Yay!

small victory

2011-10-31T22:09:00.001+10:00

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

2011-10-27T00:01:00.000+10:00

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...

2011-10-26T23:21:00.001+10:00

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.

neonatology10/10/11 - 12/11/11

Where am I?

2011-09-09T16:49:00.001+10:00

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

2011-07-23T01:30:00.003+10:00

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

2011-05-10T22:42:00.002+10:00

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

2011-05-08T12:45:00.018+10:00

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

2011-05-05T21:14:00.002+10:00

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

2011-05-02T14:10:00.002+10:00

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.

All set..

2010-12-22T22:23:00.002+10:00

Just received confirmation on my registration yesterday.
Paid the bond for my new accommodation, and signed the contract.
Moving in on New Years Day.

All I need now is some prata and kopi-o, watching EPL live with my buddies.

Lazy, rainy Sunday

2010-12-19T17:20:00.003+10:00

Full Circle

2010-12-05T00:22:00.005+10:00

Haven't done this in a while, and I think 'Yay!' deserves a reason for its name.

The past 2 years have been almost like a blur, but for the fact that time seems to go by a lot slower in Australia than in Sg. It's not just because life there in Gold Coast is more for the tourist rather than residents, but also I felt that I didn't really belong there. I just told myself that I’m in a situation where studying would be ideal, with the distraction kept to a minimum. However, distractions help to keep ones sanity. No man is an island.

I have achieved what I’ve set out to do after these years, but I think what was more meaningful was the journey, where I learnt things about myself, and my relationships with family and friends back home. Being away most of the time makes my time back home seem more concentrated and contrasted. The concentrated effect is somewhat like the ‘limited edition’ effect, i.e. not indefinite. Contrasting because I cannot help but juxtapose things around me here at home or over in Australia. To me, I see it as a win-win situation. Over here, I take advantage of all that I can (e.g. shopping for clothes, textbooks, food), and over there, I enjoy all the elements of life there that makes that place it one of the top destinations for immigrants (e.g. great weather, free parking).

It is contrasting also because I was away at a critical time where changes were happening at a furious pace here. Every time I’m back I see new buildings, new roads, my old hangout places gone, and a vastly changing social and demographic landscape. As I see the changes that are happening here being more detrimental to the less fortunate and not so well-to-do, it got me interested again about policies, politics and the keenly following all the new media channels for netizens to voice their opinions and reviews. I always try to see the reasoning from both sides, but some of the decisions that were made lately are just beyond comprehension.

I am asked quite often how come I don’t go for holidays. Being back home is a holiday in itself. Being is Australia is also like another holiday. Holidays all year round. Who can ask for more. Even when I start working there, I don’t think it will feel the same as working life here. I have seen how hard the junior doctors here have worked in TTSH while I was on attachment there. I don’t think that its’ much of a life. Work life balance there is very important, and I cannot wait to be part of the action (actually I can wait to start getting income again after 4 years…).

Ever since I have been away, I felt that everyone fussed about me a little more than I was comfortable with. I was ok with it at the start, and even initiated the gatherings. But as the years went by, I felt more like lying low and just taking it easy… but there will always be something happening, and I don’t disappoint. Sometimes I see going back to Australia as a much needed relief from everything. Hello serenity, my new old friend.

Nonetheless, it was nice to have the extended family come together today for dinner. It has been awhile since I saw some of them and it was heart-warming to see everyone having a good time. This would not have happened save my dad organizing it.

I have no regrets from the start about this decision, and I am glad that things are working out. I am also very grateful to everyone who supported me over the years, especially my family, and also my friends here and over there too. I would advise anyone to try living somewhere else if they haven’t already done so, even if it’s just for the sake of the experience.

Bus 70

2008-12-02T20:50:00.002+10:00

Today I was pleasantly surprised to find my favorite bus captain, Chandra, in the driver's seat of bus no 70 on my way home.

I remember back in the day when I was working in Shenton Way, sometimes I would take the bus he's driving. He would greet passengers as they boarded and alighted. Every one. Most passengers would be taken aback and give a blank stare. I would to just smile at him.

But today, I had a chat with him, saying how I remembered taking him from a few years back. He then took off his driving glove to shake my hand. He also proudly showed me his collar pin, which is some prestigious award he got recently for the service he rendered. He deserved it.

Some of the regular passengers would exchange a few sentences with him, complaining about the weather and such.

Before I alighted, I went up to him and told him how much I enjoyed having him as a captain and told him to keep up the good work. Again, he took off his glove and shook my hand.

This is the kind of service which the service industry should try to emulate. But I think it's asking too much.

Good job Chandra. =)

Dump of Death (DoD)

2008-09-06T13:59:00.003+10:00

It has been reported that those with weak hearts, e.g. the elderly, have arrested (heart stopped) while in the loo, doing the No.2.

This is the reason why.... when we're into No.2, our "rest-and-relax" aka parasympathetic system kicks is... this means blood is directed away from the muscles, and to the visceral organs (e.g. gut, kidneys)... and part of this effect is the slowing of heart rate (vagal activation).

Good to keep an eye out for friends/family that might be in this kind of situation.

Alfie

2008-09-05T22:43:00.002+10:00

Friday night.... just back from the gym, having cooked dinner.
Chanced upon the movie "Alfie" on TV.

Just want to share its ending excerpt.

"I warned them all from the beginning.

I always said something along the lines of,

''I must advise you,

I am stamped with an invisible warning.

I will not commit. I will never marry.''

Despite my best efforts, I'm beginning to feel some small cracks

in my faux finish.

You know, when I look back on my little life,

and all the women I've known...

...I can't help but think about...

...all that they've done for me...

...and how little I've done for them.

How they looked after me, cared for me...

...and I repaid them by never returning the favour.

Yeah.

I used to think I had the best end of the deal.

What have I got?

Really?

Some money in my pocket.

Some nice threads. Fancy car at my disposal.

