puppies darlings ~

last week when i came back from lecture, i saw many puppies in front of my hostel. all so cute, 8 brown puppies and 1 white. why white non of us knew - we have a few theories tho, like maybe it is an albino or it was adopted.

anyway Jonas and i has been feeding them almost everyday. we even went to magnit to buy the dry dog food. on Friday i bought milk and boiled it for them because it was raining the whole day + the strong wind. and i bought them burger too cuz i figured they might need some meat since they are still growing puppies. after i fed them with burger, i bought them baton (bread) - no money to buy so many burgers. and they refused to eat the bread, and kept on looking at me for more meat !! spoilt indeed !

but my favourite will always be non other than Valya - Jacy's kitty who stayed with me for 2 years.

other than that, i tot that since i did 2 exams already, it would be more relaxing now. but no it is not, we are having our paediatric cycle now where we need to prepare quite a lot before classes. plus extra practical classes are starting next week. plus we are bringing forward our reanimation cycle. well this is life ~

done with the eye stuff, starting with the kiddy stuff !!

did my Ophthalmology exam yesterday. the relieve i am feeling now !! times like this i just feel very productive. like 24-hours a day is used up to the max. i really do enjoy the cycle, partly actually the eye is a very interesting organ, a genius creation. and also my teacher is young, pretty and super enthusiastic in teaching.

when i was doing practical with Dr. Kho back in Malaysia he kinda told me that maybe i would wanna choose an easier speciality next time - he meant with lesser night calls and all. since he is an obstetrician and gynaecologist he would know what that really means. and since i was attatched with him for 2 weeks i kinda got the picture too. and he mentioned that speciality like dermatology, opththalmology or ENT would be less hectic than things like cardio, surgery, trauma etc. well - ophthalmology is interesting but i don't know if i want to see so many old women with one eye patch! haha.

btw during the exam i got the most unwanted question - POAG (primary open angle glaucoma). reason because both teacher and lecturer gave different clinical classification. so my tactic was to learn both and depending on who would be my examiner i would tell their classification. but since there were only 4 students on my day sitting for exam, both teachers decided to take students together. alas! but anyway i just said both and they did not find it wrong or anything.

Now - Paediatrics. first lecture was pretty interesting, although in my very opinion only very gifted doctors can be paediatricians, and that's not me. i don't even like healthy kiddos, wud more the sick la!

weather is cold. and i miss home !!

new semester! ~~

my 3rd weekend in Nizhny Novgorod - after a very pleasant holiday back at home. just did my practical exam on Wed, Tuberculosis exam on Thursday, so coming up is Ophthalmology exam next next Wednesday. bring it on!

well, though i miss home, family and friends and of course the food a lot, it is pleasant to be back here. all my friends here look great with new hairdo and all. well it is great to be back. this is my place - at least for the next 2 years. miss Jacy a lot and also Valya. but i suppose changes always give an opportunity to learn and to adapt to new things.

went to pay for my room yesterday. well i prepared USD800 because a friend who was living in the same type of room paid about that amount. but then i went to see the accountant and she said that i only need to pay USD690. what a bonus! on my way back in T4 bus i was just thinking up in my head what to do with the unexpected extra money - keep it for next month? or give myself a treat? bla bla bla. so i decided to go to Caramel tonight! Jacy, dont be jealous! i'll eat more for u! haha.

and to my sister Jesmine - this Monday is the day!! it is a new chapter for you. will keep you in my prayers and will see u and Cindy this January! im very determined to save up money to see you (and shop) =))))

the weather is so pretty - but i guess i need to read a lil about the eye.

love is in the air ....

well the reason i put that as the title is - i shall come back to that later.

anyway i am finally back to home sweet Kuching. our 136 Nanas Road is homely and welcoming as usual. i reached home on Friday night, took a bath and Manda picked me up 30 mins later to this new place called Isabella. apparently Kuching has some new places i never even heard of. taha. anyway it was awesome - met up with all the darlings; Nat, Jos (and her plus one John - i am so happy for u guys!!), Manda, Su, Vero, Vanessa, Yian Yong, Peter, Harris, Wilson. all my high school spongebuddies - minus Cindy (whom i really really miss to the bitz!!)

