My Wants

  • An Ultra Portable Mini PC
  • New Laptop (must be better and faster than my current one of course)
  • New Leather Shoe with Pointy Front
  • Sony Ericsson Cybershot Cellphone
  • White Converse Tote Bag

Thursday, June 29, 2006

拉到脸青青

Here is an interesting video taken during a farm visit with COPE.

Parental guidance advised.
THE FROG PREP.


Just when I thought my attachments are almost over, I have to come down with stomach flu, diarrhoea, vomiting and back sprain. Totally no appetite at all... The sight of food and the smell of strong spices (e.g. curry) makes me nausea.

Still having diarrhoea. Still feeling giddy the whole day, probably due to dehydration. No matter how much water I drank, my mouth still feels very dry...

Slept the whole day yesterday. It is amazing how much I can sleep when I am sick... Most likely not going for CG tonight... Haiz...

My stomach grumbling again... hope it will be alright by tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Self-Reflection

It has being a week since I blogged.

I will be performing in front of sixty ambassadors from Africa this Friday. Stress sia. Haha. Apparently, many were called but only six were chosen to perform practical skills for the guests. Had to rush to school today to practise till 5.30pm.

What's more, I am fasting.

Am I tired? Of course I am. But I am enjoying everything at the same time. Haha.

Got to know some other students from nursing today. One of them looks so strikingly like a friend I used to know that I thought maybe they were related. But they weren't, of course.

One of the thing that I really look forward to everyweek is the reply of my spiritual diary from Sister Darryl.

So come to think about it, my words are indeed harsh at times. Although I may love unconditionally, I may just be over-zealous when it comes to work attitude.

I got to admit. I tend to be judgmental. That, I have to change, for sure.

For most people, I am friendly and hilarious. Yes, crappy at times. For some people, I am their worst nightmare. Meticulous and unwavering.

Perhaps, it is the nature of my work, every decision could mean life or death.

But still, I could be less judgmental and be more loving instead.

My post isn't making much sense? I guess that is because I am sleepy. YAWN*

So said, I hope I can do a more detailed post next time.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Christians. Holy or Hole-ly?

Back to the hospital again. It's busy day in day out. Couldn't blog so often now.

So my Grandpa was discharged and my attachment has started.

What else is interesting? I realized that I am a very night person. Haha. Tend to feel real sleepy during the morning duty. However, I seems to get more and more active during the afternoon duty when evening time is approaching. Haha. Maybe I should ask for permanent night duties next time?

Nonetheless, I built a pretty good rapport with my patients and all the nurses; staff nurses, assisstant nurses and student nurses, as usual.

Seeing the mistakes that others made (actually, most of the mistakes are made by one student and she never learn) helped me to learn from them. Everyone in the ward hates her and they have reasonS to do so. She is a Chirstian since birth, fast regularly but her attitude speaks of another thing.

Another crazy girl from the previous attachment is in the same ward again. I make it a point not to go near her. She is scary (psychotic). I openly talked to everyone except her, steering clear of her whenever she pass by. Apparently she isn't popular with others too, and worst, she is also a Christian.

Sometimes I wonder, it is no wonder no one likes Christians. Not just because the Lord says we will face persecution, but sometimes it is just the consequences of our own actions and attitudes. Even my mother would used to associates all the bad attributes like agressiveness, rude, selfishness and laziness with Christians. Well, with Christians like these out there, who could blame my mum from believing so?

God looks on the inside, but man isn't God, man looks on the outside (unless you are Prof X from the X-Men). In fact, what you do reflects what is truly on the inside of you. So please don't try to talk all holy when you are showing all the lousy attitudes. It is like eating the wrong stuff and the stomach wants to force it out. It makes people want to puke.

Fasting and praying while showing lousy attitudes, it is meaningless - like chasing the wind.

Oh well, with my presence in the ward these days, what used to be in the hearts of people, everyone starts to pour it out to me. Strange, but now everyone in the ward openly shows their displeasure to the first girl I talked about. I have nothing against that. After all, our service is to our patients and the hospital. If there is poor service, it should be brought out and not kept, so that service can improve.

