mad rush to sister's wedding

backdated to 28th may 2007:

as you all know, my attachment in sydney had to be kept to a four-week duration, just so that i could attend my sister's wedding. and as soon as i came back home... there was the tempest of activities to complete in preparation for my sister's solemnization, as well as the ceremonies on both sides of the family. no glitches, fortunately, and my sister's solemnization got underway on the 18th of May, and her procession took place for two days, on the 26th and 27th. it was 3 tiring days, but of course, the event was one to be remembered in the family for a long time. emotional, it was, but beautiful all the same. all the best to the newlyweds, Noraini and Abdul Rauf.

As usual i like to let pictures do the talking.

mehndi for the hands and feet: preparation for the solemnization

aunties helping out with the preparation, wedding dais in the background.

parents of the bride and groom respectively.

wedding dais at yew tee cc.

wedding cupcakes.

the real wedding cake - made entirely out of yellow glutinous rice.

my family.

so carrying on where we left off... the aussie adventures

backdated to 12 may 2007:

so it was that my attachment in sydney ended. frankly on the last day, i really did not feel like coming back at all. true, the call of home was strong. but as abu told me before, there is a certain pleasure in travelling alone in a foreign land. and on the morning of the 11th, when i was out and about by myself, i finally experienced that feeling. its really as close to freedom as one could imagine... and i was unfortunate to only have experienced it at the end of my time there.

but it is really such a good feeling, that it actually made me forget about home.

man, i miss sydney for the times i could just be by myself without worries.
i miss sydney, for the people who made me feel right at home.
i miss sydney, for the work that i did, with those people who love without worries.

i miss sydney, for sydney.

really hope i can make the time to go back again.
haven't had enough.

le deuxieme reason

ahahah... actually i have been trying to change my blogskin. and what hell its been. and because of that, i actually did not write. but then i got tired of not being able to find a suitable skin. so i am starting again. haha.

hiatus 2

haha...
a lot of people been asking if i will update anymore or not.

since i came back from aussie, a lot has happened i suppose.
and a lot to blog about.

but i havent had the motivation to write... no particular reason aside from pure laziness.

but i will endeavour.

things to come:
1) sister's wedding
2) trip to indonesia
3) graduation
4) inspirational moments
5) work
6) gratitude for life

final evaluation and the singaporean in me

completed my final evaluation before the stipulated date because the school needed my results in. so it was done. perhaps by any other person's standard, i would have been considered to have done well, but by my own expectations, i think i have disappointed myself.

how shall i say this without sounding like a brat?

no other way to say it i suppose...

i think i deserved more marks. and although the marks were not the point of the evaluation, being singaporean, it still affected me quite a bit.

both my supervisor and i agreed that 4 weeks was too short a duration for me to be able to have performed at the best of my ability. I was only beginning to understand how things worked, and to finally get into the rhythm of the whole shenanigan... and then i had to leave. of course, my standard of performance would have been less adept as compared to a student who would have spent 6 weeks, and evaluated at the end of the 6th week. it was more a matter of experience, and ample opportunities, rather than ability.

so, i thought that given we had this mutual understanding, the grades should reflect the moderated score i.e. how i would have performed if given 2 more weeks. unfortunately, my sup felt that it was not necessary, and in her opinion, the score should reflect how i have performed so far. and that was not exactly what i had hoped.

of course, this was because i really wanted to get the clinical prize. and i am afraid that my chances may have been dashed because of this.

but there you go. its really the singaporean nature, that wants to achieve rather than considering the pluses of the experience. and how everything conveniently boiled down to grades and scores.

sigh.

p.s. i still hope that the moderation would occur. i will fight for it back in singapore. haha. sheesh.

hikmah's visit

my junior from melbourne came down to visit me and some of her friends in sydney.

the sweet child took a 9hr train ride overnight... can you believe it? such dedication to friends i say... anyways, met her and went to the zoo with her... and my camera decided to die on me... so i don't have many pictures of us at the zoo... but then when we sent her off, we took more pictures... hahaha... well yea, just for the sake of putting pictures on the blog, here is a short pictorial on hikmah's visit.

