Just an update

Today is the eve of CNY eve. I knocked off at 4pm. It was a quiet day at work. I did not go out on any portable rounds at all from 2-4pm after lunch. I spent quite a lot of time chatting with my colleagues. I'm gonna miss them after I transfer to A&E after CNY. Sigh. Time flies. It's already 4 months in IPS. Even though I hate it at times when it's so busy during the weekends and I have to cover so many areas, there are times when it's quiet to make up for it. I wish I ned not go to A&E. It's simply busy, busy and busy down there. The night shifts are gonna be harder than IPS ones and I wonder if my body can take it or not, without any sleep the entire night. I do catch a wink or 2 at IPS. Aiye, just don't like working at night when your body's supposed to be resting. Except for the freedom and the less workload as compared to morning shift, it's no good to do it too often. Hmph...

I had a good swim at Delta after work today. I was contemplating if I should come home to run instead. I ran yesterday already. The weather was perfect for running. I was very tired yeaterday for the day had been so busy and the patients HEAVY! I exhausted 75% of my energy during work? I was desperately looking for a seat on the MRT after work cuz my knees were kind of aching. Nah, fat hope.

I pushed myself out of that front door after putting on my run suit. Everytime I wear my running tops and shorts and shoes, I would feel so 'free', so light. The outfit is light literally and my entire body is not weighed down by any heavy bag nor uncomfortable footwear. Absolutely 'weightless'. Hah. I started out slowly and ran without my receiver, which is another burden off. I realised lately that I would rather enjoy the peace and quiet that the green areas I run through offer me than music to my ears.

Although my legs felt heavy and trunk rather sore, I was mesmerised by the beauty of nature around me as I ran through 'Green Haven'. It's really my favourite stretch in my running routes and there was the occasional fellow human being. Other than that, all that u hear would be the sounds of insects, birds chirping away, the wind that blew past you and the water flowing in the canal. Not to forget your very own breathing and the thumping of the shoes against the ground. It was dry and the water level in the canal was lower as compared to the last time I ran there when it was the rainy week. What's more, the weather was brilliant with the sun setting behind a mess of clouds and the entire sky being cloudy for most of the day. There was a constant light breeze blowing as well. *WHOA*

I ran off track to the military training grounds and I remember telling myself I need not go to MacRitchie to enjoy Nature. This is right at my doorstep.

Naturally, my heart was calmed and my entire well-being was enhanced spiritually and mentally. I felt refreshed after the run. I felt alive.

The run actually allowed me to sort out many things on my mind and came up with solutions that I am going to make about certain issues. It also reminded me of how long I have come before I started running long distance.

I love running. I love 'GH'.

I always loved running... it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs. ~Jesse Owens

The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.
~Author Unknown

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir

Be true to your dreams...

I went for a swim after work today. I felt rather tired during the swim, probably due to walking too much at work. Nevertheless, I felt good after the swim. Several thoughts went through my mind today. It has been a long while since I blogged. Recently, I went back to normal office hours for work and it was quite tiring last week.

It is almost the end of January and that would mark the end of the 1st month of the year. Accomplishments? Nah, hardly any. I realized I have to get something done as the 2nd month of the year is already approaching and I have yet to get any of my resolutions up and kicking!

Quoting from a friend who said that 'there's simply too many things to do in life', I cannot agree more. I remember I once wrote down a list of things I want to get do in this life of mine after reading an article from 'Chicken Soup' in secondary school. I don?t know where that list is now, but I certainly wonder how many of those things I have gotten done after these years.

I met a friend who was enlisted in the Navy on a Friday 2 weeks ago. It got me asking him many questions about life in the Navy and whether there are other females who are working on the Navy vessel and about the voyages they make out to other countries. He cleared so much of my queries and gave me even more information. Thereafter, I realized the Navy is not for me. Yeah, I did once thought of joining the Navy for the thrill of working on a huge ship and learning all that I could learn about a moving vessel out in the huge oceans. Alas, after hearing about the number of years u have to be bonded to the Navy and the prospects after that if u are not one of the 'elites', mmm... I have my hesitations. Nah, I might be better off working on a commercial cruise ship.

It was quite an impromptu hike from Bt Timah to MR with MH on last Saturday, 21st Jan. I have not been at home for a long time on a Saturday. After the hike, I came back home and bought a copy of Saturday Times. It was good flipping through the entire newspapers as I concluded that being able to read the papers is indeed a luxury. I even looked through the classified ads. Oh well, I saw an advert looking for crew cabin on Qatar Airways. It got me reminded of yet another thing I have wanted to try out one day perhaps. Yeah, air stewardess.

