Myomi Ran

26th February 2008

Woke up at 6am to get ready to meet at Changi Airport Terminal 1 - my first official work trip with SGH! Haha… Feeling excited about it and lucky, I had my fellow colleagues from OT who was going with me. 6 of us to be exact: Steven, Marhaini, Michelle, Nurse Yeo, Nurse Norleeza and moi! Besides us, there were 34 other nurses from the clinics, wards and A and E.

Arrived in Shanghai at 1530hours. It was COLD but Super NICe! Temperatures was 1 - 9 degrees. Everyone was layered in layers of coat, but I was soooo enjoying the cold that my cheeks started to blush… Haha…. Had rosy cheeks throughout the entire trip.

Upon settling down in our respective rooms at Hengsheng Peninsula Internation Hotel, our OT gang met up and went Nangjing Street for shopping! Our first meal in Shanghai, you won’t believe it - Mac Donald’s. Haha… It was not bad, just that the fries was not damn salty. We strolled about the streets and Michelle and Marhaini got a huge bargain for their boots. Really damn cheap. But they didn’t have the kind of boots that I want, so… sniff…. Steven could even give suggestions for us and told the two girls to get heels cos from the guys’ point of view, girls who wear heels looks more glamarous and attractive. Lolz

27th February 2008

Woke up at 6am and had our breakfast in the hotel. The eggs was oily…. Well, it was the usual situation where there was a chef position there at the egg station and you could choose whatever style your eggs should be cooked. Then, he put like 2 tablespoons of oil into the frying pan with an egg. Like omg…

Our first hospital was Rui Jin Hospital, which majored in Burns. It was huge, somewhat like the outram campus that we have back home. Went to their conference room which was grand and the director of nursing started introducing their hospital to us. We split into our sub-groups for touring and I managed to go to the CTS ward. It was shocking to see beds along the corridors, which is their solution to the problem of shortage of beds. Patient education was emphasized and advertised broadly throughout the wards.

Our second hospital was Shu Guang Hospital. It is very big and it majored in TCM.  It was cool to see the wards having Chinese medications, and the brewing pots in the patient’s room. Their International Medical Center was something I like best. Their suites (as so they call), is comparable to a five star hotel suite! It has a mini kitchenette, a living room, a bathroom equipped with toilet and jacuzzi and two super single beds in the bedroom. My gosh… Their recreation room was nice too as they have a cool mahjong table where it will helps the players reshuffle the tiles and assemble the tiles in less than 1 minute.

In the evening, after our respective group discussions, we went shopping at Yu Yuan. It was there where I ate the most famous xiao long bao at Nan Xiang Dumpling Restaurant. It was the same one where Paris Hilton went. The verdict? Quite disappointing really as I thought it would be damn good. But I think, it is comparable to the one back home at Crystal Jade. Didn’t manage to do much shopping as most of the shops have closed by the time we finished dinner. However, Marhaini managed to get her LV and Coach bags from the super dark alley of course. It was a surreal experience as we followed the lady through a dark alley where we couldn’t even see our steps clearly. Then, the next minute, a room is open and it was brightly lighted with all the bags, watches and wallets in it. We bargained quite a lot, but we didn’t dare to push too much for fear that things will get too ugly and our lives would be at stake!

28 February 2008

Third hospital where we spent the most time in was First People’s Hospital.  At the conference room, we had bananas, oranges, sweets and drinks.  They were quite sweet to have prepared all these for us.  It was there that I found out Michelle don’t like bananas.  But honestly, their bananas are very nice, totally different from the ones we have here.  More fresh… hahaa…. The hospital is big and we managed to tour every part of the hospital.  However, it was quite sad that we didn’t actually get to go into the OT.  ‘How to write our report?’ was what all of us were thinking.

But oh well, in the night, we went out as usual, and this time to the Bund.  We took loads of nice photos, and walked all the way to the People’s Park Center.  There, we finally felt that we were shopping.  We bought loads of souvenirs back for our colleagues at home. 

Then we decided to go up to the 26th level of the hotel and take some nice photos.  It was a beautiful view of Shanghai’s night streets.

