my life. my story.

Lets start this going again!

2008-11-12T20:01:00.003+08:00

Just reactivated my blog! Yeah! =) Just realised that most of my friends have stopped their blogs, what a pity!

deep within

2006-05-26T17:11:00.000+08:00

All a sudden, feel like looking for someone to talk to.
But when we meet, I might not say anything.
Just the company, the presence.
Might be enough, to soothe the troubled mind.

2006-05-26T17:08:00.000+08:00

A picture i like. Kwinana Freeway at night.

2006-05-26T16:57:00.000+08:00

Joy of Kids.

My buddies who graduated..

2006-04-28T16:55:00.000+08:00

Chris and Huili bunked in at my house for 2 weeks before they went back to Malaysia. ALthough i only got to know them since Oct 05, we get along well and they are my kakis in singing K, eating dim sum, playing tai di! Haaaa... Liked the blue sofa in their house too.. Really comfy and nice! My crapping partners.. not sure whether they will be heading back to Perth, they change their minds everyday.. almost, at least. One good thing about MCW 05 was definitely getting to know them.. =)

Jasmine - The president of MBGUG also graduated.. but shes doing her honours now so I still get to see her around! Thankfully for International Students Service (ISS) too, we work together and are still in vague contact.. Haaaa... LAter i will post more pictures up of the ball we recently attended.. hee =)

Regardless of where they are or whether I talk to them often, im sure we will have loads to catch up when we meet next.. I miss them already!

Prior to Easter Break 2006

2006-04-19T09:13:00.000+08:00

1st post in 2006..
I have been busy, too many changes in my life and too many things to worry about. I have been trying to find a new blog template too, but can't find one. Guess I should just stick to my old one. Anyway, since now many people assume my blog is dead, lets see who leaves me a msg first!

For those who don't already know, my sister got married over December! THat was the highlight of my holidays back in Singapore! The wedding was held in Sentosa, same night as ZoukOut so the traffic was quite horrible getting into Sentosa. Gave a speech on stage that night, although i was told about that long ago, didnt really memorise my speech and just spoke on stage. Ha! Received a red packet from my sister during CNY for the first time too!

Also, Adrian and I got to go to KL over a weekend and visited our friends there like Jasmine, Chris, Nicholas, Li-Ann. First time taking a coach to KL, first time in KL since I was a little kid! Bernice then came over to Singapore for a few days, so Adrian and I brought her around singapore. As for me, I ate Chicken Rice balls for the first time, went to Night safari and watched the show for the first time (Ha, ber got a shock cos she thought the snake was under her)!

2006 - Year of the Dog
I changed housemates this year, staying with 2 guys Jonathan and Jeremy now. Lash graduated and Shin moved back into Trinity. Jon and Jem are both from Singapore and doing engineering double degrees. Known them since Year 1. We have been cooking dinners at home which has been quite interesting so far! Haaa.. i have a funny pic of Jon..

Feb 2006
Alex brought Jillian, Adam and I boating during summer. My first experience boating in swan river and we all got wet! Although Alex's boat was not as powerful as a few other boats we saw along the way, it was definitely good enough for a thrilling and bumpy ride. We even saw a pack of dolphins! That was really cool =) The Viking which I never saw sailing was out in the river that day too.. People kite surfing, jetskiing and windsurfing.. Along the river on a sunny afternoon.. What an experience! I drove the boat for a while too!

Have you been to crabbing before? Alex brought us to Mandurah to crab and it was SUPER fun! Minus the waterlogged shoes, being grabbed by crabs.. We caught about 14 crabs in total.. You walk into the water like more than 1.5km from the shore and its still not even knee high! So you find your way around seaweed and u bring large scoops for crabs! =)

Shall continue on my next post.. Scared this wont load! =)

2006-04-19T09:08:00.000+08:00

Ber & I!

Break

2005-09-25T04:04:00.000+08:00

Having a 2 week break now! Just returned from Esperance on Thursday night, with 11 other mates. The drive was about 9 hrs long, and the main drivers were Michael and Hao. Major towns we passed by were like Brookton and Corrigin.. and before that was Albany Highway, I called it the ABC part of the route. Yeah.. Was in the car with Jasmine, Lyn and Nicole.. 4 girls and 1 ah-mad.. yeah! The journey was not really peaceful and full of tranquility either.. there were moments of karaoke-ing, moments of laughing.. moments of sleeping... And now we all have animal names! Great. Besides being animals, we are the maids of jasmine and michael too. How fortunate for them and unfortunate for us!

We spent 4 days in Esperance, and the trip was rather relaxing! We started falling asleep around 9-ish and woke up abt 7-ish each morning.. We visited beaches, the Mangliup beach was a sight cos there were 2 horses there. A couple was having a holiday with their horses. Imagine the sight. Sea, sand, sun, horses - Riding in the wind along the coast would surely be an experience! We made stops at Wave Rock as well... It looks exactly the same as in brochures! There are often overnight tours to this place from Perth, and we made a detour to see it.. Where else did we go?

We visited Twilight beach, Whistlers Rock, a Wind Farm, Telegraph farm! The farm was a bonus and we paid $10 each to feed camels, ostriches, see deer, cattle amongst other animals! It was quite an experience, having a feel of in a safari. Wind farm was just like in the previous trip, and the Pink Lake wasnt pink this time! That was disappointing.

I will definitely post some pictures up soon. Another place i went was Araluen. Its the season for wildflowers now, and Araluen is famous for tulips! Took alot of flower shots! For the flower lovers- Dont drool over my nice pics!

Mooncake festival has just passed as well. We had the same food and lantern holding after.. Its nice to just follow a tradition sometimes! Or set a tradition, to follow it!

THe break is now half over.. The other half of the holidays should be productive in terms of work. Some events up my mind are Perth Royal Show, Childrens' Day, baking egg tarts for my stall during MCW! Going to the Wildflower festival later todaY!

Cooking Discoveries

2005-09-09T22:20:00.000+08:00

Been experimenting wtih Nicole ever since cooking with her. Cooked my first steak, gravy from scratch.. One of my first stews, and just random experimentation. My house went out of water from 1-2pm today. It so happened to be my lunch break, and i wanted lunch! I had 1 egg left and was lazy to fry it.

So for the real lazy, like me this afternoon,

Crack the egg into a bowl,
Put the bowl into the microwave for 1 min.
The egg came out really yummy! Like a cooked egg basically.

Was pleasantly surprised that it worked. Haaa..
No longer have to wait 10 mins to boil an egg!

Dreams 2.

2005-09-04T12:21:00.000+08:00

Suddenly realised the end of semester is almost coming.
Suddenly realised I have alot of things to work for,
Alot of dreams, alot of desires, alot of expectations.

Sounds funny, but Mrs L. (The lady i see at Hollywood Seniors, mentioned today to me that she wishes me all the best in my exams, that i will get what i desire, and run to her telling her I did really good in my exams. I wish I would have the chance to do that. That is something to work for, to work towards as well. Today's visit to the seniors citizens left me with quite alot of thoughts. It has been a long time since I wrote about my experiences there. For the past weeks, I didnt visit Mrs L. And I slacked off visiting Mrs. G. Its weird how I am motivated to go, but yet when I am there, I seem to put off visiting these 2 wonderful ladies. It felt as if it didnt really matter whether I visited them or not, yet knowing that they were really lonely. Maybe i just felt that there was just so little I could do for them, that it was really nothing much.

Yet today, I awoke early and reached there on time. THe elderly are finally recognising me, and I feel really at home there. Mrs G. said she would be 102 when i graduate, I wish i could go to visit her when I really do. She has been feeling up and down, and at 98, she said she is really feeling it. Mr H. said he will be turning 98 on Nov 8th. Such a ripe old age, he still helps out daily with morning tea. Blake said that when I am not there, they would not get morning teas on Sundays, cos they cut down on staff, and the lady they cut down was the lady in charge of morning tea on Sundays. That is another reason why I want to go there every Sunday. The kitchen staff once told me when I was having my holiday with Jasmine, that they didnt have morning tea for 3 weeks. My heart dropped when i heard it. Im not trying to say that I am a very important person, but just the lack of staff, the lack of help and how much a helping hand can really do. Mr X said this morning that when they do get morning tea on a Sunday, its a blessing. So many thoughts, so many feelings. Mrs L. asked me how much I loved her today. What would you answer?

Dreams, are all but dreams.
To have them is a blessing,
to lose them is an agony.
They give you a sense of direction,
a path to work.
They might be an impossible destination,
only spurring you to work on.
To aim for the sky,
and reach the stars eventually,
Its already a feat in itself.

Dreams.

2005-09-04T12:17:00.000+08:00

Dreamt of you 2 nights ago,
it made me wake up more than twice throughout the night.
The dream seemed so real,
it made me smile in it.
You said what my mind was wishing for,
my innermost thoughts.
It seemed we both acknowledged IT,
but then I awoke suddenly,
to realise it was just a dream.
Why do dreams occur?
Someone once told me its ur subconscious mind at work.
Whatever you are hoping, yearning for
Surfaces in dreams.
Shut my eyes to continue my dream,
If only, it was real.

Talent night after thoughts

2005-09-02T13:20:00.000+08:00

The inter college talent night was held 2 nights ago, in Trinity. I witnessed quite a lot of talent, mainly musical talents, singing - solo or duets, instrumental - piano, double bass, guitar. This got me thinking, if i have to perform at talent night one day, what talent do I have to display? My piano skills are not for display unfortunately, despite being at Grade 7, i feel as though I cant even play a song! I dont know any tap dancing, or miming, or instruments besides from the piano and the recorder which i learnt in Primary school. The most powerful instrument we all have and utilise daily is our voice.

Each and every one of us have a particularly unique voice. This powerful tool has the power to convey emotion, be it anger, joy, desperation or helplessness. But, how many of us actually dare go up onto stage and perform in front of a large crowd? Other talents i thought of were like juggling and drawing, which i lack as well. Sigh! What gift do you have to share?

mother of five.

2005-08-31T18:37:00.000+08:00

My patient's mum -
Her ideas, her thoughts, her actions, her upbringing
Inspires me, touchs me and teaches me.

"The education system is one where they teach you everything, expecting you to find something you like. However, they do not realise that only by teaching you the things you like, will you be able to learn everything else you need to know."