With the over-saturation of nurses in the current market, it will also do good to sieve out the bad ones. After all, no one wants their patient to suffer and die in the hands of some incompetent and uninterested nurses. And it also give other hopefuls out there a chance to join nursing.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

可喜可贺。可喜可贺。

外公住院已经是第二天了。他因为脑出血而头痛,整个人变得很累,站也站不起来。其中的原因是因为服用药物 Waffarin 的副作用。

Not going to use Chinese anymore. Ah!!! I can speak Mandarin pretty well but my "typing" of the language will take ages!

Anyway, I was saying that today is the second day my grandpa is hospitalize. He had bleeding in the brain and it is causing him to have headaches and body weakness. He slept alomost the whole day and he couldn't even master the strength to stand up.

It is partly due to the medication, Waffarin, he is taking. The side effect of this drug is the tendency to bleed. Also, he had history of stroke.

When I was about to visit him today, I just felt I really need to pray for him before I leave the house. After praying, I just sense something isn't quite right so I decided to take a cab.

While on the cab, my mum called me and told me that grandpa is going for an emergency operation within two hours time to remove the blood clot in the brain. You can't believe how anxious I was.

Nonetheless, I stayed with my grandpa and prayed with him, asking for his recovery and a few more good years to be added to him.

The surgery took nearly 4 hours but it turned out successful. PRAISE THE LORD!

Currently, he needs to be under observation for 48 hours and if everything is well, he should be able to leave the ICU to a step-down unit or the general ward.

Grandpa is certainly looking much better after the surgery. He is more alert now.

While looking at the sickly grandpa, I remembered the days when he was younger and healthier, when he could still drive and bring us out every Sunday to eat, to shop and to play.

My name, "Benjamin", which means "Favourite Son" in Hebrew befits me well. As the first grandson, I was adored by everyone in the family. I remembered that my grandpa always buy toys for me whenever we went out to shop.

Among my toys include those big LEGO sets, action figures of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joes and a full set of Star Wars Action figures! Yes! I remember Han Solo, Storm Troopers, Luke Skywalker, R2D2, CPO3 and even Darth Vader among them! Haha.

In fact, mum was telling me that all it takes was for me to stare at any toy for a little while, my grandpa would just get it for me.

Thank God that the operation is successful. May God protect my beloved grandpa.

Anyway, I also saw Ms. Gwendoline at the ward. She happened to be the facilitator there and she came over to talk to me for awhile.

Yup. I also wanna thank all of you who had prayed for my grandpa and in one way or another showed concerned for him.

I am happy now. At least the worst seems to be over. PRAISE THE LORD!

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Unplanned Outing. Where to go when you don't know where to go. :)

A few of us from E369 and W372 went to Suntec office to help out today. Apparently there were too many helpers and everything was completed earlier than expected.

Together with Alvin, Chloe, Meihui, Peishan and Sandy, we went to this place call The Inle Myanmar Restaurant for dinner. This restaurant serves authentic Burmese food, which tastes somewhere between spiciness, sour and sweet as they favor tomatoes in their cooking.

If you are not sure what to order, just go for anything in the Noodle and Rice section. Everything is NICE and everything is WORTH TRYING! Price range from $5 to $10.

Alvin ordered Butter Rice with Curry Chicken, Chloe ordered their Inle Special Fried Rice, Meihui ordered a special soup-based rice noodle dish (the name is in Burmese, can't remember), Sandy ordered Crispy Noodle and I ordered Fried Kway Teow. Every dish smells GREAT and looks TEMPTING! Every ingredient used were very FRESH, especially the seafood! It doesn't taste like our local food as Burmese doesn't use soy sauce in their cooking. Every dish has a unique taste that truly tingle the taste bud!

