India and Peace?

A terrorist bombing.
A 4.2 quake.
Both happened in Delhi.
On the same day.
7 September 2011.

Hope all my friends and their family are safe in Delhi.
And also hope that nothing shall hinder my trip to North.

Please say a prayer for India.

Finally (almost)

Despite being in India for 5 years, I have yet to visit Taj Mahal.
In fact, when I was awarded my scholarship to pursue medicine in India, I had doubts. I was reluctant because in my opinion, India is overcrowded, dirty, smelly, etc etc.

I still remember I was sitting in the lecture hall in Kedah Matriculation College. I was not in the mood to attend lecture (such an emo teenager back then). When the lecturer started the class, her desktop wallpaper showed up on the projector screen. 


It was a magnificent picture of Taj Mahal which left me in awe.

Immediately I shook my friend who was sitting next to me and told her, "That's it! I am going to India. Because I want to go to Taj Mahal."

That was how I made up my mind to study in India.

Now that I am almost done with my degree here, I still haven't set foot at one of the wonders of the world.


But I'm on my way. Currently in the planning phase. Hopefully my dreams come true next month. 

"My hobby is to become a doctor"

Mansi was visiting her grand-uncle in the private ward when she decided to popped her head in front of me and watched me complete some documentation. I smiled at her and continued my work as I was running out of time to complete the many things unaccomplished. She was watching me for some 10 minutes and finally decided to talk to me.

"What's your name?"

"3R1N, and yours?"

"Mansi."

"Are you from China?"
*laugh*
"Err, my grandparents were."

"Who are you visiting?"
"My...erm...grandmother's...erm....brother."
Perhaps that's too complicated for her to relate. 

"So do you want to become a doctor?"

She nodded eagerly with a big smile.

"Is that why you are so interested in what I am doing right now?"
"Yeah! My hobby is to become a doctor." *Full of confidence*

WOW!!!!!
"You mean, your ambition?"

She blushed. Oops.

"How old are you?"
"I'm 12years old. I go to i-cant-remember-what-she-said School."

"Can you read what I'm writing?"
"No. But you write very fast."
"Hmmm, well, I have to."
"Does your hand hurt writing so fast?"
"Not really. I'm used to it."

"So what doctor do you want to be next time?"

Since she is so ambitious and confident, I thought she might already have a speciality in mind.

"I want to be like you."

*pause* "HAHAHAHAHAHA!* 

Seriously, I just got to know her, or rather, we just spoke for 5 minutes, and I wasn't even attending to a patient, I was doing paperwork. Which part of that impressed her? I am just an intern. I am not one of those consultants who walked with aura and a flock of postgraduates,house surgeons, nurses and students scrambling behind him.

For a kid like her to be inspired to become a doctor, I pictured a scene like this.

A doctor swings his stethoscope around his neck, rushes in behind the curtains, performs CPR frantically, shouts "CLEAR" and then pushes a pair of iron-like-thingy into the patient's chest and made the almost lifeless fella bounce 2 feet high, and finally the flat line on the monitor shows some spikes.

This was what we used to see in the Hong Kong soap operas before House MD and Grey's Anatomy era.

"So, do you know that besides this ward, there are other wards on the other side of the hospital, which is the free ward, where the poor patients are admitted because they can't afford the medications and surgeries?"

"Yes."

"So, next time when you become a doctor, will you attend to them? The free ward is not beautiful like this one is. It is very crowded and pretty uncomfortable to be at. They are not educated like us. But they are ill too. Will you treat them like treating everyone else."

"Yes." No hesitation at all.

She's a sweet girl. I hope when she grows up and successfully becomes what she wants to be, she will not forget what she said.

I enjoyed chatting with her. I asked if she will come again tomorrow and at what time. She ran off into the room and came out as I was leaving to tell me that she will be here around 5 to 5.30pm. She was still walking with me all the way down the corridor until I exit the door. But I told her I may or may not be here at that particular time. She says ok. 

I wanted to exchange emails with her. Unfortunately she doesn't have one. She only has her father's.

She made my day. Not because she wants to "be like me", but talking to her lighten up my mood.

Immediately after I left the private ward and went to the free ward, I had a bad time with my blur, bossy, annoying, problematic superior. It really irritates me when someone gives you instructions when she herself is confused about what she wants to do. I tried so hard not to explode and kept reminding myself to not let this ruin my happiness. Sniffed back the escaping aqueous, I finished my work and called it a day.

