Harvie Krumpet

Won the Best Animated Short Film in the 2003 Australian Film Institute. I do wonder though, why it won. It was interesting, but NOT for children. It's for us studying psychiatry. It's just interesting how the director does things. In the DVD that I have, there are other short films also with weird stories that are related to psych.

Harvie is a very unfortunate man. He was born with a schizophrenic mother who developed Alzheimers, had Tourette's Syndrome, had his skull cracked, struck by lightning, has a testicle removed... He got married (but his wife later died of a stroke), they adopted a little girl (who went on to be a lawyer, and finally he himself developed Alzheimers.

This story is basically a journey to discover himself. And in the middle of the film, the famous words get uttered again: CARPE DIEM. And so he went on doing strange stuff like liberating animals from the slaughter house, became a vegetarian, joined a nudist camp... It's interesting how those words keep coming up in the things I do.

So, in total, I have watched 6 films, not including the ones I watched on TV. However, they are all older movies and none of the new ones. I am also watching Anime before I go to bed. If I think about it, I'm doing not badly in surviving here in Perth.

Last night was a friend's birthday party. We showered him with water and flour. I miss this kind of fun... I have not had this much fun for a long time. It feels quite nostalgic when I think back about things that have happened to me in the past. Like the countless orientation that I've been through; in ASEAN, in NJ, and in IMU. It's just so much fun to not be a grown-up just for that few minutes. It's just interesting how much you can find out from a person by the way they play. Work is one thing, and everyone can put up a face in normal times. But when it come to play, I think you can get much of a person's personality and character. There is also the words that mean something like: judging a person from how he treats the people under him and how he treats his peers.

Of course everybody has their own personality, but most people hide it in public. Everybody wants to look good in front of others, nobody shows who they really are (of course there are exceptions). Harvie shows who he really is, and he is free and he knows what it is to be human...

Anyway, this song is from Harvie Krumpet:

God is better than football
God is better than beer
God is better than cricket'
Cause God's there all the year

He isn't shut on Sundays
He isn't stopped by rain
He's better than a captain coach
You can talk to Him again and again and again and again and again

Ooh! God is better than football
God is better than beer
God is better than cricket
'Cause God's there all the year

Thank God for Fidays

Its the weekend again. The only difference this time was that my Friday was a busy one. Started with just PBL. The still remaining problem is that I tend not to speak up. My topic was on the Diagnostic Criteria for Schizophrenia and we were supposed to go through it at the beginning. Of course when I don't say anything, we tend to skip it. I should talk more, speak up more. I mean even in history taking I don't pronouce the words correctly. It's called dysarthria.

After PBL, I went to Royal Perth Hospital to meet up with my group members about our research project. I finally got a research project. It was a great milestone as the due date for the proposal was Friday. oh wait... this IS Fridy. Anyway, my supervisor is a very nice man. He likes to talk, I feel, and is very enthusiastic about his work. He has a Toshiba laptop that is huge. Larger than Martin's one was. It has a remote and everything. And doctors get to buy one every year tax-free. Anyway, after a brief discussion, we were sent off with writing the proposal while another group discussed theirs...

I went to Princess Margarets Hospital for Children next to see my Mentor. We talked and it was fun to have someone to be guiding you and asking how we're getting along in Perth. I've answered that question 3 times on Friday, and all of it are to different people and I gave different answers. All in all, the general idea is that I'm coping. It's been fun and a much educational expereince. Of course there are still stuff to do like reading up on antibiotic regiments.

Next was a vegetarian dinner in the City. It really does taste like the real meat. It was great.

Next, we watched another 2 movies. Van Wilder and Being John Malkovich. They both have their own pros. Van Wilder is the comedic, sexual movie, where else Being John Malkovich is twisted. The underlying message in Van Wilder, the most popular guy in school, is that everybody is cool in their own right, and there is potential in all of us. Oh yeah, point to note is dog semen is fetocidal.

The second movie is an old movie, by the same writer as Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind and just as twisted. There are very good actors in it, John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, etc... I still have no opinions as to what the show actually means but it's about being someone else. The feel to be someone different. It's for those who are experiencing identity crisis and want to know who they really are. And the way to do it is to be someone else for the time being. I guess we all want to be someone different at some point in our lives, but not all of us get to do that.