Not forgetting Peishan, she didn't order any main dish but she ordered their specialty dessert, the Hpa Lu Da (read pa-lu-dar, the 'H' is silent). It is a dessert with rose syrup, milk, lots of hidden 'treasures' and topped off with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. The outlook is IRRESISTABLE and the blend of sweetness and chewy items is WONDERFUL!

And not forgetting their Myanmar Milk Tea. The taste is very different from the milk tea at your local coffee shop. Their strict quality control and making of the milk tea is so good that it always taste the same no matter how many times you have being there. The blend of milk and tea is so well-balanced that the sweetness of the milk doesn't overwhelm the frangrance of the tea. What's more, the temperature is just right! The tea is warm and doesn't scald your tongue. This is very important as tea tend to turn sour when left to cool on the table. If it is too hot, your tongue will become numb and marred the taste of the tea. This milk tea indeed deserves a 10/10!

The Inle Myanmar Restaurant is just walking distance from City Hall MRT. The address is:
111, North Bridge Rd
#B1-07(B) Peninsula Plaza, Singapore 179098
Tel: 63335438
Opening Hours: 11 am to 10 pm (Mon - Sun)


Be warned that this restaurant tend to have a lot of patrons during meal times. I recommend you come early to avoid disappointment! Haha. (Forgot to take photos...)


Later on, Peishan left as she needs to reach home early and Geogina came to join us. As it was totally unplanned, we decided to visit the Museum of Shanghai Toys (MoST), which is near Little India. For Geogina, Meihui and Sandy, it was their first time there.

The owner, Marvin is a very nice man and a good host. He opened the museum out of passion and was very hospitable to the guest. The museum displayed vintage toys made in China from the late Qing period to Chairman Mao's time. This is a very interesting and fun place to bring your friends and family for a weekend outing. If you have any friends from oversea, it would also be a great place to invite them to. This place can indeed be one of the MUST-VISIT places in Singapore!

We took a lot of pictures as usual. Haha. Here are just some of them.

Geogina looking at the toys.


Chloe with a vintage battery-operated toy train. It still works!


Chloe and Meihui trying to look fierce in this photo. Haha! :p


Sandy, happy to be in jail.


Sandy braving the heights as she pose for this photo. The stairs are quite steep. :)


Just the sisters. This is one of my favourite photo.


Playing cards together. Alvin is not in his best form today. Haha!


All of us posing with the toys. :)

MoST is just walking distance from Farrer Park MRT. The address is:
83 Rowell Road, Singapore 208015
Tel: 6294 7747
Opening hours: Monday - Sunday 10am to 8pm
Admission: Adults: $5, Children/Students: $3


Seeya there! :)

Monday, May 29, 2006

Letting Go to Receive.

Sometimes, the more you desire something, the harder it is for you to get it.

Perhaps, it is because you have not put in enough effort.

Maybe not.

More likely you wanted it for the wrong motive.

Fame, pride, selfish reasons.

Sometimes to get something, all you have to do is to humble yourself. Sometimes, not wanting something for yourself will place that very thing into your hands. When you start to realise your life is not just yours alone.

"Not my will but Your will be done."

Have you ever have that experience, that you just keep fighting so hard for something, it just doesn't happen?

Then the day you start to let go, a sense of peace will come. Holding on to things that aren't meant to be is tiring, frustrating, and depressing.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick..."

All of a sudden, life seems peaceful, and sometimes boring.

Nothing is happening much but you are just contented at how things are now.

As you look back at the old days when you fought so hard, you no longer feel sad or angry about it. It is just another memory, that creeps back at you when you aren't doing anything. It doesn't matter anymore. You may even feel glad that it is over.

Just when you thought everything has ended, you start to see the things you desire begin to come to pass.

A little at a time but at a steady rate. You no longer yearn for it but you find yourself better equiped to handle the challenges.

You have more confident now. You are doing your best. Things are going smoothly and you wonder why it wasn't like this in the past.

That is because your "lust" has turned to "love". You no longer look at yourself and you have learnt to let go.

