5 weeks

For the past 5 weeks, I have been really busy, especially when the semester started and I volunteered to help out in the International Summer Medical Programme. There were so much to do. We had presentations, reports, debates, drama, choir and more presentations...yet I really enjoyed the whole month.

It is really sad seeing my Japanese buddies going off yesterday, after spending so much time with them for the past 5 weeks. Although we were all really busy, we managed to spend so much time together. It was really FUN when we had the chance to go out as a group many times. Personally, there were so many new places, especially new restaurants that we went to. Such an eye opener...

The outing to KB was really great...and Jerudong Park, especially the Bumper Car, was such an unforgetable memory. The sleepover and the gatherings that we had were all really enjoyable. Thanks to the Japanese that all the people in IM and some other of my friends got closer to each other. The whole experience itself was really nice.

Daru left a letter and a souvenir in the car on the day he left. It was really touching... I've really made some very nice Japanese friends. I will not forget them... Daru, Naoki, Takashi, Mayuko, Teruyo and Kaori. It's so weird now here without them in IM.

I hope to visit Japan one day and meet up with all of them again. For now, I'm back to more work and I promise to work hard this semester =]

Busy!

It's only been the second week of the first semester in second year and there's just so much to do for now. But being a second year medical student is, of course in a way, cool.

I've been so busy with:
- International Summer Medical Programme
- Tour guide for the Japanese buddies
- Speech preparation
- OBBD presentation preparation
- Drama rehearsal
- Choir singing rehearsal
- Reports
and of course not forgetting SDL for the new cases!

But so far, I've been feeling good about the new semester. Time is going fast with all the workload. So looking forward to December! Hehe...

We've got juniors in our faculty now. It's more lively, and there're more ECA that we can do together. We've been playing futsal, basketball and badminton so far. It's all good =]

Busy busy busy...

OBBD: Going back to basic...

Months ago, I volunteered myself to help out in the International Summer Medical School Programme, not knowing what I would be doing. Now, the 6 Japanese students are finally here for the programme and I have been assigned to become a personal buddy for one of the Japanese students. Before everything fell into place, it felt very heavy on the shoulder, especially since it's in my long summer vacation as well. But now, I'm beginning to enjoy being in the programme.

For the past 2 weeks that they've been here, the daily programme has been pretty light. We had a presentation comparing our libraries and also a debate about medical education systems. Both are pretty fun...and congratulations to our team for winning! The debate was especially more exciting and enjoyable...

Oh well, back to the main topic: OBBD. It was more of a compulsory thing for us, buddies, to join the Outward Bound Brunei Darussalam (OBBD) in Temburong for 3 days 2 nights. Having said that, I was also very interested in the programme as I have never been to Temburong itself. Moreover, it's free for the buddies. So I just went for it!

Before the OBBD, we had a briefing about the weekend we're going to spend there. Nothing much was said by the instructors apart from listing the essential things we are supposed to bring there. Everything was supposed to be a surprise. Ideas started running through my mind and most of my colleagues'. Friends have told us that it'd be all fun and we'll be sleeping on proper mattresses. So we didn't prepare much, just bringing the essentials they've listed for us...and some snacks of course.

The day came. It was a Friday morning. We departed the jetty in Bandar and took a speed boat to Bangar. After the 45-minute boat ride, we had to take a 30-minute bus ride to reach the OBBD Logistics Centre. All excited, all the 17 of us were brought to meet our instructor. We started off with ice-breaking activities. I had a good time laughing...

After all that fun, he had an announcement, "We will safe-keep for you ALL of your source of entertainment, plus ALL of the snacks you brought." Haha! That means all mobile phones, MP3 players, magazines, etc as well as the snacks we brought have to be surrendered while we were in the camp. Sounding like a boot camp now...more surprises coming up!

Then we had a decent lunch, before crossing the bridge over to our dorm. Surprise!!! We were shown our bedroom: a big piece of flat wood in the jungle. Interesting...and who were talking about pillows and all that blankets? Lol. Being optimistic, we were fine with things, and all of us began to set all our expectations low and back to all the basic survival skills.

After unloading our stuffs, we went for more activities and the highlight was floating in the rapids. Gosh...it must be one of the most relaxing things I have done this holiday. Floating in the cold, pure water of Temburong River and enjoying the emerald green scenery. It was just very refreshing...

