A Torrent of Emotions

Farewell Gen Med

2009-06-14T22:44:00.002+10:00

11 weeks on
and besides the initial trepidation
i must say i have enjoyed this rotation
not as much as i enjoyed gen surg
and i most certainly will not miss it the way i missed surg
but i will miss the people i worked with

2 rotations of seeing Bei everyday
i think i'll feel a bit lost when i go do ED in Bendigo with her not being around :(

will also miss alot of the Med regs that amused us everyday
and contrary to what we were initially led to believe, and bucking against the trend of the first few days....we really enjoyed working with angry man
because after awhile....we became immune
and after awhile we could tell he liked us
and then when he said mean things, it was actually with an edge of amusement and usually with a bit of affection
it was quite warm and fuzzy when we realised he was actually quite sad when we said goodbye

*sigh*
off to Bendigo on Tuesday....don't start work till Wednesday, but that's because they've taken away all my weekends
DAMMIT
sighz
i don't anticipate loving ED
too much nonsense walks through the door, and you have no hope of them being filtered out because, well....i AM the filter
on the upside
look forward to being reunited with suks.....we're gonna be housemates
HUZZAH!

Emotionally exhausted

2009-05-04T23:41:00.003+10:00

Today's been a bad day
a long day
but not that much longer than my usual Mondays in terms of physical hours
but just emotionally and to an extent physically....much more draining
i'm the most drained today than i have been since i've started working
and for the first time since i've started working i'm actually half dreading work tomorrow

the reason?
we have a new reg
and he isn't the nicest person in the world
the weird thing is....my co-intern and i were trying to explain to someone why we felt so crap today
but we couldn't quite put our finger on it
it's not like he yells at us
or that he humiliates us
or that he bullies us
but it's just this general vibe of discontent that radiates from him
and even though we're good at what we do
and we're efficient, and we have the answers for the questions that he asks us..... we always feel like we're not good enough or that we're failing him
it's stupid
and we're also really on edge when we're with him
our ward round today was the most stressful ward round we've had to date
and we still can't figure out why

oh well
fingers crossed it's just a first-day thing
but i doubt it'd change very dramatically
we'd been pre-warned even before he started

hell....we should have known what we were in for when his peers call him angryman

Sigh

All smiles

2009-05-03T21:59:00.002+10:00

It's been a good weekend
i was meant to work on saturday, but someone needed to switch shifts so i'm working this coming sat instead....something that may bite me in the ass this weekend
but i shan't think about that for now

friday night
filled with pleasant surprises
*smile*

alright
back to work i go
angry man is our new reg starting tomorrow
*worrie*

Thank you

2009-04-10T00:08:00.002+10:00

Thank you Lord
for this day and all it signifies

Thank you Lord
for everything you gave up to give me everything i didn't deserve

Thank you Lord
for your love that overwhelms me

Thank you Lord
for everything

Thank you Lord
my words can never express it enough

Update!

2009-04-09T11:06:00.003+10:00

Sorry for the sparcity of post-age
but my life has been consumed by work
coming on the gen med was like
'WHAT IS THIS!'

and on our first day our reg called in sick O_O
which meant we got a substitute reg
and then we were on cover
why does this always happen to me?

anyhoo
week 2 now and it's getting slightly better
but i still miss gen surg at the northern
we met up with our old reg on the weekend at a workshop and he was like 'cooooome baaaaack'
lolz

even 2 weeks into this job has told me i can't be a physician
there's no curing on our wards
just prolonging of life
it's not like surg where you see people come in looking like crap and the walk out the next day smiling
it's not like anaesthetics where you see the blade of the knife sink into skin and the patient not even flinch because of what you've done
hell it's not even like ED where people come in acutely unwell and you either fix them (think tension pneumothorax) or you palm them off so you never see them again

meanwhile we're the people that people get palmed off to
bah
*shudder*
hate to even think about people that do rehab or aged care as a job

don't get me wrong, gen med sure has its interesting moments
but it's just not something i see myself doing in the long term

anyhoo
i'm enjoying my morning off today
i'm working Good Friday and Easter monday
so this week while everyone's been talking about 'what are you doing for the 4 day weekend' i'm like 'what 4 day weekend?'
haha

sigh

Farewell Gen Surg

2009-03-29T23:56:00.002+11:00

Today I worked my last shift of Gen Surg at the Northern
the shift itself went ok
but this whole rotation has been fantastic

Wonderful unit
great consultants
uber reg
and of course.....fabulous co-intern

the past 11 weeks have been suuuuuuuuuuuuuper

i start Gen Med at Austin tomorrow
and i start with a cover shift and a weekend shift
*sigh*

haven't been updating the blog for awhile
work tends to eat into ur life like that
when i'm free i'm out
so i hardly get the chance to update

main update was picking up my new baby last week

i heart!

Dysarthria....

2009-03-16T21:58:00.002+11:00

These few days I've been flitting in and out of various degrees of dysarthria
read: inability to articulate onself
as opposed to the slurry-goodness a stroke will set upon you

anyhoo
there's been alot of thoughts and emotions just sitting around....swirling around
things i want to say but can't think of how to say it
and sometimes it gets so frustrating i just want to scream
i think 'just say it!' and yet...i can't

i found myself in an interesting position the other day
well it wasn't really *that* interesting
but it was like this moment of realisation
that a person i'd labelled as a casual acquaintance...a regular annoyance...etc...
i realised that'd unexpectedly become a friend...and one that actually seemed to care about me
the thought semi-scared me for a moment
how did this person worm their way into my life
do i want them in this position?

and what about the other friends in my life
that have just faded away as the weeks/months/years have gone

this cycle of rotating friendships
it's healthy and yet unhealthy

am i too cynical when i question the reasons behind everything
when the concept of someone being nice 'just because' doesn't occur to me...or if it does, is quickly brushed away

argh
look at my dysarthria!

my head hurts

why can't life be like a stick drawing
simple and no fuss
...
oh wait... i know why....coz i'd get bored

damned if you do and damned if you don't
c'est la vie :(

whimper

2009-03-03T20:03:00.002+11:00

Went in to work earlier today because we were post-take
was faced with our worst post-take EVER
we admitted 15 new patients over night
doesn't sound like alot to those doing gen med
but it's alot to us!

Such a long drawn out day at work
the drive home was worryingly drowsy
had to actively keep thinking "STAY AWAKE!"
on the upside, didn't have to resort to literally slapping myself to stay awake while driving (unlike one of my fellow interns after a cover shift)

tiredness compounded by several other factors
poor sleep
2 hour gym sessions
mental stress
and the like

i would love a day off right now
a day off to go to a day spa
i'd love that

oh well
friday is rapidly approaching....well...i use the word rapidly loosely
but it still approaches
*tired cheer*

2009-02-16T22:11:00.002+11:00

First of a giant happy birthday to Chi and Ernie Mei
hope you both had a wonderful birthday filled with all sort of warm fuzzy memories ;)

am in a funny mood tonight
if i was in a movie
i'd be sitting by the window gazing out while it's raining outside
and i may or maynot be strumming a guitar

oh well
life isn't a movie
there are no warm fuzzy happy endings around the corner
there's just...
daily life
in all it's mediocrity and disappointments
bah

Huzzah!

2009-02-11T22:25:00.002+11:00

Great success
we have finally gotten internet at our place
woo hoo
and kevvy unexpectedly came home last night
so we got to sit around and revel in our internet-dom as well as generally sit around and bitch ;)

it's good and bad having the net
the internet tends to suck your time away
but it's not like you do anything productive
but hours just melt away
and nick and i were saying that not having the net around was good
coz we'd sit around and talk for hours every night
now we just sit and stare at our laptops...even though we're sitting next to each other
and it's only been one night since we've gotten the net!

sads :(

anyhoo
work is busy
my co-intern went and fractured his finger last night
so for the next 4 weeks only i can scrub into theatre
which is good and bad
we'll see how it pans out
i almost fell asleep during a right hemicolectomy today though
bad....
haha

A month?

2009-02-07T11:52:00.004+11:00

Has it really been a month since work begun?
it sure feels like much longer
i can't complain too much though
even though my surgical unit is one of the two most busy units in the northern
and our patient load is so much more than some of the other units....
i come home to horror stories of gen med at the Austin everynight
and i watch Nick deteriorate into a stressed out and angry version of himself
poor thing ;(

alas i've discovered that my next rotation that was meant to be 'MAPU' is actually a lie
and i'm actually going to be doing gen med
sads

anyhoo
my new reg started on monday
and i totally heart him
he's nice, friendly and competent
our old reg...
well....
yeeeeeeees

and new reg is easy on the eyes too
hahahaha

last weekend my saturday was spent waiting allllllllll freaking day in the apartment for my new bed to be delivered
we specifically said deliver before noon
and they said 'yes yes'
and then they were like 'oh wait.....you're in the afternoon list'
and in the end
it didn't arrive until freaking 5.45pm
WTF

baaaaaaaaaaaaah

anyhoo
presenting....my new bed ;)

i heart ;)

argh
it's too damn hot
freaking 44 degrees
it's just not right :(

It's that asian time of the year again

2009-01-25T18:44:00.002+11:00

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year
coincidentally it's also Australia Day
but back to Chinese New Year...
the year of the Ox begins tomorrow
it also reminds me that i'm going to be turning 24 this year
le sigh
youth is fading so fast
*hand on forehead*

this will be my first Chinese New Year spent away from family
our usual traditions have to be abandoned
in their place will be 14.5 hours of surg cover
*weary hurrah*

i hope everyone else has a great CNY
eat all those uber goodies on my behalf ;)

2009-01-25T15:48:00.002+11:00

sometimes i forget how good i am at repressing things
it's a skill i've developed and honed since young
with the characters in my family and the situations that have arisen in my life
it has always been prudent (or sometimes necessary) to maintain a composed front

a few years ago i wondered to myself if i was become too heartless
if my heart had somehow developed an iron coating that was now impenetrable
i usually consider this when i'm faced with events in the hospital that have others feeling sad/distressed etc.....and i just shrug it off

i'd also previously decided that it was probably for the best
given my profession

but sometimes the iron cast around my heart cracks a little
and for a moment i get a glimpse of what it would be like if i was a little more.... in tune with my feeeeeeeeeeeelings

had one of those moments today
the force of the emotions that overwhelmed was so great it felt like someone punched me
hmmm wait
it appears i've had a few of those moments this week
one of which manifested as sudden onset chest pain and shortness of breath whilst crossing the road during the shopping trip i attempted to enjoy on my afternoon off
but after that one i took a deep breath and kept walking and managed to re-suppress
today however
today it caught me unawares
and whilst i was caught up in the sea of emotions, i also marveled at how well i'd hidden them
how unaware i was that they were there
and they had the ability to be....so strong

i was actually quite glad after it all
i thought to myself
i can still feel
i am still human
i am not beyond hope

I'm still alive m'kay :)

2009-01-23T22:15:00.002+11:00

Alright it's been AGES since i've last posted
for a variety of reasons
but more recently......mainly because we're still awaiting internet connection at the new place

so it's the end of my 2nd week as an intern
and it's going pretty good so far
our fellow who initially looked harsh/strict/mean turned out to be very warm/friendly/fun
sadly today was her last day
but we got to enjoy her all this week while our not-very-useful-for-medical-decisions reg worked nights :)
and i can't complain about my co-intern...coz he's great and does his share of the work and we work well together

i forget what i have and haven't shared because there's been a bunch of email chains between the meddies where we basically bitch and whine about our days
lol

i might as well run through it here just in case
Mmmmm

first week seemed pretty long
considering on our first day we had an almost MET call (i.e. one step down from a code blue, but still involves a bunch of senior doctors running in) about 20 mins before our unit meeting with the consultants
luckily beloved Maithri was around to help us with it
the work up and sorting out of things still took ages and we ended up missing our meeting (on our first day .... wonder if the consultants hate us now)
and subsequently our lady was diagnosed with having bilateral PEs
fun fun fuuuuuuuuun
which also meant i had to make my first referral
a task most interns dread because we've been talked to about the perils of a crap referral
but lucky for me....after i prepared my whole schpiel and paged the med reg
he rang back and was like "hi this is the med 2 reg" and i was like "hi i'm stephanie the surg 4 intern that just paged you about......"
and he goes "is this steph chen?"
and i'm like "choung is that you?"
and then the referral became very informal lol
i've been lucky with referrals
they've either been to regs i'm friends with
or to regs that have been nice
w00t

anyhoo
moving on in the story
so yes....there was that lady for our morning...
and then i was scheduled to be on cover for my first day
which means that while everyone works from 7.30-5.30
i worked from 7.30-10
and between the hours of 5.30 to 10.30 i'm the only intern manning all the surgical units
cover wasn't *too* bad.... busy but survivable
we had a patient admitted at about 9pm with the extremely amusing story (well to me, not so much to him) of having ruptured his rectum (see...not funny for him...as it required fairly extensive surgery) after...uhh....the removal of a foreign body from said rectum *cough vibrator cough*

Mmmmm after that....
the rest of the week seems like a lifetime ago....so i can't really remember...haha
we were the busiest surg unit last week
everyone else had between 1-4 patients while we had about 12
it doesn't sound like alot
but it is...and the work really adds up

week 2 has been better
the learning curve of week 1 was so steep that this week we have managed to hold ourselves up pretty well

the weekend was pretty good
mum had ventured to the land of bad water (ie. adelaide)
so i spent the weekend in heidelberg
fri was dinner with some of my med boys, drinks with fellow interns, then impromptu boozing at our place
sat was brunch with meddies, shopping with meddies, movie night with friends
sun was lunch with regs, grocery shopping....i can't remember what else...

it's been a busy 1.5 weeks
and we finally got paid yesterday
the promised amount is much more exciting than the amount i actually got in my bank account
when i get around to providing recepits to substantiate my claims for salary packaging the money will seep into my bank
until then i continue to lead the life of a poor intern ;)

it's a bit of an incoherant post
and trust me if i was updating more regularly there'd be WAY more whining
but now it's like.......there's been so much that's happened that i cbf writing all about it
that....and i'm running off like 3 hours sleep atm

oh!
alright one little whine before i head off
nurses...
need i say more
just one example
it may not mean anything to you if you're non-medical
but just take my word for it that it's freaking unbelievable

we turned up on the wards after our round to do ward work (ie. write up meds, fluids etc)
and we had a patient due for theatre that afternoon that we were keeping nil by mouth
and the labs had just come back saying the potassium was a bit low, so we wanted to run the bag of fluid with the potassium added to it
so we found the nurse looking after that room
and was like "oh which bag of fluid is running at the moment" *gesturing at fluid chart*
and she's like "oh he's NBM atm"
and we're like "yea...so which bag is he on"
anyhoo i wandered away to deal with another patient
but 2 minutes later my co-intern grabs me and goes
"OMFG, do you know what just happened....she thought NBM means they get NOTHING"
and i'm like "WTF!!! It's nil by MOUTH not nil by VEIN"
stupid stupid nurse
lucky it was early in the morning so the patient hadn't completely dried out to a hollow shell of what they used to be
*rage*

so many more stories
nick and i debrief everynight (read as: bitch everynight)
it's fun and hilarious
our household has GOT to be the bitchiest one around
wait till kevvy gets back
it'd be great
haha

2009 and all that entails

2009-01-11T18:03:00.003+11:00

it's been awhile since i've blogged
and to be honest i wondered if i'd get back to it
i've taken quite a hit upon returning from vacation....as most of you are well aware
each day passes and i get better
but my heart still feels the pain daily and i'm not sure it'd ever go away completely
part of me also hopes it doesn't go away completely
it reminds me, it oddly comforts me, helps me believe that i am still human
it also seems to be the least i could do, a twisted tribute, so i shall never forget

anyhoo
moving on
2009 has begun
and orientation started last week
i begin work as an intern tomorrow
first rotation is gen surg at the Northern
and on my first day i'm working cover
which means i work from 7.30am to 10pm
and between the hours of 5 and 10pm i'm the only intern covering all the surgical patients
*deep breath*
God grant me the wisdom and strength!