She said this to me on the car today, not sure whether my wording is of what she said, but those three lines above, are just so meaningful and true to me.

Not coping = Compromise.

2005-08-25T21:51:00.000+08:00

I went to my first surgery today! Saw a toe amputation and also a catheter being put in the abdominal area for dialysis. Shin and I attended the session together with 2 year 4's and 1 of them was our lab tutor! Having to wear the overalls and then go into the theatre standing beside the surgeon was quite cool.

But my title is actually related to the topic i kept thinking of during the bus ride there. A compromise is actually a sign of not coping well. This can be applied in many aspects of life, and i think it stays true as a general rule. I feel like i am slipping away, from my mountain high pile of work, into a life of procrastination, or shuffling of priorities to get jobs/tasks/assignments done. More often than not, my priorities are not really correct. Which is not really good. So all the compromising I make may seem as though I get things done, but isnt it a sign of not really coping well? Hmm. Ever since young, I have had a problem with priorities. Helping friends came before work, helping people came before other stuff. Work was something that could be postponed, unless due tomorrow, if there was something I perceived more important to do, at that moment in time. You can call it procrastination, but its really slightly different many of the times. Its also hard to explain what is running through my mind now, but all i can say is, i am trying to talk through this issue myself and hopefully come to a conclusion, or solution.

Management of time is really not easy, and has never been my forte. I admire those who juggle so many things simultaneously well, although they may be smart, hardworking or even both. After the theatre session, i do feel pumped up to study. I need instant knowledge at the tips of my fingers. I need to commit a million pages to memory. I need to know my stuff!

I think its time to reshuffle my screwed up priorities. The patient might be right, i am really quite a busy person.

Oh yes, really relieved my friend ling is well, after a scare sent her to A&E. Haa.. PBLs do come in handy.. i actually knew signs and symptoms of her diagnosis.

Mid-sem.

2005-08-24T00:41:00.000+08:00

I agree my last entry was rather grim. A friend asked me about it as well. At least there are people who still reads my blog despite being neglected for a few weeks. The actual middle of the semester is coming, really quickly! I foresee the events happening, filling out my guild diary week after week, day after day. There is almost no time to enjoy and relax. Weekends are over before I know them, I had my housewarming the past Sunday, so the whole of Sunday was just cooking mainly. Volunteering takes up the other part of my weekend, volunteering should not be a burden, but a supplement to life. Thats the way I want to look at it. I do gain experiences from it, hospital life, more in touch with patients and talking to them more will build comunication skills. I do not want to think I am laiden with all this volunteering, being over-committed. Maybe i am, to some extent, when I start to not cope well, volunteering seems like it might be a burden? I refuse to think of it that way, cos from it i learn alot, from it I gain alot. I want to do it, I still want to. Last sunday, when i walked into the nursing home, the group of old people who greeted me and a guy who called out my name made me feel really happy. They are finally remembering my name! I made an impression!

Housewarming was behind schedule, we tried our best. Started cutting and chopping right after volunteering and going to Subi. Trust is so genuine and pure, I owe the market stall owner $3.50, cos I didnt have enough money. When he asked me whether I would pay him back the next week, and said that he trust I would, I felt really blessed. Another thing which touched my heart was the random stranger on the road who wanted to pray for me, and said that he felt I would feel peace when he did. At the corner of a busy street in Chinatown, he prayed for a min i think. People might dismiss him as weird, but it was comforting to some extent. Its hard to explain. I always believe God does have a plan for each and everyone of us, and all these little blessings are not coincidental, but planned, and each have a significant meaning and guide us into a new direction? Not sure whether I am making sense to you now, but its adequate to know that I am clear headed.

Oh yes, thanks alot to those who turned up for my housewarming, brought gifts, and helped cleaned up. Hope the food was to your liking.

Mid sem is just 1 day away. Have you realised that the middle of a week is not exactly wednesday but thursday? haa. My week is jammed packed with school related activities, topping it with MCW and Chinese Society (CS) stuff to do. A random patient in the hospital said, "Do not overcommit yourself, for our parents will not want to pay for their daughter to waste time on other activities" Gosh, I only spoke to her for 5 minutes, didnt tell her what i was busy with as well, besides volunteering. Message from above? Message speaking my inner thoughts about over commitment? Its just that I feel I can do all these, wont have other opportunities to do it, and so want to fully experience the Uni experience. Make the most out of my Perth experience.

Blood donation tomorrow, Video assessment before that. Theatre session on Thursday morning, CS bbq after, GP visit on Friday, look for sponsorships after then its saturday once again!

I am serious, the end of semester will come, before I know it.

Silent barrier.

2005-08-19T13:15:00.000+08:00

Isolation

What you say affects me,
How you react affects me too.
Seem so distant,
so different from before
Why do things change,
when you never want them to.
How did the situation become like this?
This is a problem to me.
A solution i seek desperately.
To break this barrier,
I call it the silent barrier.

It was never like this,
with ease i speak.
Uncertainty beholds me now,
with caution each step i make.
Where has the familiarity gone?
Why is there a barrier now?
The silent barrier, can it be broken?

We used to laugh, say jokes,
crappy as they may be
Things have changed now,
I really dont like it.
Things beyond my control,
I wish i know how to avert the situation
Improve it, make things better.
Ignorant me,
I lack the knowledge
Lack the power
Lack the charm.

I feel quite useless,
Escaping this uncertain world
The barrier still exists
What should I do?
I alone do not have the power.
I think i need some assistance,
some divine intervention.

A miracle maybe?
Some things in life,
When you reach a dead end,
and when all is lost,
You see the sun shining.
I am awaiting that moment
Lord helps those who help themselves
What should I do in my case?

Irregardless of the outcome,
I am trying.
So many things to do,
its almost burying me.
Is it over commitment?
I really do not know.
My heart yearns to do more
Much more than I can manage.
Where is my listening ear?
The silent barrier,
remains a problem,
Solution unknown to me.

Haaa... MIA for a while.

2005-08-16T20:41:00.000+08:00

Just to drop a note saying my blog is not dead yet! Have been so busy, have been spending SO SO much TIME in labs. Assignments are due, patient visits, GP visits, video assessment, test on Thurs, must book theatre session for viewing, Multicultural Week.. I mentioned before to a few people that weekends pass quicker than ever, with volunteering to end the week.. Boy.. I am really busy! THen i got the hang of posting pictures using Hello.. and decided to post up some really overdue photos. Ignoring the first Cataract Gorge picture, the other photos basically summarized my trip in chronological order! The memories I hold dear to my heart, destinations I loved! My diary for the trip is still unfinished! Memories are fading... Sigh. Just dont have the time.. =( But even as i complain how busy I am, i am happily busy? Shin says time is passing tortuously quick.. haaa.. true in a way.. but I am kind of enjoying it as well! Had quiz night with the Chinese Society, Lu Hui celebrated his 22nd, Jason his 21st, Fui Wen and JC their 21st as well.. So many birthdays! And now I am in 5th Week of Uni, the sem is almost halfway thru! What should I do during the break? I will be busy.. Sept is also lined with activities!!

I will write more soon, i promise! But for now, I should start studying!! Everyone around me is mugging.. sigh. what am i doing online? Oh yes! Housewarming is on Sun at 6.30pm. The chilli crab dish is 1 main dish of that night! Looks yummy? heehee =) I cooked that!

2005-08-16T20:36:00.000+08:00

End of trip - Flight back to Perth!

2005-08-16T20:35:00.000+08:00

New Parliament House, Canberra

2005-08-16T20:33:00.000+08:00

Cockington Green - Canberra!

2005-08-16T20:32:00.000+08:00

My sleepy fren/ godsister.. Jamie!

2005-08-16T20:30:00.000+08:00

Ferry to Birkenhead in Sydney!

2005-08-16T20:25:00.000+08:00

Yellow yello dirty fellow at Blue Mountains!

2005-08-16T20:23:00.000+08:00

Chinese Garden of Friendship - Really appropriate name, with my travelling kaki Jasmine!

2005-08-16T20:21:00.000+08:00

Olympic Park in Sydney - Caught Lleyton in action!

2005-08-16T20:19:00.000+08:00

Port Arthur was a good experience!

2005-08-16T20:16:00.000+08:00

Ice Cream by the Constitution Dock in Hobart, its really cold.

2005-08-16T20:12:00.000+08:00

On top of Mt Welington in Hobart now, trust me, its cold. Due to snow the next morning.. Brrrr..

2005-08-16T20:11:00.000+08:00

Beer tasting at Boags! We actually liked the beer..

2005-08-16T20:09:00.000+08:00

0 Degrees on Cradle Mountain.. Long climb up!

2005-08-16T20:06:00.000+08:00

On the World's longest singest span Chairlift with Jasmine!

2005-08-16T20:03:00.000+08:00

Beautiful Cataract Gorge in the heart of Launceston

2005-08-16T20:02:00.000+08:00

Skiing was such an experience!

2005-08-16T20:00:00.000+08:00

12 Apostles in Melbourne, with my friends from Perth mainly!

2005-08-16T19:58:00.000+08:00

Melbourne - Really like the kangaroos =)

2005-08-16T19:53:00.000+08:00

My Chilli Crabs!

2005-08-16T19:44:00.000+08:00

Cataract Gorge in Launceston

unfamiliarity.

2005-07-27T12:54:00.000+08:00

Currently half way through 2nd week of University. I have been busy, in a way, or rather, drained of energy and maybe sleep. First week of Uni was bad in terms of sleep, averaged about 3 hrs a night i think. Really tired this week. Labs are geting over me, 5 of them a week, with 4 packed in 2 days. Havent had time to write my long overdue journal on my trip too. Test on friday! I can foresee things changing this semester already.. With interpersonal relationships, and work and I am eager to see what else will happen. Hopefully, all will continue to be good. I know I am being vague now, but my whole mind is in a mess. On a good note, I played tennis twice already, and badminton once. Started going back to volunteering at the hospital and the nursing home. The chinese society has also been having weekly meetings. Busy. I spend so little time talking to my mum as well.

I am falling sick again. I seldom do, and twice since end june is too much for me. Quite a few people around me are sick though. Ever since Uni started, we have celebrated 3 birthdays! Jason's, Shan's and last night was Sean's! Have been having fun with everyone i guess. Oh yes, Shin and I have started dissecting our human lower limb for our option unit. Pretty interesting stuff! Time for yet another lab soon..

