A ride down Memory Lane

Today is my rest day fro trainings. It had been a busy past few days in the morning. My shift this week is 8am to 3pm, and it is supposed to be quieter in the mornings. However, this week has been exceptional! From 9am onwards, there would be a constant stream of patients coming in and we would kind of be stuck at CC area from 930am onwards! *argh* Heh... Who's working with me this week? PPP, ZHR on Monday and Tuesday and DAD & KTS today morning. Whew. PPP and DAD are well-known for their 'toxicity'... and with Dr RB on duty yesterday as well... Whoa, lethal combi... There were a total of 3 'multiple trauma' cases at lunch time yesterday! I did a patient in 'Resus' who fell from a scaffolding who required 8-9 regions of xrays! While ZHR did another old lady requiring xrays in 5 regions... I reckon I took about 50minutes to complete everything, with several repeats... With Dr RB adding on a new region every 5 minute or so, the case seemed to be never-ending. At least he's nice enough to say sorry and also justified for the reason why he wanted the xrays for... unlike some other doctors... :p

Knocked off at 3pm today! I hanged around settling some stuff and talking to TYS cuz I would not get to see him until I get back from Nepal. He's flying to Vietnam this Saturday and would be there for the week while I would be away to Nepal from Good Friday onwards for 2 weeks. As usual, our conversations are always peppered with travel related stuff. I finally proposed to him what I had wanted to suggest when I 1^st came to A&E. Rubbish separation which can be sent for recycling afterwards. I remembered on Tuesday when I went running and was very exciting. I know something can be done on going green in the department. There are many different areas to look into. He told me to write him a list of things which I can think up of. Great! Something close to the heart, and can be used as an area of QI which I would definitely be interested in! :)

4th April, Tuesday: I was energetic enough after work, despite the busy day at work. I had slept only 5+hours on Sunday night, and 6hours on Monday night. I had weird dreams which I remembered on Sunday night and woke up too early on Monday morning. Went swimming on Monday after work, and ran after work on Tuesday, and yet I am still energetic enough to adjust to the lack of sleep this week. Last week's shift was 2-9pm, hence I had enough sleep EVERY day. In fact, I slept too much on certain days, and I was still not as energetic as this week. Perhaps, the fact that I'm going to Nepal had subconsciously sunk in and I am excited subconsciously? Hence, the level of energy I had for the past few days... Mmm... Who knows?

Anyway, I made a trip down to Mustafa Centre to get some items for the trip. Little India is actually one of my favourite place in Singapore, if u have not read my previous entries before. In a way, I feel like a traveler in this ethnic enclave of Singapore, but yet, I do know my way around more or less... I love Indian food, especially the vegetarian stuff. There's a whole lot of varieties which I have not tried before and am still on the way to exploring them. And then, there's Mustafa Centre, opened 24hours all year long(even during Deepavali!) and u can really find some great bargains if u know where to look. Basically, their electronic products are always worth looking into, as the prices are lower than those at Sim Lim Square and sports wear there are discounted too! I always get huge tubes of sunblock and moisturizer there as they are really much cheaper than elsewhere.

After getting what I needed, I decided to have dinner before making my way home. I walked through some back lanes and discovered some interesting looking shophouses. What was even more interesting was that there were several ladies dressed up prettily standing at the foot of the stairs. This was the Jalan Besar area, according to the road signs. There was several blocks of flats just behind those shophouses. Mmm... some illicit trade going on behind those shophouses? Many of the shophouses are actually selling vehicle spare parts, or engage in trading wholesale spare parts, with the odd Indian stall selling spices or another dealing in wholesale rice. It was certainly an interesting find. There's more to Little Indian behind the main street if you care to explore. I found several tastefully decorated backpackers lodges as well. :) They sure set the travel itch in me on fire!

It was almost 6.The sky was still clear although it looked like the dark clouds were approaching. I had a masala dosai with teh tarik at Komala's Villa. This restaurant is the 1^st that I ever stepped into back in 1998 when my friend brought us here to eat authentic Indian food. Half of my class had gone for OBS and the other half had a week of free time in school, of which the school actually organized a heritage trip for them to Little India. My form teacher then, Mrs Siva Koh (she married a Chinese), introduced and taught them the bona fide way of eating Indian food, with your fingers! I still have not mastered this! A memory down the years... Who could ever have thought at that time I would fall in love with Indian food now? *weary laugh*

It was already raining when I exited the restaurant. I decided to walk over to Tekka Mall and get threading done. Ouch. My 3^rd time and it still hurts, though not as much. At least I did not tear this time! Went to Sheng Siong to get biscuits and apricots for the trip, since I need to have snacks along the trek!

