My 23rd

I am indeed getting older. 16th Oct was not any different from the previous days. Anyway, it is still a day that worth blogging about :P I slept even before it turned midnight. No more suprised party like we used to. The days back in Campus Lodge was actually fun, turning up at the door steps during midnight with a cake. Although eventually it was turning into a routine but it was still nice. We could afford to do that back then as everyone was just staying above/below one another. Now we are hills apart. Haha. On the day itself, I was stuck at uni the whole day, having an Intergrated Case Design to complete. My housemate, Amy decided to bring me out for late night shopping as part of celebrating my birthday. The whole house went for shopping and dinner. Thanks guys. On Friday, JZ treated me dinner as he was unable to attend my birthday dinner on Sat. Free, unexpected dinner. Haha. Thanks. We take-away our dinners and join the rest of the geng at Sailo/Huey Wen's house. Then, there was all the ninja turtles fighting. Sien :P On Saturday night, I have organised a dinner at Han-woo-ri, Korean restaurant. It was a simple but good dinner. Nice food, nice place, most importantly nice people. Haha. Thank you all. It was awesome!! Thanks for all the presents and cards. Emily couldn't resist but to give me Bodyshop products with mango flavour. Haha. Too much of mango for Honours already. Mango will remind people of me :P

Toowoomba Flowerfest

Trip to Toowoomba Flowerfest was a great way to end the week. Honours thesis was due on Monday, Intergrated Case Studies on Thurs and Fri and Multiprofessional (MPE) assignment due on Fri. The end of the horrible week, but also indicated the beggining on my one week semester break. So there were some flowers to brighten the week :P

Officially over

Is finally over. I am finally done with my honours... at least for the writing part. There is still the presentation next time... but now is considered done. Yahooo

A series of misfortune and a good luck

Things were not going well for me for the past few weeks. It started off during the mid-year break where I had to repeat my experiment AGAIN and found out a month later that the results were not any better. It was such a waste of time and effort. Then, I fall sick during my last week of QUM where a report and presentation was due by the end of the week. So, there was no rest for me despite being sick. In addition, my preceptor was expecting much out of my project. Extra stress. And when I thought I was done with it, I found out that I was in the wrong track the day before it was due. I practically rewrite half of it and managed to finish on time. Phew When the schedule of our presentation was out, I just had to be the last person of my tutorial group to present. How much I yearn to get over and done with it asap. It just had to be my luck to be the last person this year when for honours' presentation, I was schedule to be last as well. My honours thesis was due in one month and I still haven't gotten my results. A week later, there it was, not any better, just making it more complicating to analyse. What frustrated me the most was how unhelpful my supervisor was. All she could think of was her future plans for the project. I didn't give a damn about the project. I was more concern on how to write my report. She was of no help when I faced difficulties nor offering to find a solution. I was left hanging, feeling lost. Two more weeks to go, I still do not have my main results. No results = no discussion. So the major part of my report is still yet to be done. Feeling stress but can't do anything because I am still stuck. It took 2 supervisors and 1 lecturer to figure out the many sets of data that I had. But a conclusion is still yet to be made. Seriously, hopefully they will come out with something soon. I need to write my discussion. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, my eye swell. 'Sudah jatuh ditimpa tangga'. I have a recurring meibomian cyst on my eyelid. The doctor gave me a referral letter to RBH (Royal Brisbane Hospital) for a minor surgery to remove it. The cyst is not life-threatening but just annoying. Til now, I am considering when to go to the hospital. I have another assignment 3000 words assignment due 4 days after I have to hand in my honours thesis. But I have only 2 days to do that assignment as I have another group assessment in the other 2 days. I thought it would be the end of the world for me that week. However, behind every cloud, there is a silver lining. Having 30 different topics assigned to the students, it was like a jackpot if you could find someone with the same topic. Things couldn't get any better when I got a copy of a senior's report of the same topic. I was soooo happy. It was awesome. It just took a large burden of my shoulder. I couldn't stop smiling. There is still some light in life when everything else seems so dark. My luck had just got better. I also found out that recently, 2 of my friends got engaged; Abby and Nadia. Congrats girls. So happy for you guys. Hopefully, I can attend the weddings. Hehe. And another close friend got attached. Good on ya. Though there is no good news from my side of story, I am happy with the way I am right now =P. Life is just like a rollercoster. Once you are down there, you can't go any lower. It is time to climb back up to the peak. So all the best to all the final year students. Hanging in there. We are almost reaching the end and we will survive!! Haha