I will try my best to post a proper post up sooN!

Back!

2005-07-19T16:40:00.000+08:00

2nd day of uni today. Stressful timetable, stressful sem coming up, going to catch bewitched soon, not much time to blog. I should do a major blog update about my holiday with jasmine and jimmy. It was a great break, although we came back rather tired. We saw many, heard many, laughed alot, ate quite a bit, did bushwalking, mountain trekking, made blunders, learnt from them, taught jasmine hokkien, took alot of photos! That is as brief a summary i can give right now.. I hope jasmine enjoyed her holiday as much as i did. Now that labs and lectures have began, its a brand new start to my 4th semester in uni.How will it be? I made resolutions as i always do, on the plane back.. will they be fulfilled? We have all come to know how things can differ semester to semester, how will this one be like? In terms of studies, and more so, in terms of interpersonal relationships? I guess no one will ever know what the future holds, and a famous quotation would be to cherish and appreciate everything that is occurring now, enjoy life to the fullest and then there will be no regrets in life. Of course, there is the important balance of studies and play. According to my momma, I have now played quite enough, its time to study hard. I dont disagree,thats the exact advice i would give anybody. Its always difficult though, to heed your own advice. Oh well.. Just abit about my house, its pretty clean after shin did a major clean up. We did our first bit of cooking yesterday. Not too bad, just felt a bit rusty with the cooking skills. We had bean sprouts and luncheon meat, tomato omelette on monday and it was stir fry beef and mixed vegetables yesterday. A pot of soup is sitting in my shuttle chef now, but nobody will be having dinner at home! The amount of fruits we bought was massive! Haa.. Oh well, time to get ready for bewitched at 640pm.

Will post some pictures up soon!

Sick.

2005-06-27T16:17:00.000+08:00

First time falling sick this year. SOre throat and a sniffy nose. And i am going on my long awaited trip on Thursday! Sigh. What luck.. i must get well by thursday! Been driving around Perth since saturday.. Fetched Jillian's boyfriend from the airport and then on sunday, fetched shin to airport.. Ran some errands in Subi this morning.. Think a car is really useful to have. Your timing becomes so flexible with it. Just that parking is another huge expense, not to mention petrol. Interestingly, I have been eating out more after moving into this house. Hmmm.. Sparrow, Tea Fusion, Gelato.. Dome.. Sushi.. Hee =) First meal i cooked alone was pancakes for breakfast on Sunday. My housemate thought it was prata. Sigh. Had the curry her fiance made.. Pretty good.. Now we know why my sore throat is not getting better. sigh..

Anyway, this url here should interest pple like Shin.. haaa.. go check it out people.. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=53801.

I need to get well by thursday morning! No more junk food, no more cookies, no more fried food. No more curries! Hate being sick..

Another interesting thing, my friend Ling from US, now in singapore for a holiday got to know Chester! What a small world isnt it?

Well, hope everyone is enjoying their holiday, whether its in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Perth or other random places in the world!

My new place!

2005-06-26T02:55:00.000+08:00

2nd night in my new house.. Just moved in on 24th June! Moving was rather smooth, i was supposed to have many helpers.. but my worker head, jasmine failed to wake up and round them.. Sigh! We started moving at 9am, Shin was chauffering us around.. heeheee.. First stop was Currie Hall, where we loaded the car up with Lash's things from the 1st floor (2nd level).. She had a super heavy luggage, but 1 round was enough! Then we headed back to our place, unloaded, carried upstairs and headed off to transport Shin's stuff over.. That needed 2 rounds.. heehee... In comparison, the number of things I had was way way way more than them! I wonder why. Hee =) Guess how many rounds it took us? Just the same number of fingers on 1 hand. 5! Really happy to have the help of Steph, Lyn, Nicole, Jeremy to carry things like my purple table, my heavy boxes of books etc.. All of stuff filled up my room, leaving no space to walk and 2 boxes had to be placed in the toilet. I agree my new room is much less smaller than my previous one, I am indeed moving from a more spacious, ensuite room to a smaller, older one.. Nonetheless, I want to believe I made a right and wise decision.

Went for a late lunch after clearing out my old room! Missed the bus yet again, and met up with Jasmine, Steph and Lyndia in the city! Went shopping at Myers for Long Johns, had sushi for tunch (tea and luncH) and went helping to find a chemist called soul pattison for nicole, thinking it was a brand initially, only to realise that what she wanted was out of stock! Sigh. Headed back to trinity, where jas helped me start unpacking.. haaa... Constructed my plastic drawers thingy and then 9 of us met Abel for dinner at Chinese VIllage. Dishes we had were yummy lychee chicken, mongolian lamb, veg with oyster sauce, tofu, sweet and sour pork and short soup! Haaa.. I bet not all of you knows what short soup is according to that restaurant! Long soup is noodle soup, and short soup is wanton soup.. Haaa.. Doesnt really make sense. Service was slooooooow! Waited almost an hour for our food! Went to rent dvds after, planning to have a movie night of Racing Stripes, Hot CHick and The In-Law (on JAsmine!)

Went back to my old place for the final time and handed in my keys... Started unpacking and was basically almost done a while later.. I fell asleep during each of the 3 movies.. Sigh. Movie night ended at 3? Then was time for me to catch some sleep!

Gary forgot to pass me the car. I woke up this morning rather stressed. Had to pick jillian's boyfriend from the airport, had to drive to subi, and had no car!! No gary's msn, no gary's number. Walked over to his place and collected the car.. Drove to subi following the bus route! Havent driven manual in a loooong time! The last time would have to be the lorry when i shifted last year. I apologise for my sucky manual driving. SJOG was pretty boring today, I felt very redundant, almost out of place. Its a wonder how 2 different weeks can bring totally different feelings. A sense of belonging, a sense of redundancy. Hmm.. I did get busy after lunch though.

WEnt to the airport, met shin there! Drove to Joondalup where Jillain stayed and came back alone.. Pretty far away up north! THe exit was at the end of the freeway where you cant go striaght anymore.. heh. Returned the dvd with Jasmine and Shin, came back and came up with house rules! 1st house meeting!.. Lash and Charan were having fun watching indian movies.. Those bollywood kind i think. Finally got a chance to try Sparrow! (having to have a breath analyser test by the police) The food was really pretty good! Shin and I had sambal tauhu telor, chin chow, a fish dish and a vegetable dish with yellow coconut rice! YYUMS! Bloated. Helped derek move to Nicole's house as well! haaaa... Came back home, only to leave 5 minutes later to grab some bubble tea!

As I write, i see the bubble tea cup in front of me. My throat hurts, i am sleepy as well. Shin is busy unpacking.. My eyes are shutting.. Supposed to watch The Terminal and Lizzie McGuire movie.. Hmmm..Shin leaves for home tmr!

escape into the world beyond exams.

2005-06-22T00:17:00.000+08:00

Havent blogged in such a long time, its amazing just how fast time goes by. Know i have probably said that too many times already, but ever since exams ended on thursday, I can hardly keep track of the days. LIke how I thought today was wednesday, when in actual fact it is tuesday!

WHat has my social calendar been filled with? Once our papers were collected on Thursday, Amanda, Luhui, Tun, Arthur, Ah Cek and I headed down to Northbridge Hog's breath cafe for a meal! Haven't been there before, but have always heard my sister saying that the steak and burgers there are really good, although pricey. Tun, Amanda and I shared 2 main courses - A salmon dish and a Steak mega cut. The meat was juicy and tender and the fish was fresh! We had salt and pepper calamari rings and finger food platter for entree as well. Yumm! Then, we headed down to Utopia for ktv, sang our lungs and hearts out for 3 hrs.. Spent $24 there! Luhui treated me to bubble tea at tea fusion! Justin fetched us back, he had to make 2 trips and he had a paper the next day.. Oops. heehee =) Came back, rested and before I knew it, it was 4 am. Didn't feel tired surprisingly, considering I only had 2 hrs of sleep the night before.. Michael headed back to Singapore already!

Friday - Woke up at about 8 am, promised to volunteer at St John today to help paste the stickers I mentioned in my previous blog, from 12-3. Vicki was really surprised I could stay there so long. I did 525 booklets out of a 1000. The only reason I stopped was cos Vicki told me that there were other people coming in to do the job as well, and I felt that I should leave them a substantial amount to do.. heehee =)
Came back home and a while later, was supposed to go rent dvd for movie night! Plan was for a movie marathon with Shin, Jasmine and Wei, catching Ladder 49,, Raise Your Voice and Jasmine chose Jackass for the last movie. Jasmine asked me whether I wanted to go for Hungry Jacks with Sean and Luhui, and so we did! Sean fetched us to rent the shows and also distributed Kenneth's textbooks around! Night ended at about 2 plus in the morning, when I headed back with my backpack Shin's mum brought for me from Singapore! Luhui, Amanda and Ah Cek left today for home!

Saturday - Paid money for the things we bought over from the new house, got a scanner! Volunteering at St John (Cleaned 2 hospital rooms, served morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea, cleared rubbish bins, arranged flowers and got "scolded" by the kitchen staff), watching Jackass in Durrow with Jasmine, getting Jon A. to fetch us to return the shows, visited their new place and then stayed home to rest.. Watched a chinese serial! heehee =)Tun left today for home!

Sunday - My heater: PAssed to Damien to exchange, only to find out Woolworths doesnt open on Sunday! Sigh. Volunteering at Hollywood, had a walk with Mrs Grace! Tennis with Damien and brian and later Yujhyn at 330pm - Havent played in so long, it was a terrible game for me! Shots were flying everywhere.. Sigh. Dinner with Jason and Nicole! Missed 2 buses, heard them leave before seeing them.. Ate at Red Rock in Claremont - Pud Thai! Interesting dish! Wished I took a picture of it.. =( Then we decided to head down to Subiaco for Cold Rock ice cream, my idea to complete the Rock Theme.. Only problem was that being a Sunday, there was little transport! We walked to the train station, waited half an hr for the train, cos 1 left as we reached the station.. Had to make some calculations, cos buses back from the city were 2230,2330 hr and it so turned out the next train from Subi would reach the city train station at 2225 hr, and we had to make a mad dash to the bus station! It was a sprint from the minute we left the train! All for the ice cream.. which was really yummY! Movie night after with Jason, Jasmine and Nicole.. watched Cellular! Not a bad show!!

