8th and 9th of august

we managed to catch a glimpse of the fireworks at the national day countdown! it's quite funny, chris and i left marina south slightly before 12 midnight, cos we didn't want to be caught in the jam. so we were waiting patiently at the busstop for the fireworks to begin... and of course we weren't the only smart alecs around. when the firworks began, everyone was rushing onto the road to get a better view/take better pictures, and the army people on duty were helplessly screaming: get off the road! move! move! well, nobody took heed until the SBS bus came charging towards us with the headlights turned on fullbeam... haha

well, we celebrated our nation's birthday with the rest of singapore at muddy marina south.. there were several boy/girl bands... not that i recognised any of their names... but the people down at the muddy grass field sure sounded like they had a good time! (we were sitting on the makeshift wooded benches... high above the muddy grass field...=)

9th of august - chris and i had a special celebration of our own! ;-) chris brought me to the Upper Club in chijmes for an evening of dinner and dance..=) it's a really nice restaurant, with good food and a dance floor! and the waiters were wearing gloves! we started our meal with a cocktail each.. and thankfully for the dim lighting, must have loked quite flushed! the amuse appetit was one shrimp, 1cm of kiwi and 2 shallots on a chinese soup spoon... i suppose in english it means small, only for your amusement...=) but it had a really nice flavour! then we had oysters, foi gras, steak, dessert - which was a delicious blend of creamy vanilla and small bits of fresh mint leaves served on a base of longans, and tea. and there was free flow of bread too..=) the food was really really good!

and the best part was the dancing! there were both a DJ and a live band, so they alternated with a mix of songs that you can dance to... chris and i did a bit of lindy, a few basic steps of salsa, and tred to imitate the waltz from the rest of the tai-tais and their young philipino dance instructors... haha, it was really funny, and so much fun as well! and how time flew by, without realising it, we had actually been there for more than 4 hours! i was real tired, by the time i got back, so i went to bed with a pair of aching feet and a wonderful memory to relive in my dreams...


us at marina south... trying to past time while waiting for the fireworks to start...


us at upper club

bento baby!

bento is such a darling... just had to post some of his pictures...=) he's just learnt to 'give me a 5!' hmm, what shall i teach him next? was thinking of getting him to shake on command, but my cousin said that all these tricks are so useless... aiyah, if only i could train him to pick up the phone...


3 months - getting toilet trained in his cage, man wasn't he fierce when he was little...


3 months - picking up the bad habit of looking for food on the table


4 months


5 months


6 months - shedding time at christmas!


7 months - on my 22nd birthday, bento gave me a kiss!


8 months - bento's first chinese new year


1 year old!


1 year 6 months - at his most 'pong-ness' =)


1 year 8 months - summer cut!


1 year 11 months - 'my hair has grown! where's my dinner...'


1 year 11 months - 'big hug!'

well, bento got another hair cut on his 2nd birthday... haha, why do i torture him so...

international hammock day

we went to east coast park today to try out the new hammocks my aunt bought from beach road. haha, yup, i'm not joking! (i also had the intention to try out my new digi cam!)

my dad just bought us a new camera, after my brother took our only one to melbourne. and of course i got to choose the model i liked! i was looking for a camera that was relatively small, but not extra-slim, had good natural-coloured photo prints, long battery life and fast shutter speed. and i found it all.. and more in the Panasonic Lumix fx8! it's such a cooool baby...=) i love my new toy! and it's got this optical image stabiliser function, whereby this smarty cam can actually correct any photo 'blurness' caused by shaky hands!

we had 3 different hammocks, the string/rope kind, the really thin string kind and the army kind. haha, in the end the army one was used as a mat, cos it was so pvc-like it didn't look very comfy at all...

i love the sea breeze! i found the rhythmic constancy of the waves running onto the shore a calming presence... i could have sworn i felt my heart rate slowing down... and just when everyone had quietened down amidst nature's tranquil lull, my mum said in the most serious of tones:" imagine if a tsunami were to come... wah...so scary..." (eh...hmm...)

i think i can safely say all of us (with the exception of bento) enjoyed the being near the sea... now my mum wants to buy a hammock to put in the car... haha


everyone loved the sea, except bento... he was petrified! i think he thought he was going to drown or something...


the 3 little p***(er, princesses...hehe)


aunty cleopatra =)



uncle dax and aunty pat


jie wenzsa and popo


trying to get bento onto the hammock...


hammock fun!

we're falling!!! even bento doesn't dare to look!

we ended the evening with a really unhealthy dinner of 30 chicken wings, 3 packets of prawn noodles, 2 packets of jiu(3) he(2) eng(4) cai(3), 1 packet of cha kway teow, 6 curry puffs, 8 cups of sugar cane and several more cups of tea and coffee... lovastatin here we come! but it was a great dinner nonetheless..=)

Early in the morning at 6 o'clock...

it's 9 am and i've just brushed my teeth. i slept in today, and will only be heading for NUH at 10am; sure feels goood...=) i have been doing an orthopaedic posting at NUH the past 2 weeks, and here's how my average day goes...

