my soul, my spirit, my strength

transitional period..

2009-10-31T00:13:00.016+08:00

first spoon-feeding posting done.. next up..
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mann.. surgery posting will be a tough one!!

of updates and serembans..

2009-10-10T00:20:00.001+08:00

Awwmann.. spider webs are growing in every corner of my blog now. I know have been lazy in updating my blog and I’m updating now for the sake of reviving it and pull back loyal readers, though I doubt that you are one of them.

It has been a month settling in Seremban and I have been gradually getting use to the life here. Starting with probably the most “easiest” among all three postings in semester 6, clinical school is tough afterall. Life is completely different from the one in Bukit Jalil where we were spoon fed everyday with notes and lecturers singing lovely lullabies in the comfy lecture hall. Here in Seremban, we were almost clueless on what to begin with on the first day landing our foot in the hospital or the government clinic; we were clueless on how to clerk patients, obtaining histories and subsequently presenting it to our lecturers, often we will feel darn stupid when the lecturer expected a more detailed, precise histories and skilled physical examinations from us; we were clueless on what to study as there were no lectures given (IMU practices self directed learning, which I think it is useless as we have no initial direction), morning occupied with either ward rounds or teaching clinic and noon – TBLs. Life here is all about history taking and physical examination. Cycle starts everyday.. oh wait, perhaps in every postings. Completely different from Phase 1 back in the Bukit Jalil days where we lived with lectures and constant after-class mugging. Gosh..

Oh well..

I had fun too. Blessed with 3 cheeky housemates, I soon inherited their syndrome of being ultra-lame. House environment wise, I likey my room, though it is pretty hot during the noon, and likey the setting of my rented house: small, single storey, no-need-to-sweep-and-mop-like-mad-setting, almost perfect for lazy bumps like us and comes with a huge dinosaur-like tree opposite the main door (as described by Ian.. trust me, it has got Barney-like features, just that it is leafy!!). Dinner wise, we often crack our heads hard deciding as there are not many hawker stalls. Restaurants are super duper expensive and since we are cheapo people, this already narrowed down our dining place. Usually we ended up in the 2 ringgit vegetarian restaurant when our wallets are getting slimmer. Besides, I’ve tasted Seremban so-called “famous” crab restaurant, hmm.. doubt so, lamb chop here and there around town, the-must-eat-siew-pow-whenever-you-step-into-Seremban and the banana leaf rice. However, holes formed in my wallet with each visit to those places.

Shopping wise, there is this reasonable Jusco and Tesco in town. Seremban parade looks quite miserable for me, but all in all, KL will be the top of my list.. about 30 minutes drive away from here? Guess so huh.

And there you go.. life in Seremban, and I’m flying to Port Dickson to meet my assigned patient next week. Will be exploring every nook and cranny of Negri Semblian soon!!! In the meantime, adios!

PS: gosh, finally got my blog updated! Phew~

half-bakers..

2009-08-26T12:35:00.003+08:00

And there you go.. I'm half-baked back here in Bukit Jalil and will be delivered to Seremban few days later to ensure I'm fully baked..

PS: oh crap.. with just days to go, I'm now facing furniture blues!! will do some last minute shopping this weekend..

untitled

2009-08-10T16:40:00.004+08:00

It was great indeed after a game of futsal with the half-gone team of angels a few days ago.

Back in the old high school days, I was accepted, or somewhat, willingly signed myself into the Angels team where we simply recruit just anyone who is interested to kick a ball, be it pros or kaki bangku-s.. and we’ll gather together anytime to have a good game out in the sandy deserted school padang.

I always remember.. those times where the word s-t-u-d-y isn’t in the minds of most of us. Those days, exams are not part of our lives and we learnt how to live with it blindly. When it comes to Friday evenings, we’ll have fun in the school padang with a bunch of friends and return home with few bruises here and there (yeah, we can hardly enjoy the greenery of our school field, as the brown patch of earth almost entirely dominates the whole area). We’ll climb the school fence or drill ourselves through the hole used specially for those school ponteng-ers in the back alley where the school dumpster is located to gain access to the school field. As innocent as ever back then, I’ve more than enough lung capacity.. and to run aimlessly catching the ball for an hour or so, wasn’t a problem at all.. just a few deep breaths, my legs will energetically bring me from one end to another.

As an avid footballer, I was able to experience the beauty of the game. Although my playing time were much lesser during my college and uni days (blame it on the increased workload), I’ll spend some time if I’m invited to have a game.

Then, disaster struck.. my lung, that has been loyal to me for the past years, decided to puncture itself and it needed experts to mend the punctured hole, hence an operation was done a year ago.

To date, I’ve not involve myself in any strenuous exercises, and football sessions have been reduced tremendously from one game per week (back then) to two games per year (currently). I used to ask myself, am I officially retired from this game? I used to play in front mostly as a striker hovering in the opponent’s defense, I used to twist and turn, I used to challenge myself and invent skills to clown the defense, I used to look forward to games like this.. however, I found myself being in a strange position a few days ago, when I decided to give my lungs a go. I ended up playing as a keeper.. wondering around in the box. The catch-it-when-the-ball-comes-and lunch-it quick-to-my-teammate was what I can think of. I felt breathless whenever I sprint nowadays. Hence, I volunteered myself to become the stopper. It seemed that the passion for football has been switched to ways on how to preserve my fragile lungs.

But still, when will I hang up my boots will be a question forever. My lungs ain’t tolerating me any longer. Humph!

holidays so far..

2009-07-27T14:38:00.002+08:00

Aiks.. it has been ages since I last blogged!! Blame it on the holidays I’m enjoying right now.. and roughly one month later, this lazy creature will be heading to Seremban, where school starts again!

Holiday so far has been a boring one.. however, I’ve been adjusting myself to switch into holiday mode, hence, living in a much systematic way, or rather, altered biological clock during this period.. being programmed to call it a day at 1-2am only to find myself wasted almost the entire morning by brushing my teeth at 11am, subsequently breakfast at 11.30, online, comp games, lunch, TV, comp games, online, dinner, TV, comp games, sleep.. and the cycle starts again~

Also, a number of events happened over these two months. The recent death of our king of pop MJ – whereby most of us downloaded his songs, bought his albums and swamped the youtube station like there is no tomorrow, sadly, only after this fella is gone =.= his great heart-touching hits such as Heal The World and We Are The World will bring tears to my eyes always. And what makes my copy of daily newspaper even more interesting to read? Well, Khir Toyo’s mansion is a 'pleasing' one and the controversial death of the Malaysian journalist and political aide who was questioned by the MACC.

Petronas and Perodua commercials are adverts which got my eyes glued onto the TV screen for a few minutes. Adverts featuring from Raya celebration, to CNY ones, Deepavali ones, Merdeka ones are one of a few heartwarming and meaningful adverts I’ve seen. Little did I know that the brainy one behind these adverts are directed by Yasmin Ahmad, who had just passed away. As I youtube-ed to recall some of her hard works, I bumped into one, where the setting of this clip happened in my primary school. *proud*

Sob.. no more heartwarming adverts..

Well.. for the sake of reviving my blog.. I've updated!

18 SX....

2009-06-09T15:44:00.008+08:00

Make good use of your imagination and it will at least keep you awake for the whole long journey.. -click to enlarge the picture-!

lalalaaa~~

2009-05-29T17:33:00.001+08:00

yesh!! I'm flying to Seremban in three months' time.. siew pow anyone??

moments..

2009-05-27T23:24:00.007+08:00

It was probably the longest period I left my blog idle.. almost one month.. untouched..

okie..blame it on the most stressful exams ever recently.. I’ve been busy studying and also.. playing (post-exam, mind you!!), therefore, “do not have” the time to update.. *opssy*.. well, speaking about the killer exams, OBA was ok (got at least half of OBAs correct, consider passed larh), MEQs and OSPE were as usual – categorized as the ngam-ngam-pass papers, hopefully this applies to the current one too.. and the most disappointing paper – the OSCE!! I really screwed up most of the stations during the second day of OSCE.. will you visit a GP who doesn’t know how to take the blood pressure of a patient? Or will you visit a gynecologist who doesn’t practice primary protection techniques?? Believe it or not, although I’ve practiced taking blood pressure hundreds of thousands of times, somehow, when the unlucky charm decided to strike.. on the day of the OSCE exam (of all days =.=), I wrapped the BP cuff the wrong side, in which it bloated rapidly when I pumped. Oh well, the SP didn’t hint me either, sitting comfortably on the chair acting as if nothing happened.. just when I realized that I’ve placed the cuff upside down, I deflated the cuff, repeated the same procedure, and the cruel five minutes ear-piercing buzzer went buzzing, thus I didn’t have the time to auscultate for the korotkoff sound! Good, I screwed the easiest station! In the subsequent stations, I was left moody and I didn’t know how well I scored for my BS station.. I was.. err.. expression-less!! I even greeted the SPs ‘good morning’ when my watch read 2.10pm in a few stations. Then came PAP smear and I knew I was so blardy nervous (partly due to the BP station). I was holding the Cusco’s speculum with my BARE HANDS and was about to insert into the poor fella’s vagina, only then I noticed I didn’t put on my gloves. Instantly, I grabbed a pair from the box, without looking at the size, and it took me half a minute to wear on both hands, and just when I thought I took control over my anxiety, the darn lamp wasn’t on when I was getting ready to inspect her cervix! I have no choice but to turn on the lamp with my gloves on (as I didn’t have the time to dilly dally with the miserable gloving issue again).. and I mumbled “I’ll turn on the lamp before wearing my gloves..” and as expected, Dr Christine gave me a thyroid-stare-look! All in all, I was so darn screwed during the second day of OSCE! I’ll do everything in order to pass.. I aint wanna resit, for once, I hate Bukit Jalil and I love Seremban!!!

Doomed exams aside, I’ve completed my phase 1 (provided I passed the papers). Cant imagine that 2.5 years here in Bukit Jalil just zoomed passed in the blink of an eye.. I thought I would struggle.. and true enough, I’ve fought for what? 2.5 years?? Yeah. ‘to enjoy’ seemed to be the last words that came through my mind once I stepped in to the atrium of IMU. Right now, 2.5 years have passed, and everything I’ve previously experienced in IMU seemed to be the last time.. last PBL session, last CSU session, last time attending lectures (apparently, the lecturer didn’t turn up and most of us ended up camwhole-ing in the lecture theater)… suddenly a sense of sorrowful feeling drives through my nerves. No doubt that within this 2.5 years here, I’ve learnt a lot.. I was constantly bombarded with never ending knowledge almost everyday, while my brain is exhausted with clinical skills every week, and now, I will be applying a mixture of what I’ve learnt for the next 2.5 years in Seremban Hospital. Well, this will be probably the challenging part of my new chapter.

Whenever I was bored of studying, I’ll peep out of the window, wondering what it is like if IMU rejects me. What is it like if I’m learning the law of physics and mathematics in Monash.. which was my initial plan.. what is it like if I’m not involved in medical field?? Trouble-free life perhaps? LOL..

Looking back, there were days where I shared laughter together with friends, there were days where we enjoyed hospital outings, there were days where we make fun of the models in MMS and CSU, there were days where friends willingly lent their hands in desperate situation, there were days where we shared our sorrows as one, there were days where we kept banging the supporter of a football team which dropped vital points during weekends’ EPL matches at Monday morning lectures, there were days where we struggled in exams but still managed to sneak through.. and I’ll treasure the moments we experienced..

Viva M107.. till we meet agian, 我们后会有期..

IMU day 1 -- innocent looking professionals..

2.5 years later -- no longer professionals..

first of may..

2009-05-01T20:44:00.004+08:00

When I was small, and christmas trees were tall,
We used to love while others used to play.
Dont ask me why, but time has passed us by,
Someone else moved in from far away.

Now we are tall, and christmas trees are small,
And you dont ask the time of day.
But you and I, our love will never die,
But guess well cry come first of may.

The apple tree that grew for you and me,
I watched the apples falling one by one.
And I recall the moment of them all,
The day I kissed your cheek and you were mine.

Now we are tall, and christmas trees are small,
And you dont ask the time of day.
But you and I, our love will never die,
But guess well cry come first of may.

When I was small, and christmas trees were tall,
Do do do do do do do do do...
Dont ask me why, but time has passed us by,
Someone else moved in from far away.

I’ve just realized that today is the first of may.. and this is a great oldie by Bee gees.. Happy Labor Day to all working folks!!

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I don’t know why but I just want to post this following comment made by Barca-ians…

“What will you take on a desert island?? You could always go to Didier Drogba for suggestions. He had 89 minutes to think about during the first leg of the champions league, 89 minutes to choose a book, a CD, to go for a mobile phone or a Swiss army knife or a lighter to make fires. Every now and then Gerard Piqué and Rafael Márquez visited him as they went to collect some strange object his team-mates occasionally sent his way, always by air mail.”

LOL… what a comment.. bring on the second leg mannn!!!

2009-04-20T20:52:00.005+08:00

从我家后的窗望上屋后的邻居，无意中看到了以上的画面。一株不知名的弱小的小植物，竟能生长在那缝里。植物开支的散叶，吸收了够的充足的光线。那长长的根，除了能充分吸收水分外，仿佛也在不断努力地往旁边生。。

看到植物对环境如此顽强斗争的画面，身为万物之灵的我们，能动赤能走，却往往很多时候碰到一点点挫折，便自暴自弃。我们对生命的轻视，是否连着一株植物也比不上呢？？

唉，剩下一个月的时间，说短不短，说长不长，还是咬紧牙根坚持下去吧！！

random-ness

2009-04-01T09:09:00.001+08:00

The clock seemed to be ticking faster than usual, yet, I have piles of unfinished revisions to focus on, I was drained, fatigued, shattered.. but hey, life still goes on no matter what.. and I am anticipating a much torrid time for the next eight weeks. Library and study room will be the place frequented as the killer paper is approaching near..

What am I doing here then?

I shall start hitting the books again..

karma

2009-03-07T10:23:00.004+08:00

I don’t quite believe in karma over the years..

.. only after I stepped into their shoes recently, then I know how complex it was.

Five weeks of miserable musculoskeletal system has flashed pass as if it was just started.. and just when I thought I would eventually have the break to revise few systems, community medicine comes next and adds tones of misery to my already packed time table. This time it is not the early morning lectures that drive us students nuts, but countless questions and surveys being bombarded into our brains.. and what happen next is totally beyond my imagination..

