keep on running

first post as an MO

2011-09-27T23:55:00.000+10:00

since I last updated, many things have once again come and past.

June- had an enriching holiday with Mum in Taiwan, where I could run everyday. Only to lose my fitness when I came back to work again:( the classic story we keep telling people is of how Mum was looking for a sewing kit in the hotel bedside drawer, only to find a condom. she was appalled. hahaa.

July- finished my first year of work. some say life gets better, others say depending on which posting u are in, u can still be the lowest lifeform plus with more responsibility. I am so used to "calling my MO" when in doubt. (esp in Paeds)

August- had a good break and more time to get fit again. was happy to see the sun everyday, walk about in the shopping centres in mid-day and spend more time on my bed! for the initial few weeks of my break, most of my day was spent lying supine on my bed, watching Friends online. heheee. had quiet time to think about life, about God and reflect on the past few years. Didnt help that when I thought of uni life, it made me sad again that my time in Australia is up.

Sep- start of work as a MO. People say its a steep learning curve. I find myself having a good motivation to read the books I bought. I am supposed to be tested seen before I can start calls. However, I just found out next week I am starting calls in ICU(intensive care unit). So I suppose my test is soon and thats why I am at home, trying to study.....

glad that thoughout the past year, I've had beautiful friends to go through the journey with.

run at Keppel Bay, Singapore

run at Taroko Gorge, Taiwan

1st post in many many months

2011-05-14T16:29:00.003+10:00

I can't believe its been so long here. Looking through the old posts, my last few months in Australia just makes me sad again:( a part of my life that I enjoyed, was really blessed to have seen so many things there.

its been a long and tough year as a HO, the lowest lifeform. trying to work in this system and with the local pple. So used to more polite colleagues who speak English that I can understand. I've made some new friends here, but just wish I could forever be in contact with my friends overseas. They played such a big part of my life there.

So there, i've done Ortho, Gen med and now in Paeds. I used to really enjoy paeds as a student. reading my previous post of my elective in Paeds, travelling with the outreach team, makes me think of Paeds in a positive light again. the cases I come across here and how its managed has been diff from Aust.

I dont know where to start.....the past year has been eventful.

- Grandma passed away, I saw my last entry abt here where i wrote that i knew she was very weak. I still miss u grandma. I wished I spent more time with u when u were younger to share the joys of your medical career with u. Like I said at your eulogy, when I have a hard day at work, i think how u, grandma overcame the odds and pushed through. That u had a harder life than me and u still survived. therefore, i can too....

- more birds have died, garden getting more full with bird burials

- getting used to these long working hours with calls

- going back for graduation and seeing Newcastle once again

basically, trying to survive. At times when Dad keeps calling me while I am at work to ask what time i am coming home for a meal, i hate it. Cos it just makes me feel so miserable of my sad life working late and then I might start crying. Yes, not used to this feeling that pple are waiting for u at home.

living by myself for the past few yrs made me not too reliant on anybody. I have taken away the feelings of homesickness from my head, yet after moving back home....i get showered with lots of attention and i didnt like it.

ok, so many random things here. But now I am at a cross road. not sure what to choose for my MO postings. Will pray about it.

2 Aug 2010

2010-08-07T01:35:00.002+10:00

Xi Wang, my pet budgie passed away around 1pm on Monday.

It all started in Feb 2010. he would try to fly in the cage but always end up dropping to the bottom of the cage. then he became so weak and sick, he was taken out of the main cage and was separated. The worst time I was told was when if you nudged him, he would overturn and couldnt get back up again.

But he was strong and fought on with his illness, nurse with some warmth of a lamp put next to his cage, he got a little better- enough to continue living till July. When I first saw him. I started hand feeding him honey water once a day, would take him out of his cage, wrap him in a towel and bring him to my room. He had enough energy then to wriggle out of the towel and climb out of the little basket I put him in. However, Xi wang still was too weak to turn back to his feet if he fell over.

I thought, enough was enough. I wanted to bring him to the vet to see what was wrong, and get the necessary meds. But, i was reminded how the vets we have gone to(some specialising in birds) have had 0% success rates. THe trend is that after they come back, they die soon after. even though meds have been given. So the rest of the family didnt want that to happen to Xi wang.

To me, i thought the vet might provide some answers at least.....

to be continued.

its been 1/52

2010-07-18T22:15:00.003+10:00

its been a week since starting work officially. doing ortho truama team now. Really blessed to have been paired up with another houseofficer with not too many patients last week. Everyday I am so tired by the end of the day. The only thing I am happy about is that sometimes, if i get home early, there is still light outside and its not cold(as opposed to winter in newcastle).

Last week, managaed a run after work by the singapore river. As I started along the part opp great world city, i thought of how in the previous years, I sometimes would run from home to the river and back for a 2 hour run. not able to do such runs now:( then going up abit further, passing zouk, thought of how 1 week ago, that was the start/finish line of a very eventful race where it ended up in the hosp I work at. Running through the pubs in clarke quay, i saw the pub where my classmates and I met up a few years back. That was memorable......then I ran up to the merlion. Remembered how a year back, I brought chara and her family there......ran on the bridge twds padang....my sisters and I were just there the week b4 running, and pence was stopped by a tourist asking for directions. P was busy doing up her hair cos she saw some army boys...(omg). running back twds great world city, i ran past the new central shopping centre. That was where dad took a pic of me and T when we were only a few years old.

Then ran past brewerkz, went there many times with my family, not anymore now:( the ex-chinese restaurant there was where the hc track team celebrated their triple win after my eventful 4x400m relay, where we won rj by 1 point and I was the last runner in that relay.

coming back to great world city, I grabbed my bag and cycled home. Eventful moments that have happened in my life over the past 20 years were re-visited in that run. Quite emotional but at least something to occupy my mind whilst running.

titiwangsa

2010-07-11T01:33:00.002+10:00

ran today with my sisters along esplanade, on the newly constructed double helix bridge, past marina bay sands then back to esplanade via fullerton. it was half a photo-taking session, half a slow jog. prob the last run tog for a long time:(

Mon, i start work and i am so nervous i keep thinking tmw(sun) is mon! ahhh!

just finished putting up some bird posters and newcastle beach framed pics in my room. It now reminds me of aust.

walked with grandma outside today. realised how weak and frail she has become. She could only walk 100m

wondering if i shld get more budgies.....xi wang is still alive! so thats good cos i dont want any more deaths.

my superman

2010-07-02T00:59:00.003+10:00

was clearing up my room and found some old receipts

batril 5% injection, batril oral liquid, marbocyl oral drops, repalyte, polyaid plus 50g, vitamin b12 injection at mt pleasant animal clinic dec 2002.

receipt said it was for CLARK.

that jolted my memory of my superman- clark kent. He was so strong till the day he died. My hero. He kept me going through those hard training sessions. Clark dearie, how could I have forgotten about you? You were a cute yellow budgie that became part of my life for a short period of time. WHY did u have to leave? i miss you so much, i wish i could tell u how much u mean to me. Clark and Clarissa had many many children, one of which is still around....Cornelious

and soon it will be xi wang's turn. xi wang currently cant fly and has been that way for the past few months.

Clark, Clarissa, Elvis, Presley, Pami and all my other birds that are no longer with me, i wish u are now free, free like wild birds in australia who have a happy life flying in a flock and playing with each other high up in the trees.

pics: xi wang

random pics from the past month

2010-06-27T17:42:00.003+10:00

june has gone by fast. Last month in Newcastle. had so many farewells and goodbyes and last of lots of things I started losing count. Memories are now kept in photo form in my good-old camera. here are some.Last run with my good med-running friend. Kiwi Andy. I used to be very formal and just call him Andrew, then called him Un-dy for some time. He humoured me by taking this posed shot with the camera resting on a tree trunk in the middle of Jesmond park.
This is Marcos's new pet dashund. his name believe it or not- Dash. just after a good long run with my running group(with Marcos) that morning down the fernleigh track(2hours plus walking through puddles), I met him again right after when I went to the broadmeadow farmers markets with his cute doggeey. I will miss his jokes during our run, bluffing me abt his many girlfriends/wives/children. haha.....
seen at the broadmeadow farmers markets. the things people spend on their dogs these days...
Was given this last year by Dr Geoff Cutfield(i think) he said only to open when u start work and u cant handle the stress. I was too curious and opened it....these were the contents! Chara has yet to open hers....she will be a good girl and open it when the time is right:)
Last bible study with my fav girls at Nicci's house. Yes, its winter and I am wearing shorts.
Running along my fav burwood beach
leading to burwood beach
my fav neighbours
my other fav neighbours. and sabre darling, the best dog in the world!
Last day of med school rounding up sheep on a farm in Molong, Orange.

Its a new beginning and will try to remember all the powerful prayers my newcastle friends have prayed for me during those hard times in a 36hour shift. I have so many things to give thanks for, it is indefinite.

Right now, what I want is that my sore shoulder recovers cos its been 3 weeks since the fall. swimming today was still not 100%

runs in newcastle

2010-06-09T07:10:00.003+10:00

yesterday was a great run with chara. Our last run together at Nobby's. We ran all the way to the end of the breakwater, and reminiced on the time when we cycled there from uni, and a wave splashed over us. We then cycled home drenched. Then, we ran on the beach, and I remembered when it was my first summer holidays, came there with a bunch of international student friends, built sand castles and rode on a body board.

There was another time when it was winter, went to the beach with nic and his sister stephanie for a picnic. then went closer to the rocks and caught a fish with just our picnic plastic container.

Chara is leaving me in 5 hours. :(:(:(:(:(

acts of kindness

2010-06-02T17:10:00.003+10:00

1. the librarian in orange introduced me to a fantastic gym when I was new in town

2. the librarian at this hosp now just passed me a box a tissues after hearing me sneeze

3. my friends this morn lent me an extra set of clothes to change into after the run we had today at the beach. was totally covered in mud

ok, back to study. library closes at 6pm, so only got 45min to go:( i wished it was opened till midnight

-Prove them wrong-

part 2

2010-05-31T08:24:00.003+10:00

yes, after betting on a dog called "Lamington"( i love food so will bet on anything assoc with that), and won some $$, we headed home. I had a great time with my friends and learnt about betting at a pub.