And I'm single.

Unattached. Free as a bird.

I don't depend on nobody.

Nobody depends on me.

My life's my own.

But I don't have peace of mind.

And if you don't have that, you've got nothing.

So...

So, what's the answer? That's what I keep asking myself.

What's it all about?

You know what I mean?"

Touch 'n Go

2008-07-12T11:23:00.004+10:00

Back for the week in SG. The change was rather welcoming.

As usual, I packed my days here having breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, coffee, dinner, drinks, supper, mahjong, bomberman-ing, crabbing with friends/family, and the time in between appointments would be spent with Tabby (eq writing this now) and studying (or at least the attempt to).

Some of the quirks I kinda missed-but-not-really of SG life during this trip back:

Lingo
- mandarin structured english
- manglish / engdarin / malanglish
- missing words from the sentence structure
- ever changing tone (as opposed to cresendo/decresendo)

Road culture
- perpetually speeding/over-taking cars
- que jumpers
- over modified korean/japanese cars
- white headlights
- paid parking
- rear windscreen cluttered with soft toys
- the "my life revolves around my car" lifestyle
- the never ending discussion on ERP

Dining
- the "get lost and gimme your table" stare
- the "dowan leh, you wait long long for my table" stare into oblivion
- al-fry-sco dining

It's still home.

And what's wrong with shaking hands? Hais...

And I'm back to the crawing board in 48hrs. See you in December.

Enter sandman

2008-07-01T21:53:00.003+10:00

And kaypo man.
Southbank, Brisbane.

mikroMAN

2008-06-29T23:18:00.004+10:00

A thin sheet of metal, but so much fun. Ingenius. Thx G.

Nostalgia

2008-06-27T02:55:00.002+10:00

This used to be my playground, where I once spent countless hours.
Winning isn't everything, but it sure gives you a high.

moosic...

2008-06-22T14:05:00.003+10:00

Listening to High and Dry by Jamie Cullum now.

It last featured when I was about to head to Gold Coast for my Med Sch interview in 2006. Crossroads. It's been almost 2 years since. Time flies.

Music. Food for the soul. Bookmarks of life's stroll.

Personality Testing

2008-06-21T18:23:00.004+10:00

Quite interesting this.... if you wanna find out what personality type you are.
http://www.41q.com/

Here're my results.
http://www.41q.com/type.41q?p=24673335

more info on personality types at
http://www.typelogic.com/

woof woof

2008-06-19T00:05:00.001+10:00

she's dem hyper....

Melbourne weekend

2008-06-16T01:25:00.008+10:00

Night shots by Yarra River

Cravings....
Famous hotdog @ Vic Mart

Baskers here have real talent.

Danish pancakes. Don't really know what the commotion is about, they weren't that great.

Vic mart on a sunday afternoon.

The view from Desmond's place.

Gotta love the tram service.

Victoria is definitely the place to be.

KL Trippin

2008-04-23T00:58:00.028+10:00

X-files

2008-03-17T16:27:00.002+10:00

Had a patient today....
We couldn't find his heart sounds.
What the hell... where was it?
It was on the other side.
So is everything else.... on the other side.

Situs inversus. <1/10000. My lucky day.

Hormones

2008-03-13T22:11:00.002+10:00

Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone
Oestrogen
Luteinizing Hormone
Follicle Stimulating Hormone
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin
Inhibin
Progesterone
Prolactin
Oocyte maturation-inhibiting factor
Proteolytic enzymes

No wonder women have such random mood swings.... its not really their fault.
Next time, just believe them when they are hormonal.

'95 Riedell Overhaul

2008-01-18T20:14:00.000+10:00

Stripped.

Out with the old.... you've served me well.

In with the new. K2 Moto - 80mm/80A.

Before and after.... wear and tear.

Ready to fly.

Jersey mania

2008-01-09T16:26:00.000+10:00

Was doing some spring cleaning today.... thought I'd just do this for fun.... realized that I missed out one more Boca Jnr jersey after taking the pic but was too lazy to arrange everything again...

The Candy one was from my primary school class soccer team in 1988. We won of course, otherwise it'd have been a joke...

Think the weirdest acquisition was the Newcastle jersey... must have been really cheap.

2007...

2007-12-31T17:43:00.000+10:00

2007 has been one of the most happening years of my life to date. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it's a 007 year, coupled with me always trying to emulate James Bond. (Thus the convertible and leather jacket)

Listing in terms of priority the top milestones of the year:

1. Getting into Med School - I am living my dream. Not sure how many people are lucky enough to do that. I'm very thankful for having been given this opportunity, and will never take it for granted. It's been a long and arduous road getting here, but the road ahead is even longer and tougher. All the same, I'm game.

2. Appreciating Family and Friends - I haven't been without family and friends for more than 1 month, and this being away was quite a trying time. Absence makes the heart fonder...

3. Appreciating Singapore - For all this shortfalls, Singapore is still home. I just had to find this out for myself by juxtaposing home with another place. I have been complaining about so many things about this place just like many others, but when it comes down to it, home is where the heart is.

4. Living abroad - How I prepared myself for this was to imagine the worst possible scenario in any case. With such expectations, one cannot possibly be disappointed. It wasn't easy, but I got through it without too many scratches. Different people, culture, place. Being "2nd class" isn't really a nice feeling, but I came out better through it.

5. Surviving 1st year Med - Honest to God, I haven't put in that much effort before into anything I have gone through. I can still recall how I was having thoughts about giving up, when I was studying through the night and I could feel my temples pulsating.... I asked myself is this all worth it? What if I got a stroke? But thankfully I was the wiser and knew that the pulsating temple would not lead to that. I survived. The worst should be over, I think.

6. Fitting in - I always wondered how it would be like in "angmo-land". Well, I'm glad to say it's really great. Made quite a few close friends there, albeit a lot of them being Asians.