Monday - A crazy night! Nicole and I stayed in Jasmine's room from 730pm to 6am! Talked non stop.. Ate alot of tidbits like Lindt chocolate, maggie mee, minties.. It was really great to be able to speak to both of them for so long! Before that, Nicole, Jason and I caught Mr and MRs Smith in the city and had dinner at Hungry Jacks.. Bubble tea in the afternoon too! Jason didnt manage to get his apple strudel, cos they were all sold out! Lunch was at Student Cafe, where I spoke to Steph and Lyn and Yujhyn and Jon and Jason. Made loads of plans with Steph about the remaining days before they left for Melbourne to enjoy! Treated Jon to mix chicken rice! Collected boxes from the shop as well to pack! The auntie told me to take all the boxes she had! Met Shin's parents, grandma and brother as well!

Quote from JAsmine: Bread Skin and Milo is food her grandmother eats when she has no teeth.

Tuesday - Yet another day! Jason is leaving today! I reached home at 6am from JAsmine's room, packed a little and slept at about 7am? Woke up at 10 am, too late to accompany Jason to get his strudel from the city.. SO sorry jason! PLayed basketball with him, I won him in Man Jiang! Whereby i reached 101 points before he reached 201 points.. 100 points handicap for me! heehee =) He treated us to apple strudel too! Yums.. Returned 2 library books as well at EDFAA library! 1st time there.. looked like a nice place to study! Steph finished exams at 4pm. Met her at 5pm to "trick" Lyn and Ber, but our plan failed! Took a bus to subi, the 7 of us.. PLan is to watch The Longest Yard and have dinner and Gelare waffle! Half price today!! Walked into Oriel's, only to realise that it was way out of our budget! We then walked out after much contemplation! haaa.. Pretty hilarious.. Then we went to eat affordable Jap food further down the street! Had teriyaki chicken and rice and teriyaki chicken sushi.. Frenzy! Fell asleep during the movie.. my eyes hurt cos of my dry contacts.. Couldt see properly! Was it a good show? I think it would have been a show worth watching! Haaa.. took a 1.5 km walk to the bus stop after that and headed for home on bus 24..

What will tomorrow bring? Lets just hope for peaceful, happy and eventful satisfying days ahead!

its official.. i think.

2005-06-14T20:45:00.000+08:00

The frenzy about the heater. It working and then not working. Came home from my first paper today. Have no idea how i went, not too good. Histology was a disappointment for me, considering i did study for it. Most labs, anyway. But when i saw all the cells and all, it was just too much for me. Anyway, it has been cold in Perth recently. The rains have stopped fot today at least, and yesterday.. and in place, we have now really cold cold weather. I was glad to have my working heater. I seeked its comfort after dinner tonight, and watching 2 hours of tv.. Have you ever seen a heater glowing bright red? I thought my eyes were playing a trick on me. It was red as a ball of fire within. It had a burning smell, the whole heater was really hot, but yet, it was not blowing any air out. Whats your diagnosis on my heater people?

To add, the pain in my neck is crazy. Was in the library the whole of yesterday, from 8.30 am to 10.30 pm. Not that Reid library hasnt been my second home for the past week or more, but my neck just cannot take it anymore. When i reached home yesterday night, decided to sleep only because of the ache in the neck. Sleeping might have been a bad idea though, since I had planned to not sleep. Haa.. Shin must be like.. Well, as usual, I couldnt make it. Slight progression though, slept at 12 am and woke up at 4am. Then was at my table the whole morning and afternoon until 3pm. My neck. Now i know where the phrase came from.. The pain in my neck, is really a pain in the neck. Aargh.

Second and last paper on thursday. Will I survive that and come out of it alright? Will I have a holiday? What will I do if i cant go for my holiday? Not sure. My mum mentioned something that I felt was so true. She said that my mind must be tired cos I am concurrently thinking of a zillion things. I think she hit the jackpot on that. Over and over, my mind is going over things like.. 1. Moving house 2. Selling furniture 3. Studying 4. Holiday 5. Shopping. NOt like these things sound very important to you, but just cos i have to get all these things done, just thinking about it has been wearing me down i think. Its like yet another pain in the neck until i get it settled.

Just realised that I will be moving in exactly 10 days time. Actually, typing it now has made me realise how soon it is going to be. 10 days before I leave this place, I think i will miss this place, my room, my housemates, no matter how weird a relationship we share. I have had many fond memories in my house, since last year March. To begin, finding this place was like finding gold a year back, cos we were just so so happy to get a unit here. Then there were the stayovers Jillian and Yap made last year at my house.. Followed by the numerous birthdays celebrated here, but more so, the cooking sessions as well.. Days of being amature chefs, although we still are amature-ish. Just numerous events, memories. Hmm. I am looking forward to more memories in my new place, in all respects and all aspects.

Have been thinking about things that made me smile that day. Sounds odd? Its like you know how some little events will make you smile unknowingly? And just thinking back about it, you can just smile to yourself and maybe even laugh? I am not being psycho here. Yeah.. I dont think I can remember that many such memories, but there are indeed a few occasions.

Just received an email from St John, they need volunteers for pasting stickers on 1000 booklets, because they made a typo error. Haa.. Told the coordinator I will be free on Fri to help. Guess i will have to start looking for things to occupy myself with when I am alone in Perth.. thanks to my dear soon-to-be housemate. heehee. Like getitng my tax file number and working visa. Haa.. We shall see. To stop myself from re-thinking over and over again the things I had to do, I wrote them down and tld myself not to bother about them now. The list has grown to about 30 things i think. Big and small.

Hope you people all have been fine! Surviving through the exam period, looking forward to going home will be something on the minds of most of you now. Please take care people! Stay warm for those suffering in the cold! Really hope to catch up with all of you, one by one soon. Hee =) I really ought to get back to my notes soon! Haa.. after listening to some music..

As for the heading of this entry, I think my heater might have really died.

Away frm studies

2005-06-12T09:20:00.000+08:00

Woman who kept 271 animals jailed

Rosalind Gregson was disqualified from keeping animals
A woman who kept 271 animals in her home in appalling conditions has been jailed for three months.
Rosalind Gregson, 55, of Silverdale, Lancashire, admitted nine charges last month of failing to provide the animals with necessary care and attention.

An earlier hearing before Preston magistrates heard the animals were emaciated and covered in faeces and urine when they were found.

Ms Gregson was disqualified from keeping animals for life.

Preston Magistrates' Court heard many of the animals were suffering from infections and injuries when they were found by RSPCA inspectors at Mrs Gregson's home off Lindeth Road.

There were 246 dogs, 16 birds, five cats, two kittens, a rabbit and a Chinchilla. Nine had to be put down.

At an earlier hearing Ms Gregson had denied 49 counts of failing to provide the animals with necessary care and attention.

The court heard Gregson kept the dogs in dark, dirty conditions
But in May she changed her plea and admitted nine counts of causing them unreasonable suffering.

The nine charges referred to two Yorkshire terriers, three Lhaso apsos, three shih tzu and one Old English sheepdog.

Five of these animals had to be put down.

Defending Ms Gregson, Ann-Marie Gregory told the court her obsessive animal collecting began when her son died from a drug overdose 15 years ago.

She said: "She never had any counselling, she never had any way of dealing with the pain or loss.

"That appeared to be the trigger factor in her beginning to collect a large number of animals.

Dirty conditions

"This is wholly about a tragic set of circumstances. It's about sadness, it's about isolation, it's about the loss of a child, it's about despair, it's about obsession. The list just goes on and on."

Ms Gregson had kept her animals in dark, dusty, dirty conditions with little water or food and little ventilation.

The RSPCA officers described in court how their eyes had watered and they had found it difficult to breathe in the house.

Asked why there were so many animals in the house, Ms Gregson told police: "Because it got out of hand, its just an obsession, I couldn't stop."

'Beyond belief'

RSPCA Inspector Sarah Hayland said the scene she found was beyond belief.

"It's a normal looking property from the outside -- and then to be faced with the room full of dogs.

"And we had no idea how many animals were in there, right until the second day when we'd been in all the rooms.

"It's just the enormity of it, the amount of animals involved is something that I've never come across before and hope never to again," she told BBC Radio Five Live.

HIYAH

2005-06-11T10:39:00.000+08:00

WAs meant to blog a happy good entry, just came back from Subi, decided on yet another spontaneous shopping trip to get my heater. I walked into Woolworths, and wanted to get a non oscillating base heater.. cos I thought it didnt matter anymore. Amazingly, i rummaged through a few boxes and i saw a box saying Oscillating Fsn Heater. I blinked and blinked to check.. not enough sleep made me rather blur, and I couldnt quite believe my luck. I then went to check with this staff person whether it was the one on offer.. and she said it was. Asked her whether there were anymore in stock, and she said no! Really happy, I mean, what luck! I then stocked up on more groceries, and headed back..

Armed with my new heater in arm, i quickly took the box out and plugged it in.. Turned on my laptop to blog that i got my heater when the whirling sound of my new fan heater stopped! WHat luck right? I think it had a life span of 3 mins. SIgh. I think its dead. Just switched it off, will turn it on again soon to check. Chances are high that it is dead, I am meant to stay cold, not meant to have a heater and my luck ain't that good actually. Sigh.

All that for a productive shopping trip.. besides the fact i did groceries.

my icy igloo

2005-06-07T16:14:00.000+08:00

Was freezing in my room the whole morning. I don't have a heater. Lent it to Luhui last year, and it died. I am usually not very reliant on the heater, but i was truly cold this morning. It has been raining continuously and the weather is just simply sleep inducing. Not having a heater also means that I tend to snuggle under my blanket for warmth which actually equals to disaster for the exam. The combination just does not work out. Was talking to Amanda online, complaining about the weather when she said I should go get a heater soon. Hmm. Great suggestion! I wasnt getting much work done the whole morning anyway, and so checked out the bus timings, and decided to catch the one coming ten minutes later to Subi. As i was waiting for the bus, saw many people walking around in shirts and shorts. There i was clad in a jacket and a long sleeve top underneath and jeans! I started raining once again, and people around me made no attempt to avoid the rain. Havent been out of my house in a day now, felt isolated from everything else around me. And, it wasnt that cold outside actually.