Riverfire

Would not want to miss the last chance to watch the Riverfire. It was the time of the year where 30 minutes of fireworks were launched from Brisbane river and the building in CBD and the best of the year. Have been to every Riverfest throughout my stay in Brissy and this last one was different. We did not need to cramp with the rest at Southbank. We had own private location. And for the first time, I was looking downwards for the fireworks. All thanks to Pauline's office on the 31st floor of E&Y building. Looking at the Story Bridge instead of South Bank

A weekend

HyeRim, a friend from Korea came to Brisbane for a holiday before heading off to Spain. She stayed at my place for the weekend. First, we had Fish 'n' Chips for dinner. One of the western food that she wanted to try. Haha. Then, we headed off to Milton for coffee. It was nice to be able to catch up after not seeing each other for a long time. The next day, they headed to Sunshine Coast. A trip to Queensland or Brisbane is not complete without a visit to the coast. Unfortunately, I did not follow them due to job obligation. Nonetheless, we all got ready and headed out for the night. It was only because she was there visiting that we agreed to go out. Kate, one of my housemate was so happy when we decided to go out as she has always wanted to but no one wanted to accompany her. Good for you gal.

The following day, we just had picnic at UQ lake. It was peaceful and quiet. It was simply relaxing and refreshing.

Last destination was Pancake house. Another thing to try while in Australia. It was a good gathering and meet up. It was indeed a holiday for the rest of us too =P

The List

Normally is the countdown to the number of exam papers left or countdown to the days of freedom. But this time around, I wasn't counting down any of those. Just having two papers on two consecutive days, nothing much to count down for. Instead, I was counting the number of movies and drama series I have finished since the last day of semester. I think I have watch much more movies/series in this two and half weeks period than the whole semester. Lol. So just gonna list it down for fun. Haha. Movies P/S I Love You What Happen in Vegas Untraceable My Mom's New Boyfriend Training Day Varsity Blue Chasing Liberty The She Found Me Jumper The Bucket List Hacker The Interpreter Underdog Kung Fu Panda Watched in cinema Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Sex and the City TV Series Season finale of: Grey's Anatomy House MD One Tree Hill How I Met Your Mother Season 1 of: Gossip Girls Sex and the City Half way through 60 episods of: The Drive of Life (canto) There were times that I ran of things to watch and just dig out anything I could find. Every trip to IH to download from the intercollege network have been exciting. Haha. A quote from Kung Fu Panda:

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift.

That is why it is called the present

Birthdays

It was a series of birthday celebrations over the last few weeks. First, it was Kin Fei's birthday. It was a post-dinner party at his house. The pouring rain earlier on the day did not dampen anyone's spirit to attend the party. Unfortunately, the birthday boy was not the only spotlight of the nigh. Another friend was more in the centre of attention =P

The crowd

The birthday boy

(p/s: hopefully you still remember cutting the cake)

Then, it was Amy's birthday. A celebration that lasted almost a week for her. Haha.

Pool...

Beer...

= pool and beer and pizza party

And there was Ernest's 21st as well. It was very touching when he dedicated two songs to the seniors. He played piano and sang. He was good. Awww... Thanks a lot. I felt nostalgic after. Can't imagine what is going to be like end of this year. I don't wanna graduate yet!!

Lab work

Finally, finally is over. I am finally done with my lab work for my honours. Yahoo!! It is worth a celebration. Haha. A two weeks lab work was extended to 5 months!! How can I not be excited that is it all over.

Nevertheless, only the lab part is done. Now working on analysing the results. And then, there will be the writing up part. That will be another nightmare, but that is to worry later. Hehe.

5 sets of results were obtained with slight modification from one to another set. 2 were useless. So, the other 3 sets were being analyzed and they gave the same conclusion which is good. Now we gotta decide which set of data to use as the results in my paper, which one will look better in my paper. It was seriously a waste of time repeating one set after another when the conclusions were all the same. I guess it will give better support to my results. So what was the conclusion from my research work? There is variation in beta-carotene content between Kensington Pride mangoes. Duh... Everyone could have guess that without needing a research on it. But I did a 5 months lab work to prove it. Sigh. Not sure what contribution or significant my research will be. Oh well...

