Parties parties.

Having no pictures of the parties Ive been to makes me put blogging about them off. Unlike zj, I don't really like koping photos off people's blogs. Nothing wrong with it...Just that I dont like getting low-res/small photos since you cant always get the originals from blogs. Sorry, random point of information, explaining the lack of photos here I suppose.

Anyway, Christmas has come and gone! I know its supposed to last 12 days...but theres no way I'll survive telling myself that kinda thing especially since its really time to get down to business. Gotta get the drive and motivation to mug up and running. Not much time left. And again, I hardly think Ill manage to finish what I want to do. But heck, shall rely on His strength, not mine.

And everyone who asks how Christmas has been...I'm not sure how to answer. I've been giving this really bored,non-chalant-sounding answer because Christmas this year..has really been, just like that. And WHY deans office wants to schedule micro-b on the first day of school, after the holidays, when we had exams just prior to the holidays, I do not know. And I doubt anyone else in m2 can fathom as well. Probably just a necessity of timing..due to the weight of the syllabus and stuff, thats my guess. Ok, I'm really crapping here.

Anyway, Mirri's and Jian Peng's houses are really REALLY nice. Its hard to say which is nicer. And I wont. I suppose its a completely different style, not that I'd be able to tell you what style exactly. But Jp's outdoor veranda/gazebo thing with gigantic koi in their koi pond plus swimming pool just gives his house this holiday resort feel to it. Like you've just been teleported to Bali, once you make it up his long long driveway and pass through his doors. Mirri's house..is..hm.ok,I have no words to describe it. Its insanely nice. So much wood and gold everywhere! I like wood in a home. Gives the place a nice feel. Wood and glass. Nice combination. Haha.

Oh, yeah, the parties. Almost forgot. The food was great! At both places and at Tian loon's too. Many wonderful deserts, zj's tiramisu, Huilin's chocolate cake, awfully chocolate cake, chocolate fondue, bread pudding at Jp's? And I cant be bothered to talk about all the other delicious-saliva-excretion-stimulating food (That sounded a little weird) there was because its making me hungry. Haha. Alright, I've lost the urge to say more.

Merry Christmas!

Ben and Natasha.

Farewell to Melanie, Ian and baby Ben, all of whom are in the sky right now, on their way over to Sydney. Should be landing pretty soon I think. It was great having everyone back at the same time. For a while. I'll miss having the extra noisiness around the house...and the more frequent visits from Jean, Kirk and Tasha- who can make many many animal noises at your request, in her own version of course. At least they're back for good, and so is Mom, so...less chores for all of us, and more nagging about the state of my room. Which might be a good thing.

The Ladies of the House.

And the men.

But her return home is welcome anyway, in spite of the nagging. Already the house is looking better than it has for the past 6 months. Haha. And we've got a new fridge, courtesy of Mel and Ian, on account of the previous one dying of old age, it just stopped being cold. We had no choice but to dispose of most of our refrigerators contents (hotdog condiments included) while we awaited the arrival of the new fridge. Pity. Need to get new ones now. My infatuation with hotdogs hasnt ended. Haha.

Day of Defeat.

Today seemed like a day where nothing got done properly. Apologies in advance, for all the griping I am about to do. Last night, I set my alarm for 9am...only to get up this morning..to turn it off (as usual) and get up at 11. Its been happening for the past few days..and actually its getting better, I seem to be getting up 15 minutes earlier everyday. But it's still time wasted away.

Washed up, breakfast,etc etc. And there I was, trying to read about clostridium, I began at 12, got interrupted by lunch at pg 2, lunch ended at 1. I started again, then napped for 45 mins. And I only finished..(which means I reached pg 5)...at 5. Ok, its beyond slow. Its so freaking slow...its...like..ah wth, its just damn slow.

Then I went to cut my hair. And I thought I was clear..but I wasn't. She took away my fringe, before my very eyes. I hoped that maybe it was still a little longer than it seemed in the mirror. And when she moved to trim it a little more, I stopped her. But then, I was too late. Crap. Im fringe-less. Argh.

I felt like..I couldnt do anything right today. I didnt mug properly. Didnt get my hair cut properly. Didnt slack properly (if this were possible) when I wanted to slack. Worried bout stuff I needed to buy all day, and conveniently forgot to buy them when I was out. Hell, today's just not my day.

