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Thursday, July 20, 2006

Grey Thoughts, Blue Memories v 2.0

Well, time to wave a wand and do a specialis revelio - I've finally replaced this old, old, old blog template of mine, but at a totally different URL. I'm not going to ship anything anywhere, for this blog had precious memories and I want it to stay the way it always had been. A catalog of preferences over the years, if you like.

That being said, then again I *might* just merge the 2 versions, it really depends.

In any case, the new layout's done to make the blog look like a scrapbook of sorts, so it needs a little getting used to. Comments and suggestions are always welcome and entertained (unlike a certain Prof. J Wong who makes it a fond pasttime of brushing these away with just a few not-so well-chosen words that are anything but subtle).

2 Comments:

At 8:13 PM, Blogger xanthus said...

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Sunday, July 16, 2006

Ah, loads of fun today. And some not-so-fun things, such as #1:

Headline #1 - Neighbours Turned On By Vegetable Penis

The usual story. Sunday morning is PERSONAL TIME. The only time in the week when I can really do my own plants some justice, and these irritating prats had to come round talking to me again! This time, it was worse - I was 6 ladder rungs off the ground (It's a fucking big deal to me) trying to hang up some Neps. Grrrr ..... Mom should stop growing controversial plants.

#2 - More chili con carne!

Yes, I made up a whole pot of chili con carne. Full recipe will be up hopefully by tomorrow, since I have the pics but yx conveniently forgot to pass me the transfer cable. Excellent. And I'm extremely irritated by dad, he took BOTH digicams to work and hasn't returned mine to me for days. ARGHHHHHHHH.

#3 - Surprise visit

Mariah's back in Singapore! She used up most of her pay to cover her mom's medical expenses in Indonesia, and is now working for another employer here. Today was her day off, and she came over to visit! Brownie went totally wild - "My tummy-scratching machine is back!" She was so enthusiastic, the first thing she did was to go off to the kitchen (she even missed seeing the Vegetable Penis) to cook up something nice for us! Haha. Had a nice dinner with every single person, Mariah and Dewi included, having fun at the table.

#4 - Smoky Eyes!

Had fun reading instructions to yx regarding doing up the smoky eye effect, and later helping with the eyeshadow and stuff. Oh dear. I was a complete disaster at first. They should hire me to make-up the actresses for Cleopatra. Hey, but it turned out to be great in the end! Even had praise from a woman at the salsa class, and I shot yx a "I TOLD YOU SO!" look.

It felt oddly wrong to be drawing on another person's face - isn't this the exact sort of thing we got scolded for doing, during those pre-primary days?? OK, maybe I was the only one who did that .. that, and tearing off my room's wallpaper, ripping off mom's curtains and scribbling on the undersides of beds.

#5 - Salsa.

Notice the period at the end. Notice the flat tone of my voice.

OK, today wasn't bad at all. For one, no changing of partners today! GOOD.
Also, that idiotic woman didn't turn up - I hope that's because her fingers got fractured last week.
Finally, those who WERE there were wonderful people to chat with! Really pleasant, and kind.

Well, that sums up today. Off to Sengkang tomorrow.

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Saturday, July 15, 2006

Was at Millenia Institute from 12 till 6pm today. There I was, thinking (and dreading it, mind) that I had to interact with a bunch of kids. Woo hoo! Turned out I was needed to man the sound system and lighting, so yay! Pics coming soon.

Spent the evening with both my club members and those from Lindy Hop ensemble, so nice of LHE to treat us to dinner! But hmmm .. in the process, they managed to dig up some stuff about me. Grrrrr .. was so embarrassed. One of them knew about my CPs personally and asked me about them, and the resulting flood of questions from all the rest was scary. Feel bad about it, felt like I was hogging the whole conversation - but how?? They kept asking questions!

