Blog Redesign

Hey guys!! what do you think of my new blog design? comments pls!! anyway like how we say it, learning the hard way is always the long way.. I totally forgot to save my blog gadgets when i changed the template and hence had to redo all of them again. But after fidgetting and making some tweaks here and there, my blog is back in business, bigger and better before.

First of all, the subtle black which is classy and easy on the eye. Next, was the whole eclipse kind of concept keep it on level pegging with the blog heading. Well, it all falls in place and I like it. Hope you do too!

Of Updates, Work and more updates!!

To begin with, your's truly here must issue out a public note of apology for the deadness of his blog. Well any loyal or should I say used to be loyal readers out there, SOWIE!!! well alot had happened the pass half a year. Another semester of med school had gone by in a flash. To be honest, I felt semester 2 really went, flew and before I knew it, EOS came and now I am having my holidays. WOOHOO! So if u ask me, how was med school after almost 1 year in it, I would say its kinda surreal to be honest. The studying was taxing but more importantly is the constant conscience in me that drives me and pushes me to the fact that slowly but surely I am getting closer to my dream. My dream of becoming a doctor, to heal and to inspire. But all that responsibility, that skill and knowledge a doctor should be equipped with came at a price. A hefty price to say the least. I had never studied so much and so hard in my life. HAHA I may sound like the lazy guy next door. But trust me, being lazy is the beginning of your doom in med school. I can't imagine the scrambling and sweating, panicking when exams draw near. Hence, to avoid myself being in such a situation I started revision early, much earlier than usual. I started revising 2 weeks before A Levels but in IMU, I think even 1 month wouldn't be enough for a solid performance in exam.

Hence, I started revising when there's still a one and a half month buffer before Summative 2 and EOS. And the general consensus is, it's still not enough!! Simply because I am the type that thrives on reading multiple times to drill the facts into my brain. The preparation for EOS was hell to be honest. Especially that 17 days between Summative 2 and EOS. There were days when I didn't even see the sun!! haha all I did was coop up in my room mugging my notes and repeating it the following day and so on. Take a look at the mountain I climbed, all 9 foundation systems, Patho, Immuno, Microbio, Pharmaco, Com Med and BS. A cocktail of disaster!





SAQ was tough but it got better for OBA and OSPE which explains why I got A for both OBA and OSPE but haihz did badly for SAQ. and Summatives didn't really help me much either. The petty remainders like AIR, COP and BS interview were minor, so getting A for all of them didn't carry much weightage. People who knows me well will tell you that I am hardly satisfied with anything. I mean of course I am satisfied wth life in general and am truly blessed to have a great family and awesome friends. however, I always end up feeling that I could have done better, whether it's exam results, timing for runs or even getting a high score in a video game. I guess it is a little idle friend called 'competitiveness'. I took my EOS results and felt thankful I passed however also felt I could have done better. Maybe it's the overly high expectation my parents placed on me or simply because I have an awesomely holistic cousin in IMU as my senior. I analysed what I could have done to improve and pin point mistakes I made in sem 2. True enough SAQ did most of the damage, but what I like about written exams is that it eliminates the luck factor that objective questions provide. But no 2 ways about it, we still have to know our stuff well. Hopefully EOS 3 will bring a bigger but better challenge that I will overcome! From now onwards, I must fill myself up with positivity, advocate and spread positivity. Maybe that is one of the only fuel that drives us on in times of hardship and struggle. I dedicate this to all who did not make it for EOS and are studying ever so hardly for their resit paper, good luck guys and see ya in sem 3!

On a more positive note, my holidays were fairly productive this time around. Been working for a market research company call Idealog. Trying to earn some money for something new. HAHA shall not disclose it here. And I have been running alot in preparation for 2 half marathons. I just completed the Klang Pacers Half Marathon last weekend and got injured in the process. Haihz having multiple abrasion sites at my groin, adductors, axilla(armpits) and even neck and also injuring my left knee. I still do not have the engine to withstand the long periods of exertion long distance runs thorws up. But to cross the finish line at the end is something that can never be described but only experienced. I shall blog more about it on my next post.

