the faraway tree

I am in severe want of a holiday. A nice one by the mediterranean beach with a long cool iced lemon tea by my hand and a stack of my favourite books in all the world, a collection of Enid Blyton books.

i must be the most boring person in the world, constantly jabbering about dream holidays and breaks.

oh well, tough beans. i will be home very soon, a pleasant substitute for the beach indeed.

thank God for each day, He really guides me in paths of righteousness. Cannot wait to get home to church. only 5 more days !

i'm already there

home in 2 weeks and a bit! oh boy oh boy oh boy. loh mee, sun, proper rain and church!

i get to wear dresses and miss a month of miserable weather, how good is that.

a truth universally acknowledged

I've got a new movie i'm all excited to watch. Lost in Austen, where this girl exchanges lives with Lizzie Bennet. She gets Mr Darcy to reprise that infamous lake scene with that white shirt. hee.

yippee.

a whiff of chicken

i got to see a total knee replacement surgery today! loved it, from the big needle going into the spine for anaesthesia to yanking the skin apart and sawing off the ends of the femur & knee. strangely though was very hungry midway through the surgery when the surgeon cauterizing something or other , probably to fuse the arteries together to stem bleeding who knows. anyway,the burning smell was like chicken rice, yummm. that I get hunger pangs from smelling burning flesh must be a signal that i am really dying to go home and have some good food.

how morbid.

sapped

i'm exhausted. the past 2 months are catching up with me, working a full day on placements plus 2 assignments due after Christmas. it feels like i'm crawling to the finish line with a boulder tied to my back.

anyway, thats my whine of the day.

barbecues in winter

i need another braai like this soon. next one will probably be back in the motherland Malaysia, yippeee!

tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

it takes the simplest situation in life to remind you of God's grace and mercy. too often, one takes life and its blessings for granted. it only takes seeing a friend in mortal danger that puts life's struggles into sharp perspective. what was it shakespeare wrote in macbeth?

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Am i right with God this day? Do i spend the time with Him daily seeking out His kingdom instead of mine. I'd like to say yes everyday, but i'm working on it. Thank God for His gentle reminders every now and again.

the rain it rains

i really should be concentrating on my assignment just at this moment. watching "the tenant of wildfell hall" will be the highlight of my sedate day.

just counting the days when i can have some fresh loh mee again in all its starchy gastronomic glory.

hEAR me now

So there I was sitting in a ward meeting when I idly glance around the room a spot a young doctor with the smallest pair of ears I'll ever see. it was so disproportionate to his face! these small child-like ears were perfectly shaped and normal but just so small! Those incredibly tiny ears were so fascinating, I wonder if he hears the same as other normal human beings. its just not right to have such tiny ears.

On the other hand, the doctor beside him had these big ears but proportionate to his face because he had a big face. Reminds me of the BFG illustrated by quentin blake actually, wrinkly big smiley face with big ears.

anyway........... did you ever read a more frivolous post!

it pains

i spent the entire morning and afternoon on chores! shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry and tidying up. thats my entire saturday morning gone.

this is awful. i'm not cut out for domesticated life. absolutely not. i'd be knackered everyday.

my mom is a superwoman. she has to be.

its pink and its free.

I absolutely love freebies! Especially if its a book! How awesome is that? Its not by any famous author , but hey its a free book. Its called "The Good Bride Guide" by Matt Dunn. Looks like another lightweight happy feely book that leaves you feeling like you've just read 400 pages of words without any substance but its FREE.

On another note, there's this man on the bus everyday who looks exactly, a spitting image of, Bill Nighy that actor from Love Actually. Never a more similar face. Anyway, I take the bus to work everyday in case you were wondering what I was doing a bus every single day.

cough cough ptui

sputum sputum sputum. my life currently centres around sputum.

weighing sputum, smelling sputum, swirling sputum, blood in sputum, testing sputum.

pretending to be immensely interested when clinical educator talks about sputum when really my inner person is tearing its non-existential hair out.

i suppose it could be worse. i could be working on an incontinence ward.

then what would i do. probably die of urine poisoning.

thank the good Lord that less than 3 weeks remain of this placement and praise Him for continuous favour from everyone.

