Mum's 50th Birthday!

If mum sees this entry, she'll explode... you see, it's the BIG 50 thingy that's bothering her. But honestly, I really don't think mum look 50... no bias, really. But she won't have it. :)

That's mum's 50 roses! Sooo gorgeous! It's from my uncle, aunties and cousins! But Pheobe developed some allergic reaction to it... kept rubbing her nose against the cushion and was sneezing away...

Pheobe having a bout of itchy nose...

Then we had a scrumptious dinner at Bla, bla, bla... But mum said she didn't quite like the ambience... too dark for her taste... and food too salty for her... :) hehe that's just mum being mum...

But I loved the ambience... I must commend the excellent service and reasonable price... fav dishes: salad midin, seafood tauhu and soft-shell crab! It's actually my second time around having the same dishes. Yummy!

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My laptop's still out of commision. Ther twist in the story is that Acer actually gave me a new hard disk... but my tech collected it from the service centre and installed all the programmes I requested... and I collected it this afternoon... but got home, connected the adapter and... "Operating System is not detected" flashed in monochrome on my screen... and that's it. No new hard disk.

Crap. Have to send it back to my tech tomorrow.

Luckily I was in a good mood. I skipped my clinic time today to bring my mum shopping just for her birthday. Can go tomorrow mah. :) Had sushi and a great afternoon, even though mum ended up not buying a single thing, oh except for KFC for Pheobe. Brat, that litttle brat.

Guess what I got my mum? :) Not parfume, not lipstick, not earrings.... :) I got her an electric toothbrush! She's been complaining how she's finding some of her ADL somewhat getting progressively difficult because of her RA... so I thought why not an electric toothbrush? It wasn't cheap you know... but it's worth it! Mum's happy. :)

Cheers!

Extended warranty

What a week! And my laptop's still out. What's happening is that my laptop is still under extended warranty for hardware (so in my case, a harddisk), so it's in the Acer centre waiting for replacement, but I'm really very irritated because they are taking so long and my technician warned me that there's a possibility that they'll be coming up with some excuses later about not being to replace my harddisk, etc... so I'm giving them 1 week to honour their warranty, if not I hope they don't waste my time, than I'll have to buy a new hard disk... my uncle says that it will be around RM300/-, but I guess that's a reasonable investment.

If they do come up with a reason for not replacing my hard disk, and not good enough a reason for me, they will be hearing from me... I'll be making sure everyone within 3rd degree of my friend circle willl know about it, and I'll make sure that no one would buy their so called "extended 3 year warranty" without feeling that it might be scam.

I promise.

I had a great weekend, except for this morning I heard from Connie about one of my group members being unhappy with some of the group's arrangement for some presentation, etc... I was very disturbed because that member called Connie up to scold her, instead of calling me directly to express her dissatisfaction... so I called her up (which cost me more than RM10/-) and gave her a piece of my mind... but everything's settled now.

Connie was kinda worried that I might "slaughter" that member just now. She said, "Sharon, don't be to hard on her, k?" Hehe... she shouldn't be so worried... I'm a pro in being pseudodiplomatic when I want to... because it's really such a small thing. :)

Overall, I would say my surgery posting is kinda hectic, the schedule's so tight... but I'm enjoying it... very eager to read... I just bought my Bailey and Love, so everything's in 4th gear now. I'm just hoping my laptop will come home soon.

Have a productive week ahead!

My laptop died

Crap. My laptop died on me last night. Brought it to my technician after class just now and he officially declared it braindead. Now it needs a new hard disk. What's crappier is that my data couldn't be saved, so I lost all 3 of my ortho case write-ups. Shit. I knew I should have saved it in my handy drive or something... *sigh* So now I have to figure out how to rewrite everything. Crap.

I waited for my technician for almost 2 hours to resuscitate my laptop just now... and my heart felt like it dissolved when he announced that he's given up.

I was so confident that my technician would be able to salvage my data... he's been doing it for the last couple of months. I even told Connie confidently just now that I'm not too worry about my case wirte-ups because my technician would save it... crap. I spoke tooo soon.