Caaaambo

2008-12-17T01:09:00.002+11:00

Day 3 in cambodia so far
so far we've spent 2 days in Siem Reap....
saw angkor wat (pretty awesome) and a whole bunch of other temples...
took a million and one photos...
roasted in the heat...
endured a horribly bumpy and loooong 5 hour bus ride to get from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh...
visited the genocide museum (sadness)...
and have had waaaaay to much food to eat

i'm leeching free wifi in the hotel atm... while my brother attempts to fend off an impending viral infection
the ongoing go-go-go momentum of the trip so far already has me quite exhausted
i realise i've been on-the-go continuously since exams have started
and have not had any R&R at all...
as a result, as much as i'm loving the trip...i'm also looking forward to the rest i'll be able to get when i go back to melbourne a week before i start work

anyhoo
on a side note
a giant HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beloved princess ;)

Whirlwind weekend

2008-12-08T18:15:00.002+11:00

These past few days have been ABSOLUTELY packed
thursday was paper day at the Austin
thursday night was the Austin graduation ball - total success....very very fun.... after party slightly marred by the random dude that kept trying to pick everyone up and grabbed my ass at least 5 times >_<

friday was the avant brunch.....sad turn out....but given the festivities the night before...not unexpected

saturday was of course....MY GRADUATION
sooooo many photos and posing
was at uni for prob 6 hours all up
wonderful day
blessed with good weather when we needed it
wrapped up with family dinner
went home
had 10 mins to change before i headed back out to the city with anna to baroque
hilarious night
white people......so can't dance
there was a hen's night there....and not one you'd want to see...trust me... *shudder*
my feet were freaking dead by the end of the night

went home
caught a few hours of sleep
back out on sunday for the med group's lunch at the brasserie at crown
lunch stretched for about 3 hours
food was pretty good but not spectacular
company on the other hand was fabulous

sunday night was mallory weiss
the cocktail night for all the final years
got totally ruined
especially once we discovered the bartenders would give us doubles
mmmm
had a hilarious wrap up to the night with my favorite boys

woke up early today after even less sleep than the night before
went down to uni
got registered with the medical board (yes! i'm now officially a registered medical practitioner!)
met up with anna
shopped a bit
went to the celebrate-your-registration lunch at grand hyatt....gooooood food
finally came home

FINALLY got around to packing

and tomorrow i jet off for 4 weeks
*whew*
i'm so tired
i think i'll collapse on the plane tomorrow
goooooooood

then again
this will all only happen once in my life
so i'm glad i made such a big weekend out of it
HAHA

no regrets!

Just call me doctor :)

2008-12-07T03:03:00.002+11:00

Today (actually technically yesterday) was my graduation
6 years of blood and sweat for this moment
i thought i'd be teary but i wasn't
there was alot of stress and boredom
a LOT of photos
a lot of laughter
and a general feeling of pride

looking at these people that have grown to become the strong doctors they are today
i am nothing but proud

We've been through so much together
med school is a journey, a lifetime, a family

So now i can officially call myself Dr. Chen
it's not that i feel different
but i'm sure next year when i realise i'm no longer a student... a giant wave of nostalgia will overwhelm

i love love love all the meddies and just want to say how proud i am of all of you

I'm so grateful to God for the opportunity to even be here
to go into med
and for His hand in everything i've touched in this course
the course itself, the AMS department i got into, the clinical school i got into, the elective i got into, the internship i got into....and most of all the people i've met

love love love
that's all i'm feeling right now :)

that....and fatigue
it's 3am.... i need me some sleep ;)

Epic weekend!!!

2008-11-24T20:11:00.004+11:00

Post-exams celebrations have lasted the whole weekend
thursday night was epic
friday night....much more reasonable...but still a bit boozy
saturday.....struggled to get up after getting only 6 hours sleep at most.....stupid horrible weather just made it that much more difficult to journey to the docklands

i was UTTERLY exhausted by saturday afternoon and just wanted to keel over
but i'd promised the girls we'd go clubbing
*whimper*
luckily the stupid weather continued
and we decided to just have a night in instead
oh i love my girls

sunday i wandered down to the new doncaster shopping centre
parking was even worse than at chadstone
not happy
the place itself wasn't *that* impressive
not sure i'd bother again for awhile

today i wandered to vicroads to get a replacement licence (DAR!)
i'm quite angry looking in my new photo
the running theory is the inner rage of having to take a photo for a replacement licence manifested itself...haha
it also ended up being the FUNNIEST day
ah bei bei
you rock
wandered down to the austin for research purposes
came home
packed up all my study stuff - such a gratifying feeling
somehow fell asleep
and got woken up by an unexpected but very pleasant phonecall

only one more day to wrap up some other stuff before we head to queensland
hope the weather up there is better than here
fingers crossed!

sad news today
all i can do is pray and hold hope
Lord you are soverign and i trust that your hand is in this situation

A horrid end to an otherwise wonderful day

2008-11-21T14:50:00.002+11:00

My last uni exam EVER was yesterday
the multitude of possible cases haunted me as i made my way to RMH
and in the end
i got a surgical patient with about 1.5 problems
i sat there getting worried 'are you sure you've never been to hospital for anything else? are you positive you don't take ANY medication...AT ALL?'
it's good in a way i guess

but because she was so straight forward the examiners had more time to ask me random questions
'what particular nerve could you transect in an anterior resection and where does this nerve go'
sigh

i'm quite sure i didn't say anything that'd get the patient killed
and therefore...i hope that means i passed ;)

last night was an uberly fantabulous post-exam party
EXCEPT
i was stupid and brought my bag
and it got annoying
so i took some money out, gave my keys to kevvy, my phone to brian and held on to my camera...then stuffed my bag under our pile of jackets
come end of the night
the bag had migrated to the top of the pile, and was unzipped and clearly rummaged through
my wallet was gone

so at 2am i had to go ring all the credit card people to get my card cancelled
BAH
i'm so freaking annoyed
mainly because
1. i loved that wallet, and i got it in spain
2. my student card was in there....and i can't get that back EVER
3. my drivers license was in there and i'm heading to queensland in like 4 days

oh well
i can replace most things
but it's just annoying
and like
WHY
WHY WOULD YOU STEAL A FELLOW MED'S WALLET?!?!?!?!
such low lifes

i thought it was really cute how some of my friends got so pissed off for me
"RAH! WTF....STUPID PEOPLE....I HATE THEM ALL"
hahaha

i think the post-exams euphoria...as anti-climatic as it was....is keeping me quite at peace
i'm not as hung up about the whole missing-wallet thing as i thought i would be

anyhoo
big weekend continues
mmmmmmmmm
more booze tonight ;)

5 more hours....

2008-11-20T08:56:00.002+11:00

till i'm done with uni exams FOREVER (God willing)
i awoke with the familiar pre-exam hollow feeling in my abdomen
it's not that i'm extremely worried about this particular exam
but i guess it's that unknown element of what sort of patient will i get, and who my examiners will be etc

everyone else was out and about last night enjoying their freedom
while i (literally) read through the whole of the oxford handbook
a feat i didn't even manage in sem 9
HAHAHAHA

be still my beating heart (but not too still....coz that'd cause problems)

i'm trying to concentrate on all the things i'm going to do post-exams
but in a way those also get me a little stressed because there's a whole bunch of stuff i need to do before next wed
bleh!

ok ok
breathe
alllllllmost there

1 more day...

2008-11-19T14:52:00.003+11:00

24 more hours and i should technically be walking out of my long case
hopefully with a smile on my face
it's my last 24 hours to try cram
and i've done nothing bar flip half heartedly through the oxford while facebook reminds me one-by-one that people I know have finished their exams
tick tock

my mind is not consumed with medical knowledge
nor is it consumed with fear of the exam (though i am starting to get that hollow feeling in my stomach that occurs pre-exam)
instead i'm so happy by the unexpected news of a very unexpected visit this weekend by my beloved chi
and my mind is filld with activities that will happen post-exam
it's all very exciting

the only downside about this weekend is that
1. the caloric intake is going to be HORRIFIC
2. my liver may not be in its best shape come monday
but meh
coz i know i'm gonna have a damn fine time
and i'm gonna laugh my head off and most likely scream my lungs out
i think i've earned it ;)

2 down....and a short intermission

2008-11-16T20:57:00.005+11:00

So we had our last set of osces EVER at the Austin on friday
these ones were much more expected than the ones the day before
i had pretty nice examiners so i'm happy
such a relief to have it all over

now all that's left is the long case on thurs w00t w00t

once the osces were over though
it felt like we were on a mini holiday
this whole weekend has been play play play
which is fine
because long cases are so damn luck dependent that regardless of what i do it'd prob not matter ;)

anyhoo
by the time i was finished with the osces and had wrapped up some other work at the austin, i got home to have just enough time to pack up some stuff and be out the door with kevvy to do combat

we almost got kicked out of combat because we were 15 mins late because we could find freaking parking in the freaking city
oh well

then straight after combat we hit happy hour at hush bar with jeremy and co
probably wasn't a great idea to go straight there
considering all i'd had to eat that whole day was 1 muffin at like 9am that morning AND i'd just killed myself in combat
oh well
retrospect....you're such a gift
haha

needless to say
the continuous flow of drinks soon got to me
then we bumped into a whole bunch of people
and they made me do shots
*sigh*

anyhoo
the night was AWESOME
we just kept bumping into more and more people we knew everywhere we went
sooooooooooooo fun
had so many random conversations
*content sigh*

my favorite photo of the night

saturday was jane's 21st
which reminded me of all those 21sts that swarmed around but 2 years ago
feeling old...
haha

today was great fun
filled with brunch, crazy combat and generally alot of smiling

can't wait till thursday afternoon
it'd be an UBER weekend next weekend
haha

as per usual, more photos on facebook ;)

One down

2008-11-13T18:45:00.001+11:00

so how was it?
the last exams EVER to be held at melbourne uni
i woke up
it was hot
got into the city
the stress of exams failed to sink in
went shopping - oooooo more clothes
went to uni
checked in

then while we waited for the group before us to finish
i heard the sound of the little bell that signals time is up for a station
and like pavlov's dog...... my classical conditioning kicked in
*ring ring* followed by *hollow feeling in chest/upper abdomen*
hahaha

the osces weren't too bad
it didn't help seeing the group before us file away with pale faces and shaking heads
but overall
it wasn't too bad
i think kevvy and i pissed some people off
because right after it was done, as we filed downstair we were just laughing and singing
mmmmm delirium.....old friend

haha
one more set of OSCEs tomorrow
i'll take the weekend off
and get back to it for the final exam on thurs
*deep breath*
alllllmost there

2008-11-12T21:35:00.000+11:00

One more day till exams start
still feeling deluded
last day to cram a little and what did i do
went out..... watched a movie.....did some laundry...ironed some clothes....fell asleep.....watched some tv
hahaha
omg

this is the worse i've ever been before an exam
LOL

3 more days....

2008-11-10T15:13:00.002+11:00

3 more days till exams start
i've been unrealistically relaxed leading up to them
i turned up to the Austin for a procedural skills revision session today
and was confronted with an atmosphere of stress that was almost palpable
everyone around me was concentrating so hard and trying to ask the instructors as many questions as possible
it started getting me a little more edgy
so i didn't bother hanging around too long (fighting to stick a rubber tube into a manequin does not constitute a productive morning methinks)

so now i'm home
and away from all that buzz
and i'm slowly reverting to a more relaxed frame of mind
hahaha
but i will get some study done (unlike the last few weeks days)

and i've made a promise to NOT go on facebook till at least after my exams on thursday
so that'd probably boost productivity by 1000%
LOL

2008-11-09T21:57:00.002+11:00

had the best weekend this weekend in awhile
and even thought it's only 4 days till exams start (i typed that sentence tonight in a conversation, and my heart nearly stopped....but then...i bounced back quickly...and continued on with my non-studying hahaha)i'm surprisingly relaxed
probably delirious or something

anyhoo
ah
things to say but i cbf typing it out
lol
exciting stories to be told
but once again
cbf explaining all the back stories
oh well
the people in the know already know and that's what matters :p

alrighty then
time to do some work
yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeea....
suuuure

Farewell GPland

2008-11-06T18:24:00.002+11:00

Today was my last day at GPland
as much as i liked the people that worked there
the job itself was mind-numbingly boring

well the upside is that unless i decide to do GP in the future (gasp!) i'd never have to return to GPland again
w00t

tomorrow is the last official teaching day I'll ever have as a medical student
can't believe it!
drinks to celebrate the last day
w00t
i look forward to those ;)

2008-10-31T14:49:00.002+11:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN Y'ALL!!!

