New Blog

Right, here ends this blog, which has kept me company for so many years and have seen me through so much.

As of today onwards, I willl be using a new Blogger blog.

Thanks for all the support and comments.

MICU Posting

Whew! I have finally managed to survive the two weeks of attachment at MICU at TTSH.

I mean, I did learn a lot of things there, but the cold gets to me. I am shivering even though I wore another layer under my uniform.

I got to see some really interesting procedures though. I saw how a CVP line is inserted and I even got to assist a few times. I saw insertion of IA line, extubation and even cornea harvest. They are all really interesting because they are the procedures that I don’t get to see in the general ward.

This marks the end of all my attachments. Yippee! 

Favourite Post Meme

I was blog hopping and I came across this Favorite Post Meme. I haven’t done a meme in a while, so I thought I will do this.

Rules: Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you’ve written.

Link One must be about family.
Link Two must be about friends.
Link Three must be about yourself.
Link Four must be about something you love.
Link Five can be anything you choose.

Post your five links and then tag five other people. At least two of the people you tag must be newer acquaintances so that you get to know each other better. (Readers: don’t forget to read the archived posts and leave comments.)

Link One: This one is about Mother’s Day.

Link Two: This one is about Eudora’s old blog.

Link Three: This is the day when I didn’t get to eat ice-ream when I really wanted to. 

Link Four: This is the booklist that I have put up for the TBR 2008 reading challenge.

Link Five: This is actually another meme. It’s kind of fun. Scarely accurate. 

The five people I tag to do this meme:

1. Eudora
2. Priyangi
3. Grace
4. Mariem
5. Nadiah

The Nanny Diaries

” The Nanny Diaries” is one delicous book. This book is written with just the right amount of humor that is fresh and funny, and just the right dose of sarcasm to make the book feel young and lively. This is seriuosly a great book not to be missed.

For those of you who are new to reading, let me give you a tip of advice about choosing a book. If a book can make you want to do any of the following three, it’s a great book.

1. You wish you were a character in the story becasue he/she is so perfect.
2. You hate a character so much that you wish you could either give her a good  shake to wake her up or strangle her to death so that he/she will not cause anymore misery to the people around him/her. 
3. You want to be best friends with a character in the book.

If you happen to feel any one of the above, that book you are reading must be a really good book. It means that the author has successfully evoked a certain feeling from you, a feeling so strrong tht you feel you have to act upon it.

I can safely tell you this is a great book, because I am feeling one of the three listed above. It is the second one. I can tell you that I really hate Mr and Mrs. X. They are not fit to be parents. They really disgust me. To them , a child is just an ornament to their “perfect” marriage. The child is a trophy to be shown off to friends, a live doll to dress up when the mood strike them. Mrs. X is not fit to be a mother. She knows nothing about mothering or what a child needs. She can’t do anything on her own. Without a maid, a nanny and a housekeeper, she will be living in a pigsty. She can’t even find a bow tie for her son! All she knows is how to doll herself up and trying to do things that will please Mr. X, althought it backfires most of the time. She’s like a dog that wags its tail when the owner is home, begging for some attention, but the master (Mr. X) doesn’t even give her a glance. I wouldn’t too, if I were Mr. X. She is just a pretty vase who can’t do anything right. She made all the stupid rules for her four-year-old son to follow and she thinks she has the right to monopolize everyone’s time just because she is paying them. She over-utilises people and she thinks lowly of everyone else. I HATE her.

Alright, here is the summary at the back of the book. You read the book and tell me what you think of Mrs. X.:

In between looking after four-year-old Grayer and running a thousand errands for Mrs X, his rich, uptight Manhattanite mother, Nan is tring to have a life. There’s colleage, shopping, her friends, her cate George. And the gorgeous Harvard boy from the sixth floor…

But the X family’s dramas keep intruding – visits from Mr X’s predatory mistress, catastrophic family outings and, as a final straw, the case of the marriage-destroying panties. As divorce looms, Nan realizes how attached she’s become of the X’s underloved son – and how nannying has become more than just a job. 

You know, this book really gives me the urge to try nannying. It sounds fun. You get to meet interesting people, you get pretty well-paid, and you get the expereince of a lifetime. Who knows, maybe I will meet somone hot, just like Nan did. I think I might trying nannying during the two months of vacation before I start work at TTSH. I just hope I don’t get an emplyer like Mrs X.

This is the movie trailer.