I lost all my recent photos too... all my CNY photos and some of my really nice shots I took these couple of days...

So I guess I won't be blogging too often until I get my laptop fixed. I can't really stand using the desktop at home... it's the oldest donosaur in Kuching I'm sure, a Compaq Presario 5000 running on CELERON! What's worse than that? And it's pretty unstable nowadays... and I have to restart at least once everytime I use it. Crap.

I'm one of those machine slaves. I feel a part of me missing without my laptop.

Crap.

From my album (24) & (25) 3-month anniversary of my first tattoo!

Entry on that day!

That's my cuz Jeremy, the tattoo artist... Check out his website!

From my album (23) CNY gathering

This is actually a scanned picture from a print taken on Linus' camera, during CNY gathering at his place 2001 or 2002 I don't remember... decided to digitalize it because it's the only "proper" picture I have of Philip... :) hehe... had to made it B/W because it's clearer this way...

From my album (22) Mt. Kinabalu

A view of Mt. Kinabalu...

From my album (21) Stubby hand

I was trying to illustrate how big the flower was by using my hand as a relative reference... but it backfired and made my hand looked so so stubby and child-like!

TGIF! Have a great weekend guys!

Was trying hard to study but was a teeny weeny bit sleepy last night, so I thought maybe like 0.1% of whatever I was trying to read got retained...

Then I read some more this morning, but again I thought nothing much got in... after all Kai Chin and Yang said that the quiz would most probably have similar questions to the last 3 batches, which were supposed to be quite easy...

Then I thought the hell with the book... (cheh, tak jadi la... my middle finger looks like my index finger)

So I took a breather and look out the window from the 3rd floor of my faculty... not bad at all... a bit cloudy though...

Shit man... the quiz was tough la... I'm planning a chemical castration of Kai Chin and Yang...

But after that I cooled down and decided to walk home... the weather was beautiful... after all... it's FRIDAY!!! Yay!

What a wise looking tree... I've walked this walkway dozens of time, driven this road hundreds of time, and only notice this beautiful tree today!

Autumn in Kuching! Just for me...

Then it was home sweet home! *estatic*

And I'm one happy gal!

Congratulations Jerome & Christina!

The newly weds are the couple beside me, Christina and Jerome, an old friend from school time... then seated (from L to R) Chu, Gilbert, Eleanor and Cikgu Elizabeth...

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Jerome & Christina, (how does this usually go?) Wish you guys a happy union with lots and lots of children! (Was that ok?)

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Wonderful 7-course dinner!

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Another old friend from school that I've not seen in ages, Adrian Yao! Still has that million-dollar smile!

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Though a bit deaf from all the Mandarin karaoke singing, I was one happy camper! Now to hit my books for tomorrow's quiz... and I have ortho clinic tomorrow morning.... :(

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But it's Friday tomorrow! Yay! Cheers!

I mean it! Eradicate firecrackers!

Note absence of 5th finger and partial absence of ring finger, fracture of radius and those horrible looking pins!

I hope I'm doing humanity a favour if this picture can convince people to stop making and playing firecrackers! This 38-year-old labourer who lost his left little finger and the part of his ring finger, claimed that a piece a firecracker exploded near his hand... there's really not much use to interrogate further on the nature of his accident really... the damage is already done... I just hope that his children would not burn any firecrackers next year. The surgeons are planning a flap and reconstruction for him... I observed his very painful and lengthy dressing in the ward just now... almost 40mins... and his special dressing cost RM28/- a piece, about 20x20cm in size... he may need some 20 pieces?

Near your hand, in your hand, on your hand... so what? Look at what's left of it!

And I saw a cat commit suicide today.

What a pity really... it's actually a pseudosiamese... nice looking fur too...

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And tonight I thought I wanted to look good for a wedding reception, but look at my zit! AARRGGHHH!!!! It's painful too... especially when I smile!