hmmm there is an open house in manchester this sunday. free malaysian food! but its being hosted by kumpulan umno salford. so i have to decide, skip on the basis of principle or attend and eat free food. my opportunistic side says "go! got satay!" but my principled side says "who wants to eat their food its tainted."

decisions decisions.

restrain

i am in the worst temper i've ever been in years. honestly i cannot remember the last time i violently desired to throw a tantrum. i arrived home THREE hours after i finished work. THREE bloody hours!! and why you ask? well, its all due to the bloody strike these bus drivers are on every monday. these lazy ang mohs and their strikes, these are recession times! what raise do you want!

i swore in my head so much i think i have to pray the Lord's prayer 5 times and eat the Lord's supper another 5 times.

maybe more.

spoof

ha ha ha. i still laugh at this although I've watched it more than 3 times. A French and Saunders parody of britney and madonna. Also love their parodies of Mamma Mia and Abba.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD0rbiePhBc

define...job?

a degree in world history or cultural/archeological anthropology appeals very much to my interests. do i hear double degree/ second course calling? hmm, maybe after earning some of my own dosh for a few years. besides, i fancy a course in history in a more exotic and hot climate. maybe spain! you never know.

back to work!

:)

you just can't buy favour from people. not with charm, not with money. maybe once in a while if you have connexions, but mostly you just can't. you just rely on God to grant you favour. And favour plus grace gets you everywhere in this world. It also takes away the pressure to kiss your superior/educator's ass whenever you can. So I am happily under God's grace. Tis going to be a good next 6 weeks.

i subscribe to positivism

i hear the internal clock inevitably ticking away, the one associated with deadlines & responsibilities. shed the old skin, put on the new. dispense with the attitude that tears down, rather adopt the personality that is driven.

being antisocial is one of the ways to survive final year. relying on God is the other far more important one. He is my refuge & my wisdom. i will survive!

metaphores

The end of holidays always invokes a "death-row" state of mind.

There is an eternal black hole in my stomach, as Obelix would say, "I have an empty hole, right here". hence, the constant craving for food.

Then there is that frantic re-reading of favourite children storybooks like Malory Towers, Tintin etc.

Not forgetting lolling around in bed on a nice rainy day.

Its a wonder I'm not the size of a hippo yet, but its getting there. Hence some good in going back to a self-inflicted pauper lifestyle students love to adopt eh.

Yet I have plenty to give thanks for this summer holidays. I have made the most of it and have been mightily blessed. Work, fellowship, outings, food, lolling around, children's stories...loved it all.

May the wheels of time move at a torturous slow pace! Just for these 2 days!

the wailing wall

The calendar sitting on the wall yells the 16th, less than a week till I go back to cold rainy days, massaging fat backs, smelling rank feet and completing pointless assignments. YAY! never mind, that much closer to graduation eh.

old school the christian way

am the happiest camper in the world. found most of Hosanna music on youtube. hoooooray!

gasp

only 3 weeks left of glorious lazy days, good food and church every weekend!! woe betide. i must live! live! live!

time & space curvatures

i would contentedly be caught in a time loop these days. like in Groundhog day when Bill Murray constantly wakes up to "I got you babe" by Sunny and Cher.

i throw stones at mid-september in hopes it runs away from me.

ooh, though completely digressing, i must get my beach chair out on the balcony midnight tomorrow and watch those Perseid meteor showers. i must!

the challenge. i like it. the challenge of having to engage non-engageable(?) kids. the challenge of controlling uncontrollable monyets. but its all oh-so-worth it, to see their sweet, impish smiles and those bambi eyes. yeah, volunteer work is good. plus i get to sneak the odd junk snack or two.

valuable goop

i sneezed snot that resembles Snoopy the dog. i wonder how much it'll be worth on Ebay.

dire straits

i'm out blog-stalking people. very unnecessary on a Sunday evening when there are plenty of programmes on the TV. need to get my priorities right!

The joy contained in the process of arranging every single item in precise order is inexplicable. It might be said that I have an overactive basal ganglia.

women! irrational and illogical! thundering typhoons.