Like all good things that happen, it felt really fast that we had to move on to the next thing arranged for us. Another surprise after dinner! We are going jungle trekking and sleep overnight in the jungle...Wooo, how exciting - my first ever experience camping.

We packed the things we were going to bring in like a huge trekking bag. We were given rations and we separated the equipments that we needed in the jungle. I had to carry one of the tents. Not too bad, although my bag plus the tent was pretty heavy actually. Anyways, I didn't sleep that night; busy talking while sitting on the grass and not realising the time, especially when we were not allowed watches as well (except for the leader). Then a fire drill at 4.30am...Funny when we were talking just so close to the assembly area.

On the next 2 days, I was elected as the team leader for our team, Pengiran Bendahara Sakam. Assembly at 6am sharp. There was a national anthem singing and flag rising ceremony...and then a motivational speech by ME! Oh God...I really didn't know what I was saying. It was pretty spontaneous and I think I pulled it off by ending with the famous "Hipp Hipp Hooray!" Lol =]

After a light warm-up exercise and a pretty heavy breakfast, we were set to go. Our navigators were Nadzir and Naoky. We were told that they only give us up to 4.30pm to actually reach there. We were like "Huh?", particularly when we left the place at 8.30am. Anyways, we believed in ourselves and with good team spirit, we moved very smoothly through the journey. There were many times when we were told that we're almost there, but we were not even close...and when they said it was the last hill, it's like the last 5 hills. Nevertheless, we got there by 2.30pm. Imagine 6 hours trekking! A few of Bukit Shahbandar's 9 hills...But glad all of us made it! Well done...

At the camp site, we set up our tents and got everything ready before our canoeing lesson. We had to design a toilet nearby the camp site...and it was a hole, 1 feet deep. Interesting huh? And everytime you do your business, you just need to put a layer of soil over it. Everybody share the shit hole. So glad I didn't have a natural calling for the time I was there.

We were pretty early for the canoeing lesson, so we started collecting river water for drinking. Basically no other choices...Hey, it actually tastes pretty good, better than some of the bottled mineral water. And then, the very tiring canoeing lesson...

Then, we were back to our tents before it became dark. The girls started cooking and the guys helped out with the water and washing the dishes later on. It was good teamwork throughout. After dinner was over, we set up a campfire and all of us sat around it and started playing games. Although we were so tired at the end of the day, it was fun!

I had a really good sleep that night...and I was so glad I was able to wake up to wake the whole group up. As a team leader for the camp, I had to do that. Once everyone was up, we all had very light breakfast, packed all our stuffs to be carried back to the Logistics Centre by the Temuai and got ready for our canoes. We would be paddling back to the centre.

There was a short feedback session, where everyone has to talk about what they think about the whole programme...and then we paddled back to the centre. It was 1.5 hours of very hard work. But getting wet in such a scenic place was really pleasing.

Sadly, that's the end of the whole programme. I'm glad to say that the instructor is very impressed with the whole group's performance. We cleaned ourselves up, had lunch and then the closing ceremony, before we headed back to the Bandar jetty.

It was such an experience. I would say it was very tiring but FUN...and there were many skills and lessons I've picked up throughout the programme. I really enjoyed it!

Reflection

It's been a while since I've really posted something useful, something which I can ponder upon or something reflective that I can always go back to read about. I was just thinking. It's been quite a while now that these have lingered in my mind...but I never really took the effort to put them down in words.

I'm very disappointed with a few things really. It's more about ME rather than anything or anybody else. These thoughts just can't vanish no matter how hard I've been trying to ignore them and attempting my best to move on.

Above all the things that have happened, the one that has affected me the most is my scholarship and my choice to come back to study Medicine. Personally, I believe that I've already made the right choice. I mean I really do have passion in what I'm studying and I am happy with what I'm doing now. It's just that to come to this point, there were too many unnecessary things in the process. I shouldn't have been so undecisive for I could have gotten a scholarship to study Medicine. For now, I'm on my own, burdening my parents...and what's worse I have to compensate my previous sponsor. If I didn't choose wrongly, there wouldn't be so much financial and emotional burden involved. Rationally, they are all supposed to be parts and puzzles of life...but I just feel pretty down sometimes thinking about the whole thing. I just can't help it. Some people go through life just like a breeze, while I have to brave through the storms...and the vicious emotional cycle never ends. *sigh*

Oh well, I'm just glad that my family have always been there and have been believing in me all this while. Their support has just been so wonderful...and from friends too.

