Time Elapsed

:p sudah lama aku tak ber-blog. Sorry! Merry Christmas, Happy New year, Happy Chinese New Year, Happy Valentine’s day and all that shiz.

Edinburgh is still lovely, and less cold than when it was in winter. Nothing beats my experience in a Canadian winter, though. Haven’t even used the winter jacket I brought over–it’s now dumped into storage in the living-room closet.

My punter & I on the river Cam! He wasn't too happy about looking unglam in the life jacket.

I’ve been travelling a LOT. I went to Cambridge to visit a friend, and was awed by the 36 different colleges and how they fit together as the University of Cambridge… It’s a very pretty and quaint town, and punting on the river Cam was cold but fun. :) We also went to a beautiful orchard in Grantchester–which was, unfortunately, quite dead at this time of the year! I’ll be back in summer to have tea there again.

Portree harbour, Isle of Skye!

The flatmates and I went on a crazy impromptu roadtrip to the Isle of Skye! :D We saw highland cows, heaps of sheep, waterfalls, cliffs, rolling hills, countless lochs… Photos are on fb. Apart from that, it is a year of musicals… Since coming to Edin, I’ve watched this Glee tribute show, The Secret Garden, HAIRSPRAY!!!!, Annie, and am going to watch Fiddler on the Roof today, as well as Footloose tomorrow :)) Excitement excitement!!

Steph & I strutting the scrubs. Yeah, I'm having stress zits on my chin.

Have gone through my gastrointestinal and locomotor rotations and emerged (somewhat) unscathed! Hallelujah and praise God for the results I managed to get :) Still need to work on my clinical skills, but at least my theory is solid enough. Currently on my cardiovascular rotation, which is quite fun. :) Have an AMAZING professor guiding us (not that my previous two weren’t equally amazing).

Daniel and I were fairly amused that one of the cardio consultants we shadowed for an evening still games (WoW, Doom, etc)… FULLY INSPIRING. :) That has made up my mind to purchase Starcraft II after my cardio exam on the 11th of March.

My Valentine's surprise! :) a hand-made pendant, from old silver rings.

I had a good Valentine’s day :) received stuff that made me smile in the post, and had a nice long skype call.

Not much else to say, apart from the fact that I’m finally fitting into church and cell and whatnot… a year of new ventures! Instead of singing on the worship team, I am playing the keyboard (albeit somewhat badly). Everyone is very nice and forgiving :p

Till next time! xx

Productivity

It’s all very subjective. But I think I did a lot this weekend, in terms of catching up with studying and friends. :)

More than I’ve done in a while.

Was at my usual haunt for the weekend–Bad Ass Coffee (hereafter BAC). Had my usual–feels good to be able to go there and have the friendly baristas remember my order. Thanks for making my weekend awesome!

Surprise, surprise! Joel came to hang out / study with on Saturday. It’s been MONTHS since I saw this face–and lookit his so-fresh-so-clean face, thanks to new face anti-zit cream thing! Retin-A, I think he said. Updated each other on life, stuff, romance (or the lack thereof), IMUBJ vs. clinical school, and such. Miss you lah, friend. We need to jam together again. Sometime. Rock it out on stage, headbangin’. Good times!!

No more photos, but on Sunday it was Jonbear. :) Bumped into him after the service and we spontaneously decided to go for lunch at Ninja Joe’s! as well as study at BAC again. Heh. Was practically driving to Tropicana City when he called to ask where I was lunching. Go only lah! Haven’t caught him around IMU much anyway, what with being holed up in the library every weekday, all day. I miss being with the Bear family. :( Joooo beeaarrrr.

Happy Mother’s Day, mummeh. :)) Much love. Today. Everyday. All the days of my life.

When Jonbear left to go for dinner with Jobear, Akubear came to join me for our usual Sunday study sessions! By that time I was already getting saturated with studying. Finally (sorta) caught up with my CNS and MSK lectures–only have pharmaco left, ugh. Am still behind with the rest of Semester 4 and Semester 3, though. At this rate I’m only going to do patho lectures for Sem 3 (and select physiology lectures). Let’s not even talk about PBL topics.

It was all very relaxing, despite the amount of studying and stress questions Jonbear popped out while he was studying. Smack you lah, haha. :) All those trick questions.

