- Didn’t go swimming because it was overcast.

- Cleaned under the bed. Dirtiest place ever. And it was kinda a wasted effort cos most of the stuff belonged to my mum and obviously I couldn’t get rid of them.

- Played on the stage at my music school (to an empty audience, haha, but still fun nonetheless). Doing recording next week! Excited :) I was given the option to perform during a Sat afternoon session where all the students perform, but I felt shy and I weaseled my way out of it even though my instructor was quite keen for me to try it, hehe.

- Walked from Prinsep Street to Far East Plaza.

- Shopped around a bit and bought a pair of shoes. Saw many nice dresses but decided that I don’t have occasions to wear them. How self-disciplined, hehe. Was just telling the girls the day before that nowadays when I see a nice piece, I will ask myself if it can be worn to the hospital. If yes, then I will consider getting; if no, straightaway it goes back on the racks. I haven’t even bought anything online (other than the dresses for the weddings) despite being back for 3 weeks and free/cheap local postage. Either the clothes are not appealing anymore or I’m being thrifty.

- Got my results. Had to ask the boyfriend to check my results for me cos Mel told me Kel said it’s out (all your faults! Haha, kidding). I did alright, though I wish I’d done better. Now thinking that my hopes for honours are becoming slimmer. Ah well. Like the boyfriend said, I should be happy that I passed; anything else is a bonus :)

- Walked back from FEP to The Cathay. I don’t know why, but I feel like I’m surrounded by more smokers here than in Melbourne. I’m pretty certain it’s not because more people smoke here, maybe more like people are less civic-minded and they just smoke everywhere, ie on the streets, at the bus stop etc. I saw this young couple (prob mid to late 20s), each with a cigarette in hand, and pushing a pram with an infant in it. Seriously, WTF.

- Had dinner with Fio at Astons. The waiter was hilarious. I asked him to recommend me something, and he mentioned the Teriyaki Chicken. He asked if I have had the Teriyaki Chicken at Mos Burger, and I’m like yes, and he said yeah it’s similar but of course, Mos Burger’s tastes better. Haha, then why should I order yours then? Anyway, it was a good time catching up and talking about everything and anything =) We are watching Bodyguards & Assassins later!

- Bought my first 2 items from Mango. As some of you might know, I don’t really care about Mango sales and have never bought anything from them, but yesterday as I was walking across Marina Square to get to the cinema, it was still open and it was empty and I had time to spare so I went in. So girls, the best time to go to a Mango sale is at 9.45pm ok? Anyway, I bought knitted stuff – a cardigan and a sweater top. Love the balloon sleeves.

- Watched Avatar in 3D. Wasn’t really sure if it was my kind of movie cos I’m not really into sci-fi stuff, but it wasn’t too bad. I liked the 3D effects, and I’m not sure if there was any hidden agenda in the storyline but you can read into it and interpret it to be teaching Man a lesson about Nature.

- Got home at almost 4am, the latest (or should I say earliest) so far this holidays.

And just a picture to end of this wordy post – Afternoon tea with the girls on Wednesday at TWG Tea at Ion.

Haha, whoever’s up there really has a sick sense of humour, and my luck is really crap. As I was saying in my last entry, I collected my alternative dress from one of the online sellers this evening. But guess what greeted me when I got home – a package with the original dress.

I KNEW this was going to happen, but I didn’t want to take the risk, cos there’s always the possibility of my dress only being mailed out today, or being delayed in the mail.

Well well. Not sure if I should keep both, or sell off 1 of them. I’ve bought 3 dresses for $28 each in 1 week (ok, technically speaking I paid for 1 of them a month ago), and I don’t know if that is called spending too much =S On one hand, all 3 dresses fit well and I can keep them for future occasions. But on the other hand, I’m afraid that I won’t get the chance to wear them, or only wear like once a year. HOW!

This is the original one that I was planning to wear, but now I’m thinking this is a little bit informal for a wedding dinner. Should be alright for the church/reception part though. I tried it on just now and the material is super comfy! I’m definitely keeping this. And I guess this is relatively casual enough for more regular wear?

Bought this off an online seller today, and was quite happy that it fit when I tried it on just now. Haven’t looked at myself in it in the mirror yet though. Contemplating selling it away, not sure, will ask the boyfriend for his opinion tmr. Wonder if it’s ok to wear to the hospital if I throw on a blazer.

Photo credits to BonitoChico.

And the last dress is the one I wore to Lai’s wedding as seen below. Love the satin material, and it looks expensive imo, hehe. It was actually a bit loose and I had to alter the strap bit, so I was actually quite worried that the 2 new dresses wouldn’t fit properly.