Two days of community medicine lectures and off we go to Kampung Pandan, a small neighborhood located in one dejected part of Kuala Lumpur which is purely dominated by Malays. Ever wonder what the heck we ended up there??? Alright, my group was assigned to conduct a survey about breastfeeding around that area. Sounds pretty weird huh when a guy like me approach the aunties and ah-mas there. Here’s the fun part.. target any women who actually go well with my eyes (duh.. to make my life easy mah) at places like Kilnik Kesihatan (main aim), bus stop, mamak, along the road side, market, or whichever place that my legs can walk me to.. and conduct this survey based on the relevant questionnaires we prepared.

Walking around targeting women at the above places wasn’t that difficult after all. From decent looking women who dress baju-kurungs elegantly with layers of makeup carrying Gucci-s and Versace-s, to office workers waiting impatiently at the bus stops, to the typical housewives dragging their respective shopping baskets picking groceries in the pasar, to the mak-ciks and kakak-s selling goreng pisang at the road-side stalls. Friendly ones will just cooperate with you and will take some time off to have a lil’ chat. What a time to start off with my morning survey and it certainly drove me into a more enthusiastic guy to approach more aunties. No doubt that some will just brush you off when they noticed a formally dressed person with a backpack looking oh-so-desperate, following anxiously behind their footsteps, thinking we are just yet-another-much-hatred, annoying salesperson. However, the worst nightmare was attempting to obtain survey from housing areas and flats. Knocking the doors of the residents in the flat area and feverishly pressing the door bells of houses have mostly proved to be fruitless. We saw figures peeping out through the window slit but subsequently backed off, leaving us standing under the scorching sun pressing the bell over and over again till hope evaporates. Who would want to respond when again, a formally dressed person, holding sheets of papers, looking exactly like a typical salesperson standing over the fence or door?? Indeed, lesson learnt no.1. It is payback time.

Two days of tireless efforts and we have reached our target sample size of 157 women. Report writing and slides presentation coming up next. And oh, lesson learnt: I used to ignore ‘people’ like this when they came knocking at my door, especially when my sleep is disturbed. I’ll just leave them ringing the bell till they got uninterested somehow.. and yea, it’s karma now.

The next day when they come knocking at my door again, I’ll be the first one to step up and answer all their questions, willingly. What a meaningful outing indeed and I’ve now experienced how bitter it was to be blindly ignored.

For whatever reasons, I do believe in karma now.

fridays..

2009-02-14T00:12:00.000+08:00

It’s the day I always look forward to.. beautiful Friday.. however, it also means that exams are looming nearer..

On a brighter note, Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

2009-02-06T13:52:00.001+08:00

From this time forth, every month, every week, every day, every hour, every minute, every second COUNTS! Despite feeling oh-so-senior, life in semester 5 is oh-so-monotonous. Study is the word that has been programmed into the brain, and it exhausts a helluva large portion of memory available!

sick of being sick

2009-02-02T13:12:00.002+08:00

Firstly, I admit I have been an inconsistent blogger.. therefore, updates don’t come very often..

CNY has just passed.. but for some particular reasons, CNY this year has not been as merry as the previous ones.. in short, I had an uneventful CNY.

Consider myself unlucky or not, of all the 365 days in a year, I was feeling under the weather during the second day of CNY.. well, maybe I was overdosed with bak kua-s (dry meat) on the previous day.

Being sick during CNY is the last thing that crosses everyone’s mind.. right? one can unwillingly wave goodbye to food heavens that can only be tasted during CNY. Mandarin oranges, bak kua-s, cold beverages… moans..

And now it has been almost a week gone, my condition aint got any better.. blocked nose and coughs have been driving me crazy..

*reaching out for a piece of tissue paper and stuff it into my nose*

Well.. I think that’s it for now.. I’m gonna dose off anytime later..

Classes resume tomorrow, the episode of waking up early begins, (but one benefit of early lectures: you’ll realize that the day has just begun as soon as the last lecture ends at 10.15am), anyhow morning lectures sucks!

PS: have a blast oxy CNY everyone!

snooze..

2009-01-23T23:41:00.002+08:00

I wonder what the function of an alarm clock is when there’s a snooze button beside it..

Soon, I’ll find out that whenever I hit the button when my alarm clock pierces the silence of the morning, the risk of turning up late for lecture is indeed, high..

And it didn’t take me long to actually experience this situation..

I was literally happily pressing that button one fine morning.. dozed off again.. woke up 25 minutes later realizing that I was incredibly.. LATE, and hence ended up rushing madly for the morning lecture.

And guess what.. this happened on just the third day of my new semester.. couldn’t imagine how frequent I’ll be repeating this action for the subsequent four months… sighs and moans..

Screw 8am lectures!!

From today onwards...

2009-01-19T10:50:00.002+08:00

There’ll be no late night sleeps (lecture starts at 8am!! =.= zzZZ)
There’ll be no straight 12 hours nap till noon
There’ll be no afternoon boredom, no switching TV channels aimlessly
My ass will no longer stick in front of the comp for hours
Tons of books and notes will be pleased to hunt me everyday till May
Library and lecture theater will be the place to visit instead of 1Us and Midvalleys
Guiltiness will be the word whenever I’m not performing my ‘usual’ task

Why am I moaning so early in a Monday morning?

Well.. simple, I’m waving goodbye to my holidays.. semester 5 begins =[

Time to get myself packed with business again..

PS: I should be attending lecture now!

Auld Lang Syne..

2009-01-06T23:29:00.015+08:00

Hey peeps!! I know my anime thingy in the previous post has been popping out in front of your eyes every moment you hit the enter button (yea.. barb! I know).. laziness of the blogger seems an issue right now, though I’m having my holiday. Or perhaps, “holiday” has got to take the blame as it has made me a lazier creature. Damn, I find myself reading people’s blog more often than updating my own blog.

Alright, this post isn’t gonna be that long..

Well.. let’s see.. my holidays so far has been disappointing.. hope uni reopens soon, so that I’ve got some stuff to work with.. oh no.. I wanna take back my words. But staying at home's getting a lil' boring and I don’t want to start flicking my books again. Starting to flick that thick disgusting med books of mine have been a nightmare (as quoted by my brother: eh.. when are you gonna finish reading that book *points to the patho book* ah? Why are you reading it over and over again?? Nice ah??).. what more when I’ve major exam to face somewhere in the middle of the year! A happy anticipated 2009 ahead? Provided I pass that major paper!

Oh.. it’s new year. Something more about the new year? Not really. Looking back to 2008.. it has been a hectic and an eventful year for me.. don’t believe? I bet you wouldn’t want to dig out all my 2008 posts and digest all my grandmother stories one by one heh? Well, let me just hope that 2009 ain’t gonna be something similar to the previous year.. wishes have been flooding through, haps new year here and there.. hope I’ve received enough of blessings to make 2009 a better year for me! New year's resolutions? neh.. ain't gonna make one.. wouldn't work anyway!

They say firecrackers offer luck. Woot~ when for countdown at the Curve with some of my old mates

people mountain people sea

END!

Argh.. studying isn’t the right word to use during the holidays.. but no matter what, I’m forcing myself right now! For instance, understanding tongue-twisting sentence like “ultimately, the pleuroperitoneal and pleuropericardial folds separate the pericardioperitoneal canals from the peritoneal and pericardial cavities, respectively” seems like an ease back then, but not during the holidays. Read several hundreds thousands times, but yet still don’t get the main point! There you go.. yada yada yada..

Oh.. only now I realized.. it has been a week since the new year.. so folks, haps BELATED 2009!

2008-12-19T22:54:00.010+08:00

HAPPY 1st ANNIVERSARY TO MY BLOGGIE!! Thanks for being so enduring with an extremely nonsense blogger posting all sorts of junks on you!

untitled

2008-12-19T22:00:00.003+08:00

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.

For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Yeah, There will be an answer, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Yeah, There will be an answer, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Yeah, There will be an answer, let it be.

And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me.
Shine until tomorrow, let it be.

I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
There will be no sorrow, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, yeah let it be.
There will be no sorrow, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Yeah let it be, yeah let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

Complicated but true, sometimes, we can't predict what will happen next.. so just let it be.

yeah.. my fault.. here.. updates!

2008-12-17T13:19:00.001+08:00

Okay, I know.. blame me.. I’ve been an inconsistent blogger since the past few months, and this is perhaps my longest period ever leaving my blog idle since my very last post. I know what I’ll be typing next will be regarded as pure excuses by you readers, which will never end. Alright, I must admit then, I am just lazy to blog these days, especially when I’ve not got anything interesting to blog, be it out of blogging ideas or my laziness. So to all my loyal bloggers (wait, have you all been loyal during this period?), I promise I will keep updating my blog every now and then.

Gawd, let me start off with the same old format of my style of blogging again.. have been busy over the past month, although I’m having my semester holiday. Supposed to be a long and enjoyable one, however, as predicted, my ever evil university will always keep an eye of us even during the holidays, so that we don’t get the full privilege to spend our holidays freely. Therefore, there are many ‘activities’ planned during this period.

Alright, goodbyes to selective and GP posting.. what next? A week of lab sessions and hospital posting.. Hence the word holiday is poorly defined here. But one of the activities deserved to be blogged here is my GP posting for 5 days at a clinic in Subang. Finally I got the chance to observe the true clinical setting, and what happened during my first day there overwhelmed me.. patients stepping into the clinic non-stop from morning till evening, I bet that the doctors have had their pockets filled long ago as the clinic has been there serving the Subang Jaya residents for at least 20 years. No doubt that their flashy cars parked outside made me salivate whenever I took a good glance at it. okay, enough of admiration, it seemed to be one of the most happening clinic in SJ, and I’ve been their patient since I was born, injecting BCG was my first history on that card.. just imagine. Well, the common cold virus seemed to have struck SJ residents quite effectively, with majority of them having this similar complaint and gastric problems followed tightly. After 5 days of observation, I can be a GP too!! Patient comes in with a history of cough, sore throat and fever. Next step: take his history of presenting illness, a pen torch to have a good look at his tonsils, a stethoscope to make sure lungs are clear, a sphygmomanometer to measure his BP, and a thermometer to note his body temperature. What next: prescribing antibiotics, lozenges, and panadol tablets. There, 25 ringgit easily slips into your pocket. What an easy job huh!! However, just imagine if everyone comes in with the similar illness.. lol.. life as a GP will not be as interesting anymore.

There are some interesting cases too.. from the widespread common cold, then ordinary cough and fever, to the next most frequent UTI, then wound cleaning, to a more high-tech and complicated one – USS of gallstones and.. you can believe what's coming up next.. circumcision, not one, neither two but three. Talking about being in the right timing especially during the school holidays! I’m sure it hurts though.. ouch! But again, writing a report is indeed the worst part. Other than that, it was great being exposed to that kind of setting.

Alright, I’d better start to hit my books again. I’m sure I’ll be able to update my blog quite often now, hopefully.. if only there’s something interesting and meaningful to blog about. Lab sessions and hospital posting.. here I come!

well..

2008-11-21T10:36:00.001+08:00

Here’s an interesting one..

I’ve been forcing myself to have one or two work outs after my exam as I’ve not been exercising as it should be. Back to my secondary school days, I used to be a hyperactive person.. playing football in my school padang is a must every week; sometimes basketball, though the target is always one farfetched one, it’s pure luck if one had gone into the ring eventually after thousand attempts; cycling around my area every evening used to be a breeze (however after a punctured tyre, it was left cobwebbed on one corner of my house and gradually the poor fella got rusted); and even when I do not have the time to sweat out, there will always be 2 hours of PJK classes weekly to compensate.

Transformation period occurred and most of us were heading to different directions after secondary school days. To meet up with my entire football kaki-s was an issue back then as different exam timing complicates things. However, we made an effort to meet up for futsal session at least once a month. And oh, most of my free time during college days was to catch forty winks. There you go.. lack of exercise started to kick in.

Then comes the evil uni days, as you have guessed, the word ‘exercise’ was totally out of my sight. Okay, I admit I’m not a fit person I was used to be, until I was placed in the behavioral science section for my sem 4 selective. “nice one!! This is the punishment you’ve to serve!!”.. and behavior modification was what I’ve learned over the past few days. And along the 3 weeks course I must somehow find a way to change my negative behavior. So which negative behavior will I choose then?

There you go..

Identify behavior to be changed: lack of exercise (good!!)
Target behavior: to perform at least one exercise per day for two weeks
Target behavior (long-term): undecided yet!! (I reckon it wont last long though)
Failing to do at least one exercise per day: you can no longer watch Saturday EPL matches (OMG..GG!!)

Here I am, forcing myself to complete this task for my selective. However I doubt that this will prolong, though I would like to maintain this behavior for long period. I’ve a feeling that soon my negative behavior will return again. In other words, based on my current frame of mind, I’m just achieving my target behavior for the sake of my selective!!

updates

2008-11-17T14:55:00.006+08:00

Words just cant describe my feelings!! It has been a roller-coaster semester 4 and I’m glad that sem 4 is over. From the starting of semester when I was diagnosed with pneumothorax thingy to the dreadful experience of being hospitalized right in the middle of the semester and it concluded with post-op.. err.. side effects.. I should say. I’ve gone through perhaps my most awful period of my life. And now, my body is gradually trying immensely hard to adapt to my patched up wounded lung, the feel good factor is siding me day by day. Restrictions in terms of food do add salt into wound. I’ve 30 days left in my calendar before I’ve foodstuff like McD, curry, seafoods within my sight.

The stressful days are over, at last.. and when will be the next episode?? Soon.. however, I have one week or so to take a breather, before getting myself busy with selective, postings and labs. Speaking about selective, I’ll be anticipating a rough ride ahead. For some unexplainable reasons (I handed up rather early), I was place unfortunately under behavioral sciences (BS) category, which was my least favoured choice. Enough of sighing, few days of BS classes are already helluva medical student in IMU (right??), not to mention I’ll be attending those classes for like.. THREE weeks!! understanding all about ‘behavior modification’ stuffs, a field of which only psychologists is keen to explore more. What luck!!

