30%

the 4th year exams results were out last friday. i was surprised that alot of them failed one of the paper.. honestly i would be thinking that like most exams, they would lower the passing marks instead. that's what i always assure myself with during exams.

..even if i dont do well or cant score 50%.. as long as i score abit more than some people, i should be safe..

the 4th years werent happy and complained to some tutors. how did they reassure the 4th years?

"dont worry.. lots of the 5th years fail Their paper as well.. 30%.. etc.. "

WTH?!?! omifreakkkk.. what paper? What 30%?? 30% is the new passing rate?? or 30% failed??????????

there we were, 4 of us discussing about that eavesdropped-conversation, knowing that chances are One of us.. (or maybe even 2 of us..) had failed..

dont u just hate that bad intuition or nagging gut feeling that is getting louder & louder with each passing hour till FRIday 4th of December 2pm..

calm down helen... whats the point worrying about something that cannot be changed? all i can now is..

Post exam Weekend in London

woohoo!
first weekend back in central london in a month due to exams!

fri night started at piya piya, a thai restaurant+pub at old street.. wasn't our original plan cause we wanted to go pham sushi but it was fully booked so we walked to the next-available-restaurant. its would be better if the pad thai noodle was less oily and more flavoured (aka more salt please! and kicap cause its kinda pale) we malaysians love our dishes full of flavour after all!

then its movie night 'New Moon' at Cineworld in Trocadero, Shaftesbury Avenue before we had our milkshake+cheesecake dessert! well, the movie is kinda mushy2 with lots of kissingggggg in such a big screen and not enough action, plus i was at a disadvantage coz didnt watch the 1st part so cant fully understand the story. all i know is the main guy aka vampire isnt hotttt compared to the werewolf!! oh come on...

Saturday it was not one but Two rounds of duck rice: 1st round with menaka and noreen (guest from liverpool) at Four seasons and 2nd with ang (guest from edinburgh) at Gold Mine, both at bayswater/queensway. then its Msd canteen for malaysian kuih desserts~

2nd attempt at Pham Sushi, this time with booking!! the alaska (salmon sushi) was not bad, mayb cause i love salmon anyways. ash fatiha ang and i were celebrating liza's birthday. and thanksss for the treat, birthday girl! you shouldnt have!!!!

minum2 teh tarik, malaysian white coffee and tea at Sedap, a nearby malaysian restaurant at Old Street as well (cause we wanted to chill and it was raining) i dont know if the food is really sedap (delicious) but we can find out one of these days!

nice weekend resuming life eating eating and eating in london..
and to liza, Happy Belated Birthday!! hope u like ur present (which is having mr. ang imported from edinburgh for the night...)

Life(less) on a Thin Rope

perhaps i dont have a life now. day & night, just talking about dentistry.

+ask me about diet, i say just-eat-la.
+ask me about money, i say like-that-la.
+ask me about love life, i say dont-exist-la.
+ask me about shopping, i say wait-sales-la.
+ask me about life, i say read-my-blog-la.
+ask me about dentistry, i say Come-Sit-Down-La, i can talk to you for 24hours!

even today after a late friday night movie with dinner & desserts, yinhui and i were talking about dentistry all the way in the 40+mins bus ride from central. and mind u, we are groupmates, we see each other during every clinical sessions and we talk about dentistry everytime, and a post-late-fri-night-movie-ride didn't escape the dreadful conversation as well.

many non-dentistry friends are getting bored already. helen, pls get a life. there are better things to talk about. guys, shopping, money, food, future, travels.. perhaps even talking about diet & calories isnt such a bad idea now.

i suppose its different compared to other university courses when no matter wad, u just have to finish some assignment/thesis/experiment/research/project like building a model, or cram ur studies in a month and sit for the exams or just practise for osces.

thats when you can decide ur own fate. i can still accept that. but for dentistry, it doesnt work that way.

>>if ur patient disappears/go on holiday (for 5 months like my patient!!) /stops treatment/cancel/super-late/dont turn up, u r screwed. yes, i know a colleague who had to can't sit for the finals because the patient died. (sounds very heartless of me, but please dear patients of mine, take care of ur lives until i grad at least.)