29th February 2008

Visited our last hospital - Gong Li Hospital.  The nurses were so sweet.  They prepared gifts for all of us and we were finally allowed into the OT.  We took the opportunity and threw loads of questions at them from A to Z and seriously was not letting them off even during the fantastic 20 course meal during lunch. 

After lunch, the nurses brought us out for shopping, back to Yu Yuan Street again.  At first, we thought we were going back to the same place where there was nothing much to shop.  But we were wrong.  All of us bought loads of things.  Especially I got to buy my calligraphy stuff - pen, name chop and THE BOOK.  This is not just a normal book, it is the book that people use to write in during the ancient times.  I love it to the max.  And, all of us bought jackets back home.  Cos it was so cheap!  Their winter sale was on as the season was changing to Spring so we manage to get quite a good bargain.  At least, I bought my paddington bear jacket for only 100RMB which is SGD$20.  Hahaha!

1st March 2008

It was not just all play and no work.  Our group got together in my room and we discussed whatever we have learnt over the past four days.  We really had a good time together working and shopping and eating. 

After that, it was free time and we went out to the back lanes and back to Nanjing Street as we wanted to finish our money.  Only on our last day, we finally had really good food - at a halal beef noodles stall.  The beef was sooo nice… sliced and tender. 

We got tired at about 3pm, so we decided to stone in their park and rest.  As we still had loads of time to kill before meeting to leave for the airport, we checked ourselves at Starbucks and rest. 

At about 5.30pm, Steven, Michelle and me continued to walk the backstreets of our hotel for the last time before we go back home.  We went to eat our last supper - Wantons which was quite nice really. 

For fear that our luggages would exceed the limit, all 40 of us checked in as a group and we manage to scrape pass.  Haha… Our plane departed for Singapore at about 11pm and we arrived in Singapore at 5.15am on the 2nd March. 

It was a wonderful trip where we worked and played hard.  Although now, we certainly have to crack our brains for our individual report and the presentation to come.  ^^

7th July 2007

Xin Yi, Jasmine, Yee Yen and I were boarding at Gate C23 on Flight No.: QF82 to Sydney.  However, before that, Xin Yi announced that she was hungry as she had not ate, thus we went to Spinelli to get some food.  And thank god we ate there, cos the food onboard seriously sucks.  Upon entering the aircraft, since I have been sitting SQ all these while, I did not have any expectations towards the aircraft.  HOWEVER, it was TERRIBLE!  It was so narrow lorz!! omg… All of us pledge never to sit Quantas ever again unless absolutely necessary.  SQ is still the best. 

The only one thing that was good was the Yee Yen was gaga over the cute steward who was serving us.  He kept addressing us by darling… rofl…

8th July 2007

Finally at 1030hrs we landed in Sydney, I was so glad to get off the plane cos I could at last stretch my limbs.  We passed through customs quite fast, but with a problem with Jasmine and Yee Yen’s passport cos theirs was the biometric ones… Goes to show that their computeres are not updated yet.  So we collected our luggages and zoom off to get some food…..  Well, the only edible affordable food was Mac, so we da pao the mac and flew to the cab stand to rush for our Blue Mountains Train.

At Central Station, we were awed by the majestic train station.  It is nothing like ours, it was simply pretty!  Upon getting our tickets, we were glad to know that our train was departing only in half an hour’s time.  So we could stuff down all our burgers and fries as fast as possible and rush for our train.  We were boarding at Platform 10, and xin yi asked, "Haha… why not platform 9 and 3/4?" 

In the train, we kind of ‘ba zhan’ the whole row cos our luggages were humongous.  Then we sat through the journey to Katoomba and munching our remaining fries along the way.

When we reached Katoomba, it was raining slightly and we could immediately felt the cold rain and winds.  We quickly checked in to the Tourist Information Desk to get our Horse Riding and Jenolan Caves all planned out.  After that, we cab our way to our little Town House along 173 Lurline Street.