Oh well, I’m just right in the mood of blogging, and I’ve a lot to blog about, but I just don’t know where to begin. I’m hitting the backspace key more often than any other keys. Now that I’m done with my in course assessment last Friday, I just want to throw my body into the open sea or run madly around an empty stadium or do something unusually done by you people.. I just love the post exam days (who doesn’t?? especially when you are a medical student, especially when you have worked your socks off for the whole long period mugging and memorizing stuff beyond boundary), I want to stay idle for a long period before even allowing my hands to touch my books again, especially having gone through the wicked period of sem 4. And oh finally.. I can continue my morning sleep till noon uninterrupted by unfinished notes swaying around in my mind and no longer feel guilty gluing in front of my computer.

Delightful stuff aside, I just don’t want to fuss more on my in course assessment. I know roughly where I stand after the feedback session. It’s frustrating.. frustrating indeed!! especially when you plan not to focus on certain lectures which you think have a very low probability to be tested and out of the blues, they appear in the paper.

Well, just hope that semester 5 will be a better one.. although I foresee a tougher sem, with a major exam to overcome before I proceed to my clinical years. That’s one of my checkpoint I must conquer.

Oh.. finally I’ve got the time to upload some orientation photos.. suppose to upload ages ago punya

hail group 11!!
just loved the background
the human pyramid
I dare u to pose like this in the middle of 1U.. aren’t IMU-ians childish??
Ghostbusters!

the before and after effects of icebreakers
very enthu OOs behind
lifting me up involves just a little effort huh… ask them!!

idle..

2008-11-03T20:06:00.003+08:00

Sorry to all my loyal folks.. in course assessment next week! Therefore, have been busy mugging these few days!! Back very soon.. wish me luck!!

2008-10-23T20:04:00.005+08:00

flicked through my bro's comic book out of my boredom.. I bumped into this hyper-lame comic page!!

O.o so like me!! and I wanna add one more point.. more prone to suffer from PNEUMOTHORAX!! girls out there.. BEWARE!!

2008-10-20T10:16:00.000+08:00

每个人都可以改造自己的命运，创造好因缘，一定可以走出来。没有人注定一生这么走，把握机会，就是另外一个人生的段落。所以，要接触好因缘，来发展我们的人生。

and I thought I've won the battle..

2008-10-08T23:33:00.001+08:00

It has been awhile since I last blogged.

A great relief after being discharged. However, just when I’m starting to see the sun begins to shine above the clouds, rain pours down again. Signs of post operation complications gradually setting in, and indeed, it has been driving me crazy over the past one week. Well, what a way to kick start my post op days!!

Tiredness + dizziness + occasional headaches = loss of concentration

I don’t know whether I’m anaemic due to post op side effect.. I just hope that these episodes will not last long. And I thought that plies of lecture notes can be completed after the raya break, but it wasn’t to be.

It seems that I’ve to think twice now before allowing the surgeon to land his knife on my body. Dreadful feeling!!

being hospitalized..

2008-09-22T10:56:00.001+08:00

I finished my last sentence of notes and was getting ready for bed. It was 12am early in a Monday morning, when my breathless episode worsen. The scene was unforgettable.. I was constantly taking deep breath and inspire as much air as I could, thinking that it’ll be all over the other day by just helping myself to sleep, but it seemed that my overworked cells couldn’t fully utilize the fresh oxygen inspired.. in other words, the term ‘grasping for air’ is most suitable to describe my condition. I knew that my lung is collapsed somehow, it got worse as the minutes passed by. Knowing something amiss, I walked myself to my parent’s room. I was rushed to the hospital at 2am, with my half-awaked parents. Immediately, my BP, body temperature, respiration and heart rate are taken, a radiologist came to perform a chest x-ray. I prayed hard, hopefully it wasn’t as worse as I thought, perhaps this wasn’t an emergency. However, judging by the x-ray taken moments ago, my heart sank, words cant describe my feelings, still, I cant face the truth.. my right lung is half-collapsed. Despaired, desperate.. I slowly landed my butt on the cold steel chair in the admissions department. Prior to that, I was pretty convinced that my lung was healing, because for the whole long week, I was just as normal. From that day onwards, hospital became my second home.

4am that morning, the doctor rushed to my ward, without delay, a chest tube was inserted into my pleural cavity to remove the trapped air. That was when I started to prepare for the worst. Lying down on the bed that morning, flashbacks constantly repeating in my head, spinning around like a ballet dancer dancing gracefully, with my stunned eyes staring up onto the ceiling and every nook and cranny of my room, I was helpless, but optimistic. I kept thinking that I’ll be discharge very soon, if not the other day, where I can breathe fresh air once again, unlike the typical dettol-filled smell of the hospital. I was sleepless that morning, not only me, but also my parents, I believed. They were just worried. My father was just standing beside me when the procedure was done. His eyebrows was straight, eyelids were trying tremendously hard to keep themselves open, arms folded.

I was wide awake throughout the whole morning, feeling exhausted, lethargic, hazed. Nurses were busy doing their daily routine, and that was when I realized the true setting of the hospital. Visitors were flocking into the hospital during the visiting period, anxiously looking parents were busy checking out their child’s condition, footsteps zooming past and trolley rolling nonstop outside my room, emergency bell ringing throughout the whole day.. it was just happening. My condition wasn’t improving on day one, and I knew I’ll have to meet many checkpoints before I’ll be discharged. ‘well, we’ll just have to wait and see’ quoted by the respiratory specialist when he was doing his morning routine check on patients. I was heartbroken, hoping that I won’t hear the similar sentence over and over again during my stay here. There weren’t anything to do when I was admitted. With the chest tube inserted into my pleural cavity just under my armpit, I could hardly move. Not to mention the pain I’ve to endure every morning although I was on pain killers. An interesting fact was that normally I’ll use only one second for myself to climb up from lying position, but after chest tube insertion, I took 10 minutes.. at times, I was reluctant to wake up, a sense of laziness, merely just to avoid the pain. I just hate this feeling. Indeed, this was the worst period ever in my life.

Throughout the whole week, my condition wasn’t improving. The doctor repeated himself in a similar manner.. “well, we’ll just wait and see, if not then I would suggest surgery to be done”, while the nurses.. “eh.. masih ada banyak buih ah”. I was sicked with those sentences. Devastated. I knew my condition wasn’t improving.. surgery was what I considered that moment, in that instant. I knew that I must eventually make a decision. I was tired, going through the same process over and over again was strenuous. I just didn’t want to suffer any longer, I knew painkillers help, but only to a certain extent, only for them to be detoxified in my liver, and that they will no longer carry out their function. In short, I hoped that this torturing period will end soon. But it wasn’t to be.

Day by day, I was surrounded with feelings of loneliness. I prayed the whole episode will eventually end, the hole will be patched up by the adjacent lung tissue without going through surgery, hoping that my cells will proliferate faster, quicker. The fact that pneumothorax could not be cured by simple medication was indeed a nightmare. My phone was flooded with “hey, how are you” messages, almost everyday. I just missed the moments spent together with my mates, missed their laughter during lectures, missed my beloved family, missed my textbooks, missed basically everything, you named it. Hospital was a dreadful place to be. For the first few days after admission, loss of appetite made situation worse. The thought of strawberry pudding, honey baked pancake and chocolate muffins aggravated my nausea feeling. The needle will no longer point to the usual position when I once again stand on the weighing machine. Again, all effort wasted. Sigh. The suckiest feeling ever, being hospitalized. It was just as if a super hyper active person being bedridden, wheel-chaired. Helpless.

Being hospitalized.. boredom ensued. A situation which was hard to overcome. The ceiling and the window were objects I favored the most. Staring up onto the ceiling, I’ll start to recall moments happened over the last few years as a child, a student, an individual. Peeking out of the window, I’ll start to sketch my future as a professional, trying to predict the path I bound to face. I thought a lot, countless times, sometimes, I didn’t even know what I was trying to figure out, just aimless. At times, I tilted my head towards the window, the evening sun was gradually setting, street lights brighten up the junction, the colourful shimmering neon bulbs light up the ever rotating windmill; apparently, it is a restaurant, a popular icon near SJMC. Occasionally, the blazing sound of the siren of an ambulance piecing through my ear drums stirred me to love every moments in life, to take pleasure in life. Every night spent in the hospital was without a doubt a suffering moment for me. Friends, parent and relatives will leave this time, a never-want-to-let-them-go feeling will always encircle me, though I would like them to stay longer. I was left on my bedside, emo-ing again, before I let forty-winks overcome me. The starting of the day was what I will always look forward to. Curtain pulled, letting the soon-to-be blazing sun shine onto my dried skin, hoping that someone will go ahead and make my day. Well, this cycle of episode has been recurred for almost a fortnight. I was used to it.

After a holy shit one week being admitted, the pain was just unbearable, yet signs of healing were slim and I’ve wasted my precious time basically doing nothing. Weeks of lecture notes gradually piling up, and I’ve spent my first week in hospital finishing just only one lecture note, which was a depressing for me. My condition wasn’t improving, and the consideration of surgery was marching nearer. After days of panicking, hours of consideration and long calls made to everyone available for opinion, my family decided to opt for surgery, exactly one week after admission. The decision making moment was tough, but I knew somehow I must overcome this fear, overcome the battle with pneumothorax, I was overpowered, overwhelmed. And I thought that finally I’ve decided, headaches over, nonetheless, it wasn’t so. Two types of surgery can be done: open surgery and keyhole surgery also known as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Ultimately, we have chosen VATS. Reason, less invasive. On that day itself, I was referred to a surgeon. It happened swiftly. During that morning, the surgeon came and explained the procedure, the costs and the benefits of it. He carried along with a letter of consent, shoved it to me. I hesitated for a moment, but for my own benefit, I signed. Surgery to be done on that night. To be fair, I wasn’t geared up for the surgery, but anyway, yet another checkpoint, I had no choice but to ram myself to find a way pass through it. I was moody, with an addition of the feeling of anxiety. I knew I must be brave, hope for the best and pray hard. That was what I did during that afternoon, the most desperate period of my life. And oh, my parents too, they were equally anxious. Questions flooded in my mind, unanswered, that was the most disappointing part. Will it be successful??

6pm. 150908. Monday. A bed was wheeled into my room, the staff nurses storming in and explained all the procedure needed to be followed. My adrenaline was pumping hard, blood was rushing to all of my vital cells, supplying oxygen just to calm me down a little. Nervousness started to take place. I lied down on the bed, with my whole body wrapped with a blanket, I helped a bit though. Soon, I was wheeled to the lift, with my restless parents walking beside me, just like a carbon copy of what I’ve seen in the Hong Kong Chinese drama series. The way up to the operation theatre was never-ending. I was like ages. 6th floor. I was wheeled into the operation waiting room. Drip was transferred in to my artery. I was glancing at the clock, hoping this procedure will end soon, I was left aside, with no energy left in my body. In that hazed state, I saw nurses walking pass my bed, some even decided where to have their buka puasa feast when their respective shift ends. 7pm. I was transferred to the operation theatre. I cleared my mind. The only thing I did throughout the whole journey was just to pray pray and pray. Setting was similar to what I’ve seen in House. The thought of being wheeled into the OT was unbelievable. I was anaesthetized, instantly, I lost conscious.

“Tan, operation’s over” claimed by a nurse with numerous tapping on my shoulder. I opened my eyes, immediately, I said a little prayer. A wonderful feeling, indeed, just to be awake. Soon, phlegm started to stimulate my ciliary cells, I felt a vague pain below my right armpit when I coughed it out. I was generally, in pain. In that lightheaded situation, I overheard conversations between my parents and the nurse, but I cant figure where they were. I raised my eyelids, in search for them, but they were nowhere to be seen. A sense of relief encircled me. Gosh.. finally it was over after an hour. I was wheeled back to my ward in a semi-conscious state. I dozed immediately.

Day 2 after operation, my mother arrived early (yet another sleepless night for both of my parents), 5am to be precise, just to make sure I wasn’t dehydrated, as a result of pre operation fasting. Hunger wasn’t the main issue, but fluid was what I needed desperately. However, I vomited after the intake of just a few sips of water. The feeling was just dreadful, torturing. The post operation route of recovery was harder then what I thought initially. I cant walk, it took ages for me to just climb up from my bed. I was still on chest tube, painkillers, higher dose this time. Fortunately, I recovered well enough as the surgery was less invasive. It took days for me to perform my daily routine well. On the day before I was discharged, the chest tube was removed from my pleural cavity. Again, pain was the main issue here. Sigh. I was used to it. Crap. After 11 days of bitter sweet moments in the hospital, I was discharged, finally. My whole body was tilted towards the right, with my butt bulging up on the opposite side due to the pain on my wound. I’ve been trying tremendously hard to straighten my body since then. However, to land my foot on the tar road was my main wish ever since I was admitted. I was proud of myself!! “A pat on the back, you did a great job, after passing through many checkpoints, you deserved it!”

I’ve not appreciate the effort done by my parents all this while. This incident made me think twice nonetheless. To visit me everyday without fail since I was admitted was a task almost impossible for most of us, not to mention multitasking at one go. Household chore to be completed, brothers to be fetched, lunch and dinner to be cooked fresh for me.. working round the clock but still managed to buy time to stopover for a while. At times, I was heartbroken when they were sleeping so soundly on the couches, tears will start accumulating but unwilling to roll down to my cheek.. a soury feeling mounted up deep in my heart. Finally, the long battle with pneumothorax has ultimately drawn closer to a conclusion. I’ll plead that this will be my first and last time being involved in such dreadful state. At last, victory is in my hands!

small thoughts..

2008-09-12T20:21:00.002+08:00

I was transformed into a virtually useless person in the blink of an eye.. and at times, you’ll value the people around you much more in certain situations, be it your friends or your family.. these are the touching moments, you’ll only understand when you’ve experienced it.. love you guys out there..

life with my friend..

2008-09-07T14:55:00.002+08:00

Living with pneumothorax everyday for the past one month was indeed shytty!! Things changed a lot since then..

1. I no longer have the time to update my blog because of my pure laziness.

2. waking up everyday knowing that the breathlessness episode will again repeat for the whole long day.

3. I can no longer run and jump as usual. This is evident during the recent IMU orientation. For the whole journey of treasure hunt with my juniors, I walked, instead of running enthusiastically as usual. Eventually, I ended up with mild chest pain after treasure hunt, which I think further aggravate my pneumothorax. Shyt!!

4. I’ve lost concentration in my studies as a result of this.. there you go.. ready to flunk endocrine system. I’ve been lagging behind for like.. weeks of lecture notes?? Repro system’s coming next!!

