It's a dog's life

Rainy rehearsal... Ah-choo!

2008-07-20T21:57:00.003+08:00

Count Down to NDP 2008... 27 days to the big show

2008-07-13T19:26:00.002+08:00

William and I in action at Media Brief 3 for NDP 2008

Highlights of NDP 2008:

1) Wheelchair dancing (that's for sure lah)

2) Breath-taking Air show by RSAF Airforce

3) Fireworks (of course)

Golden Triangle... Been There...When will we get the Postcard?

2008-06-30T19:44:00.000+08:00

= Under construction =

Our mini honeymoon @ Club Med Cherating

2008-05-31T19:42:00.000+08:00

Akan datang...

Our Big Day 24.05.2008

2008-05-24T18:44:00.000+08:00

My beau and I

The beautiful Ong women

Pretty flowers all in a row...

My handmade ring cushion (handmade by my chippy)

A very pleasant and jovial JP Prof Yu

"I now pronounce you husband and wife"

Notice the tears of joy...

All those who were there to grace our special day

Our family portrait :)

My In-Laws : )

With love, Patrick & Geraldine

A Hen's Night Party (For me !!!) - The censored version

2008-05-18T00:00:00.002+08:00

A arrest warrant given at Raffles Place MRT...

Arrest documents and instrument...

The Detainee (Bride-to-be)...

I need to speak to my lawyer...

Held captive by my loved ones

A happy prisoner...Make merry while I still can

Things that make me smile...

All those who were there on the night of wild wild fun (censored in this blog)...

Boy we love their sexy lingerie...

This was made possible by all the lovely girls in the pictures & MOST IMPORTANTLY by my Loving older sister who gave me a Hen's night that she never had !

A Little Getaway That We all Need Sometimes...

2008-03-31T11:11:00.001+08:00

A little getaway with a lot of eating,

eating (my first Korean meal),

and eating...

When we were not eating...

Shooting cans... I was pretty good you know.

Beach-bumming...

Playing Carum at the lobby when it rains (one of the things we did pretty often)...

More shooting...

Smile :)

A tearful me...

2008-02-22T22:30:00.000+08:00

Need I say more ?

...Continued... 2007 in a glance...

2008-02-01T10:13:00.000+08:00

A night when fairy tale characters come alive...

Dorothy, Princess Jasmine & Cinderella :)

The boy who never grows old (Peter Wok) and his friendnemy

To end off Year 2007, Christmas party @ Serangoon North Base

Special thanks to the crew who made it possible ;-)

We hate goodbyes... Especially to brain talents

Christmas in a new home...

I-can't-be-bothered look in front of my blessed seat

Welcome to my new home and new roomie !

Goodbye to my lunch kakis !

Save the last dance for HQ ;-)

Helloooo Good-looking !!!

*MUACKX* Need I say more?

Our family has expanded...

Look at how we have grown... as a family :-)

SPD Charity show 22nd July 2007

First visit to Mediacorp, first brush with stars...

While others partied hard at clarke quay that night, we walked hard... and long (on the way to Tampines)

Breaking barriers! walk, Road Marshall

APOTC 2008 (Boy I love Hong Kong!)

-The-land-of-the-lean-women-

I know why they are so lean after being there for more than one week (I become lean too) :-)
Ask me the secret and I will gladly share :P

When Mr S gets thirsty...

2008-01-01T11:31:00.000+08:00

Just MR S and Me...

Hey handsome !

A Flashback of Year 2007 Part1

2007-12-20T11:39:00.000+08:00

I started Dancing after CNY...

...and got to know some new friends in the process :)

We left for Tai Pei...

...Ate noodles & mee suan by the street...

...Scaled great heights (using technology)...

...And we came back...

Pulau Ubin Rox ! There's no place like Ubin

2007-01-21T22:10:00.000+08:00

13 January 2007: My first trip ever to Pulau Ubin

Despite some on/off drizzle during the trip, we managed to do most of the typical things people do on Ubin.

Selamat Datang !

Cycling along the muddy tracks of Ubin, unfortunately many parts of Ubin was closed for renovation and totally was not accessible (we didn't get to pass through to Chek Jawa as well). Still, the trip is quite a test of motor skills :)

City-dweller: swimming in a quarry (another 1st), my mind was filled with all sorts of paranoid thoughts, what lies in the water...? What might be zooming around in the depth of the water... A gator...? Heh heh... Almost forgot to add, the water's really fresh. I happily drank away the moment I hit the waters.

Look! No hands! Keeping afloat in treading water's tough and effortful... Fresh water's kinda heavy. On top of that, I wasnt exactly in my best form.

We ended the trip with a scrumptious meal at the First Stop Restaurant: fresh and yummy seafood (was too hungry to think about capturing any picture of the spread we had) at good prices too !

Bye SFA 7629J

2007-01-14T18:10:00.000+08:00

The first event of 2007, we bade goodbye to Papa's amazing MPV, outside my workplace.

I have had my share of driving it too...

At Peng Nguan Street, we bade the final farewell to the amazing vehicle that brought us to many places as a family... Too bad chips didn't get a touch of it before it left...

Singapore Gardening Festival 2006 @ Suntec

2007-01-14T16:21:00.000+08:00

Singapore Gardening Festival 2006 @ Suntec

Visited the exhibition with Mama. Glad to see that she really enjoyed herself, appreciating the beautiful flowers & exhibits (also posing for the camera). The exhibits was really fantastic, and clicked away busily on one level. The camera's battery did not survive past this level of exhibition (missed the pictures of really excellent & rare species of orchid on the next level).

Futuristic-looking garden

Birth of Jesus Christ

Not sure which country it is..., the designer was trying to express a bot of the myth & culture of his country :)

The above pictures are from the exhition: Coat in the Garden, while mama & I were looking at this exhibit, the designer walked in and took the coat hanging on the tree to put it on... Heh heh.. Mama thought he accidentally left it there. After wearing the beige coat, he replaced it with another dark-coloured one. keke...

Reminds me of Wonderland...

Welcome to Japan...

Lovely... ....

Christmasy-theme exhibit...