One more session Saturday after next, 29 July. Anyone keen to participate? It's at YMCA orchard, from 8.30am. Morning consists of workshops for volunteers, just some basic dance steps. In the afternoon the beneficiaries arrive, including some excellent paediatric psychiatry cases (ADHD, autism and the like). Registration is free, includes a free T-shirt, Shine water bottle and also a bunch of other souvenirs - more information here! Those who always wanted to see us dance, come lah!

At least something to look forward to, and of course, more friends to hang out with during a nasty period of transition.

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Last night's post was odd. I'm feeling better now (must be the weekend, that's why), and did a little bit of plant propagation this morning. I've ended myself up with a frightful number of flytraps!


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Friday, July 14, 2006

After reading a couple of friends' blogs - I guess I'm not the only cranky one right now. This week had been stormy.

Reflections.
Self-doubt.
Self-reasoning.
Resolutions.
Escapism.
Maladaptation.

Hope everyone else is alright by now. We each have our own little troubles - and perhaps some not-so-little ones. Let's just be kind to each other. We, the poor souls who have suffered injustice, self-inflicted or otherwise. Yes. Sometimes, we just need a little pat on each other's back.

Somehow, I've been getting some daily doses of endorphins ... let's see: Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun. Not too bad huh? For next week: Tues, Thurs, Sun. I'll try to squeeze in some skating.

Just alone in my room, with a single, soft yellow lamp behind me and typing my heart out to an invisble audience; it's all so surreal. And I thought back on something I had been living by: sit back, and watch the world go by. Probably doesn't hold now. And looking back on my posts, I'm past the anger stage I think. It's probably wu2 nai4 now. Not good at all, eh?

Shit shit shit I'm sinking into a very blue mood. Time for a beer. Yes, cheating on diet - come on, it's Friday!!!

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Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Diet Day 1

Don't ask. I've explained before.

Had a really great post-lunch gossip with my ex-groupies yesterday, makes it a hundred times worse when I remember being stuck in this new group. Ended up flipping through Sadock & Sadock's monstrousity of a psychiatric textbook, and I think I've hit the root of the problem.

Adjustment disorder.

I honestly don't need this shit in my final year. Dean's office should just fucking cut it out. I'm just having an awful time, trying again and again and failing again and again to feel comfortable hanging out with new people that I barely know. They honestly aren't a bad bunch, definitely not KSC characters, but the problem just bloody lies with me. Just not comfortable with new people, just hate adjusting to new things, just want to be left alone. Rather catatonic behavior actually, somewhat like a mild case of autism.

I'm exhibiting very erratic behavior. If my groupmates remember, I initially behaved like this I think. Just skipping school for no reason at all, hiding at places just to be alone, and all that. I can't help it. Oh dang .. if only C. Chee were still here, I might really just go and confide in her. Nothing shooes the blues away like a real psychiatrist.


*******

More gourd updates:


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Monday, July 10, 2006

Made chili con carne tonight on a whim, was cooking up something nice for the little boy (livers and luncheon meat in butter - he became a little skinner since I left.) It was OOOOOH. Hahahaha. Quite a surprise actually, given how my last made-up recipe for cajun sauce ended up in disaster. It's probably a 9 out of 10 for this one - 0.5 off for not having rice to go with it right now, and another 0.5 for having a 2-dimensional spiciness to it. Strange. I used the moste potente bird chillies, but next time I'll add a second variety to break the monotony. Full recipe will be up once I manage to take a good picture of it.

Now I know the Texans' obsession with chili con carne. It's stuff you could eat right through the night, every night.

"My feeling about chili is this: Along in November, when the first northern strikes, and the skies are gray, along about five o'clock in the afternoon, I get to thinking how good chili would taste for supper. It always lives up to expectations. In fact, you don't even mind the cold November winds." Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady from 1963-1969.

Vaguely thinking of staying home tomorrow.

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Sunday, July 09, 2006

Just did a tiny bit of cooking today, in place of the originally-planned skating since the weather was so nasty