5. IMU orientation doesn’t make things better, in fact, busier.

6. people around me started calling me penumothorax!! “eh.. pneumothorax leh???” =.=

7. I’ve visited the hospital more often than clinics this year..

Anyways, a thousand thanks for everyone’s concern and get-well-soon wishes.

M208 orientation and reunion pictures will be up soon..

the truth..

2008-08-23T23:16:00.004+08:00

Sometimes, I do take things for granted, but for now, after suffering from this problem I begin to value my life more.

After few episodes of chest pain and palpitations, I finally gain my courage to visit a cardiologist at SJMC this morning. I knew something wasn’t right over the past few weeks, I have even used my stethoscope thousands of times to check for any abnormalities.. history taken, ECG and chest X-ray done in the hospital.. and what amazed me was that, it wasn’t the heart that caused this problem, the main culprit was in fact my lungs..

I was diagnosed having.. right-sided PNEUMOTHORAX (wikipedia's definition), based on the chest X-ray.

I was stunned for a moment.. little did I know that what I’ve learnt in PBLs, lectures, CSUs and interpreting chest X-rays has indeed happened on myself.. argh.. there’s no drug treatment, the wisest management is to REST, hoping that my lung tissues will slowly patch up the punctured part.

According to the cardiologist, people who are tall and slender, ie, like me, are prone to suffer from pneumothorax. However, an appointment with a respi specialist on Monday will eventually stop me from deducing the main cause of it.

Sigh.. guess that I have to love my lungs more than any other organs now.. I’m pro in pneumothorax starting from today.. as the battle between me and pneumothorax begins..

updates

2008-08-22T01:11:00.009+08:00

1. It has been a while since I last blogged.. so sorry guys for not updating..

2. Uni reopens and this means that it’s business back to normal. As usual, the holiday mood has not completely erased off my mind yet. Hence I’ve been reading the same sentence thousand times, over and over again in my text book for the past one hour. (I’m struggling to register the words back into my memory)

3. Endocrine system.. what an “interesting” system to start with.. of biochems and more biochems and more biochems.. sigh (hate biochem!)

4. And to make matter worse, the last CSU session was indeed a humiliating one.. quoted by Dr Jac, “maybe hyperthyroidism isn’t taught in lecture yet, but I’m sure that you have not studied hyperthyroidism before entering CSU, FULL STOP!!!”… again, cant blame much as I’m the lucky number one to start taking the simulated patient’s history. Nervousness?? Sigh.. I did study, Dr Jac, just dont pick me as your number one next time..

5. Ok.. drama's over.. I passed my English Placement Test (failing to do so, my time will be wasted attending useless English class every Monday).. I knew that I was going to flunk my essay writing part right after I handed up my paper because I last written a complete flowery bombastic essay style was like what.. 2 years ago??

6. Sometimes, being a medical student can be too sensitive.. I’ve chest pain.. and it has been occurring since my holidays. Myocardial Infarction?? Hiatal Hernia?? GERD?? Pneumothorax?? Argh shit.. the list goes on and on and I’m afraid to think of it!! I forced to cancel futsal session with my friends because of this.. and I’m planning to have a check-up soon.. dear chest.. you have been bugging me dude!!

7. This is an interesting one.. how to solve your boredom when attending a lecture given by someone who happily sings lullaby in front?? “Play miss-call!!!”

All you need is a handphone equipped with the phone number of them who are responding to the lecturer’s lullaby..

*go to phonebook, select the ones who are dozing off soundly, hit the call button*

*victim’s handphone vibrates*

*victim is stunned, with eyes widely opened, anxiously reaching for his/her pocket*

*hit the end button immediately*

*victim checks the list.. and continue listening to lecture*

This is fun!! There are some don’t even silent their phone.. and god knows what will happen next!! We are all laughing uncontrollably with tears rolling down our eyes..

Well, I’m not the cheeky one though.. Well done to the person sitting next to me.. for not only waking me up indirectly, but also the victim!! I’m just enjoying the show!! So cruel.. sorry IMU-ians..

8. Lastly, I’d better start mugging.. hey brain, switch me back to study mode please, I beg you!!!

new chapter begins

2008-08-11T14:28:00.005+08:00

Oh sheats!!!

Five weeks of holidays just past without me noticing that class starts today.. the feeling is sucky indeed as I’ve not enjoyed my holidays to the max..

Goodbye to hours of gluing my eyes on the TV set, goodbye to hours of frantically crashing my fingers on the computer keyboard, goodbye to hours of lying on my bed lazily till noon, goodbye to hours of rotting and shaking legs at home.. argh.. in other words, goodbye to my longing holidays!!! And I shall welcome back my study table and cobwebbed text books that begin to accumulate dust on my shelf.

Staring on my timetable, I’ve to wait long-sufferingly for my next holiday, which is about one year later, right after my EOS 5, before my journey to phase 2 of my studies in Seremban. This is suffering mannn!!

Got to start work soon..

an accomplishment

2008-08-06T23:34:00.004+08:00

And I know.. gals will always do this..

.. so do I.. =]

*stepping on the weighing scale that lies on the corner of my kitchen while frantically glancing at the needle*

“yesh, yesh.. I’ve gain weight!!!”

*joyfully performing the monkey dance*

Finally, a positive sign..the needle seemed to be pointing away from the usual ‘51’ mark. An indication of gaining weight..though it’s only an increase of 1kg =.=

Still.. it’s a great achievement for me!! =]

PS: I’m so restless

of elective and holiday

2008-08-04T11:38:00.001+08:00

IMU tends to keep students busy even though they are in a long semester break.. it is as if you are tied to IMU as long as your name appears in the name list. Last semester break, it was COP (Community Orientated Project) and now it is elective, and we are advised to perform a medical related one.

Okay..

Medical related.. so what I did.. learning first aid with the St John Ambulans Malaysia.. a pretty boring subject though, but I have to somehow gain some knowledge on my first aid since I’m a medical student. Oh, by the way, bear in mind that I’m just a terrible first aider. Although I’m proud to say that I’m recognized as a “Basic Life Support Provider” (in a first aid course conducted by IMU), as stated in the certificate which expires at the end of 2009, I hardly recall any of the theory and practical first aid skills I’ve learnt =.=

So, off I went to recollect the principal of first aid again. Two days of intensive first aid course comprising CPR, choking, dressings and bandages, transportation, plus some theory and it eventually ends this Saturday when I’ve first aid exams to overcome. As usual, I’m studying not only for the sake of having my name printed beautifully on that piece of certificate, but also applying it, of course (though I doubt so)!!!

And gosh..

I’ve now only realized that I’ve one more week left to enjoy before turning back to my usual self again.. MY HOLIDAY’S GONNA END SOON!!! It is maddening to know how time flies when you are in an extremely free-and-nothing-to-do circumstances. Guess that I’ve to brush up my endocrine system these few days before lectures commence next week, or not I’ll be lost in blurriness after weeks of hibernating.

Gotta hit the text books again!!

chelsea fc in town

2008-07-29T22:56:00.013+08:00

It was sudden..

I got free tickets the day before to watch Chelsea full team training session at Shah Alam stadium.. and the thought of finally getting autographs from my idols, precious jerseys thrown from the pitch, pictures of them clapping and cheering in front of their loyal fan taken using my own camera, miskicked balls, “true” faces of the players danced around my mind.. I was longing for this day to arrive..

However, it turned out to be a disappointing outing as the players are surrounded by the medias waiting patiently on the pitch whenever they walked out the tunnel. Therefore, fans ended up taking pictures of the medias mopping the players.

Well.. nothing much to blog about.. I’ll let the pictures do the talking..

Looked like some abandoned building from the outside – the Shah Alam stadium..

The Malaysian team.. received much cheers from the crowd though

The fans

Petr Cech

A spirited joe cole, and this is what defines true fan: holding up a cardboard saying “joey cole, I love you, can I have your shirt please” while chanting his name loudly throughout the training session

Ballack, Mikel, Essien, Bridge

Feirrera and Ashley Cole

Training session

Stamford, the mascot, a great crowd entertainer

The most precious picture to date, an autograph and a hand shake (or rather, a desperate reach for his hand) by former Chelsea left back, Graeme Le Saux

Me =]

PS: Poor qualities of these pictures are due to the unskilled camera owner and cheap 5MP camera

GPs vs sinsehs

2008-07-17T11:18:00.009+08:00

Oh gosh.. is there any job for me?

I came across an article on the newspaper stating that traditional chinese medicine (TCM) is gradually replacing the modern drug therapy. Soon sinsehs will be springing up like mushrooms after the rain and doctors will cater for those emergency cases only. Why is this so?

I accompanied my mother, rather unwillingly, to visit a sinseh that day because she had muscular pain in her arm. Seriously, I was overwhelmed after the visit. What he did was by just palpating my mother’s radial pulse, he immediately came out with his diagnosis. Although not scientifically proven, however being a medical student myself, I was pretty convinced..

That aside, when he discussed about cancer - His point of view regarding cancer, basically, is caused by nothing but just “toxins” accumulating in our body (he even derived the word 癌症 in detail.. in a way, it made sense to me), which contradicts what I learnt in lecture (how I wished I will be allowed to write the word “toxins” instead of memorizing idiotically the definition of neoplasm word by word). That’s why when Dr Thani is placed beside him, there’ll be a remarkable oral battle in progress. The other great part was that cancer of any origin can be treated, you heard me right, cured, and the patient will be in the pink of health only after drinking his “unique” medication. Rather amusing, my mother was fairly convinced, so did I, to a certain extent though..

He even blew his own horn by providing some successfully cured cancer cases by just drinking a bowl of TCM daily (forgot, was it daily?), without the help of sophisticated chemo or radiotherapy and when his attention is drifted to the DOCTORS, he gave an evil grin and assumed that they are just KILLERS.. oh darn..

So,

Which do you choose?

The-holy-shit-bitter-like-hell-but-if-you-don’t-eat-you-will-feel-guilty medication,

Or

The-simple-easy-to-eat-meant-for-lazy-people medication?

So then, will doctors be the ones desperately seeking for their “rice bowl” in the future?

ouch.. that hurts!

2008-07-12T22:45:00.002+08:00

I have enough of nagging from my mother whenever I become her driver, especially during this holiday, not driving recklessly mind you, but the “unskilled” way of handling the car. After the recent fuel hike, her driving style or rather, attitude has changed, not dramatically but gradually.

Usually, my heart will pump wildly whenever there are several near misses and sudden-last-minute brakes. However, recently, whenever I was her driver, the scenario's otherwise. Money seems to be the main issue here. Why?

“ooii.. slow down lar.. don’t wait till last minute then brake.. waste fuel leh!!”

“whenever you see the traffic comes to a near halt, engage free gear.. save fuel.. anyhow you’ve to stop eventually!”

“engage 1st to 2nd gear smoothly, don’t hit the accelerator too hard!”

Lol.. words of wisdom from my mother..

There you go.. the recent fuel hike has indeed burned a large hole in our pockets.. and ouch.. we are feeling the aftereffects now. Alternative ways are troublesome for most of us, no doubt everyone will agree that driving is the most convenient mode of travelling.

Perhaps I should play around with my calculator again to determine whether to continue driving to my uni for the next semester.. sigh..

Pachelbel's Canon

2008-07-08T21:21:00.004+08:00

a wonderful and lovely piece of music by Johann Pachelbel, written in 1680 (wow.. that was years back!), also known as Canon in D.

It's simply soothing to the ears.. a breathtaking creation which allows me to appreciate the the art of composing and passion behind the music, and that's why I'm working tremendously hard to play this song on my guitar during holidays.. but it's darn hard to complete the full version.. probably the toughest song i've ever learnt to date!!

However, it's the passion that keeps my poor fingers going..

D-day

2008-07-04T19:08:00.007+08:00

yesh!!!! i've passed my exmas!!!!!!

and yaya.. i'll be a freeman for weeks *screams happily*

finally i've been rewarded with 5 weeks of holiday.. a deserved one indeed!! ahh.. what a relief..

btw.. one interesting pic..

What happens when your brain goes haywire after hours of memorizing pictures and models in an isolated place, out of the sight of the grumpy pak cik in the MMS (medical museum) with two skeleton structures hanging innocently beside you?

tada.. a peep on the other world of medical students.. lol

2008-07-02T20:33:00.001+08:00

Well well.. I’m heading towards my sixth day of holiday and I’m starting to feel the boredom gradually ensues. I’ve been spending my holidays in somewhat a systematic manner, ie, I’m rotating myself between TV and computer, computer and TV.. lol.. it has became my daily routine ever since my last paper, and I cant imagine I’ll be repeating the same routine for the next five weeks.. or perhaps not, hopefully.. sigh..

Oh.. lazy me.. I want to sponge down my car, giving it a complete shine, but my legs are just too unenergetic to move my body; I want to clean up my table and I’ve even promised myself to vacuum my study room thoroughly straight after my exams, yet again, I’m stuck with the word “tomorrow” whenever I stepped into my room; I want to learn some nice guitar songs, I google-ed and youtube-ed half a day, but still cant really find a suitable one (any suggestions?).. my memory’s suck though.. there were some lovely songs played in the radio before, but I just cant recall the title of the song.. arghhh… geramnya..

Gosh.. pretty uneventful holiday huh?!

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

I was wondering the other day.. why mothers are the ones always being praised, admired but fathers, sadly, are always the second best in virtually everything when compared to mothers??

For instance.. whenever mother’s day is around the corner, children will be taught to design hand-made flowers or fancy happy-mother’s-day-I-love-you cards during art class, however, when it comes to father’s day, it’s just as if an ordinary Sunday comes and goes.. also, the nursery song -- 世上只有妈妈好, apparently, is only applicable to mothers, how about fathers?? No?? they are not recognized??

I was at the clinic waiting for my name to be called that day, and there was a lady carrying her little daughter, sitting three sits away from me, while her husband (I think), settled himself just directly opposite from where I sat. Mother’s love outweighed father’s as the little kid was reluctant to move towards her father when instructed.. and the kid’s astonished look summed it all..

Maybe fathers are always viewed by children as bold, violent, aggressive figures..

Well.. speaking about fathers.. there’ll be something for my father in every father’s day but he received nothing from me this year.. because I was busy with my exams.. okay.. lame excuse, I know..

He’s a fantastic gentleman, though he’s always busy with work.. the sole breadwinner of my family, will always have grins on his face no matter how tough his day is.. if you so happened to read this post, although I doubt so… happy belated father’s day..