See my point? There's so many things that one wants to do or experience in life! And yet, how long does one life last? I have certainly a great deal of other things that I hope to try my hands at. The different jobs and the different activities. My list is certainly a long one... Yet being a radiographer is never on my list of 'life experiences' at all! It is a comfortable job, paying u enough to get by (in a restructured hospital) and giving u the sound security that a stable job will give. However, I want to do more. I want to get out of my comfort zone and do things on my 'list'. It's never easy, especially when u are worried about the basic bread and butter everyday and at the end of the day, u end up in an endless rat race, forgetting who u are and why u are here for. I can see so many forlorn faces on the train every morning. People who probably have forgotten what their hearts have used to show them and pushed their dreams away in a corner. After working for almost 8 months, I can see that it's not difficult to fall into such a state.

I should really make a list of the things I wanna do online one day, so that I would not lose it as I have written it down on paper long ago. At least, my passion for travel has never failed me. The underwater world has fascinated me in the past, very much so, and not I am still fascinated by it. However, if given a choice between taking up diving and travelling the world (when money is not an issue), I would choose the latter. There are as many things, people, cultures, landscape and mystery on Earth to fascinate me as the underwater world offers.

I love travelling.

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BUGGER: The 'bugger' is getting to me again. Argh. After hearing 'her' complaints of 'him' last night. I have to say it did affect me today at work. When I thought about how I would be coming home to more naggings, it simply upsets me. My peace of mind was not present. It was distracted every now and then. My mind was in a way, mentally 'unsound' for I was bothered. Don't they understand?!?! Nope, they would never. Especially 'her'. I really wonder if I would simply break down one day. I had been through tougher days before and survived them. My spirit is unbreakable. And so, I hope.


Reach by Gloria Estefan

Some dreams live on in time forever
Those dreams, you want with all your heart
And I'll do whatever it takes
Follow through with the promise I made
Put it all on the line
What I hoped for at last would be mine

If I could reach, higher
Just for one moment touch the sky
From that one moment in my life
I'm gonna be stronger
Know that I've tried my very best
I'd put my spirit to the test
If I could reach

Some days are meant to be remembered
Those days we rise above the stars
So I'll go the distance this time
Seeing more the higher I climb
That the more I believe
All the more that this dream will be mine

If I could reach, higher
Just for one moment touch the sky
From that one moment in my life
I'm gonna be stronger
Know that I've tried my very best
I'd put my spirit to the test

If I could reach
If I could reach, higher
Just for one moment touch the sky
I'm goona be stronger
From that one moment in my life
I'm gonna be so much stronger yes I am
Know that I've tried my very best
I'd put my spirit to the test
If I could reach higher
If I could, If I could
If I could reach
Reach, I'd reach, I'd reach
I'd reach' I'd reach so much higher
Be stronger

The Hunger Site

HUNGER: DO YOU KNOW THE FACTS?
It is estimated that one billion people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition. That's roughly 100 times as many as those who actually die from these causes each year.

About 24,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. This is down from 35,000 ten years ago, and 41,000 twenty years ago. Three-fourths of the deaths are children under the age of five.

Famine and wars cause about 10% of hunger deaths, although these tend to be the ones you hear about most often. The majority of hunger deaths are caused by chronic malnutrition. Families facing extreme poverty are simply unable to get enough food to eat.

In 1999, a year marked by good economic news, 31 million Americans were food insecure, meaning they were either hungry or unsure of where their next meal would come from. Of these Americans, 12 million were children. The Hunger Site began on June 1, 1999.

Please remember to click every day to give help and hope to those with nowhere to turn. Every click counts in the life of a hungry person.
http://www.thehungersite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites.woa/wa/gotoSite?destSite=HungerSite&ThirdPartyClicks=THSreminderM

The above was what I extracted from The Hunger Site. It's simply a very simple thing to do by clicking on the banner on their website and it generates a cup(or2) of rice for a hungry child, enough to feed him for a day. Incidentally, I found that there are other sites for us to click as well which fund free mammograms for women, fund healthcare checks for children, fund books for children, conserve rainforest reserves and fund food for animals. All it takes is just a click on our mouse and it will generate funds from sponsors. Henceforth, I urge everyone who happens to come across this to add this website to their 'favourites' list. :)

Busy like a bee - Kept on my feet the whole while at work

I reached home afer work at about 9.50pm earlier. It's the 1st day of 2006 right? It did not seem to go very well for me at work. Mmm... I simply have to record down just what happened. Yesterday, at MICU, it was my top that was torn by the metal tray standing by the side of the wall. Who knows when I walked past it, my top actually got caught in it and there was a shearing sound. The next moment, there was a flap at the side! Yikes! What a way to end the last day of 2005! I went back to the department telling my colleagues that this would be the way to end all the bad thigns to happen to me in 2005 and not let them carry over to 2006. Mmm... That was what I hoped.