*Ponders*

So I’ve been back for almost 2 weeks. I’ve been catching up on sleep (10 hours every day, woohoo!); stuffing myself with wonderful home-cooked food, cheap & yummy hawker fares, 汤圆, grass jelly, and all sorts of desserts; spending time with family & friends =)

Caught up with my sisters on the drive when I offered to send my sissy back to halls. We had some sort of mini crisis in the room that made us LOL, but 大姐 saved the day, hehehehe :D

Attended Lai’s wedding with the boyfriend, and it was a good opportunity to meet new people and catch up some people I haven’t seen in a while. Also an excuse to dress up, haha. I love my dress from BonitoChico, though it was a bit loose and I had to alter the strap a bit (sighs, the problems of being too petite). Though I don’t really know the couple at all, weddings are always happy occasions and I wish the best for the newly weds =)

Also met up with the lovely 7b peeps on Monday. We went to Ootoya at Orchard Central and I think the food’s not bad. Just that the place is small and crowded and we had to wait for almost an hour :S The rooftop garden and outdoor escalators were pretty cool though!

After the meetup I decided to hang around Orchard Road a bit to take some photos. Finally created my own Bokeh! Haven’t quite gotten the hang of it though, will try some more when I get the chance to.

Anyway, other stuff I’ve been up to:
Reading: Oliver Sacks’ The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Very interesting neurology stuff, very bizarre, very fascinating.

Watching: Heroes Season 4, Dexter Season 3, and also finally watching 法证先锋 I (after watching II first, haha). I love shows with forensics!

And I’ve been spring cleaning as my sisters want to revamp the house a bit. Only problem is that my mum wants to keep this and that, and so we are still left with heaps of stuff despite chucking some out. Ah well. And I hate cleaning up cos my nose is super sensitive and it can’t stop running; I have to use countless pieces of tissue paper just to clear 1 small section of the shelf, GGRRRR.

More stuff to look forward to! Pop piano lesson tmr, meeting Xiang for dinner tmr, and hopefully finally get to catch up with Fio next week!

Also attending the boyfriend’s godbrother’s wedding on Saturday. I’ve been a bit pissed off cos I bought this dress from BC on BO, the BO closed early Nov and it was supposed to arrive in 3 weeks. So I thought, even if I give a bit of delay, I should still be able to get the dress in time. However, there hasn’t been up to date info on their website, and my first email was only replied after 4 days while my second email hasn’t been replied though it has been 6 days. So I kinda gave up hope and was sourcing for another dress. Only tonight, after desperately rechecking the website daily, there was an update to say that the stocks have arrived and will be mailed out on 8/9/10th Dec. So I really dunno if I should wait and pray for it to arrive by Friday, or go ahead and get the other dress. Plus I usually wash new clothes before I wear them, so, aiyah damn annoyed lar. If only she replied my email to tell me stocks have arrived, I could have arranged to go pick it up rather than having to wait for it in the mail. Oh well, maybe I’ll just keep both dresses then! Haha.

Ok rant over, time for bed!

Just got more details with regards to my elective, and I’m so looking forward to it! I’ll be doing 2 weeks each of:

1. Paediatrics
Paediatrics at Mount Meru Hospital is a busy and active department operating across 2 floors. There are 60 beds in total and the department comprises 4 main wards: P One, P Two, P Three and the Surgical Ward. Children commonly suffer from conditions such as Malaria, Pneumonia, Kwashiorkor (xiang, your favourite disease! HAHA), Diarrhoea, Burns, Fractures, and some cases of Meningitis and Tuberculosis can be observed.

The department also run different clinics on different days of the week including Paediatrics Counselling and Treatment Centre for HIV (PCTC) on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

2. General Medicine
The General Medicine department comprises of a 30-bed female ward and a 30-bed male ward. Infectious diseases, especially Malaria, are common and there are often cases of Hypertension, Diabetes, Diarrhoea And Heart Disease. A small number of HIV patients are cared for here too. Outpatient clinics are run on Tuesday and Friday for mostly follow ups.

There is also a separate building, comprising of a 16-bed female ward and a 16-bed male ward, primarily for TB and Leprosy patients.

3. HIV Clinic
The Counselling and Treatment Centre (CTC) is part of the Medical department. The clinic is usually fairly quiet, receiving a small number of patients needing general counselling or confidential HIV testing.

