of the beeg beeg decision

I'm fast becoming a beeg, beeg girl. (in a beeg, beeg world. It's not such a beeg, beeg thing.)
it was a blardy steep learning curve this weekend. had to wrap my head around those damn new car terms.
but thanks to the parentals, it's worth it.
coz I just managed to make the 1st huge purchase in my 22 years of life.
yes, Mel has gotten herself a shiny new car.
and has been spending waaaay too much time reading up on car insurance and little thingamajids that compose a better-functioning car. oh mannnn, it feels like I'm reading up on a test and will be having a pop quiz anytime soon and might fail miserably at it. but I'm a meddie and stereotypical as this might sound, I'll grit my teeth and go through the whole process and hopefully ace it.

much as I love trains and trams, a car is the way to go, thanks to Northern and bird-early ward rounds.
granted it wasn't the nice bright colour that I wanted, it's still a breeze to drive in and it'll let me sleep in for just another half hour, which to a medical student is like a albeit-small-but-precious gold nugget.
so, hello hook turns and astronomical car park fees.
goodbye trams and trains. *sobs* I'll miss you. truly.



dear Sandra, I wonder what kinda car you would have gotten? I bet it's something yellow or red. you would so totally look at home with a nice sunshiny car.

of bucket lists and gold nuggets

so it's that stage of life where friends around me are pairing and cosying up during the wintry months when I just got out of a relationship.
must be that primal human instinct that requires you to seek body warmth, companionship, aid in the winter blues that come. lols.

and it's not enough of an excuse for people to pair up just because they want someone's hand to hold or someone to call in the wee hours of the morning just to wish goodnight/goodmorning.
so when the buddy kindly beat around the bush repeatedly as to when and who am I going to snare as my next armcandy, I not-so-kindly retorted repeatedly that I'm still 22 and have all the time in the world in settling down with a member of the XY species, preferably sometime after I've done all the things on my 'before-30-bucket-list'.
or if that armcandy is so willing, he can come with me on my trip of bucket-list-ing.
but it's my 'before-30-bucket-list'.
so no nagging, no overprotective macho-ism, no overbearing comments, no patronising smile, thank you very much.
or he could just sky-dive his way out of my life, which he could do pretty soon down the bucket list, seeing as sky-diving is no.1.

the 'before-30-bucket-list' may seem a little overambitious, to the practical eye.
but if it's not meant to be done, then at least I could at least say that I tried.
and you could take that little gold nugget right to the bank.

so to bucket list or not bucket list, there is no question about it.



and yes, I'm talking about you. You who supposedly settled. Please don't come around with a heartbreak expecting a box of tissues and a pat on the back because it ain't happening. You're one of those who just crave human contact, rather than the experience of it. I may sound catty, but that's the truth, honey.

of diabetes and the drug-addled situation

diabetes tutorials that I've done in 4 days: a grand total of 3.
plus a few hours spent on writing up notes on this bread-and-butter topic.

and whenever I knuckle down and read about diabetes, the face of that young man in Samrong floats in my mind's eye.
he's barely 16 and he suffers from DM 1.
he's already had an episode of diabetic nephropathy and he swells up every so often.
he has this shy smile on his face whenever he sees me in the hallway. he recognises me as one of the few med students tagging along on ward rounds, one of the Asian barangs. first few times he sees me, he ducks around the corner and watches us from afar with that smile of his face.
and he's just younger than me by a few years. and that's the most heartbreaking part.

and the 2nd heartbreaking part is he's on friggin' metformin.
no life-saving/life-sustaining/life-giving insulin for him.
he's on a DM 2 drug which technically doesn't do much for his DM 1 condition.
it's like giving a starving man one measly jelly bean.
all because there are no fridges in the village, no equipment for insulin therapy, no funds for it.
and DM1 has crappy prognosis without insulin. period.

and that's the absolute absolute absolute worst part.
and there's still people who are not squandering away their insulin stash by not adhering to their regime.

Mel shall be running on adrenaline this whole week until Friday when she will crash and burn on her bed.
no thanks to her being car-less, the blardy traffic, the peeps that live on the opposite of town, the ruralness of the hospital and damn early ward rounds.

but complaints aside, it has been a wonderful start to the rotation.
something must be said about the stereotypical country hospitality that I've experienced since being here.
people there are just supremely supremely nice and comforting and gentle and just oh-so-kind.

Things I've done last week:

- finished up my 1st rotation through the deadly 5 specialties: derm, ortho, plastics, rheum & anaes. Have to say it's been fun. Might be due to the various cute, charismatic, swoon-worthy surgeons in attendence.

- found out that I've seriously a weak spot for intelligent, geeky guys, regardless of looks. See above point. 'Nuff said.

- became Medleys' Miss Lighting again for the 2nd time running. And gobbled down the chocs given as a thank-you gift with the BFG before the weekend is out. And butterflies still fly about in the tummy area when I hear Mr Director belt out tunes in his incredibly-knee-buckling voice.

- spent quite some time chatting/gossiping with Miss Stage Manager, Mr Assistant Stage Manager & Miss AV throughout the week. Bonded over our shared abhorrence of the spotlight and intermission lollies.

- am 1/3 my way to Vellore, India for yet another med volunteer trip. 2 trips in just 1 year. Golly, am I climbing the humanitarian ladder hard and fast!

- cleaned out my shared locker with Miss Pocket Rocket at dear ole' Austin and preparing ourselves for our 6 weeks at the almost-painfully-rural Northern Hospital.

- met dear Miss Foodie J at this quaint quirky Jap pottery and cafe for some yummy-tummy Jap food. Made her promise to visit me back home.


Things that I have to do this coming week:
- learn the blardy renal system by heart.

- recite the features of diabetes and its management in my sleep.

- survive my 1st week at Northern and not be late for any classes.