On Saturday went to this new place (again), apparently quite famous for their burger and fish spa called 175. well since i have this fish phobia i did not dip my leg inside but all my other frens enjoyed it anyway.

Sunday - church. it is really awesome to go back to my home church. being in Nizhny dried me up a bit.

Monday - Obs and gyn practicals at Kuching Specialist Hosp. 8am - 5pm.

Tues - practicals again. had a haircut during lunch hour tho. way to short. which part of 'trim' does she not understand? but at least it is neater now. and at night had steamboat at Jos' newly renovated home. the steamboat was superbly superb ! and playing Star wars monopoly with the gang. well it was nice to meet the new and improved Kevin, tho his echoing laughter never change one bit.

Wed (today) - 8am to 5pm practicals. i am exhausted. but i really enjoyed studying with this doctor. he is so nice, treating me more like a colleague rather than a (stupid) student, explaning every single patient to me. well, lucky me - i managed to watch a C-sec, assisted in a few pap smears, some routined ultrasound scans and 3D scans and saw some interesting cases too. well this is the time we learn things that are not written in the text books. and i also took a vaccine against cervical cancer - Cervarix. so girls - get yourself protected against cervical cancer !

well, back to the title: love is in the air - well watching J&J is so intoxicating !! plus my doc is getting married soon too.

make me a new J

these days my mind just can't stop thinking about only one thing - who is going to be my new roommate? well, if i have to choose from the people who are roommate-less, there is a very very small pool to choose from. so i am HOPING, really HOPING that komanden will let me stay with a junior. i am giving her a very very big space here, and i have almost everything so she won't have to buy so many things. and when i grad she can have everything !! so please, give me one of the new juniors !! i'll be an angel to her !!

i am just putting my faith in God to get me a decent, sweet and mind-her-own-business roommate. i am getting out of my comfort zone. i am putting this situation out of my control into God's control. yeah, altho i've not been to church for quite some time. *will tell mummy about it* but i still have faith.

my first plan was to make Jacy fail her exams so maybe she have to repeat year and can still be my roommate. well, my plan to make gain weight may work, but she did not fail any exams, instead she got the red diploma. taha.

ok time to cook. burnt my hand while deep frying the sotong yesterday. now there are bullas at my hand.

a pretty interesting weekend

well well...the exams are over, statrted my practicals in Rheumatology department. i won't say it is super interesting with many things to do. well actually it is very boring but i guess it really depends on ourselves to find something for ourselves to do. and my teacher is not bad actually.

anyway Jacy's most anticipated moment arrived - her mum and aunties came to Nizhny Novgorod. Jacy and i had a massive room cleaning before they come so i suppose they think that we are neat people. haha. well, i had a lot of fun with the aunties. they enjoyed almost everything about NN -food, weather, people, beers and Vodkas. they are on a real holiday mood !! we took a lot of pics, so will upload it soon. well i sure hope that my parents will have this much fun when they come to NN. as far as i know you guys are coming right? haha. well when i was in first year my entire family planned to come. we shall see about that in 2 years time.

and now Jacy is on a tour to Moscow, St Petersburg, London, Paris... and i am here going for practicals, sometimes i will follow Jonas to the gym to play ping pong and to jump the skipping rope a bit, sometimes we would go to the park for a walk in this gorgeous weather, and cleaning up the room. a lot lot lot of cleaning up to do.

now i have a new problem - who is going to be my new roommate??? well unfortunately for me the hostel kommanden said she cannot put a new student in my room because she said that every year she put new students to live with seniors and they ended up crying and wanted to move in with their friends. so i have to find a new roommate from the people who are roommate-less like me. and that is not a lot of people to choose from. i even contemplated to ask Jonas to faster marry me so he can move in to my room, but that is probably the stupidest reason to get married, it might probably be documented in Oddee.com. taha.

i looked into the mirror and saw shrek.

i guess i made enough fuss in facebook about the 'world map' infesting my skin. well, it is actually wheals or hives, big and small, all over my body. so if you try to draw the outline of it, you will get a world map.