L'amour est bleu

"Love is Blue". a favourite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD4ib9-laGY

i love being back home. the familiar smells and sounds of Penang lull me to sleep and in the same way wake me up in the morning. aye, its humid that is true but even the sweat is enjoyable at the moment.

hee hee! woop woop. I am home!

impish

Amelie is brilliant. Its typically French in all its quirkiness and whimsies. I am 8years late in watching this movie but no matter. Twas 2hours well spent.

Oh Don Juan Demarco was very enjoyable too. Quite whimsy and fanciful as well.

And yes, changed the whole blog look thing. I'm feeling sunny and colourful today. Mayn't last.

*sniff*

Twas a strange morning today. En route to Uni to hand in the last of my assignments (woop woop), the sun was shining golden and sky as blue as Paul Newman's eyes. Caught a whiff of fresh air and suddenly it seemed like I was home in Penang. So vivid it was that I was disoriented for a moment, I could have sworn (but i don't swear) I smelt Georgetown in all its exhaust fumes and coffee shop fried oil smells.

Merely an acute longing to go home I hear you say. Nay. I have proof it is explained by science.

Scientists believe they have discovered how a waft of perfume or the strains of a familiar melody can evoke a vivid memory.

Scientists believe they have discovered how a waft of perfume or the strains of a familiar melody can evoke a vivid memory.

A study has located the precise region of the brain that appears to be responsible for connecting an everyday sensation with something that has happened in the past. The area, the CA3 region of the brain's hippocampus, plays a critical role in the formation of memories that can stay with a person for life.

Researchers led by Dan Johnston, a professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, said the CA3 region was essential for a phenomenon known as "pattern completion". He said: "That is the ability to recall memories from partial representations of the original." The CA3 region may be the part of the brain that initially captures a memory and prepares it for long-term storage. This may explain why people with a damaged hippocampus can remember events that occurred years ago but not what happened yesterday.

The study was based on an experiment in which mice were trained to escape from a maze using a set of visual clues. Genetically engineered mice that lacked a specific protein in the CA3 region could not remember how to get out of the maze when some of the clues had been removed.

Being able to recall the details of a memory from partial clues is thought to explain why humans can become sentimental over a song or a smell.

So you see, I am no sentimental fool. Twas my hippocampus playing tricks on me.

dearth

there is a dearth of motivation. a dearth of excitement. a dearth of tender loving care. a surplus of stress, frustration & injustice reigneth for another week or so! Oh no! no! no! no! 

so melodramatic. 

"The pina colada song", my favourite chill-out song.

the short of it

Could this week drag any longer? well, i exaggerate it is actually flying by. last week of placement woop woop! then its wrapping up assignments, kill off a presentation then home! where the sun shines relentlessly and it rains earnestly. Praise Adonai for a truly blessed year..what a year it was! and its not over yet(i'm speaking in terms of academic year).

- had great friends to help me enjoy the exam/study process. and got a good housemate too. 

- had an amazing not-so-ordinary christmas at Johnny's

- got 2 great placements with great grades and great educators

- went to Cote D'Azur, met the extended family and had an unbelievably good time.

- flying back home for more adventures and CHURCH soon. i miss the B.O.G. ambience!

its been GREAT. i couldn't have had a better 2nd year if i purposefully planned it. I've met some weird and wonderful people. God is good. HE is indeed. 

whinge!

I really would love to be in either of these places right now. 

promenade des anglais

maybe i'd prefer the ramshackle houses to a beautiful blue sea.

futile ponderings attributed to sheer procrastination

I don't understand how years of narrating nature documentaries, the most famous ones include BBC Planet Earth and Blue Planet, still has not convinced David Attenborough that Darwinism is a load of baloney written by a man stuck aboard the Beagle for far too long. A man undoubtedly clever, but sadly deluded. Attenborough is an extremely clever man with a really nice deep soothing voice i might add (i have a penchant for soothing tones), but for him not to realise the wonders & complexities of nature created by Elohim, is sheer stupidity.  And to dismiss it all based on natural selection  is idiotic. 

Plus now that they've found that fossil, they're saying I'm descended from a freaking lemur. As Captain Haddock would say, "Billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles!"