An Attempt to be Cultured

Surprised myself today when I agreed to pay a visit to the newly re-opened National Museum with Huilin and Zj. Then again, I went on the condition that we have lunch and do something else after looking at the museum exhibits. And what else is there to do this Christmas season, but shop? Speaking of which, I've been a poor shopper this year. Hardly feels like Christmas too. What with...ok. Don't say it. There.

Well, we learned all about Maria Theresia. The one and only female Austrian Monarch, the only empress to reign in Austria's history. Her family (inclusive of one Marie Antionette, Queen of France during the French Revolution, who got beheaded with her husband, King Louis the XVI), her successes, reforms, etc etc. What was compelling about her was that she was never raised to ascend to the throne, since her father had always thought her future husband would rule, but still she had natural flair as a ruler, and even in the battlefield as a commander of her armed forces. And something about her being such a successful ruler without...compromising any of her feminine qualities. Ok, shan't go on.

After some time, I was silently hoping that the next turn around the next corridor would reveal the exit. It was getting quite tiring reading about the royal tea pot, royal crockery, royal japanese lacquered chest, coat of arms, scepter, crown, etc etc. But I did think the Robes of the Order of the Golden Fleece and the Order of St Stephan looked quite good. There were other interesting things...like a bust of some..er..priest i think, which had a glass container embedded in his chest, where his heart would be, containing a piece of his flesh. We didnt go to the other exhibits coz they were about Singapore. And well, they werent free either. It was my first time to the museum since...I dont remember. Probably when I was in primary school.

Back from KL.

It was an all-ord guy trip to KL from Thursday to Saturday last week..Yes, I procrastinate about blogging. But I've discovered, again, that I like very little about the place. The last time I went up there..was perhaps..11 years ago, I remember not liking it very much then either. I suppose none of my expectations were met... I'd hoped to do some Christmas shopping for my family..what with the supposed Nation-wide sale, which seemed to exclude KL..but the bigger determining factor for my shopping-less holiday experience was the fact that there was nothing that appealed to me, or to any of us, for that matter (Ok, except for the girls and Mango). The food...well, it was funny how we ended up eating at places we could find in Singapore half the time. It was definitely cheaper though. Oh, Secret Recipe cakes rock. At half price too. And then, there was the overall atmosphere...the service...the conditions...I dont know, doubt Id go back there for some time to come. Thank God for the company tho, they made up for it all.

The few interesting things that we saw/did...Berjaya Times Square with its 'mall-on-a-mall' layout, according to William, and the indoor theme park. Which we would have went for if we had more time, and hadn't had lunch just before then. The roller-coaster looked fun. We bowled. Twice. Broke my thumb nail, as usual. Happened to some of the others too. China town was pretty interesting, except for the lack of variety in the stalls...and the visible lines of glue keeping the shoes-on-sale there together. Made one of my few purchases there! An autobots shirt, haha, didnt' even get the colour I wanted. We went to KLCC and saw the Petronas Towers. Zj felt very fulfilled at this point. All I wanted to do at the time was raid Kinokuniya. The subway and monorail systems were SO crowded. Not much of an experience, I assure you. Cabbing's the way to go, if you can find cabbies who charge by meter, and if you don't mind putting up with those cabbies with an attitude, in order to find the nice/honest ones. And yes, who can forget playing Mahjong from 11 plus to 7. Alright, so I only played one round and watched/read my book the rest of the time. Mich/Jess, if you see this, send me photos! Thanks!

Spartans.

Oh man, I can't wait for this movie. 3 MORE MONTHS. My bro showed me the trailer the night before patho and pharmaco. Within 10 mins, I was in front of the computer, my notes set aside, both P's at the back of my mind (or further), watching the trailer again and again, and reading up about the history of the Battle of Thermopylae...on wikiepedia and other random sites. Its so cool, I bought the graphic novel the next day, after both papers ended. I'm such a sucker for these things.

Idealistic/Jaded.

What do you do : When you're a medical student (in 1st or 2nd year, so you don't know much bout the inner workings of a hospital, yet) , and you have people who are close to you, complaining about poor service in hospitals, lacking efficiency and just about poor health care in general?

Do you:
1) Agree, because hospitals ARE slow and the service IS poor. And health care sucks. But then, what would that make you? What do you hope to be in future? How do you want to change it? Are you deceiving yourself? Are you agreeing too easily? Are you being realistic? Have you lost that much faith in the things around you?

2)Disagree, even though you don't understand it all, yet, but because you have faith in the system that you're going to become a part of. Because you want to believe that its effective, that it saves lives, that it has a purpose, and that its at its best, though it can get better, and it will. Would you be too idealistic then? Are you denying what the system lacks? Should you be more concerned about the treatment/service being given?