Geeks Nite Out: X'mas celbration @ Christina's Den

2007-01-14T16:12:00.000+08:00

All the nerds break loose on 23rd Dec !

Such a geeky Robin...N Sam too... :P

Chips, Robin, Pig & rare guest, Qinhui...

The nerdy hosts & son...

Nerdy pig pig & Ben...

Nerdy Cailing disciplining the nerdy kids (sam & pig pig)...

Nerdy me...

Hope everyone had enjoyed themselves during the party. I sure did ! A Nite of stupid games, of forfeit, drinking & sheer fun !

Look at all that alcohol on the table...Meant for the losers of our games... keke..

Have you plunged ?

2006-12-25T18:42:00.000+08:00

Runaway in Decemeber

2006-11-26T01:13:00.000+08:00

One week from Standard Chartered Half Marathon. Haven't been preparing the way that I should. Like I have told everyone, do or die. Wish me luck!

The month of November: Presents come out of car boot

2006-11-26T00:25:00.000+08:00

A (rare) simple and leisurely evening spent in good company. That was all that is needed to fill me with endless quiet bliss. A good dinner, leisure stroll in Marina square, and just chill-out at the old "Fat Frog cafe". Good music (rock band), great company makes a wonderful evening for a happy 24th birthday.

My birhtday celebration was postponed due to busy work week schedule to Friday. We explored Vivocity after work. At the car park of Vivocity, hunkalicious popped a grossly wrapped up parcel out of the car boot. I looked at it with ?? written over my face. I thought we were supposed to shop for my present at vivocity? I need to borrow Digicam from people no more! A fujifilm fine pix digicam ! My own! Now I can take as many pictures as I can without having to return the camera. Such a pleasant surprise!

Well, looking back, what the gift is may not be a complete out-of-the-blue surprise, because previously I was pretty disappointed that I didnt get the camera to use when a certain relative borrowed his. The present itself though, was a complete surprise to me because this hunkalicious of mine had me convinced that he didn't have a present for me and we were about to look for one.

The serial of pleasant surprises started earlier in the week on my actual birth date. As early as 8am, A client of mine from the Day activity Centre and his Training Officer turned up at the Rehab centre on his non-therapy day. He had an envelope to pass to me. I was already touched at this gesture that he had something for me. When I opened it, it was a hand-made card from the "friends if DAC", I was utterly touched that my nose turned "sour" immediately. I knew my client counldn't have made the card himself because his fine motor (hand) skills weren't that great, the thought that he remembered really touched me.

I didn't get to thank him then and there, because I was afraid of embarassing myself, I took the card in my hands and went into the office. Later the day, after luch, I went to DAC personally to thank him, his training officer and everybody involved. I gave my tall and thoughtful DAC OT a call during lunch too. I knew she must be directly/indirectly involved in this delightful surprise.

The load of suprises do not just end there, 2 more evelopes awaited on my table to be opended when I reached home. A hand-crafted card from Down-under. I love partner !!! The sunflowers are beautiful ! And certainly did more to brighten up my week. And July hardly ever fails to drop me a mail during occasions (birthdays, festive periods, etc).

I love novemeber !

Ages since I last blogged

2006-11-25T23:22:00.000+08:00

Time flies, after the Penang trip, life goes on... Fast-forward: back to school, graduated from school, went for holiday (Krabi), started work...WORK !!!

It's been almost 6 months since I have officially started work as an occupational therapist . Work's good n fine. Finding my role in this non-profit organisation that provides wide range of services to persons with disabilities. Time-to-time I will be reminded I am really only a small shrimp swimming in the sea.

Work is full of UPs and DOWNs... Other than my insecurity of the lack of clinical knowlegde and skills, the other greatest challenge for me is, the interaction with clients. Interaction between 2 persons essentially requires the interaction of values, beliefs and cultures of both parties.

There have been occasions when interaction with certain personalities at work shake/jolt my system a bit (thankfully not too often) AKA "personality clashes". These encounters remind me to the importance of having a professional identity.

Of being aware of the differences in how I would react in a particular situations in 2 ways: as a 'professional' & as a 'person'. And perhaps, not letting the two overlap too much. If I were to look at some of my clients completely through my own coloured lens as a 'person', I think I may want to beat them up. In the midst of defining that unique 'professional' identity...

This topic brings me to the past few weeks, my colleague told me that one of our clients wants to marry me. He isn't even a client of mine (I don't treat him, only see him around in our gym) (??). That sorta explains why I get a knock on the office glass door every other day (to get my attention) when he is attends his therapy sessions. Well, I have been trying my level to teach him that the 'professional' boundary with clients at the rehab centre. Not really getting through yet. He thought I refused to 'make friends' minded that he has a certain disabling condition. I do think he has the ability to rationalise but maybe not complete, I'll keep dialing for now. Maybe he needs to learn the means of befriending others (especially ladies) in an appropriate manner that doesn't nearly freak them out.

2005-12-28T15:33:00.001+08:00

My first game of pool !

2005-12-28T15:33:00.000+08:00

Men's Team

2005-12-28T15:29:00.000+08:00

THE SHIP

Penang Pesta Dragon Boat Race

2005-12-28T14:45:00.000+08:00

Para-sailing in Penang

Immediately after attachment ended on friday, I went home and was soon on my way to Penang after that. Bei bei was there to participate in the Penang Dragon Boat Race, and I accompanied him there. In summary, the three days there was about eating, eating, sight-seeing, taking buses, kena cheated by locals, playing sea sports (jet-skiing's really cool !), good steak and horse-ridding.

We tried the banana and parasailing too. To be honest with myself, the banana was a real disappointment. We went on it with a Macik on board. At the begining of the ride, I kept reassuring Bei Bei that the Banana was really exciting round the corners and the guy was just warming the speed boat up when we were simply going up and down along the beach. 2 more minutes had passed and we were still going up and down the beach without sudden cornering and violent flinging people off, it started to dawn on me that it was gonna be a kiddy ride till the ride ended. OMG... At the end of the ride, when Macik got off, she chattered excitedly to her daughter "wah! my heart pumping ah!". I looked at bei bei and rolled my eyes. Money wasted.