I guess this is enough updating for the time being. Stay tuned! The next post is coming very soon! Take care guys.

How the pass month went..

Currently listening to: Dao Xiang, Jay Chou

To begin with, I am terribly sorry for the lack of posting. Although I am having a week's break, the lack of blogging activity is down to the lame excuse of not making time for it. So with apolagies swept aside, lets see what have EJ been up to the pass month.

What springs to mind is that it was a month of farewells. Lets just say it was a rather difficult and emo month for me in that sense. Last week, I send a close friend of mine off. He is none other than Gan. He is probably enjoying the lager and irish cream over in Ireland. Brilliant guy he is. Got a scholarship from the Star to do medicine in Royal College of Surgeons or RCSI in short. Do not worry, he shall deserve an awesome tribute right here in my blog. So stay tuned guys.

Next up, I am sending another really close friends of mine. He just left 2 days ago to Cambridge. Well he's a guy who needs no introduction. My pool kaki, mamak and movie kaki, and a very close friend of mine since high school days. Heng Ji you are just great and I wish u all the best over in England. and he deserves a fitting tribute as well. Stay tuned ppl.

Farewells aside, I have been very active in a running, rock climbing club call Infinity Milers. For our induction climb, we went to Klang Gates or also known as Bukit Tabur. What a climb it was and i shall post about that very soon. Oh and I signed myself up for the Klang Pacers 12km run which is next sunday. woohhoo.. to be honest I never ran even 10 km in my life. So fingers crossed I survive this challenge. And I u think I was done signing up for runs. Boy were u wrong. Being all so ambitious and sometimes trying to punch below my weight, i went and give the Mizuno Wave Run dubbed the most difficult 10km run in malaysia. From what I heard, 10km of up and down hills like a wave. My gosh and I always wonder why do I land myself in this. Well looking on the bright side, I could use this two runs as precursors towards an active and healthy lifestyle. I have been terribly overweight and unfit for as long as I could remember. Now at least I have a reason to train and run. and run I did, slowly but surely I could feel my fitness inproving. So with much optimism, I can survive this 2 challenging runs. Pray for me!! haha

Apart from activities, I am studying well I guess. Been backlogging all my lectures and it's time I start revising. I hope I am onthe right track. Medic life is gathering pace and raring its ugly head. Nonetheless I am up for it.

So just be patient with me. The posts I promised will come very soon. Take care people!
And to all my malay friends and Malaysians in general
Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir dan batin

Pictures to welcome us (Part 1)

Currently listening to : Viva La Vida, Coldplay




Group pic during dry ice breakers



Group pic b4 treasure hunt



Group pic after treasurer hunt (that's me with the grp flag)



Name tags for each midnight monkey



Preparing our grp flag (that's our OO, Manlo smiling back at us)



Preparing to do the human catepillar



During signature hunt



Making a fool of ourselves



Track Trip!!

Oh well i promise more pictures and explanation in the next post!

Of Parties and Sheer Delight

Currently listening to: Bed of Roses, Bon Jovi

Yesterday was a great day. It started with us attending a mooncake party at Juan Lyn's house. And I have to give my hats off to her cooking. Her mum was so proud of her. when the table was laden with food with not a square inch to spare, she was pointing at almost every bowl and plate saying, 'Juan Lyn did this and that....and that' haha she practically did dinner on her own! though she claims her maid helped her. Let's just give her all the credit shall we? We got together for an evening of fun. So the peeps who turned up were Gan, Jon, KT, Liz, SJ and Me. We had great food and great company. An evening of fun and lots of catching up to come with it.

So it was 9.30pm when I realised the liverpool vs man u match was in it's final 20 mins. We rushed to the living room and tuned in. It was 1-1 at that point with liverpool pressing all the way. I was like..Ok..we finally scored against Man u, lets turn it to a win. haha.. and win they did!
here's the cronicle of events which ultimately led to what i would say, ' The Fall of the Red Devils'
liverpool fans will love this..enjoy!

