Busy Weekend Part I

Today went by in a whirlwind again.. Morning novena church service, afternoon lunch appt with Frank, Linken & Edwin, followed by RS meeting & dinner till nighttime..

Today's RS meeting was quite an eye-opener. Differing styles from Keenan & Nick Netto, Aloy & Barry truly made this session theirs. Very CG-style indeed.. We talked and shared on the topic of "Faith". All in all, the questions and sharing were enlightening.. =) They allowed me to reflect on the past 6 months as an RS, and how it has changed me - helping me realise that all along, God has always been right there beside me, with me, when i needed him most. A million thanks!!!


Me @ St. Mike's..

Was also a little perturbed when a fellow CGL shared his difficulties in fulfilling his duty.. Realising that his problems & worries were similar, I felt that FAITH does play a very important role - that He will help us if we do our part. Really grateful also to my "partner-in-crime" RS!! We both rely on each other and support each other, and that's important too.. =)

Had dinner with the other CGLs for the 1st time after so many sessions.. =P it was a bit weird? =P since i noe so few of them, and the few that i know, i don't exactly know very well? But still, we did talk over dinner, which was nice.. =))

Oh.. and Alexis is realy funny.. =D

Just a short dash..

And so ends another week at school.. Quite an uneventful week, fortunately.. The weekend's gonna be so busy.. Lunch appt, RS meeting & dinner, lunch appt again, and CMS steamboat.. Argh.. Haf to find some time to do my tut for next week and read up orbit for Monday's prosection..

Thanks for your concern pple.. =) My grandfather's discharged today.. =) *Whee~

My gosh.. Head & neck went slightly downhill over the weekend.. Poring over Snell's lengthy description of the fossae of the base of the cranium, my mind shut off almost immediately. Thank goodness for Prof Ling!! He's powerful indeed.. Went for prosection on Monday, and immediately was a close to 2 hour lecture on the fossae and foramina.. He was quite fast, yet comprehensive.. =) Everyone was scribbling like mad on paper, and we hardly got to feel much.

But then, wat's prosection without examining the body? Prof Ling donned gloves and demonstrated with the brain & the skull.. Then he started slicing the brain to show us the ventricle. Eep. Its 1 thing to look at muscles of, say, limb or trunk; and totally a different thing to look at a brain, much less slice it horizontally.. Yet Prof Ling just sliced the brain, as someone put it, " like Kueh Lapis".. -_-"

Oh well.. Prof Ho wasn't feeling well, so ICS was postponed 1 week.. Sighz.. Mebbe we can combine 2 sessions into 1? Haha.. then can end even earlier..

Busy busy.. Shopping!! =) and visiting my Grandfather in Hospital.. =(

With his gout flaring up again, he was admitted to hospital.. Argh. He looked fine the other day when i visited him though, hope he gets well soon b4 CNY!!!

Anywayz, CNY is just around the corner.. Never knew that there was going to be so much stuff to buy.. =) Went shopping with my mom these few days, cos she's not working, and we went shopping for clothes, new shoes,..

Haha.. grabbed a nice pair of new sports shoe at Queensway shopping centre for less than $50.. Quite decent, considering how ex shoes are these days.. -_-"

Headed over to the Singapore Handicrafts Centre @ Eunos to buy new cushions & cushion covers for my sofa.. never knew that my furniture in my living room was made of rosewood.. =) Quite lasting.. =) 15 years already.. =) rosewood really looks quite good.. gives the quaint feeling, just nice for CNY especially!! =) my mom and i finally settled on this lush red-plum blossom-emblazoned silk cushion covers.. =) nice!! Haha.. Shall invite the 7 over to my house some time after CNY for party!! Card games, mahjong, lunch.. =)

Anyway, the cushions were quite bulky, and the guy was saying he'll call a cab for us.. on 2nd thoughs, mebbe I shld haf let him call the cab. Feeling 'heroic', i grabbed the cushions (1 long sofa cushion + 2 chair cushions) and stalked out of the place, saying there was no need.. ("!) Well, it was a long walk out to the busstop, but fortunately they weren't heavy.. though we attracted quite a lot of attention along the way home and on the bus, especially since it was Hari Raya, and everyone was out and about.. =P

Yupz.. And after so many days, i finally met Huiwen online! haha.. finally put my Skype to good use.. *i was starting to think that i had bought the mike for nothing! =P Haha.. =) Yepz.. More shopping this weekend.. =P Eep. Guess i'll touch a bit of skull & cranium on Sunday b4 prosection on Monday..