After the sports, we took a cab for some sight-seeing. We got cheated by some stupid cabbie who brought us to this seafood place, claiming that it's got fantastic chilli crab and it's chilli sauce is a must-buy, he followed us off the cab. After he spoke to the owner, he told us "Aiyah, no chilli sauce!" and walked back to his cab. We looked around the old and dirty place, wondering to eat or not. Finally when we decided to order, we were given a rude shock when the owner say they didn't sell any chilli crabs, only BBQ crabs. That cabbie probably spoke to the owner to claim comission for bringing customers (us) to the shop. I was quite put off by being cheated by the dishonest cabbie (making up things about the shop), that I didn't feel like eating there at all.

We found dinner at this magnificant The Ship that bei bei's been wanting to check out since he was there the last year. The place looks exactly as the name suggests. There, we were served like Kings and Queens, and the food (baked escargots, soup, steak) was marvellous. That was our stay at Penang.

When we got back, I spoke to our colleague at the special school, she wasn't surprised at all, afterall, it is a very commercialised tourist spot. She advised me not to heed cabbie's recommendation. Other than that, the trip had been most wonderful, and not to mention having bei bei for company day in day out!

Almost forgot to mention, my first pool game and my first dragon boat experience also happened during this trip. At the food centre in Penang, I play my first game of pool (so orh-bit right, haha...). In the water of Penang, I paddled my first paddles in a dragon boat. As a result, I suffered the first ultimate back muscle ache in Penang. I also ate my first alf-done steak all by myself at The Ship in Penang. It ahd been a most unforgettable trip with my bei bei !

Happy Birthday to Me II

2005-12-28T13:42:00.000+08:00

In the early morning of 22nd November, before I set off for attachment, Mum told me someone was looking for me at the door. I had no idea who it could be. Huh ? Michelle's maid? What's she doing here? She had something for me, Levi's vouchers! Haha... That made a difference to the rest of my day. Even joining a small class in hydrotherapy in the chilly rainy weather didn't seem so bad.

Later that evening, my family and I went to Thai Express for dinner together. Everyone was there, even brother-in-law turned up! It started sorta grouchily with chippy pissed off at everyone for being late, and at pig pig for forgetting to bring the present. Well, it's my Birthday afterall! How long can she be grouchy? All of us enjoyed the food and fantastic service of the crew. Papa really gave me a very pleasant suprise this year: being quite a traditionalist, he had always been reluctant to let us own a set of house keys. To Papa, not having your own keys implied that you can't come back too late after dark. If not, you'll be locked out. Well, we all got our own keys eventually under inevitable circumstances. We didn't have a maid (domestic helper) for a period of time a few years back, and had to have keys, if not, there'd be no one to open the door for us. It was symbolic to me when Papa volunteered to get me a key for birthday. It wasn't just a pendant, to me, it was more like a gift of independence.

I absolutely loved that evening. Didn't want a moment of it to end.

Later at night, bei bei came by after work. We met up downstairs for a chat. He wanted me to get something from storage space in front of me, there lay an envelope with my pet-name written on it. When I opened it. I couldn't believe my eyes, I felt a rush of mixed emotions sweep over me. My eyes started to blur, and my nose started to run. This Jud Jud of mine, had hand-made me a card! I absolutely touched to tears! I was also sorta angry at him for bluffing me that he was really clueless when it came to making a card, and therefore didn't make one for me.

... ... ... ... ... ...

I love handicraft, I love to make stuffs for the people whom I care about. I made him lots of cards especially. Everytime I gave him a card, he would complement me and apologetically told me he's bad at it to explain not making them for me. On particular weekend morning before my birthday, I gave him a surprise visit at home, expecting him to be sound asleep in bed, I found bei bei's room with lights on, when I opened the door, I saw a panda-eyed bei bei bent over his table in concentration, apparently in the midst of cutting and gluing something. Hahaha...

"Wei !" he protested.

"Hahaha..." I laughed triumphantly, proud of having discovered his secret mission.

Later that day, he had convinced me into thinking that he didn't have any ideas of how to make the card at all.

... ... ... ... ... ...

When I saw the pinkish paper when an essay written on it, my tears flowed involuntarily for a while. We stayed downstairs and chatted for quite some time. It had been a day filled with pleasant suprises. I felt so happy that I hoped this day would not end.

Warm staff of Occupational Therapy Department of Special School 2005

2005-12-12T00:40:00.000+08:00

Spot the Red-Eyed Monsta !!

A beautiful 2 months (Oct & Nov) in the special school has passed. There were days of UPs, as well as the downs. Fortunately for me, the days there had been a lot less traumatic as compared to other times. Given the time and space to learn and grow during this period, I feel like I emerged more realistic in self expectation and more confident of my capabilities. Also blessed with a fantastic buddy for companion and for discussions on our clients, this had been my BEST placement ever! Besides a blog entry dripping with compliments for our beloved O.T. department, it

2005-12-12T00:32:00.001+08:00

Happy 21st Birthday to Me !

We totally forgot about heeding our own advice about birthdays & buffets. We stumbled upon another international buffet for my birthday. Not surprising at all. We kinda overate again!

I definitely must remember this outing to Sentosa. Not long after we touched down on Sentosa afer our cable car ride, I threw one hell of a nasty temper at dearie on this day. It was about some kinda petty, like regarding where we should go next. Of course I felt really dreadful about it when dearie made me realise my mistake. Glad he did... We were grumpy for quite a long while this time. Most of the time, dearie would never get grumpy at me or for the things that I do. He only gets grumpy at the way things were. I on the other can get quite grumpy at him for things. *guilty*

We sorta recovered later that day. We walked around a bit, checked out the luge ride and took a cable car back to Mt Faber. The place's been revamped, and it looks great now. We chilled out a bit at the lounge-like place there, before making our way back into Sentosa for dinner. We left Silver Shells Cafe after dinner feeling really full and headed for a stroll along the beach. That concluded my first birthday together with dearie.

Happy Birthday Dear !

2005-12-12T00:32:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday Baby !!!

I have never gone out sooo often during attachment till now! Eventful month of attachment it is. Haha! Lots of taking things one step at a time, going out for late-night dinners, and our birthdays!