it happened suddenly, luckily after my exam. i woke up in the morning with many huge mosquito-bite-like thing on my neck, hands and legs. i thought it was the mosquito since there were some flying around. but there were too many mosquito-bite-thingie , so i figured it must be the bed. since it is not the first time anyway because i had it some years back when i slept on Bernard's (my cousin) bed. took some antihistamine tabs, changed my bedsheets and took away my blanket. and i went to sleep.

about 3 am in the morning today, i woke up feeling itchy all over my neck and i was like 'omigosh!'. went out to the block to have a good look at myself in the mirror - i was mortified. my face have these red spots all over. my neck was swollen like some goiter thing. hands and legs have wheals all over. and it itches like crazy. took my Fitzpatrick Dermatology book and surfed through the net to find out wud the heck was going on. acute urticaria - well not up to laryngeal edema or anaphylactic shock, thank God, but mine was pretty severe and was exactly like some of the pictures in the internet. din wanna go back to the bed, and i can't wake Jacy up because she is having her exam today. so i switched on my com, chatted with Nat, which was great because we've not been catching up for quite some time, and entertained myself with Oddee.com. about 5.30 am, heard Jacy's alarm ring, so i jumped to her bed to sleep. and in the morning Jonas came to give me some antihistamine tabs. but it is my flu meds actually, it is not so strong but it did help with the itchyness. and i missed my first day of practical classes.

going to do a major clean up to the bed, the toys and the room! lesson learnt.

the holiday starts!

did my internal medicine exam yesterday. it was really tiring reading and trying to understand everything. there would be certain topics that i am better at, and certain topics where there is not head and tail. and usually my luck in exam is quite good, i mean i won't get the really easy question but something pretty manageable. but yesterday i got a really sucky ticket. where i just stared for a few minutes at first. but i answered, not so well but good enough.

and now i can declare holiday! im happy that i did not postpone any exams this time, since last year i postponed pharmaco exam and suffered the consequences. i believe that time is a test too.

alright, i am starting my therapy practical this Monday for 2 weeks and maybe Surgery or Obstetrics after that. tomorrow i am going to Mega to give meself a rewarding shoopping spree.
and of course cleaning the room and the block. it is quite a mess.

and i can't wait to go home. home sweet home.

the postdrome

did neurology exam yesterday, a subject where a month ago i absolutely knew nothing about! well since professor drilled us a lot, i won't say that i am such a rotten apple. plus my ticket is an easy one, thank God!

quite a pretty weather outside, too bad i have to sit and study. was just thinking about cycling, going on 'Move It' or the ferris wheel at the park near my hostel. but yeah, the reward will come very soon. in fact this sem i am not really stressed out compared to last year with the combo 5 exams. last year was horrible. give me Pharmaco exam again, i'll probably have to repeat year. taha.

other than that, i really can't wait to go home. to see mummy, papa, Jes, aunty Marg and my frens at home. some of my fren graduated and they are going to work soon and earn money. saw Wilson's farewell party pics so i supposed he finished his ACCA course is sunway. awesome! and i am still here. spending money and not earning money. i know some things have changed at home. mummy is now a headmistress ( oh yea u need to teach me the direction to the school), no more Cindy to bug, Jes will only be around for a while... i used to enjoy having no sisters at home so i can be spoilt and all but now it is just boring. and no pets at home. even more boring. sigh

alright, 2 more exams - Russian and Internal Med. most of my peers did some project so they wont have to do Russian exam but i was just lazy. i just feel that my Russian language really suck and if i do get an avtomat, it is disgrace to both me and Russian language. taha.

back to the books and papers~

the LALA weather!

the weather these days are just splendid!! i don't have to wear a jacket to go out. lovely!
anyway today my group had a BBQ, it was great. after the BBQ i bathed, washed my hair and blowed dry my hair and went downstairs to see Jonas play badminton. Norleen asked me to play for a while and i did. indeed the a while was about 2 hours. haven't played for a few years already and i forgot how much i used to enjoy it. taha.