And yet today, the moment I arrived at work, I was informed by my senior that my partner for the afternoon, Yolanda, a very motherly Filipino lady, had already gone to O.T. I am the one who's supposed to cover all the portable cases and O.T. as well. While she's doing the room cases. My luck with O.T. has never been very good, since I was called up to O.T. the very 1st time I worked on a pre-night Sunday. Argh... And my partner then, Benedict, called me 'Miss-T' (T for toxic) RAAAA......

Yeah, the O.T. required the I.I. Yoli called me at 2pm from the O.T and informed me that she would be coming down. She had pushed in the machines for me and I would just have to wait for the O.T to call again before going up. She even told me to relax and take my time, since the O.T. called at 1.30pm. And I was starting work at 2pm. The person in the shift before that did not go up to O.T. then and wanted to wait for me to cover. Geez. And I always arrive on time for work, seldom earlier. Thus, Yoli helped me to go up. She's just such a good and wonderful senior!!!

I went up at about 3pm after I went on 1 round of portable whereby there was only 3 cases! Normally, I would only go when there's about 6 cases. But since u don't know when the O.T. would call, u just have to clear your portable cases before the call comes.

That's when the accident happened. My pants got torn by the portable machine during my 1st case! It was around the knee area and I suffered 2 small cuts as a result. Argh... What LUCK!!! Ever since Sec 2 or 3, I have been falling down at least once every year and suffered superficial wounds on my knees. There's many scars to attest to that. My parents say I'm too naughty and it's a form of punishment. :p And this is one small wound as compared to my other scars, but it's happened on the 1st day of the year! There's a small hole in my left pant leg as well! Just earlier, my HCA was just telling me that the machine has some sharp edges that tore her pants before as well, as I was telling her about my top the day before. And this happened to me later!!! Argh...

Last day of 2005 - Tore my top
1st day of 2006 - Made a small hole in my pant
What's to come next??

After the 1st case of I.I. whereby the docs can actually just settle for a plain xray, they told me there's going to be another case that requires I.I. Another 1 hours perhaps. So I changed and went back. Cleared another 3 portable cases before they called again at around 430pm. I was doing my last case then! I went back and Yoli helped me to process the 3 cassettes. I then rushed to O.T. They were impatient man! Called me 3x! What the?! I told them I was clearing an urgent case at the ward what?!

In the end, I have to wait when I got there. Tsk tsk. The nurse apologised for calling me so many times and then making me wait. RAAA... What a bunch of low E.Q fellows. Guess who the surgeon is? L.Foo... Not going to write what kind of crossings I had with him but what 'fate' to meet him on a new year day again!!! Geez...

This case took longer than expected and it was already 615pm when I exited the O.T. After making my way back to the dept, I sat down to eat my dinner at 630pm. When I almost finished my dinner at 7pm, the H.P. rang!!! It was from O.T again!!! Now they need plain xrays for an elbow. Sigh. I had to abandon my food for the time being and go there again. So troublesome and 'lei jeh' to change.

I came back at 745pm and realised that Yoli had cleared my 5 portable cases for me! I'm so grateful to her! There were not many room cases for that whole afternoon- evening and she took the initiative to help me since she's free. So nice of her... :) If it's some other colleagues, they would not be that helpful... I kept thanking her and she frowned and simply passed it off by saying that we should help each other when the other is free. And told me not to mention it. :) Otherwise, I would have to go on my last round of portable from 8pm to 840 perhaps?

What a way to start my 2006 eh? Hah. So much walking to and fro O.T. However, this is still nothing as compared to working at A corridor. That was really the ultimate. U have to do EVERYTHING yourself. From taking in the forms, calling patient, doing the xray, process the cassette, get the xray and passing them to patients in cases of foreigners, or otehrwise remember to ask them to go off when the xray is ok. WHEW!

That was my report for the 1st day of work in 2006. It was quiet after that with another 3-4 cases for the room before we knocked off at 9pm. Fulfilling day at work eh?


What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?
~Henry David Thoreau

Are right and wrong convertible terms, dependant upon popular opinion?
~William Lloyd Garrison

Happy 2006!

It's the 1st day of 2006!!! I woke up to a rainy and cool morning. Overcast. Wanted to go for a run but it has been raining for the past 3 hours ever since I woke up! Aiye. Shall postpone my run to tomorrow.

I would be running now if I'm not going to work later. The rain has become lighter considerably but I would not have the luxury to go about slowly and run a long run for I have to rush back to go work at 1pm! Sigh. Yeah, I am working on this day, the 1st day of 2006. It's never happen to me before. Geez. I was, and still am, rather 'mentally-unbalanced' when I learnt that I have to work today, tomorrow, and on Hari Raya Haji! That's for being a healthcare worker. The hospital operates 24 hours eh? U cannot ask it to stop operating on public holidays. That's how noble a medical worker is. I'm not talking about myself, but all those who willingly give their time and energy. Even though we are paid extra, it's not really that much and I would serioulsy rather spend time at home doing things I want. My own personal time. Yeah, that's how important my personal time is to me. Have not been having enough of it lately. For quite long already actually. Hence, no time to blog much, nor write my personal diary at home.