>>if ur patient couldn't tolerate ur treatment (like dentures) and takes monthsss to adjust or ur treatment takes tooooo long, say for example u fix 2 teeth and tomorrow ur patient breaks another 3, making u unable to finish treatment in time, u have to stay back another say 6 months to finish ur treatment before u can do ur finals.

>>if ur consultant doesn't approve ur treatment, its illegitimate. if u think its easy to find consultants to discuss with them, try looking for one. i am better off looking for a shooting star.

>>if that isnt bad enough, they want to see the patients before they approve treatment. so getting the Consultant AND Patient in at the same can prove to be impossible sometimes. which means u need to make an appointment with them Both like Weeksss ahead. that goes to say, dentistry needs Very Good time management.

>>if ur consultants/tutors/patients disagree with ur treatment or even with each other, u r just as screwed. i know a colleague where 4 different consultants change the treatment plan, how can u ever start any treatment???

>>if ur patient (Like Mine!) just lost her fillings or Dentures, u have nothing to show at the end of the day although u did the Perfect dental work, so ya, u r still screwed.

>>if u have NO patients.. u may as well start digging ur own grave literally.

>>if ur clinical sessions are cancelled, or u dont have the materials or the equipments, the dental lab's closed or even no dental nurse to help causing u to delay your work, well too bad then, regardless who's fault it is. a colleague of mine who wanted to place a crown on a tooth was told by my tutor to wait 6 months for it to fully heal.. 6 MONTHS, we are suppose to be sitting for our finals by then, Not doing treatment!!

(just to name some of the problems..)

what makes it difficult for me is i cant determine my own fate, it kinda rest in the hands of the consultants, the tutors, the patients and the dental school... i can study day and night everyday but if my patient calls up one morning to say "Oh I'm not continuing treatment, I am Going back to my own Dentist (which i heard so many times already) " or my consultant goes "Nope u r Not doing this".. i am still screwed. thats why i think graduating depends mostly on Luck which i dont have very much of.

and yes, i dont have a life now, i will just commit everything to (worrying about) dental school. well, its for the future so i can have a better life after i graduate, If i grad.

but whats the point of worrying about something out of your control?

Life walking on a thin rope held by consultants/tutors at one end and patients at the other end, is really very scary.

God, if You want me to graduate from dental school,

please please help me out. Amen

Being the Bad Guy

sometimes when u feel like u r being nice and trying to help, things would probably turn out the otherwise making u look weak and soft instead. like today.

my dental tutor, mr sarcastic is always very adamant about Punctuality. arrive punctual and finish up by 11.30am, sharp. your grades would be
:) :) Merit if u r early/punctual

:/ :/ Pass if u r 15minutes late

+_+" Borderline/Fail after that

i booked a patient in at 1030-1130am instead of the usual 900am because knowing that they come from so far, they would need some time to get here. 1 hour is sufficient for a quick review and to get them out by 1115am so that i can write up and clear up before 1130am.

1115am and still no where in sight. i knew i was already in big trouble.. imagine everyone was rushing to finish and disappear by 1120am.. (who wants to get into trouble and get marked down as borderline/fail??) and my patient walked in at 1125am.

i could still remember that shocked look of mr sarcastic's, perhaps he was thinking how could this little chinese girl defy The Law after so many weeks of his strict autocratic monarchy?

"What can u achieve Now? Whatever u r doing, Get it done in FIVE minutes!"

even a GP appointment takes 10 minutes. u want a dental student to fix ur teeth or dentures in 5 mins? good luck with that. i was fiddling around with materials and just go drilllllllll... its so distinct especially when the whole floor was empty.

once my patient and her family started the "we left at 900 am! we drove from so far, there's heavy traffic, took us more than 2 hours to get here.." i tried to show that i empathize with them, but at the same time, coming in 5 minutes before my session ends not only make it impossible for me to do any work to help them, i got into trouble, yet again.

there's no choice but to rebook, and even after i explain, again and again they InSisted they could only come at 1100/1130am!!! what???!?! i was speechless for a moment cause i hate looking like the bad guy, even when sometimes its the right thing to do.

that's when mr. sarcastic came in. he was firm saying "her session finishes at 11.15am! she needs a good hour to get this work done properly, rushed work would only produce poor results. it's Impossible for her to do any work if u come so late. You are Demanding the Impossible from her!"

at the moment i was like 'wahhh thank you for being the bad guy and speaking up on my behalf'..