Sandwiched

I am sandwiched between two groups of human being.
The educated, well-dressed professionals.
And the illiterate, shabbily-clothed patients.


The former is arrogant, has poor leadership, yet likes to shout and order people around, equates anger to awesomeness and frustration to greatness, and whines all day long wondering why does his or her life suck.


The latter is humble, polite, patient, soft-spoken, does not know much but definitely will not act smart, and most importantly, poor but is generous enough to spare you a smile. Definitely contented.

Keeping the sandwich in perfect shape is important to keep the system running.
Hope this helps me level up my EQ.

Cretinism

A father carried his son into the OPD. Anyone who sees the little boy will pause to take a second look at him.

Yes, by the look itself, he did not look like any other toddler.

He looked like he is 2 years old, but when I saw his details on the card, he is actually 5. His name is K.

He has the stature of a 2-year-old, with a large, protruding tongue being the most distinct feature, and a blank look.

Dr RB, my consultant paediatrician, exchanged looks with us. We knew, she had the diagnosis in her head. K's parents gave us a detailed history.

K is their 4th child among 4 other healthy children. He seemed alright when he was born but after 2 months, his parents noticed that their son was not taking feeds well. He did not seem to be able to swallow the milk fed to him, and often end up chocked. Along with that, they had noticed his tongue getting bigger, which later protruded out from the mouth. Tooth eruption is also delayed. Till today, he is fed with only semi-solids. 

They were also worried as their son passes motion once in 1-1.5 weeks besides sleeping excessively. Besides, K's milestones are delayed. Since the age of 2, he was only able to walk with support. He coos and smiles when he is happy. 

K's hair was sparse, and his skin was cold and dry. Anterior fontanelle was kinda soft. He has a short neck,  supraclavicular deposition of fat, protruding abdomen, short limbs and stubby fingers. Slow pulse rate was recorded. Sluggishness and decreased muscle tone were also observed. 

Thyroid function test revealed that T4 level was only 0.1 mcg/dL (normal range 4-12) and TSH level which should range between 0.3-3.0 mIU/L was above hundred! So, it is primary hypothyroidism and most likely a congenital one (though mother's antenatal history did not suggest anything).

On the X-ray, epiphysis of long bones were barely visible, most carpal bones were not osssified, suggestive of bone age of 1 year.

K was started on Levothyroxine and was told to come back for monthly follow up.

**********

It is sad to say that K has been brought for treatment pretty late.

His parents are illiterate and live in a village pretty far from a town, explaining their ignorance about the child's special condition and their visits to a so-called local doctor who gave K oral medication to reduce the tongue enlargement. WTH?

However, I noticed something more than their ignorance. K's parents, especially his father, are very concerned and protective over his son. Being poor and uneducated, working as a manual labourer doesn't stop him from giving his unconditional love for his special child. I saw him changing K's diaper one day, and I would say he is definitely gentle and skillful at it. I must have judged him wrongly when he spoke to us a little rudely in Kannada.

K is unique and adorable, not because of his congenital condition, but for who he is. I felt so sorry for him when we had to prick him to collect blood sample. He was apprehensive with strangers around him, but we failed to reassure him probably because he couldn't comprehend. He was scared and cried. His cry was weak and coarse, there were no tears, but it hurts to see the fear and sadness in his eyes. 

K enjoyed banging the railing of the bed against the frame while he was cruising along the bed. He chuckled at the loud sound produced and looked at us, as if he was telling us ''It's fun, you wanna try?'' Even the consultants paused to look and smile at him during the bedside discussion. No one tried to stop him. No one could resist the innocent smile on his face.

I think K does learn things his own way. Someone gave him a phone to play with, he brought it to his ears and started ''talking'' on the phone, smiling all the way. He must have observed the adults doing it. I gave him a keychain with a tiny bear dangling from it and I swing it in front of him. Then he took it from me, swing it also, looked at me and smiled. Later, he went faster and faster, the bear went round and round like riding on a carousel on turbo,  and K got even more happy and excited.

However, K did not like measuring tape. I was trying to take record his anthropometry and he got irritated, pulling the tape away from him. Sorry,boy. 

No matter what, he is still an angel to everyone.
I hope he will improve.

barefoot

A father brought 2 daughters to the Paediatric Department.
One of the girsl was wearing her school uniform which looks like it has not been washed for years. Crumpled, faded, and dirty.Her yonger sister, who is thalassemic, was also wearing a dress in the similar filthy condition.The first thing that came to my mind was, they must be really poor. Sigh.