anyway, to mummy and cindy and jesmine - i guess you all remember my Reebok sports shoes, the one that stinks and it turned black already (from white). well, i was using them a few week back when i went jogging and i kept it in the cupboard at the block. and today i went to look for it because i wanted to use it to play badminton and it was missing! i was just surprised someone would steal my really smelly shoe! sigh sigh....so just a little warning for mummy....either i get a new pair of sports shoe back at home or your brands new Nike Air will go missing just like mine!

so oh kay.. im really supposed to study! exams are coming so soon and my brain is so empty. but it is not my fault that the latest prison break, Grey's anatomy, and gossip girls episode were released! and the weather is so pretty outside and i just wanna go out and have a walk or play bicycle at the park. or eat ice cream outside. anything but sitting here and study.

time out in Volgograd

I had a pleasant time in Volgograd - my much needed time out from the books. the journey was tiring - about 17 hours +/- but the weather there was lovely. my fellow Malaysians from Volgograd did a great job in hosting the 6th Malaysian Intervarsity Games.

well, to sum up -

1) The Games

during the opening ceremony

well well, Jonas took part in atheletics...he could have done better, but there was no proper warm up because his event was rescheduled to an earlier time. SAD SAD.

gon gon and i was there to cheer for Jonas!

Alex taking the limelight in Volleyball

i guess mummy remembered Joshua Chan who is studying in Kursk. yup..there he is (the one in black)

us during the grand dinner

2) Meeting up with friends

Kah Wei and i

Fareena and i

Joanna and i

3) sightseeing and activities

nothing pleases Pearly more than a shopping mall!!!

and the dancing mat

bowling - after such a long time

We visited the Mamayev Kurgan, the largest standing sculpture in the world. It is in the middle of the memorial park commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad. very impressive.

now i am back here in Nizhny Novgorod. it is great to be back. this is like my home and my roomies and groupies are like my family. *feeling the love*

going to sleep now - it is 1.33 am.

OFF TO VOLGOGRAD!

well it is time for the Malaysian games again...this time it will be held in Volgograd. we will be departing tomorrow morning! can't wait!! miss my Volgo frens...some i've not met for about 4 years.

it was not so long ago when i went to Shah Alam for my pre med studies before coming to Russia. i knew absolutely no one there and i was so afraid, but thank God i had friends there who took really good care of me.

Kah Wei and Farina were my closest friends there. KW is now in Volgograd and Farina in Moscow.

my group while i was in INTEC

BLESSED EASTER

today Russia celebrates Easter (and tomorrow they are celebrating Adolf Hitler's birthday, wudever). During Easter we will buy the Easter cake (1st pic) and some people will make Easter eggs with decorative stickers (2nd pic), if they are too lazy to paint that is.

As for me, Easter is a wonderful celebration, almost equal to Christmas. Because on this day we are reminded that many years ago Jesus died for our sins and rose again.

so, Blessed Easter to my family and friends. *huggies*

typical Saturday

just a typical Saturday...besides having Russian class in the morning.... the best thing about Saturday is the American breakfast i'll make every Saturday morning. my weekly thing ever since i came back from Edinburgh. today it was extra special because Jacy bought bacon and her delicious sausages to top it up.

i miss Cindy and Jesmine. Cindy asked me to visit her in London again next holiday, bribing me with interesting shopping places. Cindy and Jesmine and Mummy seem to think that i like to shop and spend money but actually i am spending the least amount of money among the siblings. Cindy lives in London and is spending great britain pounds. nuff said. Jesmine lives in KL, eats out most of the time, lives in a rented apartment where she must pay the rental and bills, like to buy expensive tools for her ID and have a car to drive most of the time too. while i stay in a humble hostel, cook everyday and i only shop during sales. so that proofs it.

but anyhow i will try my best to make another visit to London next holiday since Jesmine and Loon will be there too. and i've not been up the Eye of London yet, so all the more i should make another visit there. Just for Cindy to know, after i came back from visiting Cindy, i started wiping the plates after washing, and also, i never put my bags on my bed anymore. About wiping the bathtub, well that would need many visits to train me on that one! taha.