meanwhile i stood quiet between the tutor-vs-patient-heated-discussion which ended with the patient saying "we'll be here at exactly 10.30am next week," before they left.

it was already 12noon. even the discussion was longer than the treatment. after they left, i knew it was my turn.. fair enough, be the bad guy till the end, to my patient and to me as well.. *grunts*

"Discipline your Patients!" was the moral for today.

i thought i was being nice to still see my patient although they were an hour late, but not only were they upset that they came all the way to the dental chair and not get any work done, there was that heated discussion, then i had my own not-so-great-feedback session, and mr sarcastic wasnt too happy either. plus we all, even the dental nurse, had to stay back an extra half hour.

i wasn't satisfied for creating the impression that i was being weak or soft, but i knew i couldnt argue my case because being nice and doing the right thing are 2 different things, and its obvious which mr sarcastic would prefer. after all, there is a fine line between being a-bit-tooo-nice and weak.

i remember mumbling ".. they drove from so far (took them 2.5hours?!).." to which he replied, "SO? I Dont Care whether they r from Next door or from Very far away, their treatment STILL takes an hour, which we Dont Have anymore!"

*grumbles* dont ask me what i was thinking..

should i have told them at 11am while they r still on the road to just turn around and head back home anyway since they are already late Even though they have already drove for 2 hours to get here?

anyway, thank you mr sarcastic for being the bad guy and at the same time, for letting me off the hook today by not failing me. didn't know being cruel-to-be-kind & disciplining patients were part of the job description as well, but ya, i will try to be the bad guy next time (although u seem more suited for that job!!)

4 girls who have no fate with berlin

a month ago:
there were 4 girlfriends wanting to go to berlin for 3 days 2 nights during the weekdays. excited, they bought the tickets waiting to celebrate right after exams.

the week before:
girl 1 backed out coz she said she would be busy & tired.
girl 2 was still unsure cause she had alot of work as well. however, changed of patient's plans meant she had lesser work which she could possibly finish up and still go to berlin, but stay for 1 night instead of 2 and come back earlier to resume clinics. changing the return ticket was about £20.
girl 3 was contemplating hard as she still have work but not as important.. so after many internal conflicts, she decided to just go anyway.
girl 4 was certain that she would go to berlin.

4 girls, 4 separate situations.

the night before:
girl 1 no comment cause she 100% backed out.
girl 2 finished her work and excited to go but the return ticket increased to like £60 so no way.
girl 3 & girl 4 packed their bags and booked accom.

before departure:
girl 3 & girl 4.. left alittle too late that their train could only reach minutes before the plane flies.. so they missed it.

and when the plane was already in berlin:
girl 1,2,3 & 4 are back in their house talking to each other about not-going-to-berlin, back to square one.. each of them not going for different reasons, but at the end of the day they have each donated £40++pounds to the budget airlines.

not the 1st time i missed a plane..
but it had better be my Last!!!

so friends, could u guess which girl i am?

Happy Birthday, Housewife!

last friday was my housewife or locum chef 's 24th birthday.. so off i went to find her in edinburgh (after she ran away with another guy to edinburgh =P ) to celebrate the weekend with her..

back to our good old Chocolate Soup at Royal Mile, with the same double hot chocolate with maltesers and hot mushroom soup with bread... 2 of the best comfort food for winter..

(exactly 2 years ago in the same place with the same hot chocolate.. more maltesers back then though... and i looked fatter then but actually that time camera angle from the bottom, now smarter already, camera angle from the top..)

peilian baked and carried 24 chocolate+coffee+walnut cup cakes all the way from manchester!! we managed to quickly light them up in the last 30minutes of the birthday!

no-longer-little pei pei making her birthday wish..

saturday was a chilling day strolling by arthur seat/craigs.. having mussels at mussel inn, going window shopping in john lewis, zara and all the shops at princes st..

after all the hard work, we had hot chocolate and hot coffee at a cute little cafe called artisan roast, very pretty, cosy and tiny hang out place with only 2-3 tables .. had the rose and black pepper hot chocolate.. rather interesting..

at night it was dinner at chef sit's place (buaya ang's housemate).. he cooked tom yam fish, chicken kicap, chicken masak merah and spinach.. we even had satay imported by ang and corn kuih from pei pei!! deliciousssssssss!!! thanks, hosts of edinburgh!