It has been so weird these days; I just feel so empty. I don't know whether it's the holidays that's making me feel useless, or it's just that nothing shockingly new has happened. I just don't have the mood to do anything really. I basically feel numb about everything... Most probably the many things that have happened to me make me so unresponsive! It's hard to understand I think. That's most likely the reason I have always been trying to channel myself to WORK. I reckon it's the best way to escape from sad issues.

I've promised myself to put my full concentration in my course. I need to maintain my grades to pay off what my parents have paid for financially and emotionally. I've slacked badly in the previous semester. Again because I couldn't handle my time and emotion well enough. Now my mind is set to work hard for what I've aimed for. I know 2nd year will be a lot tougher. I really do hope I can manage it well.

There are many times when I really need someone to talk to, but I don't know who to look for. It's all good though...I wouldn't want to selfishly burden anyone with my own problems. So channel them to work and say them all out in tennis! Hehe...

It feels a bit better blogging at least one of the things out today. Bottom line: like it or not, life has to go on...

Long Vacation

I'm in the midst of my first long vacation in university life. I've got one more month left, after having a relaxing break of about a month and a half. There's not much that I've done for this long holiday really, if compared to the previous shorter one. Probably, there 's not as much big celebrations like Christmas and all those.

So far, I've done a week of attachement in the Panaga Health Centre, which was quite good a learning experience. Well, there were also a few activities by IM that I've helped out in as well. The first being the health roadshow in OGDC...then followed by the one in the Mall. It was pretty interesting to actually go out to the public and do tests on them. There was the Mini Medical School just last week, which I had to do role plays. It was FUN being able to take up the roles of the "Mr Know-It-All" and the bad doctor on that day. Such a funny experience! There's the international forum coming up next week...and the Japanese exchange students coming at the end of the month. Sounds busy...

Oh yeah...results came out! I was on my way up to Bandar, almost reaching home. Out of no reason, I was coincidentally listening to 95.9 FM, the whole way from KB to Bandar! I had to make a U-turn all the way back to UBD after the excited DJ randomly announced that she'd got her results already. Feeling nervous, I waited outside the Chancellor's Hall. I was among the first few to arrive there, waiting for quite a while for the people to paste the results on the board...and weirdly I didn't get the results by SMS. Only later did I realise that I forgot to reconfirm my registration. But well, despite all that, it was a happy ending. I was really overjoyed with my results. It was better than I expected, after having such a rough semester. All the super hard work towards the end of the semester paid off. I was especially happy with the SSM results. Thank God =]

Since World Cup started, I've watched so many matches LIVE! I was just telling one of my friends that this WC alone, I've watched more football than I did for the past 20 years of my life. Haha... Quite true though. But well, nothing else better to do for this holiday. Come to think about it, it's a good way to spend time as well. It's been such a routine for the past week: watch football till like 5am...then breakfast at the pasar...then back home to sleep. Something new at least! What will happen after WC end? Hmph...

I had a steamboat lunch just now with a bunch of close friends. It's been quite a while... It's really nice when so many are back for they university vacation. I really enjoyed catching up as a group. How I wish everybody could be together in Brunei...but well, everybody is now out there chasing after his/her dream job. I'll be off somewhere to study in 2 years' time as well. Can't wait...

No plans yet for the remaining weeks. Probably I'll spend time with close friends. Hopefully tanning, swimming, lots of tennis, football maybe...badminton, going out for a drink or food...parties and all. Hope it's all FUN before university starts again in August!

...pushing it...

Just did my HS1202 Paper 1 this morning. I've spent almost 2 weeks preparing for that 3 hour paper. But some things I just can't remember. Too much to learn I guess.

Oh well, I couldn't sleep well last night. I have no idea why but I was rolling on the bed from 12+am to like 3+am. Maybe too excited, maybe too anxious for my first health science paper for this semester.

On a positive note, at least now, I've got one paper down and one more core paper to go this Wednesday. I've got to start preparing hard for my seen cases and then practise on my cousin brother for my clinical skills.

I hope I can do well this semester. It has not been a smooth one, but I've been trying to push it to my limit and catching up. I need to get the grades for many reasons.

Alright then. Hope luck is with me this time round. I really need it!