Lately things are pretty hectic due to some unnessary and last minute preparations to go to Volgograd. We were asked to miss 2 days of class to do some X ray and medical checkup. and i am having neurology and medical genetics with the 'do or die' professor. so of course after the x rays and check up i had to rush to class. And this monday and tuesday, we were also asked not to go to class because it is Hitler's birthday and some fanatics will be roaming around looking for foreign people to bash up. But i suppose that it is safe to go to class, as long as we take necessary precautions. And also, i am missing class on Thursday because on that day we will be departing to Volgograd. well, that is inevitable so i won't complain about that. So mafan la. Maybe some people dun giv a damn about classes or wud, but since im a big nerd i do care bout all these stuff.

alright, case report to do, lectures to write, notes to sort out, not really a relaxing Saturday after all.

random

Blessed Good Friday, which was yesterday, to all my dear friends and family! i felt wierd yesterday when people wished me Happy Good Friday....i mean, Jesus died very brutally on that day....it is certainly anything but happy.... so i prefer to say it blessed Good Friday because we are so much blessed that Jesus died on the cross for all our sins...

yesterday, i attended the Good Friday service hosted by our Christian Fellowship here. have not been attending CF for a very very long time...i did not plan to go for the Good Friday service either but Jonas wanted to go so Jacy and i decided to tag along. it was awesome, i was trully blessed by the worship and Pastor Dave's preaching and the short clip on the crucifixion taken from The Passion of Christ. and the best part was to take the Holy Communion. i've been attending Calvary Chapel for a long time and the quite funny thing is that they do not take offerings and there is not Holy Communion. so it was very refreshing so take the Holy Communion yesterday.

today is a lazy Saturday for me. planned to study many things but in the end i am just reading slowly here.

i think that lately, or for a long time already i've became this real antisocial. as in i lost interest in socializing and making friends. sometimes i just walk pass people like they are some tiang. the thing is, i know they are there, but i just don't care. and when i am in a crowd, i prefer to just sit aside and shut up. i am just so lazy with this 'how are you and how is life' kinda talk because frankly i don't really care either. and when people wanna talk to me i have this 'dont bug me' look. some wiring problem at my head maybe. taha who cares anyway.

ok, study i must! hee hoo hee hoo i am!

from the stethoscope to the hammer

right after our 4 week Internal Medicine cycle, we started with neurology cycle. i anticipated a hard time since i know that my teacher would be the much feared Vera Naumova Georgievna, the professor of neurology. among all the groups, she just has to take our group!

so of course, with almost nothing in our brains, she sure did screwed us up nicely. i mean, i don't blame her for scolding us because there were many basic things we do not know, but also we can't take the entire blame. first of all, last semester our neurology cycle was only 8 day. sometimes i just wonder why we have the donkey cycles like hygiene for more than 2 weeks but important cycles like neurology and operative surgery are so short.

anyway Monday, Tuesday, Wed and Thursday we were scolded like some brainless people. forgetting the tracks, the anatomy wudever. but at least today she said she was quite satisfied with us, but still remarked that students from the US are better than students here and she could not understand that. im sure in the US they don't have hygiene, history of medicine and all this bodoh classes la, dat's why.

on the other hand, i do admire her. she did not just scold and scold, she will teach after that. much better than many other teachers. and she is probably the only Russian teacher i know who wear different clothes everyday with matching earrings, necklace and ring. she even have 3 pairs of second shoes! oh, and being quite old, either late 50 early 60s, she is still keen in learning english, always flipping the oxford dictionary although her english is already pretty good. i really admire people who continually learn even when they reaches their retirement age.

can't wait to go to Volgograd for the Malaysian games. i am not participating in anything, unless there is a million dollar award, taha. just wanted to see my Volgo frens tht i've not met since the Intec days, except Jia Wei who came to Kuching last holidays. even bought a pair of new shades for that, despite being very broke. taha.

Pearly shells

decided to change the title of my blog - i remember last time Uncle Vincent, a friend of papa's used to call me Pearly shells when i was still a little girl. Sometimes i wonder why is my name Pearly, not Pearl or something more common. apparently, according to mummy, kong kong gave me that name after a bowler he admires or something. her name was Pearly Chong. probably he hoped that i'll be a bowler or something. but i can't even bowl. hahah...

for quite long time i used to be a little embarassed about my wierd name. those nasty guys in school used to call me 'pelay' which still sting me up till now. in fact i know who they are and they better pray why wont meet me for any consultation when i am a doctor next time. and many people can't even spell my name - screw them all.

i came a long way to realize that to many people my name is kinda wierd but to people that matters to me, i have a unique name. dat's good enuf. i thank kong kong for giving me this name. besides my name, the first important gift for me, he also gave me the inspiration to become a doctor. which is why i am where i am now.