And I have a quiz tomorrow afternoon! And I'm not even half-way done with my revision. Guess it'll be a long night for me tonight.

The rest of you, have a nice evening!

Frozen in time

Pheobe's enjoying her birthday present very much... a new cushion... cost my mum RM50/- including the cover (the chequered one)! And it's so much fluffier and softer and heavier than mine! *jealous* And the weather was like really nice to sleep in the whole day... some are just born lucky.

Pheobe was kinda "drowsy" the whole day...

My parents and I picked up a family friend who arrived from Australia this evening... I was kind of tired from afternoon lecture, but I couldn't resist the ride up to our slowly but surely morphing airport! It's really, really pretty and classy... 1000x better than our old shithole. But I remembered Linus saying that he liked our old one, and wished they didn't renovate... he's always like that... he wants Kuching to be frozen in time, while he spends his productive years away from home, and would have home (Kuching) to come home to. But I want Kuching to grow... it should only be frozen in time in our memories... just like that.

Departure...

Arrival hall...

Oh no, talking about Linus, his place got burglarized last week... he lost quite a lot of money and equipment... really sorry about that friend. You can read his account on the incident on his blog.

One place that I've been to was Kai Chin's place in Jelebu, which I thought was so charming, and yes, very frozen in time. A huge chinese village and its main economy, rubber. One of my most memorable experiences... I took KTM from KL Sentral to Seremban, and from there Kai Chin drove me and Hema almost 2 hours I think to his place in Jelebu.

The village's basketball court, where you can see old "uncles" sitting around smoking and chatting in the evenings... gave this nostalgic feeling just sitting around there... Kai Chin (extreme right) was very disturbed though that I wanted to snap pictures there... :)

On a hill which had the panoramic view of the whole village... Kai Chin could even point out his house from the hill...

Ok, I have another motive for writing about Kai Chin... a little bird told me today that my friend has a GIRLFRIEND!

KAI CHIN HAS A GIRLFRIEND!

Muahahaha!!!

Since the secret is out, please do the right thing and introduce her to us lar... what's the point of keeping it secret-secret... hehe...

No wonder lar yesterday morning (Valentine's Day) when I met him in the ward, he was so bright and cheerie and even looked glowing... and he chirped, "Happy Valentine's Day Sharon!" and closed the door of the UNIMAS room on 6th floor... and I swear I could hear him singing down the corridor... nolah... heheh...

Don't be disturbed ya ChickenDuck.... I'm very happy for you... looks like the cupid was working overtime this Valentine... good luck! ;)

Cheers people! May all your dreams come true!

From my album (20) School Health Team

My colleagues and I participated in one of the school health programmes in the interiors of Sarawak... the team is manned by Medical Assistants and nursing staff, no doctors, so many of these children have never seen a doctor in their lives, unless they require hospitalization... what strucked me most during this health education session (when they were advised on proper teeth-brushing, hair and nail care, etc.) was when they were asked about their ambitions, they only said 2... teacher or "dressar" (medical assistant)... when asked whether anyone wanted to be a doctor, they all looked at each other, puzzled. :D It just goes to show that it doesn't really matter how great you are, it's what you actually do/contribute that matters.

From my album (19) "Croatian football team"

One of the coolest group photos I have... :)... Sg. Padas, Sabah.

Parasite

For the past 3 weeks, an adolescent male cat (see pics below) has been trying to be "adopted" by my family. He gave my mum a shock of her life around midnight 3 weeks ago, while she was watching Spanish soap, when this cat ran down my staircase and caused my dog to go crazy, barking her lungs out, and waking the whole neighbourhood.

We never knew how he got into the house.

Then a couple of days later, he suddenly appeared at my bathroom window while I was bathing (yes, stark naked, you bath with your undies on at home?)... anyways, I almost died of fright because he's quite huge as you can see in the picture... he sat on my window latch... luckily the glass is not totally like see-through... but still it was freaky... reminds me of Audrey when we were camping out in Mt. Singai... she refused to go bath in the girls' dorm toilet because she said that the spiders kept looking at her... muahaha! I thought it was cute because she was genuinely disturbed.

