birthday is coming up, so we went to Gingertree for dinner last night. There are 2 Japanese restaurants in the area, and I have never been to the other one. The rest assures me that this one is the better (and more expensive) one. I don’t think photos will do those sushi, ramen and don justice, so no pics of the food. ;) After dinner, the gang came over to my place to hang out for a little while. Here’s us with Veronica in her birthday present… (L to R: Phaik Har, Veronica, Shie Ling, Chia Ling) Please excuse my crazy hair and super white face… I blame my white top and the cameraman. He is not professional, in fact, far from. I have to talk to Shie Ling about his education (aka training). ;) In case you’re wondering, here’s him… Introducing…. WEI JIAT!! He’s the little boy in the group and therefore, the target of all bullying. But trust me, he doesn’t help himself… He digs his own grave once too often. No, not with a shovel, he uses a JCB digger. Heh. The Token Photos I have promised photos after photos… but nothing much has been posted so far. Paiseh… Busy with life otherwise, you see. For starters, here are a couple of photo from the faculty formal about a week ago. It was all a little crazy. I got home at 5pm and the cocktail reception was at 7pm. I showered, dried my hair and rushed over to Jenni’s to get ready. Johnny and Tim were supposed to meet us at the house and go over to the hotel together. Knowing that we were going to be late, they appeared at the house at 7pm (ahh… what understanding boys!). We were no where near ready to go till past 7.30pm, and the poor boys were left drinking champagne in the living room! Needless to say, we missed the cocktail reception. In fact, we arrived just as everyone’s walking into the ballroom!! Heehee… Jenni, Nicola and I My Craigavon obs & gynae gang… Birinder, Jenni, Lindsay. It’s a pity Keith couldn’t be there, but uhm… he’s got other obligations to tend to. About Those Photos… … I haven’t even gone through all of them, so it’s quite crazy. :P And… in my defense, I’ve been busy with schoolwork, arranging electives, sorting out my clinical project…AND getting ready for the faculty formal. The formal went fine and apart from my aching feet, it’s all good. Hopefully the formal photos will be up in the next few days. There are a lot fewer of them so it won’t take all that long looking through them. Hang in there!!! The Thing About Photos Is that you’ve got to resize them and upload them THEN.. post it on your blog. I’ve got the photos from Grace and Sien Hui now… but I just don’t have the time post them just yet. :P Sorrrrryyyyy… Long Awaited Photos … are not here yet. Heehee… I know Adeline (affectionately known as AGong or Gongster) is waiting for me to put up the Whale Challenge pictures, but they were not on my camera, so just hang in there until I get the photos from Grace and Sien Hui, alright? In the mean time, I should explain a little about this “interesting” whale challenge, for which I got a certificate. It is basically an eating challenge. You’ve got to finish 1lb of fish and its accompanying chips and peas and in return, you can choose from either have another fish or a dessert for free. I chose the lightest dessert there was while the other friend, Herbert, who took up the challenge picked the fish. No, he didn’t finish the second fish. :) This is the fish… You can choose to have it done with normal batter or with bread crumbs, the Aberdonians told me that it is easier with bread crumbs so that’s how I got mine. Herbert’s was done with normal batter and it looks like twice the size of mine. Thinking back, so much fish surrounded by a thick batter, I’m sure I will not be able to finish. Heh. I’ll have more pictures up when I get the rest of them from the girls. In the mean time, here’s who I went on the trip with… Away for a time Yeah.. And I’m still away. This is one of those random posts to fill gaps. Hopefully when I get back to Belfast, I will blog about my Irish Paddy’s Weekend trip and my Scottish Easter trip. :) I’m actually happily typing away on Ailing’s computer in Edinburgh right now, will only be back in Belfast tomorrow night. Till then… bye bye!!!