fawn
27
(doctor!)
singapore/ sunny coast
melbourne! ♥
(would love to bake for a cafe/
?bird & brie)
wallflower
☁
my brother says i am
a cumulonimbus cloud :)

also

joy unspeakable that won’t go away
and just enough strength to live for today
so i never have to worry
what tomorrow will bring
‘cause my faith is on a solid rock
i am counting on God
♡
in dreams and in love
there are no impossibilities.
- jános arany
☼
You make all things
work together for my good.

people

rong; yurong; diana; may;
peiyu; caleb; kevin; daniel; joel;
lois; susanna; june; jane; cheryl;
yuwan; christina; jocelyn;
ivy; mangyik; jasmine; ida; valerie;
jason; joab; shaun; jintat;
jonathan chua; freedy; gary;
iris; sammy; nicky;

love

history

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i want a lego ice cube tray.

considering driving down to nsw tomorrow. ;p hahaha. because i read about a little town called bangalow just south of byron bay, which sounds really nice. they also have a cheese company.. and i feel like buying their cheese and butter! ha. though it wouldn't last the journey, sigh.

it's about 3 hr 15 mins away, 270 km. about the same as the drive to bundy haha. might save it for another weekend though, and just go to eumundi tomorrow or something.. but i'm working half days next weekend i think. :|

talking to perryn, we've had this conversation before, i cannot be bothered to go through it again. -.-

going back to sg to work, i'd feel like i would be trapped there. makes me feel quite claustrophobic really, thinking about it. of course i could leave, technically, but there would be all these other things tying me down. send your kid overseas, they never want to go back. the grass is greener on this side.


doesn't feel like a friday at all. woke up early to wash the sheets and pack the rest of my stuff. went to switch to drop off my pager, keys, and swipe card, then went up to dr bambery's office to get my end of term assessment done. he made a comment about my "culinary skills" haha.

went to the ward to get my term evaluation form from the black folder and say bye to people. i feel sad that i'm back in the sunny coast now. :(

handed in my forms at the qrme house and started driving at about 8.45am i think, after getting maccas brekky. ;p stopped quite a few times along the side of the road. -.- the cats were going crazy (becks > bailey) in their carriers, meowing loudly, and becks kept rolling around inside. decided to let both of them out. becks had already peed the moment i put his carrier in the car, so i had to clean it out before i left, but bailey didn't pee at all.

they ride much better loose in the car, i realise.. like dogs. even though at the beginning they climbed everywhere (obscuring the rearview mirror and probably amusing the driver behind me), for most of the trip they just lay on the pinky beside me. becks spent about half the drive on my lap too. so cute. ;p love them.

got a couple of missed calls at 9.50am and was surprised at first, but then i realised that it was probably the southwest health guys. couldn't stop in time to pick up though. called their admin person who said she would leave them a message. decided to just continue driving.

they called me again at about 10.30am and i managed to stop and pick up. then i proceeded to have the interview while parked on the side of the road, with cars and transformers (trucks) whizzing by. like a boss. ;p thought it went pretty well too. talked about my analogue photography and they asked if i developed it myself haha.

drove back this time without using the gps (it is after all pretty straightforward). i like using the gps because it tells me how far away i am from the destination.. but today i wasn't in a hurry at all so it didn't really matter. think i only got back at about 12+ heh.

unloaded, but haven't really unpacked. did the post it and went to sunshine plaza to mail it. also bought the shoes and peppermint. and litter, and lunch.

my cats have rediscovered one of their favourite places in this apartment - my bedroom window ledge. :)

think i will slowly unpack over the next week. can't be bothered to do any of it now. :|

going to meet dee and eve sometime soon! :) yay mini reunion.

3 weeks to melb and 4 weeks to perth. :)





until the day we no longer need reminders.

finished gen med. :) 32 weeks down, 15 weeks to go.. and i will have finished my intern year. how time flies! i still feel like i don't know anything. ;p

was a reasonably busy day, us being post take and all. and you know how it is on your last day, you just don't feel like doing any work. :|

was meant to have my southwest interview this afternoon but they never called. the lady did tell me that they were trying to fit me in and not to fret if they didn't call at exactly 3.. i think they might call me tomorrow at my original interview time (9.45am) when i'm driving, ha.

emailed yuvnik about a handover, i hope he replies. i hate starting new rotations and feeling lost and not knowing the system/ colleagues.

went to christian's place at burnett heads after work. "straight after work" the poster said, but we were the first (got a lift from amy and charlotte). bbq! ate till i was so full it was uncomfortable. :| was nice. :) also got to meet chris' wife (so pretty!!) and son, and his dog called sailor. ;p such a cute name for a dog. they were also dog-sitting a chocolate lab called sheba. :)

the party broke up at like 9.30 and we were all so tired haha so old. came home and did the laundry, packed, loaded the car, showered. have to wake up early to wash the sheets tomorrow morning and load the cats. and i also have to go to hospital to return my keys and pager, and to get my end of term assessment done. figured that i'll drop by the ward to say bye to everyone too. ;p

i feel so sad leaving the lovely beaches and warm weather behind! :( but it's nearly spring.


