Of Worlds, White men, and Children

Happy new year! In the spirit of the new year, a short review of last years resolutions that I made with my heart full of hope and enthusiasm, listed in the order I find favourable for the purpose of this post.

One: Learn a musical instrument

My own voice obviously not counting, and having made it probably worse with the shameless belting in the car and recurrent bouts of pharyngitis, this resolution is probably not going to happen anytime soon.

Two: Gain weight and look totally smoking hot(ter)

I have maintained a consistent 60 kilos for the past six years. Assuming that I've only gotten taller since then, I think it's quite safe to assume that my BMI is consistently plummeting into non-attractive (by society's media-obsessed standards, my own protests notwithstanding) levels. Bravo to that. I should start resolving to deteriorate for the sake of my self esteem I think.

Three: Do better in medical school

C+ for ophthalmology. Enough said, epic fail. Next.

Four: Go to a country with snow

Went to England this year. It was in the spring time, though. So no snow. Probably doesn't count. It can potentially count, but I'm not really that open to be easy on myself. Complacency is the ultimate bad hair day I strive to avoid like the bubonic plague. Funny thing is the vacation-nature of resolution number four probably contributed to resolution number three failing miserably.

Five: Win a tournament

Recently went to the World Universities Debating Championships held in Manila, the Philippines. Long story short, probably the most humiliating experience of my life apart from being one point shy of passing the basic life support exam the first time. Both extremely conceited events to quote. I am a work in progress.

New word learnt from the experience: Nuance. Meaning? A language tool that White people use to sneak in arguments that will give them the automatic win with White judges when put against unsuspecting Asian speakers no matter how incredibly unintelligent the argument sounds on the surface. The dictionary gives a whole other, less bitter and racist meaning. You are free to look it up yourselves. Insert smiley face here to offset awfully ranty tone with light heartedness.

Also to provide light heartedness, random touristy pictures of Manila. I imagine in a slideshow with Demi Lavato's "Skyscraper" playing in the background. This paragraph just took a creepy turn.

And so ends my debating career (a word I use lightly and laced with ample amounts of cynicism). I won a bunch of stuff. Just not a tournament, so resolution not achieved. Oh, well. Next.

Six: Find a speciality I am truly passionate about

Back in Malaysia, dread filled my wee little heart as I hear stories of my professor throwing a fit (well not literally) at the fact that I was absent from classes to waste my time debate in the philippines. For the record, not really my fault. Sluggish bureaucracy released the exemption letter late and failed to forward it to the paediatrics department.

Expecting a thorough telling-to, aggravated to no ends by the horror stories I've heard that painted him an unreasonable Nazi, I was pleasantly surprise with this man's reason. He is also brilliant, extremely funny, witty and not too bad on the eyes.

I am yet to decide whether I am truly passionate about paediatrics, but I can see myself drifting in that direction. So I've probably found a specialist speciality that I'm passionate about. Maybe.

All in all, It was a pretty okay year. It could have gone better, therefore I am not making any new resolutions. That's because I am going to try and finish up last years. I am also lazy to think up new ones. Remember how I said I hated complacency? I lied. Although I didn't manage to achieve anything I resolved to do last year, oh well.

Blogged lovingly from my iPad. How do you know a person has just gotten an Apple product? Just wait, they'll tell you in an obnoxious Facebook post or boring blogpost.

So far

The warm breeze or the shorter statures were not the things that truly slapped a "welcome back to Malaysia" on me. It was the ophtalmology clinic. A large room fitted with 6 cubicles, a section for visual acquity and a row of chairs against the wall with the hassle and hoi polloi reminscent of a morning market. Strangely, as comfortable and relaxing as the quiet clinics of the UK may sound in theory, I felt relaxed and calm for the first time amidst the haste.

I was home. =)

Sure, it's got its flaws. The traffic and politics, the racism and the homophobia. The heat and the humidity. But it was strangely home.

Ophtalmology has been enjoyable. Peeking into the window of the soul and seeing the inner workings of the human body manifested in that tiny peek hole. None of the secretions, saliva, and phlegm of ENT.