The game started very brightly for Man U as their new signing, berbatov tore down the left of the lierpool defence and then squaring the ball to an unmarked Carlos Tevez to rifle the opener home pass Reina's left.
Again we had our back against the fall. With no torres and gerrard in the early exchanges, three minutes gone , and our chances of recording a first league win over United since April 2004 were already severely dented. Just so you should know, liverpool's record against Man u is absolutely dismal. no goals against the red devils in almost 4 hours of football. That's not right. And with all the hype building around Manu victory, i just can't believe my eyes yesterday.

On the quarter hour mark, Xabi Alonso's 25-yard cross-cum-shot deflected off one United defender before a horrible spill from van der Sar sent the ball into the net off Brown's shin. That was the beginning of their own undoing.





Our new signing, no. 11 Albert Riera reeling off in delight as alonso and benayoun joined in.
Vidic putting his hands on his head, and we all know why he was sent off later in the match. A blatant elbow into alonso's face. The reds got their rest-bite and finally turn on the gears.

An ambitious run by javier mascherano bulldozed his way down the right and with sloppy defending by Giggs, Kuyt took the ball at the by-line, spotted the unmarked ryan babel and the outcome..




GOAL!!! took a deflection off the ground and looped over van der sar. look at him screaming. ohh poor guy. it's a terrible feeling being absolutely helpless. and even if the shoot didn't go through, keane would have cleaned it up.
So the score read 2-1 in favour of liverpool. I have to tell u, the look on the manu fans in the juan lyn's house was classic. shocked? but what's there to be so shocked bout? after all it's going to be a trend with liverpool winning. So might as well man u fans get used to it.

The final whistle came soon after, pity it had to end so on. or else it would have been 3-1? maybe 4-1. Kuyt blasting at the keeper from close range. So the final score was..



though man u fans might say..we don't have ronaldo, we lost carrick halfway and so on bla bla bla well u at least had an overpriced berbatov. playing 3 up front at the beginning was a gamble for ManU but it paid off with an early lead. But this is Anfield, a fortress. We didn't have our golden boy, torres and gerrard to start but what we have is a good enough squad with depth. liverpool is no longer a 1,2 man club. The title is coming to us much sooner rather than later.

Here are pics of the match..



rooney getting the better of aurelio but to no evail as he was closed down by carragher, our vice captain



take that you expensive, overpriced bulgarian



man-of the-match javier mascherano marking tevez.

Good on you liverpool. Keep it up. Consistancy is what we are doing right now. Come on!!

3 weeks to report

Currently listening to: Qing Hua Ci, Jay Chou

I am back!! your handsome, modest and brilliant blogger is back. haha..ok enough about myself. These 3 weeks was wonderful for me. Orientation ended last week with us midnight monkeys (group 12) emerging runners up to liz's group.. I know we'r not here to compete but I can't stand it when i lose to her. Crap! First week of lectures turned out to be normal.Very A-levelish with more in depth knowledge imparted. Our first lecture on cell phsiology by dr. P.kumar was a nightmare!! he had the deepest Sri Lankan accent and it seems as though heis speaking tamil in english..LOL..if u get what i mean. But apart from the minor glitch, the other lectures were clear, precise and straight to the point. We were introduced to behavioural sciences, PBL(problem based learning) and AIR (assigned independent reading) topics. So all this equates to lots of self studying. IMU basically teaches us to be more imdependent and ditch to spoon- feeding techniques we were accustomed to throughout our lives. Monash on the other hand still spoon feeds their over-dependent students. It's true! Call me bias or unreasonable but hey it's the freedom of speech. pss pss *wispers* don't go to monash, come to IMU!! buahahah..
Since this is my first post this month, I shall try to compact everything so far that happened this 2 weeks.
I joined a few clubs this week. Infinity Milers (running and climbing club) , table tennis, pool, community service club just to name a few. and we attended their welcoming parties!! free food like what my fren, chris would say..
To sum it all up, it was a wonderful introduction to med life but i know the hard part is knocking at my door. But i am here to stay and last through the course.
Dave Pelzer, in his book said, "nothing can dominate or conquer the human spirit than human's themselves" . The essence of this is so true. so never give in, never give up, never say no to knowledge and commitment.