7. Getting my first convertible - Another small dream of mine, to drive down the beach topless (the car, not me). I was contemplating about the MX-5 at first, but decided on the 206cc cos it had a hard top, and this was when Transformers was a hit. heh... it also looked futuristic and could potentially fit 4 people (they need to be on the small side tho).

8. Learning to Cook - I have always wanted to learn how to cook... but I guess necessity is the mother of all invention, and with Mom's cooking around, there wasn't necessity present. In any case, there's still lots of room for improvement. So far on the JKYL menu there's pasta, curry, tom yum soup, fried rice, and meat/vege dishes. Shall aim to expand my repertoire in 2008. Suggestions welcomed.

9. Semi-professional Wedding co-ordinator/emcee - Since I was back, I attended 7 weddings, of which I was best-man 3x and emcee 2x. My friends say I should provide professional wedding co-ordinator/planner/emcee services.... maybe next time as a sideline... heh.

Can't really think of a 10th to round things up, so I'll just leave this as it is.

Here's wishing everyone a special 2008. May you realize your dreams.

XW & Goon's wedding day

2007-12-26T02:03:00.000+10:00

We could see the evil in the gatekeepers' eyes, the smirks on their wicked faces. The prey, Goon.

And they subjected him and his brothers to this kinda torture. There was more but it's just too gruesome to show....

So much so that even Sky was exhausted, and Joe terrified.

He tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
He had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter...

For those who have gotten a ride in the Skymobil before, you should be able to empathize with me in this picture.

Flowers arranged, tables set.
Don't they make a lovely silhouette?
This day I'm sure they'll never forget.
Presenting Goon & XW, the newly weds!

Go Goon!

Team iDA

2007-12-21T03:18:00.001+10:00

In my last job before going to Australia, I was with iDA, and was involved in the soccer team. Here is a pic taken before one of our matches.

And no the guy behind isn't the kacang puteh man, he's our captain =)

Team Number: 8
Position: Left-back/left-mid
Record when I'm playing P6 W1 D1 L4.

Fun times.

My wall in the hall...

2007-12-21T01:55:00.000+10:00

This is the wall outside my room in Raffles Hall when I was in year 3.
It was block 3A, and that's where the Bomberman Gang resided.

Got Milk? / iMac / Shakesspeare in love / Nestea / Sesame Street / A|X / Coke / Austin Powers / McDonald's

Can't really see the rest...

Wonder what happened to Mr B1.... hmmmm

Goodbye Yr1, Hello Yr2

2007-12-20T01:54:00.000+10:00

(NGP = Non-graded Pass)

5 more weeks of freedom...

jPod unravelled

2007-12-20T01:18:00.000+10:00

Top down, music up, cruising along Surfers Paradise.

I miss jPod.

3x3

2007-12-13T16:59:00.000+10:00

conquered.... now for the 4x4.

Stevie NG (Angie) wedding / Melaka road trip

2007-12-12T05:46:00.000+10:00

Tis the season to get married... tra-la-la-la-la-la.... you get the drift.
This is the 2nd wedding for me in M'sia, the first being Phaik's (who is now 7 months pregnant.. congrats!) wedding in KL, in 05.

Road trip with 2 of my best buddies, Jo & Sky. There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's the Malaysian Ringgit.

Jo compiled a CD for the road trip... and admittedly it wasn't the best collection of songs. Song No.1 - Chage & Aska's Say Yes. Enough said? Sky kept hitting the "Next" button.

Melaka Executive Summary
1. In a word: Kampung-in-transition.
2. City traffic: 1.2km/j
3. Main attraction: Jonker Street
4. No.1 Myth: Chicken Rice Balls are damn good la!
5. Fashion: too much attention to detail
6. Shopping: couldn't get there. See no 2.
7. Best food on the trip: Jonker street chendol. (had 2)
8. Girls: can't complain... hor Sky? hor?
9. Road culture: think most of the cars' indicators are spoilt... a bit like Sg but even more so
10.Car culture: check out the sticker on the side of the cars man... think its part of the part of the deal when they buy the car... "Eh bang, sticker percuma la..."

Wedding Day/Dinner
- Best man... again. They say 3 strikes and you're out.
- Sisters: .... well at least none of them were pregnant, like one of my previous experiences.
- Photographer was quite kay-en-en. Kept shoving me away during the gate-crashing to get a better shot.
- No Ang Pow box... all the singaporeans blur.
- Free seating. Don't try this, it's very messy.
- Karaoke!!!! Good idea to bring ear plugs just in case.
- Resident host-cum-karaoke-singer
- Drinks self-service. 1 bottle of mineral water, 1 bottle of 7-up, and 1 bucket of ice. Dozo...
- Start late end early! 8.30-10.30pm. chop chop.

Congratulations Steve and Angie. May you have many many happy years ahead.

Tonn....

2007-12-12T05:39:00.000+10:00

@Joe's tonning (stay up overnight)
been awhile since i did this. think that was in JC.
Had a preview of lots of HD movies on Rod's HDTV.

Go reds! YNWA.

back...

2007-12-12T05:30:00.000+10:00

back in sg...
back online...
back in the game...
back to the gang...
back to 222...
back where i belong...
back =)

Quirky quirks from the land down under #00008

2007-09-03T02:25:00.000+10:00

Angmo kid in a pram crying.
Mom pushing the pram ignores.

Kid: "Mommy, I'm crying... waaah..."
Mom: *ignores*

*Repeat above*

Vampire Cup

2007-08-28T20:18:00.000+10:00

It's on, a race to see which med school will win the coveted Vampire Cup.

Did my share today.... it's a much better experience than the first time, when I almost lost consciousness and the nurse had to elevate my legs and lay my head down to get the blood back into the head, in 1994. This time I topped up my fluids from the day before. Also had a good meal before the actual event.

500mls drawn, from about 6 liters.

It's not scary at all.
I encourage everyone to give it a go.
(>45kg, 16-70 years old)

Give the gift of life.