"i have actually never had a better brownie."

second last day in bundy. it feels really weird. weirder than i expected. but i have been here for about 2.5 months.

we had an extended coffee break today - by "extended" i mean we invited the cardio people, the new SHOs, the ex-DCT etc. dr bambery also brought strawberries. so we had brownies, strawberries, and coffee. :D sitting outside in the sun. sigh, this is the life. ;p

amy admitted 6 patients today but none of them are for us. ;p i hope there aren't too many overnight. i want my last day to be relaxed haha.

collected my photos and didn't like most of the photos. :( strange to think though, that in the short time i've been up here, i've developed a better relationship with the photo shop lady than i have with the "total will be $6" guy at btp haha.

tara and i decided to go out for dinner tonight since it's her last night here. went to spice tonight (or spicy tonight or something), which is a thai/indian place. had tom yum soup, yum. :D

came back and baked the pineapple cake. you're meant to pour the syrup (from poaching the pineapple pieces) over the baked cake and let it absorb as it cools.. but i'm not sure how much syrup to pour. i don't want it to be soggy. :| smells nice though.

have also finally started packing to move back. and i've already done most of it. will probably do a load of laundry and pack the rest of it (and load the car) tomorrow night. we're going to christian's place for a bbq tomorrow night! :)

need to remember to ask dr bambery to do my end of term assessment. i hope he doesn't comment that i haven't presented any patients to him. :|

shall prep for tomorrow's interview and sleeeep. so tired.


three of our patients went to ICU overnight. D: not a good look. one was even intubated. another is on bipap. the last one is quite acidotic from renal failure but it's not acute and she really doesn't look too bad.

disappeared from ward rounds to wait for my bendigo interview. they finally called me 15 mins past the appointment. went into the quiet room but then i think people wanted to have a family meeting so i was kicked out. eventually spent most of the time in the utilities room haha.

amy did some teaching with us in the afternoon. felt like a med student again.

have now also been offered an interview with western health. the first ever metropolitan hospital to offer me an interview! :) and it is also my 4th preference haha. google maps says it's a 45 min drive from clayton, but in early morning traffic... heh. and also the western health interview is 20 mins long?!

changed my southwest interview to thursday afternoon. please don't ask me clinical questions!

was talking to a patient because apparently one of his regular meds hadn't been charted (for some unknown reason). he asked me my name repeatedly, then told me he'd just watched bambi haha. ;p

am going to bake a double batch of brownies. i am. i'm just feeling lazy at the moment. but i have to, because i only have 2 days left in gen med. D:

need to remember to re-order my pmcv preferences before the deadline (27 sept). my mother still wants me to go back to sg. she keeps suggesting that i work in my father's clinic, even though i have told her repeatedly i cannot. i can't make myself work 80-100 hours per week. is that being too selfish?


four days to spring

the bendigo health website refuses to load on my browser. D: and the pmcv hospital directory is in my usb which is in the hospital (hopefully) and the file is huge and my internet is too slow to download it. D: shall just have to go to work early tomorrow to prep.

phone interviews.. i like how i don't have to dress up for them haha. what i don't like so much: rushing out from the patient's bedside to answer the call. oh well. the annoying thing is that i think we only get one offer. right? because it's done through pmcv? :|

!! (no judging)

booked my accommodation for two nights in perth. will be staying at charm's the first two nights before she gets back from bunbury.

rethinking it - might not be worth it after all.

downloaded awkward season 2 last night. jake looks like d. which i find a bit weird.

it's ironic how i've been asked the same questions countless times this year but haven't gotten impatient about it. just goes to show. and then there are other questions that just beg to be asked.

haven't gotten any offers from wa - yes, i checked.

must remember to check in on dee's cat. 5-9 sept, i hope i am not a terrible cat sitter (eg. letting the cat run away etc.) though her cat is an indoor/ outdoor cat. i wonder if i can get her to cat sit for me. hmm. if my cats behave when we move back, we'll see.

moving back to maroochydore in 3 days. moving back there makes me feel like i need to prep to move again. i wonder if Skype would survive the 22 hour drive back to melbourne. it's not that daunting anymore, i'd probably just do it over 3 days and do a bit of exploring on the way. the main problem would be the cats haha. or actually, no, the main problem would be getting a job there in the first place!

i want to eat chicken. :( you know which one i mean.


first gen med day where i did not have lunch. D: our weekend post take list was 20 patients long, but dr bambery had seen most of them already over the weekend. it was still chaotic though. and long, very long. -.-


well, some nights i wish that this all would end
'cause i could use some friends for a change
and some nights i'm scared you'll forget me again
some nights i always win, i always win

bought a giant pineapple from the shalom markets this morning. $3! :) also went to elliott heads beach. it is beautiful! by far the most beautiful beach i've been to up in queensland.

must remember to buy x.

carved up my pineapple and poached 2/3 of it for a pineapple cake i am planning to make for our med bbq haha. then i thought of making one of my caramel-filled brownies for sweta and her family, since they've helped me with the cats twice. shall ask her when she'll be in hospital this week. am also planning to make the brownies for thursday (my last day). and i have rosewater white chocolate macarons for tomorrow. ;p

i usually need to feel like baking before i actually bake.. this week i feel happy and sad that i'm finishing gen med, and the sad part makes me want to bake. which is both good and bad.. my colleagues get to eat more, but then it's fattening. ;p hahaha.

dress lady replied me. :D she said she can get the dress sent to me by that date. on the etsy page it says it takes 7 hours to make, so i guess it's possible. she must be quick. i hope shipping doesn't kill me though. D:

dee has an interview with western health! and i think she's going to melb for it. so she asked me to cat sit haha. her cat is fluffy.

i want to buy mason tumblers. o.O

checked air tickets again because i thought it might be cheaper to fly to cairns from gold coast/ hervey bay. but hervey bay is still a fair way north. anyway gold coast - cairns is $291 (compared to brisbane - cairns $379). but i don't know if tae will want to go then haha. also i would feel a bit guilty going to cairns around christmas rather than going home.. but i did check scoot flights (super ex), and it just made me so tired thinking about it. D:

who is this whitney person?


i don't know why but i keep thinking that tomorrow is monday. post take day. and i dreamt of work last night. about leptospirosis and rats. this is christian's fault.

drove to maroochydore in the morning. it was very foggy most of the way - visibility about 10m i think, which is kind of bad when you're driving at 100km/hr, hmm. so i arrived home just before the carpet cleaner guy. :|

he helped me move all my stuff either to the kitchen (wooden flooring) or to the balcony. and then i sat on my rocking chair outside on the balcony while he cleaned the carpet and de-flea-ed it. $232 gone.