Upon putting down our luggages and bags, we checked out the whole house to see if we have the necessities to cook for the next 5 days we were spending in Blue Mountains.  Then, we quickly left the house.  However, we had to go back to the house for at least 3 times, to get Xin Yi’s shopping list, Yee Yen’s gloves, and my calculator.  rofl…

When we finally made it to the Supermarket - COLES, it was so cozy inside.  We immediately began our grocery shopping and bought soooo much food.  Nobody would have known it was just meant for 4 girls seriously.  We spent AUD$201 at the supermarket.  LOLZ…  Until the guy asked us if we had the card (somesort like NTUC link card where you can collect points) lolz.

Of course, while we were shopping, it didn’t dawn to us how the hell we were going to carry everything back, thus we thought of cabbing, but it was impossible.  There was no cab in sight.  We had to walk back… and guess what we did?  We pushed the whole freaking trolley back to our house.  ROFL…

When we got back, we immediately started unpacking and making the townhouse look like a home to us for the next 5 days.  Xin Yi and I started cooking while Yee Yen and Jasmine prepared the ingredients, while watching BIG BROTHER our favourite show for the trip.

On our first day, we only managed to eat our dinner at 2100hrs.  technically, that is 1900hours at Singapore, so we were suppose to have dinner but we were dying of hunger by then.

9th July 2007

We woke up kinda late, cos we set our handphone alarm according to Singapore time.  ROFL.. we forgot to minus 2 hours, or rather Xin Yi forgot to minus two hours, but yee yen reminded me, so I woke up on time, but Xin yi was still dead asleep.  I didn’t want to wake her up, but there was no way I could wash the clothes and watch over the porridge that was on the stove.  So in the end xin yi woke up and realized that she set the time on the handphone wrongly.

After having breakfast, we dressed up thickly and went out to wait for our bus to the Jenolan Caves.  We got to the caves late, and although we were suppose to visit the Orient Caves, we ended up seeing the Lucas Caves cos that was the last tour.  The caves were amazingly pretty with huge chambers.  They even had a ‘naturally carved out church’ which could really hold weddings in it.  It was simply gorgeous.

After visiting the caves, we got home late, and cold, thus we had our lamb stew… yum yum… After getting all warm up after dinner, we indulge ourselves in our Chocolate Ice-cream… heehee…

Although our plan for tml was to go down to Sydney to cover some of the sights, we realize that we were running short of time in Blue Mountains.  Thus, we changed our plans and decided to stay in Blue Mountains the following day.  And it was not a bad idea after all.

10th July 2007

We woke up early and took a brisk walk to Scenic World.  It was quite nice, and Xin Yi was happily looking at all the houses that were for sale, in hope that one of them would belong to her.  And then, we went to the Katoomba Waterfalls, which we took loads of pictures and… Xin Yi… again… lolz… Fell into the water… rofl… okay, violet was evil to laugh but then, she just fell in the sense of, one leg in the water… oh well… I had to go rescue her after that.

Upon reaching Scenic World, Violet was still trying her very best to convince the other three that the Railway is not a good idea at all cos it was super steep, with a decline of 52 degrees down into the valley of the  Blue Mountains.  However, I lost against the other three.  I screamed my whole way down and hugged onto Xin Yi really tight.  After the ride, Xin Yi admitted to me that, if she knew it was this steep, she would never have agreed to take the ride… I was like.. dying already… After that, I was fine but Xin Yi wasn’t…. cos she was scared of heights… So when we took the Skyway which the floor would turn transparent so you could see the bottom of the valley from the top, and the Cableway…. she did not dare to walk and was clinging on to the pole for dear life.  Only Yee Yen and Jasmine were fine throughout the entire 3 rides, just that the two of them were COLD.

We proceeded to take the Explorer Bus from there to Echo Point where we had a clear view of The Three Sisters.  It was a breathtaking sight.  The Legend of The Three Sisters goes of three maidens of the Gundungurra people who were in love with three brothers from the neighbouring nation, Daruk, but marriage was forbidden by tribal law.  The brothers were warriors and decided to take the maidens by force.  Tribal war forced the Kuradjuri (clever man) of the Gundungurra people to turn the sisters into stone.  He intended to restore them after the danger had passed and the war had ended.  Unfortunately, the clever man was killed in the battle and to this day nobody has been able to break the spell and turn the Three Sisters back to their natural form.