Getting back to reading the Bible every day before I start studying has really helped. Definitely creates a certain aura of focus and concentration, as well as peace for any difficulties in memorizing / understanding. Nothing left but to just trust Him. No way I can humanly finish studying and remembering everything that’s been covered for the past 5 semesters. 

Coffee helps, too. :) Remember how? Methylxanthines antagonize the alpha-2 adrenoceptors in the brain, creating wakefulness (last page of Prof YPN’s neurotransmitter notes, in case you can’t remember).

Rate of blogging is inversely proportionate to time spent on Facebook.

(Time spent on Facebook is currently = 0)

Doom dates to keep in mind: 20th May – ICA5, 7th-10th June – EOS5.

Right, let’s do this.

I’m such a nerd.

——————————————

Till the suns and planets disappear
I could stay in your arms all year
Even if it means infinity through
If being productive is being with you
Then baby, I don’t want to waste another day. 

Crashing Down

Life hasn’t come crashing down around me just yet, but it definitely seems like it.

My hours and minutes are back to back, not stopping even a second for me to catch a breath before the next wave comes along.

This is one of those rare moments of s p a c e. Much-needed space to write, to repeat my “I’m busy and I’m sorry” blogposts, and to shamelessly advertise for votes if you’d like to see me as a prom queen nominee.

Being on the OC for the IMU ball 2010 is fun, yet hectic. My studies have taken a backseat, and it’s not the desired arrangement–trust me.

Time isn’t poetic anymore; it slaps you in the face with a ticker counting down the seconds to your 5th semester final exams.

Sleep just isn’t the same either. It’s the “get-as-much-as-you-can” scramble now, in contrast with last semester’s “don’t-feel-like-sleeping-yet” humdrum. I’m becoming increasingly protective over my personal time, and more reluctant to spend time just being with people.

Yet, in the midst of all this, I’ll still find the sanity to remind myself that I’m NOT alone. That there’s someone and something bigger than all this personal chaos; a higher purpose to fulfil with all the insignificant things I’m doing.

By His grace, love, and mercy… I am able to do all this (and more). I really don’t know why I always want to write blogposts like this one, but perhaps, they serve as a public reminder & method of accountability that I should complain less and seek His peace instead. I keep forgetting to pray and read my Bible. My heart is restless until I get back to doing it.

I want to say I’m sorry to every one of my friends and family whom I’ve been neglecting because of the amount of things on my plate, and all my personal vanities.

——————————–

This week’ll be my last time on the worship team until July (maybe) because of exams and all). Almost cried at practice today thinking about that, but stopped myself because it’s nonsense to make myself sad when the reality is still so far away.

No mojo

No mojo to blog recently;

Although life has, as usual, been busy.

So here’s a dreary update post… real sorry about that.

What have I been doing? Well, a lot of IMU ball stuff. :) We’ve sold 10 tables so far, and raised about 10% of the money needed… Sponsors are difficult to find, but hopefully things pick up after CNY. If any of you readers know or work for a company that might sponsor products or funding for a medical university grad ball, do contact me!

Been selling little candy bouquets & roses for Valentine’s day in IMU–apparently our boys are no less romantic than the general public. 100 roses sold out in 3 days! Haha. A much better response than expected.

My room has regressed to pre-spring-cleaning state. Hmm. Trying to keep the clutter manageable is a tad difficult though. Maybe I’ll clean it up on Saturday… after shopping.

Been expanding my music collection again: discovered this amazing guy called Sam Sparro. :) He mixes funk and soul with an electronic drive–love his old school voice! Can’t get his song, Black & Gold, out of my head. Youtube him and have a listen; you won’t be disappointed. His songs aren’t about the typical love mush stuff–they’ve got messages and questions that make you think, but you won’t notice them at first.

Oh, and on the 7th I sang for SIBKL’s Valentine’s night with Michel. Our band was Merlvyn & my brother, Matt, on acoustic guitars, and Daryll on percussion. It was a nice, relaxed evening–a much fancier affair than last year’s, though. 

Yeahhh that’s about all I can dig out of my brain. So tired these days… must be my monthly friend.

Jade out.

