My Birthday aka International AIDS day...

yesterday was my 26th birthday...

How nature greeted me on my special day was... when i finished brushing my teeth and looked into the mirror, i saw TWO grey hair STARING at me fiercely!!! NOoooooo..... that's the 19th and 20th grey hair i had... Ish... (yeap, i actually counted ;p)

Anyway... my day was a mundane one, or rather, a worse than normal one... :(

No second chance…

Life in Ipoh is very mundane for me. It’s either I spend my nights oncall in the hospital or lying quietly alone in my room with occasional hang-outs with friends. Don’t feel pity for me, I do enjoy to quietness in my room. After a whole day in the hospital, having so many people whom I have to talk to and listen to, the peace in my room is much treasured.

Tonight, I just chose to make it different. I plugged in my laptop and watched Leslie and my proposal videos. (For those who don’t know what happened, read my previous blog to find out. We’ll see if we can show you some of the clips on our wedding day for you to share the ‘fun’).

Lo and behold, I could still feel the horror!! As I watched us fell, our parachute sank into the ocean, picturing the moment we dipped into the sea, the thought of drowning at that very moment… Eeee… We could have been dead then!! Through it all, I’m so much more thankful for Leslie and for our days together.

But, one thing I felt sorry for Leslie. After all the terrifying events, I was still so shocked and dumb-founded when he knelt down with the ring and roses. I was unable to give him THE resounding ‘Yes, I do!’ that every guy would like to hear from their fiancée-to-be.  In this, there’s no way for me to make it up to him. There’s no Take_2. How?

The “ must-try’s ” in Ipoh

This is based on personal preference in my 3 months expedition in Ipoh:
1) Ipoh popiah
2) Bubur Cha Cha at ‘Dong-Ku-Teng’
3) Lou Wong chicken rice, especially their beansprouts, it’s simply juicier.
4) Tau Fu Fa near Lou Wong
5) Ipoh’s famous mixed fruit ice at ‘Tong-Suih-Kai’ (Street of dessert)
6) Kai See Hor Fan at old town (I still can’t find my way back there again)
7) Soon Fatt’s Restaurant’s Mongolian Mantis Prawn rice
8) Yook Fook Moon Tong’s egg tart.
9) Main MP’s Australian Lamb Chop. I thought it was nice…
10) Deli Garden’s cheese cakes.
11) Gold Vision’s Portuguese egg tart.

Ipoh… Ipoh…

Today marks the beginning of my fourth month in Ipoh. Although the fact that I wasn’t posted to Penang GH still makes me sulk a little, I’ve kinda accepted the fact that I’ve ended up in Ipoh and will be here for the next 2 years.

Working as a houseman is REALLY no joke at all. Although I carry a ‘Dr’ in front of my name, it’s no glamour at all. Scoldings from my superiors really made me felt like I’m worth nothing and I’m the most foolish person that has ever lived. Nothing I did is ever enough for them. No matter how tiring I’ve made myself to carry out all their orders, if there’s one thing I’ve missed out, I’ll be the worst houseman ever and I shouldn’t even be allowed to graduate in the first place.

Well, some say this is how they train new doctors, to make us tougher and to humble us, to instill the fact that doctors are not god. But… I could at least be treated as a grown up, a fellow colleague… though I’m less experienced, less knowledgeable, slower in carrying out orders, making more mistakes etc. Please give me some time…

How did I survive all these? I’ve learnt to take comments selectively. I remembered one specialist told me, “Just treat as though they are your parents nagging at you, hear and forget”. That kinda helped. I’ve also coined a principle for myself – “As long as you end up teaching me something, I don’t mind being scolded or even ridiculed.”

Before this, as I’ve gathered from Mom, Bro and Leslie, I’m someone who is impatient, who just have to speak out her mind whenever things don’t go her way or when things seem unfair to her. And, they are rather amazed how I could stand quietly when unnecessary scoldings start. One thing I’m grateful for, that this learning process has really made me more patient and I’ve learnt to shut up when I know nothing much can be said or done rather than to fight back as I would previously.

