my secret garden

farah! congrats!

2012-01-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

i couldnt sleep last time. got my biological clock all messed up again bcos of too much champagne on new year's eve and got up really late on new year.

was killing time on msn and my old friend farah suprised me big time. she got engaged on xmas day!!! i was so happy i could literally cry.

farah has had a rough time with relationship for almost half a decade. she was a great girlfriend, who sacrificed a lot for the other half, but things dont always work out in reality, he never realli treated her right. there were a lot of tears and disappointment before the break-up.

she was a strong girl. we have always told her she deserves a perfect guy. now she found him!

she was telling me that the lucky guy loves her loads, and she feels so special and blessed.

i wish u all the very best in life farah!!!!!

2012

2012-01-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

2012 will be a very special year. It will be the year when i am no longer a MISS but a MRS. i am not sure if i will be used to the idea of having a ring on my left hand, or if i will fill the right title column in all types of forms.

my new year resolutions this year are
1. Be a good wife (i know right! lol).
2. Pass my driving test.
3. Get my MJDF diploma.
4. Do more exercise to get rid of my fats and have a more toned-up body.
5. Be less grumpy , more appreciative and more easily contented.
6. Snack less. Drink more water.

let's hope 2012 will be a wonderful year!

one year already ^^

2011-12-20T14:27:00.000-08:00

happy one year anniversary. it has been a great year. so many happy moments with u. lets hope for many more wonderful years to come!

love u!

Xmas work presents.

2011-12-20T14:17:00.000-08:00

xmas is coming and my workplace is still very busy but the staffs have been super excited about the awaitng holiday.

micah my very smiley, beautiful and lovely nurse got me some wonderful FCUK gifts. (i know, i should be the one getting her presents but i have been super busy lately... micah i will make it up to u!!)

and a pair of very cool socks to keep me warm for the cold winter.

i am in severe need to go for a nice holiday. however allen will be working over xmas, and i will be the only dentist working in the whole practice for the next week as well. friend faz invited us to join a paris disneyland trip on a half price offer. but i guess we have to pass. busy busy. need a break!

busy busy.

2011-12-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

it has been crazily busy these days.

work, of cos, is as stressful as usual.

weekends are now packed as well.

last weekend of november i was in newcastle attending the super interesting inman course.

then the next wek, our whole practice proudly attended the dentistry award in leicetser (nominated as north west best practice and our boss best young dentist)! ^^

then week after, drove all the way to leyland to pick up my beauty parcel (postman missed us 3 times!). then to manchester to do some shopping. the whole city was packed with ppl trying to do xmas shopping. and i need to say a BIG thank you to my baby allen for my very very amazing xmas present! my long-awaited lady dior^^

so down.

2011-10-05T10:38:00.000-07:00

u know those days when u feel u can do nothing right, like you cannot do any single thing well?

i am feeling like that today. total shit.

i need a long break. i do.

triple irritations.

2011-10-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

i probably made the dumbest decision to have my braces tightened right before my mjdf exam.

the pain is unbearable.

1) its so sore i cant actualli eat a thing- i literally cant bite on anything. i am so hungry i am feeling dizzy.

2) with this pain and hunger- i practically cant read a word, awful revision speed.

3) and tmr i am going to london- i am supposed to have a big feast at the malaysian restaurant in chinatown. now i think i can onli js order some super soft bihun.

OMG.

it will be worth it.

2011-09-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

second time tightened my braces. this times had the elastic bands on as well.

the almost unbearable pain.

had to work the whole day bearing this torture.

it will be worth it- is the motivation that keeps me going.

cutie pie!

2011-09-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

my gorgeous nephew is 3-month-old and he is so precious. i am such a proud aunty!!!!

wearing the man U shirt i bought for him. such a handsome cutie pie!

facial sauna.

2011-08-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

Bought a 10-pound facial sauna from argos today. It's cheap but there were really good reviews about the product so i thought i would give it a try.

Got home. All excited to give myself a treat. Then tak-da-- set all the pieces up, switched the thing on, and guess what, IT WAS NOT WORKING.

Argh, argos, what a disappointment.

Gonna waste a trip returning it tmr.

happy birthday me ^^

2011-08-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

lets not mention the age. it's a happy birthday^^

favourite pretty pinky daisies!

dr pang's masterpiece. i am not making it up, this is, hands down, an amazing cake. i couldnt stop eating. it was deeeeeeeeeelicious.

double celebrations.

2011-08-05T01:23:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day of my VT year (foundation training). I am so so happy. It means the next pay is not a fixed pay anymore lol.

And then before i left the practice my boss js made my day even more amazing--by paying for my Inman course!! that's 774pounds saved. BIG thank you.

ouch

2011-07-23T10:15:00.001-07:00

just had my braces tighten yesterday. OUCH.

it will be a week of porridge again. zzz.

spider.

2011-07-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

Today i had a patient in for a root canal treatment. The notes on the computer says "EXTREMELY NERVOUS PATIENT", so i thought ok, this needs a lot of tender-loving-care again. The patient was actually passed over by my boss. I have seen her once and she was a bit shakey on the chair.

So i told her i would have to inject her first. And she was telling me she was nervous. I tried to calm her down and all of a sudden, my nurse Micha gave out a terrified scream--a spider was crawling on the worktop on her side. So i thought, ok ai ling your are the dentist, you should take care of this. So i went over and had a look, thinking it's a tiny creature that just created an over-exaggerating reaction from my nurse. No, the spider was massive. It's like 3cm big. I stepped back and asked Micha "go ask Ramky to come please!". Since my boss was on holiday, Ramky, the other dentist upstairs was the only guy in the whole practice. I mean, guys should take care of shit like this right?

And guess what, my "EXTREMELY NERVOUS" patient just jumped out from the chair and said "hey i am not scared let me take care of it!". Next she grabbed a few paper towels from the dispenser and charged towards the spider, and proper squash the poor insect. Micha and I were stunned, speechless. Shocked, but i still managed to say thank you to her for handling the mess.

Then she went back onto the chair and told me, "you are gonna numb me up right? OMG i am shaking now".

The minute she finished the spider off, i thought this lady should have no fear whatsoever. But then again, she is scared of me, the dentist, and the needle in my hand.

Dental phobia is a funny thing. I can't be scarier than a massive spider can I?

free bird.

2011-07-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

finally broke my 10-year bond with JPA. i am one free bird now.

thank you for the 7 years of amazing life, support, and a wonderful degree. i wouldn't be what i am without you, that's a fact. thank you.

the cutest thing ever.

2011-05-24T13:12:00.001-07:00

my adorable little nephew said hi to the world on 20th May 2011. he is the most adorable thing. aunty ai-ling wish you all the best things in the world. may you be healthy and happy always. a lot of love will be there for you. can't wait to hold you in my arms and give you a dear kiss.

i am officially an ugly betty.

2011-05-13T16:22:00.001-07:00

finally have my braces on today. being an ugly betty at this age is abit embarassing i have to admit.

i thought i would handle it better, but the discomfort is actualli a bit overwhelming.

argh. the pain a girl has to go through to look better.

should not complain tho, free treatment. thank you Dr Burns.

the most stressful day of the year. hopefully ever.

2011-03-31T13:31:00.000-07:00

i knew it was gonna be stressful today when i looked through my diary before i left the surgery yesterday; but i just didnt expect it to be THAT stressful. no. awful is the word.

four patients were booked in for extractions in one morning. im starting to think my receptionist probably doesnt like me much. the extractions themselves were enough to pump my adrenaline and work my flabby arms. i realli didnt need more drama:

Drama 1:
the first patient was so paranoid. she starting shaking after the injections. so i thought ok just take a deep deep breath. then she was getting pale and was realli realli shaky. apparently she didnt have anytin to eat before coming in. oh great. so i had to ask my nurse to bring her a glucose drink. and guess what, it ran out in the emergency kit, and another nurse had to run to the store nearby to get a box of ribena. then she started being a bit...mmm... annoying.

patient: how long is it goin to take?
me: about 10mins
patient: what?? 10mins?! that long?!
me: well i mean the whole thing will take about 10mins. i will want to make sure u stop bleeding and ok before i let u leave.
patient: i mean how long will it take?? the part u take out my tooth?
me: well about a minute for one maybe. you have 3 to come out so maybe a couple of minutes.
patient: how many minutes?????

well i guess i should have said 1 minute and 22.3 seconds or somtin.

then the first tooth came out in like mayb 45seconds. n then
patient: is it going to take THAT long for the remaining two??? THIS long????

i guess the answer should have been Im not taking part in dental extraction Olympic games.

Drama 2:
after the first drama i decided im just a VT. i should have the right to ask my boss to cover for my freaking-out. so i went to tell him i have a Q of extractions lining up in my diary and i needed a break.

me: hiya, i have fours extractions booked in this morning. the first patient was realli nervous. i think i m freaking out a bit. will u pls take this patient from me?
boss: well just dont do 4 then. just take out 1 or 2 today.
me: no i mean 4 patients are booked in for extractions. not 4 teeth.
boss: oh..well i think it will be a good practice for you. good learning curve.
me: i think the first patient freaked me out a bit.
boss: welcome to the real world ai ling. you are having a good training.
me: no. no. cos in a real world i will not let the receptionist book in a diary like this for me.
boss: ok ok. at least numb the patient up first. i have to see 2 patients then i will see yours.

a 13 year-old kid with a grossly carious tooth. managed to give the injections. then when i put in the forcep she started saying to her mom she didnt want to have it done anymore. and mom said pls pls pls. and she said no no no. it took a while. i decided i didnt wanna sit and wait for my boss to come back i would js yank out the tooth myself. so i managed to convince her to let me have a go. she burst out in tears. tooth came out anyway. at this point, boss came in and gave me a wink, like telling me "see this is exactly how u learn". ok thanks.

Drama 3:
i took the xray. then i had no idea where my nurse went to. so the film was lying there for a while before she came back to develop it. the picture came out fussy, i couldnt see very clearly. then i thought ok its just routine extraction. patient was cooperative at least he wasnt paranoid or crying. then i spent a good 10mins trying to luxate it. it just wasnt happening. so i asked my boss to come give me a hand. he was struggling. then we heard a crack. the tooth came out with a big chunk of bone fragment. ouch. proper ankylosis. bone was well fused to the mesiodistal root.

this is what i needed. a bad xray when an xray was most needed.

Drama 4.
schizophrenia.

The morning was fully fully booked. by the end of the session i wanted to roll into a ball and just rot.

my receptionist decided to give me her humours in the afternoon too. this time it was all fillings and a root canal treatment on a nervous 13-year-old. the nervous kid was from my colleague dentist who had flown away to a 5-star skiing hotel in austria. margaret, while u r enjoying the spa and jacuzzi in austria, pls remember poor ai-ling is enduring partly bcos of you.

Drama 5:
the 13 years old kid couldnt realli open his mouth. i was struggling to put a film holder in the take xray. then i was struggling to inject. then i was struggling to drill. he started crying and kept saying he wanted to spit out. i couldnt realli see what i was doing bcos of his very very limited mouth opening and his extra-activities. so i had to dress the tooth and tell the mom the magic of happy gas. referral.

the whole day i thought i could have a panic attack any minute.

lets hope this will be the worst possible day ever ever in my life.

happy love day.

2011-02-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

a long day at work but the day was made beautiful because of u.

the trip to the post office was hilarious. the plan wasn't ruined. it made the day more special.

the cake wasn't the prettiest, but it showed how hard u tried. and i love u for that.

thank you for everything. for making so much effort even though u have a long night ahead.

i am so blessed.

sick dog.