Anyway, I just returned from my shopping trip, without a heater! Woolworths ran out of stock for the heater with an oscillating base, which was what i wanted. I went to Coles, this other electrical shop, and they all did not sell heaters! Sad. Waste of time. Could have taken a nap. Have to bear with the cold till I decide on a spontaneous shopping trip again.. Nights are not going to be nice.. =(

Joys in Life

2005-06-05T12:59:00.000+08:00

1. 2nd time volunteering at SJOG, watching footy with a patient and hearing her life story

2. Grocery shopping, whereby I stocked up on coffee, food and more food for the coming exam period. (Realised I am drinking alot of coffee these days, and that the way i struggled carrying my groceries after showed that I overestimated my strength)

3. Planning to rent a dvd, and then manage to get people to watch with me

4. Eating dinner out with Nicole, whom I havent seen in a while (ordered chef's speciality - Lychee Chicken (it was really yummy), and also learning that long soup refers to noodle soup and short soup refers to wanton soup, in Chinese Village, which I have never been to before.

5. Being called out for ice cream by Shin even before footing the bill for dinner

6. Going to Baskin Robbins with a bunch of ice cream addicts (Michael, Shin, Luhui, Annabelle and Nicole)

7. Realising that Baskin gave out free sampling, and ordering a single scoop of Temptation Island which I didnt try beforehand, and it turning out to have a unique taste, in a large waffle cone!!! YUMS.

8. Reaching back Trinity and then realising that the I missed the opening set of the FRench Open, but then watched the rest with Luhui, Belle, Ky's dad and bro. (Really interesting to find more people passionate about tennis and talking about going to see Wimbledon and Australian Open was nice)

9. Watching Before Sunrise and Before Sunset right after with the ice cream khakis minus Nicole (Not comatosed during the show, except slight brief moments.) The shows were pretty good, a different way of filming, but the ending was very abrupt to me.

10. Walking back home at 2am, seeing life on the streets, and it not feeling 2am at all, and then not getting locked out (I always have a problem with my keys, especially during cold cold nights).

Great Saturday, as Shin puts it, a totally productive non academic day. Or i would rather call it, a self destruct day.

Unfortunately, all these added up to waking up at 1020 am, remember the adrenaline rush I mentioned before in one of my previous blogs? No such adrenaline rush today, even had time to eat breakfast before strolling there, knowing I completely missed the morning tea session without informing them. THe lady was really nice about it though, which was great. Learnt a few French phrases from a lady too! She knows 6 different languages. French Open Final (guys) tonight!

What's getting into me!

2005-06-03T18:35:00.000+08:00

Had a long night last night. Long day today as well. Finished my last continual assessment for this semester at about 1520hr. It was really not too good. =( I agree i wasn't adequately prepared for it, so, there goes that 10% i think. How long was the night? Was basically up throughout, took 5 naps of 20 mins. Slept for 100 mins. For the whole night! I accummulated too much sleep beforehand. The adrenaline rush just wasnt there. The mood to prepare for this exam was not there either. I even had time to go out for ice cream last night! Heehee.. Cold ROck ice cream. Second visit there. Short car ride out with Michael, Shin and Wei. 20 mins in all we spent! Yums. Before that, I went online, after refusing to succuumb to the temptation of going online the whole day, I finally did, to track the live score of the French Open semis. Justine was playing, and she got into the finals!!! Really happy for her!

Just stepped home from basketball after the paper. It was pretty fun, just that I cant really bend my left little finger now. Sigh. Havent played in a long long while, and lost much of the skills/touch i once had (for a really short time). Starting to feel tired, a little out of sorts. Feel like going for a walk. There are stuff to do as usual, with exams drawing so near. Non-exam stuff still present in my head. Like, regarding moving house, what we are going to do about internet, phone, regarding the trip, need to call a few places and leave credit card details. Need to tell desmond and jastina how much i am selling my things to them for, need to settle the remaining furniture i dont need in my new place. The list just goes on. Instead of just running them over and over again in my mind, wish i could just settle them all now, put a full stop to it. Everything has been amazingly been running so smoothly so far. From finding my new place, to the housemate, to someone to occupy my room.. As for the trip, like how the itineraries are drawn up already and all..

The only thing stopping me from enjoying what is to come, is the 2 papers on the 14th and 16th. The great number of things to enjoy and look forward to, is just overwhelming. Looking forward to moving, to experiencing life with Shin and Lash. Looking forward to saving money, and thinking of what the money can do. Looking forward to the holidays, although I feel bad leaving Shin alone at home. Looking forward to a new experience, a new environment. Looking forward to doing shopping before my trip too! Need to get geared up with some winter clothing! To the many things to come, all i can do now, is to wait in eager anticipation.

Calm down suyen, exams first. Stop letting your mind wander. Concentrate!

Isn't it..

2005-05-31T14:09:00.000+08:00

Isn't it interesting how you always find something to do when you got actually more important things to be doing, but you just don't want to do it?

Just like how i am blogging now, when i have a test tmr.

Isn't it interesting how you dont like something but yet get it unknowingly?

Just like how i dont adore olives but walked into Brumby's getting a sundried tomato and olives twist.

Isn't it interesting how you cant find something you are desperately looking for, but then when you don't really need it, it miraculously reappears?

Just like my student card a few days ago, which disappeared, only to reappear again.

Isn't it interesting how some little things just make your day?

Just like how i always find money when i pack my room.. Whether its 5 cents or 10 bucks.. Maybe this shows how absent minded i can get, but its an incentive, no doubt to pack my room!

On a sadder note of things,

It isnt interesting to find out a friend you really trust is not all that truthful to you, when trust is a super important element of any relationship it may be.

And more so, dismissing this untruthfulness, only to be faced by several more untruthful occasions.

You start thinking, what kind of a friend is this?

Also, since young, I am sure you must have experienced at least one situation where by you get told a secret and the person goes, "Don't tell anybody k?" I used to think this was only common in children, but sometimes it gets tiring to keep hearing that, even now, cos you might actually accidentally let things slip out of your mouth, when you can tell A and not B, that kind of thing? More so, growing up, people start getting intelligent, and sharper, not as naive as 3 year olds. What if all along you have been untruthful to a particular friend, when that same friend knows the actual truth? But she just doesnt want to expose or target your story which differs from the truth? Back to keeping secrets, I acknowledge the fact that everyone keeps secrets. Even i do, and I am also guilty of saying things like, "Dont tell anybody k? kind of sentences. Its decreasing though. Cos I dont really like it sometimes. Like how a friend is really unhappy, tells you about it, but then says that magic sentence, and with you fuming as well, you cant do anything to help your friend for example? How about being a victim whereby you dont get told a secret? And everyone else around you knows? Who can actually define whether you are priviledged enough to know of this secret not meant to be told to anybody else? Within a group of friends, is there a ranking system whereby the higher ranks can be told? Where is the cut off point? If there really is, what is the true definition of a friend?

Ok, I know there are best, good, so-so friends and acquaintances. So it might seem accurate to say the best friends would be first to know, followed by good friends. And maybe so-so friends get left out and acquaintances? Not even in the picture. I realise a friend you treat as a good friend, might not consider you as a good friend. Its a truth difficult to accept at times, a situation difficult to handle. Different standards of friends, back stabbing of friends, good friends, bad friends or even having no friends.

To the socially active people out there, how many true friends do you actually have? A proverb once wrote, If you die having 5 close friends around you, you die a fortunate person. Friends come and go, throughout our lives. Our good friends stay, and genuine friends can be felt from the heart. Sincerity is a thing that cannot be faked or imposed. Its so genuine and pure. Dont be a hypocrite.

My sister and mother have few good friends to boast about. Although numbers are few, they are not eager in increasing this number much. What would the number mean? Nothing. THe quality of the friendship which they share with their friends is something which surpasses maybe having ten times the number of ok friends for example.

As for me, i have a few really good friends. Really thank God for them. As much as i treasure their friendship, i hope they feel the same too. Most of them, I hardly even know what they are doing this very minute and second. Yet, they are friends I can really talk to, share my problems and joys with. Friends I havent seen in a few years but still hold them closely to my heart?

Friendships are as complex as any relationship present. Human interpersonal relationships are something which need the hearts, minds and souls of 2 to maintain. Never easy to gain, maintain and develop. Never without ups and downs. Never without joys and sorrows.

Hmm, sometimes i think ignorance is bliss and Silence is golden?

Isn't it interesting how i set out to write a short blog but yet it turned out not to be so?

"My friends are few but the number is just a number.
10 or 100 is just a number, like pipes to a plumber.
Always consider the quality, not the quantity.
No matter what, treat your friends well and true,
Support them when in need,
Stay by their sides when they bleed."

happy me

2005-05-28T16:14:00.000+08:00

May 28th, exactly a week since I last wrote in my blog. I have been checking it regularly actually, although I havent added an entry in it. Today is a really interesting day actually, I started my volunteering at St John of God hospital! Coincidentally, they placed me into the gynaecology ward and I was really excited to start my day there! When i finally reached the ward, I was introduced to the nurse manager and she showed me around, a really quick introduction to the ward and then told me to just go around! The nurses were all really busy, but they were really friendly people. Most of them, at least.

I realised I didn't really like closed doors actually. YOu really never know what to expect behind that closed door! Like how i knocked and opened the door a few times to see that the patient was busy with few other people in the room, or imagine what went through my mind, when i knocked and saw a male patient. I had an impression that all patients were female in this particular ward. Or, how about knocking and then walking in when the patient is breast feeding her baby. Amongst the surprises I encountered, I think I watered about 10 or more bouquets of flowers today! The nurse manager was right, many patients needed help with them, and its these small details which I though wouldnt matter, but they did.

What else did i do today? Helped in the patient transfers from 4th to 5th floor, carried their bags and pushed trolleys, gave out lunch trays and collected them, made beds! Even making a bed had its own procedure. A nurse asked me, do you know how to make hospital fold? I was like... No? I walked around the small ward hundreds of times, other than that, cos I forgot which rooms I knocked on already. Most doors were closed! This other guy thought I was korean too. Met a few nurses and they were nice and helpful!

Glad that I managed to be of some help!