Even though exams are but 13 days away from beginning
i don't care anymore!
hahaha

i'm out tonight
hope i have a fairy good time *wink wink*

photos tomorrow....or whenever i awake :D

2008-10-27T20:25:00.000+11:00

feeling weird tonight
distinctly not myself
but not sure why
or what exactly i'm feeling
also feeling tired
and just a little sick of everything

small good news is that i'm at RMH/Western for my long case
so no St. Vs
*small breath of relief*
and yet
not that much joy

hope i pick up tomorrow

Sads

2008-10-26T23:00:00.002+11:00

You know that moment
when you want something so badly
but you know it's bad for you
like when you're a kid
and you stare at the shiny lollypop that's the size of your head
you want it so much
it's right there and obtainable (assuming you manage to fool the parentals to getting it for you..... but let's say in this scenario you're one smart cookie and you could do it)

you know that it'd just result in i dunno....tooth cavities or something
the question is
are you strong enough to say 'alright.....it's bad for me....i'll let it go...'

am i strong enough?

i live in a relatively protected world
as cynical as i am i don't really automatically see the seedy and uninhabitable side of society
and then sometimes a conversation or a situation just slaps you right back into the world we live in...

sigh

2008-10-26T18:55:00.003+11:00

Another week has passed
another GP release day
another night of good fun :)

I was good this week
made the decision that i wouldn't have too much to drink, and i'd head home early (well earlier than usual)
and i stuck by that
w00t

Big news today that 2 of our friends got engaged
one of my friends was asking me if i heard
"Steph....we're getting old!" she says
haha
and not in the "oh no i'll never find someone" way...but just that we're approaching that age where people we know are going to get engaged/married
personally i haven't really had the whole friends-getting-married wave yet
but i know some friends that have already attended several weddings of their friends in the last 2 years
Mmmmm spectrum and contrast :)

anyhoo
the biggest congratulations to the happy couple
your joy helps put perspective on things happening in my life :)
kuuuuuudos!

2008-10-23T22:11:00.002+11:00

Another week in GPland
mundane-ness abounds
i heart my GP
with his kind smile and grand-fatherly ways
the patients aren't too horrid either
although alot of them ask too many questions that are way too personal for someone to be asking within 5 minutes of meeting...

today i had a lady ask me all sorts of questions while i drew her blood
the standard 'what year are you in, which uni'
and as always...the inevitable 'where are you from'
i don't really mind these because it seems to be some standard proforma all the patients go through with me

then was the 'what religion are you'
ok.... that one's new
"christian" i declared proudly and stared her in the eye to see if she would say anything about it
she nods slowly
'and you' i ask....mainly to keep the conversation going because the blood was still flowing...and also to prevent her from asking ME anymore questions
'mmm yes...me too' she says dismissively..... i don't know if she was just saying that to quickly move on in the conversation.... or if she actually was christian

she goes on to ask if my country of origin is Muslim
'uhhh no'
then she asks if there are alot of muslim girls in the course with me
'a few i guess'....these questions are getting random
'and do they all of boyfriends?'
'eh?!.....i wouldn't know!'
she nods again
'i have a friend...they have a son...very good boy....studies commerce law....'
O_O
at this point i've labelled the blood samples and miraculously the courier arrives to get the pathology stuff
i'm done with her
and i have paperwork to fill
'ok we're all done, you're free to go now, have a nice day!' says i as i turn around to fill the paperwork
she lingers as though she wants to wait this out
then decides not to and leaves
'God bless!' she says as she leaves
'You too!' i yell to her retreating figure as i look up

how bizarre

then there was the horrible man
who comes in with his daughter that looks about 7 or 8 years old
and he's saying he had a minor motorbike accident yesterday
and initially saw the GP over the road, but they were busy today so he came here instead
he said that there were no injuries
but...oh the pain
'they tried some stuff called tramadol and that didn't work....but then they changed it to something else that worked really well...but they only gave me 4 of those'
i know what he wants before he asks
he "digs" around for the box
i look at the label
and as expected the words Oxycontin stare at me
his daughter....almost on cue
'he's in so much pain! won't you help him?'
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight
i'm not touching this
i palm it off to one of the other GPs and leave

tomorrow is GP release day
i anticipate fun to be had
when the day is over that is.....
the release day itself....i anticipate a slow and painful death
beh

unusual for me today
i didn't check my mobile all day until about half an hour ago
i have 7 missed calls that have me a little worried
and a message that has me wishing i'd bothered to check my phone a little earlier
bah
damn you silent phone

Oh the achyness

2008-10-20T20:34:00.002+11:00

When i woke up this morning
i opened my eyes and went 'urp....time to get up'
and then
when i went to get up
my body started screaming

Nooooooooooooooooooo
turns out the very elated and refreshingly good feeling i had right after yesterday's 2.5 hour combat session was short-lived
sigh

took a day off gym today so i wouldn't die
combat tomorrow
fingers crossed i don't die then
HAHA

2008-10-16T17:16:00.002+11:00

i had a vaguely busy day today
or at least it felt that way when i left the clinic
like i'd been doing things one after the other all day
but if i thought hard about it
what did i really do
see a cough
see a sniffle
rinse an eye
dress a wound

such is the life of a gp
day after day of mundane activity that just fills your time and devours your attention but give so little back in terms of intellectual stimulation or....in my case....any form of interest
i half admire people that choose this path
in the same disturbed way i "admire" people that devote their life to something mundane like taxes (sorry to all my friends that do this...i love you anyway haha)

but work places are still work places
and workplace politics are never far
here it comes in the form of the wife of one of the GPs who makes it her daily habit to come in and sit around for 2 hours to 'have lunch'
but just gets in the way of everything, and generally annoys all the other staff
one of the receptionists has been getting more and more worked up as the week progressed
i have the feeling she'll say something to said GP within the time i'm here
*intrigue*

other than that
noone seems to have that much carfarfle surrounding them (ie. the people that ACTUALLY WORK there get along quite well)
my GP supervisor is the loveliest man...the epitome of the friendly grandfather figure

the patients are getting used to me
some of them come regularly and now wave and call me by name when i see them in the waiting room
i'd say i get the warm fuzzies from that
but the only warm fuzzies i get these days is that inexplicable joy that fills my heart as i watch the blood flow when i do a venepuncture
HAHAHAHAHA

Distractions....

2008-10-13T21:26:00.003+11:00

4 more weeks to exams
why am i so unmotivated
i have the time to study
but it gets spent on other less urgent and most certain less important things

for example:

anyhoo
mind has been occupied with all sorts of things of non-academic nature
sigh

should get my ass in gear and start hiting those books.......
tomorrow.....i'll do it tomorrow...... i swear :)

2008-10-11T23:46:00.001+11:00

you like the new title photo?
i just spent freaking HOURS on the collage
but i think it's wonderful :p

Respite from GPland

2008-10-11T19:20:00.015+11:00

Yesterday was the first of 3 release days in our GP rotation
what this means is that instead of going to our GP....we go to uni and have lectures and tutes
but it's not like i have a terrible time at my gp anyway
so yesterday wasn't so much respite as just....horrible

the lectures were boring
but the tutes
OMG the tutes
*curls up and dies*

and it took up the WHOLE DAY
(the longest day i've had since GP started...HAHAHA)

on the upside, going into uni for release day meant we were already in the city
which means: BARHOPPING

i wasn't hungry all day
but in the afternoon i decided i'd better eat something prior to drinking...because well....the last time i didn't....*bam bam baaaaaaaaaaaaam*
the best fix is a cheeseburger
it's filling enough, has just the right amount of oil:protein ratio to serve its purpose.....
but then *someone* said 'nono don't get fast food'.... so we had chocolate croissants instead
(which incidentally....were quite tasty)

and then there was a moment when i thought my random rash was starting
and i opened my wallet to fish out some anti-histamines
but discovered i forgot to re-stock
nooooo
so had to go buy expensive anti-histamines from melb central
on the upside: the rash didn't come up (either because it wasn't going to anyway....or because i took the anti-histamine in time....i like to think it's the latter)

anyhoo
left the boys to go drinking with suddy
and went to meet anna and jing at another bar where anna's workmates had afterwork drinks
uber score
because there was a bar tab there
funniest conversation at the bar while jing and i were waiting to order
when one of the guys was like "*insert generic greeting and exchanging of names*.... so did you guys win?"
jing: "win what"
dude: "the *insert name of some work challenge they obviously had*"
jing: "uhhhh"
me at the same time: "nah, we didn't"
more random chit chat
dude: "what department are you guys in"
*silence*
me: "we know anna!"
dude: "who's anna?!"
*we get our drinks and scamper away*
HAHAHA
so really....even if we *did* work there.....he might not know us anyway
haha

met some new people :)

had waaaay too many drinks
decided bloody chocolate croissant did crap-all to slow alcohol absorption
the boys came to join us
and then i finally got my cheeseburger
w00t

then went to one of my all time favorite places with some of my all time favorite people and had us some oh-so-delicious cocktails

Stopped for more oily (but SO GOOD) food

and bumped into Jeeeeeeeeeeeremy

Then headed off to cho gao...

made yun come out to play :p

Then ended up at Chilipadi (again)
eating moooooooooore unhealthiness
then back home by about 3ish
w00t

7 hours later i rolled out of bed
and was a good child and went to have lunch with the family
and then decided to pop by the optus shop because
a. they still owe me a freaking hard case for my phone
b. my GPS is acting up and i was hoping they'd fix it

long story short
i was concentrating so hard on what was happening with the phone
and how they were going to fix it
was it a network problem, a phone problem, a setting problem...blah blah and the like
and the salesguy was like 'hmm we might have to ring up the tech people....have you got your drivers license'
and so i handed it over
and then he just looks at it and goes
"ah! Stephanie.....Hi my name is Nick"
and i'm like "ah hello"
and then he rings tech support
long story short, my GPS is stil not fixed because i have to ring samsung and they're not open on weekends >_<
and then as i'm leaving he goes "here i'll give you the number you need to call to get through to them *scribbles*.......and this *scribbles* is my number in case you want to have coffee or something"
and i'm in a bit of a daze
so i just have my auto smile-and-nod answer

haha
i'm very amused when i recall it because i realise that he absolutely didn't need my license at all.....and i just handed it over as a reflex
and because i was in such a daze
i honestly could not tell you what this guy looked like
except that he was tall and white
LOL

tralala....this week has been interesting in terms of guys i've been meeting
*shakes head*

2008-10-07T19:06:00.002+11:00

w00t w00t
i love that my GP supervisor is old
he's like in his 80s or something
a very nice man
and he says to me today 'well i work from 8 to either 2 or 3 because at my age.....i just don't have the energy'....then he smiles 'which means you get to finish early and try do some study too'

w00t!
so today he finished at like 2.30 and i was home before 3
love it

meanwhile
a thought pressing on my mind at the moment is whether or not it would be faux pas of me to point out another's faux pas
the moment has passed
is it still necessary?
yet it continues to bother me....
beh

oh...and here's a lesson on how small the world is
the physiotherapist working in my gp clinic...
well
let's say we have a history
and lucky for me he doesn't seem to remember me
he's probably repressed that memory
HAHAHA

Gpland begins...

2008-10-06T15:36:00.003+11:00

Started my rotation in GP today
my GP of choice is conveniently located in Chadstone
so for once in my whole 6 year course....i get to wake up like 20 mins before i have to be there
w00t

my GP supervisor is on holiday and returns tomorrow
so i got to visit another doctor today
he was quite funny because he was convinced my ongoing cough thanks to stupid viral illness had a component of bronchospasm to it
so he raided the samples cabinet and made me try symbicort to relieve
he was sad it didn't work
and then he started talking about me having atypical pneumonia and offered me antibiotics
i said 'thanks but no thanks...i'm trying not to breed superbugs'
hahahaha

the day wasn't bad
i got to see patients, formulate, present and then prescribe....also got to take bloody w0000000t
my moment of pride was a slightly anxious lady coming in for routine TSH monitoring...and she was quite nervous about getting stuck
but once i got the needle in and was withdrawing blood she was like 'hurrah! you're the first person ever that's gotten blood from me on the first go'
yay!

the doctor finished early at 2ish
and because i was coughing up a lung for the better half of the day
instead of palming me off to another doctor he said 'why don't you go home and study'
w00t!
so i was home by 3
YAY

we'll see how my supervisor is when he returns tomorrow
everyone says he's super nice *fingers crossed*

meanwhile....my hopes of shopping during lunchtime have been dashed.....i barely got lunch today...and had to run out very quickly at almost 2 for a 20 second lunch
sighz

Next time call me doctor....

2008-10-02T20:53:00.002+10:00

So today was the last day at the Northern
It also marks the last day of hospital rotations I'll have as a student
next time i come to the Northern it'd be as an intern
bam bam baaaaaaaaaaaam
(or perhaps sooner if they force me to hand deliver my contract)

can't believe everything is happening so fast
5 weeks till exams
and prob something like 6 weeks before Med is over
OVER!!!

*deep breaths*

meanwhile
i feel the inklings of what may be a viral invasion happening
i was sooooo tired when i got home today
and it was only noon!
*sigh*

don't get sick don't get sick don't get sick don't get sick don't get sick don't get sick don't get sick don't get sick don't get sick don't get sick don't get sick

i start GP on monday
and apparently EVERYONE gets sick when they do GP
and as much as i'd like to think perhaps i'm pre-empting it
with my luck i'd just get a different strain there
Noooooooooooooooo

I've got that guilty feeling....