PRCP Reviewed

Today is the start of the last week of my PRCP attacment in ward 9C. After that I will be going to 6B for my specialised posting.

It has been three years already. So much has changed. I still remembered how it is like in year 1, when we are still called Freshies. I remember being so excited and clumsy during the attachements. All we did then was taking parameters and bed-making.

Then we went on to year 2  and we learnt more. We did more things during attachment such as hypocount, draining urine, doing dressings and so much more. All those fun times we had planning the FOC 2006 camp.

Now we are in the final year, with a few more months to go before we pass out as actual Staff Nurses. I still remembered being scared when Lay Hoon told us during the Orientation that we are supposed to take twelve cases by the end of the PRCP posting and act as the Principle Nurse. I was thinking,” Twelve cases? I don’t think I can even handle six.” Now I have no problem with twelve cases at all. Although I still need more practice in areas such as discharge, transfer, booking of appointments and last office, but I am sure I can funtion as a Staff Nurse.

That is, if I actually manage to pass my PRCP (that will be a miracle). Putting aside the fact that I have made two near-miss of medication errors, I am having a lot of problems signing my logbook in the PDA. The stupid PDA is giving me so much problems. At first I cannot log in the the NPalm Assessment, so I went all the way to school and Kylie fixed it for me. Now, it’s the same problem all over again. I can log in, but I cannot enter into my logbook. Damn it! 

[Add] My Clinical Facilitator/Instructor just told me that she is not failing me because of the two near-miss of medication errors. YES! Now if I can just get my logbook signed, I can (hopefully) pass my PRCP after all.

Birthday Wishlist

Like what I always do, I will post my birthday wishlist at the beginning of my birthday month so that you guys have time to buy the gifts if you actually want to get me something.

Like I always say, this is just a reference:

• Wild Swans by Jung Chang (Book)
• The Baking Bible (Book) - Priyangi, this is a replacment for the baking book you gave to me for Christmas. I lent it to someone, but I can’t remember who I lent it to! It will be the best if you can get that book for me. I can’t find it anywhere! It is called Greatest Ever Baking or something like that. If you can’t find it, then this book is okay. If you intend to get me anything, get me either of these two books. Love you so much!
• MP3 player

Vanishing Acts

Firstly, things that Jodi mention in this book just kind of hit home. Andrew Hopkins does magic tricks for the residents at the senior citizen centre. Words like ’sleight-of-hand’ and ‘illusion’ bring back so much memories for me. I used to know someone who did magic. He influenced me to do magic too, so I was surrounded by words like these for one period of time.

Secondly, her book gave me a glimpse into the lives of the Hopi Indians and the curel truth of what really goes on behind the closed doors of jail in

Thirdly, she actaully managed to make courtrooms, judeges and lawyers look human for once, and not the blood-suckers I always thought they were. She shows through her book that lawyers sometimes have to do things that are against their conscience. This is not even the first time she has managed to do this. In “Plain Truth” show shows that you have to help your client win the case even if you know that your client is guilty as charged, because that’s what you were hired to do: win the case, whether you yourselve agree with it.

Right, let’s go back to this book that I have just finished reading. apart from the things that I have mentioned earlier, the reason why this book stands out form the rest of her books is the way it makes me think:

Maybe people do things althought they know it is against the law because they have someone that they love very much and they just want to protect that someone, no matter what the cost.

Maybe the person that you always thought you would end up with isn’t The One.

If there is one thing I’ve learnt for this book, it’s that truth is so fragile. It is only as strong as your belief in it.

Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiance, and a job she loves, finding missing persons.

But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can’t recall. And then a policeman knocks at her door, and her world fractures into something unrecognisable…

IMM

IMM is the place to go if you want to get basics. For those of you who don’t know what ‘basics’ are, they are design-less pieces which are my, and should be your, fashion foundation.

Guess what? I just got two racerback tops (I just found out that they are called racerback tops and not tank tops. What’s the difference, anyway?) for $12.80 and a sexy black spaghetti top from C.O.A.X for $12.60 (10% dicount for THIS FASHION members). Three tops under $30. This is good.

Plus, I just found a really nice mini denim jacket and other equally good mini-cardigans at C.O.A.X. I think I will be going back there really soon, once I have a bit more spare cash. 

I have a date with my Mum to go shopping with her at Orchard on Sunday. Hope I will manage to find lots of really nice clothes.

Air-stewardess

When I saw the notification for recruitment of air-stewardess in the SIA website, I was delighted. I have always dreamt of being one of those pretty girls I see on the airplane and going to all sorts of places.