Don’t get me wrong, life as a houseman is not all bad. There are also lots of good days slotted in between. Especially those days when I’m re-affirmed of my service with the smiles on my patients’ faces and the unending ‘thank you’ that they offer, all these just made everything worthwhile.

Sometimes I just wondered why I have to choose this torturing profession. No doubt I have interest in medicine since young, but the toiling just makes me puzzled at my dream of becoming a doctor. However, when a depressed lady who is dawned with the fact that she has terminal cancer pours out herself to me; when the delight shone on the old man’s face when I gave him the direction to the ward where his ill wife laid; when the injured little boy who has lost his mother in the road accident only trusted me and chose to talk to me alone; when the man who was admitted in the middle of the night unable to pass urine showed his gratitude to me just because I was the one there to put in a tube for him and helped him… all these just makes the toiling worth and what kept me going.

It’s a privilege, I would say. But, it’s also a task to shoulder such a great responsibility of handling lives entrusted to me. Everyday is a challenge and I need to be on my guard all the time. Just one slight error and someone’s life could be endangered! I’ve fumbled many times, but thank God I haven’t caused anyone’s life. Whenever I make a mistake, it’s at the expense of a person’s life… he could be someone’s father, someone’s husbands, someone’s son or someone’s brother. A medical officer scolded me “What do you mean you’ve learnt from your mistake?! We can’t afford to make mistakes here!” He’s right…

So much for my houseman life…

At this moment, I’m thankful for where I am now. I’m learning to see God’s hands in every circumstance that unfolds each day. Being here puts my family and Leslie in difficult situations, but they’ve been very patient, bearing with me all that’s taking place. I tried hard to think positively of every situation that I’m in. At times, I’m unsure if I’m only lying to myself and fooling myself. But I guess what’s true is I need to learn to count my blessings and to know that as long as I have my God with me, all will be well with me.

The ‘Change’ has arrived…

It was the moment I’ve been waiting for…

I anxiously peeped into the letter that tells where I’m gonna be posted to. Lo and behold, it wasn’t Penang but Ipoh! Was very sad and disappointed but as time goes by… the pain kinda healed.

Tonight, I’m 3 hours away from my new beginning in Ipoh. And here I am, blogging about the ‘change’ which has taken place.

Life's gonna be busy there. I shall temporarily bid goodbye to my blogging hobby.

Take care!

The supposed ‘To be continued…’

I wanted to complete my story but time just doesn’t allow. I just came back from a 3 weeks camp in KLIA then Melacca. And when I got home, I’m 3 days away from the day I will start work in Ipoh.

I couldn’t finish my story but my fiancé has recorded a good one in his blog (http://www.leslieyimsm.blogspot.com).

Just to add in a bit…

After the ‘tragedy’, we met up with my dad and had dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Tanjung Tokong. After dinner, we went home. I thought everything was over until…

I was holding the keys to my house, so I’m expected to open the door. As I pushed open the wooded door of my apartment, a loud ‘SURPRISE!!!’ was thundering from inside. And confetti’s were shooting towards me. I shouted and stepped back as the door shut before me. I was shock! What?! Another surprise? Goodness! Almost 10 uni friends intruded my house without my knowledge! Whoa.. If you’ve seen the video, you’d know how stunt I was.. :)

We had a great chat and I recited my para-sailing story to them. All was good but not until all of them left. Then came ‘cleaning up’!! Ish, they never show this part of the surprise in any of the Hollywood shows. :)

All in all, it was a proposal to be remembered dearly. I didn’t expect much. I never did have any idea how I’d like it to be. Leslie once asked me if I’d like it to be with friends and family or just the two of us. I couldn’t even make up my mind. But what he has given me was a perfect combination of both. I’m pleasantly surprised!