Woke up on friday not as excited. Did the usual stuff like packing up, went for the tute. Afternoon was spent at a friend's sheep farm. This friend was someone I met once or twice from the swim squad at the gym. I say this because he doesnt know me that well, yet said yes to me when I asked if i could visit his sheep farm. Drove out to Molong, a 40min drive from orange and was welcomed by his wife who had been waiting for me. First greeting was by their pet pink galah at a cage outside and their sheepdogs. She apologised that she had to go into orange to pick up the children, and left me sitting in their house, on my own, waiting for my friend to come home. (He didnt have a mobile phone, so the wife didnt know where he was out on the property. He also did not know that I was coming)

I was so appreciative that this family was so trusting of me. A stranger, in their house left alone. I didnt mind no one was "entertaining" me. I entertained myself. Drove around the proprty, with 7500 sheep. climbed over some barbed wire fence(and got pricked in the mean time) to be with the sheep in the vast open land. As I apporached them for a photo, within 100m of coming close, I had 100 sheep faces looking at me. They watched me, and with the next step, all started running away together. This wasnt fun. So went back into the house, explored the children's bedroom. Was amused to see a poster on the wall saying "old macdoanld had a farm" and had pictures and names of different farm animals. In the office, pictures of prize-winning cows. Fat ones they were.

Soon, my friend came through the door. I explained my appearance and then he said, " I have to move some sheep now. Do you want to come?". YES! I thought he would take a UTE(utility vehicle/lorry), i would sit infront with him and sheep would be loaded up on the back. No, that wasn't how farmer move sheep. We went to the shed, he promptly showed me his motorbike and asked if I wanted to get on one by myself. I refused to be too adventurous and said I would just sit behind him. He started the engine and off we were, going slowly up and down the bumpy paddock. His dogs followed. I soon realised they werent just farm dogs that sat at home doing nothing. They were sheep dogs! with some basic commands, they ran out, held the sheep pack together while we were on a motorbike pushing the sheep from the back. Sometime then, I realised this sheep-rounding experience was one of the best memories I will take home from Orange and Australia. Not just sitting at the back of a bike rounding-up sheep. But also the warmth of my farmer swimming friend. Someone I barely knew, yet so giving and open. And of course, spending some time with SHEEP! On my drive home, I kept thinking to myself what would it be like if I became a farmer.

Got back to hospital, interviewed my last ever patient as a student, who happened to be Aboriginal. Something unique to this country, which I would remember as well.

I felt so blessed that the last day ended this day, to me I would say its like a fairy-tale ending:)

my last day at uni (part 1)

2010-05-30T23:11:00.003+10:00

So it was bound to come. People always start things, and with a start, there is an end. I only started feeling excited the nite before. According to our time table, fri was free. So effectively thurs was meant to be my last day.

Wed nite, i was pretty stoked. I couldnt fall aslp quickly, like I normally do. I had great plans to run and gym the next morn, which normally takes tons of motivation to even get out of bed in such freezing conditions. The next morn(thurs), I drove to the gym. But when i got there at 7am, things started sinking in. I felt scared of the future and of the unknown. It felt like i was about to dive into the deep end of a pool, not knowing how deep the water was. These feelings plus matching music playing in the car triggered an outpour of tears. I sat outside the gym, crying while texting my family of how I appreciated their support.

Gym was good as I did a short 30min run/walk after, heading towards dudley private hosp. stopped to admire the flock of pink galahs and some parakeets. I crept up as close as possible to observe them. Hosp was good, but then came the news. A tutorial has been re-scheduled to friday. darn! meaning thurs was not my last day of school.

Anyway, thurs night the 4 of us med students went into town. ate a banquet at the vegetarian restaurant, then khadijah and i went to the cinema to watch Letters to Juliet. The theatre of 100+ seats had 6 pple in total, incl us. we came out,and snuck back in to watch the 2nd half of J Lo's movie the backup plan. When the movie was done, went to find Ying and Chris at the union bank.thats where he started doing his awkward turtle hand sign! ahhhhhha. Went to orange hotel, had drinks then i bet on some racing dogs.....

to be cont

an encounter

2010-05-27T00:05:00.003+10:00

met this patient today who had an incredulous story.

He started drinking alcohol when he was just a child, joined the mafia then. Got into jail for 10 years....

when i asked him if he had killed or harmed someone.
he said that he didnt want to go into it. he said, "lets just say I made some people dissappear"

When he said that, I felt
1. scared, an errie feeling felt like it swept past me
2. excited that I met a real person that did things I have only seen on hollywood shows

I'd like to think the world is pure and full of nice people. I need to be more open minded, but at the same time not to get paranoid about all the "baddies" in this world.

Bathurst

2010-05-23T00:12:00.002+10:00

Drove to Bathurst(40min out of Orange) today with Chris, Amanda and Khadijah. I attended this classical jazz concert at the cathedral, while the rest went exploring round this small town. Its meant to around the same size(or bigger) than Orange. 30 000 people.

the court house in Bathurst

the Gosling Creek guesthouse in Bloomfield. Really more like nurses quarters.

Had an interesting convo with 2 nurses tonite in the kitchen while i warmed up my supper(kangaroo meat with rice and ham).

We had talks about what rehab psych used to be like, which the nurse felt it did more for the patient. She said, back in those days, patients would grow their own vege garden, do more cleaning etc. Now, due to laws that protect them from hurting their backs and being seen as doing manual/slave labour, they just sit in the ward the whole day with maybe a few hours of organised activity a day. I agree, by going outside and doing something, you will recover quicker. But moving into the new hosp, they wont have the space. She said, demented patients need to space to walk around. They feel frustrated when they are kept in confined spaces. I have seen that for myself in hosp.....so I agree on that too.

Excited cos going to picnic tmw with a friend! hope the weather is good:)

Also loved google today. Its pac-man's 30th birthday and the google icon is a pac-man game! been playing with it....it actually works!

Back to dementia, I fear myself getting that when I am older. I see it in my grandmother and think its so heart-breaking. I am regretful that I did not talk to her and sit down to spare her at least 5min of my time when she did have her memory and so much wanted to talk to her grandchild. Why was life so busy then? Why did I always think that she would always be there another day to tell me her stories and it could wait for a day when I was free?

3rd week in Orange/Bloomfield

2010-05-19T18:12:00.002+10:00

this is outside the guesthouse where i stay, taken at 9am. Frost still hasnt melted

I was sick and down about so many things, then went shopping and found this mug! made me alot happier!

taken on the drive to orange from Newcastle, abt 500km drive. took me 8 hours, incl lunch break. this is coming out of sydney, at the blue mountains.

other med students tonite are out a a fancy restuarant eating drug-company sponsored dinner. While i am home doing assignment, then going for bible study....

the little things that make me happy

2010-05-10T21:07:00.002+10:00

1. hospital grounds are beautiful. the other morning ran around and saw wild kangaroos....then started to chase them and they ran away:(
another tree on the hospital site
2. going to the farmers markets, seeing an asian stall. stall seller was taiwanese, i bought this red glutinous rice thing.....i miss this food.

3. getting a table for my table-less room. went to the salvation army over the weekend. got a 2nd hand table for $10, $20 for delivering to my accom.

4. eating hand-made dumpling soup by my friend, Ying on the nite i was sick.

5. going for my 1st swim training in orange this morn, only to find i was the only swimmer. was glad that I had all the attention from the coach

Orange!

2010-05-06T20:52:00.001+10:00

This is running around lake canobalas, 20min drive from the hospital. temp today was max of 10 degrees.

love the autumn leaves.....

When Ned went to Sabre's house to play

2010-05-02T00:08:00.003+10:00

Sabre loves hanging out with ned

I love this pic the most!! the monkey makes a squeaky noise when u press the middle. sabre's fav toy

Sabre just fell to the ground and let Ned sniff him all over!

First, sabre sits for ned, next he drops to the ground(pic above). u here a loud thump when sabre lies down

sharing water

they chase each other, entertaining ping and I

more chasing in the backyard

ok, need to get my assignment done!

ultimate procastination

2010-04-24T18:01:00.002+10:00

need to do assignment due next week. BUT.....been procastinating
- woke up at 7.30am, didnt cycle. lay in bed watched house online
- ate brekkie, watched the news
- went to the shopping centre, Ping called
- went to Hazel's house for KFC lunch and Bomberman game
- drove back to Kotara for massage and a sushi roll
- Came back home, walked Ned and fed him
- out for dinner
AAAAHHHHH. 0 work done at the moment:(

Don't look back

2010-04-22T08:22:00.002+10:00

Pple often say "don't look back". but I did. Looked at my old posts here. Been having a cruisy life for the past year, talking to my sisters they cant understand why I seem to be having "fun" all the time. I read this post in 2007

"i said it in the car to my frens just now...." i want it to end"....not just the horrible things....i was thinking of everthing.i am mentally unstable. i have lost it all. Feel like i am just a time waster. Cant take it.exams weeks away but i am 110% stressed. I dont want it to end as a failure, though i know i am already one.less laughs today and in future. saw Yu Hao today. wanted to so badly skip everything and be him- a doctor. "

and there, been through alot in first few years of med school. This post reminded me how hard i was trying to float back then, the struggles of living overseas, how I wanted to be home again.....

and now....I am going to become like my med snr(Yu Hao)

the week in newcastle

2010-04-22T07:51:00.002+10:00

Sat- met with bible study mates for brekkie and sharing of fav bible verse after at the park.

Spina bifida clinic at the hospital

Sack race with children of the neighbourhood. Kylie came up to me and said in her sweet voice, "I bet I can fit into that!" so i put her in the sack!

drove up to the watagan mountains with church friends claire and anna. We got lost on the drive 10000 times cos being girls, we just kept talking and didnt pay attention to the road

claire picked up a baby leech to show me

shout your fame

2010-04-15T07:21:00.003+10:00

amateur video of church band prac

my church minister was funny....thats his voice....and he started doing "steady cam"

happenings

2010-04-15T07:00:00.002+10:00

yesterday, went on a 2hour car trip for outreach clinic at Muswellboork. Its a coal mining town with a population of 16000. Its amazing how long each consultation was, one was as long as 1.5hours! well, saw lots of children, mainly with speech, language and behaviour problems. While the dr was talking to the parents, i sat in the corner and played with them. Not noticing that the Dr was also observing play with me. The registrar and the psychologist sitting in the room noticed things like eye contact with me, if the child noticed a new person coming into the room, the child's interaction with the mother, the child's attention span on a toy and even how they answered my questions. wow.

