rant

I cant believe I havent written anything for..more than half a year?! Thats how long I've been working..(well a little earlier than that la)

Its true that when you work,you no longer possess the freedom you once had as a student. It's true that work sucks the life out of you,and you feel like your life is work,eat,sleep(if you're lucky eat and sleep well,if not its just grab-a-bite-and-go +2-3 hrs sleep).

And then there are those extremely demanding grumpy and grouchy patients. I understant that you're tired and sick,but please dont vent it out on us.it makes our mood bad and spoils the day for us too,you know. We are just trying our level best to make you feel better.

Sometimes I wonder whyyyyyyy I chose this profession. I could be sitting at home reading magazines and doing make up and manicures...

Sigh. *vent vent vent...*

OFF TAG~~~!

Haha, the happiest thing I'm happy to announce this week: I have officially off tagged! :D

I off tagged on Wednesday, just before my specialist left for a conference / talk. Was planning to off tag the day before, but I was stuck in a procedure (pleural tap) when my specialist left.

So on Wednesday, when I heard he was going off by 10am, I was like, I'LL ASK HIM NOW, ITS NOW OR NEVER!!! hahaha. So I asked him.

And then he saw my tagging paper "ok alot of cases", then he asked me "Who signed yr paper?" I replied an MO's name. He proceeded to ask my MO, who say should be ok but she was not in charge of me.

Next he looked for my MO in charge of me for the past few weeks, and when he couldn't find her, he called her. I was a wreck of nerves. Haha! Thank God my MO let me through. Which means I'm OFFICIALLY OFF TAG!!

The difference is that now on passive days, I can go back at 9pm if I've finished my work. If on active days I'll still try to stay and help out. It's really crazy on an active day, the admissions comes in streams -.-

Tagging

When one first starts a posting, there's something called "tagging". And unlike what  I used to understand about tagging, here(at least) the system is different.

tagging= doing the same thing as the off tag people, the difference is the longer working hours(to train one?) and the "leeway" they give you when you make a mistake "sorry boss i still tagging".

My MO said I'm really "gan geong" (flustered), should get my TFT done. but then hor, if I relax n lengah lengah, things don't get done, I'm gonna get scolding anyway!

Slowly getting used to "life". 

On my "off" day, and yawning away...seriously hutang tidur memang need to bayar even if I resist.

I havent watched ironman 3. I havent done so many of my fav things in a looong time. 

Just wanna rant.

Chronicles of the youngest and lowest of lifeform in the hospital

I started work at Hospital Muar on the 29th of April. It's only been 2 weeks, but it feels like 2 months. I still feel new, still feel lost, still feel like I don't belong... and the reason why it feels like 2 months is because I feel like I've been doing this like forever (not a good thing/ good feeling).

Each day, I drag my sleep deprived body up from bed at 5+,jz to reach the hospital by 6+ to review my patients before my MO does. And then its ward work (The real ward work, not like medical students, "Ward work"= relax/ do your own thing). throughout the day. If it's active ward, new patients will be admitted, and lots of stuff will need to be done eg clerking new patients, initiating new management, blood taking, lots of forms to fill...

Oh, a lil tip, get your official chop/rubber stamp done soon. Unlike me, I waited (and am still waiting) for my chop. It's seriously very very troublesome, and technically, the documents are not valid. Very very the difficult. -_______- I still dont have my name tag yet (but that isn't important).

Here,my first posting is medical. To be honest, before this I've never heard any horrors of medical ward in this hospital (in fact I've heard little about Muar Hospital), but when I came here, *WHAM* culture shock, work shock, hypovolaemic shock (due to dehydration) and you name it shock was here. Everyone told me "you're local, you'll be fine"...but as a first poster I really don't feel that. I feel so inferior, so stupid.

Just in case you were wondering (if there were any of you who still do wonder), yes, I did break down, so, so many times. Sometimes I blame it on estrogen, but in reality I blame my job. I'm very very near losing interest in my job (my other friends mostly have already lost interest). Basically, work because we have to, not because I like my job.