went to sunshine plaza to shop while waiting for the flea killer to dry. bought a dress from dotti and shoes, a bracelet, and iphone case from sportsgirl. absolute lack of self-control. :( the shoes were really nice. but expensive. the sportsgirl salesgirl said that she was going to get herself a pair as well haha.

went back home and moved my things in from the balcony. and then moved my stuff in from the car. was lazy to pack everything properly and i figured i'll have lots of time when i move back.. so i thought of just driving back. but i don't like driving in the afternoon.. and i was tired, so i took a nap haha.

started driving back at about 3pm. petrol is so expensive. D: it seems like it always stays the same price in bundy though haha. but i had to pump a full tank at like 151. D:

as i drove past gympie i randomly decided to make a detour and go to rainbow beach. it was a rather long detour.. an additional ~90km? and it was cold so i didn't stay long either. oh well.

came back and attempted to make macarons. toasted the almond meal to get rid of excess moisture, but then i think that's been offset by me washing the dishes and microwaving food while resting the macarons. -.- just putting the first tray into the oven now. fingers crossed.

the cats have been finishing their food early since i switched them over to adult food. and this morning when i fed them at like 4.45am they were hungry. and bailey feels heavy now haha. need to weigh them when i go back to maroochydore and make sure i'm not underfeeding them.


almost feel like i could step into it with a different set of expectations. but my dreams throw me off sometimes.

4 days to go! excited to be done with gen med, but along with it comes the dread of having to learn a new way of working again. i guess it's not so bad since i've worked at nambour before. i hope all my passwords still work. i hope it's not too busy.. but not too quiet as well. otherwise i'll be bored out of my mind.. like i am now. -.-

was pretty much done with my jobs at like 10.30am. D: kept checking jasmine's fb profile haha. BABY. :) so exciting.

m&m meeting. thought it was hilarious how chris kept working christopher columbus trivia into the talk (our patient's last name was columbus). he didn't emphasize the 3 CT brains within a week though.

my strawberry banana cake is gone! yeay. had a few pieces leftover from the day so i brought them to the m&m meeting (particularly for dr bambery since i know he cannot resist cake). ;p

jade said she tried to make macarons last night and i explained how feet happen. ;p think i will attempt to make some on sunday night. :| hopefully they turn out not too ugly.

tae isn't going to cairns anymore. but i can still stay with him. he said he might postpone his trip till dec after grad since the tickets are non-refundable. SO I AM PLANNING A TRIP TO CAIRNS hahaha omg. how exciting. another holiday. ;p in cairns some more!!! i know my intern year is dotted with holidays. ;p i love it. (note: how could this ever be possible if i worked in sg?)

reminder to self to sleep early tonight. shall attempt to set off at 5am tomorrow. the carpet cleaner guy called me today and asked if he could come at 7.30. i was like, what?! then i would have to leave bundy at 4?! but in the end we decided on 8.30.


wangaratta - 3 hr 20 min (further than benalla!)
bendigo - 2 hr 30 min
geelong - 1 hr 30 min

they are all so far away. i mean, now even 3 hr 20 min is not a big deal, given my 4 hr 30 min trips, but it'll be tiring making the trip every week.

my mother says even if i stay in our unit in rusden house i need to pay rent. -.- but "cheap" rent. i suppose that's fair. and i would still save a considerable amount more than i am this year with my $210/week rent haha.

it's annoying going through the same things repeatedly. -.- waste of time.

charm said she can take a sickie haha. she wants to go to cervantes and wave rock. cervantes looks lovely and the wave rock is pretty cool. i wonder why it isn't more famous. just booked my air tickets. :) for my 15th and 16th flights this year. haha.

i want to eat ippudo's shiromaruuuu. D:

should probably bring some stuff back to the sunny coast when i go back this sat. i should be able to fit everything in Skype for one trip but i figure it'll just make my life easier to bring things in two trips. if i have time/ energy to pack much tomorrow night. dibah has asked me out for drinks but i'm not sure if i should go. planning to set off at 5am on saturday morning. my favourite time to drive. :)


super annoyed with people not replying emails. particularly when there's a deadline involved. -.- the dress person, and the perth accommodation person. i suppose i'll just call the accom people tomorrow if they still haven't replied by then.

have been offered an interview with northeast health (wangaratta). three interviews so far, but none from my top preferenced health services. oh well. there is still time.

it's nearly the end of winter and it's getting so hot. D: would almost be nice to get back to the cool of melbourne. ;p haha.

asked james about december and he thinks he and bernard won't be in melb by that time so i can probably just stay at home. ;p would be nice to have a car too though. ;p hahaha. spoiled, i know.

post take day, we had 4 new patients. and we didn't even have to see the consult. was a rather boring day. did a short case with amy and jade, but jade (the med III) did the exam, yeay. i just listened to the lungs.

christian managed to lose the folder again. but i found it in dem.

5 days of work till the end of gen med.
4 weeks till melbourne.
5 weeks till perth.
11 weeks till annual leave and singapore.
16 weeks of work till the end of internship.

i really am doing a lot of travelling this year. not a bad year at all. ;p


my nose is better but i still keep getting headaches. i hate having headaches. and i forgot to steal panadol from work even though i saw some in mcdu. :( sigh.

