The Induction Letter

Received my induction letter today. It's to be in KL on the 7-11th Oct.
Although I have been awaiting this letter for a pretty long time, and ranting that I can't wait to start work, receiving it for real is an entirely different kinda feeling. My first reaction was @@ HELPPPPP!!!! Took me about an hour to talk it out (more like scream at each other in caps on fb msgr) with some friends to bring down the sympathetic fight n flight stimulation lol! still feel the after effect of the scariness of the whole idea of starting work soon. but i guess the feeling will wear off in the next few days (and resurface when i get to KL to await the posting letter).

uhhh..... wish me luck! haha. will update on my posting soon. zomg zomg zomg zomg zomg

n haha owh yeah, had a nice bday celebration back home :) this year is pretty special. got to celebrate with a dear sister who shares the same bday and meet a bunch of really nice ppl. thank you guys and girls!

With dear mum and grandma

awesome dad -at Laughter Pedal Food - quirky name :P

lots of teresian schmates were back in kch this yr :D

dear Ruth brought us together. happy birthday Ruth!

Thankful for the LG too and for the great ppl God has placed in my life.

Bunny Paos

Short attention span.

@@

It's when the well meaning intention to switch on the laptop to complete a document ends up with u watching several youtube videos, chatting with a few friends on fb, scrolling through the infinite newsfeed and finally wondering why you're on ur laptop in the first place. when you remember, you convince urself that you'd get it done the next day instead. procrastination at it's best. lol xP it must have been so much easier to avoid procrastination 20 years back when there was no internet. NooOoooOOoo......

tried making pao today. hahah. got the recipe off a cooking show on TVB. if a cooking dummy like me can successfully make them, anyone of u guys can. :D

Pao ingredients
All purpose flour 2 cups
Light protein flour 1 cup
Sugar 5 Tbsp
Yeast 1 tsp
Baking powder 2 tsp
Water Slightly less than 1 cup

mix them all together n knead the dough for a while. xD maybe like around 5 mins?

then add in 1 Tbsp of cooking oil and knead the dough until u feel that ur fingers are no longer oily (as in the oil's all absorbed into the dough).
Keep dough covered up n let it rise for about 10 mins. It's then all ready to be filled with any filling of ur choice. :P

The tv show taught us how to cut bunny ears / hedgehog pricks into the pao. just use a pair of scissors n nip off triangles over the round pao surface.

Then steam for about 7 mins.

 Product:

the hedgehog looks a little like a pineapple

obese bunnies. i guess if u want ur bunnies to look better, keep to making smaller sized paos.

Not the most beautiful paos on earth xD but well it's good for tea. hehe. I put in mushrooms and soy sauce chicken (cooked beforehand) for the filling cz it's a lot faster than making a yam/red bean paste.

I guess when i make exaggerated exclamations most of the time I nvr really keep to them. rmb myself thinking that all those steps were so tiresome n telling my mum 'I'll never ever make paos, I'll just go buy them.' n after telling ppl i'll nvr want to go kayaking again after the crazy close-to-death 3 hour kayaking experience at Krabi that left me with stinging muscles the entire day, i think i actually wana kayak again. :P

Hope to be able to come up with more interesting things to do while I'm still on hols :)

That said, guess.... i better start working on that document.

*for those interested to make yam paste for pao filling:
Cut yam into pieces n steam til cooked. Mash them. Add 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup creamer/milk powder (as much as u like. rephrase, to ur liking). add 3 Tbsp corn flour and 2 Tbsp wheatflour. add a little water. then fry it in some oil in a pan (to thicken the paste so that it doesnt liquefy too much when u steam the pao). this rationalization is all from the cooking show. grins. js regurgitating wadever the show host said. have fun trying !

Saratok Medical Mission

Post mission trip, you know that it'll be just moments when the post trip syndrome kicks in. hehe. Feeling slightly light headed and surreal at the moment. The past 2 days have been eye opening and needless to say much fun. :)

Looking not so far back, I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to join the Msian Medical Fellowship in their mission to Kuching. We visited two villages near the town of Saratok, which is about just 3 hours away from Sibu and 40mins away from Sarikei. Somehow i feel that this wasn't just mere coincidence that i stumbled upon this opportunity when Sun asked some of us if we were interested after her f6 classmate Nicky asked her.

