auckland
Holidays April 2nd to 9th 2006 
hello hello hello diary!
i've been wanting to blog about my recent trip to Auckland& Sydney but local electives have just been busier than i expected..That's cos you're expected to join all their extra activities in addition to clinics..like grand ward rounds, CME activities etc..which usually ends late in the evening. And they are all way beyond student level (like discussing the technicalities of cataract surgery, LASIK and so on..i tried to cover my sense of loss by scribbling notes (albeit sometimes unrelated to the lecture topic) down.
But it's interesting to hear them talk, and there's no stress that i must know everything. Plus the ophthalmologists are all really nice, especially my tutor, who let me use the slit lamp and indirect ophthalmoscopes on patients. I felt so 'pro' fiddling with the machines and wearing that head gear (which in my opinion all the female ophthalmologists look super sexy in) Haha. Except i looked like an idiot..i didn't even know where the light switch on after i put it on and adjusted it snugly to fit my head. So i had to take down the gear and examine all the knobs to decide which was the switch. All this in front of 2 ophthalmologists and the patient. Wah..paiseh.
Anyz, i gotta start preparing for my overseas elective too. Judging from Joline (who's doing the same general surgery rotation as me at harvard, but one month before me), the medical student is left by herself to clerk new admissions when you're on call. Boy, i wouldn't want to turn up on the first day of my rotation only knowing all about the eye. That'll be scary--for me, my tutors and the patients.
But ok..here's happy happy stuff. My trip to Auckland & Sydney was totally amazing, fantastic, mind-blowing, unforgettable..haha you get the idea. No No i didn't do crazy stuff but i met up with my dear Aunt Shirley, Uncle Sam and cousin Angela in Auckland, and Aunt Alicia, Uncle Patrick and cousins Ranui & Camille (& Theo) in Sydney. It's always great to catch up with loved ones, and meet long lost cousins whom my sis and i never knew.=)
But i'll blog about auckland first..sydney in my next blog..cos i'll need time to make the photo collages..There are just so many lovely pics i have more trouble deciding which ones to put up than actually making the collage itself!
In Auckland the first thing Lina and i did was to pay our respects to YeYe and MaMa, our paternal grandparents..We placed fresh bright flowers on their graves, and wished them a peaceful rest. I never knew them very well, but really, without them there wouldn't be my parents, not to mention me. So i feel we're always indebted to our elders. You know luo ye gui gen..falling leaves return to their roots.
Auckland felt so familiar to Lina and i. We did all the usual stuff..And like lina said..it brought back all the memories of our frequent childhood trips to Auckland. The house at sommerville, the mall at meadowlands (my gosh even the supermarket and video shop are exactly as we know it), the delicious dimsum (why is the dim sum in auckland TONS better than singapore's?), and my wonderful relatives..everything and everyone gave such a feeling of comfort and nostalgia.
Of course there were some changes..like the shops in newmarket seem alot trendier and higher-end, and there's the new mall Botany's (Angela's 2nd home!). And then of course there's us.. the 3 cousins who loved food, shopping, and gossip..well we still love all that, but we have definitely grown & matured(Yes we have!) The stuff we shop for (like work clothes, stylish heeled shoes, bags, make-up, skin care, blah blah)..The food and places we eat at (yes more cafes for us please..remember we're still spend an afternoon at that chi chi starbucks cafe in HK Landmark shopping centre)..The things we discuss (people, relationships, work..no politics yet please!)
Glad to see we've all wisened up somewhat..and no matter how old we are, we all manage to click like brownie and vanilla ice cream!
And thanks a million Angela for taking time off work to bring my sis and i around.. we enjoyed ourselves tremendously!
hello hello hello diary!i've been wanting to blog about my recent trip to Auckland& Sydney but local electives have just been busier than i expected..That's cos you're expected to join all their extra activities in addition to clinics..like grand ward rounds, CME activities etc..which usually ends late in the evening. And they are all way beyond student level (like discussing the technicalities of cataract surgery, LASIK and so on..i tried to cover my sense of loss by scribbling notes (albeit sometimes unrelated to the lecture topic) down.
But it's interesting to hear them talk, and there's no stress that i must know everything. Plus the ophthalmologists are all really nice, especially my tutor, who let me use the slit lamp and indirect ophthalmoscopes on patients. I felt so 'pro' fiddling with the machines and wearing that head gear (which in my opinion all the female ophthalmologists look super sexy in) Haha. Except i looked like an idiot..i didn't even know where the light switch on after i put it on and adjusted it snugly to fit my head. So i had to take down the gear and examine all the knobs to decide which was the switch. All this in front of 2 ophthalmologists and the patient. Wah..paiseh.
Anyz, i gotta start preparing for my overseas elective too. Judging from Joline (who's doing the same general surgery rotation as me at harvard, but one month before me), the medical student is left by herself to clerk new admissions when you're on call. Boy, i wouldn't want to turn up on the first day of my rotation only knowing all about the eye. That'll be scary--for me, my tutors and the patients.
But ok..here's happy happy stuff. My trip to Auckland & Sydney was totally amazing, fantastic, mind-blowing, unforgettable..haha you get the idea. No No i didn't do crazy stuff but i met up with my dear Aunt Shirley, Uncle Sam and cousin Angela in Auckland, and Aunt Alicia, Uncle Patrick and cousins Ranui & Camille (& Theo) in Sydney. It's always great to catch up with loved ones, and meet long lost cousins whom my sis and i never knew.=)
But i'll blog about auckland first..sydney in my next blog..cos i'll need time to make the photo collages..There are just so many lovely pics i have more trouble deciding which ones to put up than actually making the collage itself!
In Auckland the first thing Lina and i did was to pay our respects to YeYe and MaMa, our paternal grandparents..We placed fresh bright flowers on their graves, and wished them a peaceful rest. I never knew them very well, but really, without them there wouldn't be my parents, not to mention me. So i feel we're always indebted to our elders. You know luo ye gui gen..falling leaves return to their roots.
Auckland felt so familiar to Lina and i. We did all the usual stuff..And like lina said..it brought back all the memories of our frequent childhood trips to Auckland. The house at sommerville, the mall at meadowlands (my gosh even the supermarket and video shop are exactly as we know it), the delicious dimsum (why is the dim sum in auckland TONS better than singapore's?), and my wonderful relatives..everything and everyone gave such a feeling of comfort and nostalgia.
Of course there were some changes..like the shops in newmarket seem alot trendier and higher-end, and there's the new mall Botany's (Angela's 2nd home!). And then of course there's us.. the 3 cousins who loved food, shopping, and gossip..well we still love all that, but we have definitely grown & matured(Yes we have!) The stuff we shop for (like work clothes, stylish heeled shoes, bags, make-up, skin care, blah blah)..The food and places we eat at (yes more cafes for us please..remember we're still spend an afternoon at that chi chi starbucks cafe in HK Landmark shopping centre)..The things we discuss (people, relationships, work..no politics yet please!)
Glad to see we've all wisened up somewhat..and no matter how old we are, we all manage to click like brownie and vanilla ice cream!
And thanks a million Angela for taking time off work to bring my sis and i around.. we enjoyed ourselves tremendously!
posted by stephanie @ 3:00 PM
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