The interview is on the 27th of January. I really wanted to go. Even if I can’t get in, at least I kmow that I have tried.

I asked Mum about it and she asked me to talk to Dad about it. I kind of expected her to encourage me to go, so I was a bit disappointed by her answer.

Then I thought about it. I spend three years in polytechnic to become a nurse, and I become an air-stewardess without even working as a nurse at all? Isn’t that dumb?

Then my Mom gave me even more reasons why I should not go for the interview. She says, what if I actually got in, what will I do then? I have not finished my diploma. I will have a lot of headache deciding whether to accept the offer or not.

I thought about it and came to a conclusion.

I will work as an actual staff nurse for one to two years in probably TTSH. Then I will go for the SIA interview if I am still interested in becoming an air-stewardess by then. If I get in, I can happily become an air-stewardess or remain as a nurse. If not, I can continue to be a nurse until I know what my calling really is.

Barefooted

 I seriously don’t know what kind of luck I am having today. Everything was fine when I started out. I went to Jurong East Popular but they don’t have the book I am looking for. The kind staff said that the Popular in IMM might have that book, so I went to IMM. It turns out that the IMM Popular don’t have that book too. I got a few things that I need, a Mcflurry and boraded the shuttle bus that took me to the opposite side of the back of Jurong East Popular.

As I was crossing the road half-way, the straps on my right shoe snapped. It snapped at the side such that there is nothing that can anchor my feet in the shoe.

The nearest place where I can get a decent pair of shoes is in Jurong East Centre, where I have to walk quite a long way.

I attepted to walk with one shoe on and one shoe without, but I got so fed up in the end I took off both shoes and walked barefooted through Popular and through the linkway to Jurong East Entertainment Centre. 

Now I fully appreciate the cleaniness of Singapore pavements. I walked barefooted for at least 2 kilometers and nothing happened. If this were to happen in China, I don’t know how my holes I will have in my feet by the time I reach home.

When I reached the pedestrain crossing, a cab just happened to pull up in front of me. I jumped in and got home. I paid the cab fare by NETS.

Plain Truth

I am not sure if there is really this group of Amish people who lives in a place in America called East Paradise, but this book definitely provides one interesting read. Presuming that this group of German people actually exist, this book provides a fascinating insight into the Amish community.

The intruding ways of the Amish people, coupled with a muder happening in this conservative community, makes this book a must-read among Jodi Picoult’s books.

A shocking murder shatters the picturesque calm of Pennsylvania’s Amish country – and tests the heart and soul of the lawyer who steps in to defend the young woman at the centre of the storm…

The discovery of a dead infant in an Amish barn shakes Lancaster Country to its core. But the police investigation leads to a more shocking disclosure: circumstantial evidence suggests that eighteen-year-old Katie Fisher, an unmarried Amish woman believed to be the newborn’s mother, took the child’s life.

When Ellie Hathway, a disillusioned big-city attorney, comes to Paradise, Pennyslyvania, to defend Katie, two cultures collide – and, for te first time in her high-profile career, Ellie faces a system of justice very different from her own. Delving deep inside of those who live ‘plain’, Ellie must find a way to reach Katie on her terms. And as she unravels a tangled murder case, Ellie also looks deep within – to confront her own fears and desires when a man from her past comes back into her life.  

Songs of the Humpback Whale

I have to say, I am a bit disappointed. I was really expecting a good read, seeing that this is one of Jodi Picoult’s books, but I am sadly disappointed.

The book goes back and forth in time, till I am quite confused about the whole story. The ending is quite interesting, but the content of the book is somewhat unhappening.

Right, so much for my input. Here is the summary that is at the end of the book.

For years, Jane has lived in the shadows of her husband, renowned oceanographer Oliver Jones. But during an escalating arguement, Jane leaves woth their teenage daughter, Rebecca, for a cross-country road trip guided by her brother Joley to his Massachusetts apple farm, where surprising self-discoveries await.

Now Oliver, an expert at tracking humpback whales across vast oceans, will search for his wife across a continent – and find a new way to see the world, his family, and himself – through her eyes.

 

 

Wild Swans

I have seen this book in national libraries many times before, but I never picked it up because I thought it would be dull and boring. The coverpage is not attractive with just pictures of three women, against a light green background and the title and author’s name.

About a week ago, I was bored stiff at home and I was looking through the bookshelve in the study room when I saw this book. Seeing that this is a rather thick book, so I will have something to read for the next few days, I decided to give this book a try.