This experience taught me several things about the way of life of the Ibans living in longhouses not far off from the small towns in Swak. the one we visited was relatively modern, being bricked walled and having electricity. i realised tho that clean water supply wasn't readily and abundantly available. the longhouse concept was still there, with one longhouse having about 20 plus minus rooms, each housing one family and sharing a common area in front. In a team consisting of medical students and doctor, we ran a health clinic with supplies of mostly OTC drugs, did simple health talks and played games with the children. So this was what I realised in hindsight of the health check we did. Most of the villagers needed a place to share their problems, be it strictly medical problems, or plain emotional ones. They are not entirely desolated, with a hospital available 1 hour away. But fact is, simple medical supplies such as Paracetamol, vitamins and gastric meds are not within reach of your fav pharmacy store. logically, Paracetamol isn't really worth travelling on a 2 hour return trip to the nearest clinic. therefore, magic PCMs that relieve the aches and pains that seem so insignificant to us city folks is a fairly big deal to them. imagine having a splitting headache and not having any painkillers around. xS

It is quite rare to pick up serious illness among them cz those who're really ill would've gone to the hospital. they're fairly compliant to their anti hypertensive meds. but having a doctor to just follow up on them and encourage them to reassure them that they're doing fine and doing well by being medically compliant is a boost to them. things like sleeping problems that you know you can't really treat come up in the conversation. you know you can't offer definite solutions, but at least you can hear them out, ask them if they're stressed out, listen to their problems and offer a simple prayer. it's the psychological aspect that makes the bigger difference here. this is where human touch does wonders that the most intelligent robots cant.

cute children :P

I also come to appreciate the simple faith and sincerity they have, hosting us with amazing hospitality. had several endearing moments chatting with them. simply love the children who mostly have large curious eyes (oh so cute). plus the cats there are really cute and clean xP i think some of my coursemates would've catnapped them back if they saw them. also sat through an Iban service and cell group and sang Iban songs. :D hehe. and not to forget the Iban dishes we got to savour. (camera's spoilt so i shall wait for pictures from the others) one of them is pulut rice in monkey cups (periuk kera). thr's also fried ginger, pucuk ubi, bamboo catfish, bamboo chicken. several others. supercalifragilisticexpedidelicious!

ah thr u go. the rice in the monkey cups. :P

on top of that I think what made the trip most memorable is the friendship made. :) most awesome fun loving teammates in this trip. honestly missing everyone already. i'm personally encouraged spiritually by the pastors in the team and teammates who are really passionate in walking the talk. in the Iban service on sun morning, a girl approached us to say that our testimonies spoke into her situation and encouraged her to continue serving Him as she takes her next step into UPSI next month. It couldn't be more mind blowing to see how God puts everything into place to encourage His children. What more can I say. Simply blessed. :)

the team with pastor and his family and church mbrs.

note: what i'm sharing is very specific to the area i visited, it probably (or most definitely) doesn't reflect the conditions of the longhouses in other areas. Swak is afterall very diversified with widespread population.

with Pastor Henli who ferried us down in the 5 long hour journey
huge thx to Xun Jin who provided great insight and words of wisdom throughout the trip, Nicky for leading the team, also bernard for throwing in Counterpain meds into the drug collection. :P

