L.I.F.E.

Finally, I get around to writing a post. Roughly about 2 weeks
ago have passed and quite a lot has happened within this time
interval. But here are just a few highlights:-

*takes a breath*

"let's start shall we?" :-)

Somehow, during holidays I find that my days seem often 'merged'
in some sense upon recollection. Anyways, I suppose a fitting starting
point would be the Sunway Lagoon Gathering on Dec. 2nd.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Sunway Lagoon Trip - Sam Clan Gathering?
---------------------------------------------------------------

Thinking back to last year, I feel nostalgic as I recall the unique
spirit of togetherness than Sam Clan shared. It was a short 1 year,
but somehow this group of people just gelled so well together and
consequently had lots of fun memories and experiences together
(no surprise there). Many images simultaneously pop up in my
mind's eye (inclusive of that odd little koala bear drawn by TJJ)
and all happy one's too. Individually, we have all toyed with idea
of planning a gathering - despite the wide distribution of our fellow
alumni locally as well as overseas. But, yes somehow these words -
never seemed to make their way into reality. I have to express
major kudos to Mr. Shivanan though, because despite the fact he
switched to Engineering after 1st sem of the SAM programme -
his enthusiasm to have a gathering was unwavering and unmatched.





















He always suggested Sunway Lagoon. So I thought,
why not? After all it is the holidays and what perfect time
than now when everyone is 'free'? So we confirmed the date
over a brisk game of badminton one afternoon and soon
later we found ourselves enjoying the Extreme Park! The
people that were able to make it included:-

Shivanan
Yee Ling
Jamie
Chicco
Ken Loon
Eng Hong
Kai Xin
Myself
Jack (dinner)

So I guess from the list it seemed more like a S'ban Gang gathering
than a SAM Clan gathering. But yeah, many were busy that time -
and there were no regrets I mean if we were to delay it to another
date, those free this day might not be free that day. So all in all,
though the gathering was somewhat of a failure - I found myself
content nevertheless because I had a fantastic day with the people
who were able to make it. :-) Most of the pics are with Kai Xin, but
I uploaded some of my favorite pics from the few that I took.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Cousin's Wedding Dinner - Ipoh
---------------------------------------------------------------

One of favorite times during my 6 week holidays - I must admit. It seems these days being caught between trying to
balance academics (time for books and time for gym)
or trying to maintain somewhat of a 'social life' or just to
have some ME time.. I often find myself deficient in terms
of time for my family. Don't get me wrong - Family is a
huge part of my life, without them I wouldn't even be where
I was today. Which is why, when I get the chance to spend
time with my family especially during holidays - I enjoy it
so much. It's also an entirely different kind of joy I get
when I meet up with my distant family members, cousins from my Dad's side because meeting them is a rarer phenomenon than a full moon.

















Anyways, after a 3.5 hour drive up to Ipoh. We stopped by
uncle's house located at Mansion Park near Ipoh Old Town.
A nice house indeed, and I had a great time hanging out with
the older cousins. While the younger cousins seemed more
fascinated with playing that annoying Bouncing Ball game
on my Nokia's touchscreen. Well, I always enjoy my
conversations with my cousins - they are all very friendly.
We catch up about our current situations as well as share
past experiences together. Sometimes, I find myself feeling
in awe of their academic excellence. With one cousin working
on his PhD on medical immunology (MAC, Complement system, C3a, C3b, C5a, Poly-C9, etc) and another with working at the MIT branch in S'pore with his PhD in physics - my cousins have never been underachievers when it came to academics. And yes, their humility leads me to find even more respect for them.

Anyways, yes spending this valuable time with my cousins
as well as various uncles and aunties not to mention be able
to attend my cousin's wedding dinner - it is a time to be
cherished. And might I add, my cousin (bride-to-be) looked
stunning in her white gown. :-)

---------------------------------------------------------------
Paw's - Animal Shelter
---------------------------------------------------------------

A dog is often quoted as being "man's best friend". I never really gave this phrase its deserved magnitude. This is the portion of this entry which will give meaning to the title written above. Recently,
one of my dogs (Daisy) passed away. At that time, I must confess that thought I felt it just to have a post in dedication to this late canine I couldn't bring myself to write about her at that point in time. I realised, I actually quite loved that dog - so much so that I became rather upset when I came to know she died. Whose
death still remains unknown. Anyways, in memory of her I decided to volunteer a day at animal shelter with my friends:-

Melody
Wei Hoong
Tung Meng
Tay

After all, it doesn't require so much of me just to show one dog that's had an unfortunate life a little bit of love even if it was for one afternoon. We reached the NGO and the workers there brought us to the canine cages and brought out one dog for each of us to take care of. You could just tell the happiness on those dogs. It was like a prisoner which had just served his 10 year sentence being released. It was the freedom of being able to walk outside the confines of the cage.