At least is over now. I did learn some research techniques, some instrumentation procedure. Really learnt time management because I always try to squeeze in some time for lab between lectures, tutorials, group discussions and work. Trying to maximize all the possible time I had. Learnt to multi-task, accomplish a few goals at one time but also not to be too greedy (had a few lessons to teach me this). It also tested my patience and strengths. And finally it changed me to be a morning person. Hehe. Can't really sleep in much anymore. Just automatically wake up and more productive in the morning.

Placement

Today is the last day of my placement at a community pharmacy for this semester. I have done a series of placement since first year; community, hospital and rural. Yet, of all the placement, this time is the best. I really enjoyed myself every week at this 8 weeks block of placement except for one. I shall not further describe what happen in that one week except for my preceptor was not around. The staffs are all very nice and easy-going people. My preceptor is absolutely a fabulous guy. I just love the environment around the pharmacy settings. It has always been enjoyable and no tense moment. Laughter always fill the air. Jokes are being made. I was even being conned by the owner of the pharmacy into believing that he was a pre-reg. It went on for about 2 weeks before I knew the truth. It became a joke around the pharmacy. Singing, dancing can be seen from time to time. Besides all the fun part, I actually counselled more patients in this 8 week block than I had over the past 3 years. I have always been afraid to counsel patients and usually hide myself behind the dispensary. The fear however subside this year. I was much more confident in serving and counselling patients. Maybe is my fourth year now and the confidence level has slowly built up. Maybe is also the settings of the pharmacy and the pharmacy staff that helps me boost my confidence. I am glad I am of help during my placement. Although I served as a free labour, it didn't matter much. I learnt something after every placement and enjoyed myself. Therefore, as a token of appreciation, instead of writting a letter to my preceptor thanking him for his time and effort of teaching me, I bought a box of Krispy Kreme for him and the staff. At least everyone get to enjoy it rather than a letter which I reckon will end up in the bin. Everyone enjoyed it over their morning tea. What touched me the most was that I even got a present at the end of the day. One of the pharmacy assistant was really kind enough to put some things together for me. Although they are mainly free samples, it the thought that matters. I wasn't expecting anything at all as all that I have done was part of my duty. I doubt anyone else would get a box of gift for doing their placement. We even exchanged some hugs before I left. Thanks a lot for allowing my to do my placement there. I am sure to return next semester. See you guys soon.

Pictures courtesy of my housemate and his 'baby'

Buddha Fest

Buddha Festival was held at South Bank in conjunction with Wesak day celebration. It was another good opportunity to go out as it was another long weekend. Although I have been to the festival for the past two years and it was nothing superb, it was still a chance to meet up with some friends and catch up.

I met up with Pey Weon, Kev and Ernest (they were there earlier to watch movie without me, hmphh =P). We went to grab some food; sesame ball, tempura, carrot cake, popiah etc and found a spot at the stairs. We just shared out all the food that we bought, with some 'operation' going on and feeding around. Haha. Then we started chatting. It was just the warming up session. Went to grab more food, dessert this time and found a different spot on the stairs. That was when the conversation started to heat up. All emotions, thoughts and advices were being shared. What was being mention stayed in the air of South Bank. Haha.

We chatted so much until everything was closed. The whole area in front of us which was once packed with people were now empty. Lol. We didn't even had the chance to go and look around at the stalles and performances. But I guess there's nothing much that we missed out.

It was a great time. Never thought that I would share so much with these people. Thanks a lot guys. Small groups are always good.

Journal Club

I had my Journal Club presentation this morning. It is a part of my assessment for honours. Well, despite having two supervisors, I did most of the work myself. The presentation was about critically analysing and reviewing an article of interest. It could be related or not to our honours project. Mine didn't.

I decided on which article to use by myself, which resulted in a not interesting article as commented by a friend. Oh well. One supervisor was on holiday for two weeks and another was also busy with meetings.

One week ago, I still haven't finalized my slides and did not understand the article fully. When my supervisor finally came back, she wasn't much of a help. Sigh. I had to figure everything out myself. Unlike others, their supervisors actually go through the paper with them.

And I only got a chance to present in front of my supervisors the day before the presentation. Others had presented weeks before their turn and even a couple of times. But they did give me some feedback and corrected some points on my presentation. A little help is better than none right.