If u're interested to know more about MMF, visit their website here

Muses

Having lots of free time on your hands does make you ponder a lot. My self worth, how far i'll make it in life, what defines success, what if I had not done medicine, where would I be in a few years time, life partner musings, friends etc. it's a crazy hoard of things that can plaque ur mind.
Right now safe to say there isn't one big thing that's constantly in my head,but i've learnt a few lessons so far.
1. Always go to a friend for that piece of advice / to get an emotional boost. it makes a difference.
2. Pray in all circumstances.
3. The grass will always look greener on the other side, so quit the wishful thinking. eheh...
3. Be easy going n enjoy life as it is.
Just received the first letter from the public service telling me i'm accepted into government service. currently awaiting the second letter that would summon me to work after Raya.
Joining a trip to 2 villages to provide medical help and services this weekend. to be honest, it's a first for me. previously only been involved in running health screening booths in KL. hope it'll be an eye opener for me in many ways.
Thought I was starting to get spiritually dry but thankfully Hope Logos came :) bought a few books from it. really reasonably cheap! rm8/12/16 mostly. took a tour around the ship as well cz one of my life group members is a volunteer on board. our tour guide Sander from Netherlands told us that when they were sailing in the middle of the ocean at night, when u gaze at the stars in the pitch black sky, u get the feeling of being one of the Israelites in the desert star gazing in the night. :)) costs about rm2400 per month to volunteer on board and sail with them though. phps in future? hehe. but honestly am more interested to run health services for rural areas in future when resources are available :)
Had a gathering with my old church (Chin Fu methodist church) friends. it was pretty good and we havent seen one another for a good 6 yrs. thank you geu jung for bringing ev1 together! God has His amazing way of reconnecting ppl. :)
As working days approach, i feel a kind of tug deep inside me, telling me to spend the rest of the holidays really wisely. ahaha. just taking everyday slowly nw, enjoying the family time n improving my cooking skills lol :P
hope to be inspired in the trip this weekend!

Good old local university offers

The announcement of local university offers lately didn't feel very relevant to me. It's been 5 years and I've completed my degree, In fact my degree is one that currently lacks demand in this country -if u're talking about a freshly graduated dr- with the overcrowding of training hospitals. (the lack of specialists on the other hand is another completely different area for discussion)

Still upon reading and hearing of news reports about stpm students with 4.0 cgpa not getting an offer of their choice for popular (and cut throat pocket bleeding expensive) courses in the local universities, I felt for them. of course i could never fairly say that I fully truly understand and feel their frustration, but I sympathize. Especially if their family socio economic background doesn't allow them to pursue their dream in a private university.

Sure, life goes on. They all have to eventually accept the uni offer and will probably end up being successful in the field they study. sure it's not a big deal anymore to study medicine/pharmacy/dentistry. But that's not the point. It still matters to that individual who has worked hard to earn his/her spot. And this experience does bring along with it possibly deep emotional scars. Appeals don't bring results all the time, and in the end they're forced into a state of acceptance. I can only wish them all the best and that their wound will heal leaving no scars and that they will find passion in whatever area they pursue.

On another note, if anyone would ask for my opinion on whether to take the STPM, my answer is, take it only if u have absolutely no place to go and have got nothing to lose. bcz it seems nowadays that even getting a 4.0 doesn't really get u anywhere. if u can afford private education, then thr's not much point to take it. if u managed to enter matriculation, grab it with all your heart bcz that seems to be the only key to getting a course of your choice. local uni is afterall really really cheap and on top of that, it's easy to get a gov scholarship upon acceptance to a local uni. yups. just my 2 cents.

On a random note, been listening to TED talks on youtube, and there are a couple of them which I think is really awesome.
1. How your body language can change your confidence level. it's not a boring motivational talk. it's research based and thr's background story to it that's inspiring. :) Click here
2. Skyscrapers can be made of wood Click here
3. Max Jobrani the comedian Click here

And recently a group of malaysian musicians joined the Youtube community as 4JC -they're 4 brothers, all with inititals being JC. pretty good mash-ups to listen to. proud cz they're msian. :) Click here (Their youtube channel)

Happiness

Things I love or were intrigued by during the trips up north to Krabi, up the highlands to Cameron and down south to Pontianak (no kidding. it's a big town in Kalimantan, Indonesia :P)

KRABI!

1. Friendly foreigners
Was interesting talking to a Canadian who hopped on board the tut tut that took us kayaking. He shared with us his experience staying in a desert in Arab. wow. Met an australian couple over breakfast. cute! managed to snap a picture with them at the airport. they were heading for KL! :D

2. Thai food 
Lava!! The first dish I tasted, green curry brought tears to my eyes.

So good and supermegaspicy even pei sun and shalisha threw in their towels.
Pineapple fried rice (CUTEST dish decor everrrr)

Tomyam (also lava worthy)