A SOTY-licious Cameron Highlands trip

I’ve been like, the laziest blogger on earth, seriously. It’s been two weeks into the new year, and it’s only my second post. There’s a million things I need to update and write about, but first, let’s talk about the awesome roadtrip that just happened this past weekend. :) And yes, hello, hello! Apparently this lil’ place has been getting 100+ hits a day, which is a DRAMATIC increase since last year’s 50-60 a day. This is a strange phenomenon, but one that is welcomed. Where did you all come from?

Long post, with many pictors. So, click to view the extended version a lil’ further down. :) Didn’t wanna stretch the page.

Right.

Despite the fact that the Season of the Year! the musical (we refer to it as SOTY from here onwards) ended more than two weeks ago, we, the gung-ho cast and crew, are still hanging out. 17 of us piled into my apartment in Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands from the 8th of Jan til the 10th of Jan and partied in the cool, mountain air. The drive up was epic–Pearl, Kenny & hamsap (Daryll) were in my car, and we grooved to some pretty hot tracks on the way there.

The early team, which departed PJ Friday afternoon consisted of yours truly, Pearl, Kenny, Hamsap, Voon Wai, Isaiah, Sue, Mel Tee, Alex, and Marcus. Yeah, we parked by the side of the road and camwhored at the welcome sign. Ah, the joys of self-timer. After unloading at the apartment, we went up to Brinchang for some hearty steamboat, which cost only RM12 per person. For dessert, we raided the Brinchang night market for strawberries dipped in dark chocolate fondue. <3 yum yum yum! The tangy strawberries were perfectly balanced out by the melty, rich dark chocolate…

Of Hairspray and Glitter

I don’t actually get to use any glitter for my musical because of the character I have to play, but there’s a great deal of hairspray involved.

Anyway!

Today was the promotional show for the musical. We performed my scene for my church’s community event, Christmas at the Park @Central park, Phileo Damansara Business Centre. :) Energy like never before, people! Prayed like mad before the scene, but once we stepped into the lights and smoke, all nervousness vanished–at least for me. It was a great start, everyone. Now we need to sustain the energy for the last leg of rehearsals + the 5 shows that begin on Christmas day! Can’t wait for show days.

On a good note, I also finished my BS selectives report yesterday. :) 3 days early! All that’s left is prep for our group presentation, then MY HOLIDAYS OFFICIALLY BEGIN! WOO-HOO! Short promo: the humanities selectives class is showcasing a musical version of Oedipus tomorrow! My voice makes a cameo in three of their short songs. Haha. Go and support them! I wanted to go, but am tied up with rehearsals…

The line “I knew that I’d get like this again, that’s why I try to keep at bay” from Immi’s song Half Life is running through my head now. I’ve been indulging myself in way too many visions of fantasy romances a la “Wicked” the musical. That song, As Long As You’re Mine? Been on repeat in my car stereo for way too long. It makes my imagination really run wild, wayyy to wild into the future about things that could possibly make me happy. Haha. Probably even better than the real thing itself…

Dear God, is it time?

I ask, and I’ll continue to surrender and wait… but not without the customary daydreaming beforehand. :)

Comeee what mayyyyy ~♪

It’s the SEASON OF THE YEAR! the musical

I know it’s quite late to do promo, seeing that the show is less than 2 week away.. but nevertheless! PREEE-SENTINGGG….

Yes, you already guessed it–I’m playing a role in it hence the shameless promo, ha ha.

Showtimes are~
25th December: 10.00am & 8.00pm
26th December: 2.30pm & 8.00pm
27th December: 7.30pm

5 SHOWS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!

You will require a ticket for entry, but tickets are FOC! They are merely to prevent overflow of the auditorium.

However, I heard that tickets are running out really fast, so please check out my church’s website for more information!

What’s the musical about? Well, its a journey following the Lee Family through the Christmas season, and the various events that crop up along the wau. The central message of the musical is that there is more to life. If you’re expecting a shiny, Las-Vegas-y musical filled with sinful fun and delinquents, you’ll be surprised. Season of the Year! takes Christmas and life down to a gritty, truthful, even uncomfortable, core.

My character is the daughter in the family. If you want to know what she’s like, you have to watch it to understand. All I can say is that it’s been a real challenge to undertake the role because she’s nothing like me in real life… You might be afraid of me even, haha.

Nothing to do for Christmas? Interested in seeing a great show for free? Call the SIBKL office at +603-7957 2701 now!