Then a couple of days later, he sat on my dad's car and looked into the house, with his 10-cents expression (direct translation from a local malay expression, "muka sepuluh sen").... my dad as usual lar said that we shouldn't encourage him or give him hope that we would adopt him, but I know he secretly leaves extra food for him after Miss Jelly (my schizophrenic cat).

But he disappeared for a few after that when I threatened to send him to Sam's... my sis' boyfriend, who coincidentally was hoping to adopt a kitten... needless to say, my sis said that Sam would probably think that "Parasite" (my mum couldn't do better with a name this evening during dinner when I suggested to name the fella for easier reference)... was kinda big for a kitten. *?*

Then today, he was so desperate that he jumped into my backyard, where Stryker, the hamster-shredder and chicken-slayer resides. Though he's blind, but I'm sure he's sense of smell is still in tip-top condition...

Parasite "landing" inside my backyard... Stryker was just like 6-7m away...

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I immediately shooed him back onto my neighbour's shed roof...

Me offering Parasite "ikan bilis" and pieces of chicken...

Then I tried to convince him to stay on the roof by offering him food... I left some food on the roof... He looked contented after... hope he doesn't try that stunt again.

Not even his 9 lives would save him if Stryker gets hold of him.

I hope to convince Sam that Parasite's still a kitten.

Cheers!

Pheobe's 5 today! (5x7=35 dog years!)

Getting Pheobe was kinda of a rebound thing for my parents back in 2001 when our Dino died because of internal haemorrhage after he swallowed some plasticware. For weeks my parents, my dad especially wasn't quite himself... then one fine day... I remember it was in March... my uncle called to say that he spotted a litter of dachshunds in a pet shop somewhere in the city... my parents just dropped everything they were doing, packed me into the car and drove to the shop to "just have a look" of the puppies... Only 2 puppies were left when we got there, one black and the other Pheobe. My mum picked up the black puppy because she thought my dad would loved another Dino (who was a black dachshund mix)... but my dad took one look of the sleepy brown furry worm at the corner of the cage and asked my mum, "How much cash do you have with you?"

The rest you can guess.

What a great Valentine story. :)

Oh yes, Happy Valentine's Day...

Did you know that my middle/baptism name is "Valentina"? :)

From my album (18) Ginger

In memory of Ginger Boy (1996-2004)

Ouch.

Finally got to review my results with my mentor... and boy nothing else could have spoilt my day even more spectacularly.

"You failed your MCQ badly... really bad..." Dr. Chan revealed.

"I expected it Dr. Chan..." I responded almost immediately, but couldn't help wondering how one could fail "badly"... what's worse than failing? *wonder*

"You didn't fail marginally, you failed by quite a lot..." he said very simply, and focused on my face.

Shit. My heart felt like it dropped off from the thoracic cavity.

Then he went on and on about what strategy I should to be taking for my professional exam. But I couldn't really listen. Even though I knew I did the paper really badly, and that I never expected to pass, the reality of it hit me hard just now in the tiny office. That's the kiasuness setting in. I was thinking where I would stand in my batch of 28.

"But you scored so well in your OSCE, MEQ and long case... you even got a distinction in your long case..." he said, in a tone that sounded like he was trying to console me, but at the same time having a rather baffled look.

Knowing even that the 3 papers combined helped me pass the whole posting, and belittling my disastrous MCQ, I was definitely not comforted and not happy.

It's one thing to fail, but another to fail "badly". It's also embarassing? There must be a reason why my mentor chose to highlight my MCQ first, yes?

Then Dr. Chan went on and on about how MEQ and OSCE and clinical showed that I had good practical knowledge, but maybe lacked theory knowledge and stuff. And even worse, he tried maybe, in the last minute, in the last desperation, to try to alleviate my demoralization... said that "good" students usually don't score well in MCQ because they read "more" or "too much" that they tend to overanalyze... compared to "average" students who usually could answer without thinking over the answers too much.