However, when I spoke to the father, he appeared to be decently dressed from head to toe.
I took a second look at his daughters. It's obvious that their hygiene, cleanliness are simply neglected.


Since the younger child's haemoglobin is only 3.5 gm%, she needed to be admitted for blood transfusion.
As they were leaving the OPD, I noticed both the girls are not having any shoes on!!
My goodness! How can a father let her daughters walk around in this rainy season without any shoes or slippers on when he himself has a comfortable pair of protection??


Selfish parents.

Deliberate Ignorance

Another month of Rural Posting under Department of Community Medicine.
I've chosen Primary Health Centre in Handignur, an agricultural village 20 km away from Belgaum.

After working there for 3 days, I'm not sure whether to be surprised or not, to realise that those who are in charge of seeing the patients are prescribing medicines rather inadvertently.


We had more than 100 patients in the OPD today. 
The pharmacist came to help as well. And she saw patient faster than I did.
I'm not impressed. 
Why? Not because of my language barrier I see patient slower.
Because before the patients could finish telling their complaints, she already threw the medications in front of them with instructions given faster than a bullet train, and called for the next patient.
Any old patients with bodyache, joint pain, Tab. Diclofenac BD.
Anyone with pain abdomen, Tab. Dicyclomine.
One patient had a right sided abdominal pain. Before i could ask more, she threw (YES, she threw) the drugs in front of him and sent him off.
I couldn't even call him back because the whole OPD is congested. Patients kept pouring in. And they don't sit down and wait. They crowd around you!
I couldn't even get up from my seat. They just pushed their way through and pressed their OPD slips right in front of you.


I can totally understand that these villagers are illiterate, uneducated, ignorant, and sometimes stubborn. 
They come demanding for injections for every single complaint, right from fever to flu to bodyache to cuts. 
Most of the times, these injections are not required at all. Instead of explaining to them patiently about their illness, the suitable treatment given and why they do not require injection, those who are working in the OPD just give them an injection, simply a Diclofenac IM, or Cyanocobalamine IM, just to shut them up and send them away.


Yes, i know. They are uneducated. They will never understand. 
They think that injection is the miracle treatment. 
But if no one ever explain to them, sensitize them, remind them, make them understand, obviously they will never know. It is not something which can be achieved in just one day. It is a long process. 
But nobody ever seem to make an attempt. 


Blame it on the montly rotation? 
Interns work for one month and the following month next batch of intern comes. New faces every month. 
Patients try asking for injections again, and also tell you that the previous doctors used to give them injections. 
To save the trouble from spending 10 minutes explaining to them, most people choose to ask them to lie down, expose their butts, load the syringe and poke! Easy! Takes hardly 60 seconds.
Even the Boss adopts this approach. He is the only person who has been permanently working at this place. Patients know him, and they trust him. He says "Give injection", what can you say?


Fine. Injections. With safety precautions, risks of infection can be avoided. The drugs given does less harm than advantage to the patients. They are vitamin deficient anyway. It eases their pain, and also acts as a placebo. I shall say nothing.


What about prescribing antibiotics for only 3 days? Reason being, these people won't bother continuing taking their medications after they get slightly better. So why waste medicine.
So, the instruction given is : NOT MORE THAN 6 TABLETS OR CAPSULES SHOULD BE GIVEN. 
Instead of Amoxicillin 500mg TID for 5 days, BD 3 days is given.


Well, if patient is not compliant, we can't help it. But at least i think we could have tried explaining to them to create the awareness of completing full course antibiotic.
But when the doctor/pharmacist is the one who prescribe an incomplete course, it is a whole different story. We are the one responsible for causing the emerging and worsening of drug resistance.

I really thank my post graduate who have guided me while i was posted in Khasbag Urban Health Centre last month. She is one doctor whom i look up to. She warned me about Antimicrobial Resistance, which is the theme of 2011 World Health Day. She is one doctor that i see talking to the patients very patiently, telling them every detail of their illness in the simplest way they can understand. She never raises her voice at patients. She definitely makes a good Community Medicine doctor. And I think a good doctor should have these basic qualities.


How i wish i could speak the local language better, so that i can speak to them better.
Though i can manage with my broken Kannada and Hindi, majority of the villagers in Handignur speaks Marathi, as it is close to the Maharasthra border. I need to pick up another language in a short time to make myself useful for this one month. Wonder if it is even possible. But I'll try.

A professor of mine once said, "You don't need to be such a hero, to try save the lives of a hundred people and hurry through all of them, but neglected most of them. All you have to do is give your full attention to that one single patient you are attending to at a time, give him the best you can. That is suffiecient."