2011-01-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

this winter has been cruelly cold with severe snow. i have been sick for a few times. this time is the worst. i feel horrible. 4 sick leaves in 2 months. crazy.

lancaster xmas dinner

2010-12-07T02:26:00.000-08:00

it was a snowy day. freezing cold with only minus 7 degree celcius.

the lancaster dentists decided to have a xmas dinner at the italian olive press. it was a fab nite. ai ling got a bit tipsy. too much magaritas. i love you guys!

shit day.

2010-11-30T11:30:00.000-08:00

my day started off with a pair of full-full dentures that came with massive unilateral posterior openbite.

it was then followed by extraction of the second molar that stubbornly sat in the bone despite the one whole hour of my digging and pulling.

the day got more interesting when the patient thought my charming male nurse was the dentist n i was the dental nurse.

n the day ended with typical confusing pain patient and the great endodontic treatment.

oh yay. shit day.

The prettiest bride.

2010-11-20T13:49:00.000-08:00

it was a great wedding. my sis, she is the prettiest bride. i am so happy to see her being loved by a great man.

welcome to the lim family brother-in-law. it was so touching when you screamed "I LOVE YOU" to my sis on the wedding day.

all my blessings to you two.

if u think dentists earn money easy.

2010-11-16T15:28:00.000-08:00

had a shit day.

patient A came in, convinced sensitivity started right after i filled the incisors. very hostile tone of voice. so i looked at the chart. hello babe, i havnt even touched those teeth yet, the fillings were planned to be done today. so pls, sensitivity from your own decay, not from my fillings.

patient B came in with mom. mom was shouting, firing questions like a professional dental staff.
1. y did u js take out my daughter's tooth? y didnt u save it? my dentist would save it by putting pins and all to save the tooth.
2. y did u give so many injections? my dentist always just gives one n it works perfectly.
3. y is my daughter having so much pain from the extraction area?
4. 5. 6. blah blah blah

so i decided i shouldnt just sit back and give a friendly smile. so i answered
1. If your daughter remembers at all, we did try for an hour to save the tooth, but it was realli so deep, n its below gumline. n i did explain that the prognosis of saving the tooth wasnt looking good. so i wanna make it clear, i didnt just go straight to taking out the precious tooth.
2. the injection i gave was working. lip was numb. the tooth should have been. but the tooth was heavily infected it was hypersensitive. i couldnt just ask your daughter to sit still and bear with the pain while i drilled away. so more injections.
3. she smokes. dry socket.
4. 5. 6. calm down.

went home feeling down. anyone who thinks dentistry money is easy money, if you refuse to even rethink about your thinking, at least dont say it to my face. i may spit at yours.

second attempt of blueberries muffins suceeded. yay of the day. too pretty to eat tho.

i am the definition of exhaustion.

2010-10-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

wad a long day. 7 hours from kl to dubai. stopover in dubai for 10HOURS. 7 hours from dubai to manchester.

my stopover in dubai was pathetic. i didnt realise it until i had a second look at my ticket in dubai. it was freezing n i brought no coat thinking the transit would be only 3hours as usual. miserably, i couldnt fight my sleepiness and ended up rolling up like a ball on a chair. slept for a total 4 hours altho i had to wake up each hour to make sure my stuff was still with me.

my flight to manchester from dubai, i slept thru the whole thing like a pig, to the extent the air stewardess had to wake me up for a meal.

arriving in manchester, the scary dog apparently owned the most sensitive nose--for sniffing my bag non-stop--my bak gua!

went to hav a coffee while waiting for the train to go the blackpool. was extremely sleepy.

took a taxi from the blackpool train st. always broke my bag carryng the huge suitcase up the stairs.

the most geram part of the day-- i open the door n saw my housemate sitting there and saying, why r u home already i was still waiting for ur call to pick u up". arghhhhhhhhh i tot he finished at 5.30pm but apparently he swapped his shift to finish at 3.30pm. he said "why cant u js text me even if im not at home u can always take a cab later."

exactly.

nyway. the trip was worth it. i lov my family. my sis was the most gorgeous bride. it was a good trip.

wardrobe arrived!

2010-10-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

yay yay finally my clothes and bags have their shelters now.

greatest gratitutes to the PANGs!

another day.

2010-09-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

as much as i love my job, i am disappointed at times. at patients, at mangement, at the job itself.

cheer up ai ling.

i am woman.

2010-09-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

i absolutely love the ladies and the song. touched me deeply.

i wanna sing the song out loud with my sisters n mother. we have been through a lot. we are wise. its wisdom born of pain. we r strong. we r invincible. we r women.

想你。

2010-09-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

早上看见个小男孩牵着爸爸的手上学去。爸爸的手显得好大好有安全感，像是手掌里溢满了温暖。小孩蹦蹦跳跳，像是握着那双大手，就是世上就幸福的人。

好想念小时候被放在你那老爷摩多篮子里的日子，就算没有安全帽，有你的胸口靠背，什么都不怕。

爸爸，好想你。

more to go.

2010-09-09T15:43:00.001-07:00

freshly mixed amalgam down the throat.

2 fractured protaper files in the canals.

ai ling. pls.

the dentist day.

2010-09-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

pulp exposure in a nervous 16-year-old. ai ling u can do better.

can't wait.

2010-08-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

pay cheque pay cheque, please fly to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. i need to b less broke.

york.

2010-08-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

i hav been to york before, and i love it, it is like a town of fairy tales. every street looks like wad u see in the english story books telling about the witch and the princess and the prince.

first stop- the train musuem as our little paran absolutely loves trains. u could find almost all the english trains.

u wont believe this japanese train was from the 60s. it looked too wonderful to be 50years old.

a bridge across the city. how unique is tat. the bridge is part of the castle structure and it saves some traffice light waiting on the main roads.

YUMI (york unifying and multicultural initiatives) was on tat day. there were lots of food stalls from different countries. lot of free food to try.

york is beautiful. even a purposeless leisure walk around the city was a pleasure. we love york!

newcastle.

2010-08-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

from angel of the north, we headed off to newcastle, the city with a lot of beautiful bridges.

there was a Summertyne American Festival at the Sage. it was a rare sunny day, sitting under the sun listening to the band was a joy. the gal had asuch a gorgeous voice.

found som HUGE strawberries. soooooooooooooo happpppppppppppppppy.

there must be a game thingy goin on. we saw a lot of guys walking on the street wearing the same wigs and t-shirts writing "who's the caddy". i tot it was quite funny and decided to stop some of them for a photo, and guess wad, one of them had a t-shirt "i am the caddy". how luckyyyyy. i found the caddddddddddyyy! ok they were a bit over excited and insisted to put me on the shoulder for the photo and i couldnt say no.

angel of the north.

2010-08-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

on our way to newcastle, we visited angel of the north. a huge thanks to paran who made the effort for us to see such a beautiful sculpture.

from far away, Angel of the north's outstretched arms reminded me of Christ Redeemer Statue in Brazil that overlooks Rio de Janeiro from atop 2,343-foot Mount Corcovado. (this is another thing ai ling realli wanna see one day! who's in?)

yarm.

2010-08-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

if its not bcos of little paran, i wouldnt know about this small village let alone visit it. but here we are, paran's tiny hometown! small but peaceful ^^ like wisteria lane in Desperate Housewive.

cardiff.

2010-08-08T08:58:00.001-07:00

the night we arrived in cardiff, it was near midnight, so we decided to take a cab. the taxi driver told us the hotel was miles away from the city and advised us to book a nearer hotel; it may be more expensive but it saves the transport costs. i have to say, he was absolutely right.

though situated in an odd area which was pretty soulless, the hotel was pleasant. a big room with a nice bathroom. poor tourists like me havnt been indulging in such luxury for a long time.

the next day, it was a good day with plenty of sunshine. we took a bus to the town centre, leaving the luggage with the hotel reception.

first destination, the cardiff castle. WELCOME!!!! it was a gorgeous castle i have to say, im not sure if its the sunshine, but it just looked magnificient. we paid 10pounds each to get it. expensive but to me its worth the visit. the first time i came to cardiff 3 years ago, i just looked at it from outside, i decided this time we just treat ourselves better.

a lady was training a fatso owl in the castle garden. the owl was pretty lazy, it took the poor lady so long before the fat bird flew to her to grab the food in her hand. it enjoyed quite a lot of attentions form the visitors though.

on our way for a quick bite, we stopped at a second-hand bookshop to tru to hunt for some cheap travel guidebooks (ai ling wanna hav an adventure in the middle east!). outside the shop, we saw a HUGE DOG. im not even joking, tat was one of the very few big dogs i hav seen in my life. however, it looked adorable, even a dog-lover-not like me found it quite harmless and cute.

if you come to the cardiff market, try out the welsh cakes! we were not big fans. it tasted like plenty of flour with sugar toppings. but, do wad the welsh do when u come to wales lol.

millenium stadium has always looked pretty damn cool to me. i have no idea wad the big welsh words mean but they just looked overwhelmingly wonderful.

the mermaid quay. walking along the quay and feeling the sea breeze under the sun was a blessing.

after a big meal in wagamama, we caught the bus back to the hotel. the hotel would have been so perfect to me if it wasnt tat understaffed. we were waiting for ages before we could get our luggage from the staff. and guess wad, when we walked out to catch the bus, we freaking missed it and the next coming bus was an hour later. FRUSTRATED!!! we walked back to the hotel to ask the staff to call us a cab. feeling unsatisfied and ripped off, we tried our very best to reduce wadever fares the cab would cost. thus we asked the driver to stop us at the castle in he town, and we walked quite a long way to the train station--it saved us a few pounds, but compared to if we just tooked the bus, we wasted a few pounds.