5.30 am - alarm clock rings
5.31 am - press the snooze button
5.40 am - press the snooze button again
5.50 am - jump out of bed muttering, 15 min to get ready, crap, why did i over sleep?!
6.05 am - got to leave the house... but i'm still getting the knots out of hair and thinking: i need a hair cut!
6.20 am - 'vroom' (the sound of my car starting) =)
6.50 am - milo from NUH kopitiam and banana cake from NUH bengawan solo (not bad for hospital food eh...=)
7.00 am - go to meet my tutor... and wonder the same thing every morning: where does he get so much energy?
7.30 am - do rounds... round and round the merry-go-round...
1.00 pm - lunch = get to sit down
2.00 pm - clinic...
6.30 pm - clinic ends, hopefully can go home... but no...
7.55 pm - home.. home on the range... (at least i won't have to pay the ERP charges on the CTE)
8.25 pm - finally get to see my Bento after >12 hours at school

the days have been long and tiring, but i had a really good tutor who was willing to teach. that was the main reason why we ended so late, cos he could only teach after/before the usual working hours. well, in orthopaedics, basically we study bones and musle and ligaments... boy, have i ever smelt smellier feet! legs that have been cast us are so chou(4) chou(4). and as part of the examination for the knee, i had to sit on someone's smelly feet and even hug the foot under my armpit (around there , not where it'll outrage my modesty!). i had/still have one big concern... varicose veins!! with all the standing, that is such a huge occupational hazard! varicose veins are awful things to have... eeewh... they bulge out and they hurt and they're oh so ugly as well... ways to prevent it? well, not very much that i can do, considering that my family has a predisposition to it... unless i start moving around in a wheelchair... now isn't that a thought... hmm...

ok, gotto run, treated myself to an extra 3 hours of sleep today, but i'm on call tonight, so don;t begrudge me life's little pleasures...=)

the men don't get it

i've finally watched the whole serial of Jewel in the Palace; the korean drama serial that's currently showing on channel 55 at 7 pm. its a whopping 70 episodes! but i liked it alot! the korean officer in the show was so gallant, so understanding, so heroic, sigh... imagine any guy telling his loved one - go, pursue your dreams of becoming korea's first lady doctor to the king, i'll support you, even if you have to stay in the palace for 10 years, i will be there watching out for you. and when she got exiled to jeju island (cos the heroine Chang Jin always seems to get into trouble) he resigned from his high position in court to find another position in jeju island, just so that he could protect her from villians who wanted her dead. i spent the night talking all about that officer-guy with my cousin... and my cousin-in-law was plugging his ears, pretending to be oblivioius. i think he only said one line the whole night :" that guy's a disgrace..=(" sulky**sulky**... haha... now my whole family from my grandma to my aunts and cousins are watching it, it's addictive, it's tear-jerking, it's heart-wrenching, it's really hilarious, and that officer guys is so perfect!

pocky

You Are Strawberry Pocky

Your attitude: fresh and sweetComforting, yet quirky ... quietly hyperYou always see both sides to everything

so what flavour pocky are you?

http://www.blogthings.com/pockyquiz.html

growing old together

met up with cheryl, flora, rachel and carol at kum boat today..=) it's nice to catch up with old friends... i must say i'm grateful to have known such fantastic people! we started talking about hair cuts and highlighting, and slowly went on to convocation and work, and salaries, and of course working clothes and covered shoes.. i think there was a slight mention of 'briefcase' by cheryl as well... REVELATION... we're turning into working adults! we still had our fair share of giggles (hee hee) and guffawing (haha) like we used to, but some how i sense that today was a turning point: a coming of age for us secondary school friends. i'll bet my dollar that the next time we meet, we'll be bitching on work and bosses and maybe marriage.. haha..

some part of me always hopes that we'll never have to act our age, its only amongst a celebrated few where we can have such a previledge. it's been 10 years since we entered rgs, and so far for the past decade, i must say that it has been nice growing old together with such good friends.

its been quite a while since i've blogged anything. i had a great time this afternoon watching the medicine faculty musical - A Good History. it was a touching story on the relationships between 8 CG mates in medical school. there was a really complicated love quadrangle where A liked B, but B liked C, and D like A... something like that... and much of the script was on how these people dealt with their emotions- both in medical school and the aftermath of it 10 years down the road.

there was a girl who gave up love, wanting to have more of this world than just that special someone. another one left to find solace away from all the problems, and yet another did everything against her nature in the hope of attracting the attention of the one who meant more to her than herself.

isnt it true that different people deal with emotional stresses differently? but the one thing in common is that matters of the heart have the power to influence even the most rational being amongst us. being in love, and out of it, can make us do the most silly things.


Love, love changes everything: days are longer, words mean more.
Love, love changes everything: pain is deeper than before.
Love will turn your world around, and that world will last forever.
Yes, love, love changes everything, brings you glory, brings you shame.
Nothing in the world will ever be the same.

