KKB

I was initially planning to post some pictures of my trip to Barcelona and Bath....but then decided to post about our Rotation Posting to Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB) instead. Mainly because I haven't finished uploading the Barcelona trip photos onto photobucket.

As I was placed in Group A for Rotation posting, I was one of the very first people from my batch to set foot on this remote town. Initially, it clashed with my Europe trip. I was supposed to follow my mum to Paris, but then I ended up flying back alone just in time for the trip to KKB. Mum stayed in Paris. Well, it was not what I planned, but my earlier request to be changed to Group E was declined, so....

I am glad to have great Rotation groupmates. Here's a shoutout to 'Big Bird' (if she ever stumbles across this) It certainly wouldn't have been the same without her around, without her continuous merry babbling. And 'Cookie Monster' too- it's nice getting to know you better! I am still trying to fathom where exactly you store the food you consume! In fact, quite a number of my rotation groupmates- I got to know much better only after being grouped in the same rotation group as them. And of course to the rest too- Khine, Chih Ying, Tracy, Lee Ching, Maya and last but not least- dear 'Edward', 'Edmund' 'Edwin' or whatever guy name she is called. ;)

And not forgetting Nurul, Zarina ( Happy 21st birthday you!) and the guys, Kwan ( you're such a gentleman, you know), Soo Han ( such a great partner, haha), Jeremy, Jian Loong, Chong Bing, Sanjeet, Ridhuan......

The girls stayed in the nurses hostel while the guys stayed at Taman Seruling.

Actually I got a pleasant surprise. Before I went there, I pictured it to be a very remote area, surrounded by villages, with no where to go at night. But boy was I wrong. The very first evening, we girls set off on a walk- and to our pleasant surprise, after about 15-20 minutes, discovered the ever famous 98 restaurant. The restaurant food was really good- so much so that we had to return there again to test more dishes a couple of days later. And not forgetting 7-11 which supplied us with the late night snacks and Khine who brought an abundant supply of snacks as well- we had our share of late night snacking!
And of course the 2 waffle shops as well, which sell great waffles! ( Btw, while my batch was on holiday, apparently the Malay canteen in IMU changed operators, and now it sells hot, crispy waffles!) Back to KKB- we would eat waffles in the evening, and then head right over to another restaurant or coffee shop for actual dinner. We have huge stomachs, haven't we?

And one popular card game that I learnt over there in KKB was 'Bridge'. Most of the time, I was content in watching my roommates play the game. I now know the basic concept of the game, but I am still learning how to master the skills of playing the game!

And now for the serious part- during the day, we were supposed to be at the KKB hospital clerking patients. By clerking, I mean take a comprehensive history of the patient and perform a complete CVS physical examination on the patient.
I was partnered with Soo Han, and we worked out well together.
One interesting fact is that a large porpotion of patients in the hospital were warded because of dengue fever. Beware of dengue, it seems to be rather rampant in that area. Aedes mosquitos must be all around! In fact, the first 2 patients that Soo Han and I interviewed were dengue cases. Only during the 3rd day- did we finally get a CVS patient (who was suffering from diabetes mellitus at the same time). He showed typical symptoms of a CVS and DM patient- dyspnoea, chest pain, pitting oedema and gangrene.

On the whole, it was a fun and enjoyable experience.

Graduation photos

Yep, I'm back safe and sound from my Europe trip and KKB. Both were uber great!!

I've already mentioned the details of Barcelona and Cardiff and my Graduation in the previous 2 entries, so I'll spare you that. Instead, I'm going to post pictures for you guys to enjoy!!

KKB was fun!! We ate, played bridge and ate!! And of course clerked patients as well. Will blog in detail about it- with pictures, in a separate post.

Graduation Day photos:

Me and my mum standing in front of the Cardiff University main building

At the Main building grounds wearing my graduation robe =)



At the background is the Cardiff Castle- Cardiff's famous landmark


Me and a couple of coursemates (Jill and Gareth) who went to Milan and LA respectively for their industrial/gap year.


PhD graduates get to wear a red coloured robe. With me in this pic is a previous housemate of mine.


Me and coursemates lining up in front of the vice-chancellor as he read the oath.


Me and my mum again

Update!!

Still can't afford to compose a proper blog entry, as I'm using a public computer in the library in Cardiff right now. Took so much trouble to find this library, gah. Luckily it's free.

My trip to Europe this holidays were great! Turned out to be better than I expected. In fact my whole holidays turned out to be such a blast.

Rested, bumped into friends, watched Astro, watched 'Lost' DVDs, worked as a journalist.....

Barcelona is an interesting place to visit. My mum and I boarded the tourist bus, whereby we could hop off at any tourist locations which interest us and then hop back on again. Among the places we visited over there are the Catalunya square, the Sagrada Familia ( didn't enter the building), the Spanish village, Port Wells and the zoo. We encountered much difficulties in communicating with the locals, but in the end, it was all worth it.

Also, my own graduation ceremony yesterday. Finally.
In case you're wondering why I am attending my Neuroscience graduation ceremony this year and not last year:

My cover up story (to those who don't really know me):
I had to rush back to IMU to register for my medical course, so I didn't exactly have time to attend the ceremony last year.

The actual reason:
I had to do resits, and therefore couldn't graduate in time last year. Yup.