Paint, we shall!

yesterday was my last day of my Int Med cycle. partly, im happy cuz i dun have to travel all the way to Avtozavod, which was a long long way, but partly i am also kinda sad because although Internal Medicine is the killer subject (besides neurology of course), it is still D subject and i love the subject and also my teacher Kcenia Georgievna Korneva (please do not be confused with Kcenia Dmitrivno Klimova which was my last year Int Med teacher, the suckiest ever). neway, under the good hands of Kcenia GK, i think my group is one big step forward to become great docs. especially in diabetes la..aye! i've always suspected that i have diabetes, because i drink a lot and urinate a lot, even at night. i checked my glucose level like twice to be sure. but thank God i dun have DM of course, just paranoid maybe.

anyway today Jacy dragged Jonas and i to paint the clay stuff at Ikea kids department. she seems to have that 'i wanna do this and that before i graduate' thing going on, so i have to endure it for another few months. lol. i can't recall the last time i painted. Jesmine does all my pendidikan seni stuff. which was so good that it was always on the wall with all the other good paintings. until there was the pendidikan seni exam where i had to paint by myself, which really sucked of course, cuz neither my left hand nor my right can paint. anyway J told me there was a spongebob clay for me to paint (actually there wasnt) just to convince me to go with her. but anyway at last i chose Alex the lion from Madagascar. i think i can paint pretty well!

look, we're painting!

our masterpiece, Alex (mine), Yoda (Jacy's) and crazy frog (Jonas')

the artists and their work of art

oh kayyy.....bunch of lectures to write. so much work and so little time.

after a long halt

today is a lovely Spring Sunday. it was not that cold, although it snowed yesterday. i went to 2 churches today, first to Calvary then to the Catholic church. there were many weeks when i don't even go to church, yes i have working on that, but today i went to church back to back.

well, the Catholic one was not planned, but i know Jonas needed someone to drag his lazy arse to go to church. our typical Saturday night conversation was; i would ask 'so are you coming with me to church tomorrow?,' and he would say, 'nah, i wanna go to mine (the Catholic church).' and on Sunday after i am back from church he will be in either his or my room, saying it is too cold outside or Neville don't wanna go with him. taha. well, but the Catholic church was nice, and since i've not been there for such a long time, i even forgot how to say 'peace be with you' in Russian. taha.

after church, we went to Rustik's. i've been craving for Zinger burger since the sem started. and i thought that there is an offer on the Zinger burger, but it was only for the little burgers. sad but i still bought and happily ate my Zinger anyway.

have been really frustrated about many things lately. first that i could not use my credit card to book my air ticket. then, the shower thing spoilt. but anyway it is fixed now. and i don't know what else. but i am feeling much better now - i guess going to two church helps a lot. and the Zinger. and i saw the Ferris wheel moving today at zoopark. that's my highlight of spring - the Ferris wheel. not the eye of London of course, but it makes me happy!

some ppl who just can't MYOB.

i can finally breath a sigh of relieve. because today i did my surgery exam. these last few weeks was a major one for me. studying and studying...plus the extra practicals, one big combo. anyway surgery exam went well. and then i went to mega to do my grocery shopping, and now i am back here. in my messy room which is waiting for a major clean up.

but good part is, now i have a long compensatory pause before my next exam in June.

since every day has been so hectic for me, and i am sure it was for all students here if they do go for classes and lectures that is, but some people still got so much time to gossip about other people. and put it into writting summore. when it is none of their business at the first place.