Sunny Coast - Mooloolaba

2007-08-19T01:42:00.000+10:00

During the hunt for jPod in Sunshine Coast, I stopped over at a couple of places to have a look around. One of them was Mooloolaba.

All together now... Moo-Loo-La-Ba.

There's no view from the Loo by the way... just from on top of it.

Buggy surf rescue. Cute.

"Mooloolaba Surf Lifesaving Club Inc. Founded 1922"

One of the many fancy accommodations available there.

And of course, the sun, sand and sea.

Wanna come here hol? =)

Quoteable quotes #2

2007-08-18T11:01:00.000+10:00

"The heart...moves of itself and does not stop unless for ever."
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

jPod: again...

2007-08-17T23:36:00.000+10:00

jPod: 11082007

2007-08-16T23:33:00.000+10:00

Highlight of med school so far...

2007-08-08T10:17:00.000+10:00

We received our exam results last week, and yesterday, the school organized a feedback and Q&A session for us. Let's just say I definitely have room for improvement.

The session focused on where we did well, and where we faltered, and some statistics on how the cohort did as a whole.

Then they went on to talk about diagrams and drawings, and how we don't use enough of them. They proceeded to talk about one question where we had to draw a foetus and some of the relevant fluids, and then they flashed out some of our answers. They wanted to show us some extreme examples, and the point was that however bad the drawing, as long as it made sense, it was a good one.

When the first drawing went up on the screen, I recognized it straight away. It was mine. =)

And the crowd went "Awwwww.....". It was smiling. So was I.

In other examples there were stick figures, and some even looked like aliens.

Yay.

SensAsians

2007-07-31T22:39:00.000+10:00

Just came back from some trivia competition at the nearby local pub organized for our school by some of the students. We were supposed to have 8 people on the team but 4 of them bailed out, and I was kinda not too keen on it. But a couple of the guys were so pumped up about it so I just went along.

Didn't have a good feeling about it... anyway...

So there were 4 of us. 4 chinese guys. 1 chess player, 1 pharmacist, 1 dodgy engineer guy, and me. We were a little late, so we had to be at an obscure corner of the room. Then we needed to come up with a name. So I coined the name 'SensAsians'. Ha.

That was probably the highlight of the night for us, cos we did really badly in the trivia. A lot of the questions were Aussie stuff. I think we could have scored the lowest overall... shh...

After it was finished, we quickly faded into the background and left.

Kinda what I imagined how night would turn out.

Quoteable quotes

2007-07-30T16:11:00.000+10:00

"Learning, particularly under stress, is facilitated by nicotine."
Rang et al, Pharmacology

SG trippin part 1 of 7

2007-07-09T21:52:00.000+10:00

One semester down, 7 more to go. To say that it flew past would be a lie, to say it crawled wouldn't do justice. I probably overcame the most difficult time of my life to date. *Self-5* And, I also probably enjoyed my time back home more than ever.

Exams didn't go as swimmingly as hoped. Before I started this I resolved to do well. No numbers, just do well. By my standards. I felt that I could have done better, but not by a lot. This semester was more of getting used to life away from home alone, getting used to interacting with people of another culture, and to get the ergonomics of knowledge acquisition down pat. I think I achieved those objectives.

This semester should be a lot better. All settled, have a bunch of great friends in and out of school, and my brain is all greased up for another 20+ weeks of work.

It's been a very short and very sweet trip back to the heartland (never thought I would ever use that word). 11 days, family, many friends, bomberman, people of the land, new landmarks and familiar ones, my trusty Blackmobil OPC Sunny (all 600+kms travelled), and just too much food. Just have to work it off. Gym membership maybe.

- Singlsh everywhere
- $3 meals
- <$2 transport
- Perspiration
- High frequency of buses/trains
- Sim Lim Sq
- Wireless@SG
- Traffic jams, impatient drivers
- Overcrowded shopping malls
- Kopi-O

And now back to the drawing board. Quite excited about this semester as we get to go to hospitals and start seeing real patients, the greatest teachers around. I have never ever believed in textbook learning, but I guess its better to have some grounding before you're seen prancing around the hospital with a stethoscope around your neck.

Be back soon...

Of Bengs and Lians

2007-06-22T14:47:00.000+10:00

Ah Beng. Ah Lain.

"Blah blah blah...."

2007-06-16T16:39:00.000+10:00

*Scene - tutorial*
*class mate A reading stuff from the computer (as we do in every tutorial)*

Classmate A: "and then we have lots of other information..... blah blah blah..."
Classmate B: "Bob Loblaw!"
Me: "Hahaha..."
Rest of class: *silence*
Classmate C: "what?"
Me: "Arrested Development"
Classmate C: *shrug*
Me and Classmate B: *high-five*

People should watch Arrested Development.

If anything, it improves your quality of life by a couple of notches.

Durian

2007-06-12T22:59:00.000+10:00

We always have food during tutorials, and we take turns to bring it every time. Today was my turn, and I thought I would try to let my classmates and tutor try some durian. So the day before, I went over to Woolworth's to get one. Kept seeing it when I did my grocery shopping last time, but never wanted to get it as my craving wasn't that bad, and it was quite dear. about $4+ per kg (with skin). My durian costs me almost $12.

So, I bought 1 durian and brought it to school without the skin. Wanted to show them the whole fruit, but i figured that it would be just too messy. Didn't see a need to impress anyone with my durian handling skills (or the lack of it).

I brought the stuff into our classroom during the break. It was sealed in an air-tight container so the smell didn't get out, until I opened it to let some of them have a whiff. And their reaction was priceless.... disgust epitomized. After that I sealed the container back. Some of the students went out of the classroom during the break, and when they came back, one of them remarked "Did someone fart?". =)

So we decided to have the durian after class..... and when the time came, I opened the container, 1/2 of the class just ran out. (Muhahah... more for myself). My tutor was the most sporting of all, as she consumed 1 WHOLE SEED. The few left just nibbled at it....