Dearie's birthday was a simple fare of steamboat buffet dinner. I oughta remember not to go for buffet dinner for birthdays in future. We ate till our stomachs' were so bloated that night. Despite feeling quite bloated, we continued to have another enjoyable evening spent together. A nice stroll at East Coast Park, order a couple of drinks, and chillout.

The first pub (the one this photo was taken) we stopped at was kinda stuffy, so we moved to another breezier place later. All this while I told Dearie that I didn't manage to get him a present, so dinner was on me. I didn't even intended to let him know I made him a card till my clumsy hands gave me away (the card got flung out of my bag and landed at his feet when I was getting my wallet out of my tiny bag).

The highlight was the evening was when I got Dearie to close his eyes at the pub we settled for, while I whipped a longish box that so filled my bag before him. I can never forget the Million-dollar look on his face when "OAKLEY" appeared on the box after the wrappers came off. He knew immediately, it was the Oakley aviator sunglasses that he's been eying on for months. As much as he could afford to buy them himself, I knew if I hadn't gotten it, he never would. Typically him, more willing to splurge on me than himself.

Ha-ha-HA !

2005-08-07T10:20:00.000+08:00

TP3 WAS on the 2nd of Aug.

There ain't gonna be a TP4 !!! Heh heh...

The joy that I had when told to go watch the video was unimaginable. I was getting really restless to be still learning driving and not already driving after such a long time (1 yr+ ?).

I've had 2 drving sessions after the promotion to a yellow-plate driver so far, both night driving, when the traffic's less heavy.

First was from home to chomp chomp, it was quite a disaster to think about. I was a major road hazard & road-hogger man... Moving at 20-30km/h. Unbelievable right? I couldn't help it! I didn't feel in control of the auto car at all, when I step on the accelerator, the car didn't seem to accelerate at all, and suddenly, it surges forwards. So everytime it surges, I slowly release the accelerator, partly because we were travelling in those neighbourhood minor roads. I think we were really fortunate to have gotten away with this, without being honked at until we were deaf that night.

Drive 2 was on expressway, with moderately heavy traffic flow. I committed the typical novice drivers' mistakes, like not accelerating enough during lane-change, but dearie commented that my driving's not bad. :) It should be a super great relief to know that I was moving at a rather consistent speed of 70-80km/h throughout.

I've still got lotsa areas for improvement, top on the list is parking. I can't park without the poles ! Sweetie's really kind to get off the car to direct me when to steer and when to stop. He was really patient to allow me to practise a couple of times at the parking lot downstairs. My right-turn's tidak steady, and loads more... a bit tired to think le. But I'm super happy !!!

Just wait till I get the green light to drive my papa's car independently, hahaha... I can ferry so many people at a time!

She passed away. Just like that.

2005-07-31T13:00:00.000+08:00

She attended training on wed with the rest of the club as usual, water PT it was. After laps and laps in the pool, everybody went on to have dinner together. She decided not to join them and parted from the group, for the last tme.

She was pronounced dead on thurs morning, 11am.

As puzzling as some others, she too, had left behind signs that she had been preparing for departure. Troubling goodbye messages, goodbye nick on msn... But why?

Back to school !

2005-07-31T12:00:00.000+08:00

The snappish-ness's over for now. I attribute it to attachment stress taking over my head. It's over now, but I need to psych myself up in preparation for the upcoming 8-week placement.

Semester has began, quite happy and relieved to be back in the comfort zones of friends. Assignments, presentations, group work come piling as usua within the 1st week of school. I actually feel better, more focused this semester as I shift more focus away from the extre-curricular activities & more towards my academic. It's a matter of a couple of 2-3 months, activities should drip a bit more, with less brain-draining activities in water sports club matters. And, yeah ! Heh heh..

O.T. project group and topic is out, our group dismayed at the sound of our topic. But, we have picked up from there and resoluted to work on it, to make this paper as painless as possbile for everyone attending our O.T. conference.

I kinda enjoy the training-less routine I have, less aching and fatigued muscles (do I even have muscles now? haha...), more concentration during class. BUT, I miss it's people! The kinda cold jukes that is around, the light-heartedness off training, and not forgetting its warm, caring and welcoming hearts.

I think I shall go back to training as much as possible after TP 3. Which is next Tues. Haiz, I cant wait to start driving. Why am I still learning to drive instead of busy ferrying people around? With already 2 experience, chances of having performance anxiety should be markedly reduced ba. We shall see bout that !

This little starfish of mine :-)

2005-07-25T11:30:00.000+08:00

I'm kinda sore... The $79.90 top that my darl bought for me as a surprise gift at 3rd month went 30% off. Man... Anyway, that's not the main topic.

This is the tribute part II. Haha..

I shall never forget the day when my words were fallen on deaf ears, in a positive light. It was a beautiful Monday morning, My starfish was not scheduled for work. It could have been really easy to sleep the morning away in order to catch up on his well-deserved rest (afterall, he deserves his rest cos he works till late on weekends).

On this particular sunday night, he slept later than usual, to whipped up a packet of fried bee hoon for my breakfast the next day. He struggled to keep himself busy till morning, so that he wouldn't fall asleep and miss my time to leave for work. Though he did sleep in the end, it was for a mere 1 hr plus. Upon waking up, it was time for him to head to serangoon north to pick his sea sponge for attachment.

I am that luckiest piece of sea sponge in the world !

After washing up in the toilet, my father found a tired but sweetest-looking starfish at our door step with a packet of fried been hoon he prepared himself. He had headed from home (in the east) to my home at 6am. And later all the way up west to send me to my attachment place. All the while beating the heavy morning traffic and fighting fatigue. He even made sure he was there for me (right beside his phone waiting for my call during lunch time) to hear about the all-anticipated & dreaded evaluation.

In so many occasions, he had touched me with his little gestures of thoughtfulness, that showed that I had been on his mind a lot more often that I know. Me, on the other hand, tend to be ignorant and negligent to his needs at times, that I unknowingly hurt him. I'm working on it though! By thinking of him more before I make decisions, by paying more attention to his feelings & needs & more aware of feelings of my own (there are times when I face mood swings w/o being aware of them, it hurts him, and that's sucky).

