happy new year 2014 December 31, 2013

1. What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before?

– seen cherry blossom in person for the first time (yes, sua ku, whatever)

– attempted flower arrangement (i’m not that domesticated la)

– drank a bottle of whiskey within a few days (for a nagging cough, really)

– hiked half of a 14km trail in the rain

– sponsored to go for a conference (ISPD-APCM) overseas (taipei). much thanks, Baxter!…

-… where i did my first ever poster presentation! (proud of self *pats back* thanks to dr y for the push & guidance)

– went back to studies after 12 years of brain atrophy… with a gem from God.

– applied for funding for a research project, did an oral presentation (trembling nonetheless) in defense of it, and got it funded! again, thanks to dr y for the guidance, and a great team of seniors supporting it. a special shout out to sook wern who accompanied me through the late nights and offered moral support.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

what resolutions?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

maya!

4. Did anyone close to you die?

thankfully no.

5. What countries did you visit?

kota kinabalu & penang of malaysia (technically, it’s a country, since i’m travelling from singapore. oh, and johor too!), beijing-china and taipei-taiwan.

6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?

closer relationship with God

7. What dates from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

nil

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

survived first semester of studies, seeing sook wern walked down the aisle… to receive Jesus into her heart

9. What was your biggest failure?

no failures, only lessons learnt

10. What was the best thing you bought?

a stethoscope, in fuschia!

11. Whose behavior merited celebration?

sook wern & mum

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

lazy people aka free riders, who expect you to do all the work while they ride on your effort, while making unending excuses for their laziness…

13. Where did most of your money go?

bank account (phew)

14. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

70% sales at marks & spencer… (ya, i know…)

15. What song will always remind you of 2013?

—

16. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

happier, thinner, richer

17. What do you wish you’d done more of?

building relationships, attend a cell group

18. What do you wish you’d done less of?

worrying

19. How did you spend Christmas?

studying

20. Did you fall in love in 2013?

not for the past 7 years no

21. What was your favorite TV program?

ellen

22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

—

23. What was the best book you read?

handbook of dialysis none

24. What did you want and get?

an opportunity to study again

25. What did you want and not get?

body of a supermodel an apartment…

26. What was your favorite film this year?

—

27. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?

can’t remember at all! *denial mode on*

28. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

nothing!

29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?

leh leh feh feh

30. What kept you sane?

God, mum, friends

31. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

—

32. Who did you miss?

margaret, julia, sharon

33. Who was the best new person you met?

sook wern

34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.

worrying magnifies my problems, prayer & praise magnifies my Problem Solver

china trip – day 5 May 5, 2013

10th may 2012 – guess what?! i found pictures from my china trip for day 5 in one of my pendrive. it was from a visit to shaanxi history museum. i think what i’ll do is to upload all the pictures minus any captions as it has been a year since the trip and i don’t think i can remember much from it.

this is a really cool seal… multifaceted.

the following pictures are from a muslim street in xi’an.

 

i do remember these dumplings… delicious!

 

think this is the drum tower (or was it the bell tower)

 

picture from atop drum/bell tower… went alone. walked around under the hot sun.. but totally worth it.

 

– the end –

nursing = low-skilled job? February 22, 2013

it doesn’t matter if nurses graduated with good grades or top of their nursing cohort.

it doesn’t matter if nurses have a diploma/advanced diploma/bachelor’s/masters/PhD degree in nursing.

it doesn’t matter because when nurses put on the nursing uniform, they are automatically perceived as a “low-skilled worker” *; who only knows how to change patient’s diaper, shower/sponge the patient, serve medications, take vital signs (temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, pain score), follow doctors’ instructions and et cetera.

on top of that, nurses may face demanding patients/patients’ relatives; who talk to them in a condescending manner, at times hurling unnecessary vulgarities/curses (that’s you, Mr Y), and if the nurses are really unfortunate, they become victims of violence (yes, a colleague was kicked right at her chest by a patient).

oh, did we forget, nurses need to take on the dreaded shift: 7am-3:15pm, 1:15pm-9:30pm, as well as the graveyard shift. they work round the clock to alleviate the pain and discomfort of the patients, including those who are abusive towards them.

and in return? nurses get a less than desirable pay… and are labelled as “low-skilled” workers.

so, before the government whines about the lack of nurses (especially local ones) in the country, take a real good look at the way nurses are treated.