Just finished watching Amazing Race.. They went to Ethopia this week!! Love the scenery..

But what made tonight's episode so special was the people in it! (not the bitchy and whiny contestants of course, but the Ethopians) They were really friendly people.. Seeing the way they volunteered information about directions, young teenagers offering to help the gals with their heavy bag packs, small kids saying even a simple "Hello" to the strangers walking around in a hurry.. Its a wonder indeed.

Definitely not something you see in Singapore everyday, if at all.

1 week of school

Sighz.. Wat a trying week. Ok, it wasn't half that bad in the middle.. but my mood got ruined yesterday by the inefficiencies of the SBS bus service. -_-""

Susan was real funny yesterday.. =) she commented that i dun write enough about Jan, Dave, Chris, Susan & I on my blog.. Haha.. i shall devote 1 paragraph to her here to humour her.. lolz.. Irritated her when the 5 of us went for lunch @ coffee grounds, the new cafe near the Med library.. Quite a cosy place.. I like the sofas!!! couldn't decide wat to eat, so i just decided to order wateva Susan ordered too.. =) and then we bought for seats as she sat in my sofa -_-"" lolz.. too bad we left earlier.. the other guys were waiting for us @ the badminton courts! *sorry! =P Haha.. if not for their make-up pelvis tut.. Play badminton again next week! =)

Finally had the chance to pick up my badminton racket since a hiatus of close to 1 month!! *blows off the thick layer of dust..* played 2 hours of badminton with Gabby, Vicky, Daniel & Wenxian & Chris.. =) was a bit rusty.. haha.. Followed by cell group - tsunami reflections.. It was a little weird, i suppose, since for the 1st time, Chris & I had to actively link an otherwise-non religious issue, into its religious aspect, and what lessons we can learn from it. Hope we did ok..

At the end of the day, it is not up to us to ask why it happened. That's not something that we will know and understand, not during our lifetime on Earth anyway. What's important is the good that we see in this - the hearts of many strangers, bonded by a common good cause; charity & love; faith in unknown leaps & bounds - someone said that suffering is not to be understood. Its meant to be experienced. And through that experience, you grow stronger, in your faith, in your actions, in your belief, and in yourself.

Mass service @ LT17 was a blast too.. =) pity Tracy couldn't join us for mass.. *Welcome Tracy!!!! =))* Haha.. thought that it was gonna be a great end to the week, then SBS had to come ruin my night. -_-" gosh.. i can't believe i waited 20 whole mins for service 53 to arrive!! Argh. what a waste of my time. *Stomach rumbling* boy.. at least the bus driver was going along at fast pace.. if not i'd have died of hunger =P

Ack. My resolution for the coming month is to utilize my bus & hybrid concession whenever possible and as much as possible to get back at the unpredictabilities of bus services.. -_-""

Aahh.. Back to school..

Well.. First day of school was a blast. -_-"" The buses played me out this morning. Luckily I left home early, if not i'd have been late for school. Ah..

Next.. Horrors.. Physio results. Argh. So disgusted with myself. =(

To top it off.. Got ticked off by that irritating lab tech (who prob tink's his name is so funky, since its part of the name of a famous building in India) in the Anat Hall. Fine.. Although there was a sign on the table saying no bags, only microscopes, or x-rays or smth.. But there wasn't any x-rays for this session!!! Urgh. After that, some pple left their bags on that same table, and were he didn't say anything!! =(

Sigh. Great way to start school again.