The hours are really really long. I never get home before 11+, and I even worked till 2 something am and did not go home (of course, everyone found out). But hearing my colleagues talk it must have been much much worst...they came at 4++ and went home 2-3am ++. Can't imagine if life is sucky like that, theirs must have been worst. O.o Social life? Don't think I have one anymore. Don't even go on facebook much (coming from  someone on facebook more than half the time in a day, its really significant).

Ah...then there is this issue of food. During passive ward,yes there is time to eat. Active, usually no time to eat / go down tapao. Once or twice I came at 2pm++, there was no food left! and the "tukang masak belum datang lagi". -_____-. I personally don't consider kuih's as proper meals.

Surprisingly, I haven't lost weight. So emo. :P

Paling sakit hati is kena scolding TDS, for things I do wrong nevermind, but sometimes for things I don't feel that I'm in the wrong. Then there's the issue of informing. Sometimes you inform also wrong, you don't inform also wrong...If I'm like a 3rd/4th poster I'll already know, but I'm a first poster in my first 2 weeks!

Something that I felt doesn't really apply here, which I heard the pengarah hospital say (while we were signing our surat aku janji) "dont learn from your houseman friends, learn from your mo's and specialists...I don't think it applies. Sometimes, in fact >90% of the time you consult and learn from your colleagues. Whom I am eternally grateful for- the bunch in the ward that made my learning curve an easier one.

Till next time ranting, not sure when. Start of working life - I finally understand why everyone says "enjoy yr student life - working life sucks"

Sick

Been sick for the whole of past week. Horrible, horrible experience. First was joint aches (arthralgia), followed by fever for 3 days. Next, when I thought I was better, I went to starpoints hotel(food was horrible, AVOID at all costs) - and I got sick for another 4-5 days. The mere thought of food made me want to vomit, and the nauseated feeling lasted throughout the day. Not fun. :(

Posts soon, as of now recovering. :)

The new (raw meat) doctor in the house!

As of today (28/2/13),its Dr Joanne Lee :D It sounds awkward and will take some getting used to (Not used to hearing that yet), buts its a good feeling...

What I wrote on facebook: 

 " No words can describe my relief at the moment, and the only thing in my mind is its a new beginning now...It's truly by God's grace and by His strength alone that I pulled through! Thank you family, lecturers, friends and my fellow colleagues, it's been a roller coaster ride but it's great to be at the peak! As of now, unemployed, and happy :P "

And I meant every word I said (whether personally, on stage or on facebook) - that it's been a bumpy ride. True enough, sweat, tears, pain (lots and lots of each) was involved in the final piece of paper that we got. Glad that people around me, my other half, housemates and good friends all made it through! :) 

Thank You God! For Your never ending grace, mercy, love and strength, for believing in me and loving me even when I give up on myself so many times.

Doctors of C2/10!! :)

Congrats C2/10! Its been an amazing roller coaster ride with each and everyone of you, initially 220 people (including the ones who went overseas) with the remaining 97 Seremban students who made it(still the biggest batch in history!), who topped records with 100% pass during sem 7 and sem 9! :)



ps: I know the road ahead is long, hard and windy, and I have a lot in my head now...But I'm gonna choose to stop for a while to celebrate and savour this moment before the rest comes... Dr Joanne Lee aka Dr Jojobear ok! :D

What I'm looking forward to

There are so many things I'm looking forward to post exams, and these are the few food-ventures that I'm just waiting anxiously for!

*trying very desperately to motivate myself*

1. Doraku Japanese Food in KL city centre. :) Jap has always been my fav!

2. Starpoints Hotel KL Valentine's Dinner. Had delayed it due to Chinese New Year Celebrations, and of course, exams.

3. Prince Hotel and Residences KL - haven't determined whether to go to Enju, the Jap food outlet, or The International buffet one. (Find it hard to stuff myself nowadays >< Signs of growing old >< )


Tahan Joanne! 5 more days...which means 4 days that you have to work super duper hard, ok? ><

At The Cross

You know it's true that people always seek God in the lowest points of their life. Literally like the chinese saying "holding on to the buddha's leg at the very last moment". It's when we've invested our everything, our life, our emotions, our money, our friends...everything! Then only we're willing to come to Him.