Till then..

2008-06-27T14:42:00.003+08:00

It’s over…

The day I’ve waited for so long has arrived.. finally..

EOS III.. sigh.. This is the most stressful exam I’ve ever had in my life!!!

I’m getting a little fed up with episodes of sleepless nights over the course of exams.. not burning the midnight oil, mind you, but it is the anxiety of waking up on the next day knowing that the exam paper will be haunting me.. and.. I’ll be happily waving goodbye to my much-needed holiday if I failed to overcome this barrier.

Therefore, you wouldn’t be surprised that medical students usually have panda eyes over this torturing period. Oh by the way.. you’ll be laughing yourself to the bank if you plan to set up a coffee shop near my uni, judging by the amount of students ordering kopi kau in my uni’s cafeteria..

Well.. I’ve been dragging my exhausted and fatigued body over the last few days, erm.. since last week to be exact.. my brain has been overworked by memorizing stuffs that I’ll usually forget after the next few days.. starting from anatomy, then physiology, pathology, pharmacology, microbiology, and all sorts of –logy you can think of.. damn.. it was frustrating indeed.. sometimes I do blame it for not having the capacity of a computer.

The level of stress gradually appears as exam days are approaching.. driving me nuts though..

First episode..

Few days before the exam, I was suffering from dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing) and somehow, my larynx was quite prominent.. thinking of something amiss, I went to see a doctor.. but then, after consulting him, I can proudly say that I can be a GP too.. why??

He inspected my larynx.. “oh.. maybe you’re thin.. so it is prominent”.. ok.. I considered this at home.. but I cannot swallow food as usual… fine.. then..

He checked my tonsils.. which I’ve done at home myself.. fine… then..

He palpated my lymphnodes surrounding the neck region and took my blood pressure.. both of which I’ve done in CSU practice for OSCE that evening with my friends.. fine.. then..

He advised me to consult the ENT specialist if the problem still persists… so.. consultation fee – RM24.. for nothing and no peace in mind!!

Second episode..

On the day before the exam, I was having stomach pain for the whole day since morning.. went to the clinic that night again in hope of getting some medications just in case my stomach becomes unfriendly and decides to strike during the exam on the next day.. costs me a whopping RM 53. By the way, he gave me four different types of gastic medications, which I think it’s unnecessary.

Sigh.. indications of stress I think..

But then.. I’m glad it’s OVER!! I can finally take a breather.. I’ll be enjoying my holiday to the max!! My holiday-to-do-list will be extremely long.. it has been accumulating since the last holiday.. however, I’m stuck with what to do first =] maybe I’ll just settle down.. watch some EURO 2008 replay matches because I’ve missed virtually all the games played.. it comes at the wrong timing though.. some guitar songs to learn.. and the list goes on..

Anyway.. I’ll know my fate next Friday.. whether I deserve my five weeks break or not.. it will all depends on this day.. the results releasing day.. oh well.. wish me luck then!!

2008-06-18T09:43:00.002+08:00

My blog's dead!!!

Anyways.. i'm now in hibernating mode.. i've four days left to digest all i can and vomit all out four days later..

On the brighter side, i'm a freeman eight days later!!

an overdue post

2008-06-09T10:26:00.005+08:00

An update after one week? Yeah.. finally I’ve internet connection after my mother cancelled the dial-up internet connection..

Well.. an overdue post.. supposed to be posted last Wednesday..

I was so eager to land my feet in Kuala Kubu Bahru (KKB) hospital before this, however, upon arrival, I put up with a setback as this small town seemed kampung-ish.. generally, the stay was quite pleasant.. apart from the freezing shower early in the morning that made me shiver. Surprisingly, I got to stay in a low cost single storey house owned by IMU with six of my friends..

Well.. since EOS is just weeks away, my kia su-ism sets in.. I brought along my lecture notes just in case there’s time to cram a few pages.. but instead, I ended up playing cards with a bunch of jokers most of the time. The end result.. I didn’t even finish half of my notes I brought!! Sigh..

Our main purpose of this trip is to carry out our rotation at KKB hospital. After three days being jailed there, I can say it was a fruitful one indeed.. as expected, we cant cross out history takings and physical examinations whenever there’s a hospital visit (I found that my communicating skills in Bahasa Malaysia is improving though).. there was also many interesting medical procedures, emergency cases..

.. but.. one most important case that has became an eye opener for everyone in this trip was…

..witnessing an autopsy being done by the forensic team.. in other words, this is my first time witnessing a DEAD BODY!!.. and that 40 minutes spent in the forensic unit seemed to be worthwhile. Seriously, the whole picture cant be erased off at this moment and I’m fortunate that I’m able to experience it (this wasn’t in our time table by the way). Anyway, to even have a look of that maggot-ful body itself was freaking scary and the smell was unbearable!!.. visit hui-xin's blog for a more detailed post.

Well well.. that was the main highlight of my trip though.. guess it’s time to hit my books again.. I’ll be elaborating more on this visit probably after my exam..

Nonetheless, it was indeed a productive hospital exposure..

destress??

2008-05-29T13:41:00.004+08:00

yes!! i've found a new solution.. a new toy for medical students..

A great way to destress.. place it anywhere and have fun with it!! But it comes with a hefty price if you hit beyond the limit!! (picture courtesy of ZB)

Going to Kuala Kubu Hospital this weekend.. hope that it'll be an interesting one.. or not i'll be bored to death!!

agony

2008-05-23T09:46:00.002+08:00

Argh.. sleepless night again..

Nope.. I’m not burning the midnight oil this time but I stayed to watch the damn champions league final.. and when each time you unwillingly sacrifice your much-needed sleep to a situation like this, you always hope that your favorite team will end up lifting the trophy or it will be worthless staying late right?

"ooiii.. drogba.. red card!! *evil simle* ..." -- heart breaking words heard once i stepped into uni!!

Yea.. unfortunately, Chelsea lost the battle.. indeed, a bitter pill to swallow

That night, I hit the power button hard in anger right after the final kick and stormed straight to my room to catch my sleep. Rubbing salt into wound, it was way past my bed time and trying to dose off was a tough job at 6 am in the morning.

Well.. the picture of terry’s penalty miss still constantly playing in my mind.. you cant criticize him for being too precise, but in such anxious moment, Mr Chelsea screwed it up!! With a goal to his mercy as van der sar dived to the wrong way, he slipped, scuffed his shot, smashing it against the post and out. This will be the talking point forever.. To the delight of man u fans, they lifted the trophy.

Damn damn damn damn.. agony is the word to sum up everything.. sigh.. gonna hit the books soon..

one month, four systems

2008-05-19T15:06:00.000+08:00

Switching back to study mode is indeed a painful procedure, especially when you haven’t enjoyed the post exam period fully. Argh.. cant imagine that I’ll be bombarded with tons of notes. Yet again, IMU exam phobia is looming. The ear-blasting sound of the buzzer used in OSPE already freaked me out in the first few stations last year.. and I’ll be facing it again soon.. however, this time, there’ll be MEQs, fail to finish answering in time, that’s it!! And also OSCE..

IMU exam systems are WEIRD!!

Totally different from the last exam, there’ll be more to cover in this exam! And, the disaster is.. there are four systems (CVS, respi, haema, GI) to be covered and all have to be done within a month’s time!

Sigh.. sick of exams and books!!

I need some inspiration before I begin to hit my notes again.. till then

one down, one more to go

2008-05-16T16:17:00.003+08:00

Finally.. feeling guilty gluing in front of the computer isn’t the main issue.. at this moment.. I mean these few days.. before transforming back to my usual self again (very soon).. sigh.. life as a medical student’s nothing but working hard to overcome checkpoints. Memang, if you’re not a high-flyer, the target point you’ll aim for is a pass.. again, a B will be considered as creditable somehow; and as usual, A is the far-fetched one, it’s too good to be true for people like me!!

The fun part – post exam period (everyone will agree with me though)
The not so fun part aka stress-philia part – pre exam days (no doubt, as students, this experience is quite familiar)

The fact that appetizer-comes-before-meal theory can be applied here. I’m done with my in course assessment (or in layman term – exam lar, IMU deans like to make things complicated.. to boast their professionalism by using high-tech terms) yesterday, which is defined as an appetizer and what next?.. EOS (end of semester exam) follows, which will be held in a month’s time. I’m desperate to pass this exam!!!

Nonetheless, I cant help myself much!! For the past few weeks, my study table has been my closest buddy.. I spent virtually most of my time there (eat, sleep, study… you name it). Accompanying my buddy are stacks and piles of lecture notes, papa patho, dorlands, highlighters (not really useful for me because i ended up highlighting the whole sentence), hairs (yea.. you got me right, scratching my head relentlessly is the main indicator of stress-philia)… and I’ll be surrounded by them again few days later.

Well.. I’m sleep deprived, average 5-6 hrs for the past few days and more devastating news.. I’ve lost 2 kg as a result of that.. (damn.. seems that my white adipose tissues aren’t functioning properly!!)

EOS is just around the corner.. doubt that you guys will see frequent updates here..

Really exhausted.. gonna catch some sleep soon.. for the time being, I can breathe a sigh of relief ..

thanks guys!!!

2008-05-09T14:41:00.002+08:00

really really appreciate all b'day wishes from you guys!!

thanks lots once again.. =]

first of may

2008-05-01T14:35:00.003+08:00

2008-04-30T15:02:00.007+08:00

just recollecting those carefree moments spent with a bunch of jokers during secondary school playing football on our deserted school padang.. and now.. i'm missing every second of it!!

ps: pic (taken somewhere in the mid of 2007) grabbed from quiwan's blog

survival skills tested

2008-04-28T20:06:00.003+08:00

There you go.. the title itself is self-explanatory..

Surviving med school is indeed a tough job!!! I cant imagine what will happen to myself after graduation.. and it’ll be like what.. 4 more years??!!

This is evident when major exam is just simply.. MAJOR, and it is a big no no to flunk it!! Flunk it means.. your much anticipated one month break will be vanished and you’ll spent that holy long one month break getting ready for the resit, also, yeah.. RM 750 poorer (resit fee!!). WTH..

Med student = less sociable??
Erm.. maybe.. for some reasons..

I received an sms last week from my high-school mate inviting me to play football at my former school.. I remembered one sentence of my reply message saying: “can I retire from playing until my exam ends?” my legs are extremely eager for a complete run-out, but then.. I have a huge pile of unfinished notes sitting right beside of my study table waiting for me to digest.. with my exams looming near..

I’m so left behind!!

Then comes..

Pulau Redang trip. Apparently, my EOS is just one month away from the proposed date.. then again.. I’ve no choice but to reject their offer.. *sighs*

Many unexplained questions..

Perhaps.. 先苦后甜.. this will be the only principal to console myself!!

2008-04-22T19:57:00.003+08:00

那一夜, 我又矢眠了...

宁静的夜晚, 我独自躺在床.. 沉重的眼皮似乎要盖了下来.. 但我依然无法入眠

你我都知.. 那滋味是十分难受

也许是那堆积如山的功课.. 也许是被那将来临的大考纠缠着.. 也许是那种种的生活难题常浮现在我的脑海里.. 也许...... 也许..............

唉.. 埋怨 -- 不是唯一的脱离方法.. 我只能依旧朝着那方向走去

2008-04-15T00:03:00.004+08:00

You can have thousands and millions of pictures…

… but you can’t have this lovely little creature in your photo album.. and guess what.. it’s a picture of you and me.. appreciate it!!

And here you go.. the miracle of embryology!!

writer's update!!

2008-04-11T19:31:00.007+08:00

Exactly one week since I last blogged.. and before setting up this blog, I know that it's just sheer hangat-hangat tahi ayam.. now, my prediction seems right.. Why?? Because the writer’s getting lazier to blog!!

Well well…

As I flicked through my time table moments ago, I realized that the embryology of the GI system is coming up next.. *sigh* not that I just only noticed just now, in fact, I’ve noticed ages ago!! The first thing I did when I’ve the time table in my hands was.. to see where’s the embryology lecture slot!! (apart from being focused on the PBL faci column – the Htin Aung phobia still persists!)

Even more TRAGIC news is that.. the lecture occupies.. two slots.. ie, 2 hours; ie, my Monday is completely ruined. 2 hours of tremendous concentration on the slides, not to mention when it comes to embryology, is hell indeed!!

Shit.. I know I’m weak in embryology!!! So.. strike off gynaecologist in my list of specialization.

As I’ve said, mothers are the only ones pleased to hear the word “EMBRYOLOGY”!!

Anyways.. SRC election is approaching near.. as a so-called Campaign Officer for the vice president post.. I’ve nothing to emphasize but to egg on IMU-ians to vote MEZHEN for the vice president post. So then, vote for mezhen =]

really really screwed!!!

2008-04-04T14:01:00.001+08:00

wasnt expecting that.. so.. i screwed it!! damn!!!

of OSCEs and SPs

2008-04-03T00:04:00.003+08:00

Mock OSCE is coming up.. for your information, this exam’s just merely testing on how well you obtain and dig out hidden informations from the SP (simulated patient), making sure that you did do your homework on feeling and palpating various anatomical parts of the body as well as reporting the right signs, features or abnormalities to the examiners. In other words, taking history (btw, SPs will be given a script on what they’re supposed to act) and performing physical examinations on a SP. You’ll be wondering: just mock and examinations only wat!! But hell no… despite attending numerous practice sessions, still, I screwed up the sequence of physical examination. =[

Talking about SPs.. I’m sure guy SPs hired by IMU love this job. Apart from being paid for just exposing their chest, they’ll also experience the feeling of being.. TOUCHed..

Oh yeah.. and this applies to Jerming too..

I was SP-ing the other day and Jerming approached me after the session.. (apparently, he was acting as a SP the day before)

Jming: so.. how?? Nice or not the feeling being TOUCHed??

Me: *speechless* *lol.. no comment*

(so.. jer ming, you enjoyed the feeling of being touched la?? Lol..)

Anyways.. mock OSCE this Friday.. wish me luck!!

the patience game

2008-03-27T10:58:00.013+08:00

What’ll be the first thing you do when you start using a computer without any interesting games installed yet??

Read on…

I’m simply clueless.. you’ll be wondering why people like me will spend time playing this lame card game which costs my study time.. introducing..

high score - 8969 =].. pretty inconsistant heh.. winning percentage: 37%!!