Following that, we went to the Leura Village to visit the CANDY SHOP.  OMG… it was filled with sooooooooo many candies of the world.  We bought loads of it home for our family and friends.  After spending two hours at Leura Village, we headed back to our town to visit the Blue Mountains Chocolate Company.  There was quite a lot of variety of chocolates to choose from.

After our major shopping spree of the day at Blue Mountains, we headed back home for a warm comforting meal.

11th July 2007

We were headed to catch the 9.26am train to Blackheath where someone will pick us up to go to the Megalong Heritage Center to ride our horsies….

I got Ruma the horse who is 16 years old and he just loves to walk first.  lolz… Xin Yi got Lucky who was cranky, and in a bad mood that day that the guide had to change horses with Xin Yi, so in the end Xin Yi got Jesse.  Yee Yen got Tellio who was a tamest of all.  She enjoyed walking slowly and taking all the shortcuts resulting in Yee Yen trying her best to siam all the branches of the trees.  Jasmine’s horse.. seriously, was CRAZY.  He enjoys bitting people…. lolz… Or should I say, Jasmine’s horse bit Xin Yi’s horse and causing Xin Yi’s horse to rear up and nearly threw Xin Yi onto the ground. OMG… It was an absolute nightmare.  So Xin Yi kinda got injured but she managed to stay onto the horse.  For me, my poor left knee was BRUISED REALLY BAD cos my stupid horse walked in a weird path that made me hit my knee against this humongous tree.  Till now, my bruise has not recovered.

Well, all the horses have a bit of a problem, because the Heritage Center took in all the horses that were once abused or that people had abandoned.  So well, they had a bit of psychiatric problem.

After our horsey ride, we headed back home to have our fabulous cupcakes.  It was SIMPLY DELICIOUS.  Yum yum… missing the cupcakes now as I am typing.  Then we took the last bus to Scenic World again, so that Xin Yi can buy her jacket and that she could took photos with Violet Street.  heh heh…

Then we began our tiresome journey of walking back the hill to our home as there were no more buses.  sniff…

When we got home, we warmed up the corn and pork ribs soup that we had cooked the previous night and had our dinner.  Then we had to packed our stuff as the following day we would be checking out of Blue Mountains and heading back to Sydney Central, to Bondi Beach.

12th July 2007

Upon reaching Bondi Beach Apartments, the guy at the check-in told us that our booking had been cancelled…  We were really pissed.  So Xin Yi and I walked down the street to a cyber cafe to search for our next accomodation and we booked Holiday Inn….  I suppose you could call it a blessing in disguise, cos when we called the manager up the next day, she said that she would pay for the difference of Holiday Inn.  HAHAHA!

So we stayed in our beautiful holiday inn, which was just behind chinatown, opposite Paddy’s Markets, and next to darling harbour where the Pancake on the Rocks were situated.  ROFL… It was simply perfect!

As it was late already, Xin Yi and I crossed the road to get Mac Donald’s for our lunch and we feasted in the room.  Then we took a walk to Darling Harbour.  On our way back we felt hungry again and we bought Korean food at the Food Court upstairs.  It was nice…  Then we had our game of Monopoly before turning in.

13th July 2007

Yee Yen and I went out to buy breakfast for the four of us as Xin yi and Jasmine overslept.  We each had congee, chee cheong fun and you tiao… hahaha… imagine us eating this in Sydney, but oh well, we were on TIGHT BUDGET.

AFter that, we wasted no time in walking to George Street and took the bus to Circular Quay to visit the famous Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.  Haha… It was quite pretty really…

Then we walked down Macquarie Street and visited the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Library, Sydney Hospital and Hyde Park where there were big chess pieces.  We wanted to visit the Nightingale museum at Sydney Hospital but too bad, it was closed. 

After that, as we headed back to home for our major shopping at Paddy’s Market, Yee Yen mentioned that she wanted to go to the toilet.  And there, Violet saw this amazing public toilet that you put 50 cents in and the door will open and it’s really big.  It will automatically wash itself after each person’s use.  So all of us used it of course… rofl….

Then we walked down Elizabeth Street and bought a cup of Hot Starbucks Coffee and sipped our way down home.  We stopped by the arcade cos xin Yi wanted to try for once if she could catch a soft toy.  And omg… after three times, she actually caught the BIG POLAR BEAR!  Can’t believe how lucky she is….