Year 1 ending soon

It's been months since I last blogged. A lot happened have happened; some good stuffs, some not so nice. Well, without realising it, it's near the end of my first year as a medical student.

This semester has not been that great. I was slacking in January and February, probably too busily involved with going out and stuffs like that. It has affected my work in uni and I'm still trying really hard to catch up with all the work. Starting next semester, I promise myself not to slack no matter what. It's really been tough. It's been good so far though...I mean, at least I "woke up" and pushed myself hard to be back on track.

I don't know why so many things have happened and are happening. But on a positive note, I guess everything happen for a reason. I shall wait patiently and persevere through the challenges. Oh well... as long as I think what I'm doing is right, other things don't matter.

It's less than 2 weeks to finals... It's really scary, considering I disappointed myself in my formative assessment. I need to work harder this time!

I guess that's it for now. I shall start blogging again after my exams. Just can't wait for my 2.5months holidays. No plans yet but I do need a break!

Wish me luck for my exams!

Cheers =]

Unlucky Monday!

Yesterday was really a bad day!

In the morning, on the way up from KB, I almost banged into the car in front of me. It was along the highway in front of Empire. The car in front of mine braked suddenly...and I have to blame myself too for being quite sleepy. So I had to sudden brake. The screeching sound my tyres created was really LOUD and scary...Shocked me! I ended up speechless and remained at that spot for a few seconds before moving again. Worst still, it created a chain of cars behind me all braking hard. Thank God I didn't bang...My car was just like 2cm away from the car in front of mine. And the car behind me was really, really close as well. Really scary!

It was a pretty long day in uni as well. I was so bad in PBL; so unprepared. But I was lucky to pull it through I think. I roughly had an idea of what to talk about since I've done something quite similar in A Level Biology. And lectures...I don't know why, but I cannot concentrate. I tend to become really sleepy. I guess it's not my way of learning. I prefer SDL and then, PBL.

Well, the day went on. Actually had a plan after uni but then it had to be cancelled. So, I decided to go home and suggested Swensen's for dessert at like 8.30pm. I managed to nap for an hour before dinner at home...and then prepared myself to go out.

On the way, I picked Sarah up. And then, the second crazy thing of the day happened. Sarah's aunt's place was built on a small hill right...So, I had to go up this hill to reach the foyer of the house. After that, I reversed my car back downhill. I've done this a few times already but then I just don't understand what I did yesterday.

As I reverse the car, I could hear "poummm..." and a jerk on my back wheel. I asked Sarah, "Is it the drain?" Both of us agreed it is. I moved a little more and then OMG..."POUMMM" on my left front wheel. The car was tilted! I quickly got out of the car and sheesh...the left side of the car was in the huge drain!!! And the right back wheel was rotating in the air. Imagine that!

I was really like don't know what to do. Luckily, there was one Indonesian passer-by who volunteered to help me. He told me it's ok and we can get the car out. By then, Sarah's uncle and aunt had already came out of the house. Imagine how loud the "poummm" was!

So the kind Indonesian man pushed the side of the car from the drain, and as he instructed, I accelerated...at the same time trying to use my weight to push the right side of the car back onto the ground. I could really smell the friction between the tyres and the cement floor...and FINALLY, the car got out of the drain! Lots of gratitude to the Indonesian guy...Thank God he's there.

I hope the car is alright though. The body still looks good... Just that the right signal seems to have 'palpitation'. Pretty weird...

After that, we met up with Sonia, John, Edah, Nellie and Dila in Swensen's for ice cream. It was really good though...but my mind was still thinking about the incidents in the morning and the one with the drain. Luckily, I reached home safely. It was a horrible day, really.

At least today is not too bad. Did a bit of work...so I feel quite good about it. I learn how to take an Obstetric history and the proper way to change diaper for a baby. Quite productive. Tomorrow will be a short day in uni...so I'm looking forward to it.

2nd semester reopens...

It's now hours away before the start of the 2nd semester of my degree. Looking at the positive side, it means I have done 1 semester already. Many more to go though. But I shall persevere and strive for Medicine is my passion and life!

The semester break was a good one. I wouldn't say it was productive academically (supposed to be that way), but I really enjoyed it. I got to spend a lot of time with my close friends, which I didn't really have time for during the 1st semester. Hope 2nd semester will be a better one with less problems to think about.

