Perth, Week 1 & 2

It's been slightly over two weeks that I have been in Perth. The place is just BEAUTIFUL. I love UWA. It is a park. It is a PARK with lovely trees and many birds. There are resident peacocks there and ducks... I just enjoy it here. It is just so calming. To tell how beautiful it is, people can actually have their weddings here in UWA. It is an open campus, where public can enjoy themselves to the many sceneries here. UWA is also situated beside the Swan River, with a small little beach and sand. The river is so wide, that it almost seem like the sea.



The first time I went to the river bank, it was with some other Malaysians studying medic in UWA. some came when they were wee small, and some only after SPM. I made new friends that day, of course not forgetting my old ones. They were a bunch of friendly people. We watch the Australia Day fireworks from the river bank. It was about 15 minutes long, with lots of beautiful colourful sparkles. After some games of Mafia and Bluff, and after the fireworks, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner and just to hang out. Before we knew it, we were the last customers in the store and we had to leave...

The second outing was at one of their house. His name is Francis. He cooks. He is sporty. He is an artist. He does well in exams. He's single. He's perfect.

Back in classes, we did a range of stuff, from things that we IMU people already knew, stuff that we were taught, but not thoroughly. So basically, we did the same things, but in greater depth. We drew blood from friends, we insert catheters into models' arms and penis, we performed CPR and defib SimMan.

I am in the middle of my Nursing attachment, and I had to bathe patients, take vital stats, gave a subcutaneous injection to a patient and make beds. It was the closest exposure I ever had. And in this point in time, I felt more confident than I was in IMU, in KKB or Seremban. There was motivation. I had something pushing me, yet it was the same clinical situation.

Next week, I get to examine women's breasts. Something I think we will never do in IMU. But maybe I am just lucky to have the right Doctor.

In short, I am enjoying myself.

I am at the airport now... flight got delayed... How many more times must I be delayed???

Wishing everyone the best...

My Last of Everything...

I had my last sumptiuos meal last night. I had a nice chinese dinner with 5 dishes. As I was eating, I wondered when will be the next time I will be having this sort of food again. I am not sure what type of food I will be eating in Australia. I heard that it cost AU$3.50 for a plate of chicken rice. I won't be far from home then. I was planning to cook for myself or just buy back food from campus. But then, they say hospital food is not that good. I had satay also, last Friday. That was probably the last time for a long time. My kon-loh mee breakfast was probably the last too.

I'm blogging for the last time in Malaysia... I am not sure when I will be blogging next, as my time will be packed (I assume) and I might not have internet over there. So I can say good bye to watching House, Grey's Anatomy, and Scrubs. Unless there is someone who is willing to break it up into 10mb parts and send through gmail. that's 35 files wach episode. Any takers?

I played on the piano for the first and last time this year... good bye to making music. I'm thinking about getting some instrument there, if it is cheaper. Violin sounds nice, and much cheaper than saxaphone. Though Saxaphone looks cooler...

Now that I thought of it, there wasn't much 'Last Things to Do' for me. It all just feels like I will be going for a short while. (Considering my age, it IS a short time). So in summary, what I guess I will be missing are:
1. Family. I have been apart from them for a long time, but I will still miss them nonetheless.
2. Friends. I have said goodbyes, and some not as I liked, but those were the last times I would have seen them. I didn't get to say goodbye to everyone though. I will miss you guys.
3. The family computer with internet. I have many memories here... but most of it has been transfered to my computer, which I will be bringing down. But the internet is what I will miss...
4. Durian, and all the other Malaysian fruits.
5. Food. Malaysian food. Cheap Malaysian food. Cheap and tasty Malaysian food.
6. Weather. I will be going to a more dry country, with a lot of flies. Cold nights and Hot days. Yep, definitely going to miss SEA's weather.
7. To reemphasise, I will definitely miss my friends
8. And saving the Best for Last... I will miss my loving, caring, beautiful girlfriend Evelyn. I will long for a hug from you again...

My Gundam

















Various building processes...

...and the final product!!!

My Gundam

Various parts during construction. Tedious colouring process.



Assembled torso. Ugly residue and bad colouring.


Posing. Death by getting chopped in the torso

Of Dentists and Wicker Park

As I read Pre-Teena in today's news paper, I was told that I was to go see the dentist... My last visit was in 2000. My father was surprised that I didn't have to get any fillings or crownings for such a long time. This was comparing to my brother who already got two crownings and a couple of fillings. Of course his exposure to sports makes him more vulnerable, and his frequent accidents let him see the dentist on a regular basis.

Me, on the other hand, do not got see dentists. My last trip was when I was Sec 4, and the ASEAN scholars had to go for a check up. Mine took the longest though, I had calcifications. Meaning the hardened residue that stick to the teeth, prominently at the gumline. I had to endure a long cleaning session, as the dentist picked at my teeth. With a pick. Not dril. Pick.

