Wednesday, October 26, 2005

One date, two different years

On this date exactly a year ago, I was at the lowest point of my life and I made it known to the world by posting this. I was very fortunate at the time to have so many good friends who gave undivided support and care although all the messages left on Haloscan (or Halo'scam' as Baine called it!)then are now gone. I had mixed feeling about going back to JB for raya then because I was weak and didn't know how to face the whole family with my then new-found status although it turned out to be one of my best raya ever.

At work on the other hand, eventhough I was a wreck inside, I managed to keep the matter private and acted as normal that none of the nurses or doctors in my wards even got a glimpse of the turmoil inside me and they didn't get to know about it until..well, just recently. When they asked about raya celebration,'balik kampung'and family matters, I just answered in vaguely manners or just pretended as if all were fine.

Fast-forward a year.. As expected, questions on 'balik kampung'and family updates popped up again this year. Everyday this week alone, I was asked either by my nurses or the drug reps about my raya destination this year and nearly all followed by queries on my 'other-half'. But this year, I'm proud to say that I answered all clearly and matter-of-factly that I'm going back to my own 'kampung' and that no, I don't have any 'other-half' anymore. Many showed disbelieve and sorry but personally,I feel good that I can now face each interrogation with no emotional adverse effects. I'm relieved too that my status is now fully out in the open.

Anyway, with less than a week to go before raya, I'm just so excited and couldn't wait to go back to JB. Since I'll be spending the last couple of days of Ramadhan down south, I just can't wait to go to 'pasar juadah in Kampung Melayu Majidee(the biggest pasar juadah I've ever seen so far) as well as to go for Terawih prayers at the local mosque. Oh, and I shall get more organised this year and get our lemang supplies early so that we won't get conned again as last year!

Saturday, October 22, 2005

A new challenge

Just received a big package from Queen's University Belfast today.. and with that, I'm now officially a student again!

Am so looking forward to last-minute rush to meet the datelines, hours and hours of clueless online search just to find sufficient information for the write-ups and projects and of course the lack of sleep in the next 2 years! Heheh..

I remember when I did my Postgraduate Clinical Diploma while I was still working in the UK, I only had about 3-4hours worth of sleep on the days whenever the assignments were due (which was about every 2 weeks). Towards the exam weeks, my dinners were mainly instant pastas from the nearby Safeway Supermarket or takeaways because I just didn't have the time to cook decent food. It was my own fault really because I took a year crash course instead of the normal 2 and the fact that I always do my work at the last minute!

So, am I crazy to enrol myself into another time-consuming and brain cells-killing course while still maintaining a full-time job and hoping to continue living life to the fullest?

Nahhh...

p/s Wish me luck!

Friday, October 21, 2005

Girls' night out



I went to my school get-together on saturday. Buka puasa has now becoming a yearly event for my batch; one that I quite looked forward to since I hardly get to meet them in a bunch nowadays. This year's gathering was a relatively small one since it was organised at the last minute. However, I would say that it was the most interesting one so far and I'm glad that I took the initiative to drive all the way to Shah Alam (and it was raining!)just to be with them.



It was so good to know that after almost 12 years of leaving the school, we could just clicked straightaway and spent the night chatting and laughing...just like the old times. The funny thing was, a number of us were from different 'clique' back in the school but on that saturday night, we were so comfy with each other as if we were the best of friends!

I'm meeting more of the girls soon since not many of the 'usual suspects' turned up last week. I bet it's going to be another blast of laughters (and possible tears!) when we meet... Mid Valley, here we come!

p/s Thanks Liza for these photos!

Friday, October 07, 2005

It's that wonderful feeling..

A friend of mine has recently found love.. unexpectedly...
such a pleasant surprise for him indeed.

It is so beautiful when love comes knocking on your door out of the blue especially when you weren’t even looking. True love can fill in the gap that you may not even noticed before, swamp you with happiness, gives you new energy or even change you as a person. But how would you know that it’s the real thing and not just an infatuation or lust-driven? I guess you wouldn't know for sure..

For me, if just the thoughts of the person can bring smiles to my face even on those bad hair days or if I can feel that weird yet wonderful knots-in-the-stomach feeling whenever I think of him or look at him straight in the eyes, then he's probably the one!

How would you recognise your true love?

Saturday, October 01, 2005

What am I ??

A recent conversation:

Friend X : Actually..What do you do for a living?
Yours truly : I'm a clinical pharmacist
Friend X : You make drugs?
Yours truly : No
Friend X : So, you dispense drugs?
Yours truly : Err, no..
Friend X : Then what do you do exactly?
Yours truly : (here we go again......)

Very few citizens of Malaysia know what is Clinical Pharmacy and what is the function of a Clinical Pharmacist. I can't blame my friends and family for not knowing what I really do since even within the Pharmacy Industry itself, not many actually understand what Clinical Pharmacy is all about.

A few months back I actually set up a webpage about clinical pharmacy services as part of my department website and all of you are more than welcome to visit the site. It's here but it's not 100% ready yet.. I've temporarily abandoned the project due to more pressing matters (ISO oh ISO!). Anyway, Clinical Pharmacy is a fairly new concept in Malaysia and I can honestly say that only HUKM has an established Clinical Pharmacy Services where we have 8 full-time Clinical Pharmacists based in a few wards. As for yours truly, I'm in Cardiac Care Unit and Cardiac Rehab Unit (no, I don't dispense drugs in the wards!). So if you by any chance get a heart attack and get admitted to HUKM, you may get a chance to see me. :)

Have a good weekend all!

End of an era (and the beginning of a new one)

So, I turned 48 a few days ago. Instead of having the day off to celebrate, it was a busy day instead starting with a virtual viva session f...