Off into the world we go, planning futures, shaping years.
Love bursts in and suddenly all our wisdom disappears.
Love makes fools of everyone: all the rules we make are broken.
Yes, love, love changes everything: live or perish, in its flame.
Love will never ever let you be the same.

a life of love helps mould us into the person we become, and hopefully it makes us learn to love the life we have...

"We are such stuff as Dreams are made on..."

"We are such stuff as Dreams are made on..."

greetings

this is chris..i have just hacked into shan's blogspot account! she doesn't know this..heh. felt like writing someting on the blog so i did some hacking! haha

since shan did come reflecting about the trip, i shouldn't lose out also right? must do some reflecting of my own! or not the viewers of the blog may think this chris got no 'black ink'!

9 days has passed already since we came back to singapore on our pseudo-backpacking trip! but sometimes it only feels as though we came back yesterday!. i guess it's the holiday mood still rampaging in me, everyday seems like a holiday! why i say 'pseudo' is because we haven't really had the toughest of conditions to live in. we were very fortunate to meet so many nice people and received so much help which made our trip both enjoyable and relatively comfortable. there were days where i wanted to return to singapore, but there were also times when i wanted to extend my trip and visit more places. on the whole it's would have been a rewarding experience even if we had only stayed one week.

it is rewarding on many grounds.

firstly it was the first time i am travelling to such a faraway place for a considerable time with someone. shan has proven to be a worthy companion (like in the amazing race! haha) i could not have asked for anyone else on this trip. she adds a woman's touch to my occasional reckless MAN way of handling things. i'm glad i had her around to discuss things before making decisions. her meticulous ways also proved valuable on many occasions. but of course there were difficulties and disagreements, we even had a small silly fight over a sofa bed! i also had 'extra duties' to perform like standing guard outside the toilet when she bathes because she was scared of intruders! but looking back at it i just have a good laugh, never regretting it for a minute. i wouldn't go on to list all the good and bad stuff...it'll take me the whole day or maybe more! most of all i felt that i have gained a companion, a partner, a special friend.

secondly it rewarded me with the experience of travelling faraway from your country and family members. just boarding the plane bound for 10000 miles away took alot of courage knowing that in the next 30 days i am responsible for myself; that there will be no safety net of your family by your side...from then every decision is yours to make and to live with. from this trip i saw the difficulties, magnitude and responsibilities of being an adult. i also learnt that being courteous and respectful to other people actually goes a long way. even with communication problems sometimes, it was important not to be afraid of asking or embarrassing yourself, people will always acknowledge a sincere request. being on your own for a long time also taught me to be independent. in many western countries, it is in fact the norm for children to find jobs and live on their own from ages 16-18!

third and finally, it was interesting to see so many different people from all walks of life, cultures and lifestlyes. u listen and gasp at their varying experiences from all over the world. many people also were keen to find out more about little known singapore. i think both shan and i can give a good summary of singapore to any tourist in a few minutes! some of the interactions with people and different environments also made us appreciate what we have back home. despite her criticisms like boring and tiny, singapore has given us many things that we often take for granted.

i'd like to end off with a quote:" We are such stuff as dreams are made on..." go figure!

P.S last night was the first time i ate chem-pa-dak..this fruit which tastes like jackfruit and durian...2-in-1! shan introduced it to me....and she peeled grape skin for me! so romantic! haha

good day!
chris

We all need a fire starter...

It's been a while since i blogged anything... actually it's been a while since i last logged onto msn, icq and all that tech-savvy stuff... come to think of it, i don't even check my email everyday anymore! (check it on an average of once in 2 to 3 days...) to sum it up, i'm basking in the luxuries of a glorious holiday season... ahhh... mmmm...

(no.. that doesn't equate to being lazy...)

After having such a long holiday, and especially a holiday where internet access was of remotest possibility; the lull of lazy days, spent at my own time, whim and fancy does linger on. my day starts with me leisurely eating a cereal breakfast, spending the next hour reading the news papers and the day goes on, with me doing whatever i want to do... which sometimes means nothing at all...

(such a lazy bum eh...)

This is a good break. After one year of charging through school like a machine powered on red bull, i must adimt i'm enjoying myself this very moment. This break was my power booster, my fire starter. For reasons aplenty, i was losing steam studying medicine last year. My initial ideals and passions for wanting to go to medical school seemed more of a child's amibitions that were as what they were meant to be - ambitions that did not fit well in the realities of life's puzzle. What i've realised during this period of rest is that when you're so caught up in the present, it is difficult to clear your mind to 1) reflect on your past and 2) re-focus on your goals for the future. Going off the track exploring other hospitals overseas, meeting new people, hearing new perspectives and learning new cultures was both an inspiring and humbling experience. I have met individuals who have inspired me and made me realise my inadequacies both as an all-rounded person and as a future doctor. We have much to learn, especially with regards to the art of doctoring. (isn't it good i realised it before i actually graduated?)

Like many young people my age, I wanted an opportunity to experience the world at large and not the world as i knew it to be. I had a real good time, there was simply so much out there to see and do. As a tourist and foreign student i had a great time! I'm thankful to my parents who have made this trip possible; but as a daughter my one biggest conclusion is that there's no place like home.