| Wednesday, June 29, 2005 |
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Had a surprise treat yesterday in the form of the advance screening of War of the Worlds! Heh. Well, my parents were supposed to go but they let me and my bro take their place for a multitude of reasons. The movie itself was good.. but I shan't say anymore 'cos it is always better to let others decide for themselves. The theatre was packed, and most people there were employees of different companies that got tickets I think.. we got ours through the kindness of some friends.
Equally nice was the visit to NJ today with Sharon and then Stella. Very impromptu. Felt good to still be remembered - although the college itself has changed greatly, at least the teachers who taught us are still the same.. and of course Kevin Sim is the same too. Its only been a year since we graduated from there, but somehow it seems like longer. No familiar faces, even the bathrooms are not where they used to be. Man.. a sign of old age. Mr Gwee was daring enough to say that I put on weight. Bleah. Least Mr Neo said that I looked like an air stewardess.. I shall take it that I am tall n pretty. Lol. Its funny.. should I still address them as Mr/Miss? After all, we're no longer in the system.. and have matured a little more in our own right.
Just going to test out the new blogger image thingy here.. ooh.. anyways. Thats one of our patients, a very sweet and brave girl :)  |
posted by wenster @ 8:31 AM  |
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Had a really good dinner + talk with some previous s29-ers last night. Well, I think the company makes the food better than it is ;) Unlike the meeting with the 35th, we unanimously declared each other different yet the same, changed, and not for worse. It is heartwarming to know that your friends will be your friends even when a year has passed and each has chosen (or has had to choose) an individual path. Ms Kao - well I guess I should be calling her Jong Ee from now on - is still as cheerful and affable as ever, a lot younger seeming because of her current studies I suppose. Or, it could be the radiance left over from the very romantic proposal she told us about. Woohoo.. she’s getting married- YAY! Haha. Very very happy for her. Sharon.. haha.. still the same actually, except for a "grand amour" for Israel and the people there. And of course a desire to find a gym partner, which was repeated until Stella agreed. Lol. I am firmly convinced that it is a product of being the youngest. And Stella.. well, I've met up with her before this, and I'll be seeing her again in a bit so the yardstick is not quite there. I know she's matured greatly, and will further discover herself when she goes to UoH. Maybe I can visit her!!! Haha. And of course, there is Qi Xiang. Dear ol smart, wise monk of our class. To me, hearing something pleasant from him is one of the highest praises I'll be getting in this mortal world. He's devastatingly honest, and won't waste a word, so when he says it, you know he means it. What struck me the most about all the conversations last night was that all of it was in no way superficial or shallow. Sure there was teasing and all, but there was no long dwelling on the past, or weather topics. I felt that each had shared, at some point, about the issues closest to their hearts. I suppose that is what makes the difference in the kinds of communication we engage in daily. Its the unspoken agreement to share your life, and be willing to share in others' as well. I wouldn't say that it was because of trust alone, although I am positive that that plays a large part of it. Perhaps it is more of an uncommunicated respect for the fact that each person has lived to the best they could for the past year. Well, maybe all I'm doing now is trying to pin down something intangible with a whole lot of words. Speaking of talking, I felt my faith being reaffirmed even as I spoke of the reasons why people search and why I believe my God is my God. And God is good indeed, all the times when I've felt stagnant, something comes along to either gently nudge or not so gently shove me into moving again. Well, you know what they say- if you're not going forward, you're going backwards. Oh yes, thanks to Sharon for the contact ya.. going to get down to it soon. Just did actually.