That isn't the way, we all know it shouldn't be. And frankly, it actually is pretty ungrateful, if you think about it. Seeking someone only when we need them.

But the beauty of this all is that God has always been there waiting, waiting, waiting; loving, loving, loving. Loving who? Everyone of this earth - whatever your name, race, your religion, your sexual orientation, your shortcomings....Everyone. And His response is never one of hate, never one of condemnation or "Told you to come look for me earlier!" kinda responses, but "There there child, I love you. I have called you by name. I will lift you up. I will hold you close, hold you in the palm of my hands." Those responses, and more.

I think that's why, even though it's ironic but its true, that " When we are weak then He becomes stronger" - not because He can become stronger (He has and always will be the strongest!)- It's His influence, His power that becomes stronger in our lives because we let Him, we allow Him to work in our lives. We give Him the permission(because He's such a gentlemen and won't intrude) and then we see miracles unfold before our eyes.

Random ramblings

Progress has been slow. If I were to say it in a statement, it would be :

Holidays - Stomach 1 : Brain 0

Sigh...One thing I really should have is a little more consistency and discipline.

There are so many things I'm looking forward to after exams...All pending me passing the final exit viva *shakes in fear*

You know, my blog following is downright horrible. Views are as low as 2-4 a day, and the traffic is based on nonsensical sources from some blog and random searches. Basically, if you say I'm a lifestyle blogger, I've failed, miserably. Food blogger? Nah, no following either. Cosmetics? My skin is sensitive, not so easy. Basically its a collection of my musings (whenever I can get down to writing a post! look at the past years, the number of posts have been dwindling... ><

Anyway! Rambling rambling. It's ok, since my personal blog is "Dead" (no one reads, and those who tried have given up since the posting was too infrequent).

And since it's my blog, I can spam as many posts as I want. So I'm going to with all the posts I want to post! Grrrrr *Exam stress have gone mad*

IN A WEEK!!!

In a week's time, I'll have finished my finals, the exit viva. Which means I have barely 5 days left. What have I done? A little of this and that. Am I ready? I'm not sure. I'm scared. Freaked out. Panicking! >< >< ><

Thelilacbox Debut!

Happy Chinese New Year! It's the 8th day, and according to the Chinese, number 8 is always "ong" (prosperous) right? :)

Have been procrastinating on this post for quite some time...but here goes! :)

Many of you might (or might not) have read my last post of thelilacbox. In a blink of an eye, Valentine's has reached and my blind date, aka the very macho/ladylike, whichever you want to think, has finally reached my hands! I'll have lots and lots of pictures, so if you're like me and love pictures...I hope you'll like this post :)

My first beauty box! My first thought was "oh, expected the box to be bigger". But it's ok, it's whats inside that counts! This was the outer box, which was wrapped to ensure the items would not be damaged on arrival. I'm impressed.

Tadaa! Thelilacbox Debut, Valentine's version. The purple polkadot ribbon utterly steals the show right ? :) I gotta admit, the box is a little plain,but the ribbon and the little sticker "i got you thelilacbox" brightened up the box. Its a seriously nice box, I could reuse it for gifts for others too!

First peek inside the box. The little note there basically said to wrap something nice in this box, tie a lovely ribbon around the box and viola! You can give it as a lovely gift to others. :)

The love letter from the 3 guys at the Lilac Box. Yup, its actually 3 enterprising guys behind thelilacbox. Even the lovely ribbon is hand-tied by them! I gotta say I'm impressed. :) Loved the note by the way, it made the box feel a little more personal.

I bet you can see the contents now... :P Let me tell you a little secret : Even the purple wrap paper itself is scented, although I can't really make out what it is. All I know is that it smells awesome :P

And here it is! The debut Valentine's box! First impression: wow, so many goodies! And deluxe sized too! Me likey! :D Will give you an item-by-item picture and my thoughts on it.