(lucky chef sit surrounded by 5 leng lois..)

lazy sunday started at a car boot sale..

lunch at wannaburger with a huge classic beef burger (like GBK's) + free toppings + frieds + a drink for only a fiver! (student discount)

very worth it lorrr..

simple lunch followed by classy dessert at Vittoria.. we had the cheesecake, tiramisu, banofee pie with ice creammmm!! yummyumsss!

unfortunately that marked the end of the relaxing de-stressing weekend before its the start of the new week (which wasnt the best start being late on monday)

bestie, if u r reading this,

i want u to know that...

to me, you are..

a santa donut among other krispy kremes..

a white little cow among other candles..

i dont mean that u r round and white and cute (hmmm)..

what i meant is you are One in a Million...

thanks for being my friend :):)

the Mistake

the Introduction:
long week of staying up, longer weekend with friends.. longest journey ever from edinburgh (at the train station since 5.45pm?) to london (reached my room say 1.30am?) before having a late night supper and nodding off at nearly 3.00am..

snooze at 0730..0739.. 0748.. .. .. 0805.. ..

the Mistake:
turning off the snooze at 8.15 am telling myself that i am waking up (since i have to be in clinics by 8.30am usually for my 9.00am patient under Mr. Sarcastic..) but then.. i think i told myself i will have a few more seconds of shut-eye..

seconds turn to minutes.. and more minutes.. meanwhile, the conscious self is aware of what is going on while the physical self is still escaping reality..

the Nightmare:
i was running late to dental institute, stuck in a car driven by 2 medic seniors who got lost and couldnt find our direction..then its a long queue to get equipment and instruments, even needed to take a number.. bumped into my Senseis from Japan who i had no choice but to stop and say Hi + smallchitchat although i was already running late.. so many things went wrong..

the Nightmare-come-true:
suddenly woke up.. stare at the alarm.. and heart dropped.. adrenaline concentration in blood increase tenfolds..

the Stupidity:
how can one turn off the alarm when u already have just 15minutes from the time u hop off the bed to leaving the room in professional attire?

the Lesson:
Never Ever EVER turn off the alarm assuming u will be waking up..

the Irony:
how come i can dream of being late before i know am really late?

the road to success

can i take the train instead? =P

finally

was contemplating hard 45minutes before the last paper ended to leave the examination hall or not. brain squeezed dry only because it could not absorb anything anyway yesterday post-osce-that-finished-at-6.30pm before today's paper, making it the most unprepared paper. sitting for another 45minutes will only prolong the agony.

adrenaline must have ran out since yesterday as i was not freaking out although i was very much unprepared compared to monday's paper, i was not feeling scared when i saw questions i could not understand, or couldn't think of answers i would normally have at the tip of my fingers. even writing the last sentence did not give me a rush of joy.

felt more like numb. and very, very tired.

perhaps because i feel its not the end like how i would feel during post-exams usually because this is only the beginning of final year, the beginning of more clinics, more work, more patients to treat, more stuff to study, more responsibilities...

anyway, time to regain strength and lost sleep.

but first, need to attend to alot of abandoned responsibilities..

beaten yet not cooked

although i eat well and have a reasonable amount of sleep (at least 6-7hours), i still feel tired. can't believe its only been 2 out of 4 days of exams.

Mon, Tues & Thu papers, each weigh 8.25% and tomorrow's OSCE? a WhOoping 50%. meaning even if i got a perfect score on the other 3 days, i can still fail.

only 16% done and 58.25% to go but i'm already more-than-half dead.

OSCE. 20 stations of 5 minutes each and 1 minute break in between (plus 4 rest stations) = 24 x 6 = 2.5 hours from minute-1 till end. include the be-early preparation, get-into-position etc.. time, make that 3 hours.

to make things worse, we are divided into 3 big groups, 9.30 12.30 and 3.15pm slots. and since its an Exam, to prevent the 9.30am group from meeting the 3.15pm group, the 3.15pm group would be quarantined in a hall from 11.45am while the 9.30am group finishs up and the 12.30pm group prepare themselves.

guess what, i am just so lucky to be locked up for 3.5 hours, then do a 3-hour exams, and then finish say 6.30pm (feeling stressed as i always do post-papers) to study for the final paper on Thurs morning.