A mum came in with a 1year old girl and a 4year old newly diagnosed autistic boy. I was really happy when I could carry bub while the mum went outside, trying to convince her son to stand on the weighing scales. The psychologist called me "clucky" haha.

The night before was dinner and movie at my neighbour's house. we cooked ginger chicken with vege then watched A Cinderella Story starring Hilary Duff while eating ice-cream and choc. will miss carly(14yr) and sarah(12yr) and joel(6yr).

today, going to trek around the Watagan mountains and have a picnic with church friends. yays!

its time to go back to work

2010-04-09T07:34:00.003+10:00

been having such an extended hol!

well, announcing I am on a kangaroo meat diet. Its cheap, high in protein, low in fat. Lets see how long I can last. Been having it for the past few days. Only mince though cos fillets ran out due to the flood on queensland where the woolys guy told me "flooding prevented farmers from shooting the kanagroos"

started on community paeds placement on wed. Lovin it cos get to play with the children! wed played jigsaw puzzle and mr and mrs potato head, thurs played cooking and putting the animal pieces in the right spot. Something like this:

funny incident

so the consultation room had limited seats, not enough for all the adults. so the reg had to sit on the child's seat. we then stood up for a while, the little girl came over and put the cow piece of the puzzle above(similar one) on the reg's child seat. After finishing talking while standing up, the reg looked at his seat and saw the cow, then said, " oh, a cow has taken my seat". then he went to get another chair to sit on.

:):)i wanted those puzzles for my recent birthdays

walking ned is coming to an end on sat:(

6 days at Mooloolaba, Sunshine coast

2010-04-01T22:05:00.003+11:00

travelled last week to my last mooloolaba tri Aust uni games comp. Many memories with me and my bike bag

its such a big festival for this suburb, there were fireworks by the beach. loved loved it. this photo doesnt do it justice.

met up with Sam, who came down for a short hol. Angela and her had a great time learning to surf. Also went for a run tog....which turned more into sit-down and admire scenery and take pics! LOLEmma Snowsill, Beijing olympic games gold medalist in triathlon made her appearance, much to Angela's anticipation.

Sunday- race was good. I came in 21st in my age gp with a time of 2:35. i think its my best time for this course so far. My swim sucked, did 29min but what made the diff was the bike coming back was not as bad as previous years. headwind not so strong, so managed to maintain pace. though the event was non-drafting so couldnt get any faster...my run was goot! i was 10th in my age gp for running split, 46min. Horrendous hill x2 though running down that hill, seeing the beach sort of made up for it. I nearly cried on the run cos I was so sad this was my last race. but the pain was quite bad so had not enough energy to feel emotionally sad.

so, i am wondering why this year's time is better than previous years, given i was better trained then and was lighter too. Def wasnt over 60kg few years ago. Just 2 weeks ago, i couldnt bike more than 50km. So i know my cycling sucks. Swimming- havent been going for squad training due to laziness and trying to save money. Just my own 2/3km easy swims. Running- no fast runs, just slow short ones randomly at most twice a week. So....I think the reason is cos

1. wind on bike was to my favour

2. i knew this was my last race and pushed through the pain

3. met this top triathlete the day b4 and seeing him race in hot conditions, pushing through his pain gave me confidence in my race

4. i had a 'go emma' tattoo on my arm which i looked at on my run when i needed more strength

5. I was very familiar with the course and knew what to expect

6. I believed that God was looking out for me

- so lots of factors, but most importantly don't underestimate the power of the mind

Crazy us, day after triathlon, Angela and I attempted to cycle 90km(in total) to Noosa. I was aching, she was in pain but this was a cycle not to be missed. Thats an old volcanic crater in the pic, Mt Coolum, which we cycled past.
we finally reached Noosa headlands after 45km....omg. it was worth it:) rested by doing some shopping and eating lunch. I had a kebab!

one of the many beaches we cycled past. though we had to get over many hills along the way.

Next day, went for a tour with the backpackers to ginger factory, Nut factory, Montville and Gardnella falls. This is a sick looking pup outside the ginger factory, he was with his owner who was driving down the coast. He became the attraction, rather than the ginger factory. sad sad that the weather turned wet and couldnt swim at the waterfalls:( Ayden at the backpackers also lied to me, said the waterfall could swim with turtles....haha. it was all a lie!

Last day, walked along the beach with Angela to the spit. I got a running shot taken by a hunky lifegaurd who described this picture to be "fantastic"

2nd time at bogey hole

2010-03-20T20:17:00.004+11:00

bogey hole. brown moss more slippery than green moss

bogey hole

relaxing in the sun/moss at bogey hole- due to close soon

i'm a mermaid cos i put seaweed on me!

birthday present part 100. Got a text to come home while i was in hosp. Surprise is riding on a harley davidson round the block:)

Newcastle Vets running club. my first running club here 6 years ago:( last training session at jesmond park with them for my life:(:(

this is the new mater hospital

home-made muffins wrapped up for my team

2010-03-18T17:45:00.002+11:00

chara just said to me while i was lying in bed: "pool closes at 7pm"
darn. 1hr to swim. then reward by going shopppping! well, more of buying birthday present and food to cook.

baked muffins for my team to give them tmw.

last ward tea party

2010-03-16T17:19:00.002+11:00

every tue, the ward staff meeting is held in conjunction with a little tea party. teams take turns baking cakes. This week, it was my team. I baked a pandan cake, hoping to spread the influence of the singaporean cake. Well, actually, dont know what cuisine it is.

anyway, my consultant came in. the pastoral care worker then joked with him that my supervisor's report would be based on how good my cake was! haha. then i offered him a piece and told him its pandan cake. he said,
" yes, i know its a Nonya cake."
me, "you know what is Nonya?"
my consultant, " yes, i know more than u may think."
then everyone in the room burst out laughing.

and that was my last ward 4c tea party:(

time to go swimming. though just stuffed my face with a whole bag of choc eggs.

birthday weekend

2010-03-14T15:31:00.009+11:00

Had a great weekend:) extended birthday celebrations, just the way I like it:) been blessed with awesome friends here.
below: on fri, got off early from hosp. My Reg bought me lunch at hosp, but after he made me unhappy and I told him I wanted to strangle him for what he did.
Then met up with Anna to go to the Bogey hole for a swim. But weather was not good. So we didnt go in:(
Fri night: Women in the word event at Compassion at Warabrook organised by my church. This is Gabby with her 13 day old girl:)

Sat morn

Joined Omega cycle group for the 2nd time in years. Morn was dark, slightly cold and a little rainy. Promised my friend I would see her there. So, we cycled out to the farms at Seaham, past Raymond Terrace. That was after we were on the highway for some time. Weather started pouring really heavily, then would lighten up and then heavy again. Ridiculous weather, which made it even more memorable. It was my first time attempting 70km in a year? but thought the gp would pull me along. at 40km, saw sunrise, double rainbows in the farm areas with cows. One cyclist was nice enough to wait for me as the gp dropped me. He pointed out that this scenery was a good birthday gift. I agree! too bad no pics. Anyway, on the way home at 50km, my legs could not go anymore. So I got a lift back with coach paulie who was driving his car, following us. really really thank God that he was there to drop me home. I was shivering then. whew what a morn!

Sat arvo: birthday picnic. supposed to be at Jesmond park, but rain forced us indoors. Thanks to Maz for opening up the church for us just opp the park

We played 3 Legged race. I teamed up with Brendon and came in last:(

Pizza for lunch- made at home

Sat night: went to Sabre's hse to recieve a pressie from him

Sun morn: LOOP THE LAKE~charity bike ride~ woke up early to reach speers point at 7.15am to cycle round the whole lake behind me. 88km. thankfully stopped twice at 2 pitstops with water and fruits. Missed the muffin stop cos I followed my friends who took a short cut. OMG massive and numerous hills throughout. u know, i cycled for a while. was tiring and looked at speedo. it read 6km!! I told my friend that i just met the day before at Omega cycle group that I took 4hrs and he was so dissapointed in me, he waited an hour for me to reach the finish line. He told me to keep up with the training. Somehow his words gave me some motivation.

Sun Night: went into church at 4pm for band practice. Played the keys with the band for church. After church, went out for dinner. We talked abt Newcastle boys and how they are diff, more macho, abt the muscles, less cultured. For example, if a guy here was sitting down reading a book with a scarf, he would be called gay/ some name. But thats normal in Melbourne. And the machoism is cos they are less confident abt themselves. Interesting convo!

i hate how....

2010-03-12T14:33:00.003+11:00

i tried to be a friend to my patient, who is only around 20yrs. And recently she has been ignoring me. Sabrina says they are patients, not your friends. Just a week ago, we were talking well....

and how I went out of my way to try to care more for Mrs NR, and she had an unexpected death, after I had grown to like her as she had been in hosp for a long time.

It just hurts me so deep that me reflex action now is to not be too friendly to a patient. And i have grown weary and tired of the process. How can pple do this for years?

more memorable moments in hosp

2010-03-11T22:57:00.003+11:00

Dr F came into the ward meeting looking flustered. Mrs A said, " whats wrong Dr, u look lost and left your bag here over night" (his doctors bag with the tools was sitting on the chair in the centre of the room)

[ in a serious tone] Dr F:" my bag is in charge here when I am not around. He makes the decisions."

lovelove my team:)

today saw a patient that came in for a ridiculous reason. she is from a nursing home and lite a cigarette up in her room(not supposed to smoke there). so when the nurse came into the room, she tried to cover her face with a tissue paper, which caught on fire and then burnt her face:( So she came into hosp for facial burns.

funny moments in hosp

2010-03-08T17:26:00.002+11:00

one of our patients(with long history of drug abuse) had a visit by her father, which we did not like as he has had bad influence on her(drugs). so this is what my consultant said outside the room.
Dr F: I wish i could just remove him. Some people are just not good for the patients....I wish I could contact my contacts from the underworld to get rid of him....such as my friends the monstrous trio of crocrodiles!

omg...i was laughing....then he said
Dr F: i actually do have contacts from the underworld who where gansters/murders/etc that owe me a favour. used to work with alot of them when i was doing addiction medicine.

happy brithday anna

2010-03-06T23:52:00.003+11:00

Good doctor and church friend Anna had her 30th birthday tonite! had a great time at the Clarendon hotel, on hunter street. Hehee...Connor was there and asked him to teach me to play pool....and his mum approved of us!