This time round, I had the same thing. But this time, the dentist used a drill. Did not hurt much. I can hear the thing brushing around my teeth and hearing them squeak is horrible. There was too much conduction hearing. Too high pitch. What does one do while sitting in a dentist's chair while the dentist picks away at your teeth? He doesn't really talk to you, and you can't really answer. I stared into the lights and a million thoughts ran through my mind. I was attached to a dentist once. She told me how hard it was to be a dentistry student. Medicine had it easy, she said. I still wonder how different it would be, and how would it have played out if NUS had given me dentistry... I also had a tough time trying to swallow my saliva. I starting thinking of this experiment I thought of.

Try swallowing 10 times in 15 seconds.

Anyway, when the dentist was done, I gargled and spit out quite a lot of blood. I checked the mirror to see more blood. I have seen too much of my blood these past two months, from the numerous blood tests I needed. To check my Hep B, Visa medical checkup, Visa follow up check, now the dentist. I have been trying to find out why I can't donate blood and was trying to see whether I was too chicken to see the sight of my own blood being drained. I think I am afraid.

Anyway, with all the tests done, I finally got my Visa today. It was dated 1AM. The amusing (but unfortunate) thing is that I was holding on to a ticket for the 19th, but I had to let it go yesterday. And NOW my visa comes, and I don't have a confirmed date for my flight. And the person doing all the work all these while went on leave today. We could have gotten on the waiting list for the 19th, but the replacement was on half day. She didn't bother to do so and just left with her half day. It was irritating. But I might not have gotten it anyway.

I was watching Wicker Park just now. I had no idea what the storyline is, but I was too bored to do antyhing else. In the movie also, there was a scene where the guy had to change his plane ticket. The magic time seems to be 4pm. After that time, there will be openings... just like mine. So I hope they will get me a ticket soon. I don't want to miss classes and I was hoping that I can settle in, get a place, open bank accounts etc... Keep praying

Wicker Park is about an obsessive character. At first I thought it was the guy. Then as the story reveals itself, more flashbacks, introduce more characters and more of their flashbacks... The way that they show it was nice. Each flashback had a different point of view, of the same event. And only when everything is put back together, it makes perfect sense.

Apart from the cinematography, the thing about Wicker Park was about what one can or will do when you are in love (or obsessed about). Lying to your friend, planning scenarios, making up stories, twisting the plot so that you get to be with the one you love (or obsessed about). But it was a sad beginning... The guy that she liked ended up liking (and loving) her friend instead. The agony of hearing stories about how nice the guy is and everything, and yet you still have to be nice and caring to your friend... The sad thing was that she managed to sabotage the relationship when opportunity came.

The question is now... what will you do for the person you like/love/obsessed about and how far will you go?

I'm Still Here

Two things I thought of to say.

First, I was watching a children's show on the alphabet. A is for Armadillo, B is for Bison, C is for Chameleon, D is for Dolphin, E is for Elephant, F is for Flamingo, etc. Don't get me wrong and make fun of me. I was eating my dinner at a restaurant and it was playing. It got me thinking. I used to know animals for every letter... but I couldn't remember what was for I. The video introduced Insects for I. I felt that it was just plain wrong to do that. But I can't remember I. I have numbat and narwhal for N, and Xenosaurus for X. But I, I cannot remember.

Apart from that, I was also wondering about child development. We used to learn that as we grow up, we classify things from the basics. First we learn that anything that moves other than people are animals. we learn cats and dogs... then we learn more specific names like poodle and bulldog, tigers and leopards... But that video is so advanced. Except for that Insect part, which is more like the learning process. Then I started to think how we all learn the ABC's... and whether there is any difference between learning the A is for Apple, B for Boy stuff and learning through the method above... Will we be smarter from the way we learn our ABC's? or our 123's?

What makes a person smart? I have always wondered how do people end up smarter than others. Genetics play a role I guess, but what did our parents do for us to be smart? How will I be able to teach my own children?

Anyway, saving that for future use... My second thought was when I was watching Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Ok, you can make fun of me now. Anyway, I was watching it and I have this feeling about destiny and fate. Aurora was cursed. Cursed a certain fate. Even though the good fairies tried to prevent her from going through it, Aurora still did get pricked and fell asleep. And as all fairy tales end, the price manage to wake her up. And he was the prince that she was to fixed to marry when she was born. Fate? What is fate? Is life preordestined? Do we have no choice? or do we have choices but it was already fated that we choose that choice? Sounds like the Matrix... (Don't get me started on that Idea...)

The other idea is that certain events are predestined. The journey there can be changed. It's like an inescapable event. No matter what choice you make, it will end up at that point. Like meeting your soulmate. Or ending up on an Island. it's all back to Lost... I'm engrossed in it.

Haha.