Wednesdays are called ‘Heavy HIV Clinic’ and the clinic becomes busy, receiving up to 120 outpatients in a day. The clinic provides care and relief medication for HIV positive patients, including treatment for opportunistic infections such as Skin Problems, TB, Diarrhoea and Pneumonia. The patients are typically aged between 20 to 40 years old. Child cases of HIV are dealt within the Paediatrics Clinic.

I’m so going to be an expert on infectious diseases when I come back, hehe. Though I really should do a bit of revision before I get there so that I won’t appear stupid.

Anyway, the packing is almost done and I’ll be home tmr night. I so need a good night’s sleep without interruptions because I haven’t really rested since the exams ended, boo. Didn’t even get time to watch the tennis :( Ah well. Alright I better go get started on writing the poster or else we won’t be able to finish it by Tuesday (yes I know, I’m still doing work even though the exams have ended. I admit, I’m a workaholic).

That was it. 4 years of hard work, culminating in a 3-hour exam. It just all feels kinda weird that it’s all over for now. Four-fifths a doctor, we are now, almost ready to be set loose on our own.

So much to look forward to in the next 3 months, so much to do. In fact, I’ve been even busier than before the exams! :S  Other than running errands and catching up on missed meetings, we’ve been 1 happy bunch…

… indulging in food, oh glorious food,

… frolicking at the beach on a sunny day,

… having a frozen coke party at Maccas,

… getting a bit high on alcohol, mahjong-ing, and Fifa-ing.

It’s nice to be hanging out together without any worries and just enjoying ourselves. Plus the fact that we will be in so many different places at different times next year, these times spent together seem all the more precious. Hopefully we’ll be able to arrange some more get-togethers in Singapore! =)

Also went for a studio photo shoot workshop today, on Kerf’s invite. It was a fun experience, though I think studio shoots are not really my kinda thing. I’m more a nature/landscapes/flowers kinda photographer – throw me in the botanical gardens with a macro lens and I’ll go crazy, haha. But anyway, here are a couple of my favourites of the day.

On another note, I’m having problems with packing my luggage! I need summer stuff for wearing in Singapore, I need winter stuff cos I’m going to Taiwan, and then I need something in between because although it’s summer type weather in Tanzania, I can’t wear sleeveless tops & shorts. GRR. I think I’ll just bring back less lar, not enough can always buy; if too much then cannot buy or if buy then too much to bring back to Melb next year :P

Okie pokies, time for bed!

Credits: tripadvisor.co.uk

As the day of my first paper approaches (What a late start, I know! Some people have finished the exams already, lucky them!), the feeling of wanting to just get it over and done with follows. Oh, and of course, the coming of summer as well. It’s been a hot hot 30++ degrees in the past few days, and it will only get hotter. I’m quite tolerant to heat so it’s still bearable for now, but unfortunately this weather spells trouble for the boyfriend who loves the cold. Thank goodness we have aircon at home.

Anyway, I’ve been cramming/speed-reading through my notes for both O&G and Paeds, and I’m quite happy that I managed to finish skimming through the stuff in 8 days. This is the 3rd time I’ve gone through my set of notes this semester, so hopefully repetition = retention. I would say that I’m ready to take on the MED4082 paper, though I’m not too sure about the VIA. Haven’t done much preparation other than doing questions, questions and more questions. Still need to revise Psych, some GP stuff, and all that Theme 1 & 2 rubbish (ok maybe I used too strong a word, I know it may be important to some extent, but surely we don’t need to spend too much time on it, do we?).

On a happier note, I’ve paid up and confirmed my Mount Kilimanjaro climb. Flights have been booked as well, and I’m due to pay the remaining of my programme fees next week. With all these in place, the fact that I’m heading to Africa in 2 months’ time is slowly sinking in. It still feels kinda surreal – me, myself and I on my very first solo trip, to a destination that not many people would think of going. I hope it will be a journey of much exploring, be it of the places that I’ll be going to, of the healthcare system where I’ll be working in for 6 weeks, or of myself. I can’t help but say this again even though I’ve said it a million times, I can’t wait!

For anyone who wants to catch up after the exams, here’s where I’ll be for the next few months:

• 29 Nov: Home sweet home! :) Anyone who wants anything from Melbourne, let me know soon!
• 25 Dec – 2 Jan: Taiwan
• 10 Jan – 2 Mar: Tanzania
• 5 Mar: Back to Melbourne

Finally, for any of the MED4071 friends reading this because you are too bored from studying, good luck for tmr! =)

Finally, the Year 5 placements are out. Took them a while, but hey, what’s new.