BANSAI-YO !

Running together

2005-07-18T11:00:00.000+08:00

Dear baby, I didn't mean to be so negative to tell you that I want to trip, fall and die (leaving you to continue alone), when we are meant to be our marathon together. Now, with my mind clear (of attachement stress, assignments...etc...), I can tell you, I want to continue running hand-in-hand with you. Be there to help you up when you fall, just like you always do when I fall.

A pampered little child

2005-07-16T10:00:00.000+08:00

On Friday, sensing my spirit, my new friend asked me to go for a drink to chill out. We extended the invitiation to 2 other therapists to join us. The outing (dinner and dessert) @ Holland Village was really nice, we chatted and cracked stupid jokes. Really chill, really relaxed with these people who are real, sincere and accepting. That helped a lot lifting a heavy heart. N throughout the whole time, I was not allowed to pay a single cent. So pampered...

For What ? Okay.

2005-07-15T15:00:00.000+08:00

"When's are you going back to school?"

"Next week. Isn't that great? Heh Heh..."

"Can I have your contact?"

"For what?"

"To make friends lor. :) "

"Hmmm. Okay. ---- ----"

I don't mind making more friends.

When my new friend asked if I was worried that dear dear would be upset, I told her no, he's confident, self-assured of himself. Never have I thought I could be so wrong...

I got so confused during our disagreement and I cannot forget the spiteful words...

I wasn't alone in feeling hurt, upset and sleepless that nite.

I went to hospital with goldfish puffy eyes. Despite that, I greet patient my sunshine smile & usual morning greeting. The eyes were very obvious but I hope I did managed mask the eyes, the hurt, and the heavy heart with my smile.

A new friend found

2005-07-14T12:00:00.000+08:00

I've been really fortunate to have a kind smiling face to look forward to at the end of the day, since mid week 3 of my 6-week placement. Someone who had been always more than willing to listen, to advise, to care & share despite her own share of problems.

That's more what I define of a healthcare professional.

I don't think a healthcare professional is someone who says: "If patient is going to cry, then don't ask anymore. Don't make the patient cry. RIGHT?".

RIGHT MY FOOT !!!!

Haven't you learnt in school? Therapeutic use of self. If my patient has to cry, he/she has to cry. I'll be there for them to cry on, for them to lean on, and face issues with them. Not run away from tears (and the underlying problems !!).

At least nearing the end, I found a soul mate. I am thankful for her being there. She showed me more qualities of what healthcare workers should possess than that you ever did. I felt empathy, acceptance, and genuine care. She did things out of her heart, not b'cos it's her job. That made a world of difference.

=THANK HER FOR BEING THERE=

Fallen on deaf ears

2005-07-14T10:45:00.000+08:00

I tried to phase things as diplomatic as I could. I needed some sensitivity from you to understand some difficulties that I had to go through. I sat there, I spoke, and at the end of the day, I felt as though I hadn't. That sucked.

What the ?!?

2005-07-12T10:30:00.000+08:00

This is the story of Mdm O.

Mdm. O. is a 69-yr-old lady, highly independently and community ambulant.

On the fateful morning of 22nd June, she woke ard 6 plus am to go to the toilet. On standing, she felt giddy, and subsequently fell beside her bed. She managed to help herself onto the bed and found that she was unable to bear weight on left leg. Her daughter-in-law admitted her to the hospital, and she was diagnosed with (L) intertrochanteric fracture. Earlier on 18th june, she had just been discharged for hypoglycaemia.

I had been planning my treatment plan to that of a typical hip fracture pathway, you had been with me. My treatment plan, implementing my treatment session, and my presentation slides (it must have been at least 4 times that I showed them to you) later on...I saw this patient for 4 sessions, we worked on dressing, functional mobility, functional single-leg standing, falls prevention strategies, and she was subsequently discharged to a community hospital.

During presentation, I didn't mind being bombarded ceaselessly with questions, b'cos I understand that everybody wanted to facilitate my learning (reasoning...etc.). Later on, I went aside and broke down, not b'cos I couldn't accept feedback. What I simply couldn't take it was the countless balant loopholes in my treatment and clinical reasoning, was only picked up on the last week of my attachment!!!

It made me really ponder, what have I been doing? We're dealing with people here!!! Aren't you supposed to be watching over me? How this happen!?!? Her diabetes's poorly controlled for goodness's sake ! That's why she fell !! Why wasn't such a primary issue addressed? Why didn't I speak to the diabetic nurse ?!? Argh !!! I feel for the people I see, that's why I'd be hard on myself for this error. Haven't you learnt, "Above all (healthcare ethics), cause no harm!?!".

Fish n Co., Chix & Ribs, Flat Bread anyone?

2005-07-11T10:00:00.000+08:00

This is a day that I must never forget.

I had no idea what exactly was going through my head, but everything simply seemed wrong. It's only after the outburst, and having seen hurt and confusion written all over his innocent face, THEN, I became more aware of the cognitive process going on in my head.

For the first time in a good-happy 4 months, I threw my temper at someone who means the world to me. For no apparent rhyme or reason really...

We met up for lunch after my usual share of sunday chores @ home. Suntec... what do we have here... food court? Sizzler? Kenny Roger's? Fish n Co. ? Tony Roma's? Alritey, let's go for Fish n Co. today. N we headed for that...

Outside Fish N Co., "Shall we have baby back ribs instead?"

"Oh, okay." So we headed for Tony Roma's.

Probably sensing my restlessness, he tried to please me by giving in to what I want. For instance, "you wanted chicken, besides the ribs, let's have chicken too.", it just seems to irritate me more. "I don't mind not having it, dear."

After the order was placed, I suggested, "Y don't we have this and that instead?".

With the patient little lady taking orders waiting for us, we went through another rouund of indecisiveness. N finally placed the orders.

Something got into me, "This is not the first time when we make the waitress wait while we decide, I don't like it when this happens. I prefer that we decide on our food before getting the waitress to come. I don't like to make them wait.".

