New Start

So tomorrow is a pretty big day for me. It'll be Goodbye Springfield ( pictured above) and Hello Flinders Medical Centre ( pictured below). Goodbye crappy-carer-underpaid-job, hello slightly-higher-paid-i-hope-it'll-be-good-enrolled-nurse job. And tomorrow's my first day!!!!

Wish me luck!!!!

Cycling to the beach again

Yup. As you can see from the title. We went cycling to the beach again. This time in a much bigger group consisting of ( from left to right) Dileepa from Sri Lanka raised in Qatar, Me from you know where, Leonard from Singapore, Marjorie from Malaysia, Lalita from Malaysia, Charlene from Malaysia, Esther from Malaysia again, Arbi from Albania and MC from Singapore...and Douglas from Brazil taking the picture.... I don't know why I gave such an extensive introduction, I just have a lot of time before I drag myself off to bed. It's a bit FYI I know, but wth, this is my blog, I can be FYI if I want hahahaha.

Taking a break from cycling

We finally got there and it was a bit disappointing cause it was drizzling and the sky was awful cloudy and grey. And it was pretty empty cause the clipsal was in town. So we settled for a game of Volleyball first with me Douglas Dileepa Lalita and MC in one team ( we won). Don't mind Dileepa's horrifying pose, we can't get him to stop doing that either.

But then the sun came up and the day started looking a whole lot better. We stripped off and went into the sea ( that's why the pictures end here XD ) and spent nearly the whole afternoon there before finally coming up for another game of volleyball ( which we stopped quickly when a much better and more professional team showed up to play beside us) and then we packed up and cycled home totally exhausted and completely sunburnt. Great fun.

Lalita and I

Another Update

So week 3 of uni is ending...
Time flies, it seems like we just started but when you come to think about it, we're finishing our semester in a few months time... Scary.
So we had our first microbiology tutorial today. Was afraid it would be incredibly boring like Law and Ethics or Health Psychology ( both classes which always leaves us with more questions than answers), Turned out to be really interesting. It was all lab work. Boy, I miss working in the lab. Its like High School all over again and we're doing chemistry or something.
So we swabbed bacterias today and studied them under the microscope. Uni lab equipments sure beat the hell out of Kuching High's less savvy ones...
Our tutor kept telling us to 'Make love to your microscopes'. Treat them tenderly and keep twiddling their knobs. Haha. So we tried our best to make love to our microscopes. Good Fun.

On another note,
My driving test was cancelled Tuesday cause my instructor's car broke down.
All I could think was 'For Crying out loud! Of all times to break down!!!! You have got to be bloody kidding me!"
Oh well. Hope I get it done and over with soon. Wish me luck!

Wigged Out

For MC's birthday, we were all supposed to get wigs. That was supposed to be the theme. So Cindy and I went to this costume hire shop to get our wigs. I found a blue-hooker-bob I liked cause it was really bright and 'wiggy'.

Cindy was trying on a Cleopatra wig. But soon realized that on her, the wig was more like an 'Ugly Betty' wig. Probaby because of her glasses. Boy, I couldnt stop laughing everytime she put on the wig.

Me, Pearl, Douglas, Lalita and Nevis.

Saturday night was the party, and we were all decked out in our wigs. Some of us anyway. The rest cheated and looked normal...

Charlene, Pearl, Leonard, Esther, Liam, Me and Nevis

Had to take a picture with Ugly Betty, she's a celebrity!

Picture with the birthday girl ( MC) and her friend Megan who was Wonder Woman

Evelyn rocked up a bit later with her red, sassy wig...

By that time, my wig was taken off cause it was starting to get hot and itcy and crooked.......

Pearl, MC, Cindy, Me, Audrey, Geraldine and Marjorie

The biggest hit was Lawrence ( the one on the right, beside Audrey) he came as a girl. Complete with the long hair, girly blouse and skinny jeans. Nobody recognized him when he first came, took us a while.

Trying to steal Cindy's role as Ugly Betty. I can't. I've got too much natural beauty to pull this look off!

Muahahahahaha XD

Letter from the past

Postcard arrives in Ohio — 47 years late
Intended recipient died in 1988; official blames equipment for delay
HUDSON, Ohio - A woman's postcard bearing greetings from Montana has finally arrived in northeastern Ohio — 47 years later.
Insurance agent Dave Conn opened his post office box in the community of Hudson last week and found the mailing sent from Helena, Mont., in 1962.
It was sent to Marion White, the previous renter of the box, who had died in 1988. The writer signed the postcard "Fran" and mentioned having "had a marvelous time in Montana."
After asking around, Conn says he determined the card must have come from White's well-traveled friend Frances Murphey, a longtime reporter at the Akron Beacon Journal. She died in 1998 at age 75.
U.S. Postal Service spokesman Victor Dubina says the postcard may have been stuck in equipment or lost behind a mail chute.

Hah. Funny. The guy who got the letter got a letter from the past. Literally. XD

Who'd Win?

Who do you think would win in a fight?
Superman?
Spiderman ?

Or Batman??

This is no trick question.

Seriously.

I've just always imagined a fight between the 3 of them and could never make up my mind on who would win...

Superman is useless when there's Kryptonite, but he has all these super-awesome powers, He's got x-ray vision, strength, an iron body, speed, you name it, he's got it.

Spiderman has some cool abilities, but he's.... no offense but, he's sorta stupid compared to Batman anyway. He's such a nerd, always so trustable and getting himself in trouble. Plus, he's got a big weakness- Mary Jane.

