one, two ready go!!

many thanks to this random photo's owner! i went on a rampage image hunt last night while procrastinating you see, cos there's only 125 days to mbbs!


but that's hardly on my mind. i keep thinking of brunch, soft towels and klassie.

and the residency programme. this newfangled term on everyone's lips, causing a frenzied search for recommendation letters and hasty decisions (based on goodness knows what) about the rest of our lives.

that is, if i survive the following 125 days.

temporary post!

people start spamming comments when you don't post for too long so i've decided to write something.

the few months i've been gone, it's been a whirlwind of emotions, a rollercoaster ride to the other side of the world and back, and a mad rush through hospital postings and such.

some random things i've learnt, in sgh, new york and san francisco:

1. new experiences, good or bad, build character
2. never be afraid to ask for help; better to be humbled now than cause harm by being too proud
3. if i don't eat for an entire day, i will be alright
4. if i don't sleep for an entire day, i will crash my car
5. it is fun being a doctor, though i'm not one yet and i doubt fun is the right word to use in front of patients who are sick and suffering
6. good company is harder to find than good food
7. taking photographs with a film camera is much more exciting than using a digital camera all the time.
8. a lot of good things happen by the kindness of stranger. so, be grateful.
9. sometimes, things change and you cannot help it. [you can go away for 3 weeks, and the whole world is different when you come back. HAI.]
10. if i don't let go, i cannot move on

more like a carpet than a rat now :)

courtesy of my father.

in case you forgot what he was like a month ago... cool huh :)

without going into details, i feel i should say something about the (unnecessarily) big hooha that has been going on about the swine flu. it is pissing me, and almost everyone, off that everything that has been decided so far, has not been made in good judgement. there are too many very impractical protocol/guidelines to follow, unreasonable regulations and unfair decrees that are affecting people from doctors to students alike. in times like these, shoudn't brilliant minds shine and singapore's fantastic "world-class" health system stand out with its great organisational skills?

it simply isn't sustainable, this heightened sense of panic that is rushing through the veins of the healthcare institutions. no one benefits. patients are sent into a frenzied wild goose chase to seek treatment for symptoms that probably are nothing, doctors are sent to do their jobs without the proper equipment just because the code was called without ensuring the provision of adequate protection for those who don't work in hospitals, and students are just on the losing end altogether. not allowed to go overseas for electives, not allowed to be in the wards in singapore, and still have to pay the goddamn school fees? please, if you make me go for mask fitting and report my temperature to you from my house, i'm going to be mightily pissed.

and omg? there's a swine flu "insurance scheme" i saw in the newspapers. preying on people's insecurities and definitely just adding fuel to the fire, the organisation should be ashamed of themselves. ethics?

*aiya i'm just one grumpy person who can't go to sleep because i keep thinking of walking down the streets of new york instead of going to sentosa tomorrow. it's like a cruel consolation prize. my views do not (necessarily) reflect that of my school or class or country okay. it's just me. don't sue, don't ban me (anymore than you already have) k thanks bye.

good game.

wow, when people said to have no expectations about travelling so you wouldn't be disappointed, i bet they totally didn't see this coming.

tough luck? sucks balls la. it feels like it's hit already, a thousand times over. and yet it feels like nothing's happened. such an eventful non-event. feels worse than breaking up or being heartbroken or whatever - i'm really not one to speak here - so yeah.

GOOD GAME.

what is a collie without his fluff?

hi, i am sitting at home rotting in front of the computer, battling the curse of the holiday plans, which is i'm sure related to murphy's law (of how the worst things - falling sick, having insufferable odynophagia, breaking a wheel on my samsonite, and worst of all, the goddamn swine flu - happen at the worst possible times), i managed to dig up some old pictures of klassie whom i previously called furry/fluffydog etc.

beforeafter
beforeafter.
my shirt from a nasa exhibition 10 years ago.
i only stopped wearing it yesterday.

and he stands!!! my rat/stick-dog. awww, still super cute right :)

i only have one thing to say tonight

hopefully, we (as in, everyone including me) will be celebrating in less than 365 days' time.

and omg someone please make this ?dysphagia stop!! :(

lastly, random photo of the day: a love-hate relationship
don't know why he looks so big here.

when the tutor's away...

electives are the time to playplayplay. i had nice lunches/dinner with nice friends before the long easter weekend. happy easter friends :)

a pseudo-food-review to resurrect my blog.

we drove a long way from bt timah across the island to the east, just to find this place (Etna Restaurant and Pizzeria, 110 Upper East Coast Rd), and by the time we found it, parked and walked, it was 215pm. the waitress was mightily pissed with us showing up just 45 minutes to closing time, and it showed. she mumbled "last order in 5 minutes" dumped the menus on the table and trudged off to scowl at us from behind the cash register, where she was too busy totalling up and doingdunnowhat to serve us water.

we ordered 2 set lunches (since there were only 2 choices for each course and the 2 of us wanted to try everything) and the first thing to come was some forgettable soup and a forgotten salad. should've just paid money for a main course than think we'd be getting nice starters.

"where are the cherry tomatoes?!" note the lack of any glasses, and water. did i also mention that we were the only 2 freaking people in the entire restaurant.
k this is only a pseudo-food-review cos we were quite satisfied with the mains (steak and carbonara) the food came very quickly cos i suspect they wanted to get rid of us, and we didn't even stop to take photos till after haha :)
the ambience is actually quite nice and homey despite the glaring waitress who was immediately cheered up when we paid our bill and asked for dessert, which was a scoop of boring but not bad chocolate ice cream. overall, not really worth $22++ but if there's a discount, and considering the free parking, i might still go back there to try everything else.

i'm in love with the lamp :)

too bad no photos for Jerry's Bar and Grill, and the Hilltop Restaurant. die la, if this is any reflection of my eating habits, i'm going to get so fatttt in america :)