20 stations. what can they make us do?

suture.. design flaps for minor oral surgery.. identify surgical instruments.. label radiographs.. make diagnose based on histology slides and photos.. history taking.. examination.. advice on orthodontic/dentures/post-operation care.. gaining consent for sedation/general anaesthetics.. do a restoration..mix a restoration material.. disinfect and set up a clinical area.. place a rubber dam on a tooth.. design a denture.. write a prescription.. write a referral letter..

sometimes its not that u dont know, but its the small things u overlooked, the little questions or statements u tend to skip or assume, the small bits u forgot about.. and in Exams, They Do Matter..

and do it under 5 minutes. yes, i've been there. i can't even remember how many stations i did Not complete, still talking or doing something halfway and then Buzzzz, times up OR how many stations i finished under 2 minutes caused i panicked and did not know what to say or how to continue that i just end it there.. making the examiner and the patient surprised..

but still, all that doesn't make me any smarter now, doesn't make me any less panicky, doesn't make me any more confident. screw up One station, get worked out and lost focus during the Next station.. and its a slippery slope to failure.

just be prepared for just about Anything, be prepared to write, to answer, to identify, to design, to label, to diagnose, to advise, to examine, to restore, to suture, to resuscitate, to history-take, to talk, to prescribe, to refer..

reminds me of Saw or those kinda movies when they throw u into some house, obstacle course (or kandang babi) and see how u survive it or rough it out..

chill, helen, chill! and stop thinking that its 50% of finals!!!

bang

"can't wait for Monday (1st day of exams)!" E said.

"i think you're the only one who cant wait for exams!!!" A replied.

"i can't wait for Thursday (last day of exams)!!" i chipped in...

"well, u have to go through Monday 1st before u get to Thursday!" E was justifying herself..

"I don't mind if someone bangs my head now and i faint, then i wake up and its Thursday already!!" M laughed.

not that easy, M, not that easy. no matter how underprepared.. here goes nothing..

unless anyone wana bang my head now & sit my exams for me..

this blog is just to distract myself from studying

the diagnosis: fat & stupid 5 days before 4th year final exams.

the plan: to be studying so hard that u forgot to eat and didn't buy any food even.

the benefits: to be smart, slim and rich cause you save money from not buying any food, and of course, pass exams.

what really happened: keep munching instead and finished most of the food, trying to do other random stuff that seemed to appear more fascinating like facebooking, blogging, reading nonsence online and surfing the net aimlessly, cleaning the room, making the bed, arranging things around the room and even tidying up the shoes on the rack, and alas, the night had just disappeared.

the outcome: 4 days before exams and still stupid, fatter & need to buy more food, but at least the room looks slightly better (i think. till i mess it up again later)

exam prognosis: lets not go there.

the new plan: pray harder.

On an unrelated note:
Hari ini Dalam Sejarah (Today back in History)

2007: just finished 1st paper (1st day out of 5 days) for 2nd year final exams

2008: just finished Osce (3rd day out of 4 days) for 3rd year final exams

today: just finished blogging.

learning

for my 700th post, i shall keep it short and simple.

a colleague asked me "have you finished revision?" to which i replied "..hmm.. can you ever finish studying everything..?" and he paused and nodded in agreement.

learning is a life-long experience.. you are always learning something till the day you die

to which i wonder, if i don't know the answer to a question in exams, could i write in my defence.. 'learning is a life-long experience, so i don't know the answer now, but i have the rest of my life to learn this.'

perhaps the tutor would reply.. 'yes, that's true. but i expect you to have a certain amount of knowledge to graduate!'

fair enough. time to hit the books!

a common sight in my room

enough to Survive?

what if i have to contain as much water as i can to survive for the next 8 months here..

i have been trying to fill it up, perhaps sometimes if i am fast enough it would manage to reach its maximum capacity for just a brief moment..

but without realizing it, it keeps leaking and leaking and i'm back to square one.

to makes matters worse, it doesn't even have the capacity to take in all that i need to put in and it is already leaking..

i can't even survive an afternoon with this..

perhaps if i have this.. maybe i can make it through the day..

but would it be enough?

yes, this looks more promising..

but still...

to ensure 100% survival for that 8 months...

