made.good.again

Be careful when heading for tourist destinations, eg Disneyland, etc…

Despite:
- having to wake up very early;
- being a blurnut most times;
- appearing clueless;
- having to say x1000 "this is my first week at work";
- failed attempts at putting drips into veinless patients;
- not having very much of a lunch break;
- having to stay back to finish off the tasks;
- staplers running out of staples when I need it;
- papers getting jammed in the photocopier;
- computer not printing;
- computer print jobs printing out everywhere else but the printer next to me…

I AM LOVING MY JOB.

I have found meaning…

… in smiling, having a kind word to say, extending a hand to be held…

Amidst it all.

God’s love and compassion - they overflow.

9am: Wake up.

9.30am: Drive to work and park at designated spot reserved for doctors ONLY

10am: Morning tea with consultants and other senior doctors, exchanging witty remarks and jokes, getting a pat on the back for having finished med school.

11am: Ward rounds - patiently and cleverly advising patients about their various ailments, full of empathy and care

12pm: Lunch break - meeting up with other interns and exchanging our amazing stories of how 6 years of uni has totally geared us up for this. We are totally focused towards giving our best care to our patients, just like what we started out to be.

1pm: Walking around the wards, getting the nurses to do things. Once in a while stopping to hear patients’ concerns. Some paperwork in between, proudly signing my initials next to important documents and prescriptions.

3pm: Afternoon tea

3.30pm: Seeing patients. Hearing their complaints about symptoms they have been experiencing, listening intently into the stethoscope and hearing every wheeze and abnormal heart sound. Informing them of their diagnosis, followed by steps they need to do to get well. And of course, ending with the advice that "prevention is better than cure"

5.00pm: People wave goodbye as I leave for home… as I gave a slight nod to acknowledge them.

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The reality….
6.30am: RINGggggggggggggggg!! And Penny wakes up from her fantasy.

All I can say is… thank God for dumbcredits! I am totally maxing mine out.

The working adult starts the exciting journey…

Today was orientation. Lotsa talks, free meals, pieces of advice from the seniors. Realized that the last time I had to try to remember stuff or think was… a month ago.

They were really encouraging though. Mainly teaching us how to learn from our mistakes. Apparently a study showed that people with more experience make the same amount of mistakes as the juniors. Just that they recover quicker from their mistakes. I think a huge part of the intern year is to really be able to make the most out of mistakes made and keep doing well what you’re doing right. Mistakes will remain as part and parcel of life. Repeating them should not.

It was also a relief to know that interns aren’t expected to know much in the first few weeks and hence we can ask any dumb questions we want. Better to be thought dumb for a few minutes than to really remain dumb for the rest of the years. But after a month we are expected to know something… so I really need to try to expend my dumbcredits in the next few weeks before they expire.

This is all very humbling. At least I’ve got a prepared attitude, if nothing else. And surely God is with me.

And I’ve got a piece of advise to all my loved ones out there… DO NOT get admitted into a hospital during Jan-Feb. The interns are at loose…….. !!

*****

Soph here’s one just for you (though I didn’t come up with it)

Q: What does Mozart do, now that he’s dead?

A: He de-composes.

At the immigration office, needing to get my visa sorted out - queing up to get a number…

Lady behind the counter (as she hands me my waiting number): I’m sorry love, I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait quite a while before someone is available.
Me: Oh dear, would you know how long I might have to wait?
She: Hmm.. at this point, we’re looking at approximately a half an hour wait…
Me: Oh that’s alright! (half-tempted to pretend to throw a tantrum going.. HALF AN HOUR!!!!!!!!!!!?????)

(Ha ha she obviously does not realize that I’ve just arrived from the MyKad country)…By the way my friend advises that you should go with your grandmother when you need to get MyKad done because they give special privileges to "warga emas". She did hers in like 15mins.

Anyway I only had to wait 15mins to and they took 5mins to process my visa! Just that I paid a ridiculous AUD 3.50 for parking (i.e. RM 10 = char koay teow x3 plates)

Ah Tat… meet Yo. Our new brother! He’s 15, from Thailand! He’s cool.. and supernice! I think he’s really good looking too =P

Due to popular demand, I’ve decided to post more photos from Thailand (yes I’ve only recently discovered that I can post photos on friendster blog)…

Here’s a selection of some cute photos from my album.

First up is of course the 20cmx15cm little John:

Here’s John the Thai pup eating his rice. The pic is a bit blur because he was wagging his tail too much till his whole body was like vibrating and couldn’t stay still for the shot. He couldn’t finish his food actually. A few minutes later it was eaten up by the bigger dogs ("it" referring to the food not the pup).

Mit trying to cheer the kid up…

I wasn’t much better at it. He just looked rather uncomfortable…

He decided to run away…
                                                             And we found out why…=P

More random photos…

Guess who…

Just got back from my trip to Bangkok / Nakhon Sri Thammarat and suffering from withdrawal symptoms wishing it didn’t have to end! It was an amazing trip, especially in being able to experience God’s power in healing of the sick, His comfort of the brokenhearted, lifting up of the downcast, provision for the needy… He is certainly the Great I Am, everything that we ever needed or hoped for.

I LOVE THE TEAM!
From top to bottom, left to right: Nai-cheowl, Dong, Mitsheowl, SuetBeng, me, Ajan Wit (local pastor), Hengsome, Em, Krystin aka Ling, Tian Mi Mi, Jan-jee-lak (= beautiful in Thai)

English Camp at Tar Pae Resort (Liming was once crowned Miss Tar Pae 2004. For 2006 it’s ME ME ME)… The team taught English and we had lotsa fun doing action songs. I hope the kids had fun too =P

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Learning guitar from Josie the little girl who likes to pretend she doesn’t know how to play the guitar…

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Michelle - domesticated and currently able to make Som Tam (Thai papaya salad)!!

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Our humble abode, where we sleep (guys and girls separate), do devotionals, eat (emotional food), pray, laugh, cry, and make funny faces (check out the piggy.. no, not the pink one).

The team was dressed exactly like the waiters in the restaurant and thought we might just assume the role!

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Family in Christ…
My new Thai family! The beautiful young lady (not me, the other one)… her name is Pla and she’s my best friend in Thailand. Her parents have just decided to have me as a daughter so now I’ve got Thai parents! They love me a lot =)

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The family puppy. Err.. his name is John! He came to bid me farewell at the bus station too… He’s really small, like 20cmx15cm…

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.Farewell… Off in a Songthaew!

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UNITY - the team worked not for, but from unity. God kept us loving, caring, and gracious with one another throughout the trip - for His glory!

A big THANK YOU to Wayne and Hsu En who have coordinated the prayer support groups, and thanks for partnering in prayer, everyone. It’s been a missions trip where His Name is lifted high indeed.