Hey have I mentioned that I’ve got calluses on my hands. Well, mini ones. Mom probably wouldn’t like to hear of them.. but hey I actually like calloused hands. It shows that there has been some amount of work done.. even if it may not be hard labour, I believe it to be one of the signs of.. um.. respectability? well, thats not really it. But you get what I mean. |
| posted by wenster @ 7:35 AM |
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| Monday, June 27, 2005 |
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Had a pretty good weekend- did all that I wanted to do and a little more. Spent most of Friday night with some of the 35th, noone has changed all that much! Sure, deb and amanda lost weight.. but I'd say we all seem to take up our own roles once again, as usual, Mic and Nic are the clowns whose sole purpose in life is to make us laugh at their petty bickering. Okay so I exaggerate. Sometimes I believe they're both too charming for their own good. But it was good to be able to touch base with everyone there, timimg was good because Dilane and Mingfeng just got back from.. um.. Brunei? Thailand? Well, probably both of the above. Very sweet of them to bother coming all the way to town with eyebags and all. Mf even brought us goodies from Thailand, some of which happen to be elephant dung. No kidding... With the exception of.. oh... no exceptions except me. Let me rephrase that. All the councillors whom I met for dinner are going to become moulders of the nation's future. Whoa. I guess NJ does build a family to answer a nation's calling, because just a few days ago I was reading about the shortage of teachers everywhere. Considering the fact that each year 3000 are added to Singapore's teachers, and that so many I know are going into teaching- I'd say there'll be an extensive network of NJ grads for the next 4 years at least.
I was watching this Snow White tv remake (oh the wonderful brothers Grimm)- and it was really an alternative take on the traditional "male hero" story line. So here I was, expecting the prince to come along and slay the witch and rescue dear ol Snow White, but what do you know? The witch turns him into a bear and traps him in a snow globe! Lol. As though that is not humiliating enough, the evil witch is ultimately defeated by... herself. So our dear prince has nothing much to do except kiss the princess. Waaaay to go. What would the world be like if we'd grown up on failrytales such as this instead of the usual "prince comes out of nowhere to save the day" type storylines? Imagine, Cinderella beating a path to the palace and demanding equal rights for herself, Sleeping Beauty leaving clear, specific instructions as to what to do in case of an emergency and setting up an early warning system for "evil fairy godmother" sensing.. and of course, the little mermaid using a pen and paper to tell the prince who she is, or better yet, getting him an oxygen tank so that she wouldn't have to leave her home. Lol. That said, I still love the old fashioned fairytales. The idealism, clarity of right and wrong, uncomplicated chain of events and of course the whole love at first sight followed by fail-proof, lifetime-warranty-or-your-money-back happily ever after is romantic in ways that the complicated, there-is-more-than-you-think, what-about-the-consequences modern world can never come close to. |
| posted by wenster @ 1:13 AM |
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| Friday, June 24, 2005 |
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| Yesterday I almost fell asleep at the desk. In the office no less. I think it was a mixture of food coma and the boring statistics that I've been trying to find and figure out all day. You'd think that a nice, pretty developed country would have tonnes of statistics on cancer right? Given that it is the leading cause of death around the area, I'm sure lots of people are interested in knowing how many, what the trend is etc. But no.. there is only one major publication that occurs every 5 years. It is quite comprehensive when you're looking at cancer as a whole, but when you're trying to focus on one particular cancer.. argh. Even the world's statistic database is pretty dismal. Most of America relies on one source, the american cancer soc, and europe relies on another. Want WHO's stats? You're going to have to buy their report. Yargh. At least now I know where to look and where not to. Twin will be back in about a week- YAY! And it is friday- YAY! |
| posted by wenster @ 1:07 AM |
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| Wednesday, June 22, 2005 |
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Bravery is losing all your hair and consenting to be photographed after. The 9 year old girl we visited was very shy at first, but she soon warmed up and proved that kids can show so much more optimism than adults. She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia about a year ago, and the outlook was poor without a transplant. By God's grace she found a matched unrelated donor, and was able to undergo a cord blood transplant. It is extremely heartening to see for myself how generosity can be transformed into a new chance at life. Since I'm usually at the "yes, here's $x or x hours of my time for your cause" end, its nice to see a living testimony of the effects of charity.
