December: weekdays' work and weekends' getaways

was on 'haji-shift' today, so i went to work in the morning with my senior-head of department. We had to compound special nutrition drips (technically, it's called TPN - total parenteral nutrition) for babies who require them in the ward.

I went to the neonates' ward one evening last week to clerk some cases with a colleague. At first sight of the babies, my heart smiled as though they were the prettiest thing i have seen after one whole day of work. But after a while, i felt a deep twitch in my heart when i saw some premie babies crying away. These little angels are so adorable, yet being born premature, it's a tough fight to begin their lives. Premie babies usually have a myriad of health problems, and they need intensive medical support.

Currently, there are a few babies in the ward who require TPN (total parenteral nutrition) so my job is to compound drips for them. It's already been one week since i was transferred to this department, and i find that i'm learning a lot of useful techniques from my senior and the assistant pharmacist in charge.. It's all about time management, familiarity of the aseptic protocol, compounding methods, calculations etc.. oh well, it can be quite stressful, but i love the challenge somewhat.

On a lighter note, I had a great night at the Jazz Festival in Ferringghi last weekend. Thanks to 5kor for the free tickets, we really had good fun that night. The stage performances were absolutely excellent, particularly the one by the Hungarian band, DJABE and the UK top guitarist Steve Hackett.

time flies, and new year is soon approaching. :) December is going to be brisk and busy for me.. That applies to both work and activities. Will be having another work-shift on the 29th. but on the bright side, each of my weekend is now occupied, so being busy at work is nothing to complain about if it is punctuated by having great getaways during the weekends.

A Bullfrog's Game

I used to play a lot of Theme Hospital when i was much much younger. The CD game went missing for a long time, and when recently my brother found it again in an old box, i was in fact silently beaming with joy!! then did i realise how much i used to love playing the game.

It isn't a game which is entirely thrilling, but as a child/early teen, i was really excited at the thought of serving and helping to treat or cure each patient who came in, managing a busy hospital, keeping the hospital clean and providing every facility possible.

To inject a dose of reality to the game, the game-maker designed it in such a way that the patients may lodge complaints.. eg: the hospital building being too cold? (extra radiators would be needed), the waiting queue being too long? (more rooms should be set up), or the staff being ill-mannered? (pay rise may be necessary to keep the staff motivated to work)..

the exciting part is that there are many departments which you can set up in your hospital, especially as you progress towards the higher levels.. the basic ones are the GPs' rooms, Diagnosis rooms, Pharmacy, Ward, etc.. There are other more specialised departments such as the Inflater units for the "bloaty heads", Slicer machines for slack-tongue patients, Fracture Clinic for bandages, etc... :)


you'll get to see each patient's diagnosis, thirst level, warmth level and general health condition. If the hospital is badly run, the patients may end up dying!!! I am not sure, but these patients usually die after taking their medications from the pharmacy. well, it could be due to any wrong diagnoses or simply, wrong medications given!! bad news? the death rate will be accounted into the annual statistics of the community that the hospital is serving to.. :)

in short, this would remain one of my few favourite childhood games. Now that i'm working within a hospital setting, it was as though watching the reality version of the game everyday. :)

VENICE: The No-Car-Zone

Venice was one of the places which i enjoyed most. perhaps it was because of the company i went with. three cranky boys (weichung, chicken-back-side and benni), as well as my cousin sister Lea.

Venice is all about rivers and canals...


Also, gondolas and vaporetti...



And not forgetting, those gondoliers at their service...



The whole island is in fact a strictly no-car-zone! Ohhh, with exceptions like this below:-

~the only car seen on the island throughout our stay~

Besides, Italy is famous for its gelato. And among all the gelati we've tried in the four cities visited, Chicken-Back-Side and I agreed that this particular shop in Venice offers the best choice. :) we visited this shop at least twice! The picture below shows how CBS swooned at the sight of the italian gelati!!

There is a place in Venice which nobody could have possibly missed. It's the Piazza San Marco. Here's a picture of cousin Benni, feeding the famous pigeons at the Piazza. (credit to cbs for the picture :p)


Oh, feeding the pigeons may seem exhilarating, but it can turn out disastrous sometimes!!

Seems fun at first...


Gradually, when you attract more pigeons, the number increases exponentially!! Like this...



And before you knew it, you are under attack although you have nothing else to feed them!!


And the flock will feed until NOTHING is left!!!

16th September 2008: First day of PRP life

Was so anxious that i kicked myself out of bed as early as 5am today. Took a quick 'bull'-shower, took a light breakfast and stormed to Ipoh very early in the morning. I was plainly anticipating my placement as a PRP!

What's a PRP? It stands for Provisionally Registered Pharmacist. Life of a pharmacist for the first year. It is going to be a tough year, but i will be earning lots of working experiences, skills, techniques and knowledge before i can be fit to be fully registered with the Board.

I could now thank my lucky stars for having able to work at my choice of placement. I asked for the Taiping Hospital and I'm very happy to get it!!! After receiving the letter of approval from the Ipoh department, I rushed back to Taiping and reported to the Pejabat Kesihatan and then to the Taiping Hospital.

Colleagues and supervisors are very nice ppl, i can tell from first impressions. :) Many familiar faces too! mostly are seniors from high school.

Will work hard, play hard & earn hard from now on! Man, I do start to miss the life of a student now! Good luck to all the other pharmacists-to-be!!! :)

Answers

When the whole world is sleeping,
I ponder,
What have I done today?
What have I said today?
What have I learnt today?
How did I feel today?

Then, I ask myself,
Have I done the right thing?
Have I said the right words?
Have I learnt a great deal?
Did I feel virtuous?

It's a self-reflection, and i know, i have these answers in my own world.

Priceless expressions

Animals are as interesting as human beings are.

They portray basic instincts. They strive to survive. And most importanly, they show gestures and expressions too!

These are some of my favourite inhabitants at the Wilhelma... Their exprssions and gestures truly speak a thousand words!

affection between a baby and mummy monkey

idleness of a baby polar bear

reaching out for the next step

The dominance of its own kingdom?

Meerkat looking steady and guardful

and lastly, this is my all-time favourite:

A frog, expressing his hopefulness to turn into a prince charming?

I heard the lakes calling

Will be back home very soon.. The lakes would be one of the first few places which i will go to when i'm home. I do miss them sometimes...

On the other hand, there are still much experiences in Europe which i would like to reminisce. And i know when i am finally home, I will start to miss this place a lot.

Going home can be a happy event for some, or a sad one for others. To me, it's neither. I just know that it's time for me to be home soon. to go back to where i am from. coz home is where i will do some self-reflection, to think of what i really want in my life, and to do what i need to do to achieve my life goals.

Cant wait to be home. cant wait to see my family. to see my friends. and all the folks back there.