I apologise for the lack of visual illustrations bout orientation. I shall post them all up once i get them from my seniors. Next up, Juan lyn's party and the fall of the red devils.

Of Cuts and Bruises

Currently listening to: Runaway, Avril Lavigne

Keeping in theme with the title, I shall talk bout cuts and bruises i obtain from my latest orientation activities. i was bashed, whooped, bamboozled and left a lame. haha.. no la not so dramatic. But nonetheless i had my fair share of unearthed, unequaled ragging.

To begin with, we had treasure hunt yesterday night at the Commonwell park in Bukit Jalil. One of the stations I had to endure was the station from the macha gang! so all the guys have to remove our clothes and dip it into rotten fish water. My gosh I was on the verge of vomitting. then we had to wear our shirts again. We seriously small like crap shit. sry for the language but i just feel it suites the ordeal we were in.

The physical torture were like helicopter spins, duck walking and running away from sadistic orcs. haha..yup u did here me. ORCS!! we were being attcked by red and blue orcs during our treasure hunt. Each grp is given a red and blue rope to fend of the flou beasts!! as we complete each task in each station, we will get a clue to our treasure. and also some cool gadgets like the band of immunity and the fairy dust to fight the orcs.
As we discovered, the treasure was one of our OOs (Orientation Officer) in short. We had to bring the burning candle all the back to the IMU to burn the ropes around Amanda! she's being taken from us and now we must take back what's rightfully grp 12's.
So a night filled with running around. it definitely took the best out of most of us and it ended at 10pm.

Today, we had telematchat the Sri Petaling football field. This time our grp had the highest attendance! good job!! so its basically another station to station game around the field. There's the Infinity Miller's station conducting the UAD (Ultimate Arm Destroyer). Each group has to do 400 push ups accumulatively. Certainly it did destroy my arm. The objective was to prove us that even 400 pushups if done alone would seem daunting but do it as a group, we will be successful. There will be alot of crap coming our way in Med school. So, the only way we can get through this is by being together as one batch M2/08!!

The first week of orientation is done with another week to go. My body is aching, I have cuts and bruises but I am loving every part of it. And to do it with my new batch mates clearly shows the togetherness and unflappable enthusiasm we have.
Looking forward to an awesome 2nd week ahead. Dress Code and Variety Night here we come!!

Drained

Currently listening to : Love for a child, Jason Mraz

Ever wonder how university life is?? After 3 days into my first week of medical school, I am officially drained. Freaking exhausted. So the whole batch of M2/08 have to deal with a grueling, mind bobbling orientation which spans up to 2 weeks. We had dry and wet ice breakers today and guess what time i was back home?? 10pm!! my gosh.. 8am t0 10pm that's worst than working! And we haven't even open a single page of our medic books.
So drained, exhausted, tired and any other words u can associate with fatigue is currently what i am going through. I guess it structured in such a way to toughen us med students. To pull us out of our comfort zone, to make us suffer but making it a blessing in disguise. To be honest, I am enjoying my time in IMU. Love the seniors there. And contrary to popular believe, IMU is swarming with hot leng lui (chicks).. coming from a life witness ie ME.. I have to say it is pretty true. Can't help but turn my head everytime I happen to pass them in the network of corridors in IMU.

I learned first aid today too. Doctors nowadays must be equiped with basic first aid techniques. So, we learned how to examine injured person, various bandaging techniques and also communicating effectively with a patient. i casually volunteered myself for the bandaging. And my freaking friends wrap me up like a kebab!! and look like a bruised up mummy!! haha

I am looking forward to tomorrow and so on. Though I am tired, it's a small price to pay compared to meeting new ppl, miggle with our seniors and of course learn to adapt to med life. I shall savour every moment of it and hopefully reap the rewards somewhere in the future. MEDICINE here i come!!