I was determined to take '67' home as I reckon the train would take me the same time and I need to change train and I would most prob not get a seat on board at all. I kind of lost my sense of directions and walked too long a distance to get to my desired bus stop. In any case, I got a seat on the bendy bus, much to my delight as it was one of my fave seating on the bus.

It was a ride down memory lane. The reason why I chose to take the bus home was partly cuz I had wanted to experience this too. The bus would travel down the stretch of Bukit Timah which had been a daily path of commute for me for a whole 6 years just a few years ago. That route brought back many memories; from the moment it passed by Serene Centre, to Coronation Plaza, to HC, to CHS, to NJ and NY, to 6^th Ave, to KAP... Many landmarks have undergone uplifting work, some restaurants are gone, and the stretch of open-air eating place at 6^th Ave is gone already, with new glitzy restaurants taking up its place. KAP has a new look inside as well, with it having the 24-hours drive-thru now.

Memories did not come flooding back the way I had expected. It was more of a very gentle walk down the growing-up days. I am not the sentimental person I used to be, when certain memories would overwhelm me. Some isolated scenes appeared in my mind. I miss those days fondly, definitely. I can feel warm tears rushing to my eyes. However, those days seem so long ago. It's been 5 years ever since I passed out from college. Somehow, I can never feel the desire to go back to those days anymore.

Is it because I have been hardened by Life? Is it because I am so blinded by the 'Rat Race' that seems to overshadow everything else now that I have started working? Or is it simply because I have grown up? And have learnt to let go...

Perhaps the last reason. Definitely not the first two. I have tasted some of the finest things Life has to offer, in my sense. I am living for the present. No longer for the past. Maybe sometimes for the future. The past has shaped who I am today. The past is a place to look back in terms of gratitude. Sometimes, it can act as a sanctuary to escape from the craziness of modern life when things were so much simpler then. Nonetheless, time can never be turned back and like what Morrie said, "The issue is to accept who you are and revel in that."

'Tuesdays with Morrie' is a wonderful book. For those who have not read this book before, u have miss out a gem. The messages the author and his ex-professor sent out in this book are direct, and if u do not let those words sink in to you, the magic of the book is lost. I love this chapter about aging.

"Weren't you ever afraid to grow old, I asked?"

"Mitch, I embrace aging."

"Embrace it?"

"It?s very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you would always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not decay, you know. It's also growth. It's more than the negative that you are going to die, it's also the positive that you know you are going to die, and you live a better life because of it."

"Yes, but if aging were so valuable, why do people always say, 'Oh, if I were young again.' You never hear people say, 'I wish I were sixty-five.'

He smiled. "You know what that reflects? Unsatisfied lives. Unfulfilled lives. Lives that haven't found meaning. Because if you have found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more. You can't wait until sixty-five."

"Listen. You should know something. All younger people should know something. If you are always battling against getting older, you are always going to be unhappy, because it will happen anyhow."

I guess I have reached the stage whereby I really do look forward. I want to go forward. I want to see more and do more. I really do look forward to each day and want to live out each day like it would be my last. Everything I do everyday would leave me with no regrets even if that day were to be my last. Yes, this is how I live my Life. This is something which I am always doing, but have not spelt out for a long time. In a way, this ride down Memory Lane has allowed me to relook at my firm beliefs and principles. I have taken out my fave book too, and that chapter brought tears to my eyes when I reread it after a long time.

Finding meaning in your Life. I have found mine. I know what I want to do in this Life of mine. I am constantly fulfilling my goals that I have thought would only be dreams in the past. Many dreams have now become aspirations which I want to accomplish. Looking back at how my alma maters have shaped me, and the kind of dreams I used to share with close friends of mine, I am really grateful for all that I had been given. Many friends have stood by me all this while, and we are still walking on side by side in this long journey through Life. :) Thank you so much, pals!

"You only live once. Make it a worthwhile one..."