"I know how irritating that feels to be made to wait too, I work @ my parents' you know. Maybe I should improve on that, but I have already decided on something when you decided to change the orders...(hurt in those innocent eyes)"

(Oh right. Oops.) Came the bread, he naturally took the initiative to cut the small loaf. (He's squashing the bread flat with the way he's cutting it. Argh... I hate to eat flat bread.)

"Hey-hey! I'll do it." I reached out to take over. (what-is-going-on look)

"I don't like to eat flat bread."

As the food came, both of us ate our food. I didn't feel good seeing the hurt look on his face, I tried to keep track with what was going on in my mind, and attempted to comprehend why I was behaving that way. I searched hard for answers, and found none. I just felt vexed and was just being difficult. Memories of the past relationship came floating back into my head. I shouldn't have snapped at him...Argh !!! What on earth was I thinking?!?

I apologised and explained myself out (I'm probably stressed, hungry & grouchy, didn't mean to throw temper at him. I feel really awful about making him go through this.). This little starfish of mine was alrite, he recognised that we are only human to have tempers. He commented that he had never seen me like this and he thinks he shouldn't spoil me by trying to please me.

I couldn't agree with him more, Chippy n pig pig always know it when I'm being difficult, grouchy n snapish. What do they do? Just leave me alone. "Dearie, next time, just leave me alone, n I'll be alrite. Don't try to please, I'll only be more difficult.". This closes a chapter in our relationship. The next chapter begins...I must not forget this, b'cos, if I hurt him this way again, I will feel even worse when I see his hurt and confused face (guilt & self-blame n all...).

TP 3 is on 2nd of Aug

2005-05-17T17:59:00.000+08:00

The title says it all about my last TP. Thanks guys for the concern, got 2 immediate failures tis time round. Man...

Will somebody let me watch video & take my photo next wednesday?

2005-04-16T11:10:00.000+08:00

TP's next wednesday... My objective judgement tells me that I should be able to clear my driving test this time (my second attempt). I'm driving with a lot more confidence these days, I went to the circuit first time after my last test today. Okay lar... Hehee.. I'm a C.P.O.S. (Complacent Piece Of Shit) !! Haha..

& Let's hope that I don't get Route 6 to that Paya Lebar way again...Nighmares...The place where the tester grabbed my steering wheel...N the immediate failure. *GuLp* :-z

A few more lessons tomorrow, the day after tomorrow... maybe monday, tuesday morning & evening, and I'll get to watch video & take photo on Wednesday morning !

Will be updated on that !

Building healthy relationships ~

2005-04-16T11:00:00.000+08:00

We held our "building healthy relationships" lunchtime seminar for module Life Span and Lifestyle Development (LLD) today. I was really impressed with the overall seminar, it seemed like we had so little time to prepare for it, and when it was up and ready, it was impressive work guys ! Kudos to the organisers and the various committees !!

Our posters, were of course, of high quality standards, the visual displays were relevant and eye-catching, furniture, plants, everything was well taken-care of. The souvenirs, pamplets, feedback corner, was great ! Even to the smallest detail was taken care of, even the sweets at the individual stations were symbolic of lifespan development. I was not aware of that little thoughtfulness put into setting up of the seminar untill Hua Beng's lao po pointed it out.

From the questions that HB's lao po posted us, it is not difficult to understand why she is HB's lao po at all. She's really sharp and critical. Lip Chin was there, all hardy and sturdy to take her questions, I don't think I'd be able to take all her questions and still be standing conscious-minded after that. Thanks Chin Chin !! Come to think about it, she sounds like she's giving us a viva voce on posters doesn't it ? Hahaa...

Today happens to be Sid's birthday, we got him Top Man vouchers, since he's quite a metrosexual guy. It's a practical choice, he can go get what he wants.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sid !

Selamat Hari Jadi ! Selamat Hari Jadi ! Selamat Hari Jadi...

A breather...At least for a while.

2005-04-16T10:46:00.000+08:00

Post-attachment, assignment deadlines started started hurling themselves at us. The one week of break didn't help much. I remembered working on my assignments and reading up, doing my part for group assignments, and phew~ one weeks was gone, just like that.

Couldn't believe it, back in school, the rush began to build up quickly...even more deadlines to meet. Unlike some of my friends, I had to make up for much time lost while preparing for competition during attachment days. By what means...? Working through the night to make sure that things were in order before I get them printed out and sign my name on the cover page. The assignments deadlines came first (CE assignment & report, leaflet, LLD group poster), serial of presentations (clinical reasoning presentation, OTTP presentation) , followed by the viva on splints, behavioural science test...

A breather for a while.

Hands paper's on mon morning. I so look forward to monday evening...It back to the notes for now.

A tribute to the rock : )

2005-03-30T06:15:00.000+08:00

Attachment days, overlapping with the competition period, is no joke at all.

Competition meant weekends burnt & weekdays zapped of energy from both land & sea training.

Having attachment meant I needed time to read, to think, to reflect and to plan ahead.

When demands on either/both commitments were not satisfied, I really struggled to keep going with my head held high.

During these times, I couldn't have been more grateful for the piece of rock by my side, that had been there silently all the while, for me to lean on to take a rest, for me to grab hold of to help myself up again.

There were days when I left the hospital late, still had to drag myself back to school to get materials, and to attend trainings. Those dreary days were made a lot less dreary by a piece of rock. A ever-stable presence by my side.

A piece of rock that turned up at the hospital to pick me up after midway eval with a bouquet of sunflowers in his boot.

A rock that was there at my race events, to support me, to cheer me on. The rock that rolled over to the finish point in the very first instant to meet me the moment I stepped onshore.

A unique piece of rock it is, with qualities & ability to comfort & console when I having disagreement with chippy. Chippy's a great source of support to me, when I had friction with her, it was hell for me.

A tribute to my rock. :-)

A new chapter awaits...

2005-03-30T05:35:00.000+08:00

Another 2 weeks flew by just like that, this marks the end of clinical education 2B. It been a most fruitful and enjoyable clinical experience.