After getting our respective dogs leashed up and ready to go. We took them out for a good walk along this long stretch of pavement just outside the establishment. Some dogs were enjoying the brisk walk, while one (namely Tung Meng's dog) preferred to be carried nearly half the time. :-P After that, we gave them a good shower, dried them off and brushed their hair. We spent about an hour after that playing with them, basically just showing them the affection which they so far lacked. It was a tiring day, especially under the blistering sun which was further proved by the dangling tongue of all the dogs during the walk. But yes, it was a good day - although some may look at it as a WHOLE and notice that we were only able to cater to 5 dogs out of ~ 90? It may seem insignificant...but keep in mind, one day is better than none of the dogs. And in this case it was FIVE. We were able to give at least 5 of these dogs a good afternoon..and that is satisfactory enough.

Anyways, this post goes out to my late dog which has served me so well:-

(7 Weeks Old - when we first brought her back from
the breeder. Daisy, was her name)

a dog who..

- always came to greet me with a lick
- couldn't stop its wagging tail every time it saw me
- would go berserk whenever my mom sweeps the floor with
the red broom
- found it so difficult to jump, though managed to jump on
my shin everytime
- gave me a familiar look, though i've been away at uni for 2
months at a time
- had bad breath, yet such soft fur - it surpasses any stuffed-toy

a dog who..

won't be forgotten.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

I thought that being on hols now, I would be blogging more often
however I find myself blogging at approx. the same frequency.
Truth be told, I find myself having had become lazier since the hols.
Lazy in the sense that i'm getting heaps of sleep done ~ like 11-12
hours long sleep done. I've probably went from incurring a sleep debt
to accumulating sleep credit. But hey, that's not so bad right? (:

My friends say "sleep in while you still can..", my parents say "sleep
as much as you need - don't set the alarm clock.." but yet I feel
one kind when I wake up at 12.30PM. I don't sleep THAT late every
night. I'm usually counting the sheep by 1-2AM. So I have come to the
conclusion that I have become lazy in that specific sense. My close
friends know this about me and that is I hate waking up early in the morning
(eg. 6AM during study periods), but what I hate even more is waking up
LATE, eg. in the afternoon. Somehow, I feel that my entire morning has been
wasted - I could reply friends' emails, I could go for a brisk morning jog,
I could have a nice cup of milo and read the newspaper. Don't get me wrong,
all these things can be done at nearly any time of the day - but it does feel
good to get at least SOMETHING done in the morning rather than just
SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP...like a sloth, in every sense of the noun. (No offence
to sloths)

So yes, I plan starting 2mrw to try my very best to wake up latest by 10AM
every morning, that's reasonable right? (rhetorical ques.)

Anyways, so yes moving on with the topic at hand... my hols thus far! Aside
from my extended sleeping habits, i've managed to do most of the things I
planned to get back to doing during the hols. For me, hols has never just been
the period of immense relaxation but also a interval to carry out some of the
things we lack the time of during the busy school calendar as well as a little
self-improvement to boot. I've kept things quite simple, other than the occasional
outings with friends - i've tried to do certain things regularly, eg:

1) Working out

- I try to do this 5-6 times a week, always feels rather invigorating after a
nice hour of working out. (:


2) Sports

- Bowling is def one of my favorite recreational sports, so no doubt I play 1-2
times a week. And, I also find myself having a new found interest in the game
of badminton. The thing about badminton that captured my interest must be
the simultaneous teamwork and coordination that it focuses on when playing doubles
- an aspect that is not available in bowling. I also find it to be great fun because it is
somewhat a fast-paced game, which emphasizes on reaction time/speed as well as
mental tactics (as in how to trick the opponent) and not to mention having to be
able to 'read' the opponent's move so you can react in time. I still have LOTS of
room for improvement - but hey take it easy, after all it's for FUN, I don't intend
to be the next Lin Dan or Lee Chong Wei. But it's official - call me a BADMINTON
ADDICT. (:

3) Guitar

Playing guitar has always been one of my favorite hobbies! I somehow find time to
play my favorite songs, even in the midst of preparing for a major exam. For me,
its a way to relieve stress as well as express my feelings! When happy, play an up-beat
positive song - when emo, play a song by Secondhand Serenade. :-P Either way,
yes playing guitar has been one of my major activities during this break thus far.. and
I learned "Drops of Jupiter by Train" and "On My Way by Boyce Avenue". Not very
tough songs for seasoned guitar players (and no i am not calling myself one, bcoz i'm NOT),
but always fun to put PLAYING and SINGING together. ;)

4) Reconnecting/Keeping in Touch with Friends

It's a value, I must say that I only really truly understood and appreciated the importance
of earlier this year. But yes, a lesson well learned and never to be forgotten is the importance
of taking effort to keep in touch with old friends and maintaining the relationship of current
friendships alive and well. I'm glad that during this hols, I took the time to reconnect with
some old friends - it's always nice catching up and sharing stories. After all, we all have our
own stories, stories that we write every single day through the actions we take and the words
we say and sometimes we learn an important thing or two when we listen to our friends' "stories".

5) Spending time with the Family

Before coming back after exams, the last time I came back was nearly 2 months before that.
Okay, so 2 months def doesn't seem like a long period for some of my fellow international
friends who probably only go home 2-3 times a year.. but yes for me it is a LONG time. The
longest i've been away from my parents yet. And, considering my family is only staying in
S'ban - 2 months is a long time despite the rather 'short' distance of a 45 min journey. But,
yes the saying "home sweet home" couldn't be any more true. It's good to see my parents
and it's good to chill out with my brother. Chilling out with my brother has always been easy
because we share similar interests, with the exception of his infatuation with DOTA but yeah
otherwise we spend loads of brother-bonding time together. His results will be out soon, then
it will be time for him to decide on a course - so i'll pray for his results. (:

6) Learn

Most people reading this will probably wipe their eyes to see if they have read wrongly. But,
yes learn. Don't get me wrong, 'learning' doesn't mean study for 10, 12 or 15 hours. No way,
if I studied that much - then what's the purpose of having a hols? Well like I said earlier -
hols for me is not just a time to relax and rot but also to improve myself. I really do believe in
learning something new every day. And ofcoz, no it doesn't mean that SOMETHING necessarily has to be medicine but there is no harm if it is. After all, what the point of completely letting my
brain be stagnant in terms of inputting more medical knowledge into my brain especially when
I have so much time on my hands? Leaving my mind stagnant for a month +, I know how my body and brain works. I know that my brain would just slowly atrophy and yes I will come back
next year taking 1-2 weeks 'rebooting' my brain and getting it prepped for 'learning'. So there is no such thing has only LEARNING when it is during the school calendar or when there are EXAMS. Learning should be a thing that we strive to make it a point each and every single day.
And it's funny, bcoz somehow some people have that negative thinking of 'oh man..why is that fellow studying during the hols? Can't he give it a break." well let me say this.

Why is it when a person who is studying (eg. medicine), reads up on medical literature it's
called 'studying'. But whenever, someone else who is (eg. studying anything other than medicine) reads up on health-related medical topics it's just seen as quest for knowledge or
trying to be better informed on how to stay healthy. It's sort of a double standard in a sense.
In actual reality, being in the medical field should mean that its just as important for us to
learn as many new things as we possibly can about topics pertaining to our field. Ofcoz, I don't mean neglect other issues (eg. global, local, economy and what not) but you get the idea.
I don't "study" bcoz i'm KIASU, I choose to use some of my extra time to LEARN for the benefit
of my future pts. Most importantly, I do this not because I feel obliged to - I do it because I
really do enjoy learning new things, esp medical information. After all what's the big deal or 2-3 hours out of my 12-15 hour I am awake during the day? I still manage to do all those other things I listed b4 my 6th point - so yes HOLIDAYS in my meaning is still maintained is not lost. The more I learn, the more I want to learn more. It's a thirst that I can't describe. And so yeah, that's why I choose to use the term "learn" rather than "study". Because, somehow "study" brings with it a sense of association of the obligatory input of new information, rather than the former which brings with it a sense of voluntary input instead.