Another interesting thing happened today, my cousin fetched me after volunteering and we went for lunch! You must be thinking that that's nothing interesting? To me, it really is, cos I am not close to this cousin since young, and this is just the 2nd time I am meeting him since he came Perth beginning of the year! Lunch was really good, we talked quite a bit, and most importantly, there was no signs of foreign-ness, or quiet moments. Is that why they say blood is thicker than water? Not sure! But I certainly enjoyed lunch at Saigon!

He is cooking dinner for me tomorrow, going to his place at 6pm! Forsee a sumptuous meal tomorrow! Before that, pizza for dinner tonight!

Jamie says that I always sound like I am having fun! To many of us, this sem has just basically flown by, too quick for me actually! And its true, really many fun mooments!

Time to shift a gear up and study!!!!!!!!!

2005-05-22T13:45:00.000+08:00

Nonya Kueh Cheryl brought!

2005-05-22T13:43:00.000+08:00

Cheryl and I, in my room! I really miss the MG days!

2005-05-22T13:42:00.000+08:00

My Foundation Friends! Clockwise: Starting from the bday girl Jillian, Justina, Kaiting, Me! Keith, Desmond and Fuiwen.

Some pictures to share!

2005-05-22T13:35:00.000+08:00

Let me tell you all more about the photos below!

The plate of nonya Kueh -

Cheryl contributed the plate of kueh for jason's party! The plate of kueh is half-eaten. Could barely eat anymore. The whole day was super fun and filled with eating! It was jillian's 19th birthday and we celebrated it early for her, actual date being on thursday. Had dim sum in the morning, my first in Perth this year! I think we ordered about 2 serves of most stuff we liked and then when we reached the cake and bubble tea, i think many of us were exploding! Jillian managed to finish a quarter of her cake, well done! Did a little walking after that in Chinatown and rushed off to Uni for a mahjong competition. Hahaa. I wasnt playing, just observing!

Cheryl joined us in Jason's chocolate party today! She came over at my place around 7pm and we (Jasmine, Jason, Luhui, Tun, Michael, Cheryl and I) headed of to Nando's for dinner. Its interesting how Singapore doesn't have Nando's but Malaysia has. The night was made more interesting when Cheryl guessed that Michael was from River Valley and Luhui was from SJI, RiverValley or Chinese High. When in fact, both of them are from ACS, typical Acs boys. 4 of us shared 2 mixed platters (1 extra hot, 1 mild) and large peri peri chips. The night was really still young actually, as Jason's chocolate party was scheduled for 1030pm. I had a girly talk with Cheryl in my room after, which felt so close to heart, considering we havent spoken like that in ages. And yet, i was still able to tell her so much, filling in the gaps of our lives where we didnt speak/contact each other much. This friendship of ours, is just simply amazing in this way. Had a game of badminton and then watched the FA cup final where my team Man United lost in penalties!!! Jason made great Magarita and Kahlua, really nice.

Back to the girly talk, while waiting for her cousin to pick her up, I started talking to Cheryl again in my room, till about 4am i think. Pretty tired and drained by then. I spoke so much my throat felt dry. But yet, time just flew by.

Oh yes. I havent experienced such an adrenalin rush before in my life i think. This morning when I awoke at 0924 hr, my heart raced and I jumped out of bed. I was due at the volunteering place at 0930 hr. It was too late to say I am not going and I was going to be really late. I dashed out of my house literally and half jogged cum walk there. I was 15 mins late then. A few people were sitting down waiting for tea by then. Felt really bad making them wait.

Had a meeting with the landlord toO! Finally got down to the nitty gritty of things, settled most of them! Dome is really good too. Had iced mocha and a danish as well! Shin's affogatto and Lash's flat white would undoubtedly keep them up tonight! Finally back to the comfortable surroundings of my room, a quiet Sunday, a lazy one too. Nothing in particular to rush for today, besides getting back on track with my hay-wired studying. Back to reality, where 1 week of fun has just passed and the countdown timer to exams is still ticking away.

As people always say, no one knows what tomorrow will bring, enjoy each day to its fullest and life will be fulfilling as such. What will tomorrow be like? One filled with surprises or not? One thing's for sure, tomorrow will be right here, whether you like it or not!

The Lone Soul.

2005-05-19T19:58:00.000+08:00

All of a sudden feeling pretty out of sorts. It can't be a lack of sleep, trust me, I think I have adequate, compared to the people around me, who are at most not sleeping. Or as 1 person might say, sleep does not exist in his dictionary. I slept from 7pm - 5am this morning. The feeling of waking up, without the setting of an alarm clock, where you sleep till you can't sleep anymore was fabulous. However, at this moment in time, guilt accompanies the sensational feeling by just looking at the pile of work I left behind, before I decided to creep under the blanket for a short snuggle. Blame it on the weather.

The weather has been absolutely PRo- sleeping this week. Rainy days, cool winds,thunderstorms. You don't want to leave home and its cold so you want to go under the blanket. I honestly hope my holiday wont be totally in this kind of weather. Cant see much stuff this way, how about skiing??

Back to being out of sorts, feeling rather lost and aimless now. I will figure all this out soon. I might even be back up to being perky after typing this entry. I just returned from my GP actually. I was filled with enthusiasm for today's session, eager to learn and make mistakes, knowing that it does not really matter. Seeing my patient tomorrow, not very prepared for it though. Supposed to know the milestones of a baby's development by 3pm when I decide the developmental phase of my patient. He is just 3 months old! Really cute baby boy.

Not sure whats wrong with me. Feel like heading back to bed, dreaming and being oblivious to everything around me. That sounds absolutely great.

Just also wanted to mention 2 people I have come to know about only this week. Really old news by now. But, ignorant me just found it out.
Terri Vo, the little 10 yr old Perth boy who lost 2 hands and 1 leg when he slam dunked in his garage and his whole bball ring and bricks came crashing down onto him on Easter friday. 18 medical workers managed to reattach his hands and foot actually, but his foot muscles died, so they amputated his leg and he has a prosthetic foot now. His courage, calmness and cheerfulness are extraordinary for a 10 yr old boy. I admire his character, to not fall down in times of need, to be just so brave, not even crying when he saw that his hands and foot were gone. He can walk now!! This is even more remarkable, considering that he can't use crutches because of his hands, and the prosthetic leg was just fitted!

Next, Ian Rosenberger. Survivor Palau 3rd last person voted off. He is actually strong competition to the winner, who was his greatest allie, together with Kathy who got 2nd. However, Ian chose to jump off a little buoy where they had to balance on barefooted in the ocean after 12 hrs in the immunity challenge, to win back the respect and friendship of Kathy and Tom who he almost betrayed during the game. He said, friendship means more to him than 1 Million dollars. Kathy had already given up after 5 hrs in the challenge. He told Tom, "I have a solution to this. If you will bring Kathy to the final 2 with you, I will jump off now. This is a deal." And he did. Some people say he is silly and doesn't know how to play survivor and all. To me, however, it just shows what kind of a person he really is. A really loyal friend and I respect what he did.

Another piece of random information, Roland Garros is starting soon! Its the French Open - Tennis Grand Slam. It starts from May 23rd - June 5th! Really excited about it, cos Justine Henin Hardenne, my favourite tennis player is playing really great ever since she returned! She is also a hot favourite to lift the trophy! Oh yes, her name is pronounced: zhoo-STEEN-EN-ah ar-DEN.

Oh no. I think I hear the rain again. Back to bed?

The Photo Below!

2005-05-17T19:01:00.000+08:00

Well, meant to post this a long time ago, but i just received it last night! Think we all look so uniform, its great! Just that.. what is that reflection at my head! =(
This was the theme red we had!!!

2005-05-17T18:55:00.000+08:00

Theme Red!

Different order, different reality.

2005-05-15T12:49:00.000+08:00

I know i just posted an entry minutes ago, but I just read Shin's blog and she had this japanese name generator entry. Tried it out, and was unsure of whether I should put my first name or last name first.. So i tried both out.

Ever since I came to Perth, I have been accustomed to write my name as Su-yen Tan because of first name first then last name. So I put my name as Tan Su-yen and my japanese name turned out to be 秋本 Akimoto (autumn book) 恵津子 Etsuko (given child).
See, that doesnt sound too bad, you can even call it nice. Hee =)
However, the other way turned out to be 猿渡 Saruwatari (monkey on a crossing bridge) 三千代 Michiyo (three thousand generations). Hmm.

I think i still suit Tan Su-yen better.

Then there are other random name generators I have yet to try.

Thoughts

2005-05-15T12:26:00.000+08:00

How often do you feel a warm hearted feeling, doing something that meant little to you?
How often do you get a stranger telling you that she prayed to God, and then you arrived?
How often do you stretch out your hand and the lady holds it saying, "This is such a nice, firm hand?"
How often do you serve a cup of tea to a lady, and she smiles saying, "This is the nicest cup of tea I have ever had?"
How often do you hear a lady you see for the first time, say ,"I love my daughter so so much, and I love you too?"
How often do you hear one say, "You bring joy to the elderly, just by talking to them and make them feel less lonely."

I feel so blessed to receive these compliments from the very kind ladies down at the senior citizens village. These keeps me going, there is just so little I can do, and so much more I can try to do, and hope to do. Although I only manage to see a couple of ladies a week, it is great to know I relieve them of their loneliness for that short amount of time I spend with them. This experience is simply satisfying.

2005-05-13T20:42:00.000+08:00

ALL THE FOOD WE COOKED SO FAR! YUMMY??

Food, o glorious food.

2005-05-13T20:09:00.000+08:00

Just stepped home from a day of eating!! Sigh. Friday the 13th today was excellent. Cheryl, my secondary school friend came to visit me today! REally happy. She came to my house at 840 am, thinking i had a lecture at 9am, which i was supposed to, just that it got cancelled and i only found out the night before, and didnt tell her. So, she came really early, and Shin came over to make pancakes for brekkie! We made our own pancakes, and had chocolate sauce or jam on it, i think it tasted pretty good! So, that was my first meal of the day right.. Oh yar, the only bad thing that happened today, was that I dropped an egg onto the floor, despite me telling Shin to dont let the egg drop.. haha.. She might whack me if she reads this, cos the egg was rolling to disaster as i said it, and went to attend to the door, and in actual fact she was not free to stop the egg from rolling away.. And she helped clean the mess up.. OH well, but I did tell her to watch it heehee.. so for now, aiyah SHin, why did u waste my egg!!