Anyway, took the oppurtunity to give out my birthday invites....been thinking hard for the perfect location. I wanted something scenic but also easy to manage, considering i will be inviting tons of people. Ended up choosing the park near my house. Gonna get my friends to help me organise a treasure hunt!

Congrats to all those who took A levels last yr.....
and i need to try harder to train. didnt cycle/run today:( nor did i swim. all i did was eat chips, baked a salmon for lunch and soup for dinner

living a new life

2010-03-03T22:43:00.002+11:00

so, finished my 48hr task after working on it overnight and through the whole morn. topic was Digoxin in atrial fibrillation. Was so convinced that it had rhythm control properties(cause that was my ans in the exam).

then went for a 3km swim at Lambton pool. i hope to keep up training and write it here to keep tabs on myself. After swim, the pool slide was open. called my friend to join me but she didnt want:( so didnt slide.

came home, walked with my neighbour Joel round the circuit, then Julia, Sarah and Ned(the dog) joined us. they are such wonderful kids! hehe. we tried to play limbo with the dog's leash...hehe. then sarah and joel said good bye to me with a hug(awwwww....) as they were going out.

nite time watched dvd with housematey- Imagine that starring Eddie Murphy. made me cry thinking of how much parents love their children and how a busy working parent can miss so much from their child.

oh. Bible study last nite was at Nikki's hse. She baked cheesecake which was yummy, and showed us the photos from Egypt. Sounded like a dangerous country....but with so much history...the Aswan high dam! learnt that in geog!

a brand new day

2010-03-02T13:01:00.003+11:00

fri- studied at Mater Hosp lib
sat- studied at kotara shopping centre cafe whilst chara shopped
sun- studied at the mental hosp
mon- exam at John Hunter Hosp

patient was nice but was taken away from me halfway through the interview to go for a CT. So my writeup wasnt as good. But my examiners knew that.

Tue
feels like the start of my new life. with exam over yest. I feel i can breathe now. Morn went to Paeds clinic to organise my placement there soon. excited! stayed at home after, and saw this cookie infront of my hse. Last nite, in celebration, I first visited my patient in hosp to tell her and her mum the good news. Also met my team intern, who asked me buy the whole ward a coke to celebrate. haha.
Next, bought Atlantic salmon and baked it with Zucchini, herbs, lemon, asparagus, tomatoes and mushrooms. Went to Ping's hse with Chara and watched this movie. its also a book.

2010-02-25T20:28:00.002+11:00

got a shock this morn when my reg told me mrs N R passed away last night. She came in when I first started my term, 5 weeks ago. So had grown to get used to her being around. I tried to cheer her up everyday and talk to her, though she always seemed apathetic. Just yest, she commented how nice I was to her. Now, when i walk past her bed, i still see her lying there:(

Mrs S L also passed away today:( miss talking to her and her family....the room now is empty. I used to let her smell the flowers the relatives gave her...also let her eat the mars bar given by the patient opp her. Her response was, "God love her!"

I miss you both!

taylor swift in newcastle

2010-02-15T18:51:00.002+11:00

video above: i was standing exactly where this video was taken!!!

so much energy at the concert
good stress reliever where i sang along, screamed and shouted

Chinese New Year

2010-02-13T15:30:00.002+11:00

last week, my reg asked me what date was cny. i said i didnt know.
yesterday, went to an outdoor concert at Warners bay with my friends. Only after the musicians had finished playing and wished the audience happy year of the Tiger, then i knew what zodiac year this new year would be. yes, they were aussie and knew more than me.
was at the shops and saw
1. lots of pple looking at the valentines day card section
2. saw a guy infront of me buy choc muffin mix with a bottle of wine. obviously for vday tmw. I bet he normally doesnt bake

my roomie has left me for cny celebration in syd.
I shall be happy that i will have a quiet day with time to run, study and go to church. yays!

unfit

2010-02-06T18:23:00.002+11:00

just ate half a block of choc to add to me fat:(
cycled this morn and couldnt keep up with the group:(
one cyclist was nice enough to wait for me, and shout encouragin words like "no pain no gain" when i said i wanted to drop to the back of the pack. his name was Ross from Hunter District club. sigh so unfit.

2 days to taylor swift concert. gotta work hard.

just when i had prob deciding to cut short psych in orange, there was an advert on tv for mental services in orange. How strange! showed nice pics of this country town. and convinced me i would love the place.

nights

2010-02-03T23:53:00.002+11:00

crazy day with non-stop brain stimulation as soon as i wake up at 6am. so so tired. gonna do my 1st night tmw. 11pm-8.30am. then stay on till arvo. i am so gonna fall aslp in tute. 0 exercise. i am so overwhelmed i am drowning. everday i walk out of hosp and think the ton of work to do when i get home.

my consultant is really hilarious

2010-02-01T20:20:00.001+11:00

so today, doing ward rounds in intensive care unit(ICU)....he saw a large CUCUMBER on the counter top.....as he walked pass, he picked it up and held it like a daggar....and did a funny expression like he was going to use it to kill someone! haha. no one saw that except me!

tired

2010-01-29T22:31:00.002+11:00

sososo run down.
everyday i leave hosp the latest(amongst the other students)
I completed my first mortality audit today!

funny thing at ward round this morn:
the team was visint one of our patients who had MET call yest. So he was t/f to ICU. we went into ICU. asked the nurse looking after him how he was....she said things werent too good the night before. He had to go for his operation.... upon hearing that word, we all stared at each other, thinking thats not expected and that its really really bad!

BUT, we checked the name again and it wasnt our patient. WHEW!
Discharged a patient today that is so lovely. Will miss him:(
Compared to the day before when I interviewed a patient and was so frustrated with the poor history he gave, once i stepped outside of hosp, i was yelling out to relieve my stress.....

tired

such a wonderful run

2010-01-24T10:07:00.002+11:00

so I pulled myself out of bed today. Drove to Charlestown swimming pool to meet the coach Paulie for his usual Sunday group. BUT, i didnt see anyone! so was psyching myself up for a lonely long run on my own. Then, from the corner of my eye, I spotted another runner. We waited for a while, and when no one else came, we headed to Glenrock bushes/ beach for the run. Really really fortunate to meet this sensational triathlete. Nathan Stewart. Heard of his name in the local tri scene, a true novocatrian. What more- his best buddy since childhood is Macca. you know, Chris Mccormack. World famous Ironman Champ. Yarh....He said he was just with Macca last week training tog. And sometimes when Macca goes for comp, he is the guy asking Macca's fans to step back! hahaa.

Had a hard run(to me) with him for the next hour and found out he has met Lloyd before(tri coach from Singapore). He says Aust Tria Assn and Aust gov dont give them much to support the pro triathletes. It boils down to you working hard on your own, making it to the top then getting your own sponsors. But even after that, he said Australia just doesnt have too many OD tris, so most go to Europe to race where there is big money. Strange huh? since aust produces world champs in tri.

yeah, nathan says in newcastle, he mainly does training on his own. 600km of bike ride if training for ironman! OMG. well, I was humbled to be running with Macca's mate. :):)

happy

2010-01-23T22:05:00.001+11:00

cos i opened a 2nd hand med textbook bookshop and pple are buying my beloved books!

swam at ocean baths today for the 1st time...though the weather was real windy and rainy. the sand blew so hard on your skin, it was painful:(

had lychee for dessert!

this-is-my-fate

2010-01-20T12:48:00.002+11:00

(not sure)

so was at the med bookshop. This book caught my eye, "Choosing a medical specialty"

so I flipped open to a random page......and this is what i opened to

Sports medicine section in the Emergency medicine chapter.

yupyup. Right on!

running story

2010-01-18T19:43:00.003+11:00

so, ran this morn at 7am. but only did 1km+ when cockeyed cockroach had a fall. Poor thing! so we walked....

then went to gym and did my run home from there.
while running under the trees, the leaves blew and i caught one! i thought, "pretty lucky of me, eh?"
(yarh, i talk to myself in my run)

so i took that lucky leaf, held it in my hand and said, " i shall hold on to this leaf till i get home. it's me lucky leaf!"

well, i soon had to cross the road at a traffic light. Somehow, the leaf flew out of my hand onto the road....i felt like stopping to search for mr leaf. BUT, green man was blinking already.....should I sacrifice my safety for a LEAF? i think all those big trucks and buses about to run over me would think i was crazy standing in the middle of the road looking for a leaf.

ANyway, I had to LET it go. i said to myself, "its only a leaf..." yes...so i cont running. then ran up this flight of steps to mount faber...then henderson waves....along the way, went up this park attraction....some terrace. Kept running up all the steps and when i got to the top, i said out loud, " OMG!!!!" yarh. really hot by then and super unfit. WHile coming down the steps, met a tree lizard....he scampered when he saw me. I thought for the fun of it, lets chase it....he tried to run away but had no where safe to go....so for about 40m, i was running after this lizard(heheee...so fun)

and yes....i was laughing "heeehhheeeee" out loud. Mr lizard finally crossed the path to the tree. Darn! LOST him:(

so cont along the bridges. loved the tree-top bridges and coolness of the air. Ran alongside some butterflies....when i got tired, i walked. b4 i knew it, it was 50min and only did 8km!!! ahhh....and had to go out soon. so picked up the pace to run home.

loved love my adventure run!!!

miss u

2010-01-16T19:02:00.003+11:00

the other day, went for guitar lesson on my own. walked out of the shop and headed st to my usual place- Jolly Bean.

i ordered the J-special and crispy red bean thingo. and thought of u:( how u introed me to the J-special and I told u I would try all of them....but i havent.

the other time u were there with me and we shared the azumi red bean!!

