Appreciation

Happy:D
Happy:D
I'm very happy:D
A dear friend of mine hand drew me a picture of a puppy hugging a stethoscope. The drawing is sooo good and detailed that it looks so real. Woohoo, discovery of a hidden talent--I never know a science person can be such a good artist at the same time. It must have taken her quite some time to finish it. I LOVE the picture but above all I LOVE the heart behind it. Outside the medical school, I have lots of awesome supporting friends-spiritually, emotionally, physically(playing halo) and materialistically(food+free rides+mysterious gifts, free meals:D, etc). But within my course, I am a loner. Don't get me wrong, it's not because my coursemates are unfriendly. My problem is I don't have enough self-confidence and that caused me to become a sour plum :(

So I pray to God one night and asked Him to provide me with friends that can support me throughout my course and my career. And so, there came these two angels who sat beside me in all lectures throughout the year, one is the girl(a distinction student) that drew me the puppy, and another one is a guy(our class technician whom is the favourite among the technically challenged lecturers). They are my greatest supporters and their encouragement means a lot to me. Oh, and not to exclude my funny Tonga friend who gave me a funny but encouraging remark when I told him I'm worried about my exam. "Why worried so much? That's the work of the devil!" Hah, that makes me feel so much better. :D

Two are better than one...if one falls down, his friend can help him up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10.

Cute puppy drawing. Thank you Anita:)


Ok, I've decided to post the picture of my angels because they deserve the credit.

Interesting organism

Ok, I'm so over cancer module now. I'm officially moving on to Infection and Immunity module and found it to be so much more interesting. No wonder most of our microbiology lecturers are so obsessed passionate about their jobs that they even have their own favourite micro-'babies'. I don't have a favourite micro-baby yet, but I do find this microorganism to be very ... erm interesting. Naegleria fowleri---the brain-eating amoeba. This little fellow invades human CNS by 'burrowing' up through your nasal mucosal then 'climbs' along your olfactory nerve fibres and up to your brain. Presenting symptoms are changes in olfactory perception (taste and smell), followed by vomiting, nausea, fever, headache, and the rapid onset of coma and death in two weeks. TWO WEEKS! Here's an even less comforting fact: survival remains less than 1%, even with amphotericin B. But for DUNNERS, don't worry! N. Fowleri is typically found in warm fresh water, from 25–35 degrees Celsius. There's no way these fellows can fight the cold in Dunedin.

Connections

I've never appreciate how important 'connection' can be in certain situation until today. Actually, I am still not 100% in favour of connection, but just not 100% against it now, depending on the situation. I have a classmate who is like a connection board. He knows (really well) most of the seniors and almost everybody from our year. He saved my ass life today because of his 'redundant' connection. Here's the full account of the story:

I did not know that today is the last day for our *computer test until this friend of mine told me. Eng eng liaw...big trouble because it means 1) if I failed, there will not be any chance of resit. 2)My source told me that this is a very very hard test, almost 70% of the class had to resit it. 3) I am 99.1% sure that I will fail because my plan is to revise it tonight and do it tomorrow. 4) The test is only available until 5, and I only have 2 hours left till then---BIGGER BUGGER! Among the midst of "what to do? what to do?", Tony (the connection board) asked me a lifesaving question, "Do you want the answers tips?" Ok, I hate to say that's cheating but let's just say it is efficient learning and information sharing. So, in less than an hour, I managed to 'learn more efficiently' and actually passed the test. Phew! I do not know how he got the tips (obviously through his connection) but hey, thanks man.

*OK, I think I need to further explain the computer test which we need to sit every week. Please don't get a wrong idea, it's not like a major major end of year exam thingy which will be dead serious if we do 'share information'. It's more like a self assessment quiz that we need to pass if we don't want to get any one-on-one interview with the BIG ONES.

Memories of 157 Queen Street

There are several things that I will miss from 157 Queen Street. One of them is going grocery shopping with Sharon and Joss, my flattie honies. As usual, Joss will always be five steps ahead of us with her vigorous stride while Sharon and I will take our time 'enjoying the scenery'. Cooking dinner together is also fun. We did try flat cooking for a week once but decided that it is too inconvenient. But still, it is fun inspecting (more like making fun of) one another's salt and fat consumption. Of course, 157 Queen Street is not complete without 159 Queen Street. We have the Yeos as our dear neighbour. Mr Yeo is a good chef and always have yummy food to satisfy our tummies. Gosh, need I say more for someone who can 'modify' a simple indo mee to an authentic seafood noodles? This good chef happens to be a super good halo buddy as well. What can I say about Mrs Yeo? She always have gifts to sneak around and thought that nobody will know the 'culprit'. How sweeeet is that. Other than that, life in 157 Queen Street is pretty much the same...until our most-looking-forward-to guests are here---the Canais. Because their visits mean study breaks, fun, food and more fun. And not to forget our countless sleepovers at Unicol. Oh well, life is never static but good memories will always stay on towards the end.

Mrs Yeo and the occupants of 157 Queen St.


Our friendly neighbour---The Yeos

The Canais---Sam T and a very constipated Alex!

Smile Always

This is going to be a very cheeeesy entry. So if you just had your lunch or dinner, please ignore this because it has a strong emetic effect.

Ok, I had an awesome time at work today. All the customers were sweet and adorable. But there was this one particular customer that made my night memorable. I've never seen such a happy and vibrant smile in my three years of customer serving. Sure I had a lot of good and bad experiences with customers, but that particular smile really encouraged me. It made me felt appreciated. I just want to say thank you, whoever you are, even though you will never come across this blog. Being able to smile is one of those amazing gifts that God has given us. Smile is infectious, it enlightens the day of others so that they will 'spread' the happy smile around too. Even when a person has an upper motor neuron lesion involving the face (i.e. stoke), the involuntary expression of smile is still reserved (i.e. the ability to smile when one is genuinely happy). Amazing right? So, no matter how bad your day is, don't forget to smile.

I also had an interesting conversation with my boss today. She said that she will become a millionaire in the next three months. I was like, "OK...so do you win a lotto or are you going to marry a millionaire?" "No, the horoscope say so." I remembered I was drinking my Pepsi max and almost choked on it. It just doesn't make sense. These are the people that don't believe in God, and yet, they believe in horoscope. I'm not trying to be judgmental but the logic behind this paradox is beyond my comprehension. It is sad and it makes me realize the responsibility that we Christian carried to bring the gospel into their lives.

Anyway, here's a smile that will surely cheer you up.

The beginning

I've never been a serious blogger but decided to be one now. This blog is dedicated to all my friends who will be leaving soon. Indeed, blog is a very powerful channel to keep us up to date to one another. I know I should be burying my head under that mountain of books now, but a little cheekiness won't hurt, :P. I've been on youtube and saw this cool video clip and for a second I dreamed of the impossible---what if I am a break dancer? Ahaha, that thought cracked me up cause I could not imagine myself 'twisting and turning any part of my body' without any cracking. I'll ended up in the hospital with my lower limbs stuck around my neck and my upper limbs are not where they should be. But check this up.