Hi, I am a Foundation Year 1 doctor, how are you feeling today?
I'm the F1 in Ophthalmology. I must say it is one of the easier rotations out there in terms of ward jobs(practically none) and responsibilities(even less). Don't blame me, I didn't ask for it to be my first one. That being said, I am pretty glad I'm in it because I absolutely love the eye and I'm pretty focused on attempting for this as a career option. We'll see(my cv is not amazing). It has so many gadgets and tools as well and I am such a sucker for toys it's not even funny. Microsurgery requires such a tremendous amount of skill that just thinking about it is making me excited. I'm such a geek.
Most of us will rather lose a limb than lose our vision and the prospect of being blind is paramount when compared to losing any of our other senses.
My friends say I'm fickle and that when I change rotation, I will instantly want to be something else. Perhaps it is time to be serious in life, grow up, and work towards my goals?
Hmmm. Maybe after a few more dota games.
Life is quirky
So, this GP got so shaken up by the incidents of the 7/7 bombing that he told himself "Enough is enough, life is too short" and proceeded to fulfill his life-long ambition: to be a woman.
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I'm normally not so dull
But the last tryst at Velvet I reverted to a sulky shadow that sat on the stool and looked like he wished to be anywhere but there.
TO be fair, I was looking forward to a good night out seeing as how I'm back in home sweet home only for a good 3 weeks. Perhaps it was my long hiatus from hard liquor that set me off as my initial sip into that awful tasting mix was enough to open the floodgates of nausea and malaise. In my defense, I can actually hold my drink a lot longer than the average Asian man, excluding those of South Asian origin of course.
Just next to me Wei Jin was wasting no time downing the whiskey in loving memory of every solitary ringgit that he paid out for it. His ravenous desire to intoxicate himself as quickly as possible enticed everyone else to join in, and seeing as how everyone was beginning to catch up on him, he imbibed a few more glasses to be again one step ahead in getting his money's worth. Just looking at my glass made me feel woozy and I'm beginning to wonder if this was some odd drug interaction with the loratadine/pseudoephedrine sulphate tablet that I popped before I left the house- but attempting to remember pharmacology just made me feel more sick.
So I ended up just not doing much for the majority of the night, choosing instead to put on a 'lansi' look which was crudely interpreted by everyone else as a 'sien' look. It is an interesting experience however staying sober while the party around you became a lot more inebriated. I maintain that alcohol must be one of man's greatest social inventions if not the greatest. Even Jesus preferred a barrel of chardonnay over a barrel of water.
That being said, always know your limits.
(For the record, no one looked like that on that night)
After a few hours however of doing basically nothing, the moment came to pass and I was feeling like my chirpy old self again. Unfortunately for me(and the rest of the party), the night was soon to be over. It seems like I would have to wait a few more days before I can put my ethanol tolerance to test again. Roar.
Noooooo...
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Come next year, doctors may start to see a problem they've yet to experience -- a pen shortage.
New guidelines released on Thursday by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) prohibit drug makers from giving out pens, as well as other "non-educational" items such as mugs, to healthcare providers and their staffs.
As part of its revised marketing code, the pharmaceutical trade organization determined that such items, which are typically adorned with a company or product logo, may foster misperceptions that these interactions with healthcare professionals "are not based on informing them about medical and scientific issues."
"It has the look of an unprofessional relationship," said Billy Tauzin, president and chief executive officer of PhRMA, during a media briefing on the revised code. "Removing that look is important."
The PhRMA directives, effective January 1, also bar company sales representatives from taking doctors and healthcare providers out for dinners, although they allow companies to provide meals in doctors' offices in conjunction with informational presentations.
Merck and Co Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Amgen Inc and AstraZeneca Plc were among the companies issuing press releases in support of the new guidelines, which are voluntary. The last time PhRMA revised its guidelines was in 2002.
A 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that drug makers spend $30 billion a year on marketing drugs, although the study did not specify how much the companies spend on so-called "reminder" objects, like bottles of lotion, clipboards and flashlights.
"Probably too much," said Seamus Fernandez, an analyst with Leerink Swann.
Sigh, just as I might be able to attend more drug rep lunches next year.
Typical timing. Curse you, Murphy.