3)Remain neutral, and let them complain all they want, either because you couldn't care less, or for fear of offending the people who are close to you. Again, what would that make you? How will you stand up to difficult patients and family members in future?

Just some food for thought. Since I experienced some of it today, and over the past few days. I wonder how it'll all turn out. I wonder how I'll deal with patients. And what they'll perceive me to be.

School's Out.

The Last Day of School. Called for a celebration. Botak Jones-ed as it rained, again. Went far far away to West Coast Recreation Centre (Alright, not THAT far, but far enough) to bowl, get high, laugh at each other,take kooky pictures(which I don't have yet), have fun. Failed attempt at bowling without socks forced us to buy socks for a buck each, that reminds me, theyre still in my bag, shit. It was a good bowling day for the girls it seemed...especially for Jennifer, Susan, Bobilan and Eugenia. Amazing how brute strength works.

Some excitement ensued soon after, what with wandering parking coupons and handphones. Didn't have happy endings for both events, but at least it wasn't too costly. I have slightly more faith and trust in people now. Bus-ed down to cityhall, where everyone else went on to attend Mirri's recital. I bought dinner home for Mom and went to visit Dad in SGH. He just slept and slept...probably partly due to the diminishing effects of GA. We stood around, looking on at the meters and screens around him. Forgive me, I don't know what they're called.

Not unexpectedly, I had to answer Mom and John's questions...bout Sp02, Dad's pulse, BP, etc. I was more interested in his self-administered morphine PCA machine thing though, and the tub connected to his knee, which was probably just for blood to drain into.

Hm..no idea why I feel lazy to string all my sentences properly today. It was a good day tho. Hello Holidays.

A Return To Order

Didnt imagine I'd spend today the way I did. It was incredibly slow, sleepy, lazy and just...well..boring. I was officially the family chauffer. Think I clocked more than 200km driving yesterday and today. Probably sat in the drivers seat for almost 4 hours today. Well...the good news...is that Mom's back from the states! And she didnt complain too much about the house either. Though I was the only one home, making me the only one available to receive the few gripes she had about the state of the house. Fortunately, she didnt go on for long.

An example of what she asked me," Who gave us mooncake from Ritz Carlton?!" (after poking me in the shoulder and waking me up) And my sleepy sheepish reply to that was, "I already threw away 2 boxes of mooncake." Which doesnt answer the question I know, it was just me trying to save my own hide, in a sense. So yes, the astute reader would note today's date...and wonder why we still have mooncake in the house. But then, there's really no need to wonder, since it was just 3 guys holding the fort for the last 6 months.

But then, most of you might already know, that my mom went to Cornell for half a year and blah blah blah. So yeah...I think my laundry days are over. Haha. No more hanging clothes to dry at 1-2 am in the wee hours of the morning. Then again, being nocturnal, doing things like that shouldnt pose a problem to me. Alright, Im kidding, Ill still help around the house. But I noticed, the first thing mom did when she got home, was to start doing housework. I guess its just the maternal instinct. And perhaps, the house really called out to her.

Ok I'd better not go on bout the things that've been going on in this house for the past 6 months, for fear of revealing just how barbaric we really can be. Anyway, I think I mentioned trying to make aglio olio for myself for dinner one fateful saturday night. The recipe called for onions, tomatoes,olive oil....etc etc. Well, I kinda forgot about the onions after my failed attempt. And I guess mom didnt notice them too (fortunately). Haha. But this is what onions look like when you leave them in the fridge for...er...2 months?

And thats pretty damn long isn't it?! Haha. From just one bulb! At least 20cm. The others didnt grow so long coz they couldnt break through the plastic. Amazing...phototropism in plants, especially when theres no light in the fridge at all. Well, we do keep the fridge door closed most of the time. I took a quick photo of mini-onion farm when mom was out and quickly disposed of it. Then again, I'm surprised she didnt see it since she was rearranging stuff in the fridge.

Alright, I'm talking nonsense, but this is me being glad that mom is home. After 6 months of....mom-less-ness. Yes, just hanging with my dad and bro. Which was trying at times. I shan't elaborate. It does help to have a woman in the house. Especially with respect to dad. Seems like we're a complete household again. Order's been restored. I hope things get better. Haven't had home-cooked food in ages...save for hotdogs and mac and cheese, which I suppose..don't really count.