Oh, my word, the PAIN!

It seems that of late, all I've been doing on this little blog of mine is updating you on my life and putting up loads of pretty pictures.. Sighh.. I feel that I'm beginning to lose the purpose of this blog - which was, initially, to put up my thoughts and views on the things that were happening around me (who else did you think it'll be about? The world, after all, revolves around me! haha..). Anyway, as I was saying, I'm not a big fan of the whole "This morning I did this, and this afternoon, I did that, and after that, I did that blah blah" kind of writing... (Honestly, who really cares about what time you took a crap today?) Unfortunately, I really think that my blog is beginning to turn into one of these.. All I have to say for myself is that this is completely due to circumstance and not by any means, due to choice: I've been too darn busy with stuff to pen deep thoughts and core-shaking articles..

I wish I had something insightful to write right now, but again, I don't. I think today's lack of inspiration is purely due to my incredibly painful stomach cramps (that I have yet to find out the reason for) and of course, my supreme fatigue due to my ridiculously-hectic week.

I've just started my Obstetrics and Gynaecology attachment last week and seeing that I'm one of the most lucky people in the world, this week was my allocated Labour week. This means that for the whole week, all I do, is stay on the labour suite to not only witness, but participate in delivering babies. To some of you this might sound fun, but I've never been so exhausted from just going to hospital. For instance, I was on for a whopping 14 hours yesterday.. I was so tired when I got back, I just plunged into a deep sleep the moment my head touched the pillow. Unfortunately, I woke up with really bad stomach cramps and therefore, I'm sitting here, typing away on the computer instead of being in hospital for another 12 hours, delivering babies. I really feel quite guilty now but I don't think I'm going to be productive in any way with the pain and spasms I'm feeling right now. Ooh, here's one now!

I digress. This week has certainly been an exhausting one, but I must admit, it certainly has its rewards. Everyone I've spoken to (medical students) about this has been totally excited about this, and people who have already done it had a great experience - you know, the miracle of life blah blah.. Initially, I started the week with apprehension - I mean, I had to actually touch those slimy things as they were coming out of a woman's vagina!! Yuck! But I told myself that I would not benefit in being disgusted and keeping this frame of thought, so I decided to keep an open mind.

Ok, so what have I learnt? That it isn't really a yucky thing, to be honest.. It's not the most pleasant thing to watch, but as future doctors, it's necessary and quite frankly, not very different from all the other highly-invasive procedures we've seen/done. Unfortunately, I did not feel incredibly swollen with emotion or see incredible happiness as you see in the movies when these babies were born, for that matter. I just saw lots of screaming, lots and lots and lots of pain and pure exhaustion. So no, I was not at all impressed by the whole process of labour this week. (I've declared that if I were to have babies, I'm going to have an epidural otherwise, it's a C-section for me! There is no way I'm going through what these ladies go through.. No way hose!)

The one thing I found really good about this whole thing was really, the gratitude and appreciation from the new mothers. Among the few deliveries that I did, (well, helped do, really) was a beautiful baby girl for this lady TH and her husband. When I later visited her on the ward, the midwife I was with overheard her husband saying to his in-laws and his older son, (whilst pointing at me) "This was the lady who delivered little Lucy". I was very touched and to me, to be part of someone's special experience was the most rewarding part of this week. I'll probably forget this in a few years time, but for the rest of their lives, TH and her husband will be telling Lucy that Jean, a Malaysian-chinese medical student helped bring her into this world.

I guess being a doctor isn't all too bad. I think at this point, as a 4th year medical student, I really have to try, if not, force myself to like it. As most of you who know me would already know, I never really wanted to become a doctor at all. It was more my parents' idea, really.. I still have no passion for this, but I am trying to develop some love for my future job. Guess it really starts here...

Mini-holiday

It's such a relief to finally go on a holiday after so long (even though it was a really short one). Think my last holiday was in October, when I went to Brussels. Sigh.. it certainly has been a long time. It's definitely a well-deserved holiday as well.. considering how I just sat for my exams last week, and was plummeted into a week of lectures almost immediately!

Anyway, my parents decided that the best place to go visit was Cambridge. (I obviously disagreed, as I thought the best place to go was Disneyland, Paris.. unfortunately, I was overruled, so I am still, not happy. Okok, so they'll be headed off to Europe for work on Monday so granted, they'll be a bit tired.. but I wanna go!!!!) We took a nice drive down and as usual, I was navigator, so did not get to enjoy a good sleep in the car as I'm so often used to. We met up with DL, an old friend from my KMYS days who's currently studying in the University there. He was our local tour guide for the day and we definitely, couldn't have done it without him. :) Thanks so much DL!

So here are the beautiful photos from the trip, nothing much to narrate, to be honest.. except for one thing: Do not by any means, be fooled by the apparently-beautiful weather, with the sun shining high and the photos looking great. Anyone who's been in the UK long enough will know that the sun does not seem to serve a great deal of purpose around here. Just because it's up and shining, does not mean that it is actually doing its intended job of providing warmth. Yes, it was actually freeeeeezing this weekend (think the weather was like 31-32 degrees Fahrenheit/ 0 degrees Celcius), hence the many layers wrapped around us in all of our pictures.

By the beautiful River Cam, where we can enjoy the beautiful scenery by punting

In St John's College - the whole city is essentially made up of the colleges of the University, now that's what I call a university-city!

In Trinity College, where Sir Isaac Newton once resided

With DL, in his college grounds - Corpus Christi College

On the streets of Cambridge, with last-minute shoppers caught-up in the Christmas-frenzy in the background

The big Christmas tree that adorned the central square in the city - Magnifique!

Well, that's just a few.. I'll put up the rest soon in my online photo album, so watch this space!

Graduation Day!