With the constructive feedback that I got from mid-way, I had loads to work on, and I knew exactly the areas to work on too. Somewhere through the next two weeks, my moral dipped, as some faulty train of thoughts were identified, some alarm and concerns were raised, within myself, as well as my sup with me. Fortunately, it was clarified quickly between us without raising any alarm involvement staff members in school. I guess, sometimes, I talk faster than I think, this isn't exactly good for future clinical practice. It is important to think before I talk, if thinking isn't enough, make it, think LOADS. In the situation I mentioned above, it was a case of blurting out something too quickly. After some time to think, re-phase myself, as well as given an opportunity to redeem myself by my sup, I didn't get into hot soup. Learning point, THINK BEFORE I TALK. Looking back, what I said was really quite UNTHINKABLE. I was quite horrified by the implications of my own statement. Well, this is a heart-stopping learning experience that I must never forget.

Moving on, final eval came and went quickly and with marked improvements. With the mainly 4's, 5's & some 6's. She was quite right, getting a mid-way full of 3's and 4's made been quite determined not to see these numbers repeat in final eval. I think sup & I had quite a bit of mutual understanding, that came across quite clear in front of Hua Beng too. When she went out to settle some unfinished business, he started asking me about my clinical experience at the placement. So, I gave him my perspective of things. When she came back, she gave her side of my placement, and it sounded like my perspective 2X. Haha.. Amazing how 4 incomplete weeks of attachment can bond people..

Following eval day was our last day at placement, Dot & I went out shopping to get out respective sups a gift. I bent on getting this remarkable clinical educator and mentor something I am sure she would like. To show my support for her gym-going campaign, I got her a sporty tee and a wrist band. Despite getting really lazy at making cards, with some prompting some from chippy, I got to work. And as usual, satisfied with the product, I headed off to bed, at 2 plus AM for the 4th time in the week. Lunch was on our sups, together with other therapists in the dept, BREEKS @ AMK central. As much as I appreciate the outing together with the other therapists, I was not really at ease with everybody. The day went by, I had began to feel that I was gradually de-roled from the therapist role by my sup, as I was translating from an active role to a more passive one. Came 5.30 PM, I had my last de-brief with my sup. I passed her my gifts for her, and gave her a big hug. I have grown to be very used to her and of course, like her a lot. But this is goodbye for CE 2B, a chapter in my clinical education/practice unfolds...

The begining..

2005-03-12T22:47:00.000+08:00

Mid-way eval was conducted on thursday, I remembered getting quite anxious and not being able to stand or sit while Hua Beng was with Dot. Some of the things that I foresee that Hua Beng would do, i.e., patient-napping, questioning your plan, ... didn't happen. Hmm..

Rather, he was rather focused, bent on doing one thing, which was to enhance my learning, he offered some suggestions to see if patient's performance in activity would improve under his recommendtion. Though at that moment, I didn't think it made a difference, I understood his logic/rationale on doing it later on. And hua Beng, being Hua Beng, would ask for immediate feedback, like, "How? Any better?". Hehe.. I don't really see, so I just kept quiet and pretend to be concentrating really hard on loooking at my patient.

Anyway, my clinical experience has been further enhanced by yet another nurturing mentor. The conclusion being, I need my theory, substance behind my treatment. If not, my treatment sessions would just another session of diversional therapy for my patients. Yeppy, yep.. I need to work on it yar.. Hua Beng also reinforced that my sup I was right in identifying that she's a great sup. She's known to be a meticulous clinical educator.

Eval ended with lotsa constructive feedback that I could work on and also a CE eval full of mainly 3s and some 4s. Don't really think it's good, oh well, like sup said, if she doesn't want me to leave thinking I'm good that there isn't much to worked on already. According to her, students usually have greater improvement towards final eval. Justified !

After eval, = ) came to pick me up after seeing that it started to drizzle. Upon reaching home downstairs, he said something was wrong with the tyres. He asked me to stay in the car and walked to the back to check things out. I stayed in the car lor, for a while. hehe.. I didn't see why I had to be in the car when the tyres was wrong & thinking that maybe I can help. I walked to the back saw him taking out a bouquet of sunflowers from the boot !! I was :-o , speechless. It was already comforting to see = ) after a nerve-wrecking eval day, I had a bouquet of sunflowers to add to the joy ! This is the begining...

Love me sup more.. =)

2005-03-04T18:43:00.000+08:00

This fantastic lady, she gave me feedback on my performance on wed, really appreciate that man..

To tell the truth, memories of the last placement still haunts me. The scene of me breaking down in front of my previous sup with feelings of incompetency and helplessness still lingers. I hadn't really figured out why the last placement had been kinda traumatising for me till I met this lady..

Before the start of the rehab routine on wednesday, she spent a couple of minutes briefing me, she basically told me that she believed in giving consistent evaluation and feedback so that I would have time to change and adapt. She gave me constructive feedback of what she told can be changed, etc. And, "chink!" the answer was there, in her feedback.

The feedback that I got from my last sup probably came way too late (the day before my presentation ?!? two days b4 end of my 4-mth placement), not only was I super overwhelmed by the new information she gave me, I was horrified at the job that I did out of the presentation (unclear expectations).

Of course I not saying that I'm the angel here, I should've been more proactive, and take charge of my own learning when sup's not giving me enough of her time & I'm really lost (i.e., stop her, and discuss my issues of concerns with her). Tricky isn't it? To strike a balance between getting enough of her time and demanding too much of her time. That's something to learn from that experience. In a way, I feel that there's a passivity element in my personality, well, as far as academic learning is concerned. That passivity has to go.. In simple terms, I'm a slacker (??).

And my sup, she's not all perfect either. The thing that I do not quite appreciate about her patient-care is, she discusses about the patient with other healthcare professionals (or me) in front of the patient. I thought I probably wouldn't feel good if I were in that situation (seated on the plint, with healthcare workers discussing about me while looking at me. --> I'd probably feel disrespected, and think to myself, "I know I'm abnormal, please don't rub it in.". Well, come to think about it, it's not a matter of my sup, it is actually the vibe/culture of the centre. All the healthcare professionals that I have direct contact with so far, does this. I think it could be due to the close working relationship of the various professionals (physiotherapist, occupational therapists, speech therapists, therapy assistants, etc) in patient-care at the rehab centre. Their working relationshop probably promotes certain openness in communication that patient matters gets discussed openly-->transparency (?).