2008-09-25T19:00:00.003+10:00

i feel slightly guilty tonight

there is a consultant at the nothern that i love
he's great
and he teaches
and i generally love him

but he's also very tall
like crazy tall
i'm talking 6'7" tall
and he's.....so damn tall
ok you get the tall picture
moving on

so he's so tall
and since i met him 2 years ago
i've always wondered to myself...
"does he have Marfan's?"
well actually i wondered out loud alot
but kat kept stopping me from asking
and noone would ask for me

but i asked today
he gave us a tute
and at the end of it i sign-posted my question with my disclaimer of "can i ask a very random question....please don't be offended"
and then i said "do you have Marfan's"
and his eyes widened and he goes "how am i supposed to take that question....."
and after a few seconds we worked out he thought i said "do you have a boyfriend"
like...wtf....why would i ask that
how amusing
and i said "no no! i said....do you have.....uhh....marfan's"
and once again....with the eye widening
and then the disturbed look "no!"
he half smiled in the end after some feeble protests of innocent by me and him going "you should be careful going around asking people that"

and then i felt guilty

and yet also not
because it was a question i was going to ask sooner or later
because everytime i see him it runs through my head
so better i ask it now as an un-named medical student than later as his intern or something....

*sigh*

i still feel slightly guilty
hopefully he doesn't cry himself to sleep tonight....holding his face with his fingers.....that are most likely long and slender.....*cough arachnodactyly cough* :p

It begins!

2008-09-16T19:29:00.001+10:00

Today I handed in my contract to the HR department
the process of my employment officially begins
w00t!

9/11

2008-09-11T20:26:00.001+10:00

7 years on....
has it been that long?

such a distant memory...but yet...still so fresh

May we never forget

2008-09-07T23:27:00.000+10:00

Been busy with i-don't-know-what
(but it sure isn't study)
LOL

the past week has been taken up with things like ward rounds and the like
but extracurricular activities have also occurred

Tuesday night the family and i went down to RCH so i could claim my prize :p

Friday night was cambo steve's birthday

and saturday was lunch with our beloved regs (and dinesh)in the land of bad parking

today was father's day
which meant i took mum down to knox and fed her with smoothies and gourmet burgers after church
w00t

and now i'm back at kat's awaiting the new week to begin
*bam bam baaaaaaaaaaam*

(apologies for the feeble amount of photos....the blogger uploading thing is acting up.....more photos on facebook as per usual though ;p)

Welcome to Gen Med

2008-09-01T23:18:00.001+10:00

Today was our first day in our new rotation in Gen Med at the Northern
and omg
the ward round
we've just come from 5 weeks of gen surg
where the ward round, although it started at 6....would only take at MOST 30-40 mins

meanwhile
today's ward round lasted from 9am to 4pm
YES that is correct
we went off for a tute
had some food
had another tute
thought we'd go check out what our unit is doing on the ward
found them
and they were still on their ward round
the SAME ward round they'd started at 9am
and this isn't even post-take
we're on post-take tomorrow
i am afraid
hahaha

other than that
it's also been a time of
"goodness.....is there really only 10 weeks to exams...and....good lord i need to know HOW MUCH"
haha
i'm holed up at kat's for the next 5 weeks while we journey to the north
it's great
i actually get work done here
hahaha

alright
now to sleep
to prepare for the longest ward round EVER tomorrow
*bam bam baaaaaaaaam*

2008-08-30T00:29:00.002+10:00

So today (or technically....yesterday) was my last day of my surg rotation
it was also tenchincally my last day at the Austin as a medical student
afterall...my next rotation is medicine in the northern
and then after that i'm doing GP down in the burbs

so really
unless i go back to the austin in my spare time (as i intend to do)
i really don't have to see it again until exam time
*bam bam baaaaaaaaaaaam*

sighz
end of surg
i am sad
i quite liked my unit
loved my regs

and now...
off to the northern
which is a nice place
but just so damn far :(

in other excitement
w00t for glennies being spontaneous
hope i get to see them tomorrow
and double w00t for combat launch this sunday
hope anna comes with :)

2008-08-24T20:52:00.001+10:00

Found in the local asian grocery store:

love it

Party Party

2008-08-24T13:40:00.015+10:00

It's been an eventful weekend so far
Friday was the last day for our interns
so this involved the bringing of baked goods and the taking of photos :)

More exciting though is that friday night was mieow mieow's birthday party party
kat, brian and i started the night of with dinner at ben ben...uhhh...i mean...ben-k

ben-k....the land of exotic water

after dinner we headed off to canvas

and there....the meds gathered... *bam bam baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam*

see...i wasn't kidding....when we gather....WE GATHER

it was a faboo night
met some new people (including......MAAAAAAAAAAAAARFAN man...) who were really fun
played with old people (uhh....i mean...old friends....as in......people i've known for ages....hahahha)
stared at some people
laughed too much
and apparently shouted alot (the realisation of which came to me when i awoke with a sore throat)

and the perfect end to an evening..........an intimate gathering with my favorite people :p

alright enough chit chat about it
i'll bombard you with photos!

uhhhh....don't ask :p

Anyhoo
saturday began with brunch with my lifegroup

then it was Ken Duncan speaking at church
w00t

then dinner with my girls and a new significant other...
anna and i got to play good cop bad cop again....or in our case....perhaps it was just 2 bad cops

then anna and i proceeded to try overstay our welcome in pancakes
then moved on to coco lounge
bwahahaha

the night ended with a mad dash through the rain :p

it's been such a great weekend
the downside is....which this much fun
it also means i've done no work :(

and there's combat class in 1.5 hours....
sigh
i better get working then :(

i am...

2008-08-19T21:04:00.003+10:00

annoyed
well
not right now

today has been a day of bipolarity (or perhaps....multi-plolarity)
i am happy
then i am annoyed
then i am angry
then i am happy again
sometimes within the span of a few minutes

it gets like that some days
certain circumstances
certain people's faces
just trigger me off into a bit of a >_< mood

on the upside
even though in everyday life i'm not one to keep quiet
when i get into a >_< mood
i don't tend to go around yelling at people
or snapping at people
rather i uncharacteristically go quiet
(probably a nice break for those around me)

i'm sure there are some that say this is unnatural/stupid/blah blah
but hey
works for me
and i don't have to deal with guilt about making others around me feel shitty just because i'm in a rah rah mood

and i'm sure there are people out there that feel better by taking it out on others
i'd like to say 'hey.....if it works for you'
but at the end of the day
it's pretty shitty for the person on the other side of the barrage
(yes people....i actually *do* have empathy)

2008-08-18T20:51:00.002+10:00

Tis cold
i awoke this morning to the distinct feeling like my nose was about to drop off

my unit started at the extremely late time of 7.30 today
which would have been great....if i had known
>_<
doesn't matter
early mornings have become somewhat of a habit for me now
i totally abhor the idea of walking from my old parking zone now that i arrive early enough to secure station parking :p

long case presentation today wasn't too bad
i wasn't too horribly caned
but i had the weekend to do some background work
haha
so i actually remembered things like ciclosporin works on calcineurin
instead of just staring blankly and being an epic fail infront of one of my favorite doctors

had great success in cannulating the scopes list today
the interns are pleased
goooooood

sigh
the amount of work i've been putting off for the past 3 weeks is crashing down on me now
i shall scamper and attempt to work...

wonder if i'm anaemic
feel so tired these days
mentally and physically exhausted
and i'm not even straining my brain
*shakes head*

bleary eyed

2008-08-15T21:51:00.003+10:00

I've had what feels like the longest day i've had in a very long time
it wasn't a bad day
it was actually quite a good day
but just.... long
i was in the hospital from 6 - 6
in that time i attended 2 ward rounds, 1 x-ray meeting, discharged 3 patients, pre-admitted 2 patients, ate some muffins, got stabbed with a needle, had a tute, stole some food, attended a gastro meeting, took the tiny bus i haven't taken since last semester, had another tute, did 2 long cases, and completed some research
then rushed back to go to combat
angelus came to visit us
w00t

sat around and gossiped in the aromatherapy room
effectively chasing everyone out
*rubs hands* gooooood

came home at almost 9
stuffed some food in my mouth
played with little dog
and now
as i sit here... i'm just....so....knackered
the guilty voice says i should study
the other voice says 'make some cookies do it'
the body says 'shut up....i'm just going to sit here'
the eyes say 'i'm tired and painful.....let's pull these lids shut shall we'

now the question is.....who will i listen to
*bam bam baaaaaaaaaaam*

2008-08-14T20:53:00.002+10:00

It's halfway through my surgical rotation
and i am tired
i go in at about 6.30 every morning
and stumble out at about 4 or 5
the hours spent in the hospital pass by and when i get home i can't really think of what exactly i've done with my day

there's the ward round
then generic ward work...which doesn't take that long
sometimes i go see a patient...not that much these days because of the slow turnover... and i can't be bothered

we squeeze tutes in with my hot intern
who is actually a very nice guy
and loves to teach
which works for us
because he's smart and patient....and we're stoooopid
haha

there's gaps in the day between tutes and stuff
where we just have to hang around and stuff
but then it tends to be a stupid length of time where we can't really do anything productive
ah well

the coldness, the tiredness and the timetable also means i haven't been going to the gym
i feel like a lard ball
laaaaaaaaaaaaard ball

the amount of knowledge that is expected of me is overwhelming
on the one hand i'm surprised because i USED to have most of that knowledge...back in semester 9
on the other hand i'm just like 'WHAT......you want me to know HOW MUCH'
the obvious answer to this to study.....but i get home
and i'm so damn tired
and then i eat
and i think ... perhaps i should study
then it's a matter of .... WHAT should i study
and by the time i edge towards a book.... it's bedtime

i know some of this is vaguely brought upon myself
technically i *don't* have to turn up to all my ward rounds
that's what everyone else says
but our interns actually care if we turn up
and when we don't they ask why
not like the interns on the other unit

and i also don't really respect people that are just too lazy to go
it's not exactly alot to ask
especially when most people live considerable closer than i do
make some bloody effort
yea i get that on some other units there's either nothing to do etc

but what about tutes
can't believe some people are just like 'oh that tute is too late.... i'm going to go home instead because i'm tired'
wateva
next year go call your consultant and say you're not going to do your cover shift because you're tired
see how you'll get caned
DO IT

anyhoo
amusing email chain we had that spiralled into spam
and the discussion of the olympics came up
and the scandal with the ugly child
hahaha

stupid them.....like they would have gotten away with it
and like i said in the email
if they're so big on choosing 'pretty people' then how come when they had those big group routines and zoomed in on the people
EVERY SINGLE person was hideous
it amused me
it's like they were hand chosen...
"let's get the most hideous group of people for the olympics"
done!
or perhaps
they *did* pick the prettier bunch O_O
in which case.....i don't want to see the rejects
LOL

blah blah
incoherant rants of a tired brain

2008-08-08T14:08:00.002+10:00

Todays date...
8/8/08

Wonder how many asians in the world went foam-at-the-mouth crazy to try get this date for their wedding...

*snigger*

Olympic opening ceremony tonight
i'll watch it
but in general i'm not supporting it

they shouldn't have the games...
it goes against everything they stand for
HAHAHA

2008-07-29T16:56:00.001+10:00

Today while brushing my hair i found a white hair

I am old

*sigh*

2008-07-28T20:39:00.001+10:00

Last few hours of being 22
i'm getting older :(

but there's been so much to be grateful for in my 22nd year
especially in the last week

:)

Holidays begone

2008-07-26T00:20:00.013+10:00

It's the last day of holidays today
to be more specific
last day of my last ever mid-year holidays

anyhoo
this whole week has been so damn busy
in a good way though
but i'm just sooooo tired because of all of it

Monday was offer day....so i took a day off my elective

my offer...w00t

meet up with the meds to celebrate....gossip....and the like :p

Tuesday night...went out with some of the meds to watch dark knight
the movie was good.... but because everyone had raved so much beforehand.... i was super blown away
but it was still good :p

Wednesday night....left St. V's... went to combat with kevvy
scarfed down some sushi.....went to nick's place
then headed down the road to Princess theatre to watch Guys and Dolls
maggie chua was running slightly late
and as we waited for her
i suddenly realised i'd left my wallet on nick's table...
my wallet with our tickets in it.......
so nick and i ran back to get it
and when we got to the theatre
we had to wait till the first song finished before we got to go in
DAMMIT
besides that carfarfle
the show was UBER
it was fabulous and the cast was fantastic
w00t

the next day i was meant to go to the 7am department meeting, so i stayed over at Nick's place...
except nick and i stayed up till freaking 4am
so i got like 3 hours of sleep.... and still missed the meeting
sighz

Thursday was quite uber because i got to put in a spinal in theatre
w00t
ain't nothin' like sticking a needle into someone's spine to make your day :p
i was seriously sleep deprived that day....and almost fell asleep twice in theatre
sighz
and then straight after work
headed to melb central to do combat with kevvy
then from there we headed to the melb arts centre with some of the meddies for a freebie concert

didn't get home till 11
which really screwed me up because i had an exam today

sighz

today went ok....
alas i didn't win the prize
but had a very pleasant surprise when i turned up for the exam
and they told me i'd already gotten the Vernon Collins prize
so even though i didn't get the Howard Williams one.... at least i got something :p
my make-me-feel-better inner thought process is that they didn't give me the prize because i'd already won one
HAHAHA
oh wellz

last day at St.Vs wasn't too bad either
saw a patient get acutely delirious following a regional block
and the reg minorly freaked out
hahaha

then rushed home
and met up with family for dinner at tao's
so full...... and tired

was meant to go clubbing tonight...but it got cancelled last minute
that's probably for the best...
i'm so sleepy right now
i've had such a busy week

back to uni on monday....i almost welcome it...coz it'd be less busy
HAHAHA

HURRAH!!!

2008-07-21T10:32:00.003+10:00

So the wait is finally over
after months of applications
weeks of stressing
days of hoping

the match results are out

they said 10am
so when i awoke at 9.30
and casually logged on at 9.40
i anticipated waiting till 10 and then the system crashing
but then i got a msg from di asking me for my results
turns out pmcv lied
and match results came out early

and where am i you ask?