Anyways, enough of that for now.
That's my hols thus far for you.
Until my next post ~ enjoy your hols!

I know I am.
(:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Today was the 'DAY'... the release of the
results. I went earlier with a friend hoping
to quickly get my result slip and slip out of
sight so that I could open my result slip in the
comfort of my own room. But yes, ofcoz that
failed miserably.. as nearly like 40% of the batch
showed up 'early' to pick up their results slips.
While waiting anxiously, Dr. Ranjit walks by and
tells us that 35 people failed, which is quite a lot
compared to the previous batch. So of course, it
always struck me...now WHAT IF i happen to be
one of the unfortunate 1 of 35 who failed?

The implications?
- Premature end of hols
- Immediate revision mode for the next 1 month
- RM1000 for re-sit in Dec 28th
- Good bye Christmas Day celebration
- etc. etc.

The implications were numerous and none POSITIVE.

I waited patiently in line, finally it was my turn. '6769'
were the last 4 digits of my ID and there the two ladies
started sifting through the 200+ result slips for my
slip. They took so unusually long - and i swear i was totally
having palpitations.

"Here you go...you result slip"

*my eyes widen*

I walked out of the room with my result slip tucked nicely
in my back pocket. I whisked away to the elevator with
one of my good friends, Mr. Uddin and there we started tearing
the perforated margins like barbarians. There it read my results,
I had passed and officially finished my 1st year of med school.
Officially, I can now consider myself to be a second year medical
student. However, I do not consider this really as an 'accomplishment',
somehow i consider it more as a marker for how much more still
lies in the future ahead of me. I mean, finished one year of med school
is something to be HAPPY about but nothing to be PROUD of. It's
always so blatantly obvious how little I feel I know. I mean i've learned
a lot this past year, i've grew in terms of knowledge as well as experiences
- but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Somehow i feel myself incredibly
excited for the coming 2nd year of med school.

I want to grow further,
I want to learn more,
I want to experience new things,
I want to become better overall,
I want to improve the way I analyze a situation,

Basically, i want to be a better me in each and every aspect...
and i can't wait for the opportunity to allow me to grow!! (:

Anyways, overall now i do find myself complacent with my results.
I gave it my all, given the situation and given my attitude towards
studies...and that's all i can expect. Though initially i found myself
disappointed with my performance as somehow it didn't reach my
personal expectation - but then i realise how grateful i should be
because things could always be much worse.

It's hard to find satisfaction sometimes,
But being grateful makes it so much easier.

I do want to wish...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

to all my friends and batchmates that passed EOS2!! (:

Next year, will be a better year!
I shall come back... working harder!
I shall come back...aiming for my personal best...
and push myself beyond my current boundaries so
that i can grow further more.

God willing.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

It's almost surreal, this feeling of freedom that I feel

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Sabbath (def.) - a period of rest.

A word usually used in reference to a particular
day of prayer. However, in this context I refer
to the break i've taken from blogging since the
commencement of 'HARDCORE' exam preparations.

From as early as Sem1, i've heard of how tough
EOS2 is compared to summative. I've to admit,
it affected me slightly as well 'psychologically'.
However, up until last week I started thinking..
what's the point of stressing out in exams?

You see 'stress' and 'motivation' has an interesting
relationship indeed. Especially in med school, it's
no surprise seeing people stressed out especially
around exam times. Stress can cause motivation,
but rarely is it the other way around. Though I admit,
some THRIVE under stress and after all it is stress
which causes those that can cope to accommodate to
a situation by a change (be that good or bad). Anyways,
i'm not one without stress..though nowadays i do tend
to try looking at things from a different perspective.

Exams are well..just EXAMS. No doubt they are what
determine whether or not my parents have to fork
out an additional 30K to repeat a semester again. But,
yes it's a set of papers designed to test whether or not
you know your stuff. If you've been consistent in your
reading and memorizing, it'll be no problem. After all,
our lives are full of tests whether it be physical or
abstract. It's just the matter of how we want to approach
it.

Anyways, with that said i've gotta go and revise for my
last paper tomorrow.

Countdown to freedom:

21 HOURS.

• 
• 
• 
• 
•