So Cheryl came, we had pancakes for breakfast, then I brought her to lectures and then a walk around UWA, and we took photos around Uni together! Then I brought her to an AGM before heading off to Subiaco for lunch! We had kebabs for lunch, told her we should share it so she could try different food, so we shared an Alto's Special Kebab, followed by Gelare waffle with 1 scoop of tiramisu ice cream, by which I felt rather full.. And I didn't know NIke factory outlet shifted, so she didnt manage to buy any Nike stuff today.. So after 2 markets, we took a train to Perth, and guess what! She felt like eating sausage and chips, so we shared.. and had a drink as well.. Really full. PLus, she passed me a Jesters Pie to take home, which I actually just ate. Sigh. Happy and full!

Her cousin fetched me home, and there was a major traffic jam back cos the freeway was flooded, a main pipe burst i think. The normal 10 mins drive back took us an hour i think! Seeing Cheryl today was just great. The last time I saw her was 2 years ago! Really wish I can see her again before she leaves on the 27th. haha..

Oh yes! I forgot to mention what an excellent day it was yesterday! It was first my mum's bday, I had an excellent GP visit, lunch with luhui then i found my new housemate and i think i sold my bed (which would have given me one more headache trying to sell it)!!! Only con was, played 5 mins of tennis before it started raining! Guess you gain something and lose something! The plan of moving out is just proceeding too smoothly, it sort of feels spooky. LIke finding a housemate 1.5 hrs after putting up the poster? What good luck is that! Finding out in the same morning that the guy who is moving into my room can shift in a week earlier? Even better news! hahaa.. I am so happy today and overjoyed from yesterday. So full now, a good sleep would just round up friday the 13th.

Been a while..

2005-05-07T16:41:00.000+08:00

Been 9 days since i last blog i think.. Just had another cooking session, the 10th this year. It has been really great that everyone has been different, filled with anticipation about how the food will turn out, thinking of different variety to serve and a different atmosphere and crowd. More importantly, they have been pretty fun till now! Although grocery shopping has become like a routine, like how we go to the same places in the same order and buy the same things most of the time, this same order has been different on the different occasions, i guess. Shin mentioned it might be getting too routine, but i feel that like life, somethings are better done in order, being routine. Hmm. I think i have difficulty expressing myself now, maybe one of you will understand what I mean, maybe not.

So what did Shin and I dish up today? The menu included Yong Tau Foo, Chwee Kueh, Egg tarts, Teriyaki chicken kebabs and the unforgettable birthday cake we baked for amanda. Amanda turned 19 on thursday actually, but we decided to celebrate it today, cos we had a mid sem on tuesday, and we simply would not be able to manage the cooking for a dinner. Why unforgettable? Baking the cake took place last night actually. Shin and I attempted to create a Mint ice cream brownie cake. Surprisngly, we found a recipe for it, which requested for a brownie mix as an ingredient. We decided to start from scratch for the brownie as well. The result? A brownie so sticky and chewy, and on freezing, 3 words best describe it - Hard Like Rock. Even the birthday girl could not cut it! (Cos we had to freeze the brownie after putting mint ice cream on top - we made the mint ice cream from vanilla ice cream!)

It was funny how 4-5 guys tried to cut the rock we baked, which was actually NOT THAT BAD! =) The egg tarts were not too bad, considering I like to eat egg tarts! It feels really great being able to cook something you used to buy outside cos you think you never can make them? Kudos to Shin, my cooking kaki for the egg tart dough and being such a great partner in the kitchen!

I was pleasantly surprised by how everyone generally responded to my spontaneous idea regarding Amanda's birthday present! We were mostly in the city yesterday shopping for it! Cos i only told them about it on thursday night.. You guys were great! =)

So, as you can see, each cooking session is different, different in many good ways, and enables to learn from each one. The different dishes, good atmosphere, different settings, and most importantly, the same cooking kaki involved - this combination has been simply superb thus far.

My Cousin Ling

2005-04-28T10:07:00.000+08:00

She was my playmate when I was little, I remember playing with her barbie, lego bricks, polly pocket, play dough and paper dolls. When she stayed over at my place, we ran around my house playing hide-and-seek, climbing up the swing in my garden and also riding a motorbike and bicycle we had. She often let me have the motorbike, which I liked. My paternal grandfather always brought us out to the amusement centres, gave each of us money and we would spend the day playing, getting coupons and exchanging for toys. These playtime memories form such a significant part of my childhood, and I hold them close to my heart. Our grandfather also often bought us toys from what I remember, and we would share them and play together. We often did role playing, the nurse and the doctor, being cooks..

I guess its this early attachment we had in our childhood that she always seems so near, I always remember her as my cousin who I was really close to when we were little, who took my hand and guided me along. There is this bond between us I feel, that holds us together, although we lead busy separate lifes now. When we do get together and talk, memories of the past come rushing back..

She has been a source of inspiration to me, I often speak in awe of her. Not that she is aware of any of this, but she has been one of my positive role models in my life thus far. Friends I speak to from China are in impressed when I tell them that my cousin is staying in Beijing now, in a course many feel are difficult to enter in Peking University. She has been successful in her studies thus far, with many more other acheivements I shall leave out here. I am so happy for her.

Today is her 22nd birthday, I hope my playmate will have a great day and continue to shine like she has always been.

Happy Birthday Ling.

St John of God Hospital..

2005-04-27T13:20:00.000+08:00

Just came back from my interview as a volunteer in St John of God Hospital, Subiaco. The interview went on rather smoothly, i would say. However, it did bring back memories of the medicine interview I had previously.. The lady asked me questions like "Tell me about yourself", "Name me 3 reasons why you want to volunteer at St John of God", " How would your friends describe you?", " What qualities do you have that will help you here?"

Getting this interview was not very easy on my part. There were application forms to fill in, confidentiality agreement, police clearance forms, and I needed 2 referrals - 1 written and 1 verbal as well, plus a copy of my passport and driver's license. So, I previously made 2 trips back to Canning college for the referral letter.. And now after the interview, there is going to be a full day orientation, which only occurs on Monday, two times a month. This means I would have to miss a day of PBL on monday! The nearest one is on this coming Monday, but unfortunately, I cant make that one because of mid sem exam on Tuesday! Really need to study.. Sigh.

Speaking of which, I had century egg porridge for supper last night! The porridge was pretty yummy, which I gulped down and then fell asleep shortly after.. Sigh. Talk about eating supper to study longer.. =) Sean went to Northbridge for supper and bought it for me.. heehee.. Only con was, I waited about 2 hrs for it! And it was slightly cold when it came, but it was yummY! Not to mention, I was lazy to heat it up at 2am in the morning..

I doubt i will be blogging much these few days, till after the exam! Just had a urge to pen down how my day has been, and to entertain the few of you who actually do read my blog! Things to look forward to after mid sem are a girls' outing on Saturday with Amanda and Shin, last Kendo lesson on Thursday, visiting my really adorable patient probably and before I forget, the Endocrine assignment due the week after. Oh yup, my friend Cheryl should be coming to Perth for a holiday!

Weekend of fun, cooking and REd!

2005-04-24T18:50:00.000+08:00

It was Michael's 23rd birthday yesterday, and it was theme red! We (23 of us) wore red, and we had red food! Dishes prepared included strawberry spare ribs, red eggs, red bean soup, ang ku kueh, otah, kebabs (sausages and crab stick), red jelly, strawberry tarts, cookies and a cake full of strawberries on top! Planning for this celebration began about 2 weeks earlier, which is rather uncharacteristic of our usual planning! We racked our brains really early over possible red dishes, plans to get Michael into the common room, for him to wear a red shirt as well.. Things went on rather smoothly ultimately, which was great!

Cooking began at my house at about 820 am, Shin and Jasmini came to help out! We were mixing, rolling, marinating, measuring and cooking the various dishes and my fridge was really filled up! Zi yuan and Jason came over after and helped out too! I practically transported my whole kitchen over at about 230pm! 6 hours of cooking, and most time was spent kneading and being a manual blender for the cookies.. Rolling the dough out with a wine bottle, cutting out ginger bread man shaped cookies.. It was honestly alot of fun..

It was great to see that Michael was surprised, at why everyone was in red, at why his sister was there, and that he liked the collage hao printed for him.

Had gelato at night, although I was really full, from cookies, and pineapple from the kebabs we made.. Crepe with Snickerone gelato! SOunds good? After that was cleaning up.. hiyah, the day hasn't ended yet!

Sunday: I finally confirmed my new home today, and met the kind landlords who offered to help Shin and I move. Most pressing matter at hand though, is to find a 3rd housemate! I hope we can find one nice girl to move in with us!! VOlunteering was pretty great, I did tea time myself! Just that lady who called me a bloody Asian.. doesnt sound nice huH!

ANZAC day tomorrow, more to look forward to, like visiting my patient for the first time! Like trying to get work done, like hoping my money box account doesnt decrease in value further.. We shall see!

expectations

2005-04-22T18:03:00.000+08:00

Just read a quote which I didnt quite get at first.. hee.. It read " A doctor who treats him or herself has a fool for a doctor and an idiot for a patient." HAhaa.. Think it is pretty funny!

Well, the weekend is here again! Weeks are just flying by, faster than I can relish every moment spent, I wish time can come to a standstill sometimes, then i can truly appreciate all the wonders of the world, and all the people I cherish. To take in all the beautiful sights in the world at the very moment time stops, yet have all the time in the world to reflect and think about what I have done wrong all this while, and improve! WIshful thinking, perhaps. Like how i wish days before mid sem exam were 48 hours long instead.. Oh well..

Yesterday, I filled up my calendar with things I have to do the next few weeks, my schedule is currently pretty packed. I am starting to feel the need for absolute strict discipline in my work and life.. I dont want to run astray like a wild animal, losing all direction, all focus and everything I earned so far. I want to control my time well, maximising both study and play time. I dont want to let anybody down too, especially those who hold so much hope in me, in my future. In addition, I dont want to let myself down, making the same mistakes I did before, and losing everything I cherish most currently.

My commitments are plenty, desires and hopes as well. To handle them well, is all i want to do.

2005-04-20T17:25:00.000+08:00

My painted face for Prosh!

PROSH 2005!

2005-04-20T17:06:00.000+08:00

I saw devils, fairies, policemen, Tigger, gypsies, students in labcoats and other outrageous outfits. I missed out on a teapot like Mrs Pott in Beauty and the Beast. Jasmine, Nicole and I went as witches.