SEE YOU THERE! :DD

Sense of Accomplishment

Yup. It’s been an okay week. Despite not being able to meet my 1.30 target bedtime since the “treatment” plan started on Monday night, I’m on track with everything else. Tonight, I was able to write about 50% of my selectives report, leaving the other half for when I get more data about the treatment phase in my project. Ah, bliss; one worry lessened. Hung out with Rae & David while writing it. Rae studied for her last exam, which is tomorrow. All the best, love! :) Dea’s at a camp right now, can’t wait for her to come back so we can all hang out and update each other fully!

Also, I bought the OldTown White Coffee 2010 organizer. I couldn’t resist after Rae showed me how she customized hers to look very chio! Having second thoughts now, though–I’m really quite attached to my Starbucks 2009 organizer and was really looking forward to making my own refills… We’ll see how I feel after selectives end and I have less on my mind.

Attended meetings for the IMU Ball and MEDT1/08 convocation magazine planning this week. There’s a lot to do, and not that much time left; need to make good use of time. We have good committees for both things, so hopefully the enthusiasm keeps up and everything falls into place before deadlines creep up on us. Semester 5 won’t be as light as Semester 4, especially with the heavy-duty MSK & CNS! 

Musical rehearsals aren’t letting up anytime soon, with performance dates approaching mercilessly. Oh, if you want to attend, you need to tell me by Friday so that I can put in my request for tickets! They’re fast running out. For more information, see the Facebook invite that I sent out for “Season of the Year! the Musical“. :) It’ll be held in my church, SIBKL. A 5-performance run beginning Christmas day. You get to see me play an interesting character–very unlike who I am in real life. It’s been a real journey. The script for the musical is completely original, as are the songs (with the exception of one parody). Admission is free, so what are you waiting for?

It’s a little sad that I can’t do much in the days leading up to Christmas–will be heavily involved in the final practices for the musical. But at the same time, when all the performance excitement is over, I’ll hunger for more again… Self-control, Jade! There’s a flipside to every coin. :)

I’m in a strange mood right now. Don’t know how to describe it–somewhat peaceful and wistful about life. 

Had a nice dream yesterday.

(Could be the caffeine from the xi mut milk tea I had earlier.)

Breathtaking : SIBKL Live Recording

My church’s worship album DVD Live Recording. It was on the 19th & 20th of September, this past weekend.

It was amazing, mindblowing, and utterly displaying God’s splendor & glory.

It’s been such a blessing & honor to be a part of this fantastic weekend; words cannot describe how much went into it, and how much God’s hand worked through it, aaaand how many lives were touched. The songs are still running through my head.

TASK = CASK indeed! (Character, Attitude, Skill & Knowledge)

Album release on 24th October 2009–stay tuned! :) There are some truly beautiful songs on this album, and I can’t wait for it to come out. All but two of them are originals–and even the “covers” have original parts penned & inserted into them. DON’T FORGET TO GET A COPY!!!

Black Lychee Tea

…is what I’m drinking as I sit in front of my laptop, mind in a drug-induced haze. I love this particular flavor of tea because it has a cloying, sweet smell of lychee, yet the solid, strong taste of black tea. Good enough to drink on its own.

Forgotten what it’s like being sick for a while, now. Of all times for it to come remind me. I have little to no appetite. Can’t enjoy tea fully because I can’t smell.

Umm, what’s the point of this blogpost?

Let’s see…

Prep for The Color of Passion is going well. Finished shopping for decor last Monday, finished making invites by last Wednesday, finalized the location and catering today. :)

Hair is done.

Cake is not.

Can’t sing because my throat frickin hurts.

Yes yes yes I’m grumpy. So sue me. >(

Trying to organize an acoustic jam & open mic on the 14th of August as another IMU Music & Performance Club activity, seriously haven’t had the mood to make a poster and do shameless promo across the batch blogs. Keep your eyes open and ears tuned for Acoustic August. 

A ton of Draco House stuff to do.. just opened my email and saw it all. D: Why does it all have to come when we’re on holidays? I wish they’d just stuck to the batch system… It was easier and seriously, more fun because we “grew up” from day one of uni with those people. Well, whatever it is, I honestly hope the IMU Cup won’t be a flop. :/

My little breath of fresh air are the X’mas musical practices every Thursday night and Sunday afternoon. :) Things I love, people I love, for a God I love.

