Wow! I haven't blogged in a year!

Lots has happened and is about to happen. :) This year will be when we all finally graduate after 6 years of being a med student! :)

 

We just had our semester 11 exams and job applications. I've applied to 10 hospitals in Victoria as well as interstate: NSW, Adelaide, Western Aus & Queensland. :) I hope to stay in Victoria - my first choice is Bendigo Health. Why Bendigo? For various reasons... (do ask me in person if you want to know). Bendigo is a rural town (used to be a gold mining town) about 2 hours drive from Melbourne. :) The hospital only accepts about 10 interns... and of those 10, only 1 or 2 are from the interstate/international student pool.

 

I'm now back at home in Msia - it's so good to be back at home sweet home with my family and friends here. Am only back for 2 weeks which is sure to whiz by in a blink of the eye - but I'll try to make the best of it...

Only one week of holidays left here in Msia then I'll be returning to Melbourne.

Personally speaking, I like the lifestyle in Melbourne more but somehow home is always home, and its so nice to be back here and pampered by my family and catching up with friends I haven't seen in half a year. :)

 

It's strange how most of my friends have completed their degrees and started working... seems like I'm one step behind on the natural progression of life... its as if I'm still a caterpillar in the cocoon of education - while everyone has hatched and become beautiful fluttering butterflies! - but I'm loving still being a student - seems more carefree - though I feel guilty to be continually spending my parent's money. :P I wonder how working life will be, and where I'll be working... the future is still so interestingly uncertain. :)

 

This upcoming semester is going to be a pretty free one, which is good for various reasons. :)

Thus I've decided to pick up a short course in Mandarin. :) It's about time I trace my roots and I am excited about it~! :)

 

Hong Kong electives has been confirmed by the Hong Kong Health Authorities~~! :) Just received notification today in my inbox. :)

 

Haven't been able to catch up with Stacey, Sha and Linda this hols - everyone is away - but we've planned a quadruple birthday celebration when everyone is finally together at the end of the year - that'll be awesome! :)

 

Enough of shopping! ehhehehe. ;)

 

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays~~~! :)

Wow! :)

 

If you're looking for pristine pure white beaches with crystal clear sapphire blue waters... I recommend Langkawi! :)

Tanjung Rhu beach especially!

And if you have tonnes of money... the best resort there is Four Seasons Resort which is along Tanjung Rhu beach. :) It's super pricey though... we didn't stay there but we walked by as we went to visit Tanjung Rhu beach, and that resort is amazing! :) We were all saying it's a nice place for a honeymoon.. hehe.

 

Where did we stay? We stayed at Berjaya Langkawi Beach and Spa Resort... thanks to Fabian because his parents booked us the chalet and didn't charge us a cent! Many thanks. :) It's a beautiful place to stay, in chalets admist the jungles, or by the waterfront... and it's such a big resort that to go anywhere there are buggy-4WDs to bring you around - it's a thrilling ride when you get a young driver that wants to show off his driving skills - had us clutching to the seats and screaming like it was a rollercoaster ride!

 

The highlight of the trip has gotta be the banana boat ride!!!! WOOOO!!! :) hahaha.. it's a MUST! And make sure you tell the driver that you want it as exciting as possible and want to be thrashed around so much that you fall into the salty sea multiple times! :) He will grant your wishes... and you'll end up in the sea bobbing around in your life vest and spitting out salty sea water! :)

 

For good food, check out Pantai Cenang and Kuah Town - they have lots of seafood places of various cuisines and at reasonable prices. Pop by the duty free shops to get really cheap alcohol, chocolates, biscuits.. basically all imported goods at duty free price! :) I bought a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka for my bro. It's good... came to like it after Su brought over a bottle to our Melb house party! :)

 

For something exotic, it's worth going to visit the Black Sand Beach up north - it's not completely black, but about a third of it is black and it makes an intriguing pattern on the beach.

 

I learned that Langkawi means Red Eagle in Malay... it was named Langkawi because of the abundance of Red Eagles there... we even managed to feed a few while we went Island Hopping... they are indeed such majestic creatures! I'd love to be up high in the sky soaring like an eagle.. and with such perfect vision and precision in hunting! Our island hopping experience was super hot but fun - we even managed to catch a glimpse of a few dolphins.. and tonnes of jellyfish! Saw sleepy bats hanging peacefully in caves - tickled them with light... went to crocodile caves (but none were there)... spotted monitor lizards along the mangroves, gasped at huge fish and sea creatures at the fishing village... and managed to visit secluded beaches. :)

 

Many thanks to the guys and Doreen for driving us gals around. :) We nicknamed them Mohammed, Ali, Ismail, Samsed, Fatimah... hehehehe... oneday I hope to be able to be a confident driver thus be able to drive my friends around... ehehhe I've told Eric before that I hope to be able to drive him around the next time he comes to KL to visit! I think i keep saying that every year... ;)

 

Other fond memories of this trip was playing beach volleyball during sunsets (I'm real bad at it, but it was fun cos everyone didn't mind and were patient!), playing multiple card games into the wee hours of morning, Pizza Hut & McDonalds song singing, karaoke during the buggy rides, drinking and lazing in the pool, asking silly questions during Bartok, visiting a trickling waterfall, watching my friends fighting with a monkey that grabbed our bag of snacks, everyone teaching PJ how to swim (hehee!), all the good food and great company~! :)

loving it! :)

I really like looking at Christmas lights...

somehow it sets such a lovely ambience

and an almost magical atmosphere.