First up: Maxfactor Nailfinity nail polish! The colour is slight grey purplish but not too bright, and looks very pretty. Gotta get a nail polish base before I can use this though.

Next : Keratase Resistance rinse out conditioner for damaged lengths and ends. Personally, I don't dye my hair and neither have I permed or straightened it, so it might not really work for me. Would have loved a volumiser ,or an easy manageable hair conditioner version. But what I liked was that it is deluxe sized. :)

3rd in line: Keratase resistance reconstructing shampoo for brittle, very damaged hair and split ends. The same comments for the product above applies as well for this one. Looking through many of other's blogs on beauty boxes, I have come to a consensus that many do not really crave for (or are interested in) hair care like shampoo. This is because most of us would already have our own hair care regiment, be it Dove, Sunsilk etc. This product had better be good if it's thinking of impressing us.

4th product: Decleor Aroma Cleanse - fresh puryfying gel and fresh matifying lotion, 10ml each.

I saw that many of the other suscribers got the white and pink bottles while I got the green ones. At first, I felt loss (just like for the other products as well) - how to use?? Many of the bloggers have mentioned that the lilacbox should have some product guide, encompassing the products, usage and market price, and I heartily agree with them. Stumbling around thelilacbox website, I found further information here...It had all the information on how to get a second date, what the product is, etc. I gotta say something though boys (if you don't mind) - The website information is too long winded... Kinda feel it should be more straight to the point(especially for the Roberto Cavalli one).

5th sample: Burburry Beauty Fresh Glow - 4 sachets of 1ml samples. Most bloggers I know and other suscribers have one rant : they HATE sachets. Haha. For me its fine - as long as the sachets are easy to use. Having tried it already, my verdict is that it really makes one's face "glow", to the point that it makes the face look a tad bit oily (eventhough it doesn't feel that way). It bodes well with the skin, no irritations, and the skin still feels soft and moisturized, but it looks shiny :P So if you wanna use it, my advice is mix it with your make up to make it look a little more subtle. Overall, I still like it :)

6th and final product: The Roberto Cavalli perfumed body lotion, which is my FAVOURITE of this box. As I wrote in thelilacbox facebook page:
" Roberto Cavalli Perfumed body lotion would be my pick without a doubt. Firstly, it has the heavenly SCENT. Which woman doesn't like a date that smells good? It was a lovely, amazing aroma and was not sickening or artificial..a whiff of this date was enough to send me on cloud 9... Secondly,a girl likes a date who is looks good and is "big" enough to protect her. Similarly, Roberto Cavalli looks good and it came it a super deluxe size, which was absolutely delightful, in my opinion. Allows me to enjoy more time with it!  Thirdly, the 'touch' of the date. I for one enjoy the soft and flawless feeling each time I "feel" my date, and how it "melted" so easily into with my skin just had me feeling all warm and gooey inside  I have so many things to share, all the way from the packaging to the contents! But for now, lets just say that thelilacbox made a very good blind date for my Valentines, and it brought me joy and laughter, and made me feel loved "

I have used it a few times so far, and still am amazed by how soft it feels and how supple it makes my skin feels. :) Love love love the perfume smell, its one of the most amazing I've ever felt!

My favourite blind date :)

And what I said was what I felt, that this blind date had met (and surpassed!) my expectations, and that it was a very enjoyable Valentines because of all the joy and laughter it brought along into my life.

What I'd like to see more : fragrances, eye cream especially for the panda eyes (no beauty boxes have that so far!), pampering items such as masks, blushers... something that others don't have :)

What I think thelilacbox needs to work on:
1. Delivery - many beauty boxes use Gdex. As do many other companies. So far, it has brought my product safely to me...But it seems like many got their boxes late, which defeats the purpose. I feel that another delivery company such as citylink and kangaroo could be good options too? But in this area, thelilacbox guys would know the best :D
2. product specification : Like I said earlier - a "manual" of sorts for the lovely products would be lovely. Not everyone is tech savvy enough to go hunting for information online...:P

Would I subscribe again? I'm waiting for the next subscription to open, but as of now, my thoughts on the box are "yes, it's worth it".