At least today was uneventful.. =)

Argh.. Inertia!

Ack. Trying to get back into the groove.. >_<>

Mebbe catch the last few days of holidays to do some work.. Eep.

Hhmmm.. had lunch with Randal today.. =) nice.. Although we go to sch in the same LT everyday, but i hardly get the chance to talk much to him, since we all have our own circle of friends.. so it was really great to meet him for lunch today! =) Talked for a while, then headed back to RI for Raffles Trail (CCA Feste) to look at the 02 Scouts' structures & exhibits.. =) Some things never change.. =)

Of course, meeting old teachers, juniors.. but looking back today, there isn't really much left of the pple factor. The familiar faces of teachers are still there, which is good, but juniors are mostly gone too? All moving on to JC years and beyond.. That's life I suppose. New blood comes in to replace those who have moved on.

Yayz.. Spent the last few days brushing up on the layout and add-ons for my blog.. =) looks a bit better? =P

Anyway.. Addendum!! Eep.

Dec: Haha.. had CMS Christmas bash at Teresa's house!! =) Many thanks to Teresa and her family for opening up her house for the party.. =] and of course.. wat's a Christmas celebration without church service?


Ahem, heavy chatter before dinner? =P (Father Colin, Me, Ernest & George!)

And of course, lotsa food!! =)


Yes, the bun.. =)

Haha.. there was this really HUGE bun, with curry in it! =) apparently they cooked the curry first, wrapped it in paper, then dough, and baked the bread!


And the curry in it!!

Yum yum.. =)

Playhouse - Jan, Dave, Chris, Susan & Me!! 

2004 Recap

A reflection on the year 2004..

Jan: Woohoo! My first taste of "freedom" in the sense that i had nothing to do at home. -_-" not exactly a good thing rite? That explains why i started trying to find a job.. =) Started my relief teaching stint @ RI for 1 week teaching Chemistry. Hhmmm.. My students reminded me so much of myself!! I wish i could have gotten to know them better though

Started driving lessons!! Whee.. Really fun.. Hope i pass b4 i enter NS.. =P


Feb: My "real" teaching @ RJC begun!! Relieving Ms Hor for Biology, my life was coloured by the vibrant RJC students, who were more enthusiastic as students.. =) must be the female factor. Throw in the oestrogen level, somehow, classes become more lively, and guys aren't so dull.. Met other relief teachers from my batch too! (Evelyn & Vanessa, who is now in Cambridge doing law.. All the best Vanessa!!! =)) Got to know more teachers better.. =) they seem to be nicer when u're not a student anymore.. Haha.. =)


Mar: Gosh.. A'Level results are coming out!! Was quite afraid and excited anyways.. And wat was more exciting was that i got to LECTURE bio!! =) although it was an out of syllabus topic, the experience was once-in-a-lifetime.. it was actually quite scary at first, staring up into 300+ unknown faces, knowing that you are only 2 years older than them. My first lecture on Bacteria didn't go exactly as i planned. -_-" ended up shouting at them without the mike, in the opening minutes to ask them to keep quiet. Haha.. Mr Loh Chean Ming walked in at the wrong time and heard me shouting and wondered wat was going on.. =) lolz

Yupz, A'Level results.. it was a different experience taking the results as a relief teacher.. somehow, the staff were really nice, and eager to know our results, and to tell us our results =P so we actually knew our results before the afternoon release.. =P many thanks to the RJC Bio dept!! =)

Glad to know all my good friends did really well, Mohan, Frank, Chris, Edwin, Linken, Seng Tat.. =) Even happier to know that many of them got good scholarships.. =)


Apr: Relief teaching stints here and there.. but nothing much really. Guess i was getting a little nervous at entering NS so soon. I mean, seeing all my good friends enter NS, yet i was still out here, made me kinda nervous, wondering wat's gonna happen to me. I prayed really hard that i would make lotsa new friends in BMT, since most of my batch already entered in the Jan intake.