So much for trying to share the joy... but I guess it's not something for everyone's taste buds.

My housemate Chris eats the stuff... so I'll share it with him.

Incidentally, the foul smell that is reeked by durians is partly due to this (and not the BO from the guy in the picture below):

Thiol, one of the organosulfur compounds that may be responsible for the characteristic odour of durian (Thanks wiki).

Will have to have 1 session when I go back. 16 days more.

(All pics courtesy from wikipedia. It's my fav site now... helping me through school. gonna make a donation when (if) I graduate)

MS Office Ultimate (not)

2007-06-11T04:09:00.000+10:00

Click to enlarge.....

It says "There are too many spelling or grammatical errors in to continue displaying them. To check spelling and grammar of this document, choose Spelling and Grammer from Review tab." [OK]

Seriously...

Save the earth! part 2

2007-06-05T02:40:00.000+10:00

Think it's a move in the right direction for shops in Sg to turn to using re-useable bags, and it's about time too. Can use the bag for other purposes too! like bring your pets around....

They have been doing it here for the longest time.

(Yah, lots of soft drinks.....=p)

Go green everyone!

Easy Mac

2007-06-02T02:36:00.000+10:00

For those who are huge fans of the instant noodle.... try this.
Fast and tasty, good for suppers, snacks, and 2am studying.

Available there?

Hic! (^_^)

2007-05-25T03:32:00.000+10:00

Just had a beer... at 3am.. after finishing my tutorial for later... 1230pm *hic* (not really *hic* la, but just wanna add an effect...)

Btw, beer here is really cheap. 24 bottles of this for $29. =D
Too bad I don't drink that much.

Alcohol is in the form of ethanol in beverages. (CH3CH2OH)

Anyway here is how it works on the body....

Ethanol is metabolised into acetaldehyde (by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase), then to acetic acid (by the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase).

It is the acetaldehyde that makes us feel woozy. How?

We have 2 kinds of nerves in our bodies. The excitatory and the inhibitatory nerves. Acetaldehyde suppresses the excitatory nerves and increases the activities of the inhibitatiry nerves. That's why when people get drunk, they tend to become sluggish, mental awareness drops, and control bodily functions not as good.

So people who get drunk easily don't have much of the second enzyme (especially so in Asians, e.g Me), and have lots of acetaldehyde in the blood when they drink. People who don't get drunk easily either have lots of the second enzyme, or are lacking in the first enzyme.

Also, too much alcohol causes liver cirrhosis. Liver is the organ that filters all the crap in your body, so too much alcohol will overwork the liver, and the liver cells will just die.

I also read somewhere that people who live near the equator, and who are hairless, are predisposed to cirrhosis. (For real.. someone wrote this n a book)

Apparently studies have shown that coffee consumption may protect against cirrhosis, especially alcoholic cirrhosis. But please don't quote me.

Sign in Victoria, Australia

*hic*!

Kree... kree... kree...

2007-05-20T19:21:00.000+10:00

Place - Australia Fair (Biggest shopping centre in the suburb)
Date/time - today, 5.30pm.

Took this when I went grocery shopping just now, just let you have a feel of how life here is like.

Watched the extra-time of the FA Cup Final (repeat) after doing my shopping with some random guy, on a screen at the food court. Listened to the match over BBC yesterday on radio.

Have to find a way to watch the UEFA Cup Final.
Go Liverpool.. YNWA =)

Rainbow

2007-05-10T17:43:00.000+10:00

Been hard at work lately... that's why nothing really much going on with me. Don't think I'll go to the extent to blog about the stuff I'm studying... (unless it's a health tip)

Took this just now. Nice eh? Double some more.

For the curious, here's how it works.

Some quick facts about the rainbow:
1. Red is always the outermost ring, and violet the innermost.
2. Angle the sun makes with the ground is 42 degrees or lower.
3. The sun is always behind you.
4. Some people have seen up to 4 rings of rainbows (above is 2).
5. And no, you'll never reach the end of the rainbow.

Endeavour Foundation

2007-05-03T12:43:00.000+10:00

For our course this semester, we have to do for community placements, which means to visit places or events that has anything to do with health care.

The one that I just went to is the Endeavour Foundation. It is a government supported organization that provides homes for mentally disabled individuals who do not have personal care givers.

Took some pictures there, to share with everyone.

This is their living room, where they gather to watch TV, read magazines, chat, etc.

This is one of the clients, Billy, having a chat with my course mate, Lindsey. Not too sure what condition Billy has, but he has problems speaking properly, so much so that I can only make out about 10% of what he's trying to say. Lindsey however seems to understand Billy very well. Must have gotten accustomed to the way Billy speaks.

This is their music room, where they have their weekly happy hour on Friday afternoons. Some of them play musical instruments. Billy plays the drums. Maybe we can exchange some tips heh. The rest would just lounge around, some of them dance to the music too.

This is a mini mural of the people at the home. They seem happy.

This is everyone's favorite resident, Sue. She has down syndrome, but she's 63 and still going strong! I don't think it is common for people with down syndrome to live to such an advanced age.

She's so warm and friendly, just melts the hearts of those who meet her.

I had fun.

Health Tip #0001 - DVT

2007-04-28T11:34:00.000+10:00

Nothing's more important than your health. All the money in the world won't mean a thing if you can't enjoy it properly.

I'll be posting a health tip that I pick up in class every now and then.

Today's tip is about not sitting or standing for too long. When that happens, there's a higher tendency for blood to coagulate at parts of veins in your legs. Most of the times these go away on their own, but if one is in a sedentary position for too long, the blood might clot, causing deep vein thrombosis (DVT). This happens especially during long flights, where one's movement is quite restricted.

It might be days before you feel any symptoms, in the form of aches, pains, and swelling, and this because the clot is blocking the blood from reaching other parts of your body.