My body's sun-burnt. It's red and a bit painful now. Went swimming this morning with Nigel, Woon, Wani, Jason and Calvin. Hope we can do this more... It's been really enjoyable getting tanned and playing in the water. Too bad Tracy (in Miri...poor thing), John and Tina couldn't join...and yeah, Vanessa and Bryan too.

I miss morning tennis as well...It's been like a routine for the past month. Was pretty much a full time sportsperson - swimming, tennis, badminton, football and gym. I fully enjoyed it. Now, I'l be back to school stuffs. Lots of hard work coming up...

We had a steamboat lunch at home today. It was all good...then I had to come up to Bandar. I went straight to the airport to pick up Sonia. She's just got back from Singapore. Poor thing as well: homesick. Must be, more so it's Brunei. Hehe. Even I get pretty homesick sometimes although I am just a few hours from home. Now especially when my really best pal Nigel is back. Oh well...

So far, my semi-vegan diet is staying strong. I've not eaten any meat since the first day of 2006. Not even in Bucaneer yesterday, neither did I ate the beef for steamboat. Well, I guess it's just a challenge of willpower for myself, like what Prof O.K. said last year. I'll just give it a try...at least it's something interesting to do for 2006 when I am going to turn 20!

I'm getting pretty tired now. I guess I better go rest and be fresh for my 1st day of uni. Can't imagine how it'll be like. Hehe...

(Miss you guys!)

my 2006 resolutions

1. To become a semi-vegan. Nothing to do with religion, but it's also part of it. I guess it's more to eating healthier. Of course I'd love to lose weight. I want 75kg!!!

2. To be a better person! Vague but yeah...

3. To work really hard on my course. I need to work extra hard to achieve good grades. Hope I can do well.

4. To be fitter...as in toned (hopefully I don't get too lazy...hehe) and better stamina for tennis and badminton.

5. Hope I can maintain good relationship with all my friends. I really appreciate all of them. They help me through a lot of rough times, especially 2005.

6. A happy family!

7. Be healthy, happy and blessed.

I'll add on more to the list if I can think of more...

the month of december 2005

I really had a lot of fun in December. I guess it's partly because many things are already settled, as in academically and I also got used to studying back here in UBD. After the exam, I really had to take a break. It's been a semester of hard work and stress...and I can feel more semesters like this, or even tougher, coming soon.

A lot of my friends who studied oversea came back for their holidays. So, I can finally spend time with them. I've really been going out a lot either for a meal, just for a drink and mostly for sports. I had full blast sessions of tennis especially, and badminton as well. There was also a swimming gathering which I really enjoyed.

Hmmm...I got a bit more tanned already, and I'm liking it. I shall like to get more tanned before the semester starts on January 9th. That means more tennis and swimming. Hehe... I know that when studies start, it would be hours hiding inside the buildings, meaning I'll be getting fair again. Oh well...

Enough of that. But basically, I didn't do much except for relaxing and catching up with friends for the last month.

Ohh Christmas was pretty alright this year. I had a family dinner at the newly opened Excapade in KB. Then I went to WYWY for a drink with some friends. We had like a small gathering and later moved to Charlene's house for a movie. Went back at about 3.30am on Christmas day. Not too bad a Christmas...

On Christmas day itself it was dinner with Nigel, Ling Wei, Flora, Ravie, Chee Hau and Kit Chai in Bucaneer. And on Boxing day, we had another dinner at Excapade, then Sarah, Sze Yin and Ashish were also there. It was really good catching up with everybody.

As for New Year's eve, it was really nice of Michelle to cook. She prepared her roast chicken. It really tasted great! It was like a dinner at her house with Clement, Ravie, Kit-Chai and Benj. Just a small dinner...but really nice.

Oh yeah...we actually went down to Miri the day before to get some alcohol. Haha...See how excited we were to drink on New Year's eve.

Yeap, we drank...We moved from Michelle's place to Joce's. Sze Yin, Nelson, Ricky and Adrienne came too. We played some drinking games. Really funny! We laughed a LOT... We had a few shots of Tequila too to celebrate. Can't believe we finished the whole bottle of Tequila! It was nice of Benj to send me home. Too drunk to drive also...

And I puked, for the first time! Oh well... hope it's a great start for 2006. Thinking of it as throwing out all bad stuffs of 2005. Haha... Keep it that way.

Looking forward to more FUN this week, before the 2nd semester starts. Hope I can do something about my SSM too.