wud kinda academy i am in la. filled with all these kinda ppl. just because they learn a bit of diseases and symptoms here and there already think they can diagnose people have mental illness. bunch of bonkers. i am usually the person who dun give a damn about other people except those few people i can count with my 10 fingers, but if people say some nasty stuff bout my friend, especially when it is not true, im not just gonna sit back like a coward. yes, i remembered mummy's famous quote ' if you have nothing good to say, then don't say anything.' but on the other than, there is another quote, 'silence is golden, but sometimes it is just plain yellow.'

eat shit la all these people. summore Valya got diarrhea, better eat Valya's shit. then Jacy don't have to clean up all the time. now i start talking crap because of all these shitty people.

oh my dermatology!

my first cycle is already an exam one. Dermatology is very interesting although makes me more aware than ever about the pimples and comodones seeding on my face. but knowledge is power - i went to the apteka to get my polyvits and cream already to 'improve my natural resistance'.

having my exam this Wednesday, day after tomorrow. won't say is it so super hard. just handling this baby exam first before the mother exams come later (Int Med, Neuro bla bla).

there is this myth that if your face have any kind of blemish, it will either affect your marks or teacher might say something sinister to you, like you study all these stuff but u cannot apply it on yourself. i don't know if it is really true or not, will find out this Wed. but as prophylaxis i am keeping my face from any breakouts and trying not be as stressed out as possible. so that is a double task of studying without being stressed out.

oh kay time out over.

the post about V-day and CNY 2009

this year Jonas and i had a Valentine's Day dinner at Penthouse. never been there but since some frens suggested that place so we gave it a try. sushi was nice btw.

yesterday we had our Chinese New Year celeb. late but nevermind.. anyway Jonas and i wore a mathing cheong sam and samfu. so now we are mutual, because i wore sari and punjabi suit, so now he wore something chinese too.

i had a good time although i had an ironic job of becoming the VIP excort. ironic because i can't read or speak chinese and i don't know anything about chinese tradition. at one time, Marina Mikhailovna my russian teacher had her Chinese name written on a bookmark, and she asked me, 'is this read as Mik-hai-lov-na?'. i pretended to read the bookmark and said 'wow u are absolutely correct!' at another time, another teacher asked me to teach her to use the chopsticks. i can't even use the chopsticks myself, so i said 'however you feel comfortable, then it is correct.' conclusion - im a Ba-Na-Na. a rotten one.

Oh kay- having my dermato exam this Wed. the class where i had to put on extra thick compact powder on my face cuz these teachers are the skin freaks. and i sat right in front of the class, which was not so helpful.

finally - the post about the winter trip!

finally - a chance to put my winter trip into typing . went all the way to 5th gear with my first cycle - Dermatology. exam cycle so better not play the fool. lol.

the winter trip was a superb, minus the cold weather part. Jonas and i went to Paris and Barcelona, then to London to meet Cindy. Then, the 3 of us ventured to Edinburgh and Manchester. Got back to London again, stopped by at Dusseldorf for a night and then to Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod.

Paris was awesome! first day itself we went to the much anticipated Disneyland. my first time to Disneyland, and Jonas' second time, so he was rather cool about it. it was really nice just to be there, everything seems like in the disney cartoons - the little palaces, Mickey and Minnie mouse walking around, mary poppins dancing and singing.... the atmosphere! i enjoyed the rides too, although most of it scared me almost to death. worst of all, Jonas tricked me to ride on the
twilight zone, which was like a mini solero shot. and i saw all these little kids and adults like my mum's age going for the ride so i thought it was some tame ride. i was so wrong indeed.

hello Disneyland!

Next day, to the famous Eiffel and strolling along Champs Elysees. the sales was superb. was shopping away till Jonas got pissed off. and the day after that we went to Louvre museum. not that i am such a museum person, but since the Mona Lisa was there so we might as well take a look. and also to the Notre dame cathedral, moulin rouge...



Second destination - Barcelona. the best thing bout Barca was that it was so warm there, unlike the chilly Paris. and shopping there was awesome too, all along La Ramblas. and it is worth to mention that our hostel was an awesome one - Backpackers BCN Barcelona, which was cheap, a stone's throw from the metro station and absolutely comfortable - their beds, cups, plates, lights, everything was from IKEA. The funny thing was that Jonas and i got this Italian roommate who snored like a motorcycle engine, so bad that in the end we went to sleep at the living room. Even our other roommate from New York complained to us about him. lol.