Others are having a long weekend at home, but I have to report to work later. Sigh. Sad man. My friends are very understanding though. I have spoken to many of them and they understand when I have to go home early, or spend time at home instead of meeting them these few days. I'm starting night shift this coming week and needs the rest. Thanks pals.

The rain outside my widneow is like snowflakes now. I can see each droplet being scattered sparsely. It's reminiscent of the snowflakes in the mountains of the Iranian landscape that I passed through enroute to Rasht. It's magical, my 1st encounter with snow, with a white landscape that speaks of desolation and idealism at the same time. I have not been thinking of Iran for a long time, I realise...

It's the festive season and I have received xmas cards from aboard. From Maddy in London and Xue in JB. It's still aboard although it's the neighbouring state! More online xmas greetings from my Iranian friends - Kourosh, Gity and family, Maryam and family, and Gity's son who's in Philippines. And also from a Sri Lankan tour guide whom I knew from my trip in Dec 2004.

Time flies. Looking back on 2005, I'm utmost glad that I have gone to Iran for my grad trip and made all the friends. It's amazing we are in touch still and I'm going to keep it this way for as long as possible.

A little bit of retail therapy for me yesterday. I knocked off at 2pm, and went down to Orchard, intending to look for a decent pair of new shoes for CNY. Nope, none that caught my eyes after browsing through Centrepoint Robinsons and Taka. Simply not my type. I rather get a pair of Birks. I got a new saucepan for the house though! It's long overdue as the current one is horribly scratched. Mum should be happy that I'm contributing to the household yet again. :p

My fave stop next: Kinokuniya. Ah ha... I have the discount from YL with me here and $70 vouchers from my bday last year. Wanted to get something, but no urge to get any books of late, unlike last year when I went on a spree after receiving the vouchers from my NYP classmates. I actually still have a couple of books at home which I have not read yet! I browsed through, taking my time... Then I cannot resist but go to the travel guides section. No urge to go anywhere. Serious! But just wanna walk to taht section and see what new guides LP has for 2006. :)

I spotted a book titled, 'Bluelist' published by LP and it's a whole lot of places to see and things to do in 2006-07. Cool pictures from around the world, good quality paperback, right size to place on my book shelf, and the price is great too! Going at $35.70, it would only be $28.55 after the discount. After much consideration, I decided to get it for myself as a new year present. Haha... Xmas cum new year present then. I have spent quite a lot the past month but realised they are all spent on gifts for friends and colleagues. Nothing for myself. This would be the gift for myself then! :) It's a collector's item anyway. And everytime I should feel weary of life, I reckon this should be the best book to open up and reminds myself of what I'm living for. :)

The queue looked long, but they're fast. I heard someone behind me telling his mum to go get more books in perfect Mandarin. And it sounded like a friend. I did not want to believe that it could be him. After only a few seconds did I decide to turn around. No harm right? Haha! What a coincidence! It was really YK! What a small world! He just got back from U.S. the week before and I actually did thought of asking him to meet up the day before. Realised it's a bit last minute, so decided against it. And what a real coincidence to see him queuing up behind me! Haha... We did 'meet up' after all. Would arrange for a proper lunch meeting soon.

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During one of the runs last week, I found that I have so many groups of friends I have yet to meet up with in 2005. I have been very discliplined training for my half marathon the last few months. I treasure my own personal time at home as well and love staying in at home to write or read, or simply catch up with my fave documentary on the telly. I can say I'm still quite adamant about running and swimming twice a week each. My schedule would be organised around them, rather than arrange them around my schedule. After all, they are important moments of silence for me in which I can hear my innermost voice and sort out my thoughts. That was what happened last Thurs during the run. I have to manage my time even better in order to meet friends. It does not help that I have shift work. I have more personal time, and am unable to meet. Sigh. U cannot have the best of both worlds eh? It's good that I always feel I could do better with more time on hands. That simply means I am really truly living out each second. Not wasting any away.

2006. My fave number. Heh. A new year, with new hopes and resolutions. When friends ask me where I'm hoping to go this year, I replied them, "That has to depend on how much leave I can apply for at one go." The time of year is also a factor. I am happy at work now, even though I do complain a bit at times. That's inevitable, isn't it? I have learnt to be grateful to the institution that allows me to travel during my school days due to the sponsorship that they have given me. Otherwise, I would not be able to realise my dreams so early in life and know what I want to do really with Life. :)

Happy New Year.


The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!
~Edward Payson Powell