AUSTIN

i'm happy!
alot of the others are at the austin too
so really it's just a continuation of med school
*happy sigh*

God is wonderfully and wholly awesome and generous :)

Tick Tock

2008-07-21T00:27:00.002+10:00

It's approaching....
in 9.5 hours.... assuming all runs according to time and plan
i shall discover where i'll be working next year

*deep breath*

i feel i should be more nervous
but i'm quite at peace
i've submitted and surrendered all preferences and requests to the Lord
whatever happens tomorrow will be His will and His alone
and for that I am grateful
and I will be thankful and at peace with whatever hospital I get

It's like they know...

2008-07-19T02:44:00.003+10:00

The moment i start my elective
the holidays start becoming a party-fest
all of a sudden everyone wants to go out, do things, watch things
and all during the precious daylight hours that i've given away to St. Vs...

i tried to do the balancing thing
and was determined to make it to Nick's pot luck last night
twas fun
and then after that kevvy, maggie, nick and i headed out to meet up with some of nick's friends
we went to some bar/pub in....uhh....i dunno...fitzroy?
anyway
the main point is that the freaking floor of that whole place was so damn sticky i could barely walk
it's like those people have never heard of a mop
and the crowd
oh good lord the crowd
terrrrrrrible...
hahaha

better luck next time :p

anyhoo
so i'd known beforehand that the next day i had a 7am department meeting i had to get to, so i arranged to stay over at nick's
hurrah for foresight
what i didn't anticipate was kevvy also staying over
which mean that i didn't sleep till 3ish
and got about 3 hours of sleep
went to the meeting surprisingly bright eyed and bushy tailed
but about 15 mins before the end the tell-tale signs of dozing started
noooo

the morning theatre list wasn't extremely stimulating
but the reg was super nice and talked alot about all the different aspects of the training
very valuable insight
so i was very happy
and the consultant was young......asian.....wonderfully toned arms........and....well it's hard to tell behind a mask.... but with the brief glimpses of his full face....quite possibly cute
HAHAHA

he introduced himself as the pain consultant
but reg had earlier pointed him out as the rehab physician
rehab........mmmm....... - 4 points....
dar
lolz
alas i shan't ever see him again methinks.... what with this being but a weekly list and his galavanting off to a conference next week

anyhoo
by the time the list finished at 11.30 i was just so exhausted i packed up and headed home
and then when i got home there was that brief lull of "hey....actually i'm not that sleepy"....so i checked my email (got a very surprising email.....but in the good way)....snacked a bit.....finished reading my book....
then the fatigue hit...and i took a nap
my 'nap' turned into a 3 hour sleep-fest
which is why i'm now up at 3am (again!) unable to sleep
dammit

tonight was spent with Tiff's lifegroup having hot pot (mooooore food)
it was great because turned out the host lived in THE house near chi's place
the one i'd watch being built and i'd always stared wistfully at because it's so wonderful....and i'd always wondered what it loooked like inside
and it's all i anticipated it to be
*content sigh*

met some new people tonight
that's always fun :)

the slight downside was passing on clubbing because
a. i was sooooo tired i didn't think i would survive it
b. i had committed myself to the hot pot since last week and didn't want to go back on my word
c. it was SO DAMN COLD...and still is....bloody melbourne is becoming a freaking freezer
beh

Week 2...

2008-07-15T20:15:00.004+10:00

Tis week 2 of the holidays
which also marked the beginning of my elective in St.V's
yesterday was a vaguely interesting day
the mundane endoscopy list in the morning became a frenzy of activity following the emergency scoping of a man that presented on the weekend with hemetemesis
while on the table....his varices started to bleed...and bleed...and bleed
and the gastroenterologists started freaking out
and in the end they had to stuff in a Sengstaken-Blakemore tube....twice....because the first one somehow got pulled out while they tried to maintain tension

so the rest of the day was just looking after him (haha funny moment was when we were transferring him to ICU and we passed by the group of upper-GI surgeons that had just finished a meeting and were loitering in the hall...and there was a buzz of excitement as we wheeled past 'look! it's a sengstaken!'.....like they anticipate seeing this man very soon on their list...haha)

by the time i finally got back to mt.waverley i had to rush straight from the station to tiff's house for the med girls' hot pot night
soooo much food

i had to leave early coz i started at 8 today
*sigh*
and then i forgot my phone!
lucky fei fei dropped it off on her way home :)

elective so far is going ok
the dr.s are quite nice
i have yet to do anything extremely exciting procedure-wise
but i figure it's because i just met them...and they're still trying to gauge my abilities
it's half funny when they talk to me like some sort of stupid med student "and now....we use what we call...an in-duc-tion agent"
and i smile and nod
and then a few minutes later i ask them to discuss the mac value and the differing induction agents used in differing procedures...
and they go 'ah! so you've been exposed to anaesthetics eh"
*rubs hands*
by week 2......i hope to have my hands all up in their bizz-nuss
muahahaha

on a side note
St. Vs has like...the MOST comfortable and practical scrubs in the world
seriously.......EVER

Holidays....

2008-07-10T20:46:00.004+10:00

So my holidays have started
w00t

i've been lazy and not blogged for awhile
and a fair amount (well not heaps) of things have happened
just little things here and there
lunch/dinner with friends
dinner parties
watched Wicked with mum (faboo!)

totally didn't realise anthony callea and rob mills were in this until AFTER the show...d'oh!

mmmm

oh....got my hair cut (finally......everyone has been going "man your hair is so long" for the past 6 weeks or so......and i kept putting it off till after interviews incase something disasterous happened...lol)
anyhoo
i decided on one of the many korean hairdressing places around
and they seemed nice and friendly enough
i was slightly worried when my hairdresser spoke...uhh...not very good english
i gestured how much i wanted to cut and told her to just go with what she felt would suit me (for a few reasons....1- that she might know better, and 2....when i tried to describe something i thought she could try....she stared blankly at me....and tried to repeat it back...horribly...so i just went 'oh do what you think')
and then she started saying something to me
"you want freeingeecut?"
*blanke stare*
"freeingeecut!" as she smiles and nods and gestures
i'm like "uhh...whatever you think will suit"
i finally figured she was saying "fringy cut" (ie. fringe)
well i thought she'd just trim my existing fringe
but she tried to make it more of a fringe fringe than a side fringe
that's ok.....i can sweep it to the side
HAHAHA

she was very nice though
and spent over an hour with me
snipping.....drying....more snipping...blow drying
and when i finally left
the amount of hair lying around where i was sitting was amazing
farewell long hair....we'll meet again in a few months
i half miss the long hair...
oh well

some photos

before

after

oh well

mmmm what else
angela's birthday last night
with a loooong wait for mediocre food
but good company with some faces i haven't seen in months ;)

watched a couple of autopsies today (you know....that's what i do for kicks..haha)
went shopping.....and am now 2 bags richer (but poorer in the monetary sense...actually no i'm not....because i convinced my brother if he pays for them he can save himself a shopping trip for my birthday present...lol)

mmm what else
oh.... yesterday was the last day to rearrange preferences for hospitals for the intern match
i'm quite at peace with my choices
but we'll see how it all pans out Jul 21 :)

but last but not least
i am SO AMAZED every time God answers a prayer
i know it's stupid
because He's always been so faithful and generous to me
but seriously this blew my mind...

anna and i ended up with 2 spare tickets for the Timbaland concert....which because we'd prebought also ended up being more expensive than the normal ticketek tickets...
it looked like we were gonna have to hock them on ebay
and the demand wasn't as high as expected
so it looked like we were gonna have to make a loss if we even managed to sell the tickets
it was quite stressful considering the concert was scheduled for Jul 16
we had like 7 days to offload them
*cue anxiety sweat*

anyhoo
as with most (if not all) things i life.... i brought it before the big man upstairs
and then.....2 days ago
i get an email saying the concert has been rescheduled...and if you can't make the new date you can get a refund
SO HAPPY
SO AMAZED

so in awe that He bothers to listen to me whine all day ;p

it's things like this that makes me at total peace even though Jul 21 is fast approaching
*content sigh*

2008-07-01T14:49:00.002+10:00

ALL DONE!!!!

YAY! Nooooo more RAPP......hurrah
take that old people
BWAHAHAHA

Anger management

2008-06-27T20:28:00.002+10:00

The other day during swot vac
i was ranting and raving about the horrible-ness of this semester a
and how much i HATE HATE HATE RAPP and it's little friend psych (ED i had no beef with)

anyhoo
kat made the comment "You're such an angry person this semester"
LOL
it's quite true
this horrible semester has turned me into someone so easily agitated
it is a side of medicine i despise
hahaha

i was so tempted to scream in the middle of the exam yesterday because of the pure stupidness of the questions
anyhoo
with our last written exam behind us
and psych but a faded memory (which i hopefully won't have to face again......*fingers crossed i don't have to do a rotation there as an intern/resident*)
i thought i'd be much happier
well i am
but my tolerance threshold appears to have been lowered....perhaps permanently
and since i was apparently intolerant to begin with
haha
guess what i am now
*bam bam baaaaaaaaaaam*

anyhoo
2 recent sources of rage for your amusement
1. Uni has announced that we all have to do a working with children check..... which isn't a very big deal in itself.....but it required a passport photo....
and being asian...a bunch of us DIY-ed passport photos
except
mine kept getting rejected
it was fine the first time....so i went and took another one
then the 2nd time i got annoyed....and got the bloody background changed to be whiter (those damn racists.....it wasn't white enough for them)
and then today
armed with a white background and perfectly sized passport photo....i presented myself to the post office
and waited in line
and then got there
and they were like "oh your face is too......orangey"
WTF
ok there was NOTHING WRONG with the photo
it was normal m'kay
australia post are just bloody photo nazis
and they reject all your photos to force you to take photos with them
and extort $13 from you
at this stage i was soooooooooooooooooooooo tired of it
i just went
"FINE I'LL TAKE THE PHOTO HERE"
and they take this photo
and it's soooo overexposed (ah ah.....white enough for you mein freulin?!)
and it was a terrible photo
because i'd rolled out of bed being sick and just wanted to go submit my form at the post office.........and so i didn't get to put my face on :(
NOT HAPPY
either way
that damned form is out of the way
*RAGE*

*breathes*
another recent source of....well not really rage....but vague rage in a way
it's prob just me being....i dunno.....bitter
haha
stupid monash hospitals have rejected me for interviews
*sigh*
hope they shoot themselves in the foot and get no applicants
a pox! a pox on their houses!

2008-06-26T18:20:00.002+10:00

So exams started today
i wanted to scream at the stupidity of the paper
but hey...i suppose it could have been worse

i woke up stuffy and congested and coughing here and there
not happy
considered getting special consideration
then went "screw that....cbf"
haha

so that was our last written exam for our undergraduate course
from here on out it's all oral exams
taaaaa daaaaa

*sniffle*

in my mind the holidays have already started
so i'm even sadder that i'm sick :(

2008-06-25T00:04:00.002+10:00

R.I.P Alfie

Hope you see Timmy where you're going
you guys have been apart too long

I wonder what the supps are like...

2008-06-20T16:12:00.002+10:00

Found while looking at exam timetables:

672-340 Does God Exist?

This exam will be held on Mon 23 Jun at 2:15pm in Royal Exhibition Building Nicholson.

Duration: 2 hrs ReadingTime: 15 mins

What rubbish....
how does one sit and exam like that
and have only 2 hours to argue a topic that has plagued others for CENTURIES

who marks it
and what makes them qualified to mark properly

so melbourne model
think you're making better students eh?

wateva!

2008-06-19T15:07:00.001+10:00

I should be studying right now
....

but i'll just pop by and post up some links

Too amused

and

this is the best....
ever!

Another one down....

2008-06-17T20:12:00.002+10:00

Had my Austin interview today
this time it was a group interview
which was quite novel
i turned up 15 mins early for my 12.25pm interview
and sat around with the other candidates
we were meant to have a group of 6 but ended up with only 4
but then someone from the 1pm group turned up early and ended up joining our group

the interview itself wasn't too bad
individual questions and team exercises
once again everything was so diplomatic
so i come out happily deluded

haha
interviews are such a fraud

2008-06-16T19:17:00.003+10:00

How went the interview today?
it was surprisingly short
or at least...it felt that way
actually i'm pretty sure it was short
so there

i was a bit wary at first......one of my interviewers...or rather...the main interviewer was wilma
THE wilma
who throws me off because she always seems so nice whenever i see/talk to her
but i'm sitting thinking "what's she thinking....does she hate me"
and all the while she has her diplomatic smile on
as does Mr. HR-man...who is just a step up from being furniture throughout the interview

I'd love to say the interview went super
but i dunno if it did
purely because they were just so......... diplomatic
everything was greeted with a smile and a nod

well..... at least it was a smile and nod and not a frown and grimace :p

Austin tomorrow
wonder who i'll be interviewed with
i hear francine has hers tomorrow
please don't be with me
HAHA

And so it begins....