 

 

* as described in the Population White Paper in Singapore Parliament

hortpark January 15, 2013

22 april 2012 – soo san and a group of us went hiking at hortpark, the south-western part of singapore.

we met up near harbourfront (NE1) MRT station and went for a quick bite at harbourfront bus interchange. soon after, we started hiking using a trail nearby.

breathtaking view along the way.

the henderson wave

us, surfing the wave, get it? ok, lame.

canopy walk

not sure where is this place…

after about 1-2 hours’ hike (with lots of stops in between), we arrived at the hortpark visitor centre.

hortpark is certainly worth a visit.

genting highland January 14, 2013

beginning april 2012 – soo san and a group of friends chartered a coach and went to genting highland over the weekend (i think). this post is almost a year behind, so do forgive me for the hazy memory.

the old road winding road leading up to genting highland. i can hardly remember the first time that i was here. probably a little more than a decade ago! it was with a friend, angela liew. at that time, we took a lot of rides. this time round, i think i spent my time eating, catching a midnight movie, and… that’s it. oh, i went to have a look at the casino.

view from our hotel – resort world genting (i think)

soo san and i, on out way back to singapore.

ok, one more post down…

china trip – the end January 13, 2013

i finally wanted to sit down and post up the rest of my china trip pictures. however, they are no where to be found. all i know is that recently, i got a new laptop, and the previous laptop was reformatted and given to my dad. oh well…

happy new year 2013 by the way.

are you serious? November 5, 2012

although I do read fashion magazines such as female, cleo, her world, elle, marie claire and et cetera, I do not count myself as a fashion forward person.

maybe that’s why I find this pair of earrings worn by a model for givenchy in harper’s bazaar (Oct 2012 issue) oh-so-difficult to accept.

probably it’s just me…

china – day 5 August 28, 2012

9th may 2012 – we booked a cab the previous night to take us to the terracota warriors in lintong, xi’an, shaanxi province from our hotel in xi’an city. on our way, we dropped by banpo museum. and visited huaqing hot spring on our way back.

 

entrance to banpo museum.

 

residential site

 

 

men in banpo did not get to live beyond 30 years old. so says the travel guide.

 

if you are hard-pressed for time, i suggest you skip the banpo museum. i did not find it interesting.

onwards to the terracota warriors and horses! the museum is divided into 3 pits. here is the entrance to pit 2.

 

can you spot the pottery soldiers?

 

mind you, they are life size.

 

blurry picture due to poor lighting. and one has to jostle with the rest of the crowd for a good picture.

 

 

 

 

 

after a while, they begin to look somewhat alike.

 

 

entrance to Pit 3

 

 

simply amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

the terracota warriors and horses is definitely worth a visit.

on our way back to xi’an city, we visited the huaqing hot spring. it is made famous by a king, who built the palace for his concubine (yang guifei), said to be one of the four most beautiful women in ancient china.

 

 

 

site of imperial pool, i think.

 

this is supposedly where yang guifei took her bath.

 

 

 

we got back to xi’an city around evening and walked around the area near citadines central, looking for food…

 

 

 

 

had dumplings here…

 

i love, love, LOVE the dumplings here.

 

after dinner, we went to musline street, again.

 

 

can hardly remember what we did for the rest of the night… probably just strolled along muslim street and then back to the hotel for an early night.

ta!

 

china – day 4 August 27, 2012

8th may 2012 – we flew from beijing to xi’an, shaanxi province of china; to visit the terracota warriors and horses of emperor qin shi huang’s mausoleum.

waiting to board…

can’t remember which airline we flew with, but it was a local airlines. not too bad.

this picture was taken around zubashi street, near citadines central, where my parents and i stayed for the next 4 days, 3 nights.

on our way to muslim street

chinese muslim

dates of different grades for sale along muslim street

one of the entrance to muslim street

some snacks, i think

made from shan zha or hawthorn berry

car squeezing in between stalls…

we had dinner here

lamb with “bread”

drum tower

citadines central of xi’an, shaanxi province

another abrupt end…

china – day 3 August 26, 2012

7th may 2012…

 

dandelion

 

visit to the local market

 

fresh produce

 

mum bought two bagful of yummy eggroll from one of these shops

 

we had lunch at mei zhou dong po restaurant

 

apparently, it is an award-winning restaurant. one of the certificate states, “chinese flavor, olympic standard” *grins*

 

and here is a picture of my parents, having “olympic standard” lunch.

 

a picture of me, taken by my 5-year-old nephew, before bedtime…