I shot him down by saying that I was neither. I've never even came across some of the topics that were asked in the MCQ. Simple. And he just kept quiet. :)

It's ok. It's part of a medical student life. I'm kinda bummed, but I've learnt to get over these things pretty fast. I just need to be able to focus on the positive things... and of course I need to thank God for passing this very traumatic posting...

And now what I need is lots and lots of motivation and will power to just survive these final 4 months... God please....

I HATE FIRECRACKERS!

My Cap Goh Mei dinner was kinda stressful because my dogs were barking away because of our guests and also because it's a war zone out there. I hate firecrackers. Never played them as a child, and so grateful to my parents for their sensibility... it's stupid and absolutely a waste of money buying and burning the crackers... not to mention dangerous.

I hope one of the kids get their hair burnt by a piece of the cracker... then he would remember better not to play because of the smell of the burnt hair can be quite denerving.

At least I didn't curse them worse, like losing their digits or eyesight.

I believe the world would be a better place without firecrackers. It's such a horrible disease.

I know that we would be more civilized if we don't play firecrackers.

If they need something to chase ghosts away, they could try mooning.

I'll make it one of my life's mission to eradicate firecrackers from the world.

Start today. Start by pinching or twisting the ear of the rascal in your neighbourhood who's burning the crackers like nobody's business.

Good night people.

From my album (17) X-red

Happy Cap Goh Mei!

Photo Journal

I'm realizing a dream of a photo journal... at this period of time it's more like a stroll down memory land... but I hope that when I get my new camera I'll start it for real.

I've actually filled up 8 CDs full of photos eversince I started with my first digital camera in 2002, and also I've scanned selected prints to be stored digitally... on top of some pictures of specific trips that I've burnt into separate CDs.

Officially now I can say that I have a hobby. It never occured to me that what I've been doing was a hobby... stupid girl.

So it should be "photojournaling"? Or since it's on a blog, "photoblogging"?

Whichever. It's so much fun whatever it's called. :)

February is a birthday month... I was just looking through my Friendster list and noticed easily about 20 people are celebrating their birthday this month. My doggie's on Valentine's Day, and my mum's is on the 27th.

Yesterday, Mun Foo and Pei Ling both celebrated their 25th year of existence. Many happy return of the days guys!

And today it's another colleague's big day... Happy Bithday to you too Yek Song!

And of course, I'm extremely happy too because now there are more people joining the the BIG 25 group. :)

Yes, I was doing it again, I was stalking again for the past 2-3 days... and shit I think I may have blown my cover, so I had better not go into any details first (even though I'm itching to, but I don't want to jeopardize my current mission) until I'm sure that the course is clear... :) It won't be too long.

Happy Cap Goh Mei to those who want to embrace this little tradition. It's a dinner tradition to me mainly, no idea whether it has any other significance, besides it meaning that the celebration of the Lunar New Year is over and hence no more house visiting...

Have a good rest everyone!

From my album (16) A tribute to the Freesizers!

From my album (15) I kick ass

I'd rather not mess around with me.

From my album (14) Mum and Dad's Wedding

My mum's gorgeous, isn't she? :)

From my album (13) Signal Hill

Signal Hill in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah... provided me with such a spectacular view!

Beauty is skin deep. Urban legend?

It's already Friday but I don't really know what has happened for the past 5 days, really. Orthopaedic is very interesting, but I don't fancy the ward and the environment that much, so that's a bummer. I know I won't exactly have the priviledge of liking or not liking anything when I work later...

Oh I passed my medicine posting. The results are not officially out yet in the sense that I've not asked my mentor to collect my results for me... but I know because the group sort of know who didn't quite make it (I'm not one of them)... so that means that the rest of the group made it. No joy and happiness at all in the group, which I thought was very thoughtful and appropriate... because we all knew quite well what it "could" have been like ... everyone kept rather quiet and solemn during the afternoon class this afternoon when the news broke out about our results... and one of them slumped on the chair beside me and started pouring her heart out about how she was sort of expecting her results... My heart went out to her, and I didn't know how really to console her, because one thing we weren't that close to begin with... and I was so surprised that she chose to talk to me... maybe she wanted to share it with someone she wasn't really close to... I really don't know...