I wore the graduation robe, and took photos around Cardiff with myself proudly wearing the robe. Indeed, the city is full of people wearing their graduation robes for this past few days. Different faculty graduates have different coloured stripes on their robes. The colour for my faculty is dark green/gold.
Mum helped me to put on some light makeup and lipstick, which did wonders for my appearance that day.
I was a little disappointed that during the graduation ceremony itself, all we did was to walk up and shake hands with the vice-chancellor of the university and then stand in front of him as he read out an oath. No certificates being presented. Turned out that the certificate which I received a few months ago was the actual degree certificate. And the ceremony was rather booring...

I'll upload photos of the Barcelona trip and me in my graduation robes when I return to IMU the next few days. Or maybe after I return back from KKB.

postcard from cardiff

heylo peeps! yep i'm still alive and well!! =)

In Cardiff right now.....at Lil's place ;)

vacation has been great so far!!

Barcelona is a very nice place to visit! We went to visit many places....the cathedral, the zoo, the spanish village....hopping on and off the tourist bus was really worth it.

So now i'm just waiting for my graduation the day after tomorrow. Going to Bath tomorrow.

that's it for the moment....signing off now =)

p.s. will add in pics and much more detailed blogs when i reach back imu.

Facing the Giants

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I watched a movie called 'Facing The Giants' while attending Sharon's cell group last night.

It was like any other football or soccer team movie.....you know, those movies whereby the football team starts out losing all the time, and then one day a new coach or player comes and brings astonishing changes to the team. And all of a sudden, the team becomes a champion team.

There is one different touch to this movie though. It brings Christianity teachings into the movie. How the coach, who at one point in his life, found himself with nothing, no hope at all. His football team was losing every single match, he was in danger of losing his job, he discovered that he was sterile, and had barely any money to support himself and his wife.

And he decided to leave it all up to the Lord and give Him thanks no matter what. And of course things began to take a turn for the better.

The team went on to the state championships, where they faced a team much bigger team and won.

The moral of the movie is..... 'It may seem impossible, but with God, nothing is impossible.'

Let us bravely face our 'giants' everyday of our lives!

p.s. I used the RM300 I earnt from my stint in 'The Star' to treat all my mum's staff and also my family members. Gave some money to Uncle David, and that left me about RM150 to buy Lost season 1 DVD!! And that's the thing that is keeping me occupied for these past few days.

p.p.s Am heading off to Europe on July 11th. I think I'll have one more post before I leave! Don't miss me ya! ;)

Battling weight....

Yeap, the title explains it all.

Ever since I was little, I've been engaged in battles with my weight. You see, I used to be a skinny little toddler. I just simply despised eating. It was to the extent that my mum and aunt had to bribe me to eat my dinner... and had to instill in me fear of the punishment I would receive from my uncle if I didn't finish my meal. So I ended up gobbling my food and throwing it all back up anyways.
When I was about 5 years of age, I was diagnosed with tonsilitis, and had to undergo an operation to remove my tonsils.Ever since I recovered and regained my appetite, I regained back my weight as well. Within a year, I transformed from skinny to plump.
And I remained on the plump side until.....now.Fair enough, I wasn't an active child. I preferred to stay at home and read books or watch TV or study instead of going out to play sports with other kids. On Saturday evenings, I very much preferred going out shopping with family instead of going swimming lessons.An attack of hyperthyroidism when I was 14 caused me to lose a lot of weight to the extent that I was unhealthy.Of course I gained back all the weight.But the frustrating thing is that lately, even though I have tried cutting down on my food, eating less during meals and exercising everyday, I simply can't lose any weight. In fact, I keep on gaining weight.
Proof- the pairs of jeans which I used to be able to wear....I simply can't fit into them anymore:( Even more accurate proof- the weighing scale in the bathroom. 50-52 kg: 2 kg- that's quite a lot of weight, isn't it?Maybe it's because of the tyroxine tablets that I'm taking. Maybe it's in my genes- my relatives all have the tendency to gain weight rapidly.
Sometimes I admit that I feel a twinge of jealously when I look at Tze Wei and Tze Chien. They can afford to gobble down two plates of rice permeal and still look as slim and slender as ever.

The only conclusion I can come to is that they have extremely high metabolic rates.But I wouldn't complain. Nothing in life is perfect. You gain some, you lose some. I'm sure they also admire the fact that I never have to worry about money while they have to work so hard for everything all their lives.

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I managed to meet up with my primary and secondary school classmates on Wednesday night. Had I not been held up at my mum's shop last week, I wouldn't have met them. I totally lost contact with all of them until my chance encounter with several of them at the Central Market last week. I only gave my number to Colin then.
But on Wednesday, Colin SMSed me, inviting me to 'Bing' where some of them are meeting up.It was great to meet up with old friends, with childhood friends. Haven't seen them for more than 5 years.Most of them are working now- Reuben as a lawyer in his father's firm, Chung Siang in business management, now undertaking an accounting degree, Ing Ing just graduated from law, Serena is working as a nutritionist.Those doing medicine are in their final year now.And here I am, with still 4 more years of education to go.A couple of them, in fact, are either engaged or married. Wow. An I'm still single with no hint of ever getting attached.I feel so young and immature, hahah.