We got to Paddy’s Market and it was really fun shopping.  There so many clothings and knick nacks and nougarts that you could buy.  Of course, we spend loads.

After shopping, we went back to the hotel and put down our stuff before heading our for our dinner at Chinatown.  Then we walked down Darling Harbour to visit the Sydney Aquarium. 

We finally crawled back to the hotel and started the tideious job of packing our luggages as we would be checking out the next day.

14th July 2007

We woke up early and took a stroll to Darling Harbour to have our breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks.  It was not bad and worth a visit.  Then we headed back to Paddy’s Markets for our last minute shopping.  After that, we went back to Darling Harbour to have our Seafood at Darling Harbour.  What you had to do was to pick the seafood that you want, and they would cook it for you.  It was good.

After our lunch we got back to our hotel and took the airport transfer back to Sydney International Airport, only to find out that our flight was delayed as the aircraft had not arrived.  So we rotted in the airport for 3 hours before we could board the aircraft bound for Singapore.  Thus, instead of reaching Singapore at 2145 hours, we reached Singapore at 2315 hours… Haiz…

Overall, although we had quite a number of ups and downs on the trip, I still enjoyed myself.  It was a great experience and all of us had fun shopping, eating, learning how to cook and survive independently without our family.  Heehee… Can’t wait for our next trip!

Blogging at the Terminal 1 now, with TYY next to me.  Amazing… after so many months and days, finally this day has arrived!!!  Auzzie here I come! 

The three girls are awaiting their sandwich and drinks from Spinelli cos it is still early and they are feeling hungry, for fear that there will be no food later on board. 

Either way, I am really excited although we checked in quite late cos TYY was still munching her chicken drumsticks at Popeye.  tsk tsk…

And CXY’s luggage was too heavy.  Thank god they counted in as 4 luggages so it wasn’t that bad… heehee…

Okay… I shall have to board le!!!  Wish me bon voyage! 

You know how we were young and we use to play ‘I am a surgeon’ game and we would use our toys or whatever to ‘operate’ on them?  Well, I finally got my chance to play with real instruments and ‘real’ body.  Heh Heh…. 

It felt quite cool to be address as "Dr Kwek or Dr Violet" although I am only a scrub nurse.  Speaking of scrub nurse, I had Chwee Sia who was willing to volunteer herself for the role.  Lolz… However, I was a terrible surgeon, I didn’t know where and what to start.  Thank god for my ‘assistants’, Peijun and Dr Seree, Dr Azli and Dr Sanjay was there to guide me because the number of mistakes I made were countless… Lolz…

1. Take note: Consent is Cervical Disc Arthroplasty for C5 / C6.

So in I went, drilling the two pins into the vertebra of C4 / C5.  Omg… seriously… If it was a real patient, I would be SUED.  I finally understood the importance of time-out. 

2. Distracting the spine so as to have a clearer view during dissection

Anyway, after getting the two pins in, I placed the self-retaining retractor over the pins and tried to distract the spine.  I was soooo happily distracting that I almost distracted the entire spine apart!  And it was so embarassing, cos the other surgeons started to crowd around and see my hideous surgical skills. 

3. Dissection of the spinal disc

Then, I had to dissect the spine disc.  I only wanted to use the burr but, my ‘assistants’ told me that I am suppose to use the laxell and kerrison first.  So I listened to their instructions and tried my best to dig out everything.  But, like what they say, they way I do it, I would have caused alot alot alot of bleeding to the patient… Heehee…

4. The Burr

After like 10 minutes of digging, I get to use the burr.  IT WAS MY FAVOURITE!!!  I hate to fix the burr as a scrub missy but it is soooooooo fun to use!  Although I have no freaking idea what I was burring and that I was suppose to make a flat surface so that I can sit the implant in nicely later, but seriously, my hands were shaking too much. 

In the end, everyone gave up giving me tips or rather, I was confused by all of them on how to hold and use the burr properly - personal preference really…  So I finally, got to start ‘playing’ with the consignment instruments. 