:(:( jia you....

specialty

2010-01-10T19:07:00.002+11:00

on deciding what to do....i think back of the doctors/supervisors I have come across.

Tim Stanely- ICU (intensive care). such a great teacher. He simplifies everything to make it easy to understand.....If I could train under him, I would do ICU

Phillip- ICU. he's an amazing reg. saw him counsel a dying patient's family with such calmness and using all the right words. I do hope one day I get to break bad news as good as him

Cameron Dart- Emergency med. He says arrythmias is easy peasy japanesy. hey....i notice a trend here...I like pple who teach! haha

Neil Halpin- Sports med. I love the way he is so organised....not a piece of hair out of place in his office....and that he can take a lunch break nap in his office!! omg. I want that life!

Mark Parsons- Neurology. My neuro tutor in 2nd year. yarh. Love how he taught us neuro and used to pick on me! really admire him cos he's now the stroke expert of Newcastle

Lawrence Roddick- Paeds. he took all day to do a ward round. but in btwn, added some coffee breaks to teach!

time of change

2010-01-10T17:19:00.003+11:00

went to my 1st church service of the year. I really really miss my Newcastle church;( this is us at last year's church camp

this is botanic gardens in Melaka. Ran here:):0)

Christmas eve dinner buffet. interior decor of the gingerbread house! note the staircase on the right that leads to no where! lol

snowman's head that melted. I ate tons of oysters....YUM!

Melaka: hugging a tree

Last night at East coast park, walked past a lady pushing her dog in a pram! we laughed and laughed and laughed. then p reminded me of the year b4, where we saw a CAT popping his/her head out of a pram.OMG

2010-01-04T16:02:00.002+11:00

going to see aunty rosa now....trying to cycle there! gotta pump up the bike first:(

the other nite....tried to skip dinner. ended up eating oily oyster omellette with duck rice and dumpling soup at hawker centre in town at 10pm!!! so that was my motivation the next day to go out for a ride with the joy riders. guess what! not soon after the 1km mark, i lost them. so joined this couple who were cycing slowly going a shorter route....

they were really nice...Edmund and Carol. anyway, went to binjai park for makan. they had wonton noodles for bfast!!! i was like, thats a non-bfast item!!(in my head)

anyway, they offered to buy me food and drink since i kinda looked starving, thirsty and didnt bring money. thought of a simple pau, then edmund said, how about traditional kaya toast? the word 'traditional' made me think its something local , therefore i need to try it....yarh....havent eaten it b4!

so there goes the cals i burnt from the cycle:( WHY must food taste and look so nice???? sigh

unfit

2009-12-30T21:20:00.003+11:00

we all say that and no one ever believes me.....they always say....but u can still run fast.....erm. sometimes i wish they just be accepting with what I say and its so obvious with my massive wt gain that I am of course more unfit than before.

yes, there are times i love my fatness cos I feel its proof to others that i mean what I say- that i am damm off-form.

been watching hana-kimi. love love sano and nakatsu. i just realised they are totally opp in character. sano plays the cool good-looking guy with few words, yet all the girls love him. Is that the stereotype of a good-catch from tv? Meteor garden's zai zai waslike that too....

cycling and farming

2009-12-13T06:49:00.003+11:00

cycled with a friend to Redhead beach. we went through this old railway tunnel. it was so cool, felt like cycling into another dimension whilst in the tunnel....

and this felt like it was from a storybook.....with an opening to a seccret land.

me on my mountainbike with basket! good for carrying the street directory cos we got lost finding the beach!
later drove to nelsons bay....climbed tomaree lookout and saw this. awesome.pictures cant justify what we saw and felt. it had a 360 degree view of the area. and was real breezy on just 1 side.

few dyas before that, went to visit my teacher who owns a farm and grows her own vegetables for meals. this is the rocket leaves we picked for the salad lunch:)

she found this abadoned chick in her backyard...so is nursing it in her bathtub! there....plus doggy is having a look at his new siblings...there are 50 chickens, 5 cows, 5 dogs and 5 cats. she treats all of them like her children:)

freshly picked cucumber and tomatoes for lunch!

experiences

2009-12-07T18:07:00.002+11:00

had my first neighbourhood christmas outdoor party. the residents at condor circuit all gathered at the big grassy area nearby for some food and drinks. They brought their young children to play with each other. I was baffled when one boy took out his clarinet and started playing christmas carols.

Truly a sensational experience. I kept saying to myself this would never happen in sg. Well, glad to meet my neighbours.

Fri going for a run with cam and dave by the beach then bouldering after. what is bouldering? cam said its like rock wall climbing except not too high....so i think it will be on the cliff face, next to the beach. Another experience!

funny moments i wanna remember

2009-12-05T13:14:00.002+11:00

1. in the operating theatre, the orthopaedic surgeon connected his ipod the the stereo....and blasted music while operating. so think....60yr + male ortho surgeon. what kind of music he would like to hear while operating?

well....i was hearing "since you've been gone" by kelly clarkson. yes! and other nice girly love songs!!! omg. I really loved his choice of songs and said to him while he cut cutting someone's ankle open....." i really love your songs"

he looked at me and said, " thanks, no one has made that comment before".haha

2. patient I saw with sports doctor
he used to be a long-distance runner, but had a tendon tear somewhere so had to rest from running.....he took up a bit of cycling and swimming.

he tells the doctor and me that he hates cycling. that its not even a proper sport. the REAL deal is in running. hhaaaa. and that he thinks running a half-marathon is a sprint! woah....

but so sad...with his finances he said he wont go back to running cos the treatment for his current injury has been over $1000....had 2 blood injections and drs consultations. he cant afford it.

3. newcastle vets club
so joined the vets today for a training session. after the run, we did core work on the grass. everyone took out their full-size towel to lie on....while i just had a small facetowel....and when i put it on the grass. EVERYONE started laughing at me....saying its tiny....and the best part was...Nic was saying it looked like a nappy. omg.-_-

its over

2009-12-03T19:04:00.002+11:00

3 weeks of sports med attachment will be over tmw.

at surg today, saw an 18 yr old female mid-d runner. she is supposedly on the top mid-d runners in aust. I goodled her name and found out she does 2:05 for 800m! omg!

she came in for a bone reconstruction of her foot stress fracture. me still wishing i was that fast......

omg. i know never to go into private practice. the tea room had tons of food.....ate non-stop:( even hot mushroom soup!

thank you

2009-12-01T10:16:00.002+11:00

stayed with a lovely family last week. got to see what it is like looking after 3 young children. definitiely changed my ideas of parenting. its damm hard!!!

they are cute, but its 100000x more than just cuteness in terms of looking after them.

had fun though and glad God gave me this oppurtunity to be part of this family

what a day

2009-12-01T00:42:00.003+11:00

my partial dream came true......

got to sit in with the sports doctor of the New South Wales Institute of Sport(NSWIS) thie morn. saw national/state athletes such as rowers, canoesit. Learnt abit abt the high performence training done there. I requested for a tour of the facilities.....was told that a group from singapore, incl some ministed came last year to look at the facilities cos they are gonna build something similar. cant wait for that to be completed....

anyway, its such a great building....with physiotherapist, nutritionist, physiologist, doctors, biomechanist and other sports scientist all under one roof.

heard that they were at the worldtrack cycling recently and filmed cyclist from other countries to analyse their techniques.....there is a room full of big screens to view that.

after that, i came home. key couldnt open door. so had to wait around b4 other hse mates came back to try their key. their's didnt work either. had tocall the lock smith that charged over $100, and we waited over an hour at the nearby pub. thanks to me slamming the door shut in the morn:(

the past week

2009-11-29T23:29:00.003+11:00

been blessed to have stayed with a lovely family.
made some new friends
caught up with old friends
did lots of eating out

hmmmm.....was thinking. is there a way to meet up with friends without involving food? i know there is always running, but what abt non-running friends?

had yummy sushi tonite:)

chilling out with my neighbours:)

2009-11-22T13:08:00.004+11:00

in the water, we played comps like breath-holding and hand stand and tag(they called it tips).....reminded me of when i was young and that was what i enjoyed at the pool- not swimming laps!

Sara and I

We planned weeks in advance to go to the waterslide together....

my first slide with sara....i was screaming more than her.

at night, we went to watch pinocchio together. the musical was put on by the Young People's Theatre of Newcastle

jimminy cricket! and this new character called hiccups

my 1st (and supposed to be last) javelin training session

2009-11-19T22:35:00.003+11:00

coach Hayden was really good....he taught me the basics in 1.5hrs. and happy that i progressed throughout that time. he taught me the 5 step run-up which he said normally would take 3 training sessions for someone to get. yays.

wanted this to be my first and last but he looked like he wanted me to come back for more training....ahhhh. i thought i shld since he has given me so much of his time already.

and i want to achieve a certain distance....before quitting:)

Wallsend athletic club comp

2009-11-16T22:16:00.004+11:00

attended/competed in my first club comp here....in the events of javelin and pole vault! came intending just to learn the javelin, but soon thought might as well try something i will never try again. but first....this is the club. lots of kids....its on every monday night for the whole of summer on this grass oval. above pic i thought was so cute...the tiny tots programme....they just throw hoops into cones. co cute! i also want to do that event!!! everyone else was doing a regular track/field event.
hurdles on a grass trackso met up with the pole vault coach, asked him to teach me. first, get used to lift off from the pole
next: do it on the mat. OMG. i could not for like 1 hr....kept trying but the hole the pole goes into made it more scary. this other guy jumping 4m+ told me he is scared all the time. BUT when u get onto that runway, abt to start the runup, all fears must go otherwise u will screw it up. yesyes. i did it! put the pole in the hole and jumped onto the mat. though the jump didnt cross the horizontal line......

my friend's Kelpy. only just a puppy

tried javelin. 3 throws. best one was 14.34m. friend's coach saw me and said i have potential...good fast twitch fibers in the arms. Going back again for another training session with the Javelin coach. its fun!

sunday night after church(SNAC)

2009-11-15T23:00:00.003+11:00

tonite, after church. headed to the fish and chips shop next to the wharf. had yummy snapper fish and chips plus hung out with great company

I was on supper for church tonite. baked these. super healthy!

its banana cinnamon muffin. contains oat bran, less sugar, soy milk, wholemeal flour and fresh banana!! pple at church loved it:)

my backyard. lovely. get kookaburras, rainbow lorikeets and other birds visiting for a feed on the native flowers. Thank you Lord for such a wonderful home:)

saying goodbye

2009-11-12T23:52:00.002+11:00

today, prizes were given out to the 5th year cohort. It was the last time we were all together, in 1 place. Sitting at the RNC theatre for grand rounds today, reminded me back to 2nd year, the first time that lect theatre was 1st opened.