2008-06-15T20:18:00.003+10:00

This past weekend has been the first weekend in weeeeeeeks that i've been goood and stayed
a. completely alcohol free
b. in the suburbs

it was a weekend off for both my liver....and for me :)

spent a bummy night with the girls last night
sugar fix at max brennners
followed by hours of laughter at chi's
and attempts at hair burn-age
:D

visited an-de-rew's church today to watch him on stage
then wandered over the chadstone
where i was consumed with hunting down certain items

first interview tomorrow
the whole process is extremely foreign to me
similarly....the concept of wearing a suit is foreign to me
hopefully all goes well tomorrow
*fingers crossed*

bought tickets to wicked today
w00t
i'll finally get to watch it
yes it's the aussie cast....which means it's already at a disadvantage
but hey
maybe they'll work their way to an applause :D

tralalala
so many things to do
so little time
the exam that seemed so far away not that long ago is now very close at hand
and yet
i'm still not motivated to study
*Sigh*

oh well.............

mmmm disorgainsed thoughts
hope this stops by tomorrow morning
haha

Bright eyed and bushy tailed

2008-06-11T11:16:00.003+10:00

I don't have anything on today until about 2.30 in the afternoon
but i was good an awoke at the early hour of 8 this morning so i could snag the first appointment at the GP to get my 2nd Gaardisil shot
if you don't get the first appointment of the day at my local clinic...you end up waiting about an hour...sitting amongst ancient magazines and breathing in all sorts of viruses the other people are coughing up

anyhoo
so i went to get my shot
i'm so proud of myself... haha
and to my surprise the doctor i saw today was quite young
and actually quite cute
turns out he's a GP registrar
kudos to him for giving a not-too-painful shot
this one didn't seem as bad as the first
and then i got to sit around and ask him about all the Monash hospitals because he's a monash grad

after that i was feeling zippy
so i went to body combat
w00t

then i came home
played with darling dog
sat down to do some work on my case commentary
and huzzah.....what's this
to my immense surprise i've been offered an interview at St. Vincent's
sadly it's at the EXACT same time as my Austin interview
so i had to go move my Austin interview
but all the good dates are gone
and now i'm stuck at the Northern for my interview
not happy about that
but hey...small sacrifice for a good cause :)

i feel like i've had a productive morning
yay

Queen's Birthday Loooong Weekend

2008-06-10T23:12:00.019+10:00

Sorry for the prolonged absence
or at least
quasi-prolonged
it's been a busy weekend
and laptop is acting up
so i've resulted to stealing mum's :p

so this past weekend was a long weekened because of Monday being the designated day to celebrate the Queen's birthday
knew she was there for something :p

anyhoo
i was good on friday night
and stayed home and did boring things like job application stuff

but then saturday rolled around...and the weekend began
brother came back from whoop whoop for the long weekend
so daylight hours were spent with the family

saturday night began with dinner in collingwood with some of the meds to celebrate Janine's birthday
the food was ok (but really....thai food in melbourne will never live up to my expectations)
but company was good as always
nick was getting a total workout while eating
enough talking
photos from dinner :)

lol...how big is hui chen's head here

look at nick.....he's exhausted from eating...LOL

ok i grow weary of dinner photos......the rest are on facebook

moving on....
after dinner i met up with the girls
we started the night with martinis at charlie's bar

then drinks in Mr. Bora
lol....the story behind this was quite funny
and made us reminisce to a similar situation in sydney
but yes...

then decided we'd better head to Amber
the line was long......even though Chi and I tried to scout out shortcuts...twice
damn those barriers
so we amused ourselves with camera-whoring
except anna's crazy red in those
so i'll just post up my favorite one

ROFL
gold....pure gold

anyhoo
i'll be upfront and say i was good that night
i was designated driver
so after we got in....no more alcohol for me
however.......because i was designated driver
that meant anna could drink as much as she wanted

it was quite amusing for awhile
first it was slightly sleep-drunk anna
who unknowingly laid her head on the shoulder of the guy dancing next to her
and resulted in us adopting 2 new friends for about half an hour
lol

ROFL
this photo makes me laugh...that wasn't the guy..just some random that stuck his head in the photo
but his face.....bwahahahahaha

anyway
after a crazy stampede of people when the balloons fell
we lost our new friends
and moved away
by now
sleepy-drunk anna became generically-drunk-and-disinhibited-anna
which was amusing at best (chi and her attempts to be a pimp)
but then....
there was this point when we were trying to step down from a platform bit
and some guy in front of us was also drunk and trying to step down...but taking ages
generically-drunk-and-disinhibited-anna decided she'd kick him down
it wasn't really a kick
he was already halfway down
she just sort of gave him a gentle shove with her foot
anyhoo
he turned around and was like all "why'd you kick me"
and got all in our faces
and i'm trying to apologise
and he's all ranty
and his friends pull him away (i digress here for a moment to note that one of his friends was hoooooooot.......and over the heads of our 2 drunk friends we shared some smiles)......alright getting back to the story...
we move away and find chi
and then....he FINDS us
and starts yelling at anna again about kicking him
and i'm apologising
and he's all "i want HER to apologise"
and anna goes "i'm sorry you didn't like the way i kicked you"
and i'm thinking....CRAP
and this guy is looking REALLY crazy
and he looks like he's about to punch anna
and i keep going "dude she's a GIRL...a GIRL...and she's DRUNK"
but he's like.....PSYCHO and drunk
anyhoo
his friends come to pull him away
and he goes nuts on them
and then we hear the sounds of like....slapping
and turn around
and he's fully started a fight
and all these guys are around.... we huddle into a corner
and it's over pretty quick coz his friends drag his ass out
sadly hot friend went away with him :(

meanwhile
anna is totally unfazed
and continues to pose for photos

and then she kept pulling us up onto the stage to dance
which was crazy because it was so packed
and she was just NOT steady on her feet
and then....

alright check on the guy in the beanie in the next photo

anna deliberately pushed him off the stage at least twice
lucky he was quite good about it
gawd....so didn't need another fight

but we got one anyway
right infront of us later in the night
another fight broke out
and we're like.......trying to back away and not get involved
which probably resulted in me and anna just shoving chi backwards and going "back up back up!"
LOL

oh the hilarity
the best parts of the night were when chi and i had to devise ways to look after anna
like holding a hand each and dancing with her
dancing infront and behind her so she couldn't run away
forcing her to dance on the side ledge so she couldn't run away
masterfully trapping her against a pillar.....and then once again masterfully trapping her against the dj booth
OMG it was so funny (well at least for chi and i.....for anna it was probably quite bewildering and slightly disorientating...haha)

and then when anna fell over and pulled me over
so funny that the people in front of us helped me up and checked i was ok
while she was left to stumble up herself
LOL

the drive home was quite amusing
there was a request to stop at the 24 hour KFC
but that was soon ditched...much to the great disappointment of chi
bwahahaha

ah.....nites out with the girls are never dull

anyhoo
finally moving onto sunday
bummed at chi's for awhile
took great pleasure in scarring allan and jeremy with girl talk
then proceeded to bully lee-ean until she caved and said she'd come clubbing with us
w00t

but because of said bullying...and the fact that the glennies went out to dinner beforehand...
we didn't actually start heading out until about 11.30pm
our venue for the evening...

the longroom

we were quite interested to see how this night was going to be
because the longroom is normally a bar/lounge place
and to turn it into a club....well we'll see
and points for being a 21+ event.....hopefully that means less teeny-boppers and we won't feel so old :p

the place was quite packed
and there wasn't really a dancefloor per se
but the back section was quite packed
but SO DAMN HOT
it was so obviously not equipped to be a club
the ventilation was...not....enough

so packed.....sooooo hot...and not in the good way :(

ended up bumping into alot of familiar faces there
high school people
random people
uni people

later on we found a fan
A FAN
at that moment...that was like...
discovering the formula to turn coal into gold
so we pushed our way there
and just spent the night in that vicinity
bwahahaha

look at her revel in the fan's presence....

but there were so many annoying people that tried steal our precious fan-facing spot
we had to elbow dance some of them away
hahaha

and then........i spotted someone i know (but who never recognises me)
who was stealing fan time
like literally standing right infront of it so noone else could get it
so i yelled out "*insert full name* GET THE HELL AWAY FROM THE FAN"
and he turns around in half drunken shock
and goes "heeeeey.....how'd you know my name"
and i never answered
bwahahahaha

anyhoo
the music dwindled into ..... dare i say it....commericial house
at about 3
and we were getting too hot to bother to stay any longer
so we headed home

farewell moose-y

so that was my weekend
continually sleeping at around 4am is taking a toll on my skin
*sigh*
and all this busyness also meant i didn't go to the gym all weekend
now i feel fat
*cries*

LOL

as per usual
more pics on facebook :p

Another big weekend.....and mostly not in the good way

2008-06-01T19:53:00.016+10:00

So this weekend has been very busy
seem to have alot of busy weekends these days
on the downside... most of this weekend's busy-ness was not the sort that was great

Friday day time was filled with uni stuff that took place in the city
i had about a 3 hour gap which allowed me to go down to the spencer street DFO and shop up a storm
yay

after boring uni stuff...
met up with anna after work and we went down to the protest against the 2am lockout

check it....we spotted Jules Lund...w00t

funniest part was when this whispered conversation occured:
A: what's happening
S: dunno
A: why's everyone so quiet
*she looks around*
A: noone's saying anything
A: are they doing a moment of silence?
A: oooooh...it's a moment of silence
A: ok
S: *starts to snigger*
A: what?!
*few seconds of silence*
A: this is stupid

ROFL

after the protest ended (relatively swiftly actually)we headed down to Collins quarters to wave to some of Anna's workmates
spotted this delightfully adorable sign

then spontaneously decided to go bar-hopping (gah)
we headed over to nectar lounge
which is quickly becoming a place we frequent
we're not sure why
but we always end up making a stop there for some reason

before the story continues i'll inject a bit of background
i was having a not-that-hungry-day..... which just means i wasn't feeling hungry all day (d'uh)
and so at this point in the night
i had only ingested the grand total of about 5 cookies in the duration of the day
(yes i can hear your groans at this point....talk to the hand)

alright let's move on
so we got there like a few minutes before the end of happy hour
and stocked up....

i think the bartender thought we were ordering for other friends too
LOL

it was so funny
we were like 'man this music sucks....if he played some rnb then we can dance'
so anna went up to the dj and asked him for some rnb
and he said that he wasn't ALLOWED to play it
that he HAD to play commercial house (a genre we still can't quite define) but he'd try

and then..... this song comes on that sounds like all the other white music he's been playing
but then anna sort of listens hard and goes
"oh! it's beyonce"
and i'll be damned
there was beyonce....and he'd managed to white up her music
it was blasphemous

and then he proceeded to white up some jt
and then.....white up some rhianna
the rhianna one was vaguely amusing because there were snippets where you could sense the original song
i tried very hard to dance to it
but....just....couldn't
HAHA

we moved on from there
tried to go to robot sushi
which was packed
the angry woman bartender also wasn't very appealing
so we moved on

you'll be happy to know at this point i stuffed a cheeseburger for dinner
so there...

plans to go to charlie's bar were ditched
and we headed over to another place we also seem to inevitably frequent
little peninsula
for some reason i veered away from my usuals
and decided to try a mojito
bad choice
they didn't make it right (but used a crap-load of mint)
and all i could taste was rum
NOT HAPPY

we wanted to head to hush bar after
but the door bitch was.....well she was doing her job too well
so we moved on to cho gao

we were hoping to get some beer that tasted....half alright
because we hate beer usually
but thought we'd try
then the bartender got all narky
and just randomly picked one for us
so we had this jug of beer
and no seating in sight
so we had to head to cancer-ville (ie. the outside balcony)
and the only spare spot was to share a table with these 2 old white dudes
ok they weren't old
but a fair bit OLDER

that's one of them...

they were actually quite pleasant and conversation wasn't too bad
but after awhile
it was like
hmmmm we can't get rid of them

anyway long story short
rang jem and simon to try rescue us
but both of them were busy
damn them
the white guys eventually left
but then we met random asian guy
and then the evening took a turn for the worse...well in a way.... at the time it didn't seem like it

very very very long story short
drinks were bought for us
i got super crazy trashed

epic story short
jemaly (bless his heart) drove me home
and i awoke with so many bruises it's not funny

another thing that wasn't funny was waking up at 8am the next morning
and having to drag my ass out of bed to go to the damn medical careers expo at rod laver
it was such a drag
but had to go
didn't actually get any new and exciting information
but oh well
headed home after that for a brief while

then it was off to jemaly's for dinner and movies (or so i was promised)
bloody bei had whined that i had to get there on time so she wouldn't be alone
so i arrived at 5
to discover that jemaly wasn't home
but that's ok
his casa is my casa...and his parents are well familiar with me now

halfway through the night jem's mum was like 'hey i think you dropped something'
and lying on the ground was my silver chain
and my pendent was gooooone
my beloved dragonfly pendent
nowhere to be found
i wonder if i dropped it when i stopped by safeway to pick up stupid chicken wings
DAMMIT i'm so pissed off
i loved that pendent

moving on
my night gets "better"
at like midnight or something
when i go to leave
my car freaks out or something
and the brakes aren't working
well the brakes work
but the brake sensor seems to have gone on the blink

lucky the boys were still around (bless *their* hearts)
and prodded and stood around and did all sort of stuff
eventually we could get my car started via very creative ways
and i drove it to my mechanic's place with kevin driving behind me
and dennis beside me using my hazard lights in place of my brake lights
LOL

got home in one piece
and car will be dealt with tomorrow

another late night (or rather...early morning)
and then i had to wake up sometime before 9 because bloody RMH had their open day today
so another trek into the city (and it was so bloody cold today....winter is making it's first official day known)
rewarded with show bags and food
then back home where i damn near collapsed for a much needed nap
then off to bodycombat with kevvy
and w00t
my favorite instructor was there because the usual instructor called in sick
YAY

sigh
it's been a very hectic and packed weekend
but i really do have to say
without my friends
i wouldn't have gotten through it
i love them so much
knowing there's people out there that will have your back in situations like that...
it makes life so much easier

LOOOOOVE Y'ALL

p.s. sorry simon.... LOL

Busy busy busy

2008-05-25T18:21:00.018+10:00

It's been a stupidly cold cold week
and the weekend wasn't much better
but that wasn't going to stop it from being oh-so-busy :p

Friday night we dragged ourselves out to south yarra in the cold to go clubbing
the drive there was HILARIOUS
omg....even though it was my life in that car....i still found it funny
well...ok it wasn't exactly life threatening
but there were moments when i'm sure if things were a little different....i may be sufering from whiplash right now
haha

ah the appearance of random people in our lives...
always a source of amusement

met up with jemaly, angel and even kevvy who was vaguely sick dragged his ass out

the place wasn't very packed in the beginning
and the bar was busy as
tried to get tipsy
but the effects soon wore off
that's ok though....good company means you have fun fun fun even when you're sober

the music was waaaay better than eve
and even though there were soooo many guys around (and dancing with each other O_O)
it was still great fun

at 1 we went upstairs coz yun was dj-ing
poor thing the room he was in was secretly hidden away
so it was pretty empty
but we soon fixed that
bwahahaha

phoootos!

paaaaaaaaaaaaacked

it was a long night
and a very early morning
in fact.... i didn't get to bed until about 6am

and then...... i had to wake up but a few hours later to have lunch with mum
mmmmmmmm shira nui
*drool*
and because we'd discovered a few days ago that apparently my phone contract had ended
we headed to the optus shop to see what my options were
unexpectedly i left the shop with this

my new baby has GPS inbuilt....which may come in handy sometime next year when i have to go to whoop whoop for rotations
i'm still waiting for the hard case to come in stock
so for the time being i'll stick with my old phone

and then at night it was Rene and Ramesh's engagement party
w00t
it was so cold that i just left my coat on all night
stupid melbourne weather >_<

moooore photos!

and then today
didn't do much today in comparison
met up with kevvy to go to the body combat launch
which was CRAZY
but soooo good
haha

dar
internship applications opened this weekend
and i've done nothing about it
oh well
*sigh*

more photos on facebook
dooo it

So trashed right now

2008-05-18T02:46:00.001+10:00

Ok so anna and i went to a birthday thing tonight
and there was a bar tab
and long story short
I'M SO TRASHED RIGHT NOW

best fun i've had in ages
even though the DJ was ANCIENT and crap
we still had fun tonight

i looooove you so much girl :p

on a side note
did something completely stupid tonight i'm sure i'll regret in the morning
OH WELL

BWAHAHAHAHA

When i grow up...