SOLITAIRE… =]

Gosh.. I’ve been addicted to this game ever since I bought my laptop (the newer version’s thousand times better than the older one). Kinda.. dull game right?? why not DOTA? Warcraft? Lol

and.. why solitaire?

Well.. plainly because I’m giving my brain a lil work out and most importantly, I’m always trying to beat my previous high scores.. and my achievement’s just a stone’s throw (my target score– 10000).. with more practice duh(doubt that I’ll have the time.. but.. anyways..)!!

.. No big deal if I found out that my comp mouse will no longer tolerate with me one day.. due to the repeated clicking and dragging.. and sometimes out of frustration, I’ll just slam the innocent little gadget instead of clicking gently (oh yeah.. my desktop’s mouse couldn’t bear with rounds and hours of counter strikes and.. it konk-ed eventually).

Anyways.. this blardy game has been using up an average of 30 minutes of my study time everyday.. meaning that - 3.5 hours per week!! Oh gosh.. at least it’s a far better way to spend my free time rather than cracking my head solving SUDOKU puzzles!!

the road not taken

2008-03-21T23:59:00.007+08:00

Perhaps every medical students attending interviews to gain admissions to their respective uni will know that they have to answer a very common and predicted question.. which is simply “why do you want to become a doctor?”..

.. And perhaps the interviewer would have got bored with answers like:

“oh.. I would like to help the needy ones in our country..”

“I would like to improve the current health care system in our country in order to ensure a better prospect for our future generation”

Well.. a pat on their backs.. Oscar academy awards will be rewarded to each and every medical students at the end of their interviews.. I guessed!!

Or.. for clueless students..

“because my father’s a doctor and I would like to follow his footsteps”

The story of medicine.. *sigh*

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

The familiar smell of the rain drops landing on the cement floor.. gentle breeze flowing through the window while I was revising today’s lecture.. out of nowhere.. my thoughts were drifted to where I’ve started my pre-U days at taylor’s..

My future was unknown then.. I was lost, as if a dead man walking aimlessly in a pitch-black road..

Somehow.. i’ve chosen engineering.. instead of medicine, back then..

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

- the road not taken - Robert Frost -

Eventually, I’ve chosen the road less travelled by.. MEDICINE.. will it be a different story then if I’ve chosen the other road? Hell.. medicine!!!

Well.. I wonder what it'll be like..

If IMU doesn’t accept me? [there’s a huge dissimilarity between medicine and engineering.. I’ve no other options apart from IMU because I’ve enrolled into engineering course during pre-U.. and therefore, I missed out the biology subject.. (only IMU accepts non-bio students)]

If i’ve landed in Monash majoring in engineering instead of IMU?

If I’m learning centripetal force, law of Einstein, line emission spectrum instead of struggling with myocardial infarction, tuberculosis and megaloblastic anaemia?

If I’m putting huge grins onto the housewives' faces by inventing sophisticated robots instead of making patients feel thankful that I’m their life-saving angel after removing a malignant tumor in their yucky alimentary tracts?

If I’m sleeping so soundly in the middle of the night, knowing that the only thing that wakes me up from my dreamland is the darn alarm clock instead of fearing that I’m always on-call.. no matter what , and I must keep my mobile phone on every single night?

If I’m gripping a screw-driver in my left hand and a plier in my right hand instead of clutching a surgical knife in my left hand and scissors in my right hand?

If I’m travelling to Paris, London for a company trip instead of ending up in the rural areas of Africa delivering medicine and performing first-aid to the helpless aborigines?

If….

Nonetheless, a decision has been made.. no looking back now.. and I’ll continue pursuing my dreams, without any regretful feelings..

cool~

2008-03-16T21:42:00.006+08:00

whoa.. *admires*.. he's damn good sial.. mannn.. wished that i could be as pro as him!!

untitled

2008-03-12T14:28:00.006+08:00

Something came across my mind while i was studying..yea.. elton john's lovely song..

There was a time
I was everything and nothing all in one
When you found me
I was feeling like a cloud across the sun

I need to tell you
How you light up every second of the day
But in the moonlight
You just shine like a beacon on the bay

And I can't explain
But it's something about the way you look tonight
Takes my breath away
It's that feeling I get about you, deep inside
And I can't describe
But it's something about the way you look tonight
Takes my breath away
The way you look tonight

With a smile
You pull the deepest secrets from my heart
In all honesty
I'm speechless and I don't know where to start

And I can't explain
But it's something about the way you look tonight
Oh.. Takes my breath away
It's that feeling I get about you, deep inside
And I can't describe
But it's something about the way you look tonight
Takes my breath away
The way you look tonight

- something about the way you look tonight - elton john -

reminds me of moments happened in the past.. oh gosh.. emo-ing...

listen to the rakyats..

2008-03-09T23:12:00.004+08:00

I’m not so into politics.. but then.. somehow, after this general election, I found myself eagerly chasing the election fever.. aahhh.. only if I’m eligible to vote!!

But there are many citizens out there find it rather troublesome to register themselves as voters.. hence, don’t bother to cast their votes.. thinking that what they are enjoying now's pretty fine. Oh well..

I was somewhat annoyed by the way BN advertise in the TV prior to elections.. I think they bribed the so-called “actors” to act as if BN has fulfilled their dreams and has turned out to be their only angel to save the world.. CRAP.. CRAP!!

Anyways.. I don’t know whether to use the word SURPRISE or AS PREDICTED.. that BN’s doing badly in this election.. well done to the opposition.. they’ve conquered five states.. namely Selangor, Perak, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan.. quite a number of BN heavyweights suffered embarrassing losses.. especially Samy Vellu *grins*.. (I wonder whether there’s any relationship between the trusty paperman, who is an Indian and Samy because the Sunday Star failed to reach my doorstep today)

Well.. despite the dominance of blue banners and dacing flags in Subang Jaya, I was happy to know that DAP’s Hannah Yeoh.. a former head prefect in my secondary school, also a SAM student @ Taylor’s.. has won the Subang Jaya state seat..

All in all.. the rakyats have voiced out and made their presence felt, wise choice indeed.. justice paid off finally??

post-exam days

2008-03-07T14:04:00.004+08:00

Yet another SERIOUS post again..

Lol.. the good news is.. I’m FREE for.. sadly, only 3 days, after the super tough ICA [in course assessment a.k.a. secondary killer exam in IMU(konon-nya, IMU makes it sounds harmless, less scary and more professional.. in some ways!!)].. bad news is I’m so dead after the feedback session!! Despite burning the midnight oil over the past few days, the end result didn’t turn out well as I was expected.. woot~ the 临时抱佛脚 attitude remained unchanged.

Finally.. I feel no guilty sitting in front of the computer.. =]

After 3 days.. I’ll be back to my usual self.. once again, having my ass glued onto my study chair, sitting under my study lamp, feverishly flicking through pages of lecture notes, getting ready for haemato and the hell GI system and eventually, EOS exam. Damn.. white hair will conquer whole part of my head even before I graduate from med school..

AND

More good news..

My PBL group members will know they had enough of nodding their heads.. huh?? NODDING THEIR HEADS??!! Yea.. because the bald guy’s no longer our facilitator!! *evil-grin*

For example.. the story of peripheral cyanosis..

*explains in the white board while constantly turning back checking on us*

“Peripheral cyanosis is due to……… increased utilization because there’s increased contact time of the tissues”

Everyone: *nods*

“When there’s vasoconstriction..”

*nods*

“.. blood flow is reduced..”

*nods*

“.. circulation is reduced..”

*nods*

“.. therefore, perfusion of oxygen to the tissue here is increased..”

*nods*

“.. tissues located in the distal part of the vessel therefore couldn’t get as much oxygen..”

*nods*

“.. as there’s high perfusion of oxygen in the tissue here..”

*nods*

“.. this will lead to peripheral cyanosis!!”

*nods + some signs of great understanding*

"good!!"

Got the idea?? LOL.. hopefully my new faci’s not as scary as him.. although I’ll agree that she isn’t as experienced as him in medicine..

I wish..

2008-03-04T23:29:00.002+08:00

..time flies faster.. no, slower.. err, nope, faster.. aiks, slower.. aahhhhhh..

*sigh*

scroll down..

...

...

...

...

...

...

ICA - 1 day left..

so.. which is wise???

faster, so exam ends sooner??

OR

slower, so i've more time to.. yea.. study??

aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

I need a power boost!!

2008-02-29T23:47:00.004+08:00

Still.. many unfinished business had yet to be completed.. myocardial infarction notes, cardiac failure notes.. ahh.. and my exam is looming near, next Thursday, to be exact.

I know I’ll not be fully prepared for the exam based on the snail pace I’m going through now. But somehow.. yea.. I know I’ve not been cruel to my overloaded brain, in fact, I’ve been too kind. For that reason, with only 3 hours of studying.. I’ve rewarded myself a few rounds of FIFA 08.

I felt guilty consequently..

Somehow.. I watched my controllable-self being overpowered by my evil-devil self-conscious.. once again..

Aiming to graduate from med school??

Apparently, my answer is.. YES, and it’ll always be..

Therefore, I’d better start burning the midnight oil now.. *sigh*

no..

2008-02-24T20:10:00.002+08:00

.. i shouldnt start now.. otherwise, it'll never end..

P/S: jun sheng says that my blog's too SERIOUS, maybe I should post more NON-SERIOUS stuffs next time.. LOL

I survived...

2008-02-21T20:45:00.000+08:00

..PBL.. but as expected, with no time to lose, rushed straight to CSU.. (btw.. there is an hour gap between PBL and CSU)

Suddenly, the mentality of being frighten and feared of Htin Aung has been evaporated.. because.. he’s arguably the best facilitator although I’ve had only two sessions with him!! Really fruitful PBL!! However.. there’s a disadvantage.. PBLs were too lengthy..

Never got praised before by Htin Aung?? Lol.. I’ve experienced it today *happy* (mind you.. it wasn’t because of this that he was granted the best facilitator award by me!!)

Surprisingly, he picked me as the lucky one to start the PBL!! I was a lil shocked.. (but it was better to present first, rather than later, because the learning issues were tougher as we moved on)

So.. off I go to explain the development of the lungs~ thank god everyone understood!!

Aaahhhhhh.. sooooo relieved!!

So.. IMU-ians.. regret for not having him as your facilitator?? Certainly so… =] think bout it.. he isn’t that terrible as what you’ve thought.. he really really rocks weh!!

listen to the wise guy..

2008-02-18T20:02:00.009+08:00

*glancing through the time table downloaded from the internet.. scrolling down finding out who is the facilitator for group E under the PBL column *

“err.. group E…. hah!!” “PBL facilitator: HA”

I’ve a bad feeling since then.. oh no.. it’s him?? No no shouldn’t be him gua.. *still in doubt*

Further confirmation with my friend.. gosh.. it was him!!

Widely known as an extremely strict lecturer among the students, I initially felt that I’m so so unfortunate to have him as my PBL facilitator..

Well.. just had a session with him just now… and really I was.. no.. I should say.. we were totally in a dead crap!!

*knocks the door, marches in, holds a cup of coffee coolly in his hand (probably depends on the coffee to keep himself awake for the expected long session of PBL.. OR.. to show us how actually the swallowing mechanism works!!) and leans on a pretty uncomfortable plastic chair*

Note: we were in extreme silence in the whole process, while 10 pairs of eyes were glued at the figure in front of us, watching him comforts himself on the chair.

And.. PBL begins.. nope.. I should say.. lecture begins..

He had a sort of “ice-breaker” session with us… giving lectures and his past experience in the process of learning in medicine.. then.. after 30 min.. we officially started our PBL..

*reads the PBL trigger*

HA: ah.. so what are we dealing with??

Most of us, including me: Tonsillitis!! *with great sense of confidence after knowing we have passed the first barrier!!*

*points to one of my group members*

HA: explain the tonsils in our nasal cavity

*gives the marker pen to her*

Me: die.. he is pin-pointing us to present what we have learnt on the whiteboard *what if I haven’t prepared anything on this topic?? Err.. I guessed you’ll know the consequence lar!!

And this went on for at least one-and-a-half hour… took a five minutes break.. continued PBL 2..

I’m grasping for air in PBL 1.. walked out of the room gradually, only to notice my friends have finished both of their PBLs, walking happily back, as if one huge task has been completed.. aahhhhhhhhhh

PBL 2..

Instead of following the guide given to every lecturer before hand, our learning issues were from.. Kumar and Clark!!

*flicks page by page*

“ahh.. the airways of the lungs.. ahh.. flow-volume loops..eh.. ventilation and perfusion relationships.. hmmm.. this is a good book you know.. it has nice pictures.. and you’ve to know all this..”

*continues flicking*

“err.. alveolar stability, ahhh… yea.. asthma.. types, classifications, complications..”

And.. unfortunately, we have to know every nooks and crannies, preferably… all in Kumar and Clark.. memorizing it.. and presenting it in the next PBL without even looking at our notes.. ba..si..ca..lly (oh, wait.. we cant use this word during his PBL as one of my group members was screwed using this word.. “using the word BASICALLY means that you’ve no respect to the person, you’re treating him as an IDIOT, who doesn’t know anything!!”), we have to work our socks off now in PBL!!

And.. yea.. you don’t know which learning issues you’re going to present..

“nope.. you cant divide these learning issues, I’m the master of this game”.. indicating that our facilitator will point to one of us and he/she has to crap out what he/she has studied in front!!

Bla~ our second PBL lasted as long as the first one… tiring weh!!

Finally it ended at about 5.. oh.. btw.. we started at 2!! 3hrs of PBL?? Whoa~ first experience weh!!

Anyways, HA, Htin Aung is indeed an exceptionally perfect PBL facilitator and lecturer.. after this lengthy session with him.. he wasn’t that strict after all… laughter, hilarity packed in our room.. with him demonstrating some basic physical examinations learnt during CSU on one of my group members. In fact, I’ve became a more knowledgeable medical student as compared to my previous experience with different PBL facilitators. Perhaps, at the end of the day, I’ll appreciate his guidance and supervision in helping me to score in a medical school.

Nonetheless, I’ve to start digesting facts from his prescribed text book and start vomiting all out this Thursday. Wish me luck!!

P/S: An apology to Htin Aung if you somehow happen to read this comment-ful post.. however, you’ve certainly instilled loads of medic facts into my fully-occupied brain.. and most importantly, changed the style of my research in PBL!!

hibernating period over!!