When I was still attending school in China, we were taught to love and respect Mao Zedong, otherwise known as Chairman Mao. We were taught many songs that sang praises of Chairman Mao, such as this one:

我爱北京天安门，天安门上太阳升。

伟大领袖毛主席，带着我们向前进。

我爱北京天安门，天安门上太阳升。

伟大领袖毛主席，带着我们向前进。

Only when I came to Singapore did I first learn that this is propaganda. It was in history class in secondary school did I learn about what actually happened during the Cultural revolution and I was horrified.

This book gave me a clearer view of what actually happened during those times. It follwed the footsteps of Jung Chang’s family dating back to the era of her great grandmother, when feet bounding was still practiced in China.

Together with Jung Chang, I travelled back in time and experienced the sufferings the people had to go through when China was under the control of the Kuomintang and the joy when the Kuomintang were defeated the Communist came into power. I thought, as did everyone else in China, that this meant the end of poverty for China and the emergence as one of the strongest countries ever known to the world. I felt the pain when, as many others in China, I realised that that was not to be. I felt the same anger and injustice the millions of Chinese must have felt during the Cutural Revolution for being condemned when they have done nothing wrong at all. I shared their grief when they lost someone they love.

This book changed my perceptions altogether. I have always thought that Chairman Mao is a great leader who cares about his people very much, but I am not too sure anymore. I am starting to feel certain resentment towards him.

There is one sentence in the last chapter of the book which left me a really strong impression:

“The core of his thinking seemed to be that human struggles were the motivating force of history and that in order to make histry ‘class enermies’ had to be continoulsly created en masse.”

Go ahead and read this book. It is an really inspiring read.

Cute Thing

I was blog-hopping and I found this on Nadiah’s blog. This is for Nadiah:

I like Nadiah.
Nadiah is cute.
If I were alone in a room with Nadiah, I would talk with her.
I think Nadiah should dress up more.
Nadiah needs confidence.
I want to be like Nadiah.

Do this for me too, especially those people who are in my links. Just let me know in the Comments of you want me to do one for you:

I ___ Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang is ___.
If I were alone in a room with Zhang Yang, I would ___.
I think Zhang Yang should ___.
Zhang Yang needs ___.
I want to ___ Zhang Yang.

As requseted, this one is for Eudora:

I like Eudora.
Eudora is very cute.
If I were alone in a room with Eudora, I would talk crap and eat ice-cream with her.
I think Eudora should have faith in herself.
Eudora needs someone to love her as she is.
I want to hug Eudora.

Now, for Jeanette:

I like Jeanette (I’m not a lesbian!).
Jeanette is irritating at times but a good friend.
If I were alone in a room with Jeanette, I would do all sorts of crazy things with her.
I think Jeanette should find a boyfriend.
Jeanette needs to accept people into her life.
I want to be friends forever with Jeanette.

New Year Resolution

Okay, so a new year is here, but I really don’t feel anything special. No shouts of joy, no feeling of happiness.

Yes, Pattie have answered me that the Reading the Author Challenge ends in December 2007. It seems that I have just missed it. It’s okay, I shall just make it my new year resolution to read all of Jodi Picoult’s books.

Right, talking about new year resolutions. I make them, not really because I want to, but mostly out of necessity, do that I will have some goal and (hopefully) the year will be spent fruitfully. I have realised that the reason my New Year resolutions have all gone down the drain is because I was overly ambitious. So, this year, I’m going to make it nice and simple:

• have a better realtionship with Mum (communicate more)
• learn to sketch
• read all of Jodi Picoult’s books

Simple enough? Let’s hope I can actually follow through with them this time.  

Christmas Special

I’ve always wanted an English Christmas. The kind where you gather at an old English house (bunglow) with the whole family. The house will be will warm and inviting, with a nice fire at the fireplace while it snows outside. The floors does not necessarily have to be carpeted, although they are most likely to be carpeted. There will be a real pine tree in the living room with Christmas decorations put up by hand by the whole household. There will be loads of beautifully wrapped presents under the tree, all waiting to be opened.  

Everyone in the house has arrived and the feast begins.  There will be roasted turkey stuffed with delicious filling hand-made lovingly by the mother. There will also be the puddings and the logcake and everything else. There willl be warmth and love as the dinner continues well into the night. After a delightful feast, everyone goes to bed.