2008-05-14T18:52:00.002+10:00

I'd like a job :p

had a bizarre dream last night where job offers came out
luckily i managed to get the austin in my dream
LOL
(at least dream-self hasn't lost hope...haha)

woke up thinking "what a bizarre dream"
and also the gnawing thought that intern applications *are* indeed drawing closer
info sessions for all the hospitals are starting to happen

i'd look at my CV
but it's a bit pathetic
that's what comes of being a full time student since the age of forever
*sigh*

that's alright
i've taken proactive steps to demonstrate my enthusiasm
let's hope they pay off ;)

Rapp...Rapp...Rapp is a load of crapp

2008-05-12T20:12:00.001+10:00

ARGH

started my RAPP rotation today
it's comprised of *everything* i love
*cough cough*
Rehab, Aged care, Palliative Care and Psych of old age
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

this morning we had the intro day
my neurons have begun to die
i lost the will to live within the first hour
it's going to be a long 6 weeks

*sigh*

Busy weekend

2008-05-11T21:23:00.013+10:00

It's been a busy weekend
after my long case i managed to get 1.5 days off
w00t

which disappeared very quickly
what with the catching up on mental exhaustion and all

Friday was filled with....not doing much in the morning
then met up with group mates for an afternoon tea at caitlin's house

soooo full after that
then rolled over to the how-to-get-an-intern-job talk
after which we were still so full we just watched kevvy eat
then dropped by joe's birthday drinks
i got home relatively early in anticipation of a busy saturday

Saturday was indeed a busy day
the morning/afternoon was taken up with Maggie's housewarming
once again........sooooooooo much food
and much fun to be had

lol....maggie being a bum

soooo much food

LOL

and then at night it was jia jia's birthday drinks at 'the apartment'
the venue was alright
it looked nothing like an apartment....was filled with white people, expensive drinks and mediocre music
but the private seating area was nice
and company was great as per usual
i got a slightly tipsy
so the crappy music ended up being fun anyway
LOL

photos!

you likes? di helped me take this on her slr

anyhoo
the night ended relatively early
so some of the boys and i headed to box hill for dessert/supper
and the girls sitting at the table next to us kept STARING at our table
so i yelled at jem
"Jeremy! Stop staring...you know I HATE WHEN PEOPLE STARE"
and they kept staring
damn fobs

more photos on facebook :)

2008-05-08T00:55:00.001+10:00

I'm............happy right now
long case over --> tick
lunch with old friends --> tick
caught up on some rest ---> tick
minimalising mind games --> tick

it's been a good day :)

Thin ice

2008-05-06T20:22:00.002+10:00

ever get that feeling like you're on the verge of snapping?
maybe it's just me
but sometimes i do

this week is one of those times....

there's a whole bunch of crap going on that seems not-too-bad on its own
but when accumulated and occuring simultaneously
is just not good for my mental health

the biggest issue at this point is that my long case is tomorrow
and i've done minimal work to prepare
it's not even that i'm not trying
but it just doesn't sink it
DAR

there's all the *other* issues

my tolerance for others around me has also significantly decreased in the last few days
i figure i am very close to saying some things that will cause big problems
so i'd best shut the hell up and internalise
(and people think i lack tact....i exhibit remarkable self control....you just don't know it)

and then there's the nagging feeling that my life or rather identity is slowly being taken away from me
not in the crazy delusional "aliens are stealing my body" kind of way
but just
oh never mind

i think if i thought about everything that was happening right now
i'd blow an aneurysm
so i'll just concentrate on the long case
*breathes*

the other stuff......it'd still be there after my long case
i'll deal with it then.....
*sigh*

2008-05-04T03:45:00.007+10:00

night out tonight
w00t

began pretty good
got into the city with no traffic
found a great parking spot
somehow got honked at by a parked and empty car
bumped into someone unexpected
and then finally made it to where we needed to be

drinkies at Charlie's Bar in celebration of Jing's birthday
not much to say...
i'll let the pics do the talking
but it was good catching up with some of the glennies i haven't seen in awhile

and then off to the golden monkey

and i just wanna say that i LOVE jeremy
and of course...his friend ben chen :)

then a quick stop to feed some of the people

lol this pic makes me laugh...

then a race against mikey to get home...and to see if we'd have to push his car down the freeway
lol

ok it's 4am and i'm distracted
so just go to facebook for the rest of the pics :p

do i really need this?!

2008-05-02T21:11:00.002+10:00

my head is about to explode
it's been like that for the past 2 nites
just all this crap building up

blah blah blah
diplomacy can stick it

blah blah blah
freaking got freaking bloch for my long case

blah blah blah
have to run 5km to burn a measly 250 calories

blah blah blah
HAVE TO LEARN PSYCH

so not happy
NOT happy

ARGH

2008-05-02T17:36:00.002+10:00

i have a long case exam for psych next week
read that as: spend 45 minutes with a crazy person.....think for 10 minutes....then proceed to get caned by the examiners

the timetable came out today
and i managed to get the worst examiner ever
he's infamous
and bloody wrote out textbook

NOT HAPPY

still sick
these few days have also been a giant headache with craploads of carfarfle going on

>_<

looking forward to tomorow night to unwind
*sigh*

omg!

2008-05-01T01:56:00.001+10:00

so after a flurry of activity that began a few minutes before midnight
8 of us are now going to the gold coast at the end of the year
w00t

Victory is mine cough cough

2008-04-30T17:16:00.002+10:00

ok i haven't quite won over this damn viral illness
i'm still coughing and sniffling
(but secretly i may have infected my group mates.....gooooooood)

meanwhile i still managed to drag my limp body to bodycombat yesterday
hurrah that i managed to not die
and actually rather enjoyed myself

great success today as i stood on the uber old fashion use-a-sliding-weight scales and discovered that i've lost 1kg since joining gym
(unless i'm uber retarded at using the scales....which i don't think i am thank you)

w00t....

*cough cough*

i am....

2008-04-29T23:10:00.002+10:00

cold
tired
bloody sick of coughing
probably missing 1/3 of my lung with the trauma going on these days
having slight palpitations....unrelated to current viral illness
coughing again
wishing my nose wasn't runny coz it's freaking raw from tissue rubbing
coughing again
wish i could hug my dog...but she's sleeping
coughing again
too many thoughts in my head
bet i won't be able to sleep tonight
between the coughing, the thoughts and then the inevitable worry about how i'm *not* sleeping.....there will be...too little sleep

should have done more work tonight
coughing again

try describe this thought form/pattern/stream in an MSE
do it...

Sharing is caring

2008-04-27T22:35:00.004+10:00

So i started coughing on thursday
the very day my long weekend started
NOT HAPPY

damned if i let that stop me though
long weekend here i come
hurrrrrah

so Thursday night the girls and i went clubbing down in prahran
finding parking was interesting.... and vaguely stressful for not the usual reasons
then when we got there
i was so amused that we got card-ed
w00t
i feel young again :)

it was vaguely empty when we got there
but filled up soon enough
the booze was way stronger than eve (w00t)
and once again i saw a bunch of my regs
i heart them

and then tured out that one of the residents was dj-ing for awhile
lol
sooo many familiar faces that i didn't expect to see :p

the place was also filled with sooo many guys
and some of them were just dancing with each other
bwahahaha

we left sometime before 3
and when we came out there were 3 police cars in front of the club and blocking the street off

upon later information
apparently there was a fight and some guy got taser-ed
and we missed it
DAMMIT!!!

the effects of booze and a late night came back to bite me in the ass the next day
i woke up coughing up a lung and the sniffles came to visit too >_<
our initial plans to go bar hopping and clubbing had to be rescheduled to become a bumming night filled with taboo
still funny though
omg some of the random answers
"a very....very....bad...witch"
"an evil witch..."
"negotiate"
"loooovely ladies"
ROFL

and then on saturday night
was all revved up to go to Anderew's birthday
but then i was all blehy with the coughing up of a lung
and brother was back for the long weekend
so i ended up spending the night with the family

today was exciting
i finally got off my ass and filled in the partnership form for church
so today was my partnership ceremony
w00t!!!
what does this mean?
it just means i officially call Citylife my home church
yes yes i've been there over 10 years
but i've been slack OK?!?!?!

tonight i wandered over to simon's brithday
which angel totally DIDN'T TURN UP TO...
so i was there alone and didn't know anyone except the birthday boy...
which ended up ok
the place was really nice.....and i met some nice people
a bunch of his friends were roaming around doing magic tricks all night
so that was vaguely entertaining
although i quickly developed the reputation of being evil...just because i wasn't easily impressed >_<

for "some reason" he looks like a total paedophile here
ROFL

on a side note....one of the boys was quite cute....
except i totally don't remember his name even though i spent the better part of the evening talking to him
*slaps forehead*

anyhoo i was quite amused when near the end of the night(another)one of the boys was saying goodbye
and then a bit later he sat back down
me: i thought you were going
him: yes yes...soon.... *silence* you're cute
me: uhh...thanks
*he gets up and leaves*
then dude i was taking: uhhh..i think so too
me: dude you just jumped on his bandwagon!
*i get up and leave*

i also met a guy tonight that finished his internship...
and then decided he hated med
and now works as a web designer
O_O

i was pleased to find i wasn't coughing as much as i thought i would at the party
but then i came home
and it started up again :(

back to uni tomorrow
*sigh*
i wonder how many people i infected this weekend
GOOOOOOOD

more photos on facebook :)

cough cough

2008-04-24T17:52:00.001+10:00

DAR!!!

I had the day off today
and since tomorrow is anzac day
it was meant to be a super long weekend then

but bloody hell
i've spent the whole day coughing up part of my lung
and now the sniffles have set in

this is just like that time where the moment we finished exams i fell sick and couldn't go on the med trip
DAR!!!

2008-04-22T20:54:00.005+10:00

this is the adorable face of a crying puppy
this is also the way my whole body felt today when i woke up...minus the adorable part

i hobbled up and down stairs today...and winced upon sitting
standing very still was just find thank you

who do i have to thank?
the stupid gay boy kevin
hahaha

yesterday we said we'd go do bodypump together
and it was my first pump class EVER
so by the end of it i was already quite achy
and then he goes
"let's stay...coz i want to do bodyattack"
and i can never say no to him when he has his enthusiastic face on (well.... actually i can...but i try not to haha)
so we do bodyattack IMMEDIATELY after
and now i'm in pain

stupid muscle-has-been-worked pain
*sigh*

My little girl's growing up

2008-04-18T17:48:00.010+10:00

*wipes nostalgic tear*

So last night was Anna's graduation

CONGRATULATIONS YOU!!!

I don't have much to say about it....
so i'll let the photos do the talking :)

ok the uploading thing is stuffing up
so i'll stop there
more photos on facebook
w00t

Comedy Festivities

2008-04-13T22:03:00.026+10:00

Hurrah...
after our distraction last week
anna and i decided that yes....we were going to go watch impro this week
so last nite we started out with the hope of catching impro3shuffle...the show we missed last week
but alas its run was over
so we ended up getting tickets for late nite impro
as per last year

but we also had those two feeble tickets from last week
now i'm not sure i mentioned this last time
but initially last week we turned up at the impro box office at RMIT at about 6pm to buy tickets for the 10.30pm show...
but the guy was like 'the tickets won't be on sale till 9pm'
and we were all rah rah because there were these offers at a variety of bars that required you to show your comedy festival ticket to get them...and since we were barhopping....well..... it seemed stupid to *not* have the offers available to us when we would eventually get the tickets anyway

so the guy was tried to sell us tickets to the show that was starting rite then
and we were like ... nono we have things to do
so he was like 'alrite...take these tickets that are for this show...then you can use them to get ur bar offers...and come back at 9 to buy the impro tickets'
except the tickets were like REALLY feeble pieces of paper
so i was like 'dude this won't get us offers...they look like pieces of paper we printed out ourselves'
then some other people came to buy tickets for that show
so he was like 'meh.....well come back at 9 then'
and then i was left there holding the feeble pieces of tickets... so we left

but last nite we wondered if we'd be able to use the tickets
so there we were....wondering if we would get in
or if they'd kick us out
it was very amusing

check out the crappy "tickets"

yeeees...we circled the date ourselves :p

while waiting to try get in

w00t we made it

the show itself wasn't too bad
it was an improv musical
before we went in i turned to anna and went "dude....you have to think of something crazy to say when they ask the audience for suggestions"
and we decided to yell out incest
so the time came to yell our suggestions
and before we could open our mouths
someone in the front row yelled INCEST
LOL
but they wouldn't do it
sadly the topic ended up being Kevin Rudd
WTF
it turned out ok though
coz they just used the word rudd in random ways in the skits
hahaha

after the show anna was craving max brenners
so off we went

our waiter was le french
and i was asking him about things on the menu
and he was trying to describe what babka was
and kept saying fluffy
but it was great because he pronounced it as floofy
uber
haha

anyhoo
we over ordered
and totally sugar overloaded
geh

my babka

our brownie

anna's souffle

sooooo much chocolate

we were there for aaaaaaaages
and at the end
we still couldn't finish it all

LOL

then off to town hall....except it was too early
so it became off to fed square to amuse ourselves

well....we weren't the only ones being amused at fed square
there were these rows and rows of chairs set up just looking at like....seemingly random images on the screen

it was bizarre....they looked....mesmerized...haha

anyhoo
on the way back to townhall we got distracted by this

beh...the flash wiped him out :(

bwahahaha...anna getting molested

Then finally....off to late nite impro

how sad would it be if it was your job to write the board everyday

check out how much more legit this ticket looks :p

alas we weren't early enough
so we only got seats in the 3rd row...which i suppose isn't too bad
except we had our freaking luck
and the people sitting in front of us were HUGE
like.....JUST the 2 people in front of us
i exaggerate not
check it out

they freaking TOWERED over the people next to them

oh well
we still managed to have a generally good view
oh!oh! during the show they were like "alright let's get a word from the back of the room" and then someone up the back yells out "banana".... and he's like "ok...banana.....now let's get a word from the front"
and i yell out "incest"
BWAHAHAHA
and everyone is sniggering
but they....wouldn't....do.....it...
BAH
such a jib

overall the show was alright....still funny....but better last year
it was still a fun night though...as per usual
i love going out with anna
coz we can sit around and crap on for hours
and nothing we say is too biatchy for the other to handle
LOL

looooove it :)

The inner auntie....