2008-02-11T23:51:00.000+08:00

Whoohoo~ tough week ahead.. as my long holiday eventually came to an end.. finally?? Not really..

Looking back to my holidays.. I thought I’ve spent WISELY as I kept myself occupied with loads of… games, TV shows, entertainments.. you name it…

Academic wise.. err.. the sentence above says it all.. so then, is it wise enough to use the word WISELY??

Just started lecture today.. it was on embryology… development of the face, mouth, nose and stuff like that.. HOLY SHIT!! Of all the areas going to be covered, embryology is chosen as our first lecture.. why not ANATOMY?? PHYSIOLOGY?? Something that I’ve learned before?? Something simpler since my holiday mood isn’t completely digested?? *sigh*.. haven’t switched back to STUDY mode just yet.. lalalalalaaaa…

Indeed, embryology is a miracle to soon-to-be-parents, but a hell subject to medical students.. agree?? Nevertheless, it puzzles me when I have a deep thought on the etiological process of embryology (is there any other manner to describe it?).. oh myyyy… a pretty wonderful phenomenon in which only god knows every details of it.. appreciate the beauty!!

Oh well.. grabbed the concept behind it for today’s lecture.. but still.. aaahhhhhhhhhhhh.. the scar suffered during semester 1&2 hasn’t really healed completely.. and now I’m bombarded with more medic dilemma… *sigh*

Uni REOPENS!!! And soon you’ll see a nerdy guy wearing an increased-power spectacles visiting the library frequently..

Till then =]

just an ordinary CNY post

2008-02-06T22:57:00.000+08:00

whoa.. damned boring here.. back in my hometown

i dont know why.. the clock is ticking much slower than usual here..

yea.. teluk intan, some unknown town in perak.. best known as the leaning clock tower TOWN in m'sia.. a carbon copy of the leaning tower of pisa..

well.. just had 'tuan yuan fan' with my family..

and fortunately... i was saved by the much needed streamyx connection =]

or not... i'll be bored to death for.. days!!

anyways... happy CNY to all readers and it'll be pleasant if you can share some of your CNY income with me =] dudes, SHARING IS CARING!!

well.. have a wonderful year ahead with dreams and hopes fulfilled.. GONG XI FA CAI

will be bolgging again soon... or.. erm.. maybe not, as uni reopens right after CNY.. *sigh*

till then

munch munch munch.. yet again..

2008-02-01T20:49:00.000+08:00

..with my friends this time... @ yuen's

yet another eat-till-you-drop/burst/packed/whatever you wanna decribe it..

the machos: jerming, adam, george, chunyen, david, mua, chris... the gossipers: christine, eeliane, mezhen

ps: finally, a pic taken with someone as tall as mua!!

food heaven

2008-01-29T13:52:00.000+08:00

Couldn’t help much these few days as I spent most of the time eating than studying.. serious.. no joke!!

Food is definitely one of the issues feared most for girls, but surprisingly not for me!! No doubt that my cousin wants to sort of ‘exchange’ with my body (hehe.. too good to be true..)

Well.. my food marathon started as soon as my aunt touched down in KLIA.

Went straight for dinner that night at a restaurant with my relatives.. that’s what we usually do (perhaps.. not usually.. beyond doubt.. always!!) whenever my aunt comes back from Ireland (btw, she is a PR there and comes back once a while). . and this was just the beginning.. more to come!!

Went genting the next day.. also with my relatives and most importantly.. my aunt (why? You’ll find out as you read on). Reached there at night.. and immediately, had supper with my aunt.. well I had roti canai and a cup of orange juice ( I don know how much was it.. but I’m sure the roti canai itself was quite pricey.. still, I prefer RM0.80 mamak one!)

The next day @ genting..

Missed the chance to eat dim sum as I woke up damned late.. however, my parents made it though.. but I’m not going to miss my lunch.. lolx.. had buffet with my relatives (there are 30 of us, if I’m not mistaken), RM50/person!! Anyways.. foods were appetizing and they even serve local, Chinese, Japanese, Indian delicacies.

we occupied 5 tables.. just imagine

Went to dine at a restaurant that night.. don know what’s the name (who cares.. food comes first!), anyway.. thumbs up for the excellent service and yea.. the chefs also.. but not.. the bill – RM800!! Holy shit!!

>

pretty expensive huh?

Stomach was fully occupied.. the intestine too, I think.. grumbling can be heard in my entire GI tract.. as though pointing out that my GI organs were experiencing maximum expansion and have been working harder than before.. so didn’t go for supper.. (aunt actually invited me to have a drink with her)

Checked out in the next morning and headed to KL, somewhere near Imbi road to have dim sum again with my aunt.. as expected.. we ate an astonishing RM 1053.98 worth of dim sum.. *speechless*

Haha.. endless food marathon ??!!

Ate bak kut teh at klang yesterday night with my aunt again.. oh gosh… the most unhealthy meal I guessed.. suddenly, cholesterol, LDL and all stuffs from jothy’s lecture notes came across my mind.. ahh.. DIE!! LDL receptors… gosh.. I need all of you!! Anyways.. *sigh* make sure Achike’s notes are at your reach.. ALWAYS!!

Well.. there will be more still to come during CNY..

Oh yea.. in between all major meals, I had chocolate, Buskin Robbins ice cream, JC donuts…

Extra mass added since??

.. sadly.. nope.. just weighed.. the weighing scale still points the usual 52 kg mark..

.. and why’s my aunt so important?? Well.. basically, she’s opens a money printing shop.. she foots the bills for every meal!!

Thanks so much aunt!! =]

Random pics

>

ahh.. memories..

one big family.. but eh.. not everone is in this photo..

oh well.. just got irritated..

2008-01-25T14:52:00.000+08:00

I came across this comment written by “worried parents” while I was reading the newspaper (thestar) this morning.. and I was pretty annoyed by the way the writer comment on allowance cut for JPA students!! Click here to read this comment.

Dahlah using taxpayer’s money for his/her daughter’s education, still wanna complain allowance tak cukup pulak!! Astonishing!!

Hey there.. please think of others who actually deserved to but couldn’t even get a glimpse of that scholarship.

Thinking of writing a letter to ‘zha’ back..

Oh well.. unpleasant stuff apart.. I’m going to genting this weekend!! yay~ (yeah.. few years have passed since I last visited uncle Lim’s highland, but.. isn’t there any better place to spend my holiday?? *sigh* Seems that genting is the only destination that pops up in every Malaysian’s mind when it comes to.. err.. “cheap” holiday)

Will blog again soon.. I guessed.. till then

money-minded

2008-01-23T14:19:00.000+08:00

OMG.. IMU’s gettin richer and richer!!

How?

Here’s the list:

1. there’s a definite increase in terms of fees paid per semester for every new batch
2. escalators are moving only when VIPs are paying a visit to the uni (to save electricity, duh!!)
3. no lecture notes starting from our batch.. if you want, you can get it printed at the e-lab… but… PAPERS ARENT PROVIDED!!!
4. parking: RM 3.50 per entry! (equivalent to what you’ve to pay shopping in KL)
5. resit of the End Of Semester exam fee: RM 1000 (there’s no such implementation previously)
6. and the list goes on..

and I’ve just found out that..

IMU offers DENTISTRY.. intake starting this year!!

What astonished me was that dentistry’s more expensive than medicine!!

Holy shit!!

Half-a-million for the whole course.. locally!!

Twinning program?? Up to 1 million duh!! (including living cost!)

Whoa.. basically.. dentists’ main focus is on teeth only ma.. they dont study as detailed as medical students. But 40k per semester?? Unbelievable!! No doubt that IMU is getting richer..

I’m not promoting IMU dentistry course.. click here fees for more information.

Anyways.. aunt’s coming back!!… hopefully you can see a new fatter me soon =]

light...

2008-01-20T23:22:00.000+08:00

I feel this doom looming over me, as my holidays are drawing near to an end… but somehow, I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel..

decisions

2008-01-16T11:23:00.000+08:00

This problem has shadowed me since the beginning of last year.. few weeks before I was about to start my rough-ridding days in IMU.. and I thought it was solved.. ironically, it wasn’t.. as I’m gonna face it soon, or rather, NOW!!

There are more challenging and tough decisions to make in life.. I guessed.. nevertheless, why am I so scrupulous in this matter?? Come on man.. lip siang, u aren’t a sissy girl… depressed when harsh decisions are made!!

Oh well… this is perhaps the simplest decision in life.. it’s being classified under the yes-or-no-harmless category, not the you’ve-got-to-get-it-right-or-not-you’ll-die kind.. *sigh*

Curious huh?? (don’t give me that look, ppl)

Now, the main question is.. taadaa.. Wise for me to remain stayed in my hostel (err.. not really a hostel, but just a rented room nearby my uni.. anyway, let me use the word hostel to make it somewhat understandable) or back to my home-sweet-home this coming semester?

Yea right.. lipsiang’s such a sissy girl huh, macam ni simple sangat punya decision pun tak tau buat, apa macam nanti jadi doctor? Nak operate patient ke, tak nak operate ke pun tak tau.. biar mati saja lah!!

There are many pros and cons though:

Hostel:

1. Great place to be, maybe!!
2. Nearby university.. can sleep till you drop (wake up at 7.55am to attend lectures at 8). And in the case of: “Shit.. forgot to bring my lapcoat!!”, just a few minutes’ walk back to your room will prevent you from being screwed by the CSU lecturers.
3. Many brainy students stay there too.. can seek for help immediately whenever you’re jammed in the middle of your revision.
4. Be independent?? That was what my mother used to say.. but so far, no improvement though!
5. No astro.. yea.. so what to do during free time? STUDY!
6. No brother distraction factor (only my brother understands)
7. More time studying.. ermm.. I agree
8. No comp games (pre-exam), unlike at home.. but the fun part: post-exam celebration - gather all laptops to a friend’s apartment.. PLAY like no tomorrow!!
9. Hard to survive.. IMU is located in some jungle-like place.. hardly find any restaurants, just only a few mamak stalls selling nasi lemak and stuffs. Nearest restaurant.. 20-30 minutes’ walk from here.. taxi?? Cant affort for the whole week!!
10. Mother: you’ll suffer from cancer, infertility, some kind of bla disease, XX syndrome…… even before graduating from med school, if you continue to stay 3 floors above the power station!!

Home:

1. Greater place to be, undoubtedly!!
2. Travel like mad everyday, takes 25 minutes+ for one trip, if you’re willing to pay RM6.60 (to and fro) to Samy Vellu. Btw, RM4.40 (to and fro) for a 40 minutes trip.
3. The astro factor!! Means..
4. Comp games?? Provided that my mother doesn’t lock the door
5. Lesser time to study, obviously!!
6. Tiring, time-wasting
7. Air pollution.. due to the usage of petrol.. *crap*!!
8. No worries of undernourishment.. home-cooked food is available at any time
9. Possibly last-minute-rush to uni everyday
10. Basically, there are tons of distractions

And, I’ve just found out that staying at home is much cheaper despite the cost of petrol and blindly giving presents to Samy. However, staying at home means I’ve lesser time to study and possibly forking out extra RM1000 for the resit of my EOS exam (IMU damn crap).

So, people.. HOW?

I’ll be looking out for a room this week anyway and will definitely make my decisions before? after? 3rd semester commences. I deeply appreciate if you guys will leave a comment here as I’m experiencing an incurable headache. *sigh again*

Oh.. for your information, I’ve chosen: hostel, for my first 2 semesters.

Again, your words of wisdom are welcomed. Guidance needed desperately, I’m seriously.. lost!! =]

so long.. friend

2008-01-13T21:16:00.000+08:00

I don’t know why..

.. a very tall figure of him will always flash past my mind whenever I play the song “tears in heaven” by Eric Clapton on my guitar.

Not really a close friend, but he was my ex-classmate and schoolmate.

Somewhere in the middle of the month of May.. it was eleven-fifty something then, almost approaching midnight, my phone rang when I was getting ready for bed in my hostel. I received a call from my old buddy, delivering this heart-breaking news.. he has just departed to a probably.. different world.

I was flabbergasted.. speechless.. he enjoyed just merely 18 years of his life.

Cant really sleep that night.. I was reflecting the moments we experienced together during schooling days.. though nothing significant occurred between us.. It was just past memories, memories and memories..

I smiled whenever I walk pass him, and usually he’ll grin in reply.

I waved when he was standing in a distance away.. but.. the funny thing was that we seldom talk to each other.

Obviously, his family was distressed.. the lost of their eldest son was just unbearable. To make matters worse, my mother and his mother were close friends.. so the horrible feeling was just awful, and unacceptable, in my point of view.

Anyways, cause of death: Pneumonia.. I supposed.. otherwise, pls correct me. Couldn’t attend his funeral, as I was getting ready with my interview stuffs in my hostel.

Well.. life’s just as fragile.. not knowing what will happen tomorrow and now I’ve just lost one friend of mine in my friends list..

Tears in heaven.. yea.. pretty sad song sung by Eric Clapton, in response to the death of his son, and the tall, huge figure of him will always be remembered, whenever this lovely song is played.

*this post is dedicated to a friend of mine.. youjing.. rest in peace.. my beloved friend..

still.... roomless..

2008-01-09T13:42:00.000+08:00

Having a few sleepless nights.. after knowing the fact that my previous room in vista had found a new owner recently..

I’ve just surrendered my room.. when I’ve decided to remain stayed there throughout my years in IMU.

SO..

*sigh*

I need a new room desperately.. or not I’ll face the prospect of travelling madly everyday to uni.. which is extremely tiring and time-wasting.

Anyways..

Suggestions anyone??

Anyone out there knows of anyone with a room to rent in Vista?? (pls leave a msg, thx!!)

memories... my previous room.. which has gone through uncountable cheerful and gloomy moments with me

COP

2008-01-05T19:27:00.001+08:00

COP~

Nope… not having any trouble with the police..

..but with some time-wasting (but it was fun though) IMU project.. =]

Community Orientated Project~

Planned to visit st jerome home somewhere in PJ this Saturday with a group of friends (Kay teck (joker lar you!), jenn wei, jenan, michelle, Joanna and mua)

This was what happened the day before our visit…

Kay teck called us up to discuss our cop in vista.. and then.. since no one knows the way to st Jerome home.. he planned to drive there once (so that we wont get lost in the next day), and mua.. being the driver.. TT

Ok..