Segrada familia

Jonas and the so-called Ronaldinho

at Nou Camp


glutton in action!

Next - London. Aunty Anne was so nice to pick Jonas and i up from Gatwick as we arrived late at night and might not be able to catch the tube to her place. we stayed at her place and she gave us the best VIP treatment while we were there - breakfast, her lovely fruit cake, crispy duck ( yup - i betrayed ducky because A. Anne's crispy duck was absolutely delicious!), the christmas pudding, claypot rice, curry with roti canai... Jonas and i are really grateful to aunty anne for having us in her lovely and newly renovated home. It has been such a long time since i relaxed on a sofa and watch TV. lol.

It was really really nice to meet up with Cindy. Cindy had been telling many stories about her new life in London to us through mails, and now i get to see for myself... how she living and all. I can say my big sister is very blessed to live in a comfortable room and surrounded by nice aunties.

the next day, which was the first day of Chinese New Year, the four of us (A. Anne, Cindy, Jonas and i) went to Aunty Dilys' house to have a steamboat lunch. long time since i last had steamboat! amazing! and aunty Dilys never stopped stuffing Jonas and i with more and more and more food! and she made the best apple crumble ever.

It was just the start of our eating frenzy. i forgot that Cindy rhymes very well with FOOD! which was what we did most of the time - eating and eating and eating. especially at china town. i decided that since i might not have enough space in my bag to fit all the goodies, i might as well just stuff them into my mouth. we had char siew pau, my favourite sota bean, mochi, luncheon meat, smiling fish....not to mention many many subways and Mc Ds. aunty anne even cut coupons from the newspaper so we can get the 1.99 pounds set meal from Mc D.

and after that we did try to burn our calories by walking around and visit some attractive places in London....with Cindy as D official tour guide.

tower bridge London




London's eye

Big Ben

Wembley stadium

yup...the two sad people at the tube station....waiting for 7 pm so the price will reduce by half.

we took the Mega bus to Edinburgh. arrived at night and checked in at Frederick House Hotel. it was raining that day, but it did not stopped us from going for the free tour in the afternoon and the ghost tour at night... visiting the cemeteries and hear some spooky men-made stories. hahaha... but some stuff did spooke me out, like burning witches, hanging people...

Edinburgh was an amazing place!! sightseeing, shopping, eating (mostly at Rick's), the night life...

Edinburgh castle - an amazing place, spent half a day there. now this is a real castle, not some Kellie's castle or fort margherita!

Jalan - jalan

and shopping away!

Manchester - Jonas' homeland. hahah.... the only 2 attractions in Manchester - Old trafford and shopping! Jonas enjoyed the first and i enjoyed the second. Cindy, Jonas and i were really lucky that we managed to sit at the executive seats in the theater of dreams and watch Man Utd vs Everton. as for me, i never took my eyes of my Christiano Ronaldo. i can't believe for 2 hours i was in close proximity with Christiano Ronaldo!

subway - again

On our last day in Manchester, Jonas went for the stadium and museum tour in Old trafford while Cindy and i went to china town and some shopping places. We were suprised that there was a big CNY celebration, since it was the second week of CNY. we were even interviewed by the TV crew!

The night we arrived in London from Manchester, we were hit by this crazy blizzard. which was unusual for London. the next day everything was pure white outside. for a moment i thought that i was back in Russia. since the city was in a halt, we could not do much, so we went to pay a visit to Aunty Lianny and played snow with Sean. my second time building a snowman! and the family dog Peppy was such a darling!

Last day in London, cold and snowy but we managed to walk around a bit. to Buckingham Palace. then to Oxford street to eat.




I was sad to part with my sister when Jonas and i had to leave for Dusseldorf and then to Moscow. But it was great to visit Cindy and to see for myself how she was coping there. well, mummy and all the others at home do not need to worry at all because our Cindy is doing very well there.

Last destination - Dusseldorf. stayed for a night so we did not walk so much. next morning caught the flight to Moscow and that night we took the train to Nizhniy Novgorod.Glad to be back here.

and i gained 2 kgs.