Note: A big thank you to thelilacbox for this debut box. The thoughts and reviews are entirely my own.
Also, unlike other bloggers etc, I did not receive any vouchers from Keratase / Decleor. (Yup, I found out on thelilacbox website and from other reviews that I should have had 2 vouchers...but I searched high and low and did not find it). But it's ok, the products matter most. :)

Gotcha @ Plaza Low Yat

I went to Gotcha at Plaza Low Yat today. It was actually quite easy to find! The place was quite big to my surprise, and the staff were really, really friendly, and the place was big, spacious and clean! Such a wonderful surprise, I rate it on par with the "big names" like Chatime and Gong Cha!

Gotcha!

Upon the friendly staff's recommendation, I took the "Mango Milk" while the other drink chosen by my brother was the Almond Honeydew Milk. Unlike other places where the staff tell you "I don't know which one nice, I haven't drunk it before", the staff here were quite knowledgeable and gave me good recommendations.

The menu

The Mango Milk was lovely! I am not a fan of too much milk personally, but Mango Milk(RM6.90) was not too milky and not overly sweet. It was a lovely mango plus a little milk taste, and the taste was just nice. Every mouthful came with real mango chunks, which I think is really great! There wasn't a time when I went "yuck" or "I'm tired of it", instead I just felt refreshed. Bottom line: I loved it!

Mango Milk

Almond Honeydew Milk(RM7.40) to me was ok, but my brother loved it. He associated the taste with the "high class drink" he took in Genting, which meant that this was up to par with even hotel / established management's Honeydew drink. We did not order the drinks with less sugar, and the drink was sweet enough without being sickening, and like their tagline goes, the drink is healthy.

Almond Honeydew Milk

It's a good place to check out, and I would go there again when I'm near :)

The clean and comfortable sitting area

Hansel and Gretel review

By Joanne Lee

Candy. Evil stepmother. Evil witches. Happily ever after. This is what was in my mind when I first thought of Hansel and Gretel, and hence I went with low expectations. However, I was pleasantly surprised. With believable acting from a seasoned cast and nice cinematography effects (cue: blood, worms, gore and broken nose), it was actually an enjoyable night for me.

Lets start with the storyline, shall we? I personally felt that the storyline was pretty ok, as it had a plot and wasn’t just trashy. The storyline was actually pretty easy to follow. Basically, Hansel and Gretel had to battle a whole team of strong witches to save not just the life of 12 children, but ultimately, their own. Since Gretel was the heart of the story all along, everything revolved around her – the witch sisters, Benjamin, Edward the troll, and even the most unfriendly sheriff. Of course there had to be a little bit of romance – Here’s where Minah, another white witch came in for Hansel. Pretty unnecessary though, if you ask me. The twist about the mother, how it turned out that Gretel was a white witch ,was a surprise to me. At least it’s a twist, and the story actually makes sense, since Muriel, the evil witch has been chasing her high and low.

The acting was largely believable, and the special effects added the special edge. The part where the sheriff’s man exploded with lots of worms and blood, and the scene where the Sheriff was stepped on by Edward the troll drew “ewwww’s” and “yucks” from the crowd. The supporting cast, such as Muriel and Benjamin did their jobs to make the movie an enjoyable one.

My favourite characters apart from the main cast? It’s got to be Edward. Yes, the troll. “Edward” reminded me of the Twilight version…and I can bet my money that many think that this Edward is way better. For me, I just had a soft spot for him. I felt so sad that he was mistreated by his mistresses. And I like how they linked the storylines of how he saved Gretel, which was totally unpredicted. And when he ended up with the witch hunting team, I guess I saw it coming but I still went “awwww” :P

The moment I went “LOL”  was when Gretel used her “toy” to defibrillate Edward. Move away CPR( well you can’t imagine CPR-ing a troll can you?), her high-fi toy can be used to revive even the biggest troll!  Overall, it was a good movie outing with Talkfilm. If you are here for horror, you’ve come to the wrong place. But for a some action and medium gore minus the fairy tale, this movie could actually be entertaining for you.