Anyway, I think the presentation went quite alright. The questioning and answering session was not bad. I managed to answer most questions and stuffed up just one or two. Haha. The whole presentation preparation was quite last minute but overall, it was pretty good.

Although it wasnt like I worked really hard on it, trying to convience myself that I deserved a break by slacking the whole night =P

Eventful Weekend

Despite still not fully recovered from my injury, it did not stop me from going around. Although I took off from work, it didn't mean that I was just gonna stay home and rest. I had something on throughout the weekend. FRIDAY Attended Huey Wen and Sailo's housewarming. It was already the month of April but it didn't stop people from organizing one. I think due to much peer pressure, they finally decided to 'open' their house. It was nevertheless a good timing as there were not much chances to meet up this month; no birthday celebrations, no festivals. SATURDAY I was supposingly not to play netball. But it was the Queensland Sports Carnival (QSC). It was my last chance to participate in such events. Despite missing the game at the very last minute last year, I was not going to allow it to happen again this year. Who cares about the ankle. Haha. I am indeed a 'cow' =P.

It was like sports day back in my schooling days. We had our own rumah sukan; green, blue, black and orange. I was in the green house. It was kinda fun when everyone was so semangat for their own house. We even had house captains and for my house, they were very enthu; sending out several emails before the games, predicting our chances to win in each games etc.

There were 4 teams competing in netball. I was being quite careful when playing. I played the GK position most of the time to prevent me from running around too much. And I seldom jumped too. Haha. Afraid that I might injured myself again. But when it came to the last match, I gave it all in. Played GD then, run and jump more. Didn't really matter much anymore at that time if I was going to injured myself. Thank god I did not injured myself more than I already had. Having to win two matches and draw one, we won!! Go green team. Haha.

The prize giving ceremony was on the next day. The medal was pretty and quite solid. The Green house was also the overall champion. Haha. No regrets joining the competition and luckily injury did not stop me from competing =P.

SUNDAY Alan and Phyllis' birthday celebration. We headed to Sizzler for dinner.

Happy Birthday to the lovely couple

And AGAIN...

And yet AGAIN I sprained my leg. This time is my right ankle. It was 6 months ago when I sprained my left leg. That was severe;I missed a week of uni and even had to use crutches. This time around it isn't that bad but still it is swollen and I am limping. Sigh.

I have not been playing netball for almost a year. And when I do for the first time this year, I injured myself. What a luck. Using my pharmacy knowledge and some traditional method to heal my leg:

R -rest

I - ice

C - compression

E - elevation

R - rehabilitation

And since this year I am staying further from uni, a good 20 mins walk, this week gonna be tough. A 20 mins walk is gonna be a 40 mins walk with the speed I can go. But I think I am gonna catch the bus instead.

Hopefully I can recover by this Saturday, just in time for the QSC (Queensland Sports Carnival). Doing everything in my power as I really wanna play!!

The Phantom of the Opera

Even since my first year, I have always wanted to watch a musical/play. And studying overseas makes it easier as there are plenty of performances here compare to back home. But it never happen until my final year of uni when it strike me that I don't have much time left. Nevertheless, all the procrastination was worth-while. It is this year that Phantom of the Opera is showing at QPAC (Queensland Performing Art Centre), South Bank. Since it is a famous show and a lot of great comments about it, my friends and I decided to watch the Phantom.

I have never watched the movie or read the book before. So, it was all brand new to me. The performance was simply amazing and absolutely awesome. The voices were incredible. There were so much details for just a pair of eyes to watch, simply not enough. It was indeed a good experience.

Housewarming

The series of housewarming started at the first weekend back to uni. Kev and Ernest had a potluck dinner on Friday night. Followed by Pey Weon the next night. Two days of housewarming in a row. Crazy. (sorry la, no pics to put up) The following weekend was my turn. A new house with new housemates. Started setting up the house and preparing food the day before and on the day itself. By 7pm it was all ready to hold a whole bunch of friends. People started turning up real slow. But once the pace initiated, people kept following in. Haha. There were people in every area of the house. It was indeed a successful party. Enough of food and drinks for everyone. The number of people that turned out was also manageable. It was a good night and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. But the series of housewarming doesn't end here. There are more to come in the following weekends up to the Easter holiday. Haha. Everyone is just using it as an excuse to gather and catch up.