HOWEVER, we said no complains bcos God loves us too much, the moment we were leaving cardiff it starting raining. we had a good day all in all ^^

llandudno (2)

2010-08-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

after a night of good sleep, we met up noreen to head off to conwy castle.

we tried to kill some time at the second-hand shop near the bus stop as we were waiting for the bus to the conwy castle. got a travel book on Cyprus for only 29p!!!!! its great to recycle books, it especially benefits poor tourists like us. BUT i may just fly to Cyprus one day just bcos i read this book--not sure if i end up saving any money anyway.

conwy castle is not huge but to me it well preserved and beautiful. the whole town is full of ancient english scent. i came closer to think i actualli prefer to tour around small towns and villages in every country, it is how u can experience the lifestyle and culture of the people there.

the british smallest house!!!!!!!!!!!!! for such a small house it managed to make quite a BIG money. it costs 1 pound for an adult to enter, for like less than a minute. it was realli quite small in there, but there wasnt a toilet nor a kitchen.

wonder why i had a sweet tooth during the whole trip, kept on hunting for desserts in every cake shop. brownies are always the best!

lunchtime we had fish and chips again. noreen was convinving us that this place had realli gret fish and chips so we thought ok, we would hav faith one more time. it turned out to be quite nice actualli.

as we were back to llandudno from conwy, we prepared to leave for the next destination-- cardiff. we got some chinese takeaway and walked to the train station. however we decided that the train station was a bit deserted and soulless, so we walked to a further park to kill some time. AND THIS IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP. the journey to cardiff was llandudno- llandudno junction-cardiff. we were supposed to leave from llandudno at 6.04pm to llandudno junction, llandudno junction at 6.30pm to cardiff. when i bought the tickets in manchester, the staff somhow clipped the ticket at 6.30pm on the top. if it wasnt lim ai bee tat looked at the journey itinery at 6.01pm and we ran like idiots to the station, we would hav missed the train and the next train to cardiff. it was crazy and we could hav just missed the train but i think God loves us too much to leave us stranded. what a blessing!

safely reached the cardiff hotel, exhausted but grateful.

llandudno (1)

2010-08-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

finally find some time to sit down n blog about the trip with my sis. as i didnt book anby ticket before i left for msia, the whole trip was a bit unplanned. we decided to visit the north wales, llandudno as noreen was going there too with her parents. and since noreen is well known for her very organised personality, i decided she would have a wonderful itinerary that i could just follow.

just as we reached, i fell sick. we were having lunch at a chinese with noreen n her parents when i realli felt like puking the whole way. pale and scary.

the check-in time for the hostel was supposed to be at 3pm, but it was onli 1pm when we finished our meal, i decided we just had to go there n beg the staff to let me go in earlier to hav a rest cos i was realli feeling shit. the gal was nice enuf to let us in and i immediately collapsed for a few hours.

after a hot bath i felt a lot more refreshed and we started to explore the beautiful town. the pier was apparently a must-see. i didnt feel too much about the pier itself; but there was one scary encounter that would make me forever remember the place-- the horrifying seagulls. there was a cute little gal holding an icercream cone n the huge seagull just flew by and picked up the whole cone n swallowed the whole freaking icercream!!!!!

along the way we saw a stall where some ancient western or victorian style pictures can be taken. so we had this sudden crazy thought to have a victorian picture taken to have a laugh. n guess wad, it turned out we spent 15 pounds to hav 2 pretty stupid looking pictures and a helpless laugh.

afternoon tea, never miss the yummy english scone!!!!!

it was a pleasant walk around the town. it wasnt hectic and many of the inns and hostels were tiny but nicely decorated. i did realli like the place. one day when i retire i think this place will be a great spot to be in.

another thing. fish-and-chips. they were all over the place and we were trying to choose the best shop to go in to hav a try. it turned out, altho the shop was marked the best-fish-and-chips shop, it wasnt realli exciting for us and did no good in satisfying our malaysian taste buds.

and people, do not forget the welsh hand-made spoons of u step your foot in wales!

not a dream anymore. graduated!

2010-08-01T08:06:00.001-07:00

2 years of college. 5 years of uni. a lot of exams. numerous coursework. countless patients. many times, there were fear, stress, anxiety, uncertainty and frustrations. nevertheless, the many rewarding moments when u completed a case made it all worth it.

i am thrilled that today, my dream has been achieved.

papa, i am a dentist now!

谢谢你

2010-07-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

姐今晚飞回国了。这两个多星期的廉价假期虽不豪华，而且还得处处节省，但是个很具意义的旅程。

谢谢你的照顾，谢谢你为我洗衣烧饭煮菜。你虽不多话，但却为我减轻了烦恼。

谢谢你姐。

forgiveness.

2010-07-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

i yelled today. for a small joke, i gave a big reaction with a big volume.

maybe somtimes there are things that u will never be able to forgive, not completely anyway. you may think u have put off the fire, but a light blow of wind can always ignite it and start the flame all over again.

you may not care anymo; but somhow u stil put urself bac into the past, and u can always feel the anger u felt once upon a time.

then u cool down and think, why does it stil bother you? have u not grown up since then?

forgiveness is a big thing, so big i am stil learning to carry it with me well.

a day of yay.

2010-07-07T05:02:00.000-07:00

got it.

end of my worries. well, not exactly, but yay.

thanks tzemin!!!!!

handsome.

2010-07-07T04:57:00.001-07:00

my bro. we used to call him alan mao. or mao mao. i just think mr lim is so handsome. tall tanned and cool. a product of my genes. of cos it is a great product LOL

pangkor.

2010-07-07T04:49:00.000-07:00

a 2-day-1-nite trip to pangkor island.

it was REAL ovenly hot. i felt like i was baking myself under the sun.

the island wasnt huge, the 6 of us squeezed into a rented iswara and went around the island.

ate a lot of sotong.

a short trip to a simple island, but some great time with the LIMs, a shame lim ai li couldnt make it!

阿嬤的話 ah ma eh ui

2010-06-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

few days bac, one of my many estranged aunties came over for a brief visit, well actualli for a quick shower as the water supply in her area had been cut off for some reason.

she told us my grandma (ah ma) fell down from a chair a couple of days ago.

i have never been close to ah ma. we never realli talked and seldom meet each other. however, everytime i come back for summer holidays, my mom would ask me to at least visit her once. i have to say, im not a very good granddaughter-- i will only visit her once.

ah ma has not been on her feet for 6 years. everyday, she will be placed on a resting chair in the living room where she stares into the space for hours, and has no one to talk to. at night, when people are back from work and school, they will change her diapers, give her a shower and put her to sleep.

each time i see ah ma, she wil tel me, if i dont tel her who i am, she can never tel. no surprise realli, like i said, we were never close.

each time we start talking, ah ma's words are almost unstoppable. u can tel she is so lonely and desperate for somone to talk to. ah ma will usually start from asking me hows my life in england, then go on telling me about her grandchildren in the house like how many As they scored, how many are going to be doctors and how many are this and that. later, ah ma will start explaing her life, her empty life. she will tel me, each second she spends now seems like a whole long year, there are so many things she wants to do but cant possibly do anymore. then, later, ah ma wil start realating stories about her past, she would tel me about a dozen of people whom i have no idea about such as ah-cai-sou (the lady that sells vege) who cursed her husband.

i would listen and always give a smile and a nod. i know all she needs is just somone there to listen to her. however, many time i hav to try so hard to fight my physiological response after a few hours of ah-ma-stories. i hav to try to hide my yawning and sleepy face and squeeze every tiny bit of energy left in me to put up a i-am-very-interested face.

my mom would give som money to ah ma before we leave. looking at this, im worried that one day, the lady lying in the bed would be my mom, and i would be the daughter who can only offer some money and a little bit of time to her when she is tat lonely. i hope tat day wil not come too soon.

mama, i wish u a long healthy happy life.

bye bye.

2010-04-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

tonight my buddy beetee koay left the UK for good.

i have to say. its so depressing to have a fren less. a fren of so many things-- a wonderful audience. a good banker. an amazing mango provider. a reliable tour guide. a walking alarm clock. a starbucks and taiwu and movie sponsor. a free-of-charge-and-always-ready camera man. a laksa companion. a trustworthy fren. a rare fren from the same kampung whom i can share the same jokes with and speak hokkien very loudly to.

eventho u always always tease me, emphasising my imperfections and overlooking all my near-to-perfection sides, u r still a very very good fren koay beetee.

thank u for all ur help in this foreign land. the many stupid jokes which i laughed till i cried, realli brightened up days.

i wish u a wonderful life. please get very very rich!!!!

a hospital full of love.

2010-04-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

despite the usual drama in the dental hospital, at times it is filled with warmth and love.

thank u dr ali for your very patient teaching, very thorough patient management and very wonderful guidance. for making every thursday clinic exciting.

thank u paul for making the most amazing metal framework for my first case. it clicked right in. it was a piece of beautiful work. thank u for making it in just a week eventho u had such a crazy busy schedule.

thank u sarah for being so kind, for making the effort to add the acrylic tooth on the metal framework in a mere 10 minutes just to ensure the perfect aesthetics and patient satisfaction.

thank u latifa, for being such a helpful and lovely practice manager. it makes me look more forward to my job.

thank u dr bagasi, for being willing to support me during this stressful time.

thank u. i am so blessed to have wonderful ppl like you guys in my life.

i need to meditate.

2010-04-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

i need to meditate.

to relieve my depression of being so extremely broke.

to tame my very very short temper.

to calm my anxiety for the coming exams.

a good day.

2010-04-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

6th of april. a good day indeed. the day started off with a very pleasant call carrying a wonderful news. its a happy day.

just tat the happiness was masked by uncertainties offered by the future.

anyhow, i know my dream, and i worked my way to it, and tat is wad that matters. at least i know, it could really happen.

the magic of DAHL.

2010-03-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

it was such an amazing start to my easter break.

first of all derek brought some touching presents. it was actually more of a pleasure to see him again after a while.

then my second Dahl patient came in with complete posterior overeruption. i was so thrilled. i couldnt wait for the photos. i thought the huge 3mm gap would never close up. but it finally did!

i hope the 6th of april will be a good day for me too.

saying NO again.

2010-03-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

another painful email sent. ARGH i can go crazy with this ranking shit.

saying NO is a skill.

2010-03-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

i sent a painful email today. it was the most devastating click on the send button ever. having to reject a job offer from birmingham when i had no other black and white contract on my hand yet, is not exactly what i expected to do. why did i go all the way to sit for all the exams when i would say NO at the end.

and i have to say NO to another great trainer who has been tryin to get in touch. and he is such a lovely person.

i hope these are not too much to pay for just to go to a practice u think u will fit into well, and a trainer u think is keen and enthusiastic. i hope in life, u can realli trust.

pray. pray. pray.

Cheated.

2010-03-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

I feel so cheated. It's LIKE a guy telling u I LOVE YOU, then turned away and told another gal I LOVE YOU SO MUCH and kissed her on the lips and held her in his arms.

And you're left shocked and confused.

Don't breach my trust. u don get another chance.

too much too much.

2010-01-26T16:57:00.000-08:00

this is one of those times again.

"too much of everything can make you sick". cheryl cole says.

and i guess i am having too much of dentistry. coursework, audit, presentation cases, patient schedule arrangements, labwork arrangement and job applications. how much more can i take before i really grow sick of this whole dentistry thing.

sometimes i wake up thinking, this better worths it. worth every bit of my worries, my anxiety and my slight depression inclination.

a break is a good idea. except datelines will never wait.

the snow. the love.

