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her space, her thoughts.....
HER SANCTUARY ♥
Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Bits and Pieces

27th January

8.30pm: Checked in with my sister, Min, at KLIA. Was a little teary then, despite being my second time to Melbourne. Gonna miss everyone I was about to leave behind. T_T Got a last-minute upgrade from economy to business class, so Min and I need not worry (much) about excessive baggage, constraint space and aircraft food. XD

10pm: Plane took off. Did not sleep much on the aircraft, cabin was kinda stuffy. ><" I think I actually spent more time EATING than sleeping during my 8-hour flight. Why just minutes after take-off, refreshments were served. All in all, I had a few glasses of juice, a few sticks of chicken satay (complete with cucumbers, onions, ketupat and peanut sauce), an entree of prawn cocktail with some salad, tortellini (ie: pasta stuffed with cheese, accompanied with tomatoes and olives at the side), two bowls of fresh fruit, an egg tart with vanilla sauce, and a continental breakfast (ie: yoghurt, oat muffin, fruits) complete with a huge mug of coffee! D*mn, I did eat a lot!!! ><" The movie and music selections were also very extensive. Very unlike what I am used to get in economy. The seat was also really comfortable, being "remote-controllable" and all....it came complete with a "massage" component too! Worked great for lower back pains. Services were WAY better and I was even given a traveller's kit (with compliments from MAS and Loc'citane). Man, do the business class people get a lot of previlledges.... =\

28th January

8.30am (Australian time): Landed in Melbourne Airport safely. Was still bloated from all the food I had on plane. Made through the customs and collected my bags with Min. A customs officer, for some unknown reason, thought I came from "The Land of the Rising Sun", so he greeted me in simple Japanese (eg: konichiwa, sayonara etc). o_O My uncle and cousin, Ping, took us back to their house. Will be staying with them for the next three years or so.

Between 9am-5.30pm: Pretty much a blur. Spent most of my time sleeping at home. And unpacking. Did go out in the afternoon for lunch with my uncle and Min. Went for a short walk afterwards. Melbourne didn't change much in the last 4 years. Thankfully. =P

8.30pm: Got stung by a bee while I was unpacking in my bedroom. A pretty big one too! And on the ventral aspect of my right forearm, no less. Never realized how painful a bee sting would be. Burned like H*ll. Within minutes, the area surrounding the site became red and oedematous. Thankfully my cousin-doctor was STILL around then (he was about to go for night-shift at a hospital), so he got the sting out. *phew* Was on anti-histamines for a full day, just in case I get some anaphylactic shock later. [The swelling resolved in two days. Now I have a little scar which I can proudly "show-off" =P]

29th January

Was quite a blur. Spent most of my time at home, watching House MD Season Two. Oh, and I visited Victoria Market with Uncle and Min after lunch. XD

30th January

Went for a LONG walk with Min around Melbourne, or to be more specific, around the University of Melbourne and Trinity College. Min remembered the routes already, which is really good. XD She also managed to purchased a number of books she needs when her course begins. Textbooks are bl**dy expensive here. Her accounting textbook alone (approx. 300 pages max) was priced at AUD107.95. That's almost RM293!!! ><" Thank goodness I brought many of my medical books along!!! Heard they cost a bomb here....*sniff* Took a very LONG "nap" later. A four-hour one. o_O

31st January

10am: Visited Museum Victoria (aka Melbourne Museum) with Min. We walked instead of taking the bus. Great way to exercise by the way. =P Took us about 25 minutes to get there. The weather was at a cool 23 degrees centigrade, and it was even cooler when the wind blew. The museum is huge, so much so that we couldn't complete the whole "tour" despite clocking over three hours in the building! Had a light lunch in the museum cafe before we proceed to Lygon St. Got a couple of provisions over there in Safeway before we went home.

8pm: Visited the Suzuki Night Market, a flea market which runs in Victoria Market every summer. Something like the pasar malam back in Malaysia, but this one closes at 10pm, has live bands performing (there was two when I was there: one rock band, another traditional folk-ish trio) and (unfortunately) does not have as many things as opposed to what you'd get in Malaysia's. =\ The variety of food available is good though - you could sample anything from Bush tucker (Kangaroo burger anyone?) to German bratwurst, Spanish paella, Dutch pancakes, Mexican tacos, African cuisine, Indian curries, Oriental street foods and even Malaysian delights (there's Ice-kacang people!) XD Prices were a little on the high side though, especially when you convert to Malaysian Ringgit. Sniff.