hikmah tak sempat pakai sunglass, dah kena flash.

bad judgment of position.

it's her 2nd time to the opera house in her 5 years in aussie. i think.

the ever important shot of the SOH.

the ferry we took was called "friendship". how apt!

the first animal we saw... i think its a heron, or an egret, or a something like that.

then came the koala, or rather, then slept the koala.

she was kinda excited to see them.

the unmoving log that was a crocodile.

the giant komodo dragon.

a land iguana... pandai posing.

this frilled lizard was huge. really really huge. like the size of my arm.

inter-species love?

she said that she definitely has to see the giraffes. so we went to see the giraffes. i think she identifies with them...

cute giraffe pic.

it was cold, and the chimps know that the water would be too cold to bathe in.

silhouette.

And at this point, my camera decided to give up. so the next few shots are already about sending hikmah home.

central train station.

hikmah's train on platform 1.

her friends from RJ.

bye bye!

second to third

for everyone who is wondering why i have been missing, it is because last weekend, i cooped myself up in the room to do some work... the first two weeks as reported were much more relaxed, but it appears that the work load is increasing, as my supervisor hands me a majority (actually, all) of her patients, and i really havent had the time to do much else.

well. actually i do. but the weekends are really cherished nowadays as extra time for me to catch up on the things that i wanted to read, and the work that i promised myself to finish.

so i kept myself off the streets and gallivanting around, so that i could do what i needed to.

then i realised that i need to go gallivanting this week, because its my last weekend in sydney.
and then i realised how very fast the weeks have passed.
and how much more i need to make these next weeks matter.

i had my mid-way eval last friday, and i am generally doing ok... just some weaknesses which i have personally identified, and agreed that it is not actually a weakness, but more of a culture or style that is not mine. so i cannot be marked down on that. so not much worries there.

but really, the days are just flying past in the hospital.

i am seeing patients back to back while needing to prepare for my own presentation, and the projects. and needing to attend tutorials, and wanting to attend grand rounds at the hospitals. and arranging to speak to other professionals, and being attached to them for some time to observe. its really a juggle... and i got to show that despite the juggling act, i am coping and that i am keeping abreast of what i need to do. haha. not easy. and my sup is watching my every move, i know.

i find myself in awe sometimes of the breadth and depth of knowledge that the senior OTs have. i am choking on answers still when i am asked a physiological question, and that really bums me out. but at the same time, i am seeing different sort of management which is not traditionally seen in singapore, and that is really pushing up my learning curve steeply. i find that there is a lot more that i need to learn, and my 4 weeks here is truly insufficient to fully grasp what is happening over in St Vincent's. now i know why i needed 6 weeks.

sigh.

but it all happens for a reason.
i have come to terms with me being here only 4 weeks.
and i need to plan around the time that i am here...

so i hope that these next 1.5 weeks will be a blast and that it will be filled with many many tales which i can tell when i come back!

pray for me and wish me luck!

wednesday is anzac day...

meaning that over here in Aussie, its a HOLIDAY!

yeah, which means that I have a whole day to rest and relax... and i am doing so right now... which is why I am taking the time to write this entry about my sightseeing stint last weekend. but before that, some reflections on this day that the Aussies celebrate nationwide.

"ANZAC Day - 25 April - marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as Anzacs, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day.

One of the traditions of ANZAC Day is the 'gunfire breakfast' (coffee with rum added), which occurs shortly after many dawn ceremonies.

During the 1920s, ANZAC Day became established as a national day of commemoration for the 60,000 Australians and 18,000 New Zealanders who died during the war. The first year in which all the States observed some form of public holiday together on ANZAC Day was 1927. By the mid-1930s all the rituals we today associate with the day - dawn vigils, marches, memorial services, reunions, sly two-up games - were firmly established as part of ANZAC Day culture. With the coming of the Second World War, ANZAC Day became a day on which to commemorate the lives of Australians lost in that war as well, and in subsequent years the meaning of the day has been further broadened to include Australians killed in all the military operations in which Australia has been involved. ANZAC Day was first commemorated at the Australian War Memorial in 1942, but due to government orders preventing large public gatherings in case of Japanese air attack, it was a small affair and was neither a march nor a memorial service. ANZAC Day has been annually commemorated at the Australian War Memorial ever since.