Negligence

Was posted to Under Five Clinic.
My job is to weigh the kids, measure their heights, plot their growth charts, ask about their diet, schedule them for immunization, ask their parents if their child is ill.
Easy job. Stress free.
Senior doctors are also there, to manage more complicated cases, which is however, hardly any.

The first child of the day came. 14-month-old. I weighed him and checked his records. His weight has been been same in his last 4 visits (months). 9kg.
I thought, something must be wrong with the bathroom weighing scale. I set it to zero and weighed again. Same. I put him on the infant weighing scale instead. It showed 8.5 kg.
Whether is it 8.5 or 9, he is definitely underweight. He should be weighing at least 11 or 12 kg. On top of that, his growth curve on the chart has been plateauing since the past 4 months. This is the earliest sign of malnutrition.
I tried to ask the mother about the childs diet, eating pattern, so that I could advice further. I was attempting with my super broken kannada. She couldn't understand me. I tried my hindi, she knows only kannada.

Feeling useless, I seek help from the community medicine postgraduate, who was posted together with me. He looked at the chart, and said, "It's ok. Nothing serious." And he sent both of them off and continue reading his newspaper.
I told him again, "Sir, his weight has not been increasing for 4 months.".
He got a little irritated, "Ya ya, it's ok."

I could do nothing. I was thinking to myself, 'Are you kidding me? What's the point of running an Under-5 Clinic, if you could detect malnutrition at the earliest but do nothing about it, just because you are to lazy to do the already very easy job.

We know many of them are uneducated, or unaware about their children's growth adequacy, nutrition, hygiene, etc. To prevent severe malnutrition which are not treated in its early stage, we do primary prevention, i.e. Growth monitoring. Even health workers are trained to pick up this skill. It is anyway nothing difficult. This it's the main aim of Under-5 clinic, Anganwadis, to tackle this problem at the so-called 'grassroot level'.

But when a qualified doctor, a soon-to-be community medicine specialist, who is sitting in a tertiary hospital, does not bother about spending a little extra time and effort to look into one child's nourishment, do you think others, especially those posted to the rural areas, won't have such similar attitude.

I feel bad for the parents who are willing to bring their children, monthly, for growth monitoring, but not only they are not told about the problem they will be facing, the doctors in whom they trust don't give a damn about them.

How do they expect improvements in healthcare when the attitude of the healthcare provider is so disappointing?

Dear Japan, hang in there!

The day after tsunami hit Japan, I was having breakfast in Eefa. Sitting at the table next to us were a man in his sixties and two other women. I did not pay much attention to them.

While they were leaving the man approached us and said something which I couldn't hear properly. The first thing that came to my mind was, this man must be asking if we are from Thailand or Korea and what are we doing in Belgaum. (Incidence like this happens frequently ever since I set foot in India 4.5years back. It irritates me.)

So, I gave him this blank stare, which I myself know very well that it's rude.
After a few seconds I realized that he was asking if we are Japanese, how are our relatives back home, and if they are badly affected.
I was shocked. This old man actually cares and concerns about the Japanese after learning about the mishap from the news. We told him we are Malaysians. And he expressed his sympathy for the tsunami victims.

I felt bad. I'm sorry to judge him.

For the first time, I felt love and kindness, in India. Especially when everyone is busy celebrating the World Kannada Formation Day, flooding the town just to see Aishwarya Rai, blasting music at wee hours; when many who are involved in the medical field shows no empathy to patients but thinks only for themselves, blinded by success and luxury, when nobody gives a damn about others unless they need help, a thought like this really made me feel warmth.

I really wanted to thank him on behalf of the Japanese.

Even when the majority do not seem to care, a single soul who shows his concern and support is worth more than anything.

For those who are struggling to survive, or those who are overcoming the grief of losing their loved ones and their homes, stay strong! Ganbatte!

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The Hidden Heaven of the Tibetans - Mundgod

Mundgod, also known as Mini Tibet, is located at the suburbs of Karnataka, with the most number of Tibetans out of all the Tibetan settlement all over the world. Looking at the outstretched lush greeneries on both the sides of the highway, one will not expect a small town to be hidden amongst the greens. There lives the Tibetans for the past 40 years in Doeguling Tibetan Refugee Settlement.

I have been wanting to go to Mundgod since last year when I found out about this place from a mandarin speaking Tibetan monk who got admitted in the Surgery Ward. Finally, we made a trip there yesterday. 9 of us. It took 2 and a half hours to reach.