i need this..

meanwhile..

i have to make do with what i have for now.. to survive..

come on, tiny porous Brain, Start Absorbing & Stop Leaking!!!!

a Happy Thursday!!

so many times i get stressed the night before clinics, reading up loadsss trying to prepare myself for endless questions and not having a peaceful sleep worrying.

last night perhaps having my friends over make me forget about clinics that i didn't even prepare myself, didnt even read anything and just go in and take whatever that comes along the way.

in short, i did better than i expected. what i would hav done 4 times and reach a C, i attempted just once and got a B or C+. what i would normally achieve in 2-3 visits previously, i did it all in one visit today.

normally mr. sarcastic would be lingering behind me every 10 minutes ready to catch any mistakes or critisize my work or ask me some random question, followed by another random question till i could not answer anymore, ending the conversation with 'you Should know..' and walks off.. but today he was busy with other students who want to do revision, perhaps that allowed me to work in a more relaxed situation and 'get on' with my work.

"You are early and prepared, and when the treatment plan changed, you bounced accordingly, and u did some good impressions, a nice white filling and got quite alot done today. I think you should get all Merits (for professionalism, knowledge and skill.. i normally just get pass only) You Deserve It!"

yipeeeeeeeee!!! my first straight Merits under mr. sarcastic! :)

what was more satisfying was when he checked my filling, he sounded surprising saying its really good, and even looked at me in an odd way like he expected something else. perhaps i can't answer questions or talk well, or i dont know how to suck up to him, or my knowledge is lacking, or that i am not good in prosthodontics/complex restorations.. but at least i can do nice simple fillings :) :) better than nothing.

furthermore, this afternoon i did my first Minor Oral Surgery, i had to do everything from getting the patient anaesthetized, cutting the flap (cut up the gum) and raising it to expose and drill the patient's bone and teeth.. right up to stitching the sutures and prescribing post-operative antibiotics! :) :) :)

"It's going to be a surgery and we'll do it together."

Thanks to the mr. oral surgery tutor who was so patient and instructed me step by step, even telling me what instrument to hold in with which hand, then to change it from right hand to left hand and passed me another instrument to hold with my right hand and put how much force at what angle and at what position.. he was just watching everything, helped suction up the blood, passed me the equipment and give instructions.. at some point i felt like i was just a robot following some 'Idiots guide to Minor Oral Surgery', but it was soooooooooooo satisfying to do everything yourself cause first-hand-experience in surgery (especially cutting up flesh and bone and suturing after) is something you'll never forgot, for now at least! and after all that he praised me for it! :) :) :) :)

i know i often complained about dentistry but i think a good day deserves a post in my blog as well so that i can read back and remind myself that although i have 10 shitty days and 1 good day, that 1 good day still exists..

now to go through another 10 shitty days.. hopefully nearer to graduation the ratio dropped to 5:1 at least!!!

obligation? or just stupid?

exams. that's the only thing on everyone's mind now.

our group had an extra Dental Emergency Clinic session this morning at 8.30am-12.30pm where around 25 walk-in patients come in for emergency treatment.

14 Dental Finalist + 1 Senior House Officer (SHO who graduated couple of years ago) = 15 dentists. sometimes i see 1 patient, sometimes 2. not too bad.

8.50am and only 3 of us were there.

imagine our horror when we saw the list of patients-in-pain adding on and on.. there were 24 patients in total. nurses were angry, not accepting the 'its exams, they wanna revise at home.. ' even my other groupmates agreed that we Ourselves need to revise! of cause half of the group call-in-sick and the other half, MIA. we managed to drag one more groupmate in around 9+am.

4 dental finalists + 1 SHO = 5 dentists seeing 24 patients... every single person matters now. even when the SHO passed me another patient while i was waiting for my own, he went on saying 'i've seen loads, u have to see this patient, we all need to work together to see them all thanks to your groupmates! they owe u a pint or two!' kinda admired how fast he was pushed to work and see so many patients as well, it would have been impossible for us 4 only to see 6 patients each!!!

each of us students saw at least 3-4 patients each, the SHO must have seen 6 maybe, and some were sent to the Oral Surgery Department immediately if they wanted extractions!

its funny when one of my groupmate was telling me "oh dear, xxx has to do an extirpation (long dental procedure)! that means we are One Man Down!!"