Pity, because i really do admire the man. But, it doesn't detract from the fact that BBC planet earth is the best documentary ever made..bestest! Has everything you need to know about the earth. Thus ends my avoidance of work, I am resolved to get back to it. Now.

circus

i am heartily tired of being a performing monkey! 

angst

the time is ripe to head back to Penang when the mind starts planning what food to eat and what songs to play in church. its high time! alas... 

allegorical ties & strings

I am missing proper family sit downs, church get togethers and overall fellowship with like-minded people. One of the reasons I absolutely loathed leaving France was not the Mediterranean scenes, not the remarkably fine-looking people in their remarkably well-tailored outfits nor the frequent gustating of gelato(i never knew ice-cream had so many flava flavs). 

None of the above though I would be very content living in that kind of environment instead of putting up with the potty-mouthed English. I don't dislike the English, I really don't. But they are the most boring population in all of Europe, however interesting their history is. They are dull in nature, behave like sheep & think like preprogrammed robots. And they're unforgivably bland-looking. I do like rural English villages with their afternoon teas, scones and jams. But! I digress.

I loved France for la famille, incomprehensible they may be due to the language barrier but feeling comfortable nonetheless amongst people of like mind. Makes you realise how fabulous the chinese are, with all their traditional ideas and daily practice. 

I'm just rambling on a Friday night, knowing that summer hols and home is not too far away now. Thank GOD!

the joy of Adonai is my strength, my fortress and my song! 

i've a lot to be thankful for this year. Adonai has been amazingly gracious and faithful. Its incredible to just sit back and look at how everything has just fallen into place. Indeed, Thy Word is lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path!

from now till june

another six weeks of 8am-5pm hours stuck in a small stuffy room. hoorah! Here's to praying that neuro will be relatively easy although it does sound it would challenge my weaknesses. 

Qualities needed: 

-patience. (Uh oh)

-observation of subtle details. (SIGH)

-upper body strength. (mmm...?)

topping it off is the possibility of being verbally and physically (slight chance) abused by brain injured people. 

But no, my optimistic and faith-filled part just bitch-slapped my pessimistic side. am now looking forward to the next six weeks. :)

it actually takes me an hour to get settled into work properly. thats 3600seconds wasted. 

interesting fact:

China invented - gunpowder, compass, paper, printing, porcelain, fork, collapsible umbrella, TOILET PAPER and more. i'd say that was the greatest invention, where would we be without toilet paper? 

au revoir

I have descended back into the grind, back from southern France. it was the best holiday i could ever ever dream of! in 2 weeks i've seen Nice, Grasse, Toulon, Marseille, Monaco, Antibes, Cannes, St Tropez, Mandelieu, St Jean Cap-Ferrat, San Remo and Vence St Paul! i will say Nice and Grasse are my favourite places. People there are so good-looking not bloomin bland and featureless like the English.

Also caught a glimpse of celebrity tennis players at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters like Nadal and Djokovic and Murray( heh, note the name dropping). Took a dip in the freezing Mediterranean sea in Mandelieu too and saw the most expensive mansions in St Jean Cap Ferrat.

 I love la famile there, absolutely lovely people. hoping to go back during summer maybe. :) i miss France already. Praise God for a fantastic holiday. 

Monaco and its white yachts

a view of Nice

perfume garden in Grasse

Nice!

praise Adonai for immense blessings and immense favours. this was the best 6 weeks of placement i could ever hope for and now i fly off to the Republique Francaise! His grace is never ending. fandabbydosey! 

must remember to get some work done though, 2 weeks of the sun, sea and food is probably not good for keeping the mind sharp. 

living in a square box

i have become a boring, systematic, organised task monkey who gets a certain degree of satisfaction from paperwork. hmm! 

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife". 

 the first line of Pride & Prejudice.

Jane Austen's acute observation was true in 1797, it holds true still.  :)

in the words of Shaul

Philippians chapter two verse five to eleven:

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Yeshua:

6. Who, being in the very form of God, 

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped

7. But made Himself nothing,taking the very form of a servant,

being made in human likeness

8. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself

and became obedient to death

even death on a cross!

9. Therefore, Adonai exalted Him to the highest place

and gave Him the name that is above every name

10. That in the name of Yeshua every knee should bow,

in heaven & on earth & under the earth

11. and every tongue confess that Yeshua HaMaschiach is Lord

to the glory of Elohim our Abba Father". 