We started having more lects there. I would sit next to chara/hilda/jun/random.....listening to Lindsay rowe on the penumbra.....

and now, 3 years on. we are leaving each other. As i hugged phuong today, i nearly started crying. No, i told myself. stop hugging her, walk away and forget abt it. Sigh. many more goodbyes to pple today. Doesnt help when i read the yearbook, see our old pics in the tute rooms and reminicise on old times even more.

chara says,"move on". I cant. i treasure all my friendships and relationships with pple. It saddens me that everyone has grown up and left med school, scattered all round australia.

we say we will visit, but this isnt singapore. it takes hours to travel from one place to another, be it by plane or car.

Sunday

2009-11-09T07:37:00.004+11:00

morning at 7.30am. it was rainy and cold. Yet met up with Jon, Wayne and Stef for a surfing lesson. the beach though....was all strewn with dead birds(pic above). Jon said they flew from south america, were exhausted and dropped dead from the sky. not sure to believe him....

last pic is of wayne, the hobbit! ha. its Jon's new portable changeroom. guys can put it on and change underneath....hahaMed graduation ball at city hall. My neighbour helping me with my makeup:)

the back of my hair

the final product you see was contributed by at least 7 different people....be it lending accesories or lending advice on what matches with what....omg. so much work had to go in it!

down

2009-11-06T23:54:00.001+11:00

feeling so inadequate and incompetent at hospital. thanks Dr Cam for believing in me, for telling me that I will be ok when I start work, that I am crazy to be in hosp on a fri nite at 11pm and shld go home.

thanks

runs

2009-11-05T23:06:00.001+11:00

ran with chara this morn along the beach.....

arvo joined the Newcastle veterans club for a workout on a grass track. i did 4x 800m with nic, darren, rodger. miss them so much! great to be back with them for training. really feels like my family:);) they are great encouragers.....

3 days till exam and I am playing....

2009-11-01T19:56:00.002+11:00

went swimming at my neighbour's pool with the kids. played fun games like relay with the noodle, marco polo, red river cross over....and was the judge of a jumping competition. also with the hep of another girl, we held the hands and feet of them and therew them into the pool! they loved it

also had this device to pull them round the pool! funfun. then went to join the parents for a chat and they peer-pressured me into drinking a glass of champagne!

Sunday is study:(

2009-11-01T13:56:00.002+11:00

proud of meself!
joined Al's running group this morn at 7am. Started at Merewether beach, ran up hills into Glenrock bush area, then back along merewether beach. Such splendid scenery.....running along the water.....thanking God for putting me in Newcastle:)

so it was 1hr 50min at slow pace but still omg. longest run in a long time:)
thanks to Margo, Victoria, Darren, Nick, Al, Bryan for a great morning run. couldnt have done it on my own!

learnt that Margo is 50 years and she seriously looks like 30+yrs!!!!!

in 1 week's time....exam is over and will go for surfing lesson number 2. instructor is my church minister! woooohooooo~

5 years of friendship

2009-10-27T09:23:00.006+11:00

Brownie and I go way back....1st year tutorial photo was me with my hands round his neck strangling him. yes, we love to annoy each other. Yesterday was a fine example.

So even though brownie is in the same year as me, he also works in the emergency dept as a technical assistant, putting ecg on people, taking bloods and putting casts on fractures. I saw a patient who drank heaps one night and woke up with a fractured hand the next morn. Brownie was going to show me how to put the cast on him

B: "so, u wrap this round only the 4th and 5th finger so u can leave other parts of the hand free for them to use it"
me to the patient:"so now you can pick your nose!!"
patient stares strangely at me
B to patient:" for us, we use the fingers to pick up our drinks.....pam uses it to pick her nose."

later, after the cast was done.
B:" so what important thing we need to do now?"
me: " date it?" (meaning write the date we put the cast on)
B:" no, you cant' go out with his cast!!"

Anyway, the answer was to put a sling around his arm.
I told him i didnt know how to put 1 on
B:"what are u going to do when someone falls in the bush and needs an arm sling?"
me: " call ghostbusters!"
patient's gf to me:" erm, what year are u in?"
me:" 5"
patient to me:" how many years is your course?"
me: "5"

ok, so B officially embarrased me infront of the patient and his gf!!!!!!!!!!!

bedroom

2009-10-27T00:37:00.003+11:00

just put up this poster at my bed. love love love:)
got the rainbow lorikeet poster from gold coast. only $10!!!! omg. wanted to buy a parrot poster too....with 50 diff parrots and had their latin names labelled.....BUT thought room wont have enough space. u know. me and this poster is fated. it was poster number 34.

been looking for something like this for years!!!

shadow u see on top left is from my hanging birds.....

the weekend

2009-10-24T22:59:00.003+11:00

Sat: Narelle's wedding. beautiful location at Pelican, by Lake Macquarie

would love an outdoor wedding:)

had church friends over for dinner on thurs nite.

cooked Hainanese chicken rice

the chicken

Fri and Sat. (pic missing Dave). So spent 2 crazy days with some church band members. went to Twist music conference. learnt heaps there. Sung tons of Emu music there....even had Garage Hymnal perform live!! met Philip Percival, composer of "Never Alone" and other Emu songs.

anyway, fri nite, went with Glen and Wayne to the Singaporean restaurant along George st in Paramatta. It was 9.30pm, last order. They were pressed to order something and I suggested chicken rice and Char Kway Teow. They loved it!

later they pronounced Char Kway Teow as Char coalled cow! haha. convinced Wayne to buy some home-made kaya. he pointed to the shop lady(we normally we call her Aunty).....he called her Mama....

Wayne: " I will ask that Mama for some of her Kaya". omg. was laughing so hard...

back home, he forgot the word kaya and said "chomp chomp" instead....

Glen was funny tooo.....once getting into his car, he wound down his windows and blasted "never alone" out......then when he came near a pub with more pple, around, he got scared and quickly wound up his windows.....

Night time was when. Hung out playing guitar together, composing new songs using the manual of the room as lyrics:)

Pain pain pain

2009-10-20T16:04:00.002+11:00

Wakeup! 2nd Run for a Smile charity fun run the med students organised. 180 runners. lots of stress but its over!!!

The committee......i got a lizard on me!! Josh did an animal show for the kids....

studying with Ping now.....it has only been less than 4hours in her house and have eaten Vientta ice cream, cheezels, choc.....before that had roast duck for bfast and lunch. and had cake for bfast and lunch too....oh had cake for dinner last nite as well. Supper lat nite was 500g of roast duck. ate that at 1.30am, when i got home from hosp. yum yum.

ok. now tummy ache. oh why the title of the post is pain?

cos studying that now....what drugs u give for it. studying is slow and painful.

I roasted my first duck last nite!!!!

LIfehoUse

2009-10-17T22:54:00.002+11:00

cause its you and me and all other people..........

song with memories. put that aside now.

now hate that i dig myself in a deeper whole. have to forget it. STudy and RuN. thats all i should be thinking of. and God tooo!!

true story

2009-10-16T08:23:00.003+11:00

doing emergency term. but the intensive care doctor pulled me over to that end the other day. got to meet Mr M

Mr M, about 80 yrs, up to 3 weeks ago was playing golf. He came into hosp 2 weeks ago cause of falls at home, dizziness. doctors did a full work up on him for the common causes of that. nothing. he even cont to fall in hosp many times. then on the morn i met Mr M, he suddenly developed very severe tremors in both arms and wierd eye movements. lowered level of consciousness. needing oxygen and eventually needed to be intubated.transfered to Intensive care unit(ICU).

there, doctors tried to figure out what was going on. and soon diagnosed a rare type of cancer.

I was fortunate enough to meet Mr M, then sit in the family meeting where the drs broke the news to the family. Poor Prognosis. Just keeping him comfortable now with morphine and midazolam. at the bedside, the daughter was crying while telling her dad what the dr was going to do. He seemed to be able to understand some of it, yet was unable to communicate

then that triggered my crying. standing at the foot of the bed, watching how the daughter love her dad so much and was now watching him die, and how treatment for Mr M was now non-active....his oxygen was taken away. No CPR.....

then the daughter sat on her mum's lap and cont crying......her mum hugged her and both cried tog. All this while, i had a feeling Mr M could sense some of that, and he shifted his body towards the side of his family.

Mr M passed away a few hours later.

I walked through the ICU doors the next day. Bed 1- empty.

Have you wondered how you will go and who will be with you when you do?

Disappointments

2009-10-14T20:49:00.002+11:00

1. waited for the Star newspaper all day. and when i finally flipped through it at the kebab shop, my interview wasnt inside:((((

2. I just finished a workout with coach Paulie. Swore that I would eat a healthy dinner afterwards....ended up at the shops buying a kebab

3. Workout was torturous. Mainly cos havent been running since my race ended. Not only that. Been seriously pigging out every single day....running feels shit

4. so been buying lots of expensive food from hosp.....and arrived at hosp this morn at 8.30am, eager to go for the Intensive Care Tutorial session for junior doctors, only to find its been cancelled due to low numbers(only 1 jnr dr present). Plus my fav Doctor was giving the talk:(:(:(

5. wanted to do some form of exercise this morn, maybe the 7am swim squad. but realised the above tute was on.....so gave that a miss.

6. wanted to wake up early to study. ended up waking up at 7.30am, and not studying.

Such a lousy day..................