In a more serious scenario, the thrombus might get dislodged, forming an embolus. And this embolus might get stuck anywhere in your blood vessel, causing an embolism. The most severe consequences of this is a heart attack or a stroke.

There was a case recently where an employee of HP in Sg suffered a heart attack because she was sitting at her desk for too long. This was probably what happened to her.

So just take note if you have a tendency to sit in front of the TV or computer, or anywhere Else, for prolonged periods. Get up and move about every now and then. Or just do some leg exercises while you're seated.

Guys, if girls complain about you shaking your leg when you are sitting, feel free to use this excuse. It's so valid.

Quirky quirks from the land down under #00007

2007-04-28T11:26:00.000+10:00

Took this shot on the outskirts of Brisbane, on the way to the markets.

The support structure on this bridge is acutally someone's home, so there are 2 of them, one on each end.

Think it wasn't cheap...

Why would anyone wanna live on a bridge?
How to zz at night here? So noisy.
Then again it works both ways... that fella can blast his music or make all the noise he wants.

Ideal for people who are neighbourphobic.

Brisbane River

2007-04-24T21:00:00.000+10:00

One of the sights of Brisbane is its river. It runs through the city centre and there are a few ferry services that run along it. It's quite a nice ride, sun in your face, wind in your hair.

Here are some of the pics that I took while on the ferry.

Story Bridge... dunno what's the story behind this.. lazy to google.

Some houses along the river. Waterfront housing.. ahhh....

That's the City Cat, that brings us around the river. Looks fierce, and it can go real fast! Those with hats are advised to have it secured properly.

CDB by night. This shot was taken at about 5+pm.

On top of the City Ferry. One of the best (and cheapest) ways to see the city.

Some fancy decor along the river, might be a children's playground. *shrug*

North Quay and Victoria Bridge

Goodwill Bridge

Me.

Ulu land...

2007-04-22T00:56:00.000+10:00

This is one of the more popular the train stations in Gold Coast, on a Saturday evening.

This place is just too vast... probably also because the train comes 1 every hour, like some of the buses here. Here, high frequency is every 30 minutes.

Need..... car..... (faints from waiting for next bus/train)

"kree...kree...kree" (Sound of crickets)

Random pics from my collection #0001

2007-04-16T12:03:00.000+10:00

This is what a typical bomberman/soccer match weekend at Joe's with the hall guys.

It can't get any more happening than this.

Don't think we'll get many of these in the future... =(

Quirky quirks from the land down under #00006

2007-04-16T10:49:00.000+10:00

I wondered how come we are on the extreme right lane and there are hardly any cars around.

Then I was told that this is the lane for cars with 3 or more people in the car.

Makes perfect sense. More people in the car, more time wasted travelling, so to be fair, they created this lane.

Maybe Sg roads can take a leaf (or two) out of the book of the Au traffic system.

Showtime... in the lecture theatre

2007-04-12T00:41:00.000+10:00

There was a break today in between lectures, and a few of the students decided to take a break and watch some cartoon in the lecture theatre.

At first there was some students watching some videos on their laptop right at the back of the lecture theatre.

Then there was this guy playing around with the AV system, which have 2 video cameras, one at the front and one at the back of the lecture theatre, and he zoomed in on the laptop in question using the video camera at the back. Then those watching the laptop angled it such that it showed nicely on the screens, as below.

Family Guy was on. The episode was about how Peter (the dad) went to the docs, and felt violated after a normal rectal exam. He then conferred with his buddies, and all of them felt the same way. Peter then sued the doctor and won, with the doctor losing his license.

Anyway, we decided to just play the show from the lecture theatre's PC.
Lights dimmed. Full effect.

Everyone there (not many, about 20 of us) just laid back and enjoyed the show. My friend Daniel made himself comfortable by lying on the floor, in front of the seats.

Aussies... =)

The 12 Types of Med Students

2007-04-11T21:04:00.000+10:00

Apparently this cartoon is quite popular among the med student fraternity...
(I uploaded the pics at first for your convenience but I thought against it, due to copyrights)

My fav is the "One-Track Mind".

Don't think I fit into any of the above...
Think there should be a new category: The always watching Gery's, House and ER.

Yeah I think the whole lot of us fall into that category.

Old Skool Ride

2007-04-10T22:22:00.000+10:00

Took these pics some time back when I was exploring Brisbane.

VW mini van/bus. Can bring heaps of people around.
Will probably sup it up with
- PS2, PS3, XBOX/360
- DVD and big screen (for ESPN/Star Sports)
- sound system (with nice lights.. heh)
- a couple of laptops linked up (for bomberman, what else) & net ready via wi-max
- electrical cooler box (for Coke... not beer)
- snacks, built-in BBQ pit

.... anything else? hmmm... maybe can steal some ideas from "Pimp my ride".

*Dream*

Quirky quirks from the land down under #00005

2007-04-02T16:20:00.000+10:00

Saw this at a suburban Coles the other day... seat belts and all...
Maciam cockpit...

Pilot: Twisties ahead, 1 o'clock. Lock on and acquire target.
Co-pilot: Roger, locking on....

*Grabs Twisties*
Co-pilot: Target acquired.
*munch*

Of course this probably wouldn't be the scenario if their dearest arch enemy, mommy, was around.

View from my balcony

2007-03-26T01:53:00.000+10:00

Here's a view from the balcony from my place.

Click on it for a larger view, don't think you can see anything from this pic.

On the right lawn you see the locals engaged in lawn bowling games. Not too sure how the game is played, but I think you gotta bowl the ball so that it lands as near to the reference ball (target) as possible. Guess you can find out more on Wikipedia. (That's one of my most important sources of information for my school work =p) These folks take their game very seriously, check out their uniforms. They also have specially marked bowling balls... pink, yellow, blue, red/black, etc...

It has been really windy today, and it's probably below 20 deg C now... such a welcome.

Just love this place.

Power Ice Cream

2007-03-25T01:10:00.000+10:00

Yeah literally.