I didn't think that the CE discussion on Wed was particularly very useful in addressing people's concerns, I get the feeling that the lacturers are just "testing waters" see if we getting along well in the respective centres or not. Perhaps dorothy is more right (in a political sense too) about it as being a "good way of gaining social support". Btw dot, thanks for this morning, I appreciated hearing what you had to say about my dissatifaction with myself. Chanx (that's one the farnie words I share with my sistas--> it's supposed to be thanks k) !!

~Love me sup~ =)

2005-03-01T23:30:00.000+08:00

It's 2 days into my 4-mth placement now, so far so good. Sup's nurturing, and clearly, a lady who's very dutiful in fulfilling her responsibility as my clinical educator. She clearly wants me to utilise the facilities and the environment to the max. to facilitate my learning. I'm in love with her style as well, she promotes openness in our communiction, and made me feel very welcomed since we started off.

After knowing that I did not get to splint at all during my hands placement, she wanted me to inlcude making a splint in my learning contract. I couldn't be any HAPPIER !! I actually quite enjoy making splints, if not for the performance stress. Being a "crafty" (arts & craft) person, the process of splinting from its cutting, to its shaping, moulding.. I love it !!

Of course, with nurturance, comes its demands and expectations as well.

Yep, gotta go think about the leraning contract for now !

So rude..

2005-02-27T08:44:00.000+08:00

Partner & I need to train up man.. We are so lacking in endurance.

Anyway, the rude thing is, this T2 (doubles boat) girls from VJ. They rammed their big bumper boat into our new, sleek competition craft and left our craft shakened and my partner's paddle in 2 pieces(broken). The best part being, they hit and ran. that's a really responsible act from 17/18 yr-old promising undergrads-to-be. We were going in our straight course when they came, hit us 40 degrees NW direction.

It was quite a challenge to prevent myself from being consumed by my anger and my heartcache.The crafts hadn't come by easy k. It was through years of bugging the SAO in school to get the sch to part with some of the a lot of $$ that they have, to buy these new crafts. And how bout the broken paddle ? Man.. These T-terrors..

We'll see wad the SA officers have to say..

As for now, I am looking forward to tmr's lunch after training with great anticipation !!

Hurt..It's more painful to be hurt by someone closer to ur heart :'(

2005-02-27T07:31:00.000+08:00

After gou-gie's walk last sat evening, upon reaching home, as usual..

"gou-gie sit. " Gou-gie will always obediently put his polka-dotted buttocks on the floor on the command. "good boy, gou-gie!" The usual, nothing exceptionally exciting, he'll have to sit first before i'll take his leash off.

After that, I'll walk to the entrance of kitchen. "gou-gie, come here.."
No gou-gies allowed in the kitchen, so i'll always carry him from the entrance of kitchen into the toilet to wash his gou-gie paws. As normal..nothing different from the usual.

As i held him in my arms, as usual, sorta gou-gie-talked him.. "hmm..guess who's back, back again? salty's back, tell a friend.." (gou-gie's ears always smells saltier by the day since his last bath). As i sang that, i playfully bit his gou-gie paws... ... The incident that followed was totally beyond my imagination.

It happened so quicky that i seemed to have lose track of that few seconds in time. I analysed myself in the mirror (in the toilet) 10 secs later (with gou-gie still in my arms), my eyelid was swelling and slightly bloody. There was pain too...

My gou-gie had bitten me.

Upon a couple of play-backs in my mind, i figured that this happened:
I bit gou-gie on the paw, i heard a snarl, next, i saw a flash of gie-gie's white teeth, the next sensation felt was that of his sharp teeth sinking onto my eyelid forcefully...

I was overwhelmed by anger by the next hour or so. The residue of that was, the tears and hurt.

My gou-gie had bitten me.

It's not as though i've never been bitten before by gou-gie before. But the bites in the past, were the play-bites, when his was teething, when his was playful. Harm was never intended. This time, it's different, nothing usual bout this.

My bro was home when it happened, I saw concern written all over his goofy face. I thought it was pretty sweet of him.

I left my 2 sistas a msg saying that i got bitten by a dog.

----------------

Chippy called to ask me bout it (so what? get an animal psychiatrist to counsel gou-gie?).

A couple of days later, chippy came back with the homework that she did, and told us that gou-gie may be displaying classic symptoms of dominace aggression (when he thinks that a particular person is lower than him in status in the family, he may display aggressive behaviour towards that person). She sent me n pig pig the links of webbies tt she found.

woah.. i.. even bringing up a gou-gie can be so tedious k. The Dr mentioned in the web that very often, people get bitten by dogs, 2 out of 3 times, it is by their own gou-gie. He also mentioned that allowing gou-gie to sleep on the bed with us is a kind of luxury for gou-gie, that may allow gou-gie to forget his place at home. There's also things to observe in the non-verbal communication aspect okay.. things like stuck out chest, eye-contact, are signs of challenging your authority (and it means, NO GOOD..). He also discourages people to play tug of war with their gou-gies. cos such games are clearly activities that makes the gou-gie challenge your authority. His recommendation if you do want to play tug-of-war is, make sure you always end up having the toy--> show the gou-gie who's the boss around here. According to him, gou-gies are happier when they are not in charge. how true? I have my qualms bout that. It is a conflicting world man.. There is even power struggle between you and your gou-gie.

Anyway, it was recommended that the people whom gou-gie thinks he dominate over should have more contact with him, i.e., feed him, walk him, etc. firstly, it allows him to realise, even if the member of family is the lowest in status at home, he/she is still higher than him. secondly, a gou-gie will not dominate a person he has to depend on. Signs of submission: tail btw legs, "down" ears, avoidance of eye contact.

Well, so far so good.. Think we're doing quite well. Chippy says we'll have gou-gie's balls "amputated" as she calls it. not sure if it'll help with his aggressive and dominating behaviour, but jus try lor.

What is on your mind ?

2005-02-18T21:40:00.000+08:00

I'm really curious.. We shall wait and see..