Please keep me in prayers… I know I should find my joy in the Lord! AAArgh!! Sorry for being grumpy. :((((

Verbal Diarrhoea

My heart and mind are a tangle of emotions, a riot of sensations–both good and bad–as the EOS3 (my semester finals, 4 days long) draws near, for more than one reason.

I’m done studying all I can, but it never feels like enough–who’s with me on this?

I wasn’t able to spend time in the medical museum to review the models and FLMs. Is this going to be a problem? Too late now… Netter’s and photographed-FLMs, here I come.

Didn’t practice as much clinical skills as I thought I would–everything’s still a blur inside my head. X-rays? Peak flow meters? ECGs? Sphygmomanometers? Goodness.

Bear-bear’s gone, and I’m trying not to think or feel about his passing so I can concentrate. Dad’s been hit the hardest–Bear was his pup just like Mikado is mine. We immediately sent Mikado for vaccinations and a check-up.

Received an unexpected call from my church’s X’mas musical production team, followed by an email with musical scores and a script. The rest of the year will be another busy half–and not because of medical school.

I keep writing songs when I get sick of reading notes. I’ve written three so far, with a couple more half-songs. I downloaded FL Studio to experiment with later.

With regards to guilty pleasures, within my torrent downloads lie two new Japanese TV dramas that await my attentions. Neopets has also been a regular bookmark visited on my browser…

I still have to pay my parking fine.

That ends the brain evacuation. My antidote shall be:

Psalm 145 : 1-2, 13-21 (NIV – emphasis mine)

I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
…
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The LORD is faithful to all his promises
and loving toward all he has made.
The LORD upholds all those who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and loving toward all he has made.
The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
The LORD watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.

Quieten my heart, O Lord. Amen.

The EOS Lifestyle

…is what I’m living at the moment.

With the End-of-Semester 3 exam looming in the back of my mind, I go about my daily activities–it infuses a little more restraint and discipline in terms of time management and what I should and shouldn’t do…

It’s a little hard to concentrate on studying, because of the summative that was two Fridays ago. But I’ve been trying, praying, trying, and praying again. The summative went really well, though. Throughout that studying period, so many things happened (seniors/friends dropping in randomly to quiz us) that just can’t be attributed to coincidence anymore. :) A Greater Hand moved in the background even as we sat in those glass fish-tank studyrooms in the library, mugging our minds out.

 

New hairdo! (bad pic, though)

What can I say? The days have been passing by splendidly. Saturday (the 30th of May) I went with mumsies to get a new haircut at Guessen Hair Studio @ Plaza Mon’t Kiara. Japanese haircuts always sit well with my hair! At night, I went with Matthew (ex-choir mate) to watch our old choir, The Canticle Singers, perform their “Be Our Guest” concert at Perdanasiswa Hall, UM. It brought back a lot of good memories, and we quietly sang our parts through a few songs. :) Yay for student rates! Apparently Matt looked young enough to pass–they didn’t ask him for his student card. We went out for drinks later, and did a lot of catching up. Lovely night.

Sunday I woke up late for church, had a gruelling audition for the X’mas musical in the afternoon, then attended the Global Day of Prayer with mum & dad at night. I still can’t feel the passion to pray for my country, but I certainly heard a lot about its importance that night. The worship was amazing–I teared up during more than one song that night.

Monday was…Monday. Studying attempts. A lot of random laughter in the library. Aaand today (Tuesday, after midnight) was another “studying attempt day”! Karaoke’d with Leon, Jaeric & Jo @ Sunway Pyramid Red Box from 11am-2pm, went to uni to try study (I finished ONE miserable note) before having dinner and scooting my cute little butt off to swing dance!

ltr: Sookyeen (sp?), Abang Lionel, Matt Bedell, Guat Seng, moi

Socials venue changed to this place called Sid’s Pub @ Bangsar South. It was easy to find. And I discovered how BAD I had become at dancing… I forgot almost everything! Took more than a few dances to get back into the swing of things, ha ha (pun intended). Got stepped on. Got knocked into. Danced (badly) with Matt Bedell! Had a ton of fun.