This isn't a great picture, but the yellow stuff you see is actually red bull sorbet. Got it at the Gelatissimo here. Wonder whether Sg has this flavor.

And yes, it gave me wings... albeit frozen ones.

Save the earth!

2007-03-21T21:03:00.000+10:00

From wireless....

To waterless....

Relocated...

2007-03-17T23:42:00.000+10:00

Sorry guys, just been through a rough patch, was evicted from my previous place and had 1 week to move. Haven't felt that shitty in a long time.

Reason sited was that my sleeping patterns were not compatible with her (my landlady). I got this after running errands for her, fixing her garage remote, helping with computer stuff, cleaning up all the time, etc.

Luckily I didn't blog about that place. It was nice, but somehow I didn't really feel at home there.

Oh well, moving along.

So the evening I got the notice to leave, I packed up Tabby (laptop), Tortora (Textbook) and some snacks, and left for school. It was about 7pm then, and I could use the classrooms till 10pm.

When I reached school, I fired Tabby up and went to the internet to look for a room to rent. After looking at a few, I just tried my luck and called up one of them. Made arrangements to see the place at 9.30pm, and liked it a lot. Paid deposit and moved in a few days later. New housemate came with a huge-ass 4WD and I moved everything in 1 go, including the desk I bought.

Here it is:
My room. (just cleared it up for this shot... heh)

It has a great unobstructed view (which I can't show you as it is night time now), and it is very windy (<200m from beach), and large (previous room was smaller and the landlady had alot of her stuff inside, including 1 locked up cupboard and 60% of the wardrobe space being occupied, and no desk).

The kitchen.

There's a rice cooker. Hallelujah.

The living room.

All settled in now... *sigh of relief* =)

Vrooom...

2007-03-11T03:51:00.000+10:00

Cars are quite a big part of Southport, with heaps (Aust slang) of dealers crawling all over the place.

Used to walk past these everyday last time when I was staying at my old place.

One fine day.... or not.

Quirky quirks from the land down under #00004

2007-03-10T12:16:00.000+10:00

This is one of my lecturers.

Burms, sneakers, beach shirt, sunnies on his head.

But don't be fooled. He's one of the best lecturers we had. Explaining things from simplistic viewpoints and working from there. And he loves to walk around and he engages students.

Instead of asking "Any questions?", lecturers should pose specific questions to student to make them think.

Roti Paratha Anyone?

2007-03-08T22:30:00.000+10:00

Mmmmm.....

Lub-dub... lub-dub...

2007-03-06T23:29:00.000+10:00

Bring out the stethoscopes! =)

Clinical skills on Monday.
We learnt to take vital signs.

(the grey stethoscope above has 2 sets of ear pieces, so that 2 persons can listen in. Very handy for training purposes.)

It was quite fun as you can see...

That guy having his BP taken is Dr Bob. Medical Degree, Dentistry Degree, practiced 45 yrs. *kowtow* He tells lovely stories, and likes to take walks.

There was this baby who was born without eyelids, then the doctor suggested that the baby got circumcised and use that skin to make eyelids.
Mom: "Wouldn't my baby be cock-eyed?"
Doc: "No. He will have foresight."

Thanks Dr Bob.

Oh yes, you cannot take your own BP, as my classmate, Lauren found out. =)

North Stradbroke Island

2007-03-06T00:40:00.000+10:00

Island exploration!

We went to North Stradbroke Island on Saturday.
Here's where it is on the map (island on the right of Brisbane).

We ferried our car over on a ferry (ah duh).

There's enough room for 65 cars apparently.
But I doubt that they ever hit max.

They had a nice lounge area on deck, air conditioned with a mini cafe. And the plasma of course.

The ride was about 40 mins and I was falling asleep during the ride (2.5 hrs zz the night before).

"Country road, take me home...."

"It's a bird! It's a plane! It's...
just JKYL" zzz..

"Whoa, got see more beautifuler beach than this?!"
"Got! There..."

You are not seeing things. The sea is indeed tilted.

Another breathtaking view.

Sun down. Shadow long.
Adrian's brother, Gin Rong, caught some fish!
Free dinner! hehee.
And top shell dug out from the sand by the rest of us!
Seafood.. mm..

"Don't let the sun, go down on me...."
Fun day all round. Need more fun...

Quirky quirks from the land down under #00003

2007-03-04T14:46:00.000+10:00

Check this out.

There's one of this in most washrooms here.
This picture was taken in my school's gents.

Seems like needle use is pretty common there. I heard that they even had a 'Needle Exchange' program for needle users to trade in their used needles for new ones, to prevent HIV.

Detox 101

2007-03-04T14:26:00.000+10:00

Think I'm in trouble.

How the heck am I going to finish all this before they go bad? Argh.

- 32 kiwis
- 9 passion fruits
- 8 huge peaches
- 8 bunches of broccoli
- 6 pears
- 3 mangoes
- 2 boxes of cheery tomatoes
- 1 box of blueberries

All this thanks to Adrian, who went to the fruit market earlier that day. As all typical Singaporeans would, he bought loads and loads of fruits and vegetables because they're cheap. And I got dumped with all this....

Oh well, I guess I'm long over due for a detox.

Kiwi juice anyone?? =|

Springbrook - Glow Worms

2007-02-27T23:51:00.000+10:00

Adrian, my secondary school friend was in town for a couple of weeks so we met up to go sight seeing. So nice to have a familiar face around, although it has only been 6 weeks here.

He came down from Brisbane and picked me up from my place, had dinner then set off to look for glow worms. Was quite excited about it. First real sight seeing experience since I came to Australia.

It was about an hour's drive to Springbrook from Southport, and we reached there at about 9pm.

Here is a map at the park. You can roughly gauge how far we went in from the coast. Think its about 30km from the coast. Ulu to the max.

After the entrace at the park, the whole place was pitch dark. I don't think you can get this kind of darkness in Singapore, what with all the night lights. It was really something else.