2009-10-10T23:45:00.001+11:00

sadsadsad.
life has to go on
shldnt dwell on the things i am not in control of
move on. stop expecting much

i hate waiting for phone calls/text

2009-10-09T18:48:00.003+11:00

Jai didnt call me!!!! he is an ortho registra that i have been buggin for our group assignment and its so hard to track him down cos he is always in theatre operating on urgent cases. yest, he texted me...but to the wrong number:( today, he said he would call me btwn 5.30pm-6.30pm on his drive to syd. so i purposely didnt step in mater hosp then(no phone reception there)waiting, waiting for his call!!! AHHHH!!!!

darn mater hosp. whenever i go there, i get missed calls/texts only 4hours after leaving that place!

ok. gonna go into ed now. purpose of going in late fri is to see more drunk patients.then hopefully get good at managing them

back passage

2009-10-09T00:27:00.003+11:00

Doctor: " we shall have to look at your back passage"

patient:"not another one!!" then patient and me proceed to laugh.
it was her 3rd finger up the rear end. i was the 1st!!! (why i am proud of that no one knows)

they say time passes quickly when u are having fun. i was having fun in ED.....putting cannulas into people, taking bloods and just too eager to put in a urinary catheter into anyone who needed one!

week 1 of ED

2009-10-08T08:41:00.001+11:00

ED = emergency dept
its so so hard to transition from not studying to needing to sit down to read the textbook. i need to do it. NO excuses

Gold Coast pics

2009-10-04T09:59:00.003+11:00

5km and 10km winner- Jessica. she ran the 10km in 35:34!!!! and she is a physio student at Uni of South Aust
got 3rd in the 10k race. super happy with my time tooo!!!
5km results

went to wildlife park, and saw this at the bus stop on my way home.

my fav part of the park- feeding wold rainbow lorikeets!!! even bought a full size poster of this bird

friday- post race day 1. took a 1hr 30min surfing lesson. and only entered the water in the last 30min!!

this steak was my pre-race meal at a greek restuarant near Australia Fair. under $20!!!

view from my balcony
spectacular apartment

at the track

roomed with cool people- bowlers and a swimmer. the guys were always drinking and playing pranks. here is Joe putting bread in Mark's pillow case. the also put rice bubbles under his blanket(cant be seen). so they breaded his pillow!!!

Last night at the goldcoast

2009-10-03T01:30:00.002+10:00

its 1.30am. thanks to my new friend, adam, i have internet access on his mac! yays. itsbeen good talking to him tonite...though he says he is chatty only cos he is drunk. the boys been drinking heaps tonite. i helped cleaned uptheirroom this arvo when they went out. but wasnt appreciated that much. they didnt even notice!!!

anyway, it great. their room has a wide screen flat tv, big leather couch and now the balcony door is open, so i can hear the roaring waves......

oooh. just heard a bird. dont know which bird would be up this time. hmmmmm......been a great trip. didnt study as much as iwanted to. but made new friends.....5 bowlers and 1 swimmer. the bowling team got the gold medal!!!! lucky guys. i just found out that until recently, in competition, one could bowl and drink (alcohol) at the same time!!! thats not fair......(not that i want to drink)

and adam is a twin. his brother grant doesnt even look like him! i didnt even think they were brothers when i first met them........

anyway, been lucky to be rooming with this bunch of guys (and 2 girls) really nice.....last nite. i sort of flooded the bathroom and living room cos of the washing machine. (thanks to my washing) well, basically they all helped me to mop it up with their bath towels!!! so nice!!!!

pics soon:)

gold coast Aust uni games

2009-10-01T21:18:00.001+10:00

Its over whhhhheeee.
will write more when i get back
learning to surf tmw at surfers paradise

3rd in 10k, 10th in 5k

now time to pig out!!!

night b4 flying off

2009-09-27T00:50:00.002+10:00

its 1am. yet i am still posting pics for my blog. yes. i am crazy. love this pic. taken at chara's bday party 2 weeks ago.

this at hilda's bday 3 weeks ago. love my hair!

many weeks ago. after a long cycle. outside my house. me bike...has no name though.

so the next week will be fun. brought 3 textbooks and 3 new notebooks to study! then gonna spend some time racing 10k and 5k. other than that....a good time out from hospital. yes! more quiet time to study!!!

and opening ceremony tmw night is at SEA world!!! out of this world man!!!!wooohooooo..... cant believe 2 months of training has come to an end. yup. only trained for 2 months. so not expecting much of meself. just wanna thank my training partner for the good sessions. I wish i always had a training partner. makes so much difference.

cos now.....training runs, esp the faster ones a stressful even thinking abt it. i will eat heaps b4 the workout then feel full then cant run properly. then feel like puking/stomach ache. yarh. i dont take the stress of running workouts too well now.

the day i woke up to an orange sky

2009-09-23T22:18:00.000+10:00

Sydney dust storm; flight chaos, health worries

By ROHAN SULLIVAN (AP) – 4 hours ago
SYDNEY — Australia's worst dust storm in 70 years blanketed the heavily populated east coast Wednesday in a cloud of red Outback grit, nearly closed the country's largest airport and left millions of people coughing and sputtering in the streets.

No one was hurt as a result of the pall that swept in overnight, bringing an eerie orange dawn to Sydney, but ambulance services reported a spike in emergency calls from people with breathing difficulties, and police warned drivers to take it easy on the roads.

Dust clouds blowing east from Australia's dry interior — parched even further by the worst drought on record — covered dozens of towns and cities in two states as strong winds snatched up tons of topsoil, threw it high into the sky and carried it hundreds of miles (kilometers).
International flights were diverted from Sydney to other cities — three from New Zealand were turned around altogether — and domestic schedules were thrown into chaos as operations at Sydney Airport were curtailed by unsafe visibility levels. Passenger ferries on the city's famous harbor were also stopped for several hours for safety reasons.

The dust over Sydney had largely cleared by midafternoon, though national carrier Qantas said severe delays would last all day because of diverted and late-running flights.
The dust was still flying further north, however, and the sky over the Queensland state capital of Brisbane was clogged with dust into the early evening.

Such thick dust is rare over Sydney, and came along with other uncommon weather conditions across the country in recent days. Hailstorms have pummeled parts of the country this week, while other parts have been hit with an early spring mini-heatwave, and wildfires.

"It did feel like Armageddon because when I was in the kitchen looking out the skylight, there was this red glow coming through," Sydney resident Karen told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

The storms — visible as a huge brown smudge in satellite photographs of Australia on Wednesday — are the most severe since the 1940s, experts said. One was recorded traveling from southern Australia all the way to New Zealand some 1,400 miles (2,220 kilometers) away.
Officials said particle pollution in Sydney's air rose to the worst on record Wednesday, and the New South Wales state ambulance service said it had received more than 250 calls before midday from people suffering breathing problems.

People with asthma or heart or lung diseases were urged not to go outside and to keep their medicine inhalers handy.
"Keeping yourself indoors today is the main thing to do if you have any of those conditions and particularly if you're a known sensitive sufferer such as children, older adults or pregnant women," said Wayne Smith, a senior state health official.

Sydney residents coughed and hacked their way through their morning commute, rubbing grit from their eyes. Some wore masks, wrapped their faces in scarves or pressed cloths over their noses and mouths.
"These dust storms are some of the largest in the last 70 years," said Nigel Tapper, an environmental scientist at Monash University. "Ten very dry years over inland southern Australia and very strong westerlies have conspired to produce these storms."

sunday morn

2009-09-20T17:10:00.002+10:00

great run at glenrock today. thanks to coach paulie, Ginaya and her bf, Marcos the brazillian, Kirsty the financial planner and Bronwyn the 1st yr med.

arvo was more past chara's bday celebration. KFC with Ping, Optiver and Chara. then game of monopoly where luck was on the side of the married couple of Ping and me. now need to burn off KFC and study.

Lovin' the hot weather! I hereby welcome spring!!!

blessed

2009-09-19T00:46:00.001+10:00

i am truly blessed to have you as a friend

10 days to comp

2009-09-17T07:09:00.003+10:00

yupyup. gotta start working on my time management. stop procastinating the impt things.

been scrubbing in for theatre. my forearms now feel really clean! but think i've taken too much skin off, so been moisturising.

what's on today? operating theatre whole day. hopefully can get out early to do a run. took some pics in theatre yest. but dont think i can put it here. cos i am very very bloody.

Last night, had dinner round 10pm....cooked 2 beef steaks with stir fry vege. yumyum! not really helping me losing weight by doing that!

Birthdays

2009-09-13T22:48:00.002+10:00

5th Sep was Hilda's birthday. Ping and I drive down to Gosford to celebrate with her.

12th Sep was Chara's turn. I planned a surprise party for her and glad it worked out well!

post party was at Glenrock. we walked for around 2hours to the beach and back

last week. lost the will to train. been too tired from hospital. sigh. i have so many excuses.

day 3 of orthopaedics

2009-09-09T20:37:00.004+10:00

and I am loving it!!!! yes. today was in hosp from 8am-8pm. Ali, the reg kept asking when i was going home. i said, after he buys me a coffee...hehe.(he offered to buy me one b4 i said that!)

so at the coffee place, he got a free muffin and gave it to me! yays. saw so many interesting cases. missed my run today though. and yest. been eating the whole day! not good, not good.

ohohoh. today, the physio taught us how to put on a cast. practised mine on chara. i casted her leg;) she did my arm. wished i had me camera there to take photos. real fun!!

the other day in theatre, got to scrub in for a surg and wore this helmet thingo with a hood that went round it! so cool...i felt like i was in a chemical warfare. anyway, understood why we all wore it. blood got everywhere!

my Gp experience

2009-09-06T08:42:00.003+10:00

so last nite, needed a new prescription for my inhaler. went to a nearby after hours gp......and had a real bad impression of the Dr there. It was my 2nd time seeing that dr. 1st time was when i went there to get referred for a bone scan.

so this guy, is 30yr++, originally from Somalia then worked and studied overseas b4 coming here.
so what kind of dr in a consultation asks
"oh...i see u are training (running)alot. how is your social life?"
" do you have other Dr friends"
" have u been to around taree" i then say no. then he says
" we can go on a drive there"omgomg. i freaked out. so i said, "i hate long drives"

aaaaah. i quickly got out of the room after that.

more pictures!