Now I’m at home, showered–in a state of half-dress–and about to head off to bed. :) Just felt like sharing.

Tomorrow, another fun-filled, fantabulous day awaits! And then, of course, there’s Friday. ;)

Mobile Clinic @ Kg. Pian, Temerluh, Pahang

This is a little different from the usual events I blog about… it’s about how I spent my Labor Day! :) It’s been the best spent day this year so far, in my opinion. And no, I didn’t kau chai, sing, dance, eat or go clubbing this time, haha.

My dad registered under my church, SIBKL, to participate in a mobile clinics program. So when he got the call to go from the organizer, Catherine Teong, he also asked me & the rest of the family (and friends) if we wanted to go. Me, mum, dad, Weiphin & Jonathan agreed to go for the day-trip to the Orang Asli settlement @ Kampung Pian, Temerluh, Pahang. :)

THUS at the glorious time of 6.45am, we assembled outside church, prayed, and set off to the deep-in-interior Kampung Pian to set up the mobile clinic for a day. The four doctors manning the clinic were my dad, Dr Liew Fah Onn (O&G), Dr Stephen Mak (GP), and this really cute couple: Dr Peter Paul Wong (orthopedic surgeon) & Dr Hon (pediatrician). Then there was a pharmacist, Daniel, and a nurse, Mei Sime. The only other people with a medical background in the group would then be myself, Jon & Weiphin–2nd year medstudents who had no idea what they were getting into. The other people went as support staff and handled food, second-hand clothing, crowd control, etc…

Dr Hon & Dr Peter Paul Wong. :) We sat in their car. Such a cute couple!

I can’t quite remember how long the journey took, but it was about 3 hours, and I kept napping on and off. Jon & Weiphin didn’t quite help because all three of us were squished in the backseat–they didn’t give me very much space in the center. I have stiff shoulders from sleeping in odd positions…

The government-built community hall that served as our clinic grounds. The door on the left is the main entrance where registration was positioned.

We arrived at Kampung Pian at around 11am and started to set-up. My duties for the day were to handle the registration counter along with two other non-medical people from my church, JJ & Helen. Therefore the task of taking history as well as measuring BP & temperature fell to us. Then, because I was the medical student amongst the three of us, I initially had the task of measuring the random blood sugar level. 

I was SUPER panicky!! I mean, yeah, we had digital BP machines & digital ear thermometers so I didn’t have to worry about using the sphygmomanometer correctly and cleaning the thermometer between patients, but I had to PRICK SOMEONE LA FOR THE BLOOD SUGAR. WHAT IF I PRICK WRONGLY?????? (later I was relieved of this duty because for me to take history, BP, temperature AND blood sugar made my station very slow, lol)

When we opened registration, there were SO MANY ORANG ASLI THAT CAME TO THE CLINIC!!!! I was overwhelmed and blown away. I felt so awkward at the beginning only having to use Malay to communicate (and my Malay is really not that great). Jon & Weiphin assisted the pharmacist, Daniel. They got a firsthand taste of doctors’ handwriting, haha. We only ran the clinic until 4pm, but the final count of patients seen by the doctors on duty came up to 157 persons! 

I saw… more things than I had ever seen in my life, ok. Textbook things that suddenly jumped out into life and grinned at me. Sarcoptes scabieii infections (tiny skin-colored bumps–I will never forget what they look like), impetigo (fungating, white, circular lesions), cellulitis, carbuncles (Dr Peter almost cut and drained it), fungal skin infections (large whitish patches), diarrhoea, respiratory symptoms (dyspnoea–literally susah nak jalan naik bukit), cardiovascular symptoms (palpitations! one lady described them as po-pom, po-pom dalam dada bila bernafas), and infected cavities…

And I also learned that in situations like the mobile clinic, all the history-taking methods learnt in IMU fly out the window. There’s just no time to ask all that deeply before I had to pass them on to the doctors. I had to multi-task: take BP & temperature while taking history and thinking about associated symptoms that I could ask about and translating them into Malay in my mind before asking & writing… and trying to calm crying kids when I tried to take their temperature. I don’t know how many patients I clerked, but I do remember the time whizzing by without my realizing it. 