We first visited the newly built Drepung Loseling Monastery, which was inaugurated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in January this year. My Tibetan friend invited me to attend the inauguration but too bad i went back to Malaysia. The monastery simply looks majestic, with red pillars and a very large shrine hall. There are statues of different god and goddess in the shrine hall, with Lord Buddha sitting in the middle. We offered white robes (Khata offering). The robe is then placed in front of a cardboard model of Dalai Lama on his throne. (I'm not sure if we are offering it to him or to Lord Buddha. But I guess as long as there's sincerity in the heart, what makes the difference?)

We then went for lunch in Lama Society Restaurant. They served Indian food. Was expecting Tibetan food, but my senior who came for the 4th time said they serve beef and we all don't eat beef. And so happen that the veg dumpling stall is closed. As all of us were hungry, we didn't really mind it. Everyone got excited to see chopsticks on the table. I guess, eventhough some of us don't know how to hold chopsticks properly, but seeing something like this just make us feel at home. And the menu is written in Tibetan Language. Cool huh...

There, we met a very helpful lama who could speak fluent mandarin. He came from Sichuan and has been here for almost a decade. He helped us order food and my senior started chatting with him. I was interested in their conversation, but I'm not sure if i could join them as I presume Tibetans are conservative and the females shouldn't talk too much. So i could only eavesdrop. Thanks to my senior for being extremely sociable and managed to make friend with anyone in just 1 minute. It turned out that this lama became our tour guide, showed us 2 very important places, where a normal tourist wouldn't have a chance to visit.

After lunch we headed to Gaden Jangtse Theosam Norling Monastery. The sky looked extremely beautiful. The shrine hall and the statues looked almost similar to the previous monastery. Later I realized that in fact they are all similar. All monasteries have the symbolic thing on the roof -- 2 deers (i think) and a wheel. (I haven't had time to find out about this, sorry if i give wrong info)

The lama then took us to a house, which was where an old lama used to stay previously. This house is now frequent by many pilgrims. Why so? It is said that this lama is clinically declared dead but his mind is still in a meditative state. The surprising thing is there is no sign of decomposition until his meditative state has ceased, which was 3 weeks later. Samadhi is the word they used to describe it. They have now put him in a big wooden squarish box which i assume he is in a sitting position inside.We paid tribute to him and sat down in the house to listen to another English speaking lama tell us more about this lama and Mundgod. Didn't snap any pics here. I don't think we should.

Our 'tour guide' lama was still with us. My senior was again talking to him. I sat beside him to listen to what he says. He kept saying that his mandarin isn't so good. But i personally thinks that his mandarin is good. Good enough to convey his thoughts. It was just a casual talk but I gained a lot from it. And I would say it was my most pleasurable moment in this trip.Will write about it more in my next post.

The last destination is Drepung Gomang Monastic University. There is also a big shrine hall, basically it is also like all other monastery. On the top floor is H.H. Dalai Lama's room and his conference room. We managed to enter and look around. Thanks to our 'tour guide' lama. We were told that there is a room for him in every monastery. For him to stay whenever he comes. (But so far, he has only been to Mundgod twice. Once in 1995 and once in 2008.)
This trip wasn't anything exciting or adventurous. It was simply pleasant. Just pleasant. Being there makes you feel calm, no burden, no troubles. The streets are not busy,no litter, no paan, no spitted sputum lying aroun like what we get in Belgaum. There are not many vehicles. You will only see many monks dressed in their traditional maroon-coloured robes on the streets, whether young or old. Perhaps another factor is the faces. Majority are tibetans. We all look-alike. So we don't feel like we are in a foreign place at all.

I'll definitely go back again. I will.

moon no cake

It’s mooncake festival tomorrow…
No special plans, its just another Sunday for me…
I don’t mind at all…
But I have no mooncakes to eat…

This is the third time I’m not celebrating mooncake festival in Malaysia…
But this is the first time I have no mooncakes to eat… (sob)

I still remember, during the first mooncake festival I celebrated in India 2 years back, I called up all my ah gong ah ma uncle aunty to wish them.

Everyone might be thinking that it was just another mooncake festival, no big deal, but for me, and for the first time, I was counting down the days and was listing down the ppl whom I wanna call.

It was a big thing for me… it was a bigger thing when I started crying when my ah ma ask me if I was taking good care of myself.

My friends and I manage to bring some mooncakes before we left Malaysia. Everyone shared the small pieces of mooncake cut into eight or even more smaller pieces..haha..