Our BIG Day...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On May 12, 2008 my status has been upgraded from ‘single’ to ‘happily engaged’. Thanks to my newly self-appointed fiancé, Leslie. Of course, that was with my ‘I do’ that gave him the approval. It was my pleasure… ;)

It was yet another mundane Monday. I woke up… had breakfast…bathed…lunched. Both of us were suppose to go out and run some errands at 2pm but thanks to my lovely bro, whose body has been systematically tuned to wake up not earlier than 2pm, we had to postpone all our plans to the next day. BUT, one thing was out of the norm, a family dinner at Sunset Bay Bistro.

Well, that didn’t raise any curiosity because bro is back from the States, I’m about to leave for a government camp in Melaka and later posted to somewhere else plus bro has gone there few days ago and highly recommended that bistro.

(Note: I’m as blur as a sotong. Nothing less than obvious can ever trigger my suspicion. )

Leslie suggested that both of us go ‘pakthor’ in Gurney Plaza first than take a short stroll on the beach before meeting my family for dinner. I agreed to it because we always failed to carry out our plans of spending time together on the beach.

There were tons of people calling him while we were enjoying ourselves. His conversation was rather weird and most of the time he’d turned away while talking to them. Instead of getting curious, I got rather irritated that our time was interrupted.

(Note: I’m as blur as a sotong. Nothing less than obvious can ever trigger my suspicion. )

On the beach…

He came up with the weirdest idea ever! ‘Para-sailing’! I don’t even know what it was, let alone how to spell it! We were so unprepared. We were in semi-casual wear meant for dinner, we didn’t bring any extra clothes, and dinner is just 45 minutes away!

As reluctant as I was, the adventurous side of me agreed. Leslie bargained a little with the guy as I sat on the rocks observing how the others para-sailed. One after another, I got very scared. One almost fell, one missed the shore and landed in the water, one shouted his lungs out… By now, mom and bro have arrived.

It was our turn! *scary….*

We were taught how to run before taking off, how to maneuver the parachute, how to land etc. I kept stressing the point that we didn’t bring any clothes to the man and told him to make sure we land on the shore dry. He assured me with this sentence “Don’t worry, all will be fine. You just need to enjoy and say ‘I do’.”

???

(Note again: I’m as blur as a sotong. Nothing less than obvious can ever trigger my suspicion. )

For those who know me. I am clumpsy. I didn’t run fast enough before taking off, as a result, I fell and caused Leslie to fall behind me. Good thing, it was almost time for us to take off and there were slight abrasions on my knees but it HURTS!!!

Ahh… both of us were soaring high up in the sky. Nice… Suddenly…

The boat became slower and both of us were slowly lowered towards to sea. I thought it was a joke from the boatman because of my persistence in reminding him that we need to be dry. When we realized something was wrong, it was just in time for us to shout a loud ‘JANGAN!!!!’ and down we dipped into the great big ocean.

What went through my mind was “I must save my breath, I can’t let go too fast, how deep I am sinking?”, “How far are we from the surface?” “I don’t want to drown!”. As When I got up, I looked for Leslie and held his hands as we waved and beckoned the boatman to save us.

“Oh my goodness!! Oh my Goodness!!!” were the only words I could utter. Leslie remained calm and composed and sat down quietly. Apparently, he told me what went through his head was “All my plans are ruined!”

After that, I questioned the boatman what had happened as we tried to wave vigorously towards the shore to signal to mom and bro that we were safe. The boatman said something went wrong with the engine that it could not pick up with the speed it was supposed to. He told us we were lucky because we were not stinged by any jellyfish as this part of the ocean contains many jelly fish. Then, he pointed at one which is floating just right beside our boat!! Ridiculous!!!

I got so paranoid that I started questioning him about jelly fish and its sting. “Is its sting fatal?” “Will we know if we were stinged?” “Has he himself been stinged?” “What will happen after being stinged?”

As we were approaching the shore, Leslie said “Look!”. A long banner with these words “Xe Hui, WYMM (will you marry me)?” was displayed!

Ah… =D

To Be Continued…