The Pensieve

It was a harrowing but still not too bad experience up in the cool airs of Genting over the last weekend… Harrowing cuz I’ve never been in this huge enclosed area, combining shopping, indoor theme park, screaming kids and bright funky neon lights for such a long long time. It was really crowded, cuz sch hols, wkends and all the 赌鬼 were up and about hahaha…

Anyway, here are some pictures. Sorry for the really bad quality, I left my cam at home… so had to rely on my hp cam.

It’s really, really tacky, as in T.A.C.K.Y. Very disorganised placement of shops… It’s like their level two is split up into 2A and 2B… and argh. Just a nightmare trying to find your way around.

The layout’s like this: roughly circular layout, with food/shops lining all the corners… And in the centre, you’ve got your merry-go-round, ferris wheel, some bumper cars blah blah… They even managed to squeeze in this fake river, with a 情人 bridge and gondola! hahaha… I spent half an afternoon at the starbucks next to the fake river reading CPGs… (the star bucks coffee costs more than in SG!) They’ve got another 2 short rows of shops right in the middle, and a stage in front. They’ve got shows there almost all day; stuff like the Egyptian performance, cultural dances, kid’s KTV competitions, lucky draws… 超级 noisy! Then all around, in the mid-air, there’re indoor rides, some are actually quite high velocity rides… Reminds me of those futuristic drawings we made as a kid.

Stayed at Genting Hotel (that’s *****, comes with two beds that are midway btwn size of super single and queen… can put two pple… so it’s like a room for 4 people at the price of double room, yay!) It’s a torture trying to find your way to that hotel, cuz the people there are so ‘good’ at giving instructions, and don’t bother looking out for signs. Cuz they’re NO signs there… just follow the one towards ‘Casino de Genting’

The other hotels there are Resort Hotel (ard the same distance from bus terminal as Genting Hotel, ****) and there’s this Highlands Hotel (next to Genting Hotel, looks damn posh!) The nearest hotel of cuz, is the First World Hotel. It looks so multi-coloured from the outside! So tacky! -_- And the reception area is the ‘best’. It looks like a posh polyclinic… First you’ve got to go to one counter to get a no., then you sit on those chairs (not unlike those at polyclinics here) and wait for them to call your no.! Just like queueing to see a doctor! It’s really an eye-opener…

For some, the outdoor theme park poses quite an attraction. But I think I’m a bit too old for all that excitement. My heart might just go into VT and I don’t have any amiodarone with me, nor do I have the cool DIY cardioverter the latest James Bond flick featured.

So yea… You should check out the casino a bit. I wouldn’t mind being a banker, or THE banker who got that hefty million dollar tip from Bond in Casino Royale… Wowowowweee! The newer casino is not very happening, but less smoky.

Watching movies is a gd thing to do over there cuz the tickets are only 11RM. So worth it!

Hmmm, other possible stuff to do there includes K-box, rock climbing (if you don’t mind hordes of people streaming by to watch you climb/fall), bowl, gaming @ the arcade, this snow world thingy (for people who’ve never seen/touched snow) and yea… lots of food and shopping…

In the lift of a hospital… (again) I was in plain clothes (my nice floaty blue dress… ), one arm cradling Kumar & Clarke…

Yr 3 MS: Hi, Miss! Are you… er… are you a M.S.?

Me: Ya, hi… (darn, K&C gave me away!)

Yr 3 MS: Are you local?

Me: (not again?!?!) Yaaaa, I’m local… Yes local *nods head firmly*

Yr 3 MS: Ooooh ic!

Me: (I’m so tempted to ask, why you ask if i’m local huh? I dun look local ah)

Yr 3 MS: So which year are you in?

Me: 5. Final liao, that’s why you see me carrying this around (move K&C ard a bit) Sigh.

Yr 3 MS: OH. ok.

Lift door opens, reach my floor…. phew!

Guys, this is for you!

Normally people would say: Live and Learn…
But here, I say: Learn and Live!!!

In order of preference:

1. Revising Spanish.

2. Be bound on a plane for Spain or Italy.

3. Be drawing the streets of Toledo (with charcoal… nice…)

4. Moving into a nice little niche of my own (better yet one of those near to SC), or Liz, can u just let me move in pleasssseeeee….

5. Be a year 3 student. (I promise to enjoy myself more then… Gimme another chance!!!)

6. Spray painting some wall… maybe the one at Tang Dynasty?

7. Reading ‘The Fourth Bear’ (provided I can lay my hands on it).

8. Building my snoopy house. (I’ve done it every X’mas when I was young, maybe I should do it this yr too!)

9. Be learning to play the piano.

10. Blogging. Heh.

ARGH. I want to travel more!!!