2010-01-11T14:54:00.000-08:00

the snow. it has been around for quite some time now. the snow brings a lot to my mind, from it falls, it builds up on every path in the city, it freezes into ice, it mashes with the dirt, to when it becomes so annoyingly messy n then disappears to give way to the new season.

when the weather forecast says the snow will be near, everyone cannot be more excited to welcome the flakes, even if it will be crazily cold, even if it will be disrupting the transport, even if it will be so heavy everyone will be locked in home, the fact is, it is still pretty, and it is something rare, something that does not happen everyday.

then the first pour of snow falls. the view of flakes flying in the air is breath-taking. you can just stare into the sky a whole day like you will never get bored with it.

then the snow builds up. you decide you should do a bit more now than staring. you go out into the snow to do snowmans, to play snow fight, to lie down in the inches of snow. it is tiring, it is time-consuming; but it is exciting and it gives you the adrenaline rush you need to spice up your life. you know the next day every inch of muscle will ache but you still give it all out when you are in the snow. the muscle will heal, but the snow, once it is gone, it is gone.

then the snow stops falling. the lovely flakes eventually freeze into ice. the ice coats every path that you need to walk every single day. then you get unhappy with the slippery journey, with the effort to chose the right shoes even just to walk to the cash machine 3mitres away, with the caution on every step to stop you from falling down. and if you really trip yourself and fall, you mourn about the stupid ice and start to forget how pretty it was once upon a time.

then the temperature rises, transports and schools are running again. the footsteps mashes the snow with the dirt. all of a sudden, something that looked so pure and clean at one point suddenly turns into a mess. the whole place just looks so unpleasant. at this point, you will not even think about snowman or even missing to have one done.

then the snow will melt away slowly, bit by bit everyday, until one point you cant see a trace of it. and then you are all ready to welcome the new, warmer season of the year.

doesn't it all sound like a relationship?

when it is blooming, it is all exciting and unpredictable like the weather forecast.

then it starts, it is all pretty --just like the falling snowflakes.

then the relationship goes further, you decide to do something more for each other, even when you know it is tiring and it takes time -- just like building a snowman and having a snowfight.

then as you get closer, you seem to know each other better, and you start to find out the imperfections of each other, so you fight and you fall out, you get sick of the whole thing --just like walking on the slippery path and falling down hard.

then as time passes, you fight more and more. you think that person is not the lovely person you first met and you just wonder how this whole thing started in the first place -- just like the mashed snow and dirt.

then you decide it is probably about time to end the mess and start overall again. if this whole thing does not bring joy anymore, there is probably no point in carrying on --just like when we all have built our snowmans, we are more than happy to say hi to the warmer, sunnier spring.

we probably are aware of all the stages we will go through, but for every snow to come, we will all still have the same cycle of emotions from the excited phase again even when we know it may be not last long. this is the beauty of life. the slippery paths and the unpleasant mashed filthy snow will never rip off the inherent beauty of the snow. a relationship may be all silly and tiring, but the beauty of can be so fulfilling, probably more than what the snow can give you, if you find the right person.

may everyone be blessed. a safe winter and a lovely love life.

a white manchester. a white winter.

2010-01-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

the whole great britain has been snowing over the winter. and this is so weird. my four years here, the snow had never been this thick. so thick that thousands of schools needed to be cancelled across the country. and even the whole uni was closed in manchester. i have to say, i am really in love with this snow thing. manchester has never looked so pretty before. the whole place is like covered with a thick white blanket.

snowy winter is all about snowmansss. in the park u often see wadever size u want.

snow fighting is realli good for losing weight. soaked and exhausted but i totally loved the snow.

please go on snowing. i love the sound of the snow flakes fallin on my window. i love waking up to see everything white. i love seeing everyone getting so excited making the snowmans. i love how the snow gets every class cancelled lol.

what's next?

2009-12-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

i am sitting here in front of wani's laptop writing this blog. feeling pathetic and confused.

everything seems to break. it started off by me dropping my brand new nokia E71 into water in the summer in malaysia. then i kinda broke the camera in australia.

then one thing after another broke after i came back to manchester. first of all i realised my anatomy skull and webcam went missing (i must had misplaced them while moving before leaving for malaysia). then my wardrobe collapsed. then the rack. then the full length mirror fell and broke into pieces (and they are still lying on the floor waiting for me to clear up when i am in my mood). then my heater stopped working when it is the coldest time of the year, at the middle of winter. then my watch strips broke which i didnt even have a clue how it happened in tat house party.

ok u probably think tat sucks enough rite? no, cause i came back from the house party last nite and found out my laptop decided to end its life without even saying bye to me. LORD.

i am too broke for all things to go wrong at the same time. like realli broke. i cant help but wondering what's the next thing tat will follow the series? what else in my room will break JUST LIKE THAT.

oh please. i know im clumsy. and oli says i never take care of my own things. even my ipod is looking like shit now. but please i will b abit nicer to them. stop saying goodbye to me!

i hope nothing is next. not until i graduate.

seeing new zealand my way -- auckland -- bungy jumping!!!

2009-11-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

this was like one of the best birthday presents ever. a bungy jump! i had never thought i would do it but if u onli live once then y not. thank you loutou!

since yaya had to go to class in the morning i had to entertain myself. i bungy jumped at auckland harbour bridge! all alone lol.

i was the lightest in the group so they made me jump last. it was all ok when the guys were doing it so i tot i was goin to be fine. then guess wad the gal right before me burst out crying when she was supposed to jump. i was like okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy tat freaked me out a bit.

n since i was all alone i couldnt realli hav the chance to express any emotions. so i kinda looked pretty calm when they were tying me up. and the staff was asking "heyy r u scared yet?" i was like hellllllo of cos!

the guy kept askin me to go to the very edge of the platform. i would say the few seconds when u are standing up there is the scariest moment of all. u feel like u will be dropping from the edge any moment, and u have to make yourself jump when the guy says 5 4 3 2 1 JUMP, and u may just give up and waive all the money.

the moment u jump down, omg its such such a freefall. u feel like u r goin to die. its like u can hold on to nothing and u will js keep on falling. and then the fall stops and u will bounce back up, almost all the way before u fall again. the bouncing back part was realli scary for me too.

but then when the string came to a halt, u feel like u hav made such a big achievement. u will feel like u can almost do anything else on earth =) it was a great high feeling tat maybe doesnt last too long, but the euphoria was unbelievable. people go try it!!!!!!!!!!!! a must-try!

seeing new zealand my way - auckland

2009-11-08T15:48:00.000-08:00

auckland. quite a quiet city. not a place to do exciting trendy shopping but u will lov it if u r into vintage stuff. a lot of green. and i love the pink.

after 4 years!!!! finally met my dear yaya in auckland!!! she is still as beautiful and adorable as ever. we properly screamed when i reached her doorstep. oh my god i miss you! althought the next thing u told me wasnt realli the most favorite thing i wanna hear on a holiday. look at the mess below u will get it.

so yaya said "ai ling sorry lah we have to move out in two days. so u hav to giv us a hand at night ya" i almost fainted. i hate moving house!!!!! but then since it was free lodging so ok im not complaining more.

we took a ferry ride to reach a small island, the davenport. it was a small town. yaya n i were walking up mount victoria before a stranger stopped his car to offer a ride. so, PLEASE LISTEN, if ur mom tells u not to get into a stranger's car, u just dont do it. she is nagging for your very own good i can assure u. below was a story of how a nice helpful stranger who turned into a weird stalker.

in the car. weird things going to happen.

so we tot, the man looked pretty friendly. n there was a japanese gal in the car. he must b alrite. so we hopped onto the car. and guess wad when we finished looking around on mount victoria and about to walk down ourselves he offered to bring us to another mount and we were stupid enough to not refuse. and there he brought us into a tunnel and began to show us some pics on his camera, mumbling that those were his tenants and they were getting along well. it kinda freaked us out so we tried to walk away from him. but guess wad, after 20mins we somhow met again and this time he brought us into more tunnels, and in there it was total darkness we couldnt see a thing. n it was realli doggy that eventho it was so dark he could actualli tell us all the directions in the place, like where to turn when to turn. then after a very long while in the tunnel we tried to leave and he finally agreed to leave. the place was quite far away from the city so we had no choice but to hav a lift to the town. then in the town he offered to bring us to icecream house. omg he js wouldnt let us off. we said thank u and jumped off the car. thinking we must b safe already after walkin in the town for half an hour, guess wad, we met him again. and this time he offered to take us all the way home so as to save us a ride on the ferry. n he even asked for our phone number and address. we quickly ran off for our lives to the ferry. he was a stalker!!!!! so ppl, realli, don even get into a stranger's car!!!!!!!!!!

well, despite the horrifying encounter, the place was beautiful. we would have enjoyed it more if those weird things did not happen tho.

we went to the auckland musuem cos yaya said the maori performance is a must-not-miss. the musuem was exhibiting a lot about the maori history. omg they js reminded me of the kadazans in malaysia. the cultural dance, the singing, the costumes were so similar.

and look at their house!!!! exactly like those rumah panjang in sabah or sarawak! altho i havnt visited one myself lol.

i wonder why the maori like to stick out their tongues. they say it is meant to scare the enemy but seriously, whenever they did it, i just burst out laughing. nothing realli scary about a tongue sticking out rite?

thanks yaya. it was a good short stay and u had been so lovely. will be bac for more lol.

seeing australia my way (sydney)

2009-11-08T14:49:00.001-08:00

hello sydney. so metropolitan, so crowded, so sunny. after an overnight flight and barely any sleep, i still could drag myself out to see the busy sydney.

everything was like a picture. like those pictures u see on postcards. and suddenly they are all standing right in front of u.

the very magnificient sdyney opera house. i had such a drama, such an experience with it. i got lost in the tour i joined; basically got left behind when other visitors together with the tour guide moved on to another spot in the building as i was too engrossed with my hearing guide. when i turned around, gosh i was sitting all alone in the auditorium. luckily a staff saw me n brought me back to the reception where i got my second tour (ya had to start all over again) and the receptionist was putting up a stern face telling me "dont get lost again miss". i realli think me can do all the impossibles. and hello dear jeremy, u should hav realli looked for me!!!!!

ok. u cant realli miss the harbour bridge if u see the opera house. tats wad makes sydney sdyney.

bondi beach!!!!!!!!! ok so i tot it was winter i couldnt get into the water anyway so i was all armed with boots and jackets as i left the house. guess wad, it was as sunny as u can imagine, so wallyo couldnt care much and got herself a pair of pink ripcurl sandals, got rid of her legging and all jackets just to feel the water and the sand =) sydney has a funny sense about winter!

ok highlight of the trip-- THE CHOCOLATE MAN!!!!! i was wondering wad the hell this fella was doing. he was all covered with chocolate and kept on asking strangers to touch him. guess he was promoting some chocolate brand. i happily volunteered to hav a picture of cos lol.

a short visit to the nearby manly beach. it is apparently a hot spot for surfing but wad a shame it was pretty gloomy so nothing realli exciting in sight.

this was like the fun part of the trip. so i was bugging to jump on the cruise to go to the open sea to see some wild whales in action. and then jeremy being the good host agreed to keep me company. the sailing was realli a rough one. so shakey i couldnt realli stand still when we reached the open sea. half the people on the cruise were puking (ok not a good scene it made me a bit sick looking at them too especially when i just finished a whole big meal of McDonalds). but then the whales were adorable =) it was worth all the mess. and poor jeremy puked sooooooooooooo much. heyy jer u know being a good gal like me i wont post any pics of u being sick in the cruise (well u made good breakfast so i will spare u this time wakakakka).

thanks for everything. sydney was amazing =)

seeing australia my way (melbourne)- federation square

2009-10-09T15:58:00.001-07:00

OMG i love this place. this is like my favorite place in melbourne- the federation square. it is so unique so daring so funky so colourful.

it is sitting in the middle of the town so whenever i walked pass and had a chance i would stop by and snap a few pics. and every single time it just looked so perfect.

this is like the best place to chill out n read a magazine. the night before i left melbourne, a fren of mine kee n i just sat by n finished a bottle of chilly sparkling wine. it is like one of the best things u can do in life. the federation square night was second to none.

seeing australia my way (melbourne) - yarra river cruise

2009-10-09T15:48:00.001-07:00

yarra river cruise around the melbourne city. were running late for it bcos i insisted to have mcD as breakfast and at the end the whole cruise was waiting for us to start goin.

it was a slow tour for a better view of melbourne. u see what u see anyway if u walk. the eureka tower, the national gallery, the olympic stadium which was under renovation.

nobody was bothered coming out from the cruise in the cold winter so i actually owned the back of the cruise all myself. yay yay. view was all mine.

seeing australia my way (melbourne) - wine tasting

2009-10-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

oh c'mon alcoholicssssss. wineriessssssssssss visit for wine tasting!

we went to 3 wineries in a day - rochford, fergussan and chandon. every stop just a lot of wine down the throat. it was great.