But it was sufficient... we even drank chinese tea (brought from home)…

It brought lanterns also…lit them up last year…but this year a bit lazy… all I want is MOONCAKE…!!!!

im a ''proud'' malaysian

microbiology viva...

"good morning ma'am."

"good morning...where are u from?"

"ma'am, malaysia."

"originally from malaysia?"

"err no ma'am...my ancestors are from china..."

"ok...so tell me about the infectious diseases which are seen in malaysia.."

"..... errrr ..... ermmm.... tuberculosis?! err...not so common...but in rural places... (crap crap crap)"

"OK so tell be about tuberculosis!"


aaaahhhh!!!! so dead..
ok i know about tuberculosis...
but i dunno my country!!
n i have to serve my country in the future...
yeah i know this is bad....
i did think about knowing the epidemiological diseases in malaysia.... t
hought of finding out n read more after my exams...
but i didnt expect her to ask about it in my viva lah....
hope she doesnt know i gave the wrong answer lah...
but she's one smart associate professor...hmmm... is it possible that she doesnt know?
arghhh...
shame!! shame!!!

=(

nice uncle

was rushing through my forensic medicine notes when my study table light started blinking...then it got back to normal...n blinked again after a long time..

i thought something was wrong with the electricity...not bothered..

when i came back to the room after my exam, my study table was like disco lah..the light was blinking non stop...hahaha..

it was past 5pm..went to search for the hostel electrician but he was no where to be seen..nevermind lah..
one more subject to go, i had to sit on my bed to study to get proper lighting...cant be studying in dark as my eyesights are almost gone..

after my last paper today...came back...hunt for the electrician...
then he came...standing at the door smiling...hehe...
he told me to write a letter of application (leceh procedure... to fix the light also must write love letter to the warden)..then he started checking..then replaced with a new tube or starter...(forgot to ask him wut was wrong)...

then he was searching for the transparent shield that covers the light..hehe..i took it out long time ago n was on top of the cupboard...filled with dust...paiseh lah..told him i'l fix it myself coz its dirty...

uncle so nice la..he say come come i wash for u... aaah? no need gua..u good enough to come fix the light d...
so he went to wash in the kitchen..wash with soap n scrub sumore lah... took longer than my dish-washing time...
then he dry it...then he fixed it...

then i saw screwdriver sticking out from his pocket..wanted to borrow to fix 2 screws jutting out from my rack... he asked me wut i want to do with it..i show him the screws..and he fix them for me also lah..!!!

because of communication problem..all i could say was..thank u bhaia...thank u..hehehe..thank u...
he also kept saying welcome madam...welcome...hehe..

oh..n i remembered..he fixed my bicycle reflector long time ago...i only asked him if he has the 'nut' to replace the missing one.. n he fixed the whole thing for me..hahaha..

nice uncle...simple humble helpful polite responsible efficient..
the maids in the hostel should learn from him, rather than sitting n chit chatting whole day..
or maybe... everyone should be like him...hehe..
i also muz learn from him n not always be a fighter cock...despite having language problem here...muahahaha!!!!

what should i say?

it was Saturday afternoon. longing for this last class to get over by 4pm.
using the antique over head projector, Madam was changing the yellowish transparency one after another, explaining meanwhile.
students were copying down the notes, or reading other stuff under the table, or dozing off with eyes wide open, or playing games with their mobile phones.

suddenly...

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE? SLEEPING? GET UP!! YOU !! YES YOU!! SLEEPING?? GO OUT!!"

blur-looking boy got up...mumbled something like "no ma'am i wasnt"..

"birthday boy!! ~haaappy birthdaaay to yooouuuu~..hahahahaaaaa..."

"WHAT? *BUTTER*DAY? I DONT CARE..I KNOW YOU ARE SLEEPING. GET OUT!! AND YOU! YES THE ONE BEHIND! YOU ARE ALSO SLEEPING? GET OUT!!"

"no ma'am...i wasnt sleeping.."

"GET OUT!!"

"no ma'am...(explanation and explanation)"

"GET OUT!!"

"oh no birthday boy...~~happy birthday to you~~waaakaaakaaaa....muuaaahhaaaahaaaa... "

*Killer Stare ALERT!!* Madam switched off the OHP, grabbed her transparencies and stomped off. upon reaching the door, she turned. *Higher Voltage Stare ALERT*

"ALL OF YOU WILL BE MARKED ABSENT FOR 2 CLASSES!!"

class shouted : "NO MA'AM..PLS MA'AM...SORRY MA'AM....hahahahahahaha"

immediately the lecture hall turned into a fish market...guys cheering for their victory upon defeating their target...girls complaining about their innocence and for losing their attendance..

someone came trotting down the hall towards the door...it was the class representative...

class remained a fish market...