My ratings:

Storyline: 6/10

Acting: 7/10

Effects: 7/10

Watched this with Rachel and her bro, blog post to follow.

ps: Big thanks to Talkfilm for the 2 tickets to Hansel and Gretel in GSC Signature Mid Valley on 29th January. They are awesome and you should check them out. :)

Mom's birthday

I have so many things to update! Procrastination has set in, as usual. But most recent first, I think. :)

Yesterday was my mother's birthday. Since I have a Starbucks card, and my birthday falls in the same month, I bought a grande chocolate chip and redeemed a free piece of cake. :) Thanks, Starbucks.

My mom's favourite, carrot cake. She found this cake a little like fruit cake, din't like the cream cheese too much (not a fan of milk), but found it nice overall with the walnut. Glad she liked it :) I remember we used to buy big huge 1/2-1kg cakes, but it's becoming impossible to finish with only 4 not-really-cake-lovers at home. So this was just nice :)

Mum making her wish(es). It was a long pause! :P May her wishes come true - She always has the best of intentions. :)

Dad and mom, plus birthday cake. I think that things are best done in moderation, such as a slice of premium quality cake :) *blows the candle*

To my loving and thoughtful mom, you've always been there for our family, you're the reason for our success. We owe our success to you, and (for us kids) our existence too. We love you, Happy Blessed Birthday :)

Origins Mini- Makeover

In December, one of the little things I won was the Origins mini makeover, for the 50th person of that every day of December. Told them to hold on to mine till I was back in KL since I was based in Batu Pahat at that time.

I finally redeemed it at Origins Pavilion, in Metrojaya. Its actually a comfy place, although in the open (no privacy?) 

I seriously can't remember the name of the consultant who attended to me that day (its this lady in the right corner of the picture). All I can remember of that experience was that she was very professional, knowledgeable about Origins products, and made my experience a great one. :)

The set that she used for me. Including cleanser, toner, mask etc. What I was really impressed with was the eye serum (not sure of the name), which really made my dark-eye-ringed and tired and eyes look much better instantly. Blame the late nights and fried foods :P

Part of the set, supposedly for oily skin. I found out that mine was combo skin, which is a mix of oily (in the T -zone) and normal skin elsewhere. Oh, and sensitive too, may I add. Which was why I was really happy that none, and I repeat, NONE of the products caused my face to have an unwanted allergic reaction.

The tall chairs next to the counter, where one can be treated like a queen :D

This was the promo they were having- JOY (31 days of Christmas) or something like that. Seriously, the whole thing looks so happy! :D

The Gift set that cost over RM200. Kinda outta my budget, but it was pretty good. :)

How I looked after the makeover- I felt that my face was literally "glowing"! :) I really loved the experience, and felt really pampered. Really wish it was multiple sessions! (no editing done to any of the pictures!)

A good place to visit. By the way, did you know that Origins is actually a sister company( same company) as  Estee Lauder? That was news to me :)

The tale of an unwanted medical student

Happy 2013! First post of the year. I know,I know, i've been procrastinating.

Typing from the labour room,where I'm supposed to be for the week. Currently, things are peaceful.

Tried to post this status 3 times on facebook but always jammed.. 'when life hands you lemons,sometimes all 1 can do is to bite it down, swallow the bitterness and sourness,and look ahead,move on.' It really is not easy, especially when yr not the one who is in the wrong..just trying to help,to do your job.

At times life really makes no sense. I mean,din't you hear about how an 'educated' lady humiliated someone half her age with comparisons to...animals?

But back to the 'story',sometimes you really feel as if you don't matter in this world. Maybe to the one or two,and your family...but if not you are nobody..until you invent the iphone or something.

Just a ranting post. There have,and will be better times ahead. After all,2013 is the year of promises and favour.

As the 3 idiots will say.. " All is well". . . Truly I will trust God and be still in Him... All is well.