Hypocrisy
They were two simple chinese men making a living in a predominantly white nation. English was more fruitful now with a few phrases in between the both of them and at such an age, learning was slow and hardly taken seriously. However they had their little corner of the world in a quaint chinese restaurant and on Thursday evenings, they could sip some chinese tea served in tattered cups- and chat languidly of the adversities they faced this week.
A Gwai Lou got on his nerve, he was saying. He was walking down chinatown minding his own business as all chinese men do when the Gwai Lou, in the most brazen of tones, "NI HAO MA..!~". To which of course he did not reply and that earned him a prompt following, "KONICHIWA!~" His friend gave an earnest laugh - do not mind them, they do not like us and feels we are overcrowding their country. If given the chance, they would send each and every one of us home.
His friend now tells a story, he was getting his groceries when he asked the lady what that extra charge was for and he received a patronizing reply - "YESS mister.... that's what we do HERE... you buy something and you.. have.. to.. pay.. for.. it.." Each word pronounced slowly for his benefit. Each word rolled around like she was speaking to a person who was beneath her.
So the two simple chinese men came to agree that racism is a prevailing evil.
After tea, they both set off on their way but at the entrance of the restaurant, a family of indian descent was walking past - " Lei tai ha li pan sek ka li ge yan - hou lan cho" (Look at these curry-eating people, so damn noisy) To which his friend gave an earnest laugh again in acknowledgement and they both went home.
Moral of the story? You tell me.
I made it.
Veni, vidi, vinci.
I'm very grateful because I think I may not have deserved this as much as some and so am eternally thankful for the blessings I've received over the course of these five and a half years; blessings which have withstood with me through difficult times and the angels that have stood patiently by my side to see me cross my hurdles.
Also, I <3 wikipedia 4eva.
The CLAW that rules us all..jpg)
So being the long time owner of a very addictive personality, I have probably fallen prey to these claw machines a little more times than I should have allowed myself to. These machines depend heavily on its alluring pull to earn its keep and when it allows you to think, "Wow, I was so close~!", then it has got you beat. We got lucky that day.
Us 3 boys were simply hanging about for an innocuous afternoon movie,(Harold and Kumar is hilarious btw), when we spotted one of the CLAWs and my inner voice told me that I would be a winner today. So Jaycen was around me and being the pessimist that he was sniggered at my attempts to win a cute little fluffy bear while Han Sian simply looked on in glee as he does at everything else that's happening around him.
First try, unlucky. Second try, success! The claw got a snug hold of one of the teddy bear's derriere and it never looked back. Third try, another win! Fourth! Fifth!
I was on a hot streak and won 7 in the space of a minute. We were holding like 2 or 3 bears each and was actually feeling embarrassed for winning so many that we decided to deposit it all in the car and come back again for round two.
This time HanSian was also equally hooked and won a few of his own with Jaycen also winning one with ease. We came to the conclusion that the machine was bugged because the claw's grasp was unusually strong and it was actually more difficult for a teddy bear to NOT get grabbed by the CLAW.
So after watching Harold and Kumar holding two teddies each, we went back to the machine and was surprised that no one else tried it seeing as how we Azns were completely pounding it. So we did what our parents would want us to do, went on to win the remaining toys.
We ended up with 15 teddies that day! An amazing haul for such a usually difficult game. These were the pictures which we excitedly took to remind us of how awesome we were.
So it finally arrived.
To be fair, I once envisaged fireworks and streamers that revelled in a background of festivity, and an overwhelming euphoria that was both foreign yet filling in the appropriate spaces left vacant by 17 years of continuous revision and never-ending exams. Of course, like everything else, if you over-hype a certain event, your expectations end up devaluing the actual experience and you are found wanting in the dark searching for a climax that will never come.
The last day of medical school finals was like any other day- the sun kept on shining and the sea rushed to shore. I marked down my last answer on the answer sheet unconvincingly(because I know at best it is a 50 percent guess) and realised that this could possibly be the last exam of med school! Now all there is left to do is wait for my finals results. Perhaps if I find out I do pass and as a result of that will graduate, the culmination of everything that has been and the much awaited sense of triumph will finally make its way to the surface and reveal its grandeur for all to witness. Fireworks of success, I humbly await thee.
In case you can't already guess, I really, really want to pass. PLEASE. If I do not make it, then I will aptly delete this post.
ANYWAY, in other news, damn sien.. no holidays at all! I have a weekend's break before having to start a one month's attachment. Just given one weekend after finals! Can you imagine that?
omg I'm so imba
this was me winning a sit'n'go in facebook. Hoho.