3. This trip forced the adventurous out of the indoor me
- 2 hour kayaking. partnered with Shali. we got caught and entangled?? in mangrove tree branches n tot we were going to die a dishonourable death. or rather from embarrassment. Arm muscle pain score 10/10 that night. STOP ARA - bilateral biceps, triceps. After dinner til the next morning. Gradual onset. severe persistent biting pain, aggravated by movement, not relieved by anything, even LOADS of steroid cream. associated with regret.
*no pictures cz too gung ho kayaking (and actually really just trying to keep up with the really fit ang mohs in the tour group)

- Mountain stair climbing - 1237 steps! we met a few solo travellers along the way up (at our self created resting pit stops) and formed a support group. xD all symptoms of a heart attack sort of came up by the time we were at 500. shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea. the view up there was great, though i did have higher expectations considering the lactic acid build up i endured to get there. by the time we got back down the mountain, our legs were trembling like jelly. Ice cold drinks (regardless the flavour) never felt SO GOOD. legs hurt when ascending n descending the stairs for the next 3 days. ><

the support group xD

1237 steps. thank goodness for this sign age to commemorate our perjuangan

- those 2 were the most hardcore ones we went through. did snorkelling as well, was nice, but thought Redang's corals were nicer. :)

4. funny friendly tour guide
Michelle was our snorkelling tour guide. felt that she did a great job. realised that it isn't easy for these tour guides to keep doing the same thing everyday yet still inject humour and fun into the trip for us. :)

Note: ALWAYS buy a waterproof protector for ur phones (like the one Michelle has around her neck). Poor sun's phone died instantly after a splash of seawater.

5. cheap cocktails
Only rm4 per 500ml bottle. wow. super a lot of flavours to choose from. and cocktails at the cafes are about rm9. :D hehe.

6. Cutest dogs ever
our resort owner had 3 dogs, n interestingly each of them had very distinct personalities. Apologies for not having any idea of their breed. The white one's super friendly. His black friend (as in the other black coloured fur dog) is a scaredy cat while the brown one's ferocious.

his name's Handsome. awwww

CAMERON HIGHLANDS

1. Countless rounds of murderer and fun boardgames

2. Giant sweet strawberries

celebrated Lee Fang's bday. 

3. Super strawberry items!

4. Sweet corn

5. Scones and strawberry cheesecake from The Lord's Cafe (uh oh I forgot if it's at Brinchang or Tanah Rata)

what's left of the strawberry cheesecake b4 the photo was taken teehee

6. Drinking hot tea surrounded by a lush lanscape of rolling green (tea bushes). ideally without motion sickness after the arduous journey round n round the mountains. :P (note to self: ALWAYS take motion sickness pills)

7. The Mossy forest
the ground was soft, no creepy crawlies (cz they dont reach that altitude), cool weather. best jungle trekking ever. and, only 30 minutes (15 mins in and 15 mins out). felt like I was in a scene in LOTR.

8. Large colourful blooming flowers
*wistful sigh..

PONTIANAK

1. Learning Indonesian language. bits n pieces :P mostly food related. hehe.

2. Of all the food i tried there, Chai Kueh is the absolute winner.
Cute small round ones with really thin translucent skin, comes with 4 types of filling (red bean, yam, mengkuang, chives) with deep fried garlic sprinkled all over. yummms.. (no picture. everyone was busy tucking in)

Others, also great are soto, Es Krim in a coconut with cincau and red bean, bakmie kepeting (crabmeat), nasi padang, banana fritters with chocolate n cheese (sinful to the max) and blended fruit juices. thr's avocado, ciku, and this desert called Es Teler that's a concoction of tropical fruits including ciku with i think coconut/condensed millk? hehe my apologies for possible inaccurate description. a tad too sweet but tasted good. :) fruity goodness.

Es Teler

Bakmie Kepeting

Ciku juice

3. Seeing children getting so excited over a simple game of rubberband and straw.

4. Seeing huge churches there.

5. The similarity in the traditional costumes of the Dayaks in Pontianak with the Dayaks back in Sarawak kindles a sort of feeling of closeness to the place. despite me being Chinese and not a Dayak. :)

The above are just brief summaries of the few trips I made during these holidays. Of course above all the food tasted and fun activities, enjoyed the company the most. Trips have a way of creating lots of memories for you to rmb your family and friends by. That said, a short trip to KL last weekend (for my gov interview) was really refreshing. was really x100 happy to meet everyone there again. amidst all that, many thoughts were generated throughout the holidays, inspired by these trips. maybe in another post. :)

It's worth considering these places for ur next trip ! :P
word of caution: In pontianak u need a car to get around and u need a fearless driver. hehe. you can get there via bus (8 hours) /plane (30mins) from Kuching.