23rd Apr - Guess i won't forget this date anytime soon.. Entered BMT on this date.. Although the first few days were tough, fortunately i blended in quite well, and made lotsa new friends!! Eng Tat, Wei Ding, Kok Soon, thanks so much for the wonderful memories in BMT!! Haha.. must keep in touch, and i definitely won't forget all of you.. =)


May: BMT, BMT, BMT.. never tot i'd spend my bdae on an island off-shore.. Haha.. =) Medicine interviews started!! Essay test + 2 rounds of interviews.. Hope i get into medicine..


Jun: Graduated BMT.. yay.. =) i'm still alive.. =P well, actually i guess i was never in much trouble, so nothing much.. =P headed on to live my role up as project clerk.. =P

Med results are out!! I got into NUS med.. =) waiting for disruption.. =P Eep.


Jul: I'm out again! =) attended medfac FOC. Really great experience, my OG & OGLs were really funky and great! =) my og pple were really friendly and nice.. Haha.. and who can ever forget RAG '04? the late nights spent on the candy house, the ant and other backdrops.. -_-" the starch and backdrop pasting.. the many sweets we had to make for the candy house (and how many actually failed QC (quality control) standards of Wesley... >_<) Those were memorable times.. =) many thanks to even greater friends Janice, Susan, Dave & Chris who stayed and helped out, along with the other dancers, costumes and props pple, which there are too many for me to name!! Ahh.. thanks a million for such great memories!! =D Ah-hah! I finally passed my driving test.. lolz. Even knocked down 1 parking pole during parallel parking while i was leaving the parking lot.. >_<>


Aug-Nov: Med School starts.. =) Many firsts started coming my way.. First prosection - we got to don lab coats & rubber gloves and touched and examined cadavers for anatomy classes. First PDP session - was really enjoyable being in a clinical environment and interacting with real-life patients and seeing everything medical in books come to life in the real world.

Staying in hostel KEVII Hall!! i suppose i didn't really get used to life in hall, cos it got a little tiring carrying my favourite Richard Snell and other textbook companions back during weekends to study.. they got really heavy after a few weekends.. =P But i really liked my hostel room with its big L-shaped table where i could study and put my laptop on the other side.. =P And of course, wacky neighbours in the form of Qin Yong & David, and all those evening dinners at the KEVII dining hall, where everyone chatted past dinner hour.. =)

Formative Assessments (FAs) & CAs came and went.. Must work harder next term. ARGH.

Playhouse came and went.. =) it was a blast too.. With Christopher as Dr Spencer, the backstage crew was a little reminiscent of RAG '04.. even so, it was less intensive as rag, but equally fun.. kudos to all the production pple, actors & actresses, costumes, directors,...

And not forgetting spiritual food - CMS (Catholic Medical Society)! if you asked me 1 year ago, i would never have seen myself in the role of a religious secretary (RS), ever. Somehow, i actually was drawn to the role during the selection process. Maybe its God's will that i tried my hand at something new, and His way of bringing me closer back to Him. I have definitely grown more closer to Him after i took on my role as RS. I pray that He'll continue to guide me in the new year, and bless and protect my family.. =)


Dec: My first time carolling!! =) CMS went carolling at many places this year - SACH, St Luke's, Profs' houses... this was indeed one of the most memorable Christmas holidays ever.. =) Never knew carolling was so fun.. Haha.. =)


Haha.. Another carolling photo!! =) (Dyan, Chris & Me!!)


*Ending the year on a sombre note, the earthquake & resultant tsunamis has taken many lives in many areas around Asia, Africa, and even Europe holiday-makers. Families are torn apart, lives are lost, a tragedy indeed. What's important now is for all of us to be united as one. To help each other climb back up and to stand, straight and tall.

They say that time heals all wounds. Indeed.

An excerpt from my email "Carolling Reflections of an M1.."