5. The Final Result

My cage didn’t sit right all the way inside of the spine.  In fact, it was too big.  ROFL…  Post-op, the ‘patient’ would have to come back for another op, and this time it would be a fusion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE END~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heehee… Although I made a fool out of myself, it was a very valueable learning experience.  By the end of the practical session, I got to seriously sit down and practice how to use the burr properly under the guidance of Dr Seree.  He got a ‘new cervical spine’ for me and I burred all 7 discs!  Lolz… so I must say thanks to him. 

The Prize?  Well, I got a brand new cervical spine… heehee… so cool… Looking at it just pleases me, although everyone must think I am mad but I think it’s cute.  It’s not lying on my table with all my other bones that I have collected…  I shall collect MORE!!!

Sometimes, we tend to wonder if the decisions we made are actually right… However, the sad part is that we never know if they are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ decisions till things happen.  Then, when things happen, you wish that you can turn back time.  Its a funny thing about life.  If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.

As we grow, we starts to understand that no man’s an island.  Its like there is no ‘I’ in the word ‘TEAM’.  However, why is it that sometimes we have to survive on a ‘I’ and ‘U’?  One thing for sure though, I am really grateful to the ‘U’ who was with me.  She was seriously the light at the end of the tunnel.  If not for her, I would have seriously not made it through.  (To the person reading this, I am sure you know what I mean…) But of course, there was many others who helped me along the way!  Arigato Gozaimasu everyone!

As I think back, the events of today was that of a roller coaster which just reminds me of a particular classical piece by Frederic Chopin - Etude Op. 10 No. 4 in C# minor.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LLdxq4cj3Uc

Why can’t everyday’s events be that of Claude Debussy L’isle joyeuse? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHDDUoDi29s

Or maybe… that’s too much to ask of… Then, all I can ask is… Could life don’t get as bad as Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No. 2? ^^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPbuMEasrRE

After typing down the title of the blog, words that seems to have flowed so naturally once, had all been clogged up.  Perhaps I have already ventilated enough to my other seniors and friends but… something’s just lacking…

As I thought back of what happened in the just mere past two days, I thought perhaps everything had been so messed up because I was not up to it after all…. The uncertainty of the preferences, the uncertainty of the procedure, the fear of people, the thought of independence?

However, after all those uncertainties, it had been a great payoff to know that I could actually survive them all through… In addition, I also found out that the uncertainties were all unfounded. 

Finally I understood what Vincent Van Gogh meant… Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do. With such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling. 

It’s just as simple as it is… you work to discover your work and then with all your heart, give yourself to it. 

Thus, to that someone who have once made my life miserable, I could bear a grudge to her and make my heart even heavier than before, or I could just forget about it and learn from it.  In fact, her ‘training’ is so amazing that I vow to proof to her that one day I will be better than her… Hmph….

GANBATTE!

It has been a really long time since I last blog… lolz… but then oh well, loads of things have happened lately.  Happy, angry, funny and sad times… But well, life has to go on…

Ever since I stepped into OT, didn’t believe I could survive.. especially in Orthopaedic… Thought I would be the one to be kicked out of OT and back to the ward… although it was really a traumatising experience to be send to Ortho on my first day, but as days go by, I kind of like it… At least its interesting and fun sometimes… although perhaps the surgeons could be a bit trying at times….

Anyway, recently had been crazy over the new show Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu… lolz… The guy wu zun aka ‘quan’ in the show, is so cute!!! rofl… He is so tall and really shuai… can’t stand it… I think if he dress like a girl, he will look so pretty lor… But I think the Nan xue zhang also looks kinda cute…

Then also, thanks to Li Na (my senior) whom I borrowed my first Death Note comics from… I am like addicted like a drug addict to drugs… I LOVE L… ahh he’s so cool can… Because it was thanks to the comic that I got through a particular surgeon known as Yue.  lolz… It’s like how I try to be L to be a step ahead of him, although I am still failing terribly, but at least he doesn’t actually raises his voice at me now, so I feel kind of safe with him.  lolz…  Anyway, I think he looks kind of shuai actually rofl… (I know for the ortho girls reading this, you all will be laughing your head off…)