2009-09-03T13:38:00.002+10:00

This is Croudace Bay, Lake Macquarie, where we went fishing(2nd fishing spot). 1st fishing spot was Swansea, which is the opening that sea water enters this lake. we kept catching rocks and sea weed there!!!

Bait. yumyum

Nelson's bay. view from Tomaree looukout. at the top, we saw dolphins playing below! so cool~

Nelsons Bay- Fingal Bay. my new desktop background:) doing the 1km walk to the top was hurting cos of my foot.....

One Mile Beach, Nelsons Bay. there was a bush fire visible from here the day we went.

hmmm....wanted to pen this down. what currently makes me happy

1. eating steamed fish

2. watching Ellen on tv

3. going for a run

4. having a good sports massage(with lots of pain, but muscles so relieved after)

5. staying clear of junk food

Food cookouts the past 2 weeks

2009-09-02T23:26:00.004+10:00

Stir fried pork with pasta and spinach and black moss

Steamed fish from our fishing trip

fish i caught at Lake Macquarie, which tasted so good for dinner

cooked this when hilda visited. Ayam Pongteh. its a Peranakan dish.

Vego pizzas for when Su Yan, Gowri, Jun's visit. post exam party

pizza had mushroom, capsicum and spinach!

Lake macquarie 10.5k race is tmw

2009-08-29T22:37:00.002+10:00

Lord, i surrender tommorrow's race to you. Pls help me get through it without worsening my injury. Thank you for my Christian brothers and sisters who will running it as well: Cam, John and Catherine. Thank you for the many supporters who will be there cheering me on. I am just so blessed to have such good friends:)

this evening, tried to take Ned(neighbour's puppy) for a run. BIG MISTAKE
it lasted 3mins!!! yup. he kept stopping, then didnt want to go where i wanted to run and just protested by sitting and refusing to budge:( so i had to take him back home(which he ran towards)

bought a whole snapper tonite and ate the whole thing on my own! yum! good fuel for tmw......

injury

2009-08-28T00:47:00.002+10:00

i now realise how much i took for granted when i had a pair of good legs.....

running on the track tonite was lonely. cos it was rather empty
it was me, the track, and the clock
though, i met ex-running mate, steve....who just finished 7 x 1km....all on his own.

i finished my workout at 7.30pm, and was the last person to leave the track.

another day has come and gone. may training be better tmw.

aarrgh

2009-08-26T00:34:00.002+10:00

i need to stop putting unrealistic expectations and thoughts into my mind. It just hurts me. you wish for things to be different, yet no amount of wishing can change the situation.

crap day.

ate like tons of cake at nite....

only good thing today was a wonderful run by the beach with my church friends this morn. I am blessed and need to remember that:)

this past week

2009-08-23T10:46:00.002+10:00

mon
- went to pshyio for medial arch pain
- was told possible stress fracture
- had to get a bone scan to verify
- my world felt like it fell apart. i was lost and was depressed. just felt like going into a hole and giving up

tue
- went to a gp, got the referral

thurs
- had my bone scan
- after which i walked round the cardiff area and went into the pet shop where i found the most lovable rainbow lorikeets and sun conures.....the rainbow lorikeets were so playful, even lying on that backs while playing. the petshop owner told me her lorikeet at home would lie on its back and sleep next to her little girl....and also plays with her puppies!! i want one!!!

fri
- got the results. no stress fracture! thank you God!

sat
- went to my first Newcastle knights game. thats Rugby league, something like touch rugby, but instead of touching the opponent to get them to put the ball down....u pounce on them! yeah. but really priveledged i got to be on the sidelines with the team sports Dr. so cooool.....and they won! hearing the coach give his half time pep talk to the team that was trailing by alot, then see them win in the end was just so emotional for me, seeing the team spirit and bringing me back to the time when i remember i was put under lots of pressure for my sport. I could understand their stress.....being professional is really a tough job.

sun
- just did the most perfect morning run along the beaches at 7am with Al's running group. still had pain in both legs, and had to start walking, but enjoyed everybit of it. was driving back, and passed some markets....something like pasar malam. except had fruits and vege grown locally, birds!!! i bought chara honey from tamworth and 2 mangoes for $5, and 3 big broccollis for $2!!! yes:)
- hope to swim and study soon then church tonite

thank you Lord for such an eventful week. that you have looked after me.

my past week

2009-08-16T14:33:00.003+10:00

Went to my first, and prob last Haggis party at Anna and Cam's place(i call them Camanna) Its called the Burn's Supper.
Haggis is a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours.

Haggis is traditionally served with the Burns supper on the week of January 25, when Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns, is commemorated. He wrote the poem Address to a Haggis, which starts "Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!" During Burns's lifetime haggis was a popular dish for the poor, as it was very cheap, being made from leftover, otherwise thrown away, parts of a sheep (the most common livestock in Scotland), yet nourishing.

we had to bring a poem each to recite. I read this out, cos pens said grandma likes this poem
called I wandered lonely as a cloud by William Wordsworth

this was mostly attended by church friends...had a good chat with some:)
this is andrew mackie....prob won the best dressed....he drew a tatto of the scottish flag on his right bicep(which is what he is looking at) haha. he was so proud of his bicep, he was kissing it!!!this is John, Elissa's husband.....i told him i wanted to take a pic cos he stored his beer in his bac pocket! ingenius! haha

Anna and Cam reading the "Address to the Haggis" before Cam stabs it with his scottish knife! that thing on the table is the Haggis. had some. tasted ok.

Arvo was in Gosford. visited phuong, jun and hilda. this is us playing taboo! my team won:)

lots of foood.....

thanks to chara, i brought over vegetarian bee hoon for lunch. she did 99% of the cooking and prep of this....

fri night had dinner with my church minister, John. too bad his wife was sick and couldnt join us.

the nite dylan left, we cooked lamb soup. yum!

bye again

2009-08-12T01:08:00.003+10:00

"people who lie to themselves are lonely and in pain"- from a Jap show Optiver introduced to me

haha. Optiver's text to me was damm funny today. his said he brought in my cloth cause it was paining outside....

hmmmm....I am sad cos my training partner is leaving tmw:(:( I just feel so slow without Optiver. hard runs now are going to be lonely and painful:(

today's run, had sharp pains along my flexor hallucis longus tendon. had to cut short me run:(

so yesterday

2009-08-09T10:33:00.002+10:00

thanks to Optiver, i got some Hilary duff songs on my mp3 player now....listened to 'So yesterday' and brought back memories of 2003...where i listened to lots of hilary duff.

these are my neighbours standing in our driveway. Sara and Joel. Sara waterskis....and they got a new 8 week old puppy from a farm....and instead of going for my arvo run, i went to play with puppy!!!

playing with Ned infront of my hse

oh, found this. the 10k race i did last yr, that i am doing again this year at end of Aug. can u spot me??

i am in blue jacket on the far left.
u may ask why i am the only one in a jacket...well, it was cold, plus it was raining....

finished the 10.5km in 49mins ++, 2nd in age gp. yays! 15th overall wmn. had so much trouble with the jacket on my waist. knot kept undoing, so had to keep retying throughout the run.

anyway, what i really want to blog abt is this morning. ran with Coach Paulie's gp at Glenrock. Its like an angel sent from heaven, got paced on the 2nd half of the run by fellow runner, Marcos. He is a brazillian. Anyway, he is super funny....while running in the forest, he runs past a skinny tree...then says the tree trunk is good enough for pole dancing...and starts doing some dancing round this tree trunk!!

and later, when the gp split up, he encouraged me to keep up with him and gave lots of encouraging words.....I need him to run with me all the time!!! and he was supposed to go for city to surf this morn in Syd, but worked 14 hrs yest, so didnt go....

Thank you God for the wonderful people u place in my life that are helping get back into some form of running and not becoming a marshmellow(thats what Optiver calls me when i eat and eat and dont exercise)

Past happenings with my brother and chara

2009-08-06T23:22:00.003+10:00

cooked beef and chicken stroganoff with more red wine than needed- had 500ml in total instead of " 2 small glasses of wine"

Chicken Kway Teow

Apple crumble topping. in the making

Apple simmering. Apple crumble in the making

We Baked Ratatouille!!! yes, inspired from watching the rat's movie. I have now watched it 4 times!!

Seafood bee hoon. with Baramundi fish and prawns

Run today at Glenrock

We played tennis! i dusted my racket and played for the 3rd time this year:)

Freebies collected from drug companies. there was a medical conference over the weekend. anyone want anything? there is pens, note pads, gingerbread cookie in a heart shape with letters HF for heart failure given by a heart drug company, theraband for physio, lots of choc(that dylan hid away from me), 1GB x 2 thumb drives(given away)

Brother's last nite

2009-08-06T01:05:00.002+10:00

yup, brother Optiver is leaving tmw......
today, he pulled me out of bed to run. THANK YOU.ran 50min+ by the beach. Last 4 min sprint but i couldnt keep up his pace then just 300m away from the finished i just stopped to catch my breath. when i finally made it to the car, i felt like such a loser. that i just gave up, just like that:( but good run cos i saw the waves splashing onto the rocks and bumped into 3 friends....

Optiver initially said he wanted to cook Laksa for dinner.....but I said i dont really like it. then he decided on fried noodles. So i thought of bee hoon. Went to the shops with chara and him to buy the ingredients.....we had fish and prawn with vege in the bee hoon. yum!

Then we watched the Emperor's new Groove on dvd that kept stopping cos it has many scratches. such a sad ending to the nite:(

Ohoh.....At Jesmond shops, i went off to another shop to buy some willy wonkas for him....and when i met up with him again at Woolys, he kept asking where i had gone, accusing me that i went to KFC for a meal(they know i always do this kind of stuff).....and he kept asking to smell my breath for KFC smell....so when we were buying the fish over the counter, i breathed out infront of him, and chara said the lady serving us the fish gave a very wierd stare. haha.

will miss my training partner/food adviser for the past 2 weeks.....