"admitted" a patient today. not really, because she was just transferred out of ICU. but amy wanted me to do it, so i went through the motions. a 63yo lady who was admitted with sepsis likely from a leg wound.

thought about baking tonight but suresh told me not to, because tomorrow is his day off haha. he said to bake for journal club on friday. just as well, i'm so headachey. :|

got my roster for my next rotation. it's a bit weird, i have a couple of tuesdays off and then have to work 8-12 on the weekend. and there are a few ward call shifts too. :| after gen med here and rotting my brains, i don't feel prepared for med ward call at all. i hope it'll just be mainly cannulas and gent/ warfarin dosing like my surg ward call shifts.

anyway, turns out that i have 27 sept - 2 oct off. 1 oct is stand down because it's the queen's birthday holiday, and 2 oct is just one of the tuesdays i get off. which i thought was weird, because isn't tuesday intern teaching day? i can't remember. should probably check when i'm doing the case presentation too, hmm.

anyway, so once again i had requested days off (RDOs this time) to go to perth. but i didn't feel like going to perth. but then i started talking to charm about it and feel like going to perth again haha. i think it's just because i'm sick and tired, and it's even more tiring trying to plan a holiday in a place you've never been to. have to work out the transport system, accommodation, flights and transfers etc.

charm will be in bunbury till the 28th so she says i can stay at her place till then. but her place is a bit weird and not very bunkable so i probably will stay at her place for the first 2 nights and then stay at a backpacker's for the next 3 nights. 5 days in perth, it's pretty long right. haha. apparently transport within the city is free too, which is handy. now i have to do research on places to visit etc. swimming with dolphins maybe?

the cheapest return flight i can find is $491, and the timings are a bit weird - arriving in perth at 11.55pm and arriving in brisbane at 7am when i get back. but i figure that leaves me a day of rest before i go back to work haha.

the few people i knew in perth have gone, hmm. cheryl, alvin, and min. and i know i asked min about places to visit before.. need to go dig that fb message up.

amy wants to do more "teaching" with me tomorrow. she said "if you want" but of course i can't say no. sigh. i hope it will be a massive post take ward round and that we won't have much time to do much else. i know, i'm a slacker.


sick day. went to work, had one handback (i actually knew this patient). went to see her, went to see our ortho consult, and then had coffee. started to organise an urgent echo for the handback but then amy shooed me home at like 10.30am haha. apparently our rehab patient guilt-tripped her daughters into taking her home again. -.- hopefully she won't end up back in hospital while i'm still here.

came home and watched a bit of masterchef allstars and had an early lunch, then my headache got worse and i slept for a good few hours. but then i woke up at 3.40pm with a headache. :(

went to hinkler to collect my photos, then decided that i should try to get my tyres changed since it was before 5. the guy at the tyre shop said he liked my name haha. probably one of the two most common comments i've been getting this year: 1) you have a lovely name, and 2) you look too young to be a doctor. ;p

anyway i asked him how much beetle tyres cost haha. he said there are 2 different kinds, depending on the model - either $145 or $155. not too bad at all. ;p but i'm meant to be investing in property first. hmm.

am glad that it's payday tomorrow. the lady elliot trip, toll fine, asos, tyres, carpet cleaning. :| my account is dwindling. :( :( :( it really makes a difference to work less and earn less, sigh.

amy said that if i was feeling unwell tomorrow to just not go in haha. but of course i will. hopefully i will feel less headachey by thursday though, because it's post take day.


i know i keep whining about the same things.

had no work to do today. saw our one patient in rehab - amy made her cry because of talk about going to a nursing home. there really isn't much else that can be done though, cos she already has the highest care package at home and her daughters can't manage because she is so large and can't walk on her own. i don't know what would happen if she still doesn't agree though. since she is compos mentis.

also saw our surgical consult. i don't know what is happening with this lady. she doesn't look like she's going to last very long.

heard that the 25yo IV drug user with infective endocarditis died on the weekend. saw him smoking outside on saturday morning when we drove off to the airport, hmm. it must be difficult watching your kid die.

stoned in front of the computer and got a bad headache. i think it's just cos the rooms are so stuffy. :| ended up going down to medical records and getting a huge stack of charts that needed discharge summaries. christian and i did some, and left 4 for tomorrow so we'd have something to do.

left early and went to develop my two rolls of film. :) will hopefully pick them up tomorrow. :) also bought ingredients to bake. but i'm not entirely sure what i want to bake, hmm. thought i might attempt macarons here.

i think my brother went for a photoshoot lor. in a shirt, shorts, suspenders, and a bowtie hahaha.

my asos stuff is in sydney. :) they should arrive in maroochydore by friday right? then i can pick them up on sat. :) yeay.

southwest warrnambool emailed me because i listed them on pmcv (as my last choice) but didn't actually apply to them haha. i couldn't figure out how to and so just didn't bother. they said i can still apply by sending them a cover letter and cv, so i guess i'll just do that. the deadline isn't so strict with the rural ones eh. but warrnambool is so far away.

my shoulders are killing me, i am in serious need of a therapeutic massage. :( salonpas plasters just aren't going to cut it.

amy wants to do some teaching tomorrow. D: i think she is going to make me do a long case. faints. i hope we inherit a lot of patients tomorrow and are really busy. :|


every place i go, i think of you
every song i sing, i sing for you

am tired and looking forward to a quiet week ahead - hopefully a few handbacks to add to our one lonely inpatient, but not too many to knock us off our feet.

back from lady elliot! :) was nice. though i didn't end up diving haha. in a way i feel like i failed a test. that kind of adds to the cons list, but oh well. i don't know.

still feel like i'm being rocked by the ocean..

didn't do much yesterday, really. flew from bundy to lady elliot in a tiny little 9-13 seater plane. ;p it felt like flying in a van/ minibus hahaha. i was thinking that if i was a pilot, i would so much rather be flying these little things (rather than the huge A380s etc).

went for a dive class but did not make it haha. had lunch in the sun, then tara went for her dive and i went for a walk. ended up falling asleep on the beach and getting a bit of a tan. ;p do you know that in queensland you can lie on the beach in a bikini and not freeze? ;p just saying. hmm.

thought about snorkelling in the late afternoon but decided against it because we were tired and didn't really want to freeze after the swim if the sun was going down. went to sunset beach to watch the sunset. :) had dinner and then went on the night glass bottom boat tour. saw turtles, small sharks, coral etc. thought it was cool that the boat could go all the way up to the beach.