It's Not Really Farewell perhaps :)

Going back to Kuching tmr.

Leaving KL sure brings back memories from the first day I stepped into UKM 5 years ago. Transitions, exodus and growing up. And here I am, leaving this place I used to unwillingly call my second home but finally admitting it's my second home when it's time to leave. Yeps, I know this is just temporary. Time's gonna fly and I'll be back in either no time, or off to another place to call a third home.

My life group members gave me a surprise farewell of craziness today. When my grandbuddy accidentally bocor-ed about the surprise gathering, I thought, haha okay good I'll get to meet this cute bunch of ppl before I leave and I'll just act surprised. Lo behold, was I surprised (for real). 2 ppl multiplied into 6 - ching ching, ai jing, alisa, alain, jason and david. There were balloons??! a scroll tied with rafia string,

 a wild goose chase around midvalley. when I thought it was over, 2 more gifts popped up, alex and yim fong appeared, and william walked in the door. mind boggling mysteries. xP what more can I say? Thanks a million u guys!! xoxo. 

I entered first year as a Sunday christian and disliked long services and long hours in church. I didn't understand why there had to be so many meetings and cell group and so many activities. Hope church's a dynamic church with lots of training and outreach and you never run out of activities to go to. the group of brothers and sisters continued to follow up and care for me (thanks for not giving up on me) and eventually one day I realised I had been abandoning God, putting Him second, if not third or fourth in priority in my life. It took several downfalls to open my eyes and finally in my second year I came to capture the value of living life for Him. This group of brothers and sisters helped me grow, was there with me in the ups and downs, prayed for me, shared my joy and pain and watched me mature in my walk with God. I became a member in the church, started getting involved in LCD ministry, and got involved in life group planning. Got a sheep, involved in missions to Kuantan and earlier this year became a life group leader.

Today I leave Hope KL with a mission to support more life groups, join and support local churches through mission trips and to grow more in my understanding of God's word, improve my music skills and to equip myself in as many areas as I can before and as I enter the working world. The past 5 years have taught me to love and care for others as people have for me. Through their life examples, my leaders taught me true faith and selflessness. I stand in awe of their humility and love for God and His people.

Medical school was an adventure with it's ups and downs. More like a hilly ride of craziness. with a mixture of fun trips abroad, research, debate and elective :P I used to think I had only myself to depend on in tough situations. Trudging back to my room stressed, thinking of all the things i have yet to study, patients I have yet to cover, case reports I have yet to write. And later on I realised, no I'm not alone. God's there to lift me up, for me to depend on. The more I depended on God, the smoother things went. It definitely helped me stay calm and joyful in more circumstances. Thank you Lord.

I have made really awesome friends who have become my family here. I love you guys and girls to bits. You know who you are. beams. seriously where else am I to find people as lovable as you all. :)

I'm going home with lots of sweet memories packed up and stored in my reliable hard drive. A mixture of feelings and many happy thoughts, knowing that more adventures are in store. Till we meet again dearies. xoxo.

Starting first year with VC cup- the KTSN team

The UKM royals 2008 team

Celebrating my bday at Uncle Duck's steamboat in 1st year

 Getting 3rd place in EAMSC 2010, KL with hau wei, lip leong and juin yi.

Leaving the KTSN life group at the end of Year 2, off to Cheras HUKM

 Celebrating Chui Ung's bday in B9400 in 3rd year

 EAMSC 2011 in Bangkok. Earned first place for our paper on teenage pregnancy in Malaysia.

 One month elective in taiwan - the Taroko national park

 Visiting Jason's place in Puchong 

LaVazza at Viva Home, Cheras in 5th year

 Petrus's farewell in 2012

 Graduation dinner in 5th year after the finals

Debaters getaway to cameron after graduation.

There's so much I can't put everything into words. Cheers to more adventures!