My day stretched until 7.30pm today... after my afternoon trigger, we had a special lecture/quiz with an invited paediatrician, supposedly from 5-7pm, but she was 40mins late, so our session extended to about 7.30pm... didn't get to have dinner with my family and my uncle Jon, so they just had something packed for me on their way home...

I was actually kind of planning to spend my day in the hospital tomorrow to complete my procedures and get some cases for my case summaries, but when I got into the car when my parents picked me up from the faculty, my mum was already going on and on about where she wanted me to bring her to buy the things for Cap Goh Mei... so I think I may just have to postpone the hospital thingy for another day... nowadays I really sort of cherish my time with my family especially my parents, because my heart's set on leaving Kuching in a couple of month's time... don't get me wrong... I don't really want to leave Kuching, I just need a change, and I'm thinking that KK would be just the thing for me. I was asking Hema about it just now... she seems very interested, but I guess she's also quite unsure... it's a tough thing really to decide.

Sometimes it kills me to think of leaving my parents behind. Soemtimes I wish I could leave them sooner... you know the works... but I'm always constantly thinking about my poor mum who has Rheumatoid Arthritis, and that these 2 decades or so would be her remaining best, so it kills me just thinking about leaving her. But she's very supportive... she's already talking about going down to KK with me if I get the posting, to help me settled in and stuff... I'm not so concerned about my dad... he can live without me... I know he can't live without my mum, but me... he'll be alright.

People always say that children are supposed to leave their parents when they are all grown up and start their own lives and families... but why do I feel like I would be an ungrateful child if I leave them? *Sigh*

I hope things would be clearer when the time comes... yes, yes, I know... why don't I pray about it? When I'm ready...

On a lighter note... I was just telling some friends that I was getting this motivation to loose weight for health and vain reasons... it suddenly occured to me what was important and what wasn't... my priority has sort of gotten reshuffled... and just this evening a colleague commented that I was looking prettier, so I thanked her but remarked to Adeline, who heard the compliment that I'd rather have the colleague compliment on my weight loss (if any) than on my looks, anytime... no matter how I try to psycho myself about beauty being skin deep, we still live in a very superficial world, sadly. I believe (not an overvalued idea) that I'm being passed for great opportunities because of my weight. I'm sore about it in some sense, and I won't pseudogratify myself that I'm happy with my "looks"... but I want to make it happen, I want to have a better control of my body. Period.

So that's all for my rantings tonight (this morning I mean)... cheers!

From my album (12) Graceful Monster

Another one of my work that I was very proud of... took it with my under-1MB camera. This was taken behind a little workshop in my campus... come to think of it I really now have no idea what that place was... all I remembered was that one time my bicycle got loose some parts so I wheeled it there because I saw some men fixing some machines and trucks... so ever since then I would cycle pass it every day... back to the subject of the photo... The first impression when I first spotted this huge tree was UGLY... but against that sky and the clouds... it was just so graceful... hence, the name "Graceful Monster"...

From my album (11) Goalpost

That's (L to R) Jane, Wilhma, ME and Wendy goofing around at Tanjung Purun Beach. :) I thought Wilhma had the best on guard pose... the rest of us just looked pretty sissy.

From my album (10) SMK Tebakang

Looks like something from a movie set... gorgeous right? It's actually taken in SMK Tebakang, about 15 mins drive from Serian Town... it's a huge hostel school, maybe 6-8 times bigger than my old school here in Kuching... this little bridge connects the main school compound with the teachers' accomodation on the other side of the lake... so beautiful and so serene... I actually saw tiny frogs jumping from one water lily leaf to another... this section of the lake had predominatly white lilies... the other end of the lake had mostly pink lilies... one of those "I love life" moments... :)