lay outside on chairs gazing at the stars for a while, but we both fell asleep haha. went back inside and slept for a long time. ;p

got up early to go to sunrise cove to watch the sunrise. :) it was super windy, maybe that's why there was no one else there. the high winds made the clouds look like cotton candy in the making. so pretty. :)

had breakfast and then went to snorkel in the lagoon. was a bit shallow at some points and i was worried about kicking the coral. coolest thing i saw: octopus. :D a rather big one too. i hope my photos turn out clear.

went for the complimentary glass bottom boat tour after that. didn't know that we could snorkel then, so we'd changed out of our wetsuits. :\ saw some turtles through the glass. and froze on the boat. it was just very windy.

had wraps and chips for lunch. some ang moh stranger found out i could speak chinese and kept talking to me in chinese every time he walked past our table.

decided to brave the cold and go out to the coral gardens to snorkel after lunch. the coral gardens are on the west of the island, and the lagoon is on the east (so we wanted to see both sides). walked out to the edge and jumped in. cold, but bearable with the wetsuit. saw bigger fish, small jellyfish, sea cucumbers, coral, blue sea stars, sea urchins, clams, and squid, but no rays or turtles or sharks. :( there was a constant sound like sparks of electricity. i don't know why.

was quite disappointed that i didn't get to pat a turtle haha. sigh. and i expected lots of rays, don't know where they were. and no whale sightings either. :| i think i'm not very good at looking out for things too haha. oh well. there you go, my first great barrier reef experience. ;p still quite amazing.. you look at the ocean from above and it's a rippling blanket of blue, but under the surface it's a completely different world. don't you think sea creatures all look kind of prehistoric?

flew back with the same pilot. drove back, showered, washed the cat carriers, washed the dishes, had dinner and dessert. instagrammed and facebooked. the cats' fur is so lovely and soft now after their shower on friday. ;p even bailey's is exceptionally soft. :)


have been thinking from a different perspective today. hmm.

thought it would be a rather quiet day at work. our list had 8 patients - 2 on chip and 6 inpatients. we discharged 5 patients over the course of the day, so now we have 1 inpatient (in rehab, awaiting placement). i even got to go out to the post office at lunch time.

but at about 1pm cameron went off to catch a flight to brisbane, and suresh had the day off. so i was handed the u bambery team phone. was slightly zz about that because while i had that phone, my reg was happily sitting on her balcony soaking up the sun. -.- and then i had to constantly walk out of the room in the middle of journal club to answer calls. sigh.

had to do a venesection today. i had never done one before, so christian supervised. THE NEEDLE IS HUGE. pretty sure it wasn't that huge when i donated blood that one time, otherwise i probably wouldn't have done it haha. but christian told the patient i was "very good with iv cannulations" and she said i didn't hurt her at all. :) good to know my needle skills are improving haha.

went to say bye to my home oxygen man before he left haha. he thanked me for "everything," and i told him it was just paperwork. ;p i like some patients more than others.

drove to childers after work to pick the cats up. ended up staying there for more than an hour, talking to sweta and eating the pizza she made for me. ;p homemade pizzas always taste better. ;p

of course the cats peed in the car. becks was on the seat because one of the carriers had pee in it. he promptly peed (on the pinkie) within a couple of minutes. i cleared the pinkie and he spent the entire 45 min car ride on my lap. ;p but okay the peeing thing is annoying. brought them back and showered both of them, yeay. they've been dirty from their walk in the grass and from rolling around on the dusty balcony (mainly becks).

i don't have sunglasses other than my raybans. which is annoying, because i wanted to wear contacts, hmm. looks like it's one or the other.

am tired. i don't want to be tired when i'm on holiday! well, a mini holiday.

found out that i can't lodge my vic wwc check anywhere but vic. -.- i don't even know if i will have time to do it when i'm in melb in sept. but GPO is open 9-5 on sat it seems. shall attempt to do it then.

ramble ramble.. lady elliot tomorrow! :)


i think sometimes after being away from a place for a while, and missing out on life with old friends, you don't want to go back. it's difficult to bridge the gap.

my cats have only been gone less than 4 hours and i already miss them haha. there are three ways i can keep them next year - i have to either be in melb/ sunny coast/ singapore full time. i don't think i'll really be able to keep them if i locum. and i can't decide where i want to be either.

am really tired. glad i didn't have to make the drive down to childers - sweta picked the cats up instead. i passed her 2 pinkies to ensure the safety of her car. oh and the reason i am so tired is because i stayed up to watch my newly-downloaded pretty little liars season 3. D: i am so old. old and creaky.

had our regular mid-ward round morning coffees outside in the sun - the conversation was mainly about diving and islands and whale-watching. :D how nice to be able to just sit outside with your seniors and even your boss and discuss things like this haha. dr bambery and amy are both waiting to hear what lady elliot is like. i hope it won't disappoint.

organised the carpet cleaners for next saturday, yeay. means i'll have to drive down to the sunny coast, but at least that's only 3 hours. i'll probably make it a day trip and come back that evening. will be glad to be rid of the fleas.

dress person still hasn't replied. :( getting depressed. also, someone bought the dress and it is no longer available - not a big deal because it is a customisable dress, just that i can't look at it anymore haha.

bought a packet of white chocolate timtams today. :O i am not a timtam person. i feel like a person who ate the stale doughnut. D: (i forgot which movie i am referencing)

i need a medium cupcake tray. all the ones i've seen are either too big or too small. i want to make rekorderlig strawberry lime cupcakes.... everyone loves rekorderlig.

rambling on because i am too tired. must sleep before 12 tonight.


woke up this morning and realised that i was going to work haha. felt weird.