And just yesterday, I went to watch a movie with verna, long time never seen her ever since I went on the KL trip with her.  Anyway, we went to watch Music and Lyrics.  It was hilarious.  I love hugh grant and drew berrymore in the show.  Especially the song - Pop! Goes my Heart… ITS SO CUTE… but my sister says its cheesy… but oh well, I like it…

Haiz so tired recently… so can’t wait for my AL!!! Going batam to have enjoy some spa to relax my tense muscles, then perhaps enjoy some seafood… Anyway, xin yi, and yee yen, I want to eat chilli crab… I don’t like steam crab… so let me eat my chilli crab okie????  P.S. Don’t snatch my pincers… lolz

This post is especially dedicated to all my friends in MOT…

Alicia (otherwise known as future ADN), is a very cute girl with a laughter that always sets everyone laughing.  Her laughter is really quite… memorable… heehee…  She is very enthusiastic in learning new things and likes to ask questions.  Keep it up Alicia!

Aisah, an AU girl who has very neat handwriting, that Sister invited her to the board to write for us something… but… in the end, there was nothing to write… lolz…

Amy, a quiet girl with a very sweet smile… She is also always looking out for lianna…. that’s really nice of you girl…

Ariyanti, the really tall girl whom I have known during PRCP… heehee… Cool to see you around in MOT!

Brenda, a funny girl who actually looks like my cousin… At first glance, I thought she and Amy were sisters… lolz… She also always asks if those in the scrub side has practiced whatever there was to practice before the non-scrub participates… So sweet of her right?

Carol, Germaine’s good friend, is a very caring and helpful girl… Always helping us to fold back the drapes that we have used…

Chai Ling, a hardworking girl who will stay back during break to copy notes…. forgo her break for notes… wow….

Chwee Sia, who reaches really early in the morning just to eat breakfast… heehee… She’s in the same discipline as me… good… heehee… One thing though, she likes the one discipline that I don’t like… O and G….

Germaine, a cool girl is probably still in awe at how I can sleep at 9pm or 10pm every night… Although she tends to doze off during Sister Carol’s lectures but I think she will still make a great neuro staff nurse! 

Jasmine, a cute girl in Cardio, I really hope the surgeons don’t bully you cos of your size!!! heehee… I still can’t believe she is bigger than her twin…

Jeslyn, my wonderful locker mate who doesn’t minds the mess and my humongous bag that I stuffed in our locker.  Heehee… And she is in the same discipline as me… ORTHOPAEDIC!!! 

Jia Hui, the girl who helped collected all the money so that all of us could have Pizza and KFC on our second last day in the induction programme!  heehee….

Larry, the leader of our Group 1, always handling all the miscellaneous stuffs.  Thanks man!!!

Michelle, the girl whom I am going to call to share cab if I ever get called up to go back to EOT for any emergency. lolz…

Muzayyannah, other wise known as Nana, is a very pretty girl.  She has very nice cursive handwriting of which she thinks it is not that legible to use in report writing… But hey girl, don’t ever change your handwriting okay?  It’s really unique…

Norashikin, or other wise known as Shikin, has really nice handwriting… those that look like the antique handwriting… coolz…  shall go learn from her one day… And the only Recovery Girl in our group…

Nuraidah, another mummy in the group… She’s really cute and a chirpy girl to be with.

Nurhaslina, or otherwise known as lianna, is 8 months pregnant?  (I think.. lolz)  Met her in PRCP too, but she was in the otherside of the ward… But oh well, we are all now in MOT… :D  Just that, different discipline too… She’s in GS… sniff…

Pei Shan, the girl who actually remembers me from the Year 3 Student OT posting… (shocking honestly) Really glad to have her as part of my good buddies!

Pearline, the girl whom I have lots of coincidences with, is going to AU.  A smart girl, who likes to poke me but pretends that she wasn’t the one… lolz…

Salwa, another potential ADN, has very good artistic talent.  She designed the cards that we gave to our Sister at the end of the induction programme in OT.  Till now, she is still trying to find out what I like… lolz…

Selina, my dear classmate… heehee… Stunned to see her in OT but oh well, at least we are together…. Hardworking, sweet and nice girl who gave me notes when I was not around for lectures…

Sylvia, my all time buddy in discussion of Japanese Animation - ESPECIALLY BLEACH… lolz… 

Victoria, the girl who is in front of me in the register, partners with me in TSSU and AU.  The both of us got to see the Caesearian of a pair of twins together.  Cool…

Wirda, I seldom talk to her, but she really has a very good voice… I think she should go join the Singapore Idol!!! Heehee… Then can vote for her!!!