The housemates!!

The ex-housemates

Some of the friends that turned up.

The people in the circle from different angle that were playing some games.

The cam-whoring began with the girls. But it did not take long for the guys to join in =P.

Birthday Celebration - Part 2

I guess I didn't learn my numbers well. Anyway my 2nd celebration was fully organized by Amy. What would have been a celebration if was not for her. She invited the people, choosed the place, booked a table and pre-ordered the dishes. Planned for an outing after but because I didn't feel like going, the plan had to be changed. Felt bad because I did't even help in planning But thanks a lot Amy.

Anyway as the food was pre-ordered, it was served immediately after everyone has arrived. There were 13 of us with 11 dishes. Everyone was just attacking the food. The table wasn't at peace even for a second. Within half and hour, everything was cleared. It was kinda hilarious.

Then everyone head back to my place just to hang around to not end the night so soon. Just playing darts, card games and drinking games. Thanks everyone for coming, the dinner and the present. Finally I got them after patiently waited for almost a month. Hehe. It was an elegent set of candles which I choosed myself. (wanted to post some picture of it but due to my disability now, I guess I gotta postpone it, haih)

Birthday Celebration - Part 3

Opss i feel like jumping to the 3rd part first before coming back to the 2nd part of my 'wonderful' birthday celebrations. Well, the 3rd celebration started with me giving my own self a 'cool' birthday pressie. Sprained my foot and on crutches a day before my birthday, how wonderful is that. 'Thanking' myself very much for it. And because of me, the plan for the night's co-joint dinner celebration had to change. Not that it had much planning in the first place. So, instead of going out, everyone came by. Thanks for the food and cake. All I could do was just sitting there, watching people walking around, waiting for the food to come to me and not being able to go to it. Some people were so considerate that they started eating while preparing the food. I could see it through the wall peeps. Hehe. Is not that I wanna spoil any mood, is my birthday after all. But I can't stop but feeling sad when all that was written on my 'card' was about the incidence, getting well, being more careful and a toy to play. I know that was what happen but I don't need a whole card to remind me about it. It was already sad and pathetic enough. Imagine in years time when I looked back at it, all I will read about it just about my fall. Everyone is just making it sounds funny when I seriously dont think it is at all. Nothing else is being said. What a birthday card, sounds more like a get well soon card. I am not hinting for another card or anything but sometimes is the thought of it. I know I am being too sensitive now and I know all of you care, but I am just stating how I feel. Small little things can make me happy but nonethess can make me sad as well. A lot of little things that might not be significant to others but it is to me. I guess this celebration was just the sum of everything.

Birthday celebration - Part 1

Yohoo it is the time of the year again. Time to celebrate my birthday. Although I wasn't feeling enthu about it, thanks to my friends that made the celebration happen. And the celebration actually lasted about a week (so much for not wanting to celebrate). Hoho. The celebration started on Thursday, 11 Oct when Sailo, my housemate decided to cook for Huey Wen and me a birthday dinner since our birthdays are only 2 days apart. And we got a Japanese dinner, prawn and salmon sushi, katsudon and miso soup. Thanks for the dinner and the trouble of getting the Japanese ingredients just for that dinner (figure out what to do next with the extra sauces??) It was fun laughing at each other for the 'funny' expressions after eaten wasabi. I thought that was it for the night. A dinner, that's all I expected. But few hours later, she surprised us with I would say one of the best birthday present ever. A whole backyard filled with 22 handmade lanterns lighted up with candles.

Some of the lanterns made especially for us.

The lanterns on the clothes hanger and the creator.

These are all the lanterns made secretly without our knowledge. Going through all the trouble of hiding it from us (not easy as we always go into her room) and staying up late to complete it. Gotta make sure both of us are asleep before finishing it in peace =P. And the sneaking to the backyard to hang it up when my room is facing the backyard. It was a tough project.

I was so stunt when I first saw it, speechless. It was simply amazing. Too bad it looked like it was going to rain, if not could have just sit and enjoy the view of it. I was very touched and still am by the effort she put in to give us the surprise despite having tonnes of work to do. I really appreciate it. Thanks a lot. I dont know what else to say. You are simply wonderful, Sailo.

p/s: Felt bad after for disturbing her the night before causing her to sleep late and all the unexpected knocking on the door. Hehe.