my cats were hiding when i got home, which was a bit weird. then i realised that our electrical appliances had been tested and tagged. which means someone had been in the unit today. which means they know about the illegal cats. D: hopefully i won't get an email or a call about it. :|

they didn't even tell us about it though. -.- they emailed us today saying they would be testing and tagging our appliances this friday, and access to all rooms was required. so i'll have to loan my cats to sweta again. grabbed pinkies from dem on the way back in preparation for the peeing in the car tomorrow. :\ i don't know why there are no more pinkies on the wards.

slightly irked at having to hold the phone today. my reg seems to think it's a junior doctor's responsibility (probably because christian has been holding it), even though it's really a pho/reg phone. but it's alright,

also have to pay $200+ in fines for not paying for using the citylink in december. in december! ugh. but what can you do.

my reg is also going diving this weekend haha, but at lady musgrave instead. or like, from the shore or something. she said that from what she read, lady elliot has the best diving sites around here. :D eggcite.

apparently i have been timelined. wow it really brings everything up, doesn't it. makes stalking easier, haha.

0118 999 881 999 119 7253


walking around backwards.

post take day but we only had like.. 2 new patients + 1 consult. the consult was a 19yo girl who had had a tubal ligation. :O at 19yo! but then she'd had two kids. and crohn's disease.

we are also no longer on take over the weekend. :) how lovely. hopefully we won't have too many handbacks.

there was a patient called ronald mcdonald in ED today hahaha. ;p he's quite old though, they were saying he was probably born before mcdonalds. ;p made me wonder how long maccas has been around.

suddenly realised that if i go to perth at the end of sept i'll be away two weekends in a row. they also haven't confirmed that i will get my RDOs. so i don't know. for some reason i don't really feel like going to perth haha.. only feel like going to melb! ;p can't wait.

still waiting for the dress person to reply me. please hurry up and make it so it reaches me in time!

finally finished masterchef season 4. ;p skipped the last two episodes since i sort of watched them at shaina's that time with ren. moving on to masterchef all stars. ;p

3 days to lady elliot! :D and also D: i am freaking out about the diving haha. wondering if i should get more waterproof cameras - i now have 54 shots.

13 work days to nambour, and 12.5 weeks to annual leaveee.

happy birthday rong! :)


14 work days to go. ;p hahaha.

the new reg seems nice. but i prefer kate. i always like the first ones best. but amy told me i could go home early if i wanted to haha. but i hung around to listen to tariq teaching christian about hypo-osmolar hyponatraemia.

had a few handbacks today. almost felt like a post take ward round.. hope we won't have too many tomorrow. :|

measured my iphone cable using the wooden ruler in the medical ward but didn't believe it. so fat! haha. so i borrowed the ruler to do my measurements again at home haha. still fat. -.- but i sent my measurements to the lady already. just can't actually buy it until she allows shipping to australia on etsy. eggcite. :) new dress haha.

WA RMO offers open next week. so fast!!

becks likes banana prawns. ;p hahaha. googled and it seems alright to give them prawns. in one forum someone said " If you eat prawns often, the cat will expect it every time after the first time." oh well i don't eat prawns very often. only every day for the last few days cos i bought the 1kg of banana prawns haha.

internet so slow todayyy.


ITCH. D: the many little insects bites we got yesterday at mon repo beach are really itchy. dying. think i need to take antihistamines again tonight.

brunch at mira's cafe with dibah, tara, and tara's new colleague, carmen. carmen is from the US. she was complaining about having to IV cannulations here because in the US it's the nurse's job. ;p had eggs ben again. looked very pretty, though the hollandaise looked a bit anaemic, and as predicted, was nowhere near as buttery as choupinette's. ;p and the portion was a bit small.

went to the shalom markets with dibah after that, while tara and carmen went to work. really wanted to get pineapples but there were none left. :( the greek aunty said come earlier next week haha. so cute. got mushrooms and onions instead, for mushroom soup! :)

am toasting some slices of baguette with butter to go with the soup. :) yeay.

today is helicopter and ambulance day, i hope ED isn't too busy! :\ it's been ridiculously busy recently, it seems, tara's been doing like 2-3 hours overtime quite regularly. D: i'm glad i did ED in caloundra.

dress person replied me. :) yeay! i don't have a ruler though, so i can't really send her my measurements yet. shall use my iphone cable and go to hospital and use the ruler in the doctor's room tomorrow hahaha. ;p yay new dress. :D

okay masterchef and then sleep. new reg tomorrow. 3 weeks to go. :)


13 weeks to annual leave. :)

feeling myself get riled up as the conversation progresses.. then giving infuriating answers. ;p kind of like what opi taught me. ;p

remember that place we went where we had the very artificial-tasting banana milkshake? i can't for the life of me remember where it was. of course it holds no significance. but it's still bugging me.

the cheesecake smells good. :) it's sitting in the freezer now, i'll cut it tomorrow morning. :)

have sent a message to the dress people. i hope they reply. even though it's ex. :|


have been thinking about my PR application recently since christian has been telling us neverending horror stories about how his lawyer sucks, basically. but that lawyer had done an application for his friend and he had gotten it in like 2 weeks, which is why he chose him. -.-

anyway it seems really complicated. i have been unable to find any concrete information for a person in my position. can i just hire mavis to do it for me? ;p hahaha.

was planning to just drive out to town and walk around, but adibah whatsapped (and texted) me. :) went to walk the cats outside with tara for a bit, then went out with adibah! i think bailey walked more than he has ever walked on a leash today haha. not sure if it was because tara was walking him, or if he just liked the grass. ;p

went to bargara, got milkshakes and chips (because we'd had a lot of junk already this morning), and sat on the beach. :) in sundresses. who would ever believe it was august? ;p love the queensland weather, really. will really miss it if i go back to melb/ sg next year.

she decided to bring me to mon repos beach after. walked along the beach till we got to the place where turtles lay their eggs. but it isn't turtle egg hatching season now i think. met an american psychologist/ scuba instructor who was a bit overly friendly. as we were driving off he said, "you can bring a towel and a bathing suit and come down to the beach!" erm.

dropped by grunske's on the way back and got 1kg of banana prawns each haha. i think i better freeze some, don't know how i'm going to finish them all! and tara is vegetarian, so i can't even share them with her.

adibah wants to go to the shalom markets tomorrow. me too. i want to get a pineapple! she says she will cut it for me. :D because when i cut it i end up with almost nothing left to eat haha. but queensland pineapples are so yum. :)

came back and did the laundry, washed dishes, and had some prawns with garlic aioli. :) then i decided that i might as well bake the cheesecake tonight. the smell of baking cheesecake in the oven.. :)

relaxing weekend to aid in recovering from last weekend. ;p lady elliot next weekend!