10 minutes later, class rep came back and told everyone off, giving warning to those who created the havoc.

So, class ended early. indeed.
everyone happy?

me? hahaha..whatever...
i hurried back to hostel before it started pouring...

Hi from Bengaluru International Airport

My 2-week holidays flew pass just like that. I'm now again in India.
Right now I'm sitting in the new Bangalore Airport, waiting for my next flight to Belgaum at 9.15am. There is much time to kill. Luckily I'm not alone. Shabbi and Ashwin are here as well.

I don't feel as excited as I was traveling back to Penang. But I do feel like I'm going back to a place where I'm supposed to be. Also a kind of ''going-home'' feeling. Probably I'm too used to my hectic daily routine. I feel exhausted at the end of the day but it was fruitful. I'm glad.

Back at home, however, life is too sedentary. No discipline (mom needs to yell at her top of her voice many times to wake me up), no stress, no ''to-do-list''. After a while, I no longer feel comfortable with this kind of lifestyle.
Even though it was my own house, own room, own cupboard, I feel like I'm just a temporary resident in the house. I dont take my clothes out from the cupboard, I take them from my luggage. I dont find my toothbrush on the basin, I take them out from my toiletries pouch. I dunno where are the knife,plates,mugs,soyasauce,flour, etc are in the kitchen.

And most importantly, I DON'T GET TO DRIVE AROUND!!! So wutever i wanna do i gotta be like...''mommy...i need to get this...get that..i need to go here...i need to go there...'' and mommy will fetch me.. . I know my dad n mom are just worried and protective coz i havent been driving for such long period. But then, I feel odd. Coz in India, i used to get things done by myself. But now i cant. It's ok lah... try to enjoy being a princess for once...

Luckily Bangalore New Airport got wireless. I need to send an sms which cost me Rs3 to get the password. And i can use for 1 hour. Not bad maa hoh..hehehe... Another 7 hours to kill. Not so bad lah hoh? hehehe... hope i can survive this..

And to my ''YL-14'', here i come... hope u are not too dirty n filled with moss for me to clean up...have some mercy on me...

p!cs fRoM M.A.H.A.B.A.L.E.S.H.W.A.R.

sorry for the tiny pics n for being late in uploading this pics..thanks to the snail-speed connection here...jz want to get it done fast..so compressed them until so small..

Mahabaleshwar, a hillstation situated in Maharashtra. Went there on 7th May with my classmates, a total of 76 ppl.
Weather was pleasant at night and in the morning, but the afternoon sun was jz killing me.
Had lots of berries--strawberries n malberries.(came back suffering from berries overdose/intolerance for 2 days).
The night sky was beautiful. ''Twinkle twinkle little stars!!!'' There were so many. I just cant forget the sky. Something which i couldnt capture with my camera.

Not gonna describe each n every place that we went to. Lazy.
I'm happy that I got to visit some places in India (besides Goa) after being almost 2 years here..also I got to snap picturesss!!! hehehe!! most happy...
I wanna travel to more places...but JNMC...pls grant me longer holidays...!!!

...hungry...its 2am...zzz...

p!cs fRoM D.A.N.D.E.L.I.

a step closer to Mother Nature

01 may 2008.

Woke up at 5am in the morning and departed to Dandeli.
Spent only one and a half hour to reach Kali River, where we started the day with river rafting.
Guess everyone was excited to put on the lifevest and helmet and grip on to the paddle.

Here we go...into the waters..
We started with some training in the calm waters.How to hold the paddle in the right way, how to paddle forward, how to backpaddle, how to sit in the raft, how to get down when we are going into the rapids...and also jumped the waters n practice floating...just in case...
It was about 9am at that time, and i just jumped into the water when our guide ask us too, never thought if the water is freezing or not (it wasn't) or if there are any crocodiles or fish or snakes..

Deeply in love with the lush greeneries surrounding us when we were on the river...世外桃源 is the best word to describe the majestic sight.
How i wish the river doesn't have an end so that i can sit in the raft and let the water take me down the river forever as i wish...
On the river bank, there were 2 tree houses, used as chalet. The tree houses looked so beautiful from the outside. Simple, wooden, on the tree top. I bet the view of the scenery from inside the house will be awesomely awesome.
I always wanted a tree house since young. Liked it so much after reading ''Peter and Jane'' by Ladybird. Shall i say it is my dream house?