The similarities in these two movie? Live for moment. Carpe Diem, Memento Mori.

And to end the day (or night) I finally was able to watch Book of Daniel, a series that I've stumbled upon in my search for entertainment. A priest who sees Jesus, who's married to a lovely wife, and have 3 children: a gay son, an adopted chinese guy, and a drug selling daughter; has a Bishop as a father (a father for a father just makes the show weirder...) , a mother who suffers from Alzhiemers, a gullible ignorant innocent sister in law. People talk.

1 Month Late...

In conjuction with my psychiatric posting, I have listed the MSN nicknames that I have used over the past two weeks. Each nick name has it's own story and I guess it's a way for me to recall them after the weeks gone by...

Which animal do you like?
Which ladder am I in?
Cereal Killer and Murder Mister Rhee
M.A.S.C.A.R.A.S.P.
Psychosomatic or Somatopsychic?
Med Dinner
King of Clubs, Queen of Hearts, Jack of all Trades
PINARDS, SPRAIND, RAPIDSN
Angels: Delusions or Religious
Beach & Bleach
Is this conversation recorded?
experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Psychiatry is a very colourful subject. There is something new every day and there is still much to learn. It has been an up and down journey being in this ward. There are times when I feel that I have Bipolar disorder. There are times when I feel at the top of the world, and there are times when I feel like I don't know anything. I do don't know anything...

other happenings:
My birthday was on Thursday, and as usual, I can't think of anything special to do that can actually be done. I thought of disappearing for the day as there isn't much to miss. But of course there were things that I cannot disappear from. Thursdays are always busy for us. We have lectures and people actually dress up for lectures. or dress down, whichever way you see it.

That night, we went out to the cafe by the riverside to have a late night snack. That was my celebration. It was good enough for me.

Then of course they surprised me with a cake on Friday. It was the beginning of the weekend and everybody could stay out later. I had a nice cake: spongy. I had nice candles. Had chilli mussles, spaghetti and garlic bread. It was nice. The funny thing about birthdays is that I don't believe in them. It's just another day for me, but it is a time for me to be older and be depressed about it. It's nice to have friends over and everything, but we do that all the time. I do thank them though. I like friends over, but yet I like to be alone on my birthday. Ironic, isn't it.

That night, we rented movies and watched it over at the girls' campus, with a big wide screeen and chips and vodka. The first movie was a "based on a true story" movie with no story. If you have watched House of Wax, this show is much worse. The bodies were never found and there was only one survivor who has no idea what happened to his friends. He escaped without the bad guy knowing and was found out in the desert. So the story was most probably made up and the heroic acts by the two other girls might not be real. They died anyway, so we don't actually know the truth. There was a courtcase but there were not enough evidence and the killer was set free. Do not ever visit or watch Wolf Creek

The second movie was Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. I've watched it already, and it's not as good as the first one. But hilarious. And as a psych rotation student, the main highlight I saw was: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

On Saturday we went to the beach. We rode the waves and it was FUN! Never in Malaysia were the waves this big. It was 38 Degrees, but it was worth it. And we stayed until the sun set, something I have not done. It was nice watching the sky turning red and melt into dark blue.

On Sunday, I finally got to try Sarawak Laksa, courtesy of Grace's cousin, Rachel.

Well, that's a summary of what happened over the last weekend.

Perth, Week 3

I just enjoy my time here. There is so much to do and see here. And I repeat, I LOVE NATURE. I simply love the easy life, wonderful trees and animals...

Just this week, I have seen many exotic birds here. Parakeets are flying free overhead, and not trapped in a cage that I've seen all this while. I just love being free.

Ironically, I have decided to stick to the hospital as much as I can. I feel much more at home in the hospital and I get to interact with people. I made some friends there too. I saw one of my patients get discharge. He was such a nice man that was stuck in the hospital. Now he is free. Anyway, I was trying to say, I learn things when I am at the hospital. Our doctor advice us to get used to examining patients and have a go at least once in all the systems. And if you wait long enough, you can even get to do other stuff, like injecting people's medication, drawing blood, and inserting an IV drip. There are lots of BP taking, temperature and PR as well.

I am having fun there la. I guess it can either go up or down from here. I hope it goes up!

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...