Am intoxicated with the feeling of being somewhere foreign, where no one knows me and I know no one!

No expectations and no external pressures… Absolute freedom…

Yeah, finally got the weird html figured out…

So here goes… -> the list of books that I’ve read in the recent few years. Reviews, if available, have been linked. Would be cool if any other book lover out there could suggest some books that are worth it to check out!

Link is on the side panel under my avatar, or go here!

‘Coma’ by Alex Garland, tells the story of a man after he is brutally beaten up in the subway while trying to protect a woman from some hooligans. As a result, he slips into a coma for months. Upon awakening, he tries to piece his life together, but realises that there are lapses in his consciousness, and he wonders whether he had really awoken from his coma, or whether he was just dreaming that he had. Eventually, we do find out that he is actually still in his coma, and we follow his train of thought as he attempts to find some trigger that would awaken him for real. We follow his struggles in remembering his childhood, his parents, his favourites songs and places, and at times, even the reader will be amazed at how much of our past we’ve forgotten. It’s a book that causes the reader to standstill in time, in order to reflect at what we’ve experienced and achieved. It’s a gentle reminder to us, not to abandon the past, even as we march towards the future.

The novel is illustrated by woodcuts made by his father, a political cartoonist. But I can’t figure out how they are relevant to the story. This novel is quite short, but some of his contemporaries applaud his skilled ability in tackling such a complex issue; others, have commented that Garland was suffering from a writer’s block then.

Hmmm, after all, I don’t think I appreciate his style of writing much.

Disclaimer

The strong silent but usually not hunky type

He (usually it’s a he) stands with his arms folded or behind his back, makes very few movements, and has a mask-like facie. (But don’t be fooled into thinking he’s bradykinetic in thoughts, he’ll as surely and as quickly zero onto your mistakes, and fail you, probably without you even knowing it!)

Examiner: Please present your examination findings.
MS: This is a ……… I say this because…….. (looks toward examiner for some sort of agreeing nod or twitch of disapproval)
Examiner: (blank stare)
MS: And so… my differentials are… (looks toward examiner for any slight encouraging movement)
Examiner: (poker face)
MS: (shit! am I on the right track at all?) So my differentials are…
Examiner: (look of concentration) go on…
MS: And the investigations I’d like to do are…
Examiner: (frowns a bit, looks like he’s thinking about something) Yes, go on go on…
MS: (holy cow! i’m dead la dead la… wrong liao la…) blubbers, messes up and goes into management…
Examiner: Hmmm… (sighs) ok, you can go now.
MS: (oh no oh nooo…. bell hasn’t even rung and he asked me to go liao… sure fail one!) Erm… thank you… (despondent look)

Recommended approach: Maintain eye contact, lean towards them when speaking, acknowledge their presence. Be logical, confident, SMILE (don’t do the IMF-smile) and don’t say anything stupid! The only way to pass is to know your facts. No haze no. 113 to smoke your way through this tough guy! Be prepared to give a very organised answer. If you’re on the right track, you’ll definitely pass and if the strong silent man asks you some sort of cheem question, you are probably in the running for a distinction.

Dopey will be away for the next few days, she’s gone up the mountains to 修炼, and might return a saint. (haha) Anyway, this blog is self-updating. Very smart and automatic. So keep tuning in for your daily digest of meandering reviews and medical nuggets!

Remember my post on pain? Haha… Felt really guilty about it… so…

Here goes… Looks a bit gross…

And my handiwork looks even worse! Hope to do better the next time round! The sub-cuticulars look… erm, can’t really see them anyway, but the vertical mattressess are far too loose and out of alignment and just disgusting…

Got hand cramp from gripping the needle… Cuz I don’t have one of those needle holders, so I had to make do with forceps. Ouch.

Just a little bit of info about mattress sutures…
- they promote wound edge eversion and less prominent scarring
thus very useful at body sites where the wound edges tend to invert, such as posterior neck (yeah I saw during derm!) or wounds on a concave surface!
- they allow wound edges to be closed under tension when they have to be brought over thru a distance
- use the ‘far-far, near-near’ method (8mm, 4mm respectively) or vice versa… you can see how far OUT I am… (makes it easier if you undermine the wound edges a bit first…)
- have to be really careful that they are symmetrically placed or one edge might become higher than the other -> shelf -> poor cosmesis! EEEK!
- STO’s a bit earlier at 4-6d, and you get really cute markings…

For more info, chk this out!
There’s step by step instruction on how to do the stitches.