Rotation Period	Rotation	Location	Pref #
1: 25/01/2010 – 05/03/2010	Elective	Mount Meru Regional Hospital, Arusha, Tanzania
2: 08/03/2010 – 16/04/2010	Aged Care	Monash Medical Centre (Clayton) – General Medicine (Aged Care)	(1)
3: 19/04/2010 – 28/05/2010	Specialty	Monash Medical Centre (Clayton) – Paediatric Endocrinology	(4)
4: 31/05/2010 – 09/07/2010	Medicine	Frankston Hospital – Cardiology	(5)
5: 12/07/2010 – 20/08/2010	Surgery	Frankston Hospital – General Surgery	(7)
6: 23/08/2010 – 01/10/2010	Emergency	Dandenong Hospital – Emergency	(1)
7: 04/10/2010 – 12/11/2010	Vacation

 

Well I’m not 100% satisfied cos I missed out on Paeds ID which I really wanted, and I’m not ecstatic about the fact that I’m going to spend 12 weeks at Frankston. But I guess things could have been worse, and I shan’t complain too much since I got my 1st choice placements these 2 years. I probably self-saboed by not choosing MMC Cardio as my 1st choice (as evident, my luck for Alfred has disappeared), as I might have had a better chance of getting the 12-week block for MMC Cardio & Paeds ID (and thus avoiding Frankston).

Regardless, one of the seniors who did Frankston Cardio this year told me that it was good, and at least Frankston is nearer to me than Casey or Maroondah. Also, the good news is that I got MMC rotations in 2 & 3, which means I should be able to get decent references for my intern application, especially since I’m quite inclined to apply to Southern Health. Looks like Alfred is quite out-of-reach now given that I won’t be able to get any references from there, unless I have super good results or win some prize next year, or some miracle happens.

What I don’t understand is how some people can get all their 1st choices, while some don’t even get any of their 1st-7th choices for a particular rotation. You would think that by giving us 7 choices, we would at least get 1 of them, but no, apparently not. While I understand that it’s a massive task to allocate 200+ students to 7 rotations that can be in any order, over a wide range of specialties in various hospitals, I do think that there should be some system in place to make things fairer for everyone.

And the final dodgy sentences that were at the end of the emails we got:

- Please note that circumstances may change at hospital sites at any time during the year, which may result in placements being amended or reallocated at any time.
- The Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences reserves the right to allocate students to specific sites based on perceptions of Faculty needs and student academic/health grounds.

Right. I sure hope nothing of the sort happens.

Ah well. It should still be a good year in terms of learning and finally getting more involved with the treating team. Though as we keep saying these days, need to pass this year first!

Yes, I have. The boyfriend’s mum is in town, so I’ve kinda took a hiatus on the studying. Not very good given the fact that the exams are just a mere 3 weeks away. Ah well, time to get back on track NOW. After this blogpost, I mean.

On Wednesday, we went to Miss Marples. My first time after 4 years, finally.

I love the scones and tea! :D

After lunch, I scored a free ice cream with my medical knowledge =) We were looking at some flowers outside this bakery which also sold jam, ice cream etc, when the owner came out to offer us samples of some raspberry sorbet. We went in and had a chat, and it came up in the conversation that I’m studying medicine. So he told me that if I could answer 3 questions, he would give me a free ice cream.

1. How many ventricles are there in the brain?
2. In which organ is the Loop of Henle found?
3. Name 1 type of shunt.

Pretty straightforward, I ought to be shot if I don’t know these basics. So anyway I politely declined the ice cream cos I was so bloated, but he was so nice and insisted that he promised me one. Turns out that he had premature twins, and one of them had hydrocephalus. No wonder. We thought he was some medical personnel or something. Now, this is something you’ll never encounter in Singapore!

That same night, the study buddies gave Daryl a surprise 21st birthday celebration, with tealights that double up as mosquito repellents, haha. And not forgetting the yummy mango cake :D

Thursday was the day of the boyfriend’s graduation ceremony. Not before a morning at Queen Victoria Market and some Bratwurst sausages, YUM. I’ve been eating way too much these few days really, I need to exercise!

Well, stupid me no bring zoom lens + tall people sitting in front of me + low lighting + movement = lousy picture. But trust me when I say this is the boyfriend receiving his scroll.

Congratulations guys! =)

Friday I was in clinic from 9am-4pm – super exhausted and famished after that. But I learnt stuff so that was alright.

We had dinner at Squires Loft on Saturday night. I had enough meat to last me a few days. Enough said.

And finally we made a day trip to Ballarat today. It was interesting and enjoyable, and thankfully the weather held up even though it was rather gusty and there were bouts of cloudiness.

Now, how’s that for a proper update! Back to the books now, hanging in there for the next couple of weeks, please be over soon! :)