the vineyard when we were there, was all dried up with not even a single grape thanks to the winter coldness. the scenery was wow nontheless.

a relaxing day just chilling out and a lot of photos. tats wad holiday all about isnt it.

seeing australia my way (melbourne) -blue dandenong

2009-10-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

so i was off the the wild again. this time the blue dandenong in the national park with full of birds. and i mean, beautiful birds. wadever their names are. i thought kangaroos were challenging enough, but these birds were a bit too friendly, stopping at whoever to grap some food. it was ok when they pecked from your palm, but when they flipped their wings to fly away it was worse. and after one minute another one would stop by. there was a little girl so keen to feed all the birds she could see. soooooooooooooooo lovely that i thought she was more like the attraction than the birds or the forests. couldnt stop snapping pics of her. next time im gonna let my kids off to the wild to play with wadever tiger or lion when they are just tiny toddlers so tat they wont be as freaked out as i am when getting near to the animals.

seeing australia my way (melbourne) -eureka tower

2009-10-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

seeing australia 297meters high in the sky from day to night =) wow.

seeing australia my way (melbourne) -queen victoria market

2009-10-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

u find everything here. aboriginal painting is the best!

seeing australia my way (melbourne) -st. kilda pier

2009-10-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

st kilda pier is so mind-calming. place to go before exams or during emo period. what a shame there nothing like this in manchester =(

seeing australia my way (melbourne) -the twelve apostles

2009-10-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

on the way to the apostles the great ocean road was so magnificent u didnt want to blink.

this place is gorgeous. a must-go! we went on the helicopter to get a better view of everything. it was really soooooo breath-taking. i lov it.

seeing australia my way (melbourne) -puffing billy

2009-09-25T14:31:00.001-07:00

had a relaxing ride on old puffing billy thru the rain forest. the uncle was really cute =)

seeing australia my way (melbourne) -australia footie

2009-09-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

so lucky to hav got the last-minute tickets into this. a match between bulldog and the cat. much cheaper than the english football. it was like around 13dollars for what was supposed to be a really hot game in town. we had a good time =)

seeing australia my way (melbourne) - sovereign hill

2009-09-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

the gold mine in ballarat. an English village still preserved like it was. ppl in the village had costume on like in the past. quite cool.

had a poster done in the ancient news agent! ---> "AI LING is taken into custody for being drunk and disorderly" how true lol.

seeing australia my way (melbourne) -the kangaroooooos

2009-09-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

The Ballarat wildlife park.these kangaroos were wandering everywhere. i js knew i would freak out.

so, i was realli properly freaked out when 2 kangaroos hopped slowly towards me the moment i entered the place. i turned back into the reception behind me n refused to go out again. the staff was nice enough to show me how he fed the kangaroos n even offered a packet of that food for free =)

they were lovely.

when you can't say enough thank yous.

2009-07-21T07:00:00.001-07:00

a year already. so fast.

every friday, everyone in clinic will know my santa claus is coming with a lot of presents. bottles of wine, boxes of chocolate, cards and so much more. and even though i give away some present to the nurses and the staff in the hospital, at the end of the year when i am supposed to clear the locker, i still find like 10 bottles of wine sitting in it.

and people will tell me, "what, your patient gave you a necklace?!"

"what, your patient gave you a rosary?!"

"what, your patient sent you a parcel to the hospital?!"

"what, your patient gave you all these?!"

every time i will say to him, "please, you really don't have to do this, and you really should not do this anymore".

every time he will say, "okay i will say this is the last time then"

but things never stop coming.

i wanna say, thank you, thank you, thank you. if the life of a dental student is stressful and tiring, you make it rewarding by just giving me the sincere look of appreciation of my work, by just saying thank you, by just telling me i have made a difference.

thank you, for letting me feel i will be a likable dentist in the future.

you and pauline will make my stay in england a forever sweet memory.

thank you, derek and pauline.

happy birthday ai ling and ming wei!

2009-07-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

it was a sweet surprise. thank you ppl! tho a bit early, i was so touched =)

i have a million birthday wishes. i wanna pass my finals. i wanna be happy always. i wan my family and friends to always be blessed. i hope my sis will start a lovely family soon. i hope i will do more exercise. i hope i will b richer, or a bit less broke. i wanna go to middle east. i wanna go to brazil, or mexico. i hope i have to guts to do bungee jumping in new zealand.i hope my in 5th year i will have a great partner and tonnes of brilliant tutors. i hope wadever i wish for, will come true. same to you ming wei!

my stick.

2009-07-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

this week has been real awful. a string of uncool things happened. i js thought it couldn't be much worse.

but the week ended in a sweet way. i guess no matter what, God stil loves me. when i am down, You always send somone to cheer me up.

Saturday. i thought i should really make myself happy. so i headed to town to get my Ted Baker shining purse. spending a little to reward yourself isn't a big sin (eventho u are broke i guess).

n my stick, kiran was real hilarious. i saw this lovely bag in Urban Outfitter and i js fell in love. and this cute stick of mine js kept asking how much i liked the bag. i didnt sense a thing but the next moment this kiran was fighting to pay for the bag over the counter. "THIS IS YOUR BIRTHDAY PRESENT! I JUST WANNA GET YOU SOMETHING YOU REALL LIKE!"

lol x1000000000000

what can i say, carrot loves the stick.

new home.

2009-07-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

after 4 years of living in student halls, finally ai ling moved into a house! so, no more cleaners, no more fixed bills, no more drunk freshers.

had a little unofficial house warming. wani decided to make some msian tom yam for my stick kiran. n i fully utilise my ability in frozen food by boiling some rice balls (tong yun!)and kiran made her signature dish the magic potatoes!

i hope it will be a year of warmth and happiness and more laughter in the house!

end of the year, wow too quick.

2009-07-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

this is a bit too quick. time does fly. it was like yesterday we went to the cornerstone clinic, now in a blink, we are having a goodbye end-of-the-year dinner.

it was a good night out in eastZeast. and our hero Dr Hopwood spent a good 150pounds on drinks for all of us.

all of us say we will go back next year to haunt Dr Hopwood. we will miss you so much!

and thank you for being such a good teacher. you deserve every bit of love and respect from all of us.

happy birthday sis.

2009-07-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

year after year, things change, but one thing never does; thats the love between us. no matter how far we are apart from each other, as long as i know you are safe and fine at the other end of the world, that is enough to make me happy.

we have been thru so much. we have walked thru the storms of pain and tears hand in hand. but as long as we still have each other, it is never too hard to put on a smile thru all the difficulties. we may fight but at the end of the day, no one replaces any of us. cos you are not only my best sis, you are the best fren i always trust.

i pray you will always always be blessed with all the best things in life.

you told me once that the beautiful future is waiting for us. i believe so. cos we deserve it.

happy birthday sis, i love you always.

i am so blessed.

2009-06-24T01:03:00.000-07:00

derek came in today. he called yesterday to confirm his appointment and asked if i passed my exams.

he is a lovely man. very polite. very genuine. very considerate. very hamble. very loyal.

he is always bringing me presents. chocolate, wine, cards, rosary, christian books, prayer cards.

this time, he really melted my heart.

he brought in a painting for me and kiran. it's a cartoon picture on a dental clinic. they were all nicely wrapped up. and before i had a look, derek made me promise i would bring the present wherever i go next time. i wondered why but i promised i would keep my words. when i finished the treatment and derek was gone, we unwrapped the present and oh my god i was so touched. then it crossed my mind i told derek once i might be going home to do dentistry. he must mean i have to hang it somewhere in the place i work next time, wherever it will be.

there were cards for congratulations for passing our exams too.

and one card for my mom-- saying thanks to her, and telling her she should be proud of her girl and that her girl is doing good to other people. i know mama, and papa you will always be proud of me.just that, derek, you really will make me cry one day.

derek always says i am like his family. and i am always welcome to his place with his wife pauline for christmas if i am alone in manchester. and that my cheerful giggles always make everyone feel better.

derek, you are always saying thank you to me. but this time, i wana say, derek, thank you for always being patient with me. thank you for walking this path of learning with me. i am indeed blessed for having a lovely patient like you. it is not just about the presents, it is how you are treating me and accepting me as who i am.

i pray you and pauline will be healthy and happy ever after.

happy 19th birthday rachel!

2009-06-13T01:10:00.000-07:00

our rachel is becoming 19 this sunday! so we gave her an early celebration. such a baby. tho you always wind me up saying im an old lady. i stil love you. and mind you, this is the first birthday cake i have ever baked in mylife!

so we wanted to make it one-in-a-lifetime experience for our irish baby. we dressed her up in our proud malaysian baju kurung and brought her to have some malaysian cruisine in Little Fusion.

we kinda traumatised the british tastebuds by first giving her an iced-milktea (teh ais). lol. "it is realli sweet...and it shouldnt realli be cold..." commented our irish mate. LOL. see, our malaysian tea is apparently not the british's cup of tea. so ok, we gave her coke at the end. in dentistry we call it ACCLIMATISATION-- gradual exposure to a new environment and people to reduce level of anxiety and rejection.

we had cha kuey tiao and some other chinese dishes. irish baby loved them. i hope so lol. no spicy food allowed cause otherwise irish baby would be drinking water jar by jar, we definitely didnt wanna make her bloated with H2O.

and the cake, rachel i spent the afternoon baking it. tho it was not a surprise surprise, cause apparently i had to bake in the flat which is also your habitat. and had to ask you if it was ok to take the cake out from the oven before it got burnt cause you are my baking teacher. but c mon, tat was a cool cake lol.

it was such fun seeing how those british looking at her when we walked home. everyone was like giving her this what-the-hell look seeing a white girl in a long robe. but baby you were stunning!

hope you are stil coming to malaysia one day. this is a welcoming introduction just for you! happy birthday!

the wonder of Dr Hopwood.

2009-06-11T15:36:00.001-07:00

the 11th of june 2009. i wil always remember this day. cause i realli laughed my head off!!!!!!!!

8am on a thursday. as usual me and wani got on the 219 stagecoach bus to reach the cornerstone clinic. the bus stopped at the train station. a man came onto the bus and paid. guess what, it was Dr Hopwood!!!! omg. we were just in shock and none of us said a thing. as our best tutor came towards us, we just waved, wondering what to say. u know, Dr Hopwood js has the cutest expressions on earth. he realli realli does! he just kept shaking his head giving us this "oh my god" face as we smiled to him. it was hilarious. it was like he wanted to turn bac and catch the next bus but there was no turning bac for him. me n wani just kept laughing and laughing. Dr Hopwood kep on saying "omg why do i have to start my day like this. this is a sign. im not goin to have a good day today am i not ladies?"

as we reached the clinic, julie the nurse looked so shocked seeing the three of us comin together. Dr Hopwood went on "julie i know, look at me, look at these two, my day has js been ruined even before it realli started." lol!!!

how amazing the man with an ashton martin and BMW would take the same bus with two of his very broke dental students to the outreach clinic.

Dr Hopwood. u realli make our thursdays so beautiful.

and if u stil do not realise this. WE LOVE YOU!

as we finished the day after 5 patients. me and kiran had the idea of putting on those fancy glassess meant for kids. we had a cool snapshot with our head nurse mary lol.

cornerstone is an amazing place. we have fun. we do work. we love each other. (well at least som of us do.)

ai ling.brownies.rachel

2009-06-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

ok i have finished my exams so its realli time to put my words into action. i promised my flatmates who are kind enough to always feed me that i would bake somtin for them. and my irish mate rachel bakes the yummiest brownies on earth. so yea rachel my teacher n me together baked my very first-time brownies.

and god it tastes so good. no joke lol!

thanks rach. good teacher u are. muacks.

wow-ness.