TGIF

all our patients are dying, it's rather depressing really. not that we're killing them, but they're just all terribly sick with uncurable things, like refractory staph aureus sepsis or spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and acute renal failure on a background of nash-related liver cirrhosis.

couldn't sleep last night and was thinking. i suppose either way it wouldn't work. :( sighs of deep sadness. one of the few things in life i have dared to reach out for.

we were seeing a patient in bed 19 when my phone rang. it wasn't on silent today because i didn't want to miss the call. the interview lasted all but 5 mins. D: i really didn't answer the questions in the best way, but oh well. i'm actually not too bothered. :|

when i got back (they were still seeing the same patient), this is how the conversation went:

t (reg): how did it go? which hospital was it for?
me: it was alright. geelong in victoria.
t: oh, melbourne.
c (sho): did they ask you clinical questions?
me: no, no clinical questions at all. they asked questions like why i wanted to work there..
c: did you say "because it's cool! i love it!"
t: did you say "bundaberg sucks!"

haha. this was all in front of the patient okay. but it's okay, the patient was pretty much deaf.

i feel like chopping my hair off.

tae got ballarat! :) yay!

went for journal club. felt like i haven't gone to journal club in a long time. 2 more journal clubs to go, i hope i get to escape having to do a presentation! ;p i should, cos next week the renal guys are rostered on and the week after that it's an m&m meeting. and the week after that i'm planning to ask to be rostered on a half day and use that as my traveling time (we get paid for 4 hours to drive back to civilisation).

feel like shopping again. dress for the spring wedding, reef shoes, clothes in general.

i'm glad it's the weekend. i think it's taken me all week and i still haven't completely recovered from last weekend. this urti doesn't help either. thankful that the next trip i'll be making only involves a 1.5 hour drive and a 2.5 hour flight!


happy national day! :) even though i have pretty much jumped ship....

attempted to be slightly patriotic and walked around the hospital like a weirdo in a batik kebaya haha. nobody knew what it was. ;p usually i watch the ndp online but my internet is so crappy at the moment, hmm. might try in a while.

wanted to bake a cheesecake tonight. but my nose has been running non-stop all day and i don't really feel like it now. maybe on monday. or for monday. we might be post take on monday because dr mrs bambery isn't well. :\ i like calling her dr mrs bambery because i think it's important that her doctor status isn't forgotten, especially since it's her husband who's the head of medicine and when we say "dr bambery" we're usually referring to him.

must have been feeling slightly sick already yesterday because i had the foresight to cook chicken soup in the slow cooker. :) how long can i keep it cooking, i wonder?

this is my fifth common cold for the year. five in 8 months, that is ridiculous! D:

tara and i are going to bring the cats out on saturday haha.

okay ndp starts in like 20 mins. ;p time to shower and get some ice cream. ;p

oh and reminder to self: please prep for geelong interview!


the day ended on a rather bad note. i could stop thinking about it, except that i'll have to face that patient again tomorrow morning. :| sigh.

did my mid term assessment today, finally. was rather surprised that i had several ticks (or rather, crosses) in the "performance better than expected" box. yeay. :) though i have not presented a single patient to him, heh.

need to remember to prep for my geelong phone interview on friday. phone interviews are so much less terrifying than face to face interviews!

the heart is starting to peel from the bottom. not supposed to pick at it.

looking forward to the following weekend at lady elliot. :) hope the weather's good! need to rest properly before that weekend, i still feel so tired.

i think i can start counting down now.. i have worked 10 + 12 + 6.5 = 28.5 weeks. i have 3.5 + 10 = 13.5 weeks till my annual leave. and 3.5 + 10 + 5 = 18.5 weeks of work left to the end of internship. i am 60% done! :)

need to remember to find a postbox to post my national police check stuff and ballarat application. going to pretend to be a singapore girl tomorrow for national day haha. post take day, i feel tired just thinking about it. :| but i have soup cooking in the slow cooker for tomorrow. :) thank God for slow cookers (especially for free ones).

too tired to talk to you lah. -.-


i don't mind standing every day
out on your corner in the pouring rain

i kept thinking today is the 8th. -.- i think chip confused me.

saying i'm tired would be an understatement. at about 4.15pm i just wanted to go home and sleep. but now i don't feel like sleeping anymore haha. too hungry. ;p but i'm too lazy to cook. and i don't feel like eating the frozen cooked food i have. fruit for dinner.

worked with tridiv today, which was alright. i prefer kate, but kate is gone haha. apparently they had 9 handbacks yesterday. :\ made me feel guilty about not being around, heh.

have to do my mid term assessment tomorrow with dr bambery. D: i answer nearly every question he asks with "i don't know." so going to die. :( no i just need to passsss i already have my referees!

trying to be like kate and go down to chip instead of making them come up to find us all the time, because they appreciate it so much. ;p i've mostly been signing other people's warfarin doses anyway haha.

tara has booked our lady elliot weekend. :D yeay! $425 gone, and that excludes the dive. good thing tomorrow's pay day, i really feel broke. :\

infiltrate. so sly. pleaseeee.