What a Week!

Currently listening to : Yesterday, Leona Lewis

Ok. here's my revival post.
so it had been a pretty hectic week for me. so my week was ear marked by 3 important events.
first I went on a holiday with my family to thailand..yes yes i will blog about that after this ok.
second, I had my results to collect and boy it was such a relieve. I got my straight As. Happy about that =)
third, my piano exam..wahh been practising really hard. hopefully i did just enough to pass. that's all i wanted.

so officially this is the start of my last week of holidays.. got to fill it up purposefully.
today i learned how to fix a toilet bowl seat..haha..yes yes i was the plumber for the day..the problem started when after years of abuse on the toilet bowl seat it finally gave way. a crack developed and the next thing i know i am feeling pain everytime i do my big business..haha..the crack was practically pinching me arss..
so i had to get that done for the sake of me arss.

speaking of ars-ses..i have to say arsenal didn't really perform well last weekend.
in my opinion they have to many youngsters and lack depth in the squad but their new number 8, samir nasri is one to watch

on the other end of the spectrum, hull city, one of the 3 newly promoted clubs shock fulham with an emphatic performance.

defending champions Manu didn't even look the same side that won so many games last season, succumbing to a tame draw against Newcastle. with carrick and giggs joining ronaldo on the treatment table..manu fans don't keep your hopes up on challenging this season..a bold statement but trust me on this one.

Ok chelsea were the best this weekend, 4-0 against portsmouth. and Deco looks amazing. keep a look out as the blue army continue on their onslaught.

My beloved liverpool on the other hand, didn't play particularly well i have to admit but our golden boy, fernando torres saved us this time with a brilliant 20m low drive. awesome goal.



torres looking sharp!



here's the goal celebration!

so that was how my week went, learned some plumbing watched lots of football and olympics and lots of music too..

Weeeee....Aahhhh....

I am so happy today..i managed to sell most of my A levels books to my junior..haha..and i got a pretty hefty sum..hmm..planning on what to do with the money already..haha..my second name is 'money face' haha no la..joking only..so the night before i started packing my room.i have to say my table was left untouched since 2 months ago after exams..so packing itself was tiring.I actually spend 2 whole hours just organising and packing my books..haha..and not my table and drawers are really neat and all ready to fill them in with university books and materials..



What a mess!!! this is before..



Ahh..much better..so much neater..this is after..

But everytime when i look at my A levels stuff, it would remind me that august the 14th is coming..and that is what all HELP A levels students would call D-day..it is the day where we are being measured, weighed and hopefully not found wanting..it is the day of reckoning..the day our RESULTS will be out..waahhh..I kind of have mixed feelings over result day..I always have..and to make me even more nervous, I would be in thailand on the day the results will be out. Imagine getting messages and phone calls from my friends saying, 'results are out!! i just saw mine.." I sure better hope the hotel over there provides internet service..so that's about results.

Now on a more positive note, I might be going to play tennis tomorrow..though i may be no Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer, my forehand do pack a serious punch..now i am adding top spin to it..haha..will test it out tomorrow..oh well long day tomorrow..I guess i need some sious eye shut..

Adiyoes..

Holidays..

like every holiday, I would begin it by setting a list of things to achieve and hopefully acquire by the end of it..so here's my list of things I aim to achieve during my 2 months of holidays..

1. Upgrade my car's audio system
2. Learn the many routes to my Uni
3. Organise a charity project
4. Get a job and earn some doe(money)
5. Go on a class trip
6. Learn tennis
7. Attend a kick ass concert

As for now, there's 7 on the list but i will have more to add to it. The holidays for me so far is dwindling day by day. It seems just yesterday that I stepped outside the exam hall after my Chemistry 6 paper. But now I am already counting down the days to the start of University life. I have to say I did have my fair share of enjoyment in the holidays so far. I probably watched almost every single show on the movie roster and some shows even a few times. But I have to ask myself, is it fulfilling just letting the holidays go by without actually doing something that I couldn't do when I am too busy with my studies. Time is standard. Everybody has 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But it is funny how time moves slowly when we don't see what's coming up but when we see a deadline, time accelerates itself, sometimes catching us unaware.
It was just yesterday when I met a few college mates for a show and chit chat session at OU. and when I hear each of my friends telling their story, it justifies just how much i missed every element that makes our class simply fantastic.