2008-04-10T18:45:00.002+10:00

Today my inner auntie came out for an excursion
and NO i'm not talking about *that* monthly auntie thank-you-very-much
but auntie...like the generic asian housewife

anyhoo
after an extremely boring and USELESS "clinic" this afternoon
i managed to escape the grasp of the horrible world of the Hawdon st clinic
and made my way towards doncaster

why doncaster you ask
well while sitting there allowing my neurons to curl up and die
my ears perked up when i overheard some of the nurses saying there was a grand opening sale at the supermarket in doncaster
and mushrooms were only $4.99/kg
and since i make a kick-ass mushroom soup
i plotted all through "clinic" about going to get the mushrooms and making said soup
i also semi-plotted about baking tomorrow
but we'll see if that eventuates

anyhoo
so i ventured down to doncaster
and of course for some reason i had to park at the carpark on the OTHER SIDE of the shopping centre from the supermarkets >_<

anyhoo
there *was* a giant grand opening sale going on at safeway
and mushrooms *were* $4.99/kg
except...they were SOLD OUT
*rage*
but since i was there...i had a look around
and discovered...to my glee
that fresh cut meats were on uber sale
like crazy 50% off sale

inner auntie came out
and she had a mission
buy some good meat for good prices

but of course my inner auntie isn't as well-trained as those of the actual hongkie aunties lurking around
and i soon discovered them congregated around the meat section
but not at the shelves
rather...at the part where the meat people are cutting meat
it appears the oh-so-cheap prices have resulted in the shelves being stripped bare
and now everyone was just waiting for the moment meat is cut and heading for the shelf to pounce and grab it
well...
inner auntie said "do it...line up"
so i did
i use the phrase "line up" loosely
there was no line
freaking asian people were pushing in everywhere
TERRIBLE
and it felt like i was there for an eternity
and after awhile i wanted to leave
but then there was that
"you've been here so long....just stay....if you leave now how much would it suck if it came out the moment you left"
so i hung around

and victory was mine :)

i hoarded a selection of T-bone steaks, Lamb chops and Pork bellies
all for crazy low prices
*beams with pride*
i also managed to get cheap prawns before the meat aunties realised seafood was discounted too
BWAHAHAHA

it was like a freaking war zone though
the meat would come
and then everyone would swarm
and it'd just be a see of hands grabbing for the trays
i think i'll have PTSD after this
haha

it was so funny though
when i was lining up at the cash register
this auntie in the line next to me says to me in canto "hey, do you want this tray of mince? i got 2 trays and i only need one"
and i'm like "no thanks..i have lots of meat already"
and she looks at my STASH
and she's like "whoa...you managed to get the pork too"
and looks at me in awe and wonderment
BWAHAHAHA

the not-so-fun part was lugging all the groceries across the shopping centre
and then across the bloody carpark
and then discovering that for some unknown reason my boot won't lock closed...
*sigh*

i'll deal with that later

for now
i'll revel in cheap meat
and praise my inner auntie
she had a good day :)

hopefully irene's inner auntie is having good luck at this moment
:p

Sof-fell

2008-04-07T20:35:00.010+10:00

After great success of chocolate souffle (aka sof-fell) last night
i decided to make cheese souffle tonight
because psych makes me not bother to do any work
and makes me want to bake instead :)

OCD-esque setting up

riiiiise my pretties...riiiiise

beh....look at the baking pan ruined by my mum.....i don't even know how she did it

yuuuuuuummy

alas they begin to collapse within minutes

perhaps i'll move on to cookies next time

Bar-a-hoppin' and a busy weekend

2008-04-06T19:26:00.033+10:00

In a moment of spontaneity Dora actually suggested the idea of consuming alcohol
*gasp*
lol

So after a frenzy of msn-ing and an even-more-frenzy-than frenzy of phonecalls
we finally arranged to go barhopping on fri nite :)

the original plans were for 4 of us to meet at 6.... barhop, feed etc
pick up an bei's friend at 8...continue the festivities...
possibly pick up jemaly at 10.....
then some of us wanted to go watch one of the improv comedy festival shoes later (a la last year)

what actually ended up happening was
anna and i met at 6
met up with bei at 6.30
met up with dora at 8
bei's friend cancelled on us
found jemaly at 10 (with a few randoms thrown in)
picked up an an-de-rew at 10-something
ended up skipping the comedy festival
eventuated home at 4am

it was a fun night though
:)

we started off at nectar lounge

where we got to almost miliseconds before happy hour ended
but managed to acquire our cocktails anyway :p

we stole someone's table (haha)
then bumped into an old high school friend
which we weren't sure *was* from our highschool initially
so there was a period of debating between me and anna
and anna going "just go up there"
and me trying to bargain that i'd go up if we go by this other high school friend's farewell drinks that were happening at the same time....and anna would go up and hug her....because she actually didn't know her that well, if at all
and then there was discussion that maybe bei should just go up
either way
i said hi in the end
and it *was* him
so it worked out well
:p

the Jo Stanley show for the comedy festival was starting
so we got kicked out :(
and headed to manchester lane
but we'd just missed their happy hour
so we moved on to F4 where the other high school friend was having her farewell drinks
but we couldn't find her.....so anna couldn't hug her :(
but they had 2-for-1 drinks (w00t)
but because there was only 3 of us
i was *forced* to drink 2 drinks
which i ended up pretty much skulling.....i'm not sure why

and then billy jean came on
and anna and i got excited
but we discovered that bei DOESN'T KNOW billie jean
*gasp*
oh the craziness

after that anna and i were a little tipsy because i hadn't eaten since noon and had at least 3 standard drinks in me within the span of 30 mins
and anna had slightly pre-boozed at her afterwork drinks

anyhoo we decided to food and meet dora at yoyogi

on the way to yoyogi......we molested the street art
lol

mmmmmmmm cravings for jap curry

(i'm calling her a fob)

After that we went to Chi Lounge
except we got there
and it was super empty
so we left
and headed to long room
which was inded.....a very long room
but we found space at the back
and got photo happy :)

apparently the old guy sitting opposite us was trying to hit on dora
so says bei
bwahahaha
wish i'd known at the time
i'd have tried to take a photo of him
LOL

then jemaly rang and called us over to Cho Gao

we played with jem and some of his friends
and felt reeeally old to discover one was in 4th year
and another in SECOND year *bam bam baaaaaaaaaaaaaam*

lol anna took this photo in the dark...then looked at it and goes "gawd steph you're such a poser!"
HAHAHA

An-de-rew joined us soon after
but we still got bored after awhile
and played a very short-lived but amusing game of going up to random people and pretending to recognise them
we were so good that we unwittingly constructed a backstory of us being totally drunk
because anna and i were walking towards our victim
but because it's so bloody dim in cho gao
there was this semi step that we didn't see
so both of us just fell over
and sat there laughing
so to the untrained eye......we were 2 trashed girls (perhaps we were)

jem was fun and played along when we went up to a guy and said "our friend over there thinks you're cute but we didn't know if you swang that way"
jemaly then proceeds to smile and wave when the guy looks over
with a disturbed look he's like "uhhh...no...sorry"

BWAHAHA

anyhoo
when the place started getting empty we decided to move to hardware lane
but i got distracted and dragged the others to little peninsula
where we photowhored....and had cocktails...mmmmmmm...cocktails

i'm loving an-de-rew's face in this

then it was off to chilipadi to be fed
and also....to deface the table

Finally got home at 4am
but the next day...
achy knee revealed this

GEH

more barhopping photos on facebook :)

anyhoo
saturday was also filled with activity
jap lunch (where anna was replace by mum)

Dinner was with cell group at Lazy Moe's
where we managed to finish SIX mains
that's....six of lazy moe crazy-big mains

and caaaaaaaaaaaaake

then boardgames :)

and then today
w00t for daylight savings ending
i gained an hour of sleep :)

and the weather was nice
so in continued celebration of darling dog's birthday we took her down to st kilda and had a look at the market and food

after a vague craving
i decided to make souffle tonight

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

so this weekend's been crazy busy
love it

(and good lord what an EPIC post)

I HEART YOU THE MOST!!!

2008-04-03T20:21:00.003+11:00

Today is my darling dog's birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING DOG!!!!

the amount of joy you bring me daily is too much for words to describe
too much

i looooove you

It's a bird....It's a plane....

2008-04-02T18:00:00.002+11:00

It's a giant gust of wind

bah
bloody melbourne weather
today was super crazy windy
and then the drive home was so slow because stupid traffic lights were out all over the place

well at least i got home before the crazy rain started
:)

so yesterday was April Fools
which i usually don't quite bother with
well not that i super bothered yesterday
but i changed my facebook profile to say i was in a relationship
which got some of the girls excited
lol

apparently upon discussion they decided that i MUST be dating a doctor from the northern
how they came to this conclusion i'll never know

but alas.....no boy for me :p

just a beloved dog.......who coincidentally......has a birthday tomorrow
shhhhhh
i think she thinks i forgot
bwahahaha

2008-03-30T20:04:00.017+11:00

So the end of holidays ended up being more productive than the whole holidays

Friday was spent at casa de wong...2nd home to us
food was abundant including freshly made egg tarts

thankfully we didn't have to use the flour we found in the pantry

what the!

it was fei fei's birthday
so there was cake
and thanks to a small driving mishap....we got 2 cakes instead of one...w00t

cake 1

cake 2

it was also productive because we got off our asses to try plan some end-year activities....i'm excited!

Saturday was the trip with fellow Austinees to Hepburn Springs for a day of mini-lectures about therapeutic advances
it ended up being like a mini day-trip coz kevvy drove up
so the ride up with the boys was super noisy but fun
and the ride back in the bus was filled with just chatting with bei and dorlah

i heart my gay boys

move over king arthur....those round table knights are alllll miiiiiine

more photos on facebook :)

then at night it was Earth Hour
so i made mum eat by candlelight
bwahahaha

for some reason my phone started ringing at 3am
and it was some number i didn't recognise
and i picked up and it was some random drunk white dude and his friends
and i'm like "i think you have the wrong number"
and he's like *slur* "noooo waaaait" and then there's a bunch of swearing in the background
then i hang up
and they just kept calling
BAH
totally interrupted my sleep
RAGE

Today after church
i felt like baking again
w00t

it may look dry on the outside
but it isn't
it's taaaaaaaasty

tomorrow i begin psychiatry...... i hope crazy people don't stab me :(

Like sands through the hourglass

2008-03-27T23:35:00.003+11:00

So......are the days of our lives
*cue soapy music*

le sigh
could it be?
is tomorrow (or rather....25 mins from now) already friday?
so comes to an end my week long 'mid-semester break'
leading up to this time i had all sorts of plans for it
elaborate and obviously unrealistic plans
what actually happened......2 days of bludging at home
and one day of shopping and catching up with my favorite gal pal
and eventually i'll also include one day of wasting away with the meds :p

for some reason this week has been the week for my mother to start pressuring me on what i'm going to do with my life
which got me thinking about what i *do* want to do with my life
the whole applying-for-job business is going to start soon
and then there's that favorite interview question "where do you see yourself in 5 years?"
where *do* i see myself?
the reality of this career is that where i choose to train for my specialty of choice will most likely be where i'd end up working for....well...forever
current legislation maks it a total biatch to specialise in one country and then try to work in another
so now not only do i have to think about *what* i want to specialise in, but also *where* do i want to specialise....
and also.... where would i want to live for a good many years

i'm sure some of y'all are thinking it's way to early to "stress" about these things
well i'm actually not that stressed about it, i find it quite interesting to think about (on a total side note, it really pisses me off when i'm sitting there talking to someone about something, or mentioning something...and then they go "STOP STRESSING" and it's like...wtf....did i even SAY i was stressing?! who are you to judge me?!?!?!?! *nostril flare*....but i digress)
and no...it's not too early...because depending on my answer....certain options require me to start doing research and preparation

either way
this whole growing-up business is much more complicated than those after-school specials led me to believe

2008-03-27T11:58:00.002+11:00

After much trepidation
i finally went to get my cervical cancer vaccine today
it stung :(
and alas there's still 2 more to go
*Sigh*

but you know....small price to pay to avoid the big C
so if i can do it...then y'all can too
any girl out there that hasn't been jabbed
doooooooooooo it