small victory

hands to little.. but that's where it's supposed to go,
this one has tough skin, and veins that don't show.
i hope she doesn't feel too much pain,
as some of her blood i need to drain.
managed to get it on my first try,
 quite amazingly, she didn't cry.
wrapped her back up, returned her to mommy,
smile on my face... a small victory.

Something's gotta give

I've got the dreamer's disease, it has brought upon me some dis-ease.
Giving up so much for the chase, now some things have fallen out of place.
Would I have done it any differently? Honestly, quite unlikely.
I have taken much for granted, now I feel that I'm surrounded
by the many 'what-if's in my life, creating this internal strife.
Letting each day pass without much meaning, inside my heart is yearning,
for a sign.... and there it was.

Lies, I don't take well to.
Twice, I must be a saint.
Trice, I must be insane... Perhaps some lidocaine, or prilocaine, through the vein...

Snap out of it.....

Babies...

pick me up, put me down,
whatever he's doing is making me frown.
what's that bright light in my eyes?
gonna shut them, you'd better not pry.
 coo coo coo, peek-a-boo, oh no i made a poo.
suddenly....whoa i'm falling!
better try to grab something...
 is it time for feeding yet?
i'm sucking but nothing's coming out.
who's this fella messing around?
i want my sleep so put me down.

 neonatology 10/10/11 - 12/11/11

Where am I?

Got a 5 week break from work, which has been overdue. The last time I was back was in April, and I just wanted some local food upon touching down. The wanton noodles that I had was not wanton noodles. The stall was run by 3 PRC ladies. Yeah sure it had wantons and noodles. But it totally wasn't. The question at that time was "what is this?".

The question this time around is "where am I?". I don't know. Being overseas should make me used to being the minority, but this is supposed to be home. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Same government policies, same problems, more of the same changes.

I hope I don't lose enough Singapore in me to not want to come back. I still believe. For now.

ER

Meet a Brazilian patient in one of my previous shifts. He seemed distraught and has some shoulder pain, along with some superficial scratches on his elbow.

I know from the start that his problems were minor, but still I examined, advised and reassured him. He wanted to exchange numbers at the end of the consult, and seemed very grateful. He even invited me to go to Brazil for 2014's world cup, and said that he will play host to me.

2 days later he called me to tell me that his shoulder is all better, and was quite thankful. He even said that he regretted not knowing me earlier so that he could invite me to his birthday dinner that passed. Nice guy. If only more of the patients are like that.

Reassurance is a very powerful tool.

Champagne tap

Did my first successful LP today. Had one unsuccessful one a few weeks back. And this time it was a champagne tap.

Sometimes in life you just have to trust your instinct when it's trying to tell you something, and feel your way through.

I needed this wind today.

X

The not-so-short journey to the ballot...

Woke up at 6am to take the 7am train, to catch the 830 flight to Canberra. The night before, I was wondering what to pack. Passport: check, election notice letter: check, water bottle: check, earphones: check, textbook: check, jacket: check. That should do. A couple of slices of toast and a nespresso later, I was out the door.

Uneventful flight with short naps and some studying. Touched down at 1040h. I was warned that it would be quite cold there but when I stepped out of the airport, I got a pleasant surprise that it was colder that I thought... 8deg C. Apparently it was 0 deg last night. Nice.

Went to the bus stop... 1 bus every hour. Missed the 1030 one so I had to wait. Grabbed a flat white and walked around the airport. 3mins later I was done. There's is absolutely nothing there.






Then I met a fellow voter going to the poll, and this made the trip more enjoyable.





















The bus came and it took us to the city, where we decided to walk it. It was a 3km walk but with this great weather, it will be quite pleasant. Thanks to google maps and my phone compass I knew where to head towards.










































Got there eventually... proof! There were quite a few cars parked outside the High Comission and people were just lingering around, maybe to chat with others there. I spoke to another guy there and he and his friends drove down from Sydney. Can't tell who he's going for. Had my passport and letter inspected and I was handed the ballot paper... looks like a primary school fees receipt if you asked me. 5 seconds later, I was done. I too lingered around to chat with those around. Singaporeans being a not-too-friendly bunch, just passed looks around, with not much verbal communication other than between their own friends.


This brought me to about 1330. Made my way back to the city to have lunch and to catch the bus back at 1530.






























Canberra is really a dead town... these are the streets in the city center on a saturday afternoon. I don't think I would be able to survive here long.







































































































Job done. Hope this brings a dawn of a new beginning.

Fashion experiment

Got this pair at JB.... was thinking if wearing it to work could work, and to my surprise, it kinda did. Got 4 +ve comments, but also quite a few people looking at it (e.g. patients' parents). I think I pulled it off.

07052011

This will be first time going to the polls and ironically it won't be in Sg. At 35 years of age, it is quite unthinkable that this is my inaugural democratic decision making event, but I'm sure there are others that come to this crossroad at a later age. Nonetheless, I will be traveling 2,400kms just to exercise my right as a Sg Citizen when the day comes.

Events leading up to polling day have been quite lively thus far. I wish I could be part of the party, to soak in the atmosphere. While proponents of opposition candidates feel that 'the time is now', I have a feeling that the same old story would eventuate. I do hope that my gut feel is wrong though and that some thing a little out of the ordinary happens this time.

Things are less than ideal for my return. I would not have achieved what I have so far if not for stepping out... and I believe staying out would build a stronger bridge from reality to my dreams. While I don't see any majors changes after polling day, I do hope that things do not change hard and fast enough to make my difficult choice even more so.