Woke up at 2am, and went over to Trinity (college) to Jasmine's room at 330 am. I volunteered to have my face painted first and it was my first time letting my friends paint my face! My other experience was in primary school, where I was an owl in Noah's Ark, my school's choral production. Nicole and Jasmine painted my face white and jasmine drew the web on after! She improvised, using lipstick when the black didn't really stand out... Now I have a slight problem removing it somehow..

What is PROSH? PROSH is a fundraising day UWA students have, where lessons are cancelled and we roam the streets in costumes and raise funds for selected organisations! This year, organisations included the Leukaemis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Association! Children are among the main beneficiaries!

The three of us had a stack of PROSH papers and a tin can and Sean fetched us to the city at about 630am. The streets were already full of Uni students and most of the walking pedestrians were already attacked by the invasion of queerly dressed students. We finally found our spot to park ourselves at, a one way street in the city! That spot was really good, cos the traffic lights turned red pretty fast, and when it did, the 3 of us sold papers to the cars that stopped. Many of them wound down their windows and signalled us over, which was really great! On average, we could have sold about 4 papers per traffic light.. Not to mention the rather steady flow of pedestrians walking up the street..

What amazed me about Prosh was that most of the public came to us wanting to donate, most of them already knew what Prosh was! We just had to shout, " Would you like a Prosh paper?" and majority of them responded, even the random tourist on further elaboration. What struck me even more was the generosity of the public, about 5 of them paid a $5 note and 1 gentleman gave us $10! Mind you, they walked towards us with the bill ready in their hands! We completed our stack at 830 am and walked back towards the main shopping area! We even helped this other girl sell a portion of her papers!

Subway for breakfast was great! We received a few compliments about our dressing, that it was coordinated, scary, pretty nice! Glad that those came, as we prepared really last minute! Went back to Trinity after and took alot more photos!

I really enjoyed Prosh! My first experience, and probably wont be my last i hope. Dressing up was exciting as well, I remember Sean putting loads of powder in my hair to give me gray hair! I remember the generally positive response of the public and of course, I will always remember the fun I had on this witchy wednesday!

What a DaY!

2005-04-19T17:33:00.000+08:00

My back aches from carrying my bag, which contained my Moore textbook and an instant anatomy textbook, labcoat and lab book.. I went for tutorial unprepared, hoping that all would turn out well, cos my tutor is a year 5 med student who is pretty nice. I walked into class 5 mins late, unprepared (I was supposed to read 2 articles) and it turned out that my tutor was on a hospital rotation he couldn't change! So the lecturer took over and my pre-tutorial was blank! Amazingly, the tutorial went on pretty alright, I was just super silent throughout!

What happened was I went to Claremont with Jasmine, Nicole and Jason before tutorial, after anatomy lab. We want to go for Prosh tomorrow, which is a day that is dedicated to fund-raising for children, by selling a newspaper our students wrote. We collect our tins at dawn tomorrow and the newspapers and head out to the streets to sell them, asking for donations! All lessons are cancelled in the morning, but I have absolutely no lessons tomorrow! I missed out on Prosh 2004, and I am ready to do some fund raising tomorrow! So, people usually go for Prosh dressed in crazy costumes so we went to the party shop in Claremont to get an idea of a theme!

We boarded bus 23 when it came, and happily sat till the bus made a left turn.. Our destination was striaght ahead and then we realised we shouldnt have boarded that bus! We back tracked after and when we reached the party shop, we went in and saw many possible costumes we could come up with.. Like a caveman, cheerleader, angel, Hawaiian girls! I guess I was trying to minimise cost, since its a one-off event too! Guess what? We decided on witches! We bought a witch hat, cape and witch make-up with a crooked nose each, and black nail polish! It cost us about $19 per person in total.. Will post some photos soon!

Tomorrow at 3.30am, we are going to have fun and dress up! Not forgetting the broom! Well, we rushed back after because I had a tutorial at 3 pm and Jasmine and Nicole had stuff to do too.. We boarded bus 98 and usually Uni has 2 possible bus stops we can stop at and Jasmine and I decided to stop at the second one. Jason and Nicole left at the first and we were approaching the 2nd, when the bus made a left turn! Doesnt it sound familiar? We got brought to the Medicine faculty which was further away! Sigh. More walking with my heavy bag, and I was rushing for my tutorial!

HAha.. Now that the day is finally over, I cant wait for morning to come in a way, going for Prosh! Heard that there will be a PROSHcession, where the different faculties made floats! The medicine theme this year is Carribbean! Hope the 3 of us look great tomorrow and have heaps of fun!

Quotes..

2005-04-17T21:28:00.000+08:00

I love reading quotes. I feel that alot of quotes are so simple in wording, yet the meaning behind them is often so deep and meaningful. Quotes on time, success, discipline, friendship, tried finding excellent quotes on these topics before. Different quotes apply to different situations, and some might mean alot to a particular person, and be insignificant to another.

I am supposed to be studying right now. I feel that I have a serious discipline problem! It is a problem I have been facing, which I find so hard to correct! Timetables hardly work for me i admit. Despite planning and planning.. Many aspects of my life needs discipline, like watering my plants outside my house.. (My landlord wants them alive because his mum gave it to him, and we havent watered it the whole of last year.. I started watering them this year and leaves started sprouting! Really happy.)Like doing groceries, laundry, going for lessons, being on time for appointments..

However, in some aspects of my life, I really lack discipline! Like how one of my aims this year is to keep accounts.. Succeeded for 1 month, but after that my money mysteriously disappeared. Like keeping to my timetable.

Have always wanted to find a good quote on discipline, think I might have one to share today..

'Discipline - Success doesn't just happen. You have to be intentional about it, and that takes discipline.' - John Maxwell

I hope this stays in my mind, and spurs me on to keep to my goals!

Happy Me!

2005-04-17T11:28:00.000+08:00

Just stepped home from Hollywood Senior Citizens Village.. Today was my first day volunteering there, as a tea lady primarily. I was supposed to reach at 930, decided to be early than late, and reached about 925 am. When I stepped in, there were already about 4 people sitting in the recreation room, waiting for tea to be served. I waited for a staff member to arrive, and then got led into the kitchen, where she (Debbie) taught me how to make tea! We then pushed the trolley into the recreation room, and then she said, " That lady over there is Mrs X, she drinks white coffee" and "That gentleman over there is Mr Y, he drinks tea" and she went on and on! I was like.. I mean, how am I going to remember? Even as I type now, I can barely remember! Then she started pouring out cups of tea and coffee all with milk, and i couldn't even differentiate them. Then guess what she did? She just served them, saying, they will drink anything, and told me to just ask them individually the next time. Sigh! Each of them then got a slice of pizza to eat!

I stood there feeling quite useless as they ate and drank, and then this other lady told me to unload and load the dishwasher.. My first time using the dishwasher. Hee.. And apparently I loaded the cups wrongly.. OOPS! Most of the ladies then told me that they enjoyed tea alot and thanked me for it.. For the little I did, that warrant such gratitude shown, made me feel so honoured, to be able to serve them a simple cup of tea or coffee. My action is almost insignificant, but meant something to them.

I particularly remember this lady. After tea, she asked me where the recreation room was. I was not very sure actually, cos I thought that there could be 2 of them. This kind gentleman cued to me that where we were was indeed the recreation room. I told the lady, "This is it" and she said thanks. I headed off to the kitchen, pushing the trolley back and she walked behind me and came into the kitchen, asking me again where the recreation room was. I brought her to it, and the kind gentleman was still sitting there. That lady asked me once more where the recreation room was, and I repeated myself. THEN, she asked me whether she should sit there and wait for the next activity, I said " Probably so" and you know what? She replied saying, " You mean you dont bloody know?" The gentleman gave me a grin then. As I walked past the room again, I avoided her path of vision, and the gentleman waved me goodbye. I know she didnt mean to be difficult, many of them have poor memory, and have problems with the days even. Maybe I should know the area better and the activities they have lined up after tea!

I headed off to my next destination, Mrs Grace's room. The first time I met her, the volunteer coordinator asked her whether she had anything for me to do, and she said she had loads of dusting to be done. The coordinator was very amused by that and told me that she had never expected her to ask me to do her dusting! I was perfectly fine with that, and was ready to do some spring cleaning, which actually my room requires too. Mrs Grace is a really kind lady. She often said she felt really bad that I had to do her cleaning, and she said, "You have no idea how grateful I am that you can do my dusting" and also "I am so pleased.." I often replied that it was not a problem at all. She felt so bad she couldnt make me a cup of tea cos she was expecting visitors. I couldnt believe it when she told me she was going to turn 98 2 weeks later. She asked me to guess, and I was about to guess 80! Mrs Grace is going to be an elderly I will most probably visit weekly! She said she has more dusting to be done next Sunday!

As i thought about the comments they made, when I served them tea or dusted their furniture, it is just this kind of satisfaction I enjoy and yearn. To be able to help, with my able mind and body, I know, this is something I have always wanted and loved to do. Can't wait for next Sunday!

2005-04-15T11:35:00.000+08:00

That's me at The GAP - where Australia and Antartica used to be joined together millions of years ago!

I wish I did..

2005-04-14T21:26:00.000+08:00

My third attempt at starting a blog. I have been reading my friends' blogs and this has let me to know what has been going on in their lifes. Many of them probably think I don't read them anymore, but hey, I really do. I am trying to read these blogs on a regular basis, simply because these friends mean so much to me. I cherish their friendship deeply, and although we are hardly in touch, I still often think about them. Maybe my blog will have that same effect on some of my friends, for that, I really have no answer to that.

My second attempt at writing a blog was pretty successful actually, for a while. Managed to write in it for a couple of months regularly, before I questioned myself whether I really wanted people to know my innermost thoughts and feelings. However, I realised over time, that only people who really care, bother to type the url of your blog and be updated on one's happenings. I guess, its like watering a plant. Only if you really care about the plant, will you wake up in the morning each day and water that plant, which can otherwise die away and be forgotten.

For that, I start my third blog attempt.

[For my dearest friend Ling, I wish I had followed your blog. Not knowing that you were feeling so down, really affects me. I wish I can be the friend I hoped I can/had been. I wished that I have read it and gave you a ring once I saw it. I wished I did.]