I didn't bring a torch, but I had my (sometimes only) trusty O2 Atom (aka Mota) and turned on its camera flash light. It's quite power actually. Lit up the pathway very well. Thanks Mots.

Below are the actual glow worms. They are just tiny spots that emit a luminous green glow, and because of the pitch darkness, they light up prettily (is there such a word? hmm).

You can't really tell how they actually look like from this picture, so just imagine you are in this large cave, and it's pitch dark, and you have thousand and millions of these little green glowing dots on the ceiling of the cave. That's pretty much what it looks like.

It took me quite awhile to get the picture above. Firstly, no light (not low light). Then no tripod, then the glow worms are on the ceiling which is quite far away, and they are not very bright too. So, I disabled the shutter, zoomed in to the max, turned on self timer, and placed the camera on the handrail nearby facing the glow worms. Had about 7-8 tries and that was the best I could do.

Driving to and from Springbrook, the night sky was so clear, and there were so many stars out in the sky. Never seen so many stars at once before.

Oh yes, saw this owl sitting on top of a road sign on our way back. Stuff you only see in moves/tv =)

Quirky quirks from the land down under #00002

2007-02-27T23:09:00.000+10:00

7-11 convenience store.

No, hang on, it's a petrol station too.

That's Adrian, my secondary school friend from MSHS. He came down to Brisbane to settle his kid brother down, for school at QUT.

We were on our way to see glow worms down at some ulu national park. More on that later (Hmm I seem to be saying a lot of 'more on that later' but still haven't got around to blogging it... heh)

Just hope slurpee doesn't come out of the nozzle into the fuel tank.

View from the Library

2007-02-23T23:18:00.000+10:00

Ah the library. How many days and night did you spend there during your schooling days? I think I'm going to have to spend a lot of time there.

The library has a not too bad a view as you can see.

In the picture are of my companions Tabby (laptop), Mota (Atom). And of course, Tortora (textbook). And not forgetting my sunnies and Tag.

Been a little slack this week due to CNY. Kinda tough studying when you know everyone back home is having a good time with the festivities. This would be the first of a few (hopefully) for me.

Griffith University

2007-02-20T23:20:00.000+10:00

Why Griffith? Cos it's colour coincide with mine. Red.
Yes I am that frivolous. Moving along.

The school is a 7 storey building. Yes one building. It connects to the Gold Coast Hospital at the back. 7 storeys, fully self contained medical and dental school.

It seems kinda small, just 1 building, 7 storeys. But amazingly, they have designed it very ergonomically, with
- 2 labs: First encounters with cadavers. The sight of it is ok, but the smell can be overwhelming. Must learn not to breathe in too deeply. Otherwise *ou*.
- 2 lecture theatres
- 1 library
- 1 computer lab
- 20 tutorial rooms: That's were I show the rest of my tutorial group how helpless I am... ha
- locker room: Mine's empty, less lab coat.
- administrative offices
- bookshop: Opens at 7.30am. Who the heck goes there at that time?
- cafeteria: cannot make it, sandwiches and pasta, I think. Never bothered. Don't think I'll spend more than $10 on them this year. And I've already spent $2.80 on a small bottle of juice. Think the only thing worth getting is the coffee. Then again I haven't tried it yet also. See how.
- clinical setups

And all this not inclusive of dentistry labs.

Do I like the place? Well, structurally, it's what any student would have hoped for. New building, new furniture, new computers.... everything's new. But I think because the school is so new, it lacks character like those older schools, e.g. University of Sydney, and probably a lot of the universities in UK, I think.

How about NUS? hmmm.... ok la, my Alma Mata after all. That's where I had lots of good memories. I miss hall life...

Quirky quirks from the land down under #00001

2007-02-19T01:53:00.000+10:00

Part of this blog would be to highlight some of the quirkiness of this land.

Well, I thought that I would start with something not that weird, so that it won't go downhill.... ha..

Here, a bike parked in a car lot. There are no parking lots for bikes, at least not in public areas, so the bike has to park in a car lot, and pay the car parking charges.

I think its quite cool =)

More quirks to come!!

Touchdown - 0 week

2007-02-10T00:14:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone...

This blog been a long time coming. Hope it was worth the wait.
I have been in the Gold Coast for slight over 1 month now, and starting to miss home a little.

Where am I exactly.

It's been an eventful month thus far, and here are the highlights of the first week there:

14 Jan 07
- Flight at midnight, family and close friends from 93-94 NYJC Canoeing Team + friends, brotherhood + friends from RH(NUS) were there to send me off. Thanks all =)

- Flight was good, got an ailse seat and could stretch out my legs. Couldn't really sleep much cos I always get excited when flying.
- While preparing for take-off, there was some confusing in seating arrangements, and some SQ pilot cadets were trying to 'act cute' with the hostesses, trying to be charming. Well, it was quite disasterious. To me at least.

15 Jan 07
- Touchdown at Brisbane International Airport, bus to Southport, Gold Coast.- Checked-in at Swan Lane Apartments (the place where I stayed for my interview).

- Did mostly adminstative matters (e.g. banking, mobile), and made calls about accommodations.
- Viewed one room, where there were 2 guys, one of them Maori, quite the party aniaml. The place was not too bad but just a little far from school and the neighbourhood seemed a little too secluded for me.

16 Jan 07
- Went to see another place, and this is where I would end up. It was a nice, resort-like, place with a small pool.
- Landlady seemed really nice, and I am quite grateful to have found this place. More of this later.

17-19 Jan 07
- My long lost secondary school friend from MSHS, Bernard, came to visit. It's been quite awhile since I've seen that giant. Was good to see a familiar face when you're in a foreign land. Was great catching up on old times.

20 Jan 07
- Moved into my new place.
- After settling in, I made my way up to Brisbane to visit Bernard, for the weekend. My first time in Brissy and it is quite the bustling city. More on that later.

So that's it, first week of the rest of my life in Australia.