Australians and New Zealanders recognise 25 April as an occasion of national commemoration. Commemorative services are held at dawn, the time of the original landing, across the nation. Later in the day ex-servicemen and women meet and join in marches through the major cities and many smaller centers. Commemorative ceremonies are held at war memorials around the country. It is a day when Australians and New Zealanders reflect on the many different meanings of war." - Wikipedia.

Yeah, so all of that is true. The coverage on TV for this day was immense with all channels running various commentaries on the dawn services and the marches happening all over Aussie. I wanted to pay a visit, but hell, it starts at 4 am in the morning. And given the rainy weather here lately, I was much more inclined to stay in bed and watch the proceedings from the TV. so no pictures there from me on ANZAC Day.

But of course there are pictures of other places I have visited.

Last Sunday was a mad trip down to Chinatown, the Asian or Paddy's Market, The Fish Market, ANZAC Bridge, the Sydney Opera House, and the Rocks Market. It was almost entirely covered on foot, which is a mean feat for me, given how I hate walking. But fortunately, the need to save money pushed me along. Although my feet hurt like hell after the walk, I actually thoroughly enjoyed myself. The two people accompanying me are Xiaowei, a friend from NYP who happened to be in Sydney, and her cousin Diana. So it was, the three musketeers took their day trip out into the Sydney attractions...

diana to the left, and xiaowei to the right.

first stop - Chinatown and the Asian Market, which is quite like Singapore's Chinatown and Geylang. haha.

saw this really cute car along the way, and cannot resist taking a picture.

walked down to the sydney fish market, for the freshest catches of the day.

took this photo to prove to my supervisor that i went there; she made the exact same action as you see in the picture when instructing me to visit this shop.

inside the fish market - a seafood lover's galore. shops upon shops of seafood, seafood and more seafood.

good seafood is not cheap. so we had to settle for the simplest fare - fish and chips. which was just as good and filling.

my first proper meal in a week.

see the birds guarding the parasols? haha. opportunistic, they are. lucky for us, there were babies on patrol... literally babies running all over the place to chase the birds away. so they did not come to steal our food.

a long view of the jetty-side benches... and the ANZAC bridge in the background.

ANZAC bridge close up.

buskers at circular quay, where you get off to visit the famous opera house. these were funky buskers, blowing the aboriginal didgeridoo to hip-hop tunes. it was really cool. pity i did not buy the cd, because i did not think it would have the same effect.

sydney harbour bridge. also one of the attractions there. there were actually people climbing on top of the bridge. but it takes you 3 hours for the complete tour. and sets you back about $100 AUD. so i decided to just admire the view from afar.

walking down the harbour towards the famed destination.

and here i am!!! opera house in the background... and yea, its quite breathtaking. not only because its really an architectural delight, but because the wind was blistering cold.

i don't know what building this is, but the flags are soooo pretty. haha.

getting closer...

some pubs along the harbour. gave me an idea of where the inspiration for the esplanade came from.
souvenir stalls along the way.

decided to rest a while on the steps of the sydney opera house, and just take in the sights.

seagulls were again in abundance. look at how fat and healthy they are.

the memorial in front of the entrance, detailing the design of the SOH.


but of all things to photograph, i had to take a picture of the high-tech and artsy toilet. there was light for the toilet rolls, and the sinks, well, were not really sinks. hahaha. really cool.
the Sydney Opera House - just magnificent.

walking up to the Rocks, opposite of the SOH.

more buskers -this time a contortionist who could speak her way into getting people to contribute for her act. it was really something that she had pat down, in the box.

then went down to the Rocks, and that was a shopping heaven. saw a lot of things that would make beautiful gifts for people back home. so if any of you looking at this, this is where you'd most probably be getting your gift from.

a glass maker. he and his partner makes the most beautiful glass sculptures. which are expensive. hahaha.

and that was the end of the camera trip.
I took so many pictures that my camera ran out of space and batteries. Haha.

so that's the update for now.

more, you say? yeah, i will get more done, the next few weeks.

cheers!