Christmas Day is finally here and the family gathers around the Christmas tree and start exchanging presents. There will be exclamations and shouts of joy from the children. The family then goes out and watches a play or something like that.

Christmas Day draws to an end and everyone starts to leave, one by one, until the whole house is filled with nothing but the memories. 

Anyway, Merry Christmas to all! May everyone have a blessed year ahead and may all you wishes come true.

Kidnapped and Moby Dick

I guess I am not the literature and the classics kind of person. I have difficulty understanding all the old English. That’s what happened to the last two books that I am supposed to read for the From The Stacks book challenge.

One is Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. It talks about how young David Balfour, went to look for an unkown uncle, Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws, after his father’s death. His uncle tricked him into boarding a ship at Queen’s Ferry, where he was to be sold to America as a slave. After much struggle and some help from friends, he managed to secure his inheritance.  

Anyway, the summary at the back of the book goes like this:

When David Balfour is orphaned at the age of seventeen he learns of the existence of an unkown uncle, Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws. Arriving at Shaws with an introductory letter his father had entrusted to the recotr, he finds a miserly uncle in a dilapidated mansion. He is tricked into boarding a ship at Queen’s Ferry and is kidnapped to be sold into slavery in America. He meets Alan Breck Stewart, a hunted Jocobite, and when the ship is wrecked thay are hunted across Scotland till David finds his fortune.

The other classical book that I have read is Moby Dick by Herman Melville. This books is even harder to understand than Kidnapped because of all those old navy words used. It is basically talking about whaling and Captain Ahab’s obsession with killing Moby Dick. Moby Dick is the sperm whale that took off one of his legs. I don’t agree with whaling as I think it is a cruel thing to do. Whales are hunted solely for the spermaceti oil that is stored inthe head of the whale. After the precious oil have been collected, the rst of the body is thrown back into the sea.

Here’s the summary:

Ishmael, a schoolmaster drawn to the sea, tells a story of obsession for revenge. We meet Queequeg, Tashtego and Daggoo, the three harpooners, and the mates and crew of Pequod serving under Captain Ahab who is determined on revenge on the great white whale, Moby Dick. The whaling life is hard and dangerous for death is always present as we follow the men of the Pequod on their hunting. But Captain Ahab seeks only Moby Dick, the whale who seems to know and understand those who hunt him.

 With that, I have completed my From The Stacks book challenge. 

Nineteen Minutes

I think it is really not overboard when  I say that Jodi Picoult is a superb writer.

What can you do in nineteen minutes? How much can you accomplish in nineteen minutes?

This high school student killed ten students and wounded nine others in the short span of nineteen minutes.

Just based on this incident alone, Jodi Picoult managed to write a very interesting 568-page book. Now, that alone is an achievement. I, for one, can never do that, and I believe that many people cannot do that too.

So he goes to court to face his charges and startling truths are revealed.

You think that it’s happily ever after after he has been sentenced to jail? Read it for yourself.

Let me give you the summary at the back of the book:

Sterling is a small ordianry New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens – until a student enters the local high school with arsenal of guns and start shooting, changing the lives of everyone inside and out.

The daughter of thr judge sitting on the case should be the state’s best witness – but with her boyfriend dead and her childhood friend charged with murdershe is struggling to remember what happened in front of her own eyes…

 

Christmas Wishlist

Disclaimer: This list is only a reference for those people who want to get me something for Christmas (bless you and thank you) and don’t know what to get for me. If you think I will like what ever you are going to give me, just give it to me. I have faith in you, whoever you are.

Right, here is my Christmas wishlist:

• set of four Dan Brown books (I saw it at Jurong East Popular)
• a thick diary (to use for next year)
• The Chocoalte Run by Dorothy Koomson
• Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
• Yakuza Moon
• Mp3 player
• Refillable planner (weekly planner)
• Nokia 5200 0r 5700 handphone
• Tarot cards
• “The Family Stone” DVD/VCD
• Wild Swans by Jung Chang
• “Why Why Love” VCD
• “Devil Beside You” VCD
• Slingbag (that can put A4 size things)
• Bolster

That’s my lot. Wishlists, people. If not I will just get you anything that I think you might fancy, so don’t blame me if you don’t like what you get. Post your wishlist in your blog or drop me a line in the Comments and I will see to it, yeah? 

Guys: Give Thanks For Women!

Hey. I found this really interesting article on the Web today. It is Guys: Give thanks to women!  That goes to show how great we women are. This is for you, all you guys out there.