2009-05-31T03:43:00.000-07:00

this is brilliant. awesome. gorgeous. amazing. perfect. cool. excellent. creative. imaginative. dynamic. fun. great. entertaining. team-spirit. wow-ness.

THIS IS CERTAINLY A TALENT.

well done diversity!

was screamin my throat out when you guys won.

p/s: i did actually call and vote! did u?

give everyone a smile.

2009-05-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

if u think i am always talking about my patient, my work of dentistry, my life in dental school. i am sorry but this is part of my life now. and i am loving it.

today was a happy day. a patient came in with broken incisors which were hit by a trolley. we made it a point to slot her in despite the heavy schedule to restore the teeth.

so happy i could giv her a happy smile when she walked out from the surgery. she even consent to my photo taking lol.

dr hopwood gav me a handshake saying he loved it. LOL. even if you don really mean it, thank you cos u made my day too sir!

vote for boyle.

2009-05-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

this lady is so beautiful. this voice may not be the best voice. it may not be the perfect one. som people say if she does carry a more presentable look there wont be any contrast effect and she wont be so celebrated. people say she is overrated. people say she doesnt deserve to win. but her voice is so pure, it somhow shows her spirit, her simplicity, her passion. she just sings like because she wanna sing and nothing else. amanda said it was a privilege listening to susan's singing. i cant agree more. i have been replayin this clip on youtube endlessly a day before my exam. it is just so beautiful.

vote for susan. susan boyle.

Again.

2009-05-18T16:52:00.000-07:00

i have to say-- this university, this dental school, realli never fails to give me all sorts of surprises.

the nurses, last week, just 3 weeks before the finals for the 5th year, cleared the labwork room! i guess they must have planned this a long time ago just to realli surprise us.

i wonder how many 5th year had their labwork thrown away by these helpful, intelligent and thoughtful nurses. i hope not many have the same fate as mine-- oh yea, they threw away mine. and nothing else, its the labwork for my best patient with the best attendance record, derek. and the nurses decided this pieces of hardwork should all just go into the bin simply bcos the boxes have not been stuck with the bloody green labels. and they are all gone. JUST LIKE THAT.

i suppose a email informing students about their master plan wouldnt cost a penny or lose a gram of calorie. but well.

many time i am speechless in this whole dentistry or rather, dental school thing. i realli am.

but there is pretty nothing much u can do about it except for getting realli pissed off. so i make up my mind i am not goin to kill my neurons with my heat of anger.

and for those who havnt put on the precious little green stickers. u realli donwan to risk it. go get as many as u want so that they will be running out of stock and the nurses may say ooo no stickers left all labwork will be safe. that may save the future dentists from mental collapse 3 weeks before their finals.

i am not 5th year. that is not even my first presentation case. but having your work discarded that way is not very pleasant.

i truly hope none of the final year is havin this problem. i hope all your work is safely waiting to go to the presentation. i hope you all will be fine.

FINALLY!

2009-04-30T09:26:00.001-07:00

Pete came in today. my denture patient in outreach clinic. i have a long long history with him.

he is a nice man. very polite and pleasant.

i tried to make him an upper denture. his gum wasnt the perfect one. i wasnt sure if the denture was goin to help him with his denture in any way when i was doin it.

then. many appointments passed. the day when i was supposed to get the denture back from the lab. it got lost.

i was really upset. partly because i was very sure i sent the work for the lab to process, i wondered where the denture had gone. besides, Pete is such a ncie patient. i really didnt want him to be let down n we had to tell him "your denture got lost somhow. we need to start all over again, and that means another 5 appointments at least".

so the nurses sent him bac the day when he was supposed to get his denture fitted. i said sorry to him but he was really nice n said he didnt mind at all.

then the next week. the nurses said denture was not found anywhere. we had to start from scratch again. oh god. i was really really not impressed.

so we did the whole thing again. n the second denture, after many appointments, was finished. i was so thrilled. but when it was fitted in, it wouldnt stay in. poor Pete. i was so sure he didnt wanna upset me. i was askin him question and he was tryin so hard to retain the denture. so i asked him"heyy what are u doin for easter?" Pete went"oh...noth..nothi...nothing... much..." oh god he was tryin so hard. then Dr Hopwood was tellin him hw to preservere with the denture in order to really get used to it. in my head i thought... the denture wasnt goin to ever stay in, let alone helpin him to eat.

then a review appointment was made to see if he got any progress the the denture function. well he did not attend twice. me n my partner thought, oh dear he must be still not usin the denture n the reason of him not turnin up is to not upset me about my work.

then today. somhow Pete was booked in with another dental student. i was nursin for my partner Kiran when Pete walked past and said Hi to me. OMG he looked 10 years younger. his teeth were stayin in. he could really talk to me this time. n he looked so great lol. i nicked a few minutes from my surgery to say Hi to him and just to see if he was doin ok. Pete just kept sayin thank you to me. i was soooooooooooooooooo happy.

this year i have made many, i mean MANY dentures to many patients. but i havnt felt so happy in a while. i thought i wouldnt be able to help him at all, i was probably just doin thing for the sake of doin it. but ta-daaaaaaaaa. people kept tellin me i should have taken pictures to show the before-after effect lol.

Pete said thank you on his way out again. i was so so so on top of the world.

i pulled Dr hopwood aside n told him how happy i was. i know he was happy too.

you may need to go through some shits before you come to this, the joy of dentistry. but at the end of the day, it all pays out.

winter trip (3) BraTisLaVa

2009-03-06T15:06:00.000-08:00

Bratislava, the capital of slovakia. it was the third stop of our winter trip. it was planned in the journey mainly bcos the flight bac to the UK was much cheaper. it is such a tiny country. not sure if its any bigger than singapore or hongkong. bratislava has only 427000 residents. i wonder if taiping has got more.

well i have to say. bratislava trip is one of the most memorable trips.it started a bit freaky, a bit scary, then a bit beautiful, then gorgeous and snowy.

so the story starts:

from the magnificient vienna, we took a train to bratislava. it was not a very smooth process. thinking that the latter was pretty near to the former, we didnt book any ticket before we flew. well. one thing missed in the planning. we were supposed to travel on the new year eve, the day when everything will be closed. we walked to the bus station and found no ticket counter, no english-speaking souls. tried to call the ticket line, no one picked up the call. then we walked a long way to the train station. thank you god, we found a cheap tic to go to bratislava! thank god.

in the train, mr koay kept telling me about the movie hostel, which was filmed in slovakia, where tourists were kidnapped and slaughtered. i was like, well, wadever, its js a movie. BUT, reaching brastilava was such an experience. i wont ever forget. it was so freaky. the train station looked like an abondaned old shelter. so filthy walls and the broken glassess in tat soulless place made me kinda forget i was in europe. even when i went to luxemburg (another little country in europe, my british fren robin used to say it should be turned into a carpark for europe), it wasnt tat scary.

we had no idea how to take the bus or other public vehicles. there was no information counter or any approachable person we could ask for direction. the whole place was dark and desserted. it wasnt funny at all. while mr koay asked for direction i was standing there waiting and then all the thoughts of the HOSTEL film started rushing into my head (THANKS KOAY BEETEE!). then the next scary thing-- a really scary random man walked to me and started smiling and talking in his language. i was freaking outttttttttttttttttttttttttttt. if mr koay didnt come bac at tat point i would have screamed my throat out. the whole combination of everything just wasnt right. OMG i was really wondering wad was i doin there. i didnt want cheap tic anymo. i rather fly from somwhere else.

trust me. it was so scary i didnt even have the mood to take any pics. we were then tryin to get a bus to go to the hotel. but the ticket sellin machine was not working. and a girl was trying to help us but she realli realli struggled with her limited english. then we decided we should js jump onto the bus and if they caught us we would just act stupid.

and, on the bus. along the way to the hotel. i saw nothing pleasant from the window. it was like driving from bagan serai to kurau. I MEAN IT. its worse than KAMUNTING or POKOK ASAM. it was all dark and soulless. i was not very happy with the whole thing. i havnt been feelin so scared in a long while.

the bus stopped, we walked to the hotel in the DARK. i was speeding up. it was so silent everywhere like anyone could just jump out from the bush and rob us. the pic below shows a morning version. but trust me. at night it was so so horrifying. we then made a deal we would leave the hotel n took a bus to the airport next day at 3pm before it got dark, eventho our flight was at 9pm.

the so-called 3-star hotel. it looked like some abandoned industrial area to me. and let me tel you, the city map actually put this hotel up as one of the recommended sights. -_-

well enough complaints maybe. as i was expecting nothing from this lifeless land. the silver lining appeared behind the cloud. everywhere was white with snow. it was pretty. just the look of it made me happy. the place, even empty, was not so scary anymore.

WHITE.

the town, tho small, was nice to walk around and just chill. i was beginning to like the place.

sign of lives. i was so happy when i saw these people. the more the merrier. especially in that place, we need more souls around.

things like this are amazing. they never realli mean like wad u think. like the homo sapiens, never judge them before u hav a second thought about them and have realli come to know whats deep inside them. shallowness is ugly.
welcome to slovakia. c mon try some slovakian traditional dishes. i cook as well as this girl does, the chef says. (dream on)
wine is good. icy good wine even better. the europeans know it best. wine their blood.
almost all old towns in europe are just so beautiful, including this tiny one. its new year, i really wondered where was everyone in tat country. oh tel u somtin. this day was important because the slovakian started using euros!

novy most the road bridge. the view was wowwwwwwwww. i was getting happier and happier as i saw more of the city. i told u. the beauty of all shits coming together is--things can only get better.

well all in all, it was such an exciting trip. a bit freaky, but i am happy i actually had the so-called adventure lol. so people, if u ever wanna go there for a good weekend in summer. by all means!

winter trip (2) VieNna

2009-03-05T13:43:00.000-08:00

the city of arts. ViEnNa. wei-ye-na in chinese. before anything. let me share something with you. there was a story i watched on a series during school time. there was this pretty young lady, Lydia who played piano all her life. her dad wanted nothing more than sending her to vienna to do music. she met him. he was a rebellious kid. she fell for him. dad tried to stop by forcing her to vienna. she ran away in the airport. she ran to him. she started a total new different life with the boy. she wasnt touching any piano keys anymore but always dealing with his wounds from his fights. stuffing herself everyday with worries that he might be slashed apart at any second. her right hand was injured bcos of him. she couldnt play piano again. Oh man, i would have js ran to the beautiful vienna.somtimes in life, you have to walk further n when u look back, those things that matter so much once to u, just dont anymore. well. youth is certainly full of stupidities at times.

ok. i have been procastinating my winter trip blog. it has been ages. i am basically sticking to the laptop screen watching nonsense and all. i just couldnt be very bothered to do this. so now im blogging using what is remained in my brain cells after so many ages passed.

well i finished the horryfying CAT. instead of sitting around doin nothing i might as well js do this. since my personal photographer koay beetee had been chasing me to upload his fav piece of work---> I SERIOUSLY don think the pic below is any exciting. the photographer mr koay is realli proud that he could capture how i was touching the tip of Rathaus (city council of vienna city). like really touching the tip. but why is the mr koay so insistent tat its the pic of the trip? I DON UNDERSTAND.