FINALLY... it's here!!! Graduation Day!!! Haha.. no, actually, it's not exactly final, to be honest..

Today I graduate with my first degree - Bachelor of Medical Sciences (Honours), Second Class Division I. (Ok, so it's not of the First Class but for the amount of effort I put in, I'm considered fortunate! heehee) It's my first step towards becoming a doctor, and a just a preview of the ceremony that will REALLY count, hopefully in 1 and a half years time, when I finally graduate as a medical doctor.

Nevertheless, it was certainly exciting to get all dressed up and excited for a ceremony of such grandeur and significance . I was obviously, most excited about getting my picture taken in my fancy graduation gown but of course, the whole receiving-the-certificate bit of the ceremony was kinda important too! ;) Oh, and the light finger buffet wasn't too bad either.. haha..

Anyway, 'nuff said.. This post is mainly a photography galore, so enjoy! (Ooh, can I just say at this point that I did not realise that my hat was tilted until after I went in to for my ceremony. Hence, the tilted hat in my earlier photos was completely unintentional!)


We arrived early for a super snapfest before the ceremony:

Yes, mom & dad both came for the 'big' event

My favourite pic, taken with mom outside the Graduation Hall

Of course, WS couldn't miss this!

The 4 graduands: (L-R) JT, JW, SY and of course, me!

With my other friends...

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And more friends..

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Inside the hall:

:)

Yum yum..

Malaysia boleh?

It's Christmas time!

And finally.... the graduand herself!

What's up, pussycat?

I just found out (well, not just just, but just enough, if u know what I mean?) that evidently, I have quite a number of silent readers/followers/fans? (Haha.. think I'll just stick to readers..) I honestly didn't realise it earlier before cos' come on, I'm no Jeffrey Ooi.. (understatement of the year?)

Anyway, to these faithful friends of mine, thank you so very much.. you're the reason my Statscounter is displaying small spikes and proving its worth to me, you're the reason I have occasional comments for my more provacative entries but most of all, you're the reason I'm still doing this.. taking time out of my oh-so-hectic schedule to pen a few of my wisdom-ess words.. ;)

So what have I been up to lately? It certainly has been crazy ever since I last wrote.. The main thing was exams. I was up to my elbows in revision for the past 2 weeks (exams finished last Thursday - woohoo!), hence the lack of activity and generally, life. Found out today that I passed one of them so that's quite good news.. no idea how I'm gonna do for the other one but I'm praying to heaven, earth and whoever'll listen that I do not fail it..

WS turned 23 a few weeks ago (yeah, I know, I'm dating someone younger than me by a whole 9 months!!!), and we celebrated it by watching a 'romantic' movie in the cinema (Harry Potter.. talk about super-duper romantic huh?) and having a nice yummy dinner at Chiquito's. Nothing major, but we ended playing I'm-talking-like-a-chipmunk all night with the helium balloon the restaurant gave me! Hehe.. (well, not all night, of course... we were busy err, sleeping, of course! ;) )

Ooh, something exciting (well, relatively excitingla, since knowing me, I'm not quite the social party person I used to be..) did happen about 2 weeks ago: I was part of a medium-scale Christmas concert! You see, I sing as part of the choir in Musical Medics (yes, as the name suggests, we are medics who are musical) and the Musical Medics put up a great Christmas show at a local church. There was the choir (obviously), an orchestra performance, a flute choir, brass ensemble, string quartet and loads of other stuff more. It was fantastic! I really enjoyed myself really much and loads of people said that I sang beautifully on my 1-verse solo.... heehee.. Watch out, USA, this is the next Mariah Carey!! (Yeah, right.. I was so nervous, I could hear my own voice trembling!)

WS's coursemates/juniors came over to Nottingham the other day for the all-famous annual Nottingham Malaysian Games.. I didn't plan to go out at all, but since they were here, I thought it'd be a good opportunity to meet up with them and show them around.. I was really glad I went in the end, cos' I ended up meeting loads of my friends from all over UK and having a great time with my partner-in-crime-in-the-slut-and-bitch-arena, V , tall-boy-and-super-nice-and-cool-dude EW and of course, ol' medic coursemate, JT. Think Nottingham won the overall Games and that's always good news.. :)

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It was SY and JW's birthday the other day and we went for dinner at La Vecchia Romagna in Nottingham. The food wasn't too bad and it certainly was value for money, but I sure as hell am not going back again. You see, I bought a birthday cake to celebrate their birthdays and as always, brought it along to the restaurant so that we could sing a song and have yummy cake afterwards. When I arrived at the restaurant, I was flabbergasted when I found out that that stupid restaurant did not allow us to eat our own cake there, simply because they themselves serve dessert. I was in utter shock as I, and many of my friends, have done this before and no decent restaurant in Nottingham has turned us down.. until now. So yes, this is my personal strike so as much as I can help it, I won't ever set foot in that restaurant again! (By the way, the service was crap anyway..)

Ooh, just to let u know, I'll be attending my first Convocation Ceremony tomorrow! Yes, I'm graduating (not as a doctor!) with my first degree, a Bachelor of Medical Sciences (Honours) tomorrow and although it isn't really much, I'm actually getting quite excited. In fact, my parents are right here in my room now, providing me with background music with their snoring repertoire whilst I type away at my good ol' laptop. (Yes, they came to attend the ceremony) So, just pray for me that I do not trip on my gown or something on stage tomorrow and that my photos will turn out great! :) (Don't worry, I will undoubtedly display the photos here for you to see!) In fact, you can watch the 45-minute-delayed webcast online here if you're interested!! :)

Hmm.. I can't really think of anything else to update you guys on.. Like I said, it has been a crazy month indeed, but unfortunately, not a terribly exciting one. Ah well.. I may as well sign off here so until next time, toodaloo!