sounds as if we were fighting a battle!

i remember holding a stack of all my 3 patients files at 11+ am, all needing Extractions (total= 9 teeth between them!) and i was kinda in a mess, who to see first, how to settle (kelam-kabut oredi) and the consultant grab all the files from me and say "Go see the patient you are attending to in the dental chair Now and leave the rest here! One at a Time!" ... later on i realized she herself brought my patient in and refer him straight to Oral Surgery, and wrote up the report for another patient planning to refer him.. (so in a way it was an advantage for me cause she did some of the work! hehe..)

i was tired after all that and had a nap till nearly 5pm. yes, the day was practically gone for me. so much for revision.

makes me wonder.. why have i gone into clinics this morning when i could join the other 10 to have a whole day to revise comfortably at home? now 1 whole day is gone, and having just less than 2 weeks to finals, 1 day Is important. was i just being stupid?

i guess there's still some sense of obligation, guilt or responsibility in me cause i know that regardless of whether there's 0 attendance or full attendence, the 24 patients who are in pain would still be sitting in the waiting room for hours and hours.

did i make the right decision? even if i fail my exams, it not like i can say 'oh.. that's cause i went for DEC clinic that morning, can i get a bonus 10 marks to make me pass?..'

to be a busy married man

as most people around me would know, i have 'hired' a locum chef from edinburgh who celebrated my 24th bday & spend the weekend out with me..

and for the next 2 WeeKs:
+prepare nutritious meals for me (including a quick sandwich when i only have 5 mins lunch break) even count calories for each meal for me (i haven't counted calories in ages!)
+help lighten some of my workload (since she is free and can gain from it too!)
+do my groceries and even laundry!! (it's soooooooo nice to have food ready when u r home from work, fridge stocked up with Low-Fat food, have clothes washed & folded and the bed made & room tidied!)

when ppl ask me what i am having for dinner, whether they could join or invite us for meals, having potlucks or eat-togethers etc, i just say ".. ask my chef.. she will settle it.."

steamboat on sunday night prepared by my locum chef, her fellow locum chef from edinburgh and a dentistry mate (thanks guys!)

Life Is Good.

now i know what its like to be a married man with a housewife. dammit you males, u guys are sooooooo Lucky! and allll u have to do is bring home the bacon and provided a littleeeeeeee TLC for the poor housewife slaving all day at home!!

(funnily enough, for the past few days i was so busy with clinics and lab that i wake up before my locum chef, stay out 8am-5pm that i didn't go home for lunch at all whilst my locum chef was feeling lonely and ill because she waited and waited for me for lunch and more tlc.. then after a quick dinner and shower, instead of watching football or reading the newspaper, i had to study which meant i would ignore my poor locum chef again.. while she ponders what to cook the following night.. )

i tried ok? but boss/hubby is a busy dental year finalist due to have exams in 2 weeks!!!

i still think i am a good boss, at least i gave her a break over the weekends as she was out most weekend and even stayed out!! so sweet of her to quickly make banana chocolate muffins which i requested (originally banana cake.. but it works anyway) and red bean soup before she left so that i have something to feed myself with over the weekend..

are you wondering how come i can still blog? cause my locum chef is in the kitchen cooking now.. she recruited a fellow locum chef (whose CV boasts that he does takeaways and business is thriving) to assist as well, but after i got home from work at 7pm today anticipating for dinner, he was still de-boning the chicken.. he even bought more milk, rice and eggs when i already have 4pint-milk, a tray of 30 eggs and a bag of rice.. supposedly to cook curry and then he changed his mind!!!

at least make me the Roti Best u promoted for appetizer!!

Buck up, mr. locum chef, or U r FiRed!!

notice

helenngu.blogspot.com sdn bhd apologies for the infrequent updates at the moment.

there was a error that has caused the whole system to crash or hang occasionally due to an overload of external pressure (stress) on a poorly supported (minimally-educated) central nervous system.

we are working hard to resolve this problem as soon as possible in the next 2 weeks before we could give it a test-run to be certified under SIRIM (exams) and resume this blog to normal.

we apologize again for the malfunction and we thank you for your continuous support. our consumers' rights always come first.

(meanwhile.. go read newspaper first la if u r bored, or better yet, go study also la...)