sew this up with threads of reason and regret
so i will not forget, i will not forget
how this felt one year six months ago i know
i cannot forget, i cannot forget

i'm falling into memories of you
the things we used to do
follow me there, a beautiful somewhere
a place that i can share with you


i am exhausted. it's hard to believe i only arrived this morning, it feels like i've been here for a few days.

at certain points during the day when picturing things people were saying i pictured them in an australian setting though, haha.

arrived in sg at about 5.30am this morning. flew through immigration but had to wait for my luggage to come out. didn't really have to check it in but i was just lazy. my mother picked me up and took me home and i sort of just waited for people to wake up to say hi to everyone. had breakfast, showered, and got ready.

drove to pasir panjang christ church. thoughts while driving: when in singapore, drive as a singaporean drives. fortunately i will still keep the courtesy of signalling before changing lanes and letting people change lanes when they signal. i just need to be more aggressive, ha.

wedding! :D:D said hi to nicholas and congratulated him, and also said hi to cheryl's parents and chrystal. found lois and yuanxin and sat together. :) hee i love weddings.

met steffi and mabel there too! haha. and said hi to aunty belinda. had lots of good asian food. :) we hung around till the end after people had nearly finished packing up so we could talk to cheryl for a bit. :) was nice.

went off to meet what is left of nine. couldn't figure out how to get to the ion carpark without having to pay erp, couldn't figure out how to get to the ion carpark at all. ended up paying erp and parking at cairnhill. watched them play citadels and attempted to understand the game. sebas says my heart tattoo is ugly and looks like a mole.

dropped rong off at home and went home to "rest" for a bit. changed but really couldn't be bothered freshening up much. lois picked me up and we went to hotel intercontinental. :)

photobooth! + canapes. :) sat at a table with a very interesting guy haha. he could go on and on about random topics. and he drank a ton of coke. but it was fun. ;p and i got a special mention for crossing oceans to go for the wedding. ;p hehe.

went to pick lois' brother up, then they dropped me off home. :) was nice to not have to drive. :)

i am so tired i just want to sleep for ten thousand years. D:


so tired today. D: doesn't help that i took a nap earlier tonight and now have a headache. :(

most torturous post take ward round ever. at first we thought we only had like 3 new patients, but it turned out that most of the new ones didn't get added to our list for some unknown reason. -.- then they kept being moved around so we kept going around in circles. -.- and then the boss ordered so many investigationsss. i had to do FOUR imaging request forms for one patient.

we were going to do a lumbar puncture (i was going to get to do an LP!) on a patient but the surgeons decided to take him to theatre instead. oh well.

was asked to take bloods on the metcall lady again. tried once and gave up. she has a fistula in the right arm and IV fluids running into the left. she also has an old fistula in the left arm. and her left arm is all bruised from all the times people have tried to take bloods/ put IVs in. christian was rather miffed that chris (the renal reg) asked us to do it and then left early. -.- and zina was indignant on my behalf, because i was asked to take bloods on her yesterday too haha.

dr bambery ate 2 pieces of brownies. ;p

went to spotlight to get supplies after work, then went to rainbow nails for a mani haha. the girl said she can be my friend if i want a vietnamese friend haha. and the lady beside me was a police officer, ha.

a guy from northeast wangaratta called and left a message asking me to call him back. hmm, i don't even know where wangaratta is haha. should probably do that before calling him back.

it's 10.30 already?! D:

need to find contacts.


remembering to do things at nearly the last minute. (y)
- booking a parking spot near brisbane airport
- unlocking my iphone 4s
- finding the singtel sim i bought in june

parking is a lot more expensive now though. D: when i went to melb it was $35 for 4-5 days (i can't remember exactly) but now it's $50?! another place is $47 and i will take that but whyyy. maybe it's because i forgot to book earlier, hmm.

called telstra to unlock my phone. "okay now all you have to do is sync your phone to itunes and you can use other sim cards after 72 hours." 72 hours?!

brownies baked but i haven't tried them yet. used my leftover dulce de leche because i couldn't be bothered to melt the werther's caramel candies haha. hope it works out.

shall begin my packing so i don't have to rush like mad before the long drive on friday. think i might be able to wear my white dotti dress to the wedding? the problem is i have no other heels in sg (i think). it's so difficult when your belongings are divided between three places (well, four really).

i really like the necktie camera strap. you should totally get it. it is definitely radder than the seatbelt.


1.5 days. :)

such a boring day at work today. we had one patient in mcdu (who we discharged first thing this morning) and one in rehab awaiting a nursing home placement. the rest of our patients are on chip, which means we only need to review them when they come in to the chip inreach clinic, and none came in today.

inserted an IV and took bloods twice. i actually like doing these things now. ;p hahaha. coming at people with needles.

complained to zina about how bored i was. cos she's also always complaining that she's bored in the afternoons haha. then there was a metcall (on a lady i'd put an IV into yesterday). GCS 3. she had chronic renal failure and had 2.5mg morphine while on dialysis earlier today, they'd taken off 2.5L. she woke up after having some naloxone though, hmm. but it was only 2.5mg morphine?

geelong called me to offer me an interview. :) was rather surprised because i'd only submitted my applications yesterday. plus last year i only got interviews at places that offered interviews to everyone haha.

so i'm just casting my nets wide and hoping to get offers and then make a decision. i don't know. will probably have to go to the post office to get my documents certified on friday. that means i should probably go for my mani tomorrow evening haha. since it's late night shopping day. :) need to get some twine too hmm.

promised several people i'd bake tonight, but i'm feeling so lazy. :| but i promised. and people are leaving, oh well. need to remember to warn christian and handover the plan for one of our patient's who's going to be flown to rbwh on monday.

okay mustering up my remaining energy to go and bake an adaptation of the caramel-filled brownies!