I'm starting to really enjoy this game and am learning bits and pieces of it along the way. Due to my addictive personality, I'm sure it'll be some time before I get sick of it. And I'll only want to quit when I'm really good at it! Also own some people along the way, not going to name names but a certain Charlene comes to mind.
Playing online is fun but you don't get to see their facial expressions and likewise, they can't see the poker face that you've been practicing all these while. LOL.
LOL- check out this sick hand btw
I am very kiasu.
Suprisingly enough, I have only come to full realisation of this innate trait of mine just recently. I mean, I've never had the doubt once that I am pretty much someone who hates losing regardless of the situation at hand but it was just during a cute game of charades with the gang recently that I could feel my kiasu-ness gnawing at me, that other voice that talks to me from time to time telling me how I shouldn't lose this even though it's just a fun game that comes along with bunnies and daisies.
I invented a special victory dance which involved a fair amount of butt-gyrating to be used against Charlene after each point we won. Why? Because I wanted to slam it in her face. Not the butt of course but rather the fact that we've just scored a point.
I don't think I'm success-driven(scholars, top students etc) but in the acute situation, such as playing a game of dota/poker/Taboo, I am completely driven by the obsession that runs through my very soul - I need to win this game. ROAR DROOL SPITTLE.
I bet the awakening of my kiasuness must have been my one-month stint in Singapore for electives. Not that I particularly met anyone who was very kiasu but perhaps it was the air I breathed or the water I drank that transformed me from closet kiasu to full blown ROAR DROOL SPITTLE must win must win must win.
rofl. On a side note, I thoroughly enjoyed Singapore and I think it can be a very wonderful country to live in.
However, I am very much in control of my kiasu-ness I hope and for one am adamant against the idea that I'm a sore loser if things don't go my way because in the contrary, as kiasu as I am, I think I'm a very good loser when it does happen and it's happening at a very regular rate now that I'm dotaing against europeans losingeverysinglegamewtfshit :/ And the worst thing for a kiasu fellow to experience is repeated losses again and again. As much as I MAY APPEAR to be very bitter after a loss, I'm actually quite constructive about it. BTW you know why we keep losing dota games? cause I am not good enough to carry the team as my mirana farms too slow and my SF keep dying etc etc fark I digress sorry let me get back to my point.
I can't really remember my point now but talking about dota has reminded me of how I'm still doing little teenager stuff when there are people around me getting married, finding a house ETC ETC. And when they start chatting about life finances and all the serious stuff all I do is count in my head the days left before my next allowance arrives in my bank account.
Happy Good Friday. Friday is my favourite day of the week anyway hands down. I love the way the fffffrrrr sound rolls in your mouth if you're dictating the word REAL slowly.
And it's time to sleep. Laterz.
I am pissed.
Because people who piss in my toilet in my apartment back in Manchester leave stains on my toilet bowl. And I'm unhappy because when the stains dry up, the next person who uses it and notices aforementioned stains automatically assumes that it was ME who left it there and thus I am then reflected as a man of unhygienic behaviour.
In other news, my short break in tanah airku is about to come to an end. Up next, intense revision.
I should be an established blogger.
But I've turned my blog into one of those sites that don't get updated for 6 years and things start falling apart like the chatterbox, the comments, and all you're left with is a random myriad of text that reminds the reader what a witty little fellow I once was.
So when did it all stop? I actually started blogging in 2002! Wow, that's like before kennysia even discovered the computer. So why am I not a famous icon in the "blogosphere" and weaving advertorial power through my musings?
That's because: I'm boring as hell.
The current trend is, you have to write what people love to read:
1) Include pictures of beautiful people - for the hamsap fellows
2) write funny stories of yourself - so that people can have a good laugh and link you to their friends
3) occasionally write a moving piece of self-discovery - so that readers know you are a sensitive soul just trying to find his place in the big bad world
4) talk about food
5) include more beautiful pictures
Okay, the major problem with this list of pre-requisites is: I don't have enough beautiful people to take a picture of! I guess it's time to camwhore myself repeatedly if I'm looking to gain more hits.
Anyway, I'm kicking up this little blogging revival because I randomly met this slightly famous msian blogger named su ann and her conversations reminded me of why it was fun to blog in the very first place.
Get ready for a cmingo.blogspot.com revival!