" And it is so, that we end this year's carolling session..

Just thought I'd pen down a few thoughts and memorable memories and recollections that came to mind..

My family and I attended Christmas Eve mass at my church just now, and they had a short carolling session before the mass began. "Nothing new," so I thought, until my church choir started singing some of our carolling songs..

The first familiar song was "One Small Child". As the organist played the opening bars to the all-too familiar piece, I realised that the arrangement was exactly the same as our carolling piece! =) ( Well, since I played the piano for this piece at Dr John Lee's & Prof Hwang's house, couldn't resist trying to hear how well the organist was playing.. =P And I realised that I definitely need more practise? =P ) But my church choir was quite good.. =) and I couldn't help coming in during the respective parts.. ( But if I may so shamelessly say, we're better.. Muahaha.. =P )

Anyway, familiar songs like "Angels", "Hark" and "O Holy Night" were sung, though not in SATB arrangement though.. =O mebbe that explains the few weird stares I got when I was trying to accompany in a tenor part for fun.. >_<>

It all seemed like yesterday when we first started carolling practice.. I recall we barely dared open our mouths to sing, cos we were so afraid and uncertain of how we would sound like.. And we've come a long way since! =) Many thanks to the upper Ms who came down to help us! especially Ian, David, Darren, Germaine, Angela, and any other higher Ms which I have accidentally left out! =P The wacky practice sessions will always stay in my mind: with Ernest's cookies, chocolates, and Ian and his "Weather's Originals" and his musical-note-pipe which no one dares to use cos of ahem, hygiene reasons -_-"" .. =P ; Sops VS almost everyone else, cos the sops sing melody line while other parts are struggling over their lines.. Haha.. I'm sure the Sops put in a lot of hard work too, if not more, since they're the melody line.. =) And all the solo practices.. =P A million thanks to everyone for being part of such wonderful memories.. =)

e tEnors!! =)


Our 1st session at SACH was a good start, though the Tanah Merah Station pple gave us weird stares when we tried warming up in a corner.. -_-"" It was really heartwarming to interact with the patients there after our songs.. There was this elderly female lady who was really nice and chatty, and talked to us about her elder sons and how's she's gonna be back home before Christmas.. =) dinner @ Cafe Cartel after that was great too.. =P Followed by Dr John Lee's house.. Gosh.. O_O at least I was taken aback by the crowd size.. There were lots of kids and young pple there.. was a really fun experience.. =)

...


Our following session at Mt. A was a little off-colour.. =P cos we were still suffering the overhang effects of partying too late the previous night at Dr John Lee's house.. =P went off-key a few times.. *Oops..* =P Though that evening's performance @ Prof Hwang's house was much better.. =) St Luke's was OK.. -_-" except when we got cut in the middle of "Joy" and were chased from a ward by the nurse cos a patient wanted to rest.. =P We din get to interact with the patients cos of time constraints, which was a pity.. =(

@ St. Luke's!! (Me, Leonard, Chris, Daniel, Maureen, Teresa & Serena)

And of course, yesterday! =) Our last minute item at the Children's Cancer Foundation Ward was really great!! (Thanks Ian for coming up with the script! =)) Casting Denise as Rudolph, Serena as Mrs Claus and other reindeers... The kids were really quite happy to see us, and it was nice to see a smile on the parents' faces too.. =) Hope we brought them some Christmas cheer.. =) And of course, our swan song for this year.. Prof Low's party.. =) It was really wonderful to see so many upper Ms down for carolling.. =) We sounded the best last night.. =) and of course, due to intensive practice for "Jingle Bells" I still have the tune stuck in my head.. =P

@ Prof Low's PlacE!

"

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year 2005 everyone! =)

Hee.. =)

My 1st posting on my 1st foray into a personal blog!! =)

Wonder how often i'll get the time to actually post stuff here.. =P Guess i'll only tell my frens abt it when there's something substantial here.. =) Haha.. =)

~ Alvin