Batman ( personally, he's my favourite.. but only because of who's been playing this character) doesn't have any superpowers himself, but he's filthy rich, super-smart and doesn't wear his underwear outside. But what if he runs out of gadgets one day when he's battling for his life?

Its a puzzler, it is.

Ulu?

I remember in Perth I was walking around this mall with Made and Charles ( I cant remember that mall's name) and she was asking me if we had Smiggle in Adelaide.
Its a stationary store with loads of real cute and cool stationary. I said no that time, and again had to endure those sarcastic snickers and hint about Adelaide's ulu-ness.
Well look what I found in Adelaide!!
Smiggle!!!!!
I think that decreases our ulu-ness just a teeny weeny bit. haha.

First Week of Uni

Whew.
So first week of uni is finally over.
hopefully from now on there'll be less confused thoughts, muddled schedules and lost wanderings around the campus trying to find a classroom in the wrong side of the building with 5 minutes till class start ( No, that did not happen to me)
So Health Psychology and Health Sociology was utterly boring. With a teacher who looks like Anthony Hopkins and seem to have more life troubles than him ( which he wasn't hesitant to share with the class)
Nursing 3 was really quite ok considering what a boring subject it was, thanks to a great teacher.
Law and Ethics really rocked cause of the super cool Greek lady teacher we had who really really put everything into perspective and made the whole thing a debate. Makes me wanna take up a Law degree instead!
Haha, but I won't for the moment...
All in all, uni is exhausting!
Haven't even started week 2 and am checking to see when the next holiday break is...
Readings, printing lcture notes, SO many things to do before going to a class!
Boy, we were really spoon-fed back in the days of Malaysian-pinafore-wearing -high-school I realize that now.
Whew.

What's it like for them?

As you all know ( as I have complained and ranted and gone on and on about it as well) I work in a nursing home with old people.
I've got those who are bedridden but still clear-minded, those who only need minimal assistance with their daily needs, those who are fuzzy-minded and demented, and worst of all, those who are both demented and bed-ridden.
Whenever I'm attending to them, I'm always wondering ( I even drift off on my thoughts sometimes and forget what I'm doing with them but that's not the point), what's it like for them?
Well not the lucid ones so much, it's easier to understand how they feel. Frustration, helplessness, hopelessness, anger, fear, confusion, depression. Its easy to feel that way in their situation when they find out they can't do what used to be easy for them. Not being able to drive, not being able to shower oneself, not being able to go out whenever and with whomever they please, it's no suprise some old people who live long enough in nursing homes try to commit suicide, no matter how good the quality of care is.
But I often wonder about the demented patients.
What do they see?
What do they feel?
How does the world look like from their eyes?
Do they see the world as a baby might see it? With many foreign and strange things they have never seen before, with many things they have yet to learn about yet?
Do they see the world through their past? Do they actually see their family walking around them and talking to them like in the past even though there's no one there? Or do they just lose touch with the surroundings and imagine themselves in situations from the past?
I see them sitting there sometimes, in that same seat sometimes for the whole day. Only getting up for meals and toileting sessions. And I wonder what goes on in their heads all day long because they seem so lost in thought.
Do they spend the whole day wondering what they're doing there, what they're names are, and how old they are?
Do they just go blank and think about nothing at all?
I wouldn't want to be them, no sir, but I'd just like to know what it's like for them. Maybe take a quick little peek into their thoughts like Harry Potter did with Dumbledore's memories. Then maybe I could understand better, and know what it's like for them.

Awakenings

I watched this movie last year and it had such a huge impact on me I can't help but blog about it and tell the whole world to please please please watch it!!
It's quite an old movie, probably made somewhere in 1990, but don't let that deter you.
This is a true story about a doctor ( Robin Williams) who encounters a group of catatonic patients. He slowly finds out that they all have something in common and through that, finds a way to bring them out of their catatonic state.
This movie focuses on Leonard, played by Robert De Niro very very well and memorably as one of the patients who has been influenced the most. He falls in love and starts to live life again. I cried buckets and buckets and buckets of tears during this movie ( I know, I know, I always cry at movies but this is different! Seriously!). It's a beautifully made movie and worth watching to reming you of how precious life is and how we have come to take certain things in life for granted.
It reminded me to look around, and appreciate everything we have.
I'm gonna watch it again.

Spring

Cindy and I were pretty bored last year before she went home so we decided to go out and sit around in the grass outside Hosanna Heights, which is where I live. Of course we brought the camera out with us and took advantage of the sun and all that green, green grass.

I was looking at these pictures and realized again what a beautiful place we live in, and how nice it is to just sit around out in the open on the ground with nothing on our minds and nowhere to get to in a hurry, just watching the cloudless blue sky and just taking it slower.

We hurry so much in life, I think we should just stop sometimes, take a look around, and just breathe in deep the beauty and tranquility God gave us.

First Day Of Uni

So today I start my first day in Flinders University.
Started at 0800 and finished at 1800.
Yes, of course I was tired. I was so tired I felt like my brain had died.
Today was all lectures. I had 6 lectures in one day, which might probably also explain my brain's death. And I have to say after today, I don't quite like lectures after all.
Neither do I like tutorials because of all the efforts I have to put in to prepare. Uni is tiring, and complicated, and confusing.
And to rub salt in the wound, my building, which is for Nursing, Midwifery and Education students has only about 2 guys out of a group of 10 students. Maybe even less. I understand these are feminine topics, it'd be weird for a guy to study to be a midwife. But there goes my image of all these beautiful people sitting on the grass under trees studying and hanging out today as if without a care in this world.
TV is deceiving.
Maybe tutorials will be much more interesting.
Fingers crossed!