As I sit here now pretending to be an eloquent writer, 7 rounds of debate, a few dinosaurs, and a plethora of enlightening things later, I wonder whether my time could be better spent doing my case write up. And with that the post comes to an abrupt (and rather disgruntled) end.

Greetings from Ipswich

2 weeks and a dozen and a half common colds have passed since I stepped into this quaint little Ipswichy town. It seems rather cliché to comment on the friendly vibe you receive when entering the Ipswich hospital grounds, but just like slowing down to scan a road accident scene, it just can't be helped.

The greatest force of inertia we received when starting our posting in this land was the vibe that we got from the health care professionals there. Our very first day in the hospital was greeted warmly by a "Oh, you're medical students? Bless your heart!" from a nurse, her face clad with a grin from one ear to the other. The contrast drew dramatically in our minds as we imagined many a time the nurses back in Malaysia squealing "Out of my way, useless medical students!" or something else along those lines. Of course, it's unfair to generalise but precedence exists back home while remaining absent here.

My favouritest part of medical school is and has always been the clinic. There's something about watching doctors in action and witnessing their train of thought manifest itself that peaks my interest and makes me not want to run away from home and join the cast of Glee. I never minded the overcrowded state of the clinics back home and was completely fine with standing for 4 hours while learning from the specialists and registrars.

My experience may be biased by the fact that it's summer and everyone's off for holidays, but the idea of a single student to a single doctor in the clinic with a neatly tucked chair in the corner for my to sit down blew my mind. And that was even before the nurse practitioner offered to make me tea.

Passive aggressive rants aside, the time in Ipswich has been good. Not sure I like the weather, but perhaps I neglected to buy proper warm clothes because I underestimated the cold. Nonetheless, looking forward to another week and going back to Malaysia.

LDN

After about 12 hours of what can only be described as excruciating and painfully boring with a side of uncomfortable, my flight to London came to an end. At immigration, I practised in my head eloquently answering questions to prove that I'm not some illegal immigrant from a poverty-stricken South East Asian country coming to wash dishes in the underground dish-washer circuit. Failing to be eloquent, I managed to get past immigration nonetheless. I was stopped halfway to have my bags checked, probably because I was the only one wearing shorts in the airport.

Or that I look suspicious to a Londoner. Oh well, at least some things don't change.

Summer in London is like Reshmonu attempting to be a black RnB star. Dreadlock-clad, but just not there quite yet. Similarly, although the sun does shine more often than not, the temperature swings in the range of 16-24 degrees (staying at the lower ends most of the time, of course) with chilly frost-bite inducing winds that can literally set you off balance.

Should have bought thicker stuff to wear. Rusty on the right had the right idea.

In any case, the first day spent in London with aunty Jit included a lot of walking. That being said, the standard touristy pictures with semi-witty remarks follow suit.

The statue of Eros always seem to have people sitting around it chatting, taking pictures and smoking. Even as it approaches the evening.

Artsy fartsy style picture (not taken with those pretentious DSLRs though)

The view at Trafalgar Square. The National Gallery, a Statue of a King, and several other buildings that I've forgotten surround it. The timer counts down to the olympics in London.

The National Gallery

Initially excited about going in and looking at Renaissance-era paintings, I realised one can only appreciate so many depictions of infant Jesus and mother Mary and an assortment of other figures over and over again before feeling a twitch in my left eye. Nonetheless, it signifies the amount of history Europe has and the great minds and talents that walked its earth.

Obligatory fish and chips at a pub

I'm not posing, the winds are strong and my hair would've appeared very 80's if I had let it fly. And also I was posing.

Big Ben

Where that wedding everyone was obsessed about happened, Westminster Abbey

My first taste of London theatre.

In conclusion, the first day in London was a long, cold, tiring and an extremely new experience. Looking forward to familiarising myself with the place.

Sun is in the sky oh why oh why would I want to be anywhere else?

More artsy fartsy pictures

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