I didn’t wanna drive there actually as evening was approaching… and you know lar, KL + peak hour + rain = JAM!!!

Anyways.. since we didn’t know where’s st Jerome.. we decided to have a.. err.. try! And also tumpang joanna back home..

Don’t wanna go into the traffic details in PJ.. all in all, it was jammed all the way down and then.. as predicted.. we were really lost in the middle of PJ. kay teck then went to his PJ church to request for assistance and the uncle was quite helpful to show us the direction to the home.. poor kay teck and jenn wei had to memorize every single word said by the uncle.. to make sure we wont get lost for the second time. (I was just standing aside nodding my head.. until.. uncle: “ who’s the driver?”.. I raised my hand.. uncle: “can you repeat what I’ve just said?”.. me:" die!! Kay teck..err.. you know right?? lol”)

With high confidence, we proceeded to the direction given by the uncle, right turn into a junction.. and subsequently caught in a massive, typical KL jam.. again.. then out of nowhere…

Joanna, who was reading her story book along the journey: Eh, why not you guys send me home first and we meet up tomorrow at my house (follow her mother’s car, since her mother knows the way)??

Everyone: yah hor.. never thought of it.. wa liao… say earlier lar, before turning into the junction!!

So.. we waited stupidly in the jam for like 30 minutes.. *sigh*

Finally, sent Joanna back home.. and continue our journey back to IMU.. took the wrong turning, and ended up in.. some highway that leads to KL!!! *sigh again* We came across a Y junction, that leads to two different roads.. left to KL, Cheras, Seremban; right to Klang, Shah Alam, PJ..

Jenn wei and kay teck: left lar.. bukit jalil is nearer to cheras what!!

Me: unconvinced.. well.. follow-nya lo.. but somehow I took the right junction..

Jenn wei: never mind lar.. you’re the driver mah!! As long as you send us back home!!

Haha.. a wise move though… we ended up in.. the federal highway (a familiar road weh!! We’re not lost!!)

Back home quite late that day…. 3hrs of driving… and suffered from a left femoris muscle hypertrophy (due to constant engagement of the clutch!!)

The next day.. COP day~..

Not me driving… jenan’s turn now…

Reached safely.. without hustle.. with the help of joanna’s parent..

The kids were lovely… we were told that there are 70 kids there… so we prepared stuffs for 70 of them… surprisingly, there were only 5, when we reached.. yea.. FIVE of them-nya, plus two older ones lar.. to make it 7.. ><"

Apparently, most of the kids were sent to the bigger version of st Jerome home.. as a result of numerous complaints from the neighbours. Oh.. well.. since we were here.. we decided to finish our project with only 7 of them!!! (Sad.. don’t know what to write for my report..)

Lazy to blog all out though.. Here are the few pictures taken... indeed, picture paints a thousand words!!

st jerome home~ i was expecting something bigger than this! =]

ice-breaking with them

You put your left hand in, your left hand out and you shake it all about, You do the Hokey Cokey and you turn yourself around, that's what it's all about !! kids had fun though.. but for us...... *speechless*

kay teck.. mr shok sendiri

Joseph with his colouring

Jenan: this is how you brush your teeth. (before that.. jenan: eh.. how to brush ah?? like that, like that then?.. kay teck: you dont know meh? dentist's son weh!!!)

looook at the pro

kay teck, joseph, jessinta, jack (surprizingly.. all starts with J), jenan, michelle, joanna, jenn wei

bangun pagi.. gosok gigi (the action of this pic).. cuci muka.. pakai baju...

sooo eager to see jenan in action..

jessinta's

michelle's.. yea.. we took part also ><"

jenn wei's.. lolx

..and finally.. mua's.. it has been a long time since i last touched colour pencils =]

We.. err.. only spent half a day there.. but it was fun playing with them. kay teck.. i bet you've had tonnes of fun with them huh?!

till then..

2008~

2008-01-02T16:08:00.000+08:00

Yay~

Here comes 2008, a new year.. a new start. YoohoooOO~

As usual, we have countdowns, parties till early in the morning, fireworks and more fireworks…

Well.. today is the final day of 2007 (ya.. TODAY.. I’m typing this post 3 hours before the first day of 2008).. and I’m glad that I’m able to savor the last few hours of 2007.

“err.. hey.. why are you typing this post in this time instead of.. countdown-ing eh ???”

Oh yeah.. quiwan has just called me few hours ago.. saying that my fellow football kaki-s are going for a countdown in midvalley… while my family is going to sunway pyramid.. ><''

Err.. then where to go eh??

Anyways.. I’ve chosen to follow my family.. (sorry har.. quiwan.. midvalley’s err.. quite far and not to mention the hustle of being stuck in the traffic after the fireworks, it will take me hours before I finally have a good night's sleep) and off I go to… PYRAMID!!.. until..

… my mother experienced numerous ah-choos and coughs, in addition, she felt cold and was sweating (yea.. indication of fever.. resetting of hypothalamus thermostat, taught by Dr. HS Nagarajah who keeps emphasizing during PBLs.. apparently, he’s an expert in that subject!! =)). Oh well.. she wasn’t feeling well anyway.. hence.. father cancelled the trip… oooOO.. sad-nya!!

Guessed I’ve to catch it on TV =[

So.. no fireworks to celebrate the arrival of 2008… what to do few hours before new year huh??

BLOGGING… my last post in 2007!! Study?? Nah… no mood though..

Exactly 2 hours later, fireworks will light up the dark starry sky.

Anyhow.. I’ve to stay glued in front of my TV for countdown.. and hope to catch some fireworks in my neighbourhood.

The new year approaches and as usual there are great hopes, dreams and resolution to make.. gonna list out my resolutions soon..

Guys out there.. HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY much-anticipated 2008. May this new year brings you tones of love, joy, hope and happiness… =]

Till then..

Images seen in TV.. advantage: able to see live celebration from various places!! =]

@Dataran Merdeka.. with the song "keranamu m'sia" in the background.. lolx

@sungai wang.. biasa saja!!

@taiwan.. taipei 101 tower.. perhaps nicer and more interesting than m'sia..

taipei 101..

Dreams...

2007-12-29T19:35:00.000+08:00

I stand alone in the light of a magical wood
Hundreds of thousands miles away from the real world
Tracing pathways that I’ve travelled before
I reflect the bitter-sweet memories in my good old days
It’s like a time machine
It recollects the moments that I’ve experienced
And sometimes
It even combines every minute, every second of my life
To create a fairy-tale-like episode
In which I’ll hardly ever believe
Even after I’m back to where I’m supposed to be
I wish that
I’ll be able to continue with this faithful journey of mine
The endless journey that leads to where I’ve first started
However
It will not happen
I’ve to come back to my place of origin
Eventually
After spending hours exploring the pathway
Recapturing blissful and gloomy moments
It’s rather similar to what poor Cinderella has encountered
When the clock struck 12
I must somehow
Force my soul to stroll back to the right end of the world
Unwillingly
Otherwise
I’ll risk my 'real'-self remain lying on the bed forever
Dreams
You can be pleasant
But at times
You can indeed be extremely cruel

梦。。的确是很伟大
我们的小手掌始终都控制不到它

-lipsiang-

ECG...

2007-12-27T21:53:00.000+08:00

Staring at Dr. Nyut Wai’s lecture notes a few days ago, I knew that I’ll understand 0% of his notes. ECG (Electrocardiogram).. reads the title. I recalled that during his lecture, I didn’t understand a thing and I was just.. BLUR!!

Oh well… started mugging few days ago and ECG was one of the first few lecture notes in my file.

So, haih.. forced to read his notes..

The end result: took 2 days to understand the contents of ECG. (not completely, that was like 70% of it only T_T)

The basics were well-understood, however, interpreting the rising and falling black lines in a graph-like paper was just simply confusing.. Shall grab A students for a clearer explanation..

ECG.. you've ruined 2 days of mua holidays

ECG aside…..

Yesterday’s EPL was damned thrilling.. sadly, Chelsea was held 4-4 at home to Villa in a wild game. It was probably the most breath-taking match ever since I last seen Chelsea came from behind to win Blackburn seasons ago. Man U fans.. happy happy lar!!

Till then..

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T14:15:00.001+08:00

nice song.. =]

Merry Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T13:01:00.000+08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone..

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace; The Gladness of Christmas bring you hope; The warmth of Christmas bring you love ~ anonymous.

Merry Christmas AND Happy New Year once again..

Best wishes from lipsiang

Curse MPSA!!

2007-12-24T15:28:00.000+08:00

Cant think of anything to post today… so, just let me share my on-road experience days ago.

It was late at night and I was driving back home after an audition in IMU.

Driving back home was a breeze after a.. quite successful audition and I was cruising down the highway with only my favourite radio station accompanying me. As usual, I turned in to the Kota Kemuning intersection, and I noticed it was quite dark as there were only few streetlights… (quite common for residents here.. many thanks to MPSA who thinks the cost of lighting a blub is better spent elsewhere)

FINE..

Travelling down the two-way road, I was pretty cautious as there were pot-holes on the left side of the road hundred meter away.. and I’ve experienced a couple of near misses before. Ok..that was weeks ago, and I wont be so stupid to hit a pothole right?!!

OK..

Just meters away from these deadly holes, I saw a “freshly-laid” black tar patch. Oh gosh, it was already months and finally, finally, finally, they got this damned thing repaired!!! Suddenly, the eagerness was there in my heart to actually try to have a ride on the newly-laid tar… and it turned out to be the most foolish thing to do as the “freshly-laid” tar was just merely a dark shadow.

The next thing I knew was thung thung…

Holy S**T!!! WT#%@!&%€$%!!

Yeah.. I’ve just hit the damn pot-hole, and it was quite big though.

Took a glance at the speedometer: 50km/hr..

Me: oops.. that was bad, indeed!!

Still unknown to me how severe was the damage.. I drove slowly back to my house, with my heart being stimulated by sympathetic nerves, beating fast!! I knew there will be damage to my car instantly.. and I knew my mother is gonna screw me if my car needs a repair!

I parked my car in the porch. With a regretful feeling, I came down and inspect the front left tyre of my car. The end result:

bulged up part of my front tyre.. oouch..

As predicted, got screwed by my mother.. and certainly a costly visit to a mechanic in the next day..

New front tyre + Alignment + Balancing + etc = RM255

Since then, I haven’t got it done yet as my mother’s gonna find a much cheaper deal elsewhere.. And still.. I put the blame on MPSA.. instead of myself!! Eventually, they have got it repaired a few days ago!! WTH!! Haih…

汤圆节快乐.. *bananas.. sorry.. don know how to translate =(

2007-12-22T18:59:00.000+08:00

HAPPY 元宵节, better known to me as "汤圆节", aka Winter Solstice Festival (did i get i right??)

home-made traditional treat - glutinous rice balls (the big ones are stuffed with black sesame seed).. mmMMM..

Holiday 'Blues'

2007-12-21T20:46:00.000+08:00

Moments after I was awaken in the morning, I found myself lying on my bed staring cluelessly at the ceiling of my room. Date: 21 Dec 2007.. exactly 1 month after my EOS exam.

Post-exam celebration and the release of EOS result are still fresh in my mind. Whoa.. time really files and I have done nothing useful during the holidays. DIE!!

Holidays…. Haih..

Oh.. well, I’d better start studying CVS soon, or not I’ll be left behind in the next semester, and, yeah, also to avoid my mother from nagging again.

Till then.. 加油!!

Oh yea, dearest SANTA: I desperately wannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnt a TIME MACHINE!!!!!!!! PLEASE....

As the faithful journey begins...

2007-12-20T16:06:00.000+08:00

Wheeeeeeeeee~

Cant believe that I have started blogging.. how did it start actually??

Well.. it isn’t so complicated as you might have thought.. one word sums it all.. “BOREDOM”

Firstly, I am kinda BORED after EOS II (end of semester exam), yeah, watching the same old episodes of movies and EPL replays over and over again during the holidays =( .. just imagine.. huh?? Study CVS? Too early la.. after my movie marathon, the next possible step to eat up my time is.. you guessed it.. spending time with my dearest gf—my laptop = online. Explored every sites that came thru my mind, googled and wikipedia-ed unexplained past lectures to gain some mysterious info that might have been useful for the next semester, constant clicking onto the refresh button in soccernet.com to read the latest football news, reading my friends’ blogs (being inspired by them.. really)… The list goes on and on and on..

Well.. a well-deserved holiday though after months of tough time memorizing medical terms... only god knows.. being a medical student is ever busy and stressful and at times, pretty fun, as you'll have the license to KILL!! *therefore, don’t expect me to update my blog frequently*

Oh, well.. just only a beginner in blogging, feel free to leave any comments while reading my blog… and.. yeah.. just ignore any typing error cos my fingers aren’t as agile as a typist.

Anyways, support my blog ya!! =]

As for now, lets get things rollin… as the story of my faithful journey of life begins…

my soul, my spirit, my strength

transitional period..

of updates and serembans..

half-bakers..

untitled

holidays so far..

18 SX....

lalalaaa~~

moments..

first of may..

random-ness

karma

fridays..

sick of being sick

snooze..

From today onwards...

Auld Lang Syne..

untitled

yeah.. my fault.. here.. updates!

well..

updates

idle..

and I thought I've won the battle..

being hospitalized..

small thoughts..

life with my friend..

the truth..

updates

new chapter begins

an accomplishment

of elective and holiday

chelsea fc in town

GPs vs sinsehs

ouch.. that hurts!

Pachelbel's Canon

D-day

an overdue post

destress??

agony

one month, four systems

one down, one more to go

thanks guys!!!

first of may

survival skills tested

writer's update!!

really really screwed!!!

of OSCEs and SPs

the patience game

the road not taken

cool~

untitled

listen to the rakyats..

post-exam days

I wish..

I need a power boost!!

no..

I survived...

listen to the wise guy..

hibernating period over!!

just an ordinary CNY post

*munch* *munch* *munch*.. yet again..

food heaven

oh well.. just got irritated..

money-minded

light...

decisions

so long.. friend

still.... roomless..

COP

2008~

Dreams...

ECG...

Merry Christmas

Merry Merry Christmas

Curse MPSA!!

汤圆节快乐.. *bananas.. sorry.. don know how to translate =(

Holiday 'Blues'

As the faithful journey begins...

munch munch munch.. yet again..