Actually, not much of rafting (paddling) did we do. Half of the time we stopped and the guide will show us some birds or plants. He was the one who controlled the direction of the raft and whatever we did was directed by him.
"FORWARD" and we will go paddle forward.
We went through about 9 rapids. It was fun (only at that moment, as i don't quite remember how it felt anymore). I was expecting some huge waterfalls where the whole raft will fall from a height n water will splash, like going on the Genting Highlands Sungai Rejang Splash.
But it wasn't exactly like this. No waterfalls. (Imagined too much). The waters were not as wild as how the signboard described it to be. We did 'rushed' down the slopes of water and got bounced up and down by the waves.
Apart from that, all the rapids were almost the same except for the last one where we did 'surfing'.
We paddled upstream to get our raft stuck in the pit, where the strong current of water splashed onto and over us. We had to cling on very strongly to the rope beside the raft. Or else will get chucked out.
As i was wearing my contact lens, the guide told me to closed my eyes tight so that water won't hit my eyes and break the lens. Sad. I couldn't get to see how it was like facing the strong currents. All i did was bend as low as possible and closed my eyes n mouth. But i could feel the raft getting tossed up and down (hoping that it will capsize). Haha!!

Went to see some crocodiles at the river bank after lunch. We had to keep quiet so that we don't scare them away. Or perhaps alert them about the presence of human beings that will make a sumptuous meal.
Then, we started our trekking, which is more like a nature walk.
I wasn't quite interested in those herbal remedies and their therapeutic uses in curing this and that diseases. I was more into torturing my camera n putting him to work..haha..(sorry..i know its labours' day).
I love the sunflowers! Wished i had more time with the sunflowers. I'm going to look out for more sunflower pit!!

I'm not sure what i enjoyed the most. But i guess is just being in The Nature which is enough to make me feel so happy and contented. =D
Looking forward to the next one -- Class Trip to Mahabaleshwar.

Oh, most of my friends are complaining of myalgia in their arms and forearms especially. Surprisingly, i don't have any complaints. Nothing. One friend said probably because i wasn't putting in effort to paddle, that's why the others had to paddle harder and myalgia is the sequelea. (It's bullshit yaar, i did paddle OK..)

@ f T 3 R~ **6** ~ M 0 n T h S

ah~chooo.. ah~chooo...spider web everywhere...
puff...i think i jz got some grey compact powder on my face..

hehe..poor bloggie is left stranded for soo long...6 months? no..i think is 7...

yoo hoo!!! im back... happy to see me?

actually it took me bout half an hour to log in to my blogger account..
first i forgot wut username i used...then is the new google-blogger thingy...
finally i made it through..haha..

din feel like blogging all this while..reason? not too sure...
but since im getting kinda bored here..feeling life is getting more unproductive...
maybe i should do something...yeah...do something?

for the time being...still don feel like blogging...
give me some time to clean up the dusty corner and shoo the spiders off..
catch up with u guys soon...soon..how soon? hehehe..
perhaps another 6 months...*grin*

d@ b3g1nN!ng 0f mY 4th mOntH iN !nDiA

3 months hav passed..that's fast..a quarter of a year is over..that's wut the PG said to us..

was sick on sunday..woke up dizzy..felt nausea later in the afternoon..threw up in the evening..slept..woke up at dinner time feeling so much better..fever hadnt subside..skipped monday morning class..felt nausea in the evening again after gulping down 2 glasses of juice...hahaha..slept again..woke up feeling perfectly fine!! wut a speedy recovery..but there goes my sunday n monday..
it's ok..i got to sleep so well without setting my alarm clock..haha..

i start disliking the food already..i really hav no appetite seeing all these orange or red colour food..it became worse after i fell sick..i've lose enough of weight..i want to eat more..but wut can i eat?

1st internals are coming soon...PHYSIOLOGY 23rd November..ANATOMY is around december..BIOCHEMISTRY..no news..gotta study hard..anyone sees me roaming online..pls remind me of studying k..hahaha..
have to study well for biochem tutorial this week..the PG wants us to go the the front n teach the class..if u cant do it u lose ur attendance..?! fat guy...u wait n see..!! i wont let u do that..dont think u r that great..!!

oh no..wut's wrong with me..i enjoyed dissection? until the extent that i dreamt about going for dissection class? haha..may the cadavers bless me in my exams..muahaha...