So as I watched my holidays slowly depleting, I can't help but wonder what can I do with so little time left. it is only 3 more weeks to the beginning of uni. and the life i will come into will not be the same as the life i was in.. all we have to do is take it one step at a time. savour the wonderful memories and experience as they come but learn to let go when the time comes. we have to go with the flow and look to a more optimistic future.

So with little time to waste, I started with preparation for uni so that I wouldn't miss out on anything when the 25th of august is really near. Documents need to be filled, shopping for formal attire has to be done, and I have to devised a shorter, cheaper route to uni with escelating petrol prices..

So here's what I have been doing, I have to say I don't live an extravagent lifestyle but I live life to the fullest..but i would never forget to occasionally stop and smell the flowers..

Jealous-Nya

ok..i just picked my sister and cousin up from OU today..their bus ride from Genting just reached and the sight of their AUTOGRAPHED LEONA LEWIS WE LOVE U board just gave me the sinking feeling that i did missed out on alot of fun..well if it wasn't me who is going, I would want my beloved sister to go..and yes if u r guessing MAA (MTV ASIA AWARDS) u r so right..haha..i can't really blog bout what happened cause i wasn't there..but according to my sis..here's what to got to experience..first they got an all expense paid trip to genting, then they got to meet the stars at the red carpet which include PCD, One Republic, Click Five, Panic at the Disco, Leona Lewis, Nicholas Teo and so on..then after that they went to watch the event itself in a morsh pit, if i spelled it correctly..well a morsh pit is basically an area just by the stage side where ppl shout their lungs out and dance..and according to my sis she got to touch Ryan from One Republic..haihz..hence the post title jealous-Nya..i have to say, they did enjoy themselves while poor me stuck at home played table tennis with my mum..haha..what a weekend i have to say..pictures of MAA will be posted later ok..my sis is currently asleep..she got school tomorrow! haha unlike me still lazing around..ok i guess this is just an update what's going on in and around me..stay tuned as some kick ass post are coming up..

EJ signing out..

Soldiering On

Hey ppl..here's jhin with a mini revival post..not used to not blogging after a few days unlike some ppl like..haha..ok no pointing of fingers now..i have to say, it has been a tough few days..one of the toughest i have faced due to many reasons..though it is inappropriate to publically publish about my private life..
Ok..Ever felt like u were wrongly blamed for something..I finally learned how cruel the world can be..one wrong move and u'll regret it..and to add to that..time wasn't on my side..but i had to explain myself..the longer I wait the hole that i presumably dug would just grow deeper and deeper till it sucks whatever that is left of me..Ever felt like u r the cause of sth but didn't fully understand why the outcome would be as so..but i told myself..i have got to be strong..fight and upset the balance..soldier on no matter how daunting it might be..and i have to say..it did made me stronger..friendship and perseverence were my friends and trust my enemy..funny how we can obtain trust easily but lose it with a mistake of any nature..cruel but i shall persevere..i have to..i can't crack at this moment..i just can't...breaking point is near but not near enough..the night is darkest b4 the dawn..and i can at least assure myself that the dawn is coming..soldier on i shall..and every moment i think about the predicament it's grows geometrically..scary!! and yes it did make me stronger..wounded but strong..and as i taste every moment..i realised this is the time to make ammends..i just got to..though daunting..i shall salvage whatever left and mend any broken hearts..i just have to fix this..

thanks for hearing me out..
in dire need of a true freinds
and as they say..true friends stick with you through rough times..
so who can make my day ei?

cheers..EJ signing out