so vienna. it was realli cold. so cold the pond froze! it was a bit freaky to walk on it. i was worried the ice might just break at any point i didnt wanna go further. but this random european guy at the side was giving me encouragement. he couldnt really speak english but he was giving me this gesture like "heyy i am this big, i am much heavier n the ice didnt break, go on you!" well it was freezing cold i couldnt afford to get wet at that point. so tats as far as i would go. like a meter away from the edge lol. Neptune well looked prettier with ice than water.
welcome to the palace! i think i stil lov the sleepin beauty's palace in the disneyland. pink and happy.

walking up the hills to Gloriette. it was a bright happy day. upon request. jump!
up at the gorgeous Gloriette. the sun was shining somehow. it helped with the brutal coldnes. a bit. sunsine is always more appreciated here in the western land. and with 10layers of clothing(realli!!!), i think i don need the tonnes of sunblock i use during summer.

it was so freezy i had to walk into this parliament building just to steal a bit of warmth. well spent a bit of time playing with their high-tech computers which explained the history of the country n stuff. not very interested in tat. well quite nice in there.
new hafburg. residence of kings and emporors. u have the spanish riding school here as well. so, if you have to be careful with cars in the UK, u maybe hav to watch out the horses in vienna. they are just everywhere. i mean, everywhere. at one point we were crossing the road n mr koay was shouting "HEYYY WATCH OUT THE CAR!" omg we were almost knocked down by a few horses which were marching towards us. tat was hilarious. watch out the car? horses! i laughed till my tears were out. the horses were kinda scary when they were tat near. and they were marching on like they wouldnt have stopped for us. i wonder wad would have happened if we were like a bit slower in crossing the road.

state opera. not really expensive to go in. like 4euro for a tour. but a realli quick one tho. but to see a real opera costs a fortune. had a look at the back stage. u will be surprised to see how many people are qorking with the background changing and costumes. HUGE.state opera musuem. meet our board of honourable conductors!!!!!!
one the most class city halls. its being repainted so its kinda half white top and half balck bottom. looked more like a snow-covered building. i lov the view.

vienna is stereotypically beautiful and classic. its like a fairy tale land. so, lets js look at another part of the city. OMG a donkey!!!!!!!!!!! such a poor thing. the master brought it around so people can have a ride n he can make a living. i mean, who wil want to ride on that poor little thing?

wiener riesenrad (vienna giant wheel) at the entrance of prater amusement park. mmm. its on like every postcard. its really quite tiny. compared to the one in london, or even the one in manchester. this is really js the size for a theme park. beautiful tho.

come to vienna. if u wanna remind yourself life is worth more to see more to feel more to get to. there are so many magnificient things around waiting for you to explore. walk further. see further.

c mon ai ling!!!

2009-02-28T15:36:00.000-08:00

i am so tired.

things have been goin a bit wrong.

i keep tellin myself. the beauty of all shit coming together is- things can only go better now.

i am hoping i have not collapsed myself before the silver lining comes looking for me.

expectations are heavy. i am trying to hold the weight.

somone tells me "only if u feel the shit now u can see how great u have been when things come true". maybe.

somone else tells me. "ai ling don u dare stop laughing and having fun. ur laughters are the best in u"

n somone who has cared so much about me told me he dreamt i had a realli bad time. tat i wasnt happy. and he was worried about me. how unbelievable dreams can b. wadever it is. ai ling wanna tel u, ai ling has grown up. ai ling is stronger now. don worry about me. you are always a great man. a great shelter. a great everything.

and i believe laughters maybe is the best thing in me.

i wil stil smile no matter wad shit comes.

u deserve to be happy. luck will come bac one day.

one of those days again.

2009-01-13T14:15:00.000-08:00

tuesday. i dread tuesdays because of the paeds outreach. im not particularly good with children. and my very first patient was a bit of a pain. i was traumatised. n it takes like 45 mins on the bus to reach the place. n if i hav something in the morning in dental hospital i will have to have lunch on the speeding bus. anyway, after tuesday i always always feel such a relief.

n today started with radiology interpretation. it was like such a long long long session. my dear kiran was yawning on a minutely basis beside me. n it was infectious. very soon me n other people started doin the same thing. at one point i was carried away. the tutor was talking about trauma and kept showing us some posh radiographs (posterios anterior, occipitomental n wadever while my brain contains not very much more than simple periapical and bitewings). then a coffee break. i thought i might be ok after tat. the seminar went on with cysts. omg cysts AGAIN. she was showing thousands of slides and i was sure most of the people knew the answers but no one was bothered enough to answer anything. it was 12.15 when we finished and kiran n i woke up and rushed to wythenshawe for paeds. lunch on the bus again.

so, i kept on telling kiran that i wasnt in the mood for children. why were we so attached to the course. thats really no way we could skip the session cause the poor kids with toothache will be left alone. its not like u can sleep in and skip your lectures. u are the dentist and they are the patients. you just need to turn up no matter what.

then sure enough, things went a bit wrong. my 3 years old patient needed a fluoride prescription and i was quite sure it was 500micrograms for kids of tat age. then i started writing:

sodium fluoride 2.2mg (fluoride 1mg)tablets
500micrograms a daily
to be chewed or sucked.

thinking the pharmacist will divide the tablets into halves for the patient, i happily asked for signature from the tutor. then the tutor came in n i just got really really really screwed. "how could u just randomly write things?!" well i wasnt really randomly writing anything. i really thought the tablets only came with 1mg fluoride and nothing else. n doctors in malaysia always always split the pills and ask me to take half or one and a half. then i tried to explain but she was really really mad and started scribbling on the prescription sheet.

sodium fluoride 500 micrograms tablets
to be chewed or sucked.

well it still didnt make a difference to me. if u can split the pill n if it will come up the the same amount of fluoride whats the big deal then? u have to be flexible sometime in life dont u?

then she started saying "what were u doing when i was doin the induction? i told u all!". so i went like"mmmm on induction day, u were not around." i supposed i said the wrong thing again. she was like well shdnt u already know this thing anyway. ok ok. my fault.

n then. next patient. a small cavity was done on the E and she asked me what would i use to fill it. so i went like, since its small n shallow and its on primary tooth, i would use GIC. then she went like "NO, COMPOMER with GIC lining!". i didnt quite get it why. i was confused the whole day. then the patient was having a few cavities and the tutor was tellin the mom the gal had a good mouth n wont need to come back---->i was ultimately confused. i confirmed with her again if the patient didnt need to come back and she was like "no". then the patient was about to leave and she was suddenly saying, "heyy i was just thinking, your gal has got a few holes so i think u shd come bac." well, i was like zzZZzzzz.

then a mom came in with a very very cute little gal. they are from philipine. n my nurse was tryin to be very nice and friendly. and the conversation was, to me, just so hilarious.

nurse: heyyy so hows your Xmas and new year?
mom: oooo, i celebrate chinese new year n it is on 26th jan.
nurse: really? chinese new year?
mom: yea cause im chinese we have our calendar.
nurse: oooo...so when is your Xmas then???
mom: mmmm....well...25 dec...

hahahhahah tat was just funny. tat made my day. kinda wiped away the shitty things from the whole day.

i was laughing on the bus with liam, farah and kiran and they went on talking about carrot-and-stick stuff. i am hte carrot and kiran is the stick in this partnering business. it was a good laugh.

shitty day. but really, when i step out from the hospital, i don bring the shit home. life is more than just dentistry isnt it?

winter trip (1) BudaPeSt.

2009-01-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

i m very very lazy to blog. but im know if i don do it still, it will never get done. i have so much to say and the trip was good fun. so i m squeezing my very last bit of energy here at the end of the week to blog. and omg. i m so tired right now.

if i can describe the trip with one word. tat will be COLD. it was so freezing cold in europe that when i stepped my foot in england i felt that i would never ever complain this place is cold again. no joke. i was arming myself with clothes layer after layer but once we stepped outside we were shivering crazily. it was COLD.

so budapest. i heard it was beautiful and cheap. mmm maybe pounds drop, it wasnt particularly cheap. it was cheaper in prague when i went there 2 years ago. but again, maybe because pound is dropping. and people like us who survive on the government donation really feel the impact of the rotting economy. n mmm...budapest wasnt ugly, it was just not really up to my expectation. i was expecting a fairy-tale city, a place so beautiful you would think u are in a dream. so well it was ok. just maybe not on top of the list.

the parliament was like a painting. the first sigh of budapest wasnt too bad =)

the fisherman's bastian. they said u never visit budapest without seeing this. mmm i wonder y?
the coldness was killing us. my ears were frozen at one point. and my gloves were useless. i felt so naked. as soon as we saw the market we rushed in to get something to arm ourselves. tat hat was amazing, otherwise i would now walk around earless, seriously.

chain bridge. my nose was leaking like a tap. the coldness was ultimate.

spent some time in the palace and got lost inside.

hero square. it was so cold that we decided to do some exercise. jump jump jump. it was a fun square. we generated some heat. for a while it was a little warmer.

we kept saying this is like the brandenburg gate in germany. look so alike. anyway, we couldnt stop playing with it.

follow me home. i will love u like my baby.

ok now ladies and gentlemen. let me introduce u to the wolrd largest hourglass!!! it will be turned over at the end of each year. noreen read about in on the internet and insisted we should give this impressive huge piece of thing a visit.
so tak-daaaaaaaa, world biggest hourglassss!!!! ok ok dont cheyyyyyy first. look at the next one.

it is this BIG.

budapest did make me feel at home at a point... because i found my car there! ok dream on.

tats one thing i must mention about our trip to budapest----->the food. they were all, i mean all SALTY. noreen the medical student kept on saying she was really curious about the fugure of hypertension in hungary. n beetee kept on saying "wei salt here no need to pay isit?!"
i saw this stall n rushed there to get something to munch. so happy. not till i bit on it. omg this thing was possibly the saltiest thing i have ever ever ever put into my mouth. so damn geli. yakkkkkkkkkkkkkk.

have faith. maybe dessert wont be tat bad. we went into this lovely shop and omg their cakes all looked soooooooooooooo yummy. n three of us got something to taste. n people, u really hav to believe that looks can be deceiving, for those cakes were really the worst cakes we have tasted. even those pandan cakes in pasar malam are way better.

then we found this chinese fast food shop. omg saviour. so far we see chinese food in every single european country we hav been to. they are our hope really. cheap n yummy.

the night was even colder. changed my useless gloves with beetee to go on.

statue of liberty.

the night budapest was a bit silent. high up in citadel it was a bit empty. i said couples there are blessed with a nice place to date.

after 2 days in budapest, noreen was heading back to liverpool. me n beetee continued our way to the next stop, vienna.

08 Xmas

2009-01-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

before i say anything, people, please offer your help. we really need a hand from u in this. if u spread your voice it will mean so much. thank you.

SpREad RumOuRsss!!!!!!!!!!!!!! scandalousssss!!!!

so, Xmas in manchester. it was nothing like wad u see in movie- bright lights, happenings streets and crowd; it was just all empty and soulless.

still, not too bad, yipei cooked. we had a small party. oliver came to steal a lot of cutleries from my place. the night was actually quite warm. i was just wearing a jacket n a small t-shirt n was sweating a bit. oliver said it was warm but he was all wrapped up. zzz.

n ta-daaa, party started.

our two strong korean mates wif fancy nails; forgive them, they were dressing as women for the Xmas party the night before. quite disturbing but quite cool.

cut cut cut. eat eat eat.

hello. tats my yoyo. stop looking oliver!

so cute. just like kids.

smile for the coming calories and fats!

yum yum.

merry Xmas!