Xin Yi, my 2nd classmate who looks really cute in the scrub suit… And sad that we can’t do the project of filming the operation together…   

Yee Yen whom I have known for years… (actually only 3 years), and I have worked with her in a zillion of places, I finally got her in my MSN and she finally wrote a testimonial for me. 

Hey people, if I have offended you in anyway in the above blog, I am sorry… But I really think you guys are great… Tomorrow will be our last day together in the induction programme and it had been great knowing you all!  I wish you guys all the best in your future endeavours! 

To those in AU - remember it is not just your patient!! heehee.. It is our patients… And take care that the anesthetists don’t bully you guys…

To those in Scrub Side - Be strong, stay cool, look confident and SCRUB UP! 

God Bless Everybody!!! :D 

There are a lot of things that we want in life… Everyone has a goal in life, dreams that we want to fulfill before we leave this earth.  However, when do we know we still have time to chase after our dreams?

Just take yesterday for example.  My friend Selina and I were on our way home from work and were crossing the road.  It was a green man which signals an "okay" for us to cross the road.  Then this car just whizzed past us.  The car was directly infront of us.  If the two of us had taken just one more step, we would have probably landed in A and E and ICU now.  We were so angry that we wanted to take down the car number and send it to the forum.  Honestly, does that man knows how dangerous it is? 

That incident really strucked me in my head.  It triggered me to think what do I want in life?  Or perhaps, what I want in life, is already fulfilled.  From young, my dream has always been wanting to work in the Operating Theater - as a surgeon.  However, as fate has it, I am not academically inclined, so I managed to pass out as a Staff Nurse instead.  And I got posted to the OT department.  But why is it that I do not feel the excitement as I once had before?  Is it that my dream was not to work in the OT but to work as a surgeon instead? 

I held these confusing thoughts for a long time till the day I stepped into my own discipline theater for the very first time.  My Sister was very nice and she introduced me to the entire scrub team.  They said hi to me warmly and they introduced themselves to me too.  I felt really touched.  As the time passed in the theater, they taught me step by step the little things that I could assist them while I was posted to the theater for observation.  I learnt loads from them and I found myself feeling more excited to learn more.  Although it was quite a shock for me to see the very first case, and how my Senior Staff Nurse scrubbed up for the case with the surgeon; the excitement of wanting to scrub up creeped quietly in me.  At the end of the first day, I was stunned to feel the excitement and happiness of working in the theater.

Reality has a way of shattering our dreams, dreams that we hold very dear to our own hearts, dreams that urge us forward in life.  Without dreams, are we able to survive in this fast-forward life?  Would we still be stranded in the past while others are moving forward in time?  Time waits for no one.  The early bird catches the worm.  A stitch in time saves nine.  He who hesitates is lost.  We can’t pretend what we hadn’t been told.  We have heard all the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our parents warning us about wasted time, heard poets telling us to sieze the day.  Still sometimes, we have to see for ourselves.

It’s like when you were young, and how you believed in fairy tales.  The fantasy of how your life would be, a prince charming coming to carry you away to a castle in a hill.  You would lie in bed at night thinking about prince charming, Santa Claus, elves and the tooth fairy.  But eventually, as you grow up, one day you open your eyes and they disappear.  Most people turn to things and people that they can trust.  But the thing is, it is hard to let go of the fairy tale entirely, because almost everyone has the smallest bit of hope that one day they will open their eyes and it will come true.

There are some mistakes in life which once made, unable to undo.  Mistakes are costly of which we cannot afford them. 

Mistakes are part of being human.  We can only appreciate mistakes for what they are, precious life lessons that can only be learnt the hard way.  Sometimes the guilt in making a mistake stays with us much longer than the scolding itself. 

Perhaps, the only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.