The tired but enthusiastic volunteers debriefing at the end of the clinic session. LTR: Henry, Lee Peng, dad, mum, Mei Sime

IT WAS AWESOME LA. I felt like a semi-doctor, like I was doing something of significance. Way better than lectures/lab/PBL/MMS/CSU. Heee.

Right, so I lied about not eating… Cuz as all Malaysians do, we stopped at some obscure Chinese restaurant on our way back home around the Bukit Tinggi area for dinner. :)) It was sumptuous and cheap. I also liked this health drink made from dragonfruit that they were promoting and let us sample.

 

Dad, mum & Mei Sime tucking in.

What a fantastic day. It was really a pick-me-up and sort of like a nudge from God to remind me why I’m doing medicine and NOT music as my primary degree. :) Anyday, God. I’d do this again. Who knows? From one-day trips to long-term medical missions!

SIBKL Easter 2009 : In Christ I Stand

:) Ladies and gentlemen, this is an advertorial for your reading pleasure:

This Easter, my church is doing special music & an evangelical healing service! The theme is In Christ I Stand, and our speaker for the weekend is Dr Andy Lim. He’s a doctor (duh) with a healing anointing, and will be coming to share an amazing testimony of how God healed him COMPLETELY from nasopharyngeal cancer!

For my church’s location & a map if you don’t know how to get there, click here!

The dates of the sessions are:
Saturday, 11th April – 5pm
Sunday, 12th April – 8.30am
Sunday, 12th April – 11am

:) THREE sessions, count ‘em all. Please come visit and attend the service–you’ll be in for a treat and a witnessing of God’s awesome healing power. If you’re sick, feeling sick, need healing of any kind, this is the service for you! Let me know which service you’re coming for, so I can look out for you.

*ahem. Shameless: A less noble reason to come for the service would be because I AM SINGING AND IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE SOME SUPPORT. :)) So there. If you want to know what song I’m doing, it’s a duet, and it was famously performed by Celine Dion with fellow singers such as Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban, except we’re doing a fully English version. I’m sure you can guess. ;)

SO YES! :) I know there are other flashy and more exciting musicals on for Easter, but if you’d like a gentler affair, with good music, good *cough* singing, and an amazing, life-changing message, come for SIBKL’s Easter 2009 service. There are 3 dates, so I’ll bet you can make at least one of them!

Signing out, this is Jade. ;)

SIBKL: Spice Up Your Life

I mentioned that I got to sing for Valentine’s day at my church’s dinner event. It was a really cute event, as most of the people there were around my parents’ ages.

Originally, Wallace, one of my church friends (and karaoke kaki) was supposed to sing with me for most of the love duets… Unfortunately, he was unable to make it due to work commitments and a packed schedule. :( So what happened? Daddy sang with meeeee. :))) And Ming did too, although he felt like a fish out of water, being a bandboy and having to dress up and sing my kind of music…

The band was random. Ish. I just thought of people and called them together to play for the night, yet it came together really well. Like amazingly! Not to mention the large amounts of prayer and fretting that went into pre-practice sessions & the picking of songs/sets.

And now, without further ado, the line-up for the night:

ltr: Dad, Twink, Rudy, Faye, me, Joel, Ming, Merlvyn & Felix (soundman)

Myself, vocalist.
Dad, as duettt partner.
Minghan, also as duet partner slash backup singer slash second vocalist.
Rudy Goh on keys (oh, you saw this one coming).
Merlvyn Kho on electric guitar.
Faye Lim on acoustic guitar.
Twink a.k.a. Matthias Liew, my brother, on bass guitar.
Joel Gan on drums.

We did songs like Dream a Little Dream, Moon River, What a Wonderful World, Stand By Me, L-O-V-E, Quando Quando Quando, Lucky, I’ll Be, Kiss Me, When You Tell Me That You Love Me, etc etc.

Honestly, my first time putting together such a thing–the whole dinner gig & suit-tie-dress shindig… It was a learning process. And I have to thank the band for bearing with my utter incompetence, slaving through (at times) directionless practices that tended to start late (uh oh), and my contorted facial expressions when I try to feel the song / SS. :))

At the end of the evening, I heard nothing but good comments about the band & our performance! ^^ Yayy. God is really honing the talent He gave me this year, and teaching me a lottt.

Alright, that’s it. I want more gigs! :)

…but maybe AFTER the cvs+respi summative in the middle of March. Time to study…