Vietnam *poof*

I always get these bouts of inspiration to write whenever I'm not at the computer, and when I finally get here, they almost always dissipate, going to some nether region in my mind. Fleeting thoughts locking themselves in, only revealing themselves after I leave the computer. It's almost as if my frontal lobe is mocking me, daring me to attempt to write, and then withholding everything I wanted to put down. In case you havent realized, this is a long-winded excuse/explanation for why I'm not gonna say much about Vietnam.

It's good to be back home, even though 10 days in Vietnam wasn't too long, but it was...in it's own way, uncomfortable enough to make us miss Singapore. At least certain elements of it were. Take the weather for example, the weather SUCKED, everyone perspires the moment they leave their room, suffers that dirty-sticky feeling the whole day until we get back to the hostel, makes bathing truly glorious. Bad weather also contributed to increased irritability, at least for me la. So, yep, hope I didn't take it out on anyone else too much!

I was really starting to miss home towards the end of the trip, even though Saigon had its appeal and I enjoyed walking along its streets, exploring the city and taking in the sights and sounds. If I had to go back to Vietnam, I'd definitely revisit the place. But 'Home' just called out to me, tugged at my heart strings, and told me I needed to spend more time in my sanctuary, away from all the action, away from work, so i could let my guard down, and just be around the people and places I'm most comfortable with. Thats not to say that I wasnt with good company in Vietnam, because I can't think of a better group of meddies to go with!

Well, home just has its magic, doesnt it? But when I got home, that magic let me down. Everything I missed in Vietnam, was nowhere to be found when I set foot in my house, hm.. maybe not everything. I'm not even sure how to explain what I was expecting. A blend of emotions and comforts that ended up being revealed as the monotony and reality of my life.A deception of the heart and mind, engineered by myself. Makes you wonder how you can trust your own senses/feelings. Reminds me of a subnick of yours, Lois. Haha. Everyones trusting their hearts like their hearts don't lie.

My rooms still not completely packed, zips hair hasnt grown back fully, Mom's still working tirelessly at home and exhibits signs of...exhaustion and irritability, Dad's going for ANOTHER op, I wish there was another way, hmm.. And then there's school, which I think is the greatest underlying factor for all this melancholy-ness. Worry, worry, gotta stop worrying. Alright. I've rambled long enough. Wish the holidays didn't disappear like that. Gotta learn to appreciate things more.

Nostalgia Overload

Packing up all the nonsense in my room has taken me far too long. I really need to be heartless in order to be efficient. I always end up looking through every single item before deciding whether to put it in the "keep" pile, the "discard" pile or the..."i'll decide later" pile. Found all the old cards and letters and stuff that I've received over the years. It was particularly difficult selecting which ones to hold onto, just to relive the memory, perhaps, the next time i clean my room, and go through every little thing all over again. It really felt like a leap back in time, reading those words, remembering those people, reminiscing past phases in my life...Alright, I'm rambling.

Anyway, I realize there's quite a lot of change going on in my life right now. Shifting house, the dog, erm..alright, I guess it's mainly moving house, packing the house is a pain. Anyway, just for the fun of it, here's a few photos of zippy lim aka zip, moments before she was shaved of all her glory.

And oh, I just remembered, the photos of zip are more than just for fun.

Camera-shy Zippy wouldnt stay still for a picture...

Until she got into the cage, and when she didn't know we were taking a picture, it's almost like she knows.

This is a CALL to all dog-lovers, Zip is about 11-12 years old now, she's a japanese spitz, been spayed since..pretty long ago, she's cute, loving and next to harmless, coz she's really quite scared of people sometimes, a lot of bark, and no bite. Here's the thing: Zip needs a new home. She needs a garden, space to run and roam free, and a gate to squeeze in and out of when she wants to gallivant around the neighbourhood like she does right here, ok maybe not. So...Zip can't really follow us to our new home, because we won't have all of that. This is a call : To anyone who will be willing to care for her. I think she's got more than a few years in this world to go. She had a tick problem, and we just recently dealt with that by getting her shaved and bathed in anti-tick chemicals, as well as spraying the garden with that same stuff, the groomer told me that she'd grow a nice new coat of fur in about 2 months. So, yeah, her glory will soon be restored!

Anyway, random photos from over the holidays...

Happiness Monday at Ian's

Emily fails, very badly i might add, to conceal her face.

Ok, lazy to think of what else to blog about. Ciao.

The End of the Beginning

Another slightly overdue post, which I meant to put up on Friday. Better late than never eh. So... CSFC has ended. 6 weeks past, and we're another rung up the ladder. Another milestone in our medical education. Amazing how much we crammed in within 6 weeks, coz it sure does feel like we had to learn quite a bit of stuff. Build our confidence, our awareness, our technique, and hopefully, some knowledge too. And especially for me, improving my languages (I'm still working on chinese, so give me a break alright.)

Anyway, this is a shout out to the 3 people I'd spent most of my time with in CSFC: Andrew, Weili and Christelle! I wasn't sure what to expect when I found out that I'd been cut off from Emily and Suriya for our medicine tutorials. I was a little apprehensive of course, being an 'outsider', it'd be so easy to just...stay in a corner by myself and sulk, since I didn't know you guys very well. But I must say that you guys made it so easy for me to be a part of you. I really enjoyed working with you guys, and all the times we shared laughs and exchanged..er..info.. over lunch...and our little 'celebratory' lunch at that italian/indian/fusion food place just outside of SGH. Even when there was a little tension among us, it was easy to approach one another and iron out the differences. And of course, thanks for all the help whenever we had non-English speaking patients to clerk, and for looking out for English speaking patients for me too. Haha.

I'll miss our marvel vs capcom duels, jacking and getting jacked, by er...ALL of you, and especially, Weili's polycartoon antics, Andrew's pathology spouting sessions and Christelle's..hm..pro-typed-out-notes and rides! I hope we'll get posted to the same hospital in future..and I'm looking forward to working with all of you some time...Ok, I'd better stop myself before I get any more mushy than this. So..thanks again guys. It was an experience I hope I'll never forget.

Now, we have 3 weeks of holidays ahead of us. Vietnam beckons. Wakeboarding/cable skiing as well, among other things. Time to catch up on reading. And of course, I need to pack more for the inevitable move later this month. I'll miss this place. It's been..21 years. Spent most of Vesak Day and today packing stuff in my room and helping mom bubblewrap all the glassware and other cutlery. I'm a bit averse to wrapping stuff now.

Another random piece of info for anyone who wants to go shopping, I think I've been bitten by the shopping bug. A lot of my stuff is getting way too old and worn out, and needs replacing! I've got some other things I want to buy as well, purely on a 'want' basis. Only limiting factor now is money, then again, isn't it always? But I usually can't be bothered to go shopping. This is a rare occasion. Better get to it while it lasts. Haha, alright. Enough rambling from me.

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An overdue post from last week, when I was talking to some friends from church. My cell group, specifically. Having a cell group has it rewards, apart from all the intangible things we learn from each other, they've taught me how to juggle, and now, how to solve a rubiks cube. Sorta. I'm still getting there. Anyway, an excerpt of a conversation we had:

Friend 1: "Whoa, that ah lians bf joined the msn convo and started scolding me all sorts of things la. F*** you, KNN CCB, etc etc...."

Friend 2: "KNN? Why KNN? Isn't that the news network?"

The rest of us: *hoots of laughter*

Haha. The joys of cell group. Even if they're that ignorant/innocent. I wish they were more innocent though.