On an unrelated but just as heartwarming note, I met up with Stella, Addy and Curtis yesterday! (Lol. so many fuzzy feelings in a day) Curtis is nice Addy.. godma approves. Haha. Not that approval is needed I know..Good to see that someone is taking care of dear Addy. Who just so happens to name her colour changing virtual fish after me. Nice to know that I'm thought about I guess. Heh. I wonder why Ai Ling is the one that has invisible powers tho.. Leong, God bless on your job hunt- see you on mon! |
| posted by wenster @ 1:10 AM |
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| Tuesday, June 21, 2005 |
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Today I'll be going with Gladys to visit one of our patients- exciting! It'll be a nice change from sitting in the office studying the treatments available for leukemia & lymphoma. Not that its not interesting… its just nice to be out and about ya?
Weekend recap:-
Had a good catch up dinner with Gim- nice to see you again, boy! Finally able to meet up, you’re always so interesting to talk to. Novel foodstuff: avocado smoothie. Its extremely thick, but the mild green milky taste is pretty pleasant. But knowing avocadoes, the drink alone could've stood as a dinner item on its own.
Went out with daughter and god-daughter on Sat... I like shopping with Ai Ling! Not only is it fun, it is good bonding time too. We went to the newly renovated (to me since I haven't been around) Bugis street market (is that what its called?) and hunted for buys while yakking about everything else in between. Tried rotiboy for the first time (according to its signage its Malaysian. Woohoo!) My verdict? Pretty smart concept… a little on the oily side though. I hope her bro likes the shirt that we chose.. don't worry girl, I'm sure its big enough!
And of course, I had lunch and movie with Kel on Sunday. Same old Kel, no change… especially since he’s got a nice cushy job now which treats him better than most of us. We ate at this nice jap place that he’s fully qualified to work at ;) courteous, friendly, cooperative and fun? You can be a part of our staff at (restaurant name here, as usual I've forgotten what it's called)! Thanks for lunch Kel- good choice!
I realize that weekends are getting increasingly more precious since everyone is only free during the two short days called Sat and Sun. Unless you're Fen of course. That girl works too much. I'll be seeing you soon ok? |
| posted by wenster @ 5:43 AM |
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| Thursday, June 16, 2005 |
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Work is not my cup of tea. Work in an isolated place that is. I think I'm the kind that prefers to be able to interact with more than a few others in the workplace... because while I believe in the cause that I am working for and like the people here- there are too few of them! I'm looking forward to going to various schools or hospitals just because I can get out and about. Man... how will I ever begin work in the future? Can't sit still. Yup, I think that is my main problem. That and the ac that goes on at full blast behind me freezing my toes, fingers and wherever else exposed. The foundation has big plans, and it is really exciting to think that I can be a part of the forward movement. Sadly, things around here move slowly, just like any other place because of the need for approval, for someone else (who usually is very busy) to do his part, for a response. Currently, I'm waiting for schools to reply to our offer of "short educational talks". Which will be conducted by yours truly. Lol. I don't know if I'm qualified to do so. Besides doctors, who is? Meanwhile, I've been reading up as much as I can about leukemia and lymphoma so that I will at least have the knowledge, and see if that makes me qualified.
I've been meeting up with people, and its really heartening to know that the connection is still there- though some of them have been busy "connecting" to other people while I was not around ;) Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you ya? Just remember me for the wedding. Going to be seeing Gim, Ai Ling and Kel end of this week in that order. They'd better not tell me that I've gained weight... today I met a friend of my dad's and he commented on it! I'm working on working out daily now, how effective it is will remain to be seen though. The saying no pain no gain is not accurate, because I don't remember feeling pain when I was gaining weight. The pain is now, when I'm trying to get rid of it!
Happy thoughts. I got many calls yesterday. Haha. Nic Foo, mom, Kel and even Eunice. So nice to have people call during work... it squishes the boredom extremely quickly. Except when Kel called to reschedule for the nth time.. argh. That boy ah.. Mental note- call Foo Foo. Poor Jay is at BMT now, probably running or whatever they do there. Which reminds me- I've got to go get his botak head covering present. Man.. jie - i know you're fussy so why don't you choose something and I'll pay for it? Wait. Then again that may not be such a good idea. Any of the gentlemen want to offer your fashion advice? |
| posted by wenster @ 6:52 AM |
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