The work is no longer a burden, it is become a joy.

"To enjoy your work and your lot in life... God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past."

Delay is not denial.

Hold on to the promise and let go of your undue self-awareness.

You can never succeed on your own.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

The Liberation - Chapter One

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
~ Genesis 1:26

Chapter One

The year was A.D. 2057. The date was 7th of May. The time was 8.16pm, Singapore time.

The human brain was still a mystery. Other than knowing its primitive functions and anatomy, no man had ever been able to fully utilize the brain.

For unknown reasons, the past few decades had seen the increase in the number of cases where individuals all over the world could utilize their brain function above the normal human range.

At first, such cases manifested as individuals with high Intelligence Quotient or possessing certain passive mental abilities such as having superb memorizing power.

Later on, individuals with Psychic Powers started to increase.

These incidences sparked a renewed interest in what was once known as the “pseudoscience” of Psionics or “Psi” for short. It movement started 35 years ago and was known as “The Great Liberation”.

Even though extensive researches are still ongoing, there is still no specific evidence of what really causes these sudden increases in the utilization of the human brain.

About 1 in every 1000 individuals in the world today demonstrates some form of Psi. However, most people who possessed such abilities could only do nothing more then bending an object or toppling a glass of water.

More powerful ones could cause multiple objects to move in mid-air, ignite fire, levitates and even cause mild quakes. However, such cases are rare.

“Deputy Superintendent! The suspect is hiding in that warehouse. Three of our men were hurt in action, all of them were injured by small flying objects. One of our men was also held hostage.”

“Thanks Inspector. My team will take over from here. Hagan and Elise, both of you ready?”

“Anytime Louis.”

“Inspector, seal all entrance to the warehouse. Hagan and Elise, put on your gears and follow me.”

***

In these day and age, Psi crimes are increasing although it is still rare. Most cases were deranged psychics who went around causing injuries and damages.

Louis Tan, Hagan Lee and Elise Lohan belonged to the Psionics Department of the Singapore Police Force to handle such cases. The Department was formed 7 years ago and it was runned by a group of specially trained personnels, 7 altogether, head by Superintendent Daniel Manikum.

Others were Intelligence officer Razak , Administration officers Alexis Liew and Nicole Tan.

Being in the Department need not neccesarily means they have Psychic powers. They were just trained and dedicated to handle cases of such nature.

“Razak, run a check on the suspect. Do you copy?”

“Richard Ho Kim Siang. 32 years old. A confirmed Psi, Level 2 Telekinesis. No criminal record. Currently receiving treatment for mild psychological disorder.”

“Roger. Another deranged one.”

The three donned their vest, head protector, face shield and cocked their handguns. They entered by the back door and hid behind some crates.

The warehouse was dark except for the lights that shone in throught the windows.

Elise ran a mental scan on the layout of the warehouse.

“Louis. I sense some movement at the centre of the warehouse. The way there is on our right.”

“Let’s move in. Remember there is a hostage. Don’t attack blindly.”

The three moved quickly and silently towards the centre of the warehouse. Just then, Hagan accidentally made some noise by stepping onto a pile of nails.

“Who’s there!”

The nails on the floor started to rise.

“Duck!”

The three ran and dived in different directions as nails and other small debris flew and bounced off walls and other obstacles everywhere.

Louis kept low as he quickly assessed the situation. He couldn’t see where is the target and things were still flying around.

Looking up, Louis saw some lamps on the ceiling and it gave him an idea.

“Hagan! Elise! Close your eyes!”

Louis focused on the lamps and there was a sudden electrical surge running through the warehouse. Every machinary was turned on and the lamps shone forth brightly. For a moment, the whole place was lighted up with blinding white lights.

“Argh! My eyes! What did you do!”

All the flying objects fell to the ground. The room became dimmer as the lamps fused one by one. The target and the hostage were now clearly in sight.

“Now!”

Hagan and Elise spranged up and fired at the criminal.

Richard slumped to the ground, laying still.