I wonder if I'll ever be going back to Bendigo.

 

Its hard to believe that 6 weeks has gone by so quickly. I'm typing this in Melbourne and thinking back to the times we've spent there. It was good and I have nothing to complain about except the superbly slow internet connection there, which can be frustrating at times (esp when doing EBP assignment).

 

On our last night there, us 8 (Alison, Jeremy, Pey Eing, Wendy, David, Jane, Eric who came to visit & i) filled Alison's 4 wheel drive and we drove around Bendigo while blasting Westlife's "How am I supposed to leave you now". Indeed it is a teeny bopper song, but it was fun just playing that silly catchy song and singing along to the chorus which has significance to us leaving Bendigo. *grins*

 

It has been fun staying at the student quarters, where the walls are paper thin, where our cheese in the fridge has been stolen multiple times, where the cinema is just a 5 minute stroll away, where we always drive together to the hospital and back, where we cook gourmet meals together, where we chat or play games til late, where we complain non-stop about how slow the internet is... bendigo. i will miss that place.

 

 

cold cold COLD! :)

 

It was the coldest day in bendigo that I have experienced in my 5 weeks there... 6 degrees Celcius!

Usually Bendigo would cry out happily for rain, but on this race day, no one was pleased when rain sloshed down on us.

It would have been nice to finish off our picnic on the grass, but it was fun huddling together in the stands, all bundled up in our jackets. Many ladies braved the cold in their pretty dresses and heels, guys were more fortunate because most had nice thick suits. Everyone looked so smart.

 

It was definately cold, I was shivering, but on the whole I still had a good day - it was fun going to the races for the first time, and being able to go with my good friends. :)

 

We even bet on some horses! - using the money that was rewarded to us when we found a guy's wallet on the way to the races. When I spoke to Adam I told him we had found his wallet and asked him to meet us at the entrance. I said "look out for three asian girls and a caucasian guy". It was easy for him to find us. There aren't many asians in bendigo.

 

This is the 2nd wallet I've found along the streets in melbourne... I wonder if i'll find another.

I'm happy for the person whose wallet was found, I can imagine how horrible it must be to lose a wallet, I've experienced that twice: once in london and once in malaysia - perhaps I am an easy target for pickpocketers - but I am much more careful now, I carry my bag with the zip in the front and I make sure my valuables are safely zipped away.

 

Wendy and I are going home in 2 weeks time... I'm definately looking forward to going home... but I will miss Melbourne too...

 

 

Time to sleep.

Looking out of my window at the REB fountain...

so serene and peaceful.

Eric: you'll be there in the afternoon - all the best! :)

 

I quite miss having exams there...

our exams from now onwards will be held at hospitals...

That's fine by me, but I will miss those familiar warm red heaters that burn your cheeks,

walking invigilators that love to whisper even at exams,

the shuffle of feet into the exam hall,

gazing up at the beautiful interior of REB,

the shakey wooden tables that sometimes need a wedge of paper squashed under one leg,

frantic shuffle of paper when exams begin,

tense atmosphere of hundreds of pens scribbling away furiously,

the warning announcement before the end of exams,

the final "pens down",

the silent paper collections,

the whispers of "how was it?" from friends who turn around to you,

the urge to get out of the exam hall when freedom calls...

the outside...

luscious green Carlton garden,

splashing fountain

and ofcourse...

the myriad of flowers that bob their heads with the wind as if there is not a care in the world...

 

All the best to everyone having exams! Lets do our best and persevere... exams will be here and over soon... then we can join the flowers in the bliss of carefree holidays~~ :)

Lets all gambate (do our best) for these exams!!! :)

Flight confirmed - 5th December - yay I get to fly back to Msia with my good buddy Wendy! :)

Here's some pics of our wacky times at surgery... we sure look weird in those scrubs. Usually it's short sleeved scrubs, but we discovered the long sleeved ones this time because when we were feeling cold, our surgeon tutor actually went to get us long sleeved ones to wear - and even held it up for us to slip our hands in - that was real nice! Who said all surgeons are snobbish? Not true!

Am going home on 6th December - my flight has been booked!

May go back on 5th December if there's flight availability, then I can be on the same flight as Wendy! :)

Looking forward to going home, seems like it's not far away...

 

Tonite we "gel-ed" with the MOnash final year meds thanks to Jeremy's spontaneous idea of bringing out his poker set. It's sad that tomorrow will be their last day in Bendigo. They'll be interns next year - wow! I hope we'll cross paths again in the future and continue playing cards, rolling dice and do those drinking hand games again...