爸爸, 你何時將新的手還給我‏?

2008-11-14T05:16:00.000-08:00

在美國的加州有一個小女孩大約是 4 歲.

她的父親有一台大卡車，她的父親非常喜歡那台卡車 .
總是為那台車做全套的保養，以保持卡車的美觀 .

一天，小女孩拿著硬物在他父親的卡車鈑金上劃下了無數的刮痕 !!
她的父親盛怒之下，用鐵絲把小女孩的手綁起來 .
然後吊著小女孩的手，讓她站在車庫罰站
當父親想起小女兒在車庫罰站時，已經是 4個小時過後了！
趕到車庫時，小女孩的手已經被鐵絲綁的血液不通!
父親送她到急診室時，已經需要截去小女孩的手掌了.
因為，手掌部分的組織已經都壞死，如不截去手掌 ...

她生命非常危險，甚至可能會危害到小女孩的生命 ...

所以小女孩就這樣失去了她的一雙手掌了 !

但是她不懂..... 她不懂到底是發生了什麼事在她的身上 ....

而她的父親也因為這樣感到萬分的愧疚 !

過了約半年後 ,小女孩的父親的卡車進廠重新烤漆，又像全新的一樣.
當他把卡車開回家後，小女孩看著重新烤漆過的卡車 ,說

"Daddy your truck looks so cool, like a brand new one!"
<<爸爸 ! 你的卡車好漂亮唷！看起來就像是新卡車 >>

這時小女孩無邪的伸出了她那截斷的雙手，對她的父親說

"but when will you give me back my hands?"
<< 但是你什麼時候要把我的手還給我?? >>

你們知道當那位父親聽到小女孩問他的問題時，發生了什麼事嗎 ?

那位父親在小女孩的面前 ..... 舉槍自殺 .......

很多人分不清 .....到底什麼是重要的？

只會無知迷失在自我的喜好當中 ........

就如有些人會去慈濟幫忙掃街，但家事從來不管 .......

有些人會花很多錢去建廟，但對自己的親人如鐵公雞 .....

有些人在外面和言悅色，但對自己的卻家人暴躁如雷 ......

這就是說那個父親不知是車子重要，或是女兒重要呢？

而遺憾的事..... 世間到處充滿了這些事 .....

而且就在你我之間 ....

只要是金錢可以買到的；
都比不上無價的可貴，
請不要吝嗇，多給家人一點愛！

bristol and bath.

2008-11-08T15:07:00.000-08:00

finally beetee is here in manchester. i could get my photos off him to post my blog. AT LAST.

i started this year with the heaviest schedule ever. time was so tight. it was like 9-5 everyday. i was going crazy seeing patients n attending different hospitals. i needed a get-away. n cool, beetee is stuck in bristol now n i had a new place to run to during the weekend.

we joined the trip oraganized by the bristol uni to stonehenge n bath.

stonehenge! i had been wanting to go so much n finally!

mmm it was all stones n to me it wasnt particularly exciting. im not very historical u see.

after 3 hours we countined our way to bath, the little palm-sized town.

romans bath. paid 9 pounds omg.

little sally lunn's.

bristol. i js think it is like another version of KL. so big compared to manchester. so city-like. n the shopping is exciting. i was saying when i m damn free wif money i wil disturb beetee again to do shopping in bristol. free accommodation n food n entertainment n mango service =)

met my dear taiping frens. frens i know for more than a decade. frens i wil always lov eventho i don see them often. u guys made me think of small little taiping so much.

a nice escape for 2 days. thank you koay beetee.

hong kong adventure

2008-09-12T01:05:00.000-07:00

Finally. Finally! Me and baby yipei were heading to the Pearl of the East wakakakakaka. Excitement and excitement and nothing else as we were heading from Manchester.

Arrival in Hong Kong. Yummy Hakka food.

Adventure starts. Day 1. The peak.
Madame Tussauds in Hongkong makes me a lot more thrilled than the one in London does. At least I know more faces there. At least I won’t take a wax as a random visitor blocking my way.

Sexy Aaron.

wow. genetics gone wrong.

See Hong Kong from the Peak. Breath-taking.

Day 2. Excitement goes on.
Yum yum shanghai noodles.

Went into the supermarket to have some drinks and our Mr. Thomas turned out to be the best salesman of soya milk. Laughed my ass out as a group of ah gong ah mah rushed over to have a taste. Mr. Thomas was not a bit reluctant to take up the job.

Miew Gai (temple street)
Mr. Thomas said this shop is no more in demand thanks to the technology. U download everything u desire. Yakk.

Continuing our journey to Wong Kok; so crowded, in fact it is the most crowded area in the world. Fuh I suffocated a bit.

Honestly it is like our version of Petaling Street. Bargain or pay more.

Not forgetting to find some Hong Kong yummies.

The avenue of Stars!

His voice so lovely.

Beautiful Hong Kong night.

Steamboat!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 3. Macau.

Yayy. Taking VIP seats to Macau. Thank you Tom =)

A beautiful day. A beautiful Macau.

Without stepping into a casino no point visiting Macau, they say.

Have u seen doggie racing? Doggie!!!!! Oh my god they run so so so fast. What an eye-opener.

Day 4. Disneyland.
This Disneyland is lot smaller than the one in Paris but it is as amazing.

The night Disney sleeping beauty’s castle.

Day 5. Ngoong Peng; Dai Yu San.

Yay yay we are going into the cable car.
Wonderful view, I saw it all.

See the Buddha. So tiny so cute.

Finally reached. Food first keke.

Welcome to dai Yu San.

Don’t forget the tau fu fa.

So huge.

Day 6. A relaxing day.

A day used to walk leisurely and hunt for food.

A cruise around the night Hong Kong city.

Day 7. Ocean park.
Woohoooooooooooooooooo.

Our birthday boy got a free entry =)

This thing scared the hell out of me.

I love those dolphins! The loveliest creatures on earth.

Kungfu panda village.

Blekk.

Happy birthday Thomas!

Day 8. Food day.
More food.

my sis, my love.

2008-07-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

finally, u made it. finally u are there. i am so happy for u.

u are the prettiest girl of the big day.

i am so lucky to have u. u are the best sis i can ask for.

a piece of my heart for u. u are one of the few people i will draw for.

we are the miracle makers. we made our way through the storms.

i know papa is proud too.

all the best to u in the future, for every single thing in your life, cause u deserve the best.

and, i love u.

beauty of stockholm, sweden.

2008-06-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

it was a reward to myself. it was a good one. Stockholm is so great. one of the best out of so many European countries.

i such love the old town, Gamla Stan. so beautiful. so cultural. so Europe. so ancient. so clean. so lovely. so cute. though a bit expensive, it was almost perfect.

a restaurant in old town. it was originally a prison; aged more than 600 years. i just love it so much. it was a cool basement. u must watch this video! (somehow i can't upload it huhu)

i had the must-try Swedish meatball in the loveliest restaurant. yummmmmy.

the Royal Palace was just a few steps away from the hostel i stayed. the guards were not like those in London. they moved quite a bit! those standing outside the White Palace in London wouldn't even move an inch. just so still. like they won't ever feel itchy or bored.

sunny day is the best background for pictures.

i was shocked to see the Nobel Museum, never knew that Alfred Nobel was from Sweden. it wasn't every much introduced in the maps and the entrance was ju st 4pounds. such a small museum. the tour guide from the museum said "this museum is about ideas, not objects." so there u go, SMALL. no cameras allowed. so no pictures here for u.

Stockholm city hall. the Alfred award dinner is held here every year, on the 9th December.

u don't have to be a Laurette to be in this place.

Vasa museum. the ship sank not very long after it started its sail. it was a huge piece.

it was the Swedish National Day eve. there were so many lorries carrying young girls who were screaming and shouting with bottles of alcohol for no reason. u just w ould wonder why were they so happy. just like those people back in Malaysia celebrating Hari Kebangsaan. c'mon you n i are not that patriotic but somehow some people just show extreme glee on that day. somehow.

Swedish version of MALAYSIA BOLEH!

then it was the National Day. flags were given everywhere for free. the old town was so so happening. so packed. i can't tell u enough how much i m in love with the old town.

IcE-BAr!!!!!!! it was like -5degree in there. so freezing cold. the bartender was really cute.

ICE.

ice-cream was ubiquitous in Stockholm, everyone was holding ice-cream as if they couldn't live without it. there was this old old aunty licking on the ice-cream like she loved it so much. i couldn't help but looked at her, it was just so cute!

Away from the beautiful old town, heading to the modern city of Stockholm.

The busiest park ever, Kungstradgarden.

I can't read Swedish, but this must be Malaysian satay!

WILD is beauty.

i love u Stockholm.

winter-summer-spring

2008-06-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

exams finishedddddddddddddddd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok since i havnt been blogging for like 8000years, i js wanna post something. just sometime really random.

weather has been odd these days. someone even told me that the world is going to end cause everything is really messed up nowadays. then i thought, if it is, please let me enjoy the summer first, cause i have had such a long long long year. the world shouldn't end just like that before i have some fun. if the world is going to end, i will fly to Egypt, buying the most expensive 1st class air ticket, seeing the pyramids, riding the camels, playing with the sand, and get really tanned. and when people comment about my darkness i will just say "who cares?". then i will fly back to my home to give my mum a hug n tell her i really love her a lot. n i will eat my fav laksa. n before i leave the UK, i will approach the dental nurses in the dental hospital, advising them to be a bit nicer to the dental students cause we shouldn't always take their shit for no reasons, and the old fragile patients shouldn't have to bear with their screaming and shouting.

ok, back to weather. it was freezing cold since October. then it was just nothing but cruel coldness. day got dark like at 3.30pm. so dreadful. every time u go out to do shopping, u will have to carry a ton of winter clothings with u. and u just feel so heavy. then we were wondering y no snow? hello snow is the only thing u can hope for in the winter. then it was April when u will expect a bit of warmth. than it snowed! hello. it snowed!!!!!

i have a slanting window. so the snow js looked like it was falling directly into my room. so beautiful.

then after a month, May. it was abruptly all sunny and bright and everything u js want so badly after the long long winter. the fair-skinned folks love the sun like nothing else. but then again, they have a limited supply of melanin, getting dark is not an issue. when u are applying sunblock, getting the biggest umbrella and the hugest sunglasses, these sun-lovers are trying to expose every inch of their skin to the sun. my British flatmate Rachel said she would really love to exchange UK weather with my Malaysian weather. but then again, things u cant get are always the better things. summer is a bit crazy here cause i cant actually find a fan anywhere. in Malaysia it is hot n humid, here it is just hot n hot n hot n dry. the best thing is, when u go shopping, u have no burden of carrying anything to keep u warm.

i took this photo on my way back from dental hospital. if my mum sees this photo, she will be saying, "are they mad?"

the ice-cream car is a hot spot in summer.

so it was like from winter straight to summer. and Noreen was asking, where is the spring? oh yea, where is it? the order is really a bit messed up isn't it?

then it is June the raining season. and oh my god the flowers that blossomed in the summer just suddenly disappear. this is really so weird. how is that possible. suddenly i miss the sun. so spring comes back?

tomorrow i am going to Sweden. after a long long month of horrifying exams. hopefully it is sunny n bright there. my 9th europe country.