Nice, French-style.

just this picture is enough to motivate me to make it through the next 2 weeks! 

crescendo! crescendo!

dramatic mozart symphonies with its frenzied violins and chaotic undertones compliments a dramatic jane austen book- Persuasion. 

i might add it is also storming outside. an utmost dramatic scene indeed. 

i got me a penny whistle!  ceol 's craic! 

Sin sin, nil aon sceal eile agam.

robert louis stevenson's mister hyde

people annoy me.

how will I survive the clinical world? 

it is an open secret that physios possess the ability to kill via manual techniques. 

patients best stay on my pleasant side. 

the next 4 months will tell. 

hyde

jekyll

my wishlist: 

Chuck King- Highways to Zion. 

Chuck king is to messianic music as James Brown is to funk! 

smile.

The little things in life, the ones that can push you over the edge or make you dance and sing for joy. What are they to the Almighty One? 

Leave everything to the dependable hands of HaShem! He is indeed amazing! He directs my path, so far ahead its only in hindsight that I am able to observe the miracle . Trust God with the gargantuan matters, for He also takes care of the seemingly inconspicuous little things that make up our day. Praise Yah. 

Cote d'Azur

flight to Nice booked! 2 weeks of bliss, sunshine and blue sea by the French Riviera in April. Genoa and Pisa may also be awaiting in the wings, potentially ready to be visited by me! *do the funky dance*

and now, to spend some quality time with myself. time to ply myself with books and go out on self-exploration of manchester. 

who's blessed? I'm blessed! *mexican wave*

in retrospect......

the stupid things students(well to be honest, me) say in practical exams

question: what general safety issues are there to watch out when getting patient to relax against wall to relieve breathlessness?

answer: err, unsafe walls? *doink*

question: *yadayadayadayada* and explain the signs. 

answer: har? sorry, i wasn't listening. too many jumbled thoughts.

In midst of explaining relaxed breathing to patient, "So i want to throw away all your thoughts and focus on gentle breathing. Just throw away all anxious thoughts." 

Yes, throw away your thoughts, they're all rubbish anyway. 

ha. another day then its liberty liberty sweet  liberty! 

you know its exam season when...

you have

neck pains- blame the unergonomic tables.

backaches

hunger pangs

muscle spasms

horrifically messy room- oh for shame!

a mountainous pile of laundry

and you feel neither dead nor fully alive till its over. 

thursday cannot come sooner. it is but 4 days away. 

heisa hop sa-sa!

Der Vogelfanger bin ich ya! 

exams have driven me to the brink of insanity.  searching for comic operas by Mozart and have finished Die Zauberflote and on to Le Nozze di Figaro. and was never happier. 

am insane in the membrane. next- Cosi fan tutte? 

Such a wonder
Ordering time and tide
Such a wonder
Bridging the great divide
I consider all that you had, all you gave
And all that you endured
From this rebel world
What a wondrous cross you chose to bear
What a wonder you would even care

LET ALL CREATION SING IN WONDER
EVERY SEA, EVERY CREATURE, EVERY STAR
YOU OPENED UP MY EYES TO WONDER
WHAT A VISION, WHAT A WONDER YOU ARE -newsboys- 

poetry or the attempt of it

the end is nearing, i can see the golden ribbon

the neck is aching, i can feel the knotty tension

the sun will come up tomorrow, to be sure of it

i press on, spurred on by the divine Hand, 

never mind the annoying gits

the work is almost done, 

the blood, sweat and tears poured out

He helps me, He lifts me up,

 He strengthens my hand to give me great clout.

only another week or so, then its sweet and joyous liberty

i wait in anticipation for an interesting after-exam story. 

rhyme me a limerick

i love rhymes & limericks.

Mary had a row boat the row boat had a bell
Mary went to heaven the row boat went to
Hello operator give me #9
if you disconnect me I'll kick you from
behind the 'frigerator there was a piece of glass
Mary sat upon it and cut her big fat
ask me no more questions
tell me no more lies
the cow jumped over the moon
and left two chocolate pudding pies

limericks
A mosquito was heard to complain,
'A chemist has poisoned my brain!'
The cause of his sorrow was
paradichloro-triphenyldichloroethane.

http://www.beachnet.com/~jeanettem/chants.html#MARY