9.30pm: Walked home with uncle, cousin and Min. Stopped by at a video rental store and borrowed a couple of CDs. Min needed Othello and Farenheit 451 videos for her upcoming Literature lectures (she wanted to watched them first before reading the texts. Easier ma...=P) She got them, and I watched Farenheit 451 with her till 12.30am. It was a pretty "abstract" film, so I found the concepts pretty interesting. My uncle slept half-way through though, so you get the picture. hehehe.


That's it for now. Pretty dull, no? =p I guess things will pick up once my course begins. XD More updates later!

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Friday, January 19, 2007

Unlike many friends of mine, I don't have the "gift of the gab". Or rather, I have never liked expressing myself. Verbally, that is...and to a certain extent, on print. ><" Maybe that's the reason why I've been putting this off for a long time now. This entry, on the people I've met after Trinity College: aquaintances and friends I've made in IMU, fellow seniors, colleagues and junior buddies at HKL.

Many might not know this, but I was disappointed when (I found out) I couldn't secure a place in medicine at the University of Melbourne. The news came on Christmas Eve, 2003 - 18 days after I returned from Melbourne, 16 days after I went to IMU for the interview. I was given the Bachelor of Biomedical Science program instead, and was placed on the waiting list (for Medicine). I had always been good enough to get what I wanted. Hence, I became egoistic. Arrogant. A brat, to sum up. So when I did not get my first choice, I was shocked. Disappointed.

Disappointment turned to despair. Despair turned to bitterness. Bitterness, to anger. I was angry, very angry indeed....I loathed - myself, for not faring as well as I hoped back in Trinity, and God, for not giving me the chance to continue medicine in Melbourne....

Then an offer came from IMU. Not wanting to wait any longer, I accepted. So there I was for the next 2 1/2 years (excluding the 6-month waiting period ><")....hoping, praying, that I could return.

But things change as time goes by. People change, to be exact. Everything I have seen, heard, experienced and endured in the last three years have made me who I am today. The course at IMU. The professors and doctors I met and come to respect. Family members who supported me through thick and thin. And last but not least, friends I met along the way whom I have grown to love and cherish: SOS members, CG people, PBL and KKB mates, the M104s, and most recently, UPM medics and would-be IMU/PMC students.

Thank you all. For all the times we shared together - the work, books and clinical tips/advice, the board games and anime, those (incredibly) lame jokes and crazy antics , the car rides, coffee-breaks and luncheon spent in IMU....laughter, and (not forgetting) all the blood, sweat and tears in between! It has been a GREAT HONOUR knowing you. XD


In one of the earlier cell group (CG) meetings, Tim Chew once said that God never (really) abandon us. He merely closes the door(s) in front of us, and opens another for us to take. I believed that was what He did to me - instead of a direct pathway to Melbourne Uni, I was led to IMU first. A detour more or less, considering I'm returning to the University of Melbourne this year! XD I really don't know what you guys might think of the above statement(s). Perhaps it was nothing but a figment of my imagination, and that everything happened by chance alone. Perhaps it was just meant to be, that fate played a part too. Perhaps this was a form of "punishment" for being a conceited brat in the first 18 years of my life. Or perhaps that was what He wanted all along - making me go on a "detour" so I could learn something (out of it) and still enjoy the ride.

How would it be like if I got Medicine (at Melbourne Uni) in the first place? Things might have been so different now....

But you know what? I am eternally grateful that God closed that door and opened another for me.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

I shall miss you all....

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Monday, January 01, 2007




2006:

"Was a year of anticipation, exhiliration, and triumphs....

of disappointments, loss and bereavement....

and of beliefs, hope and rediscovery...."

All in all, it has been one heck of a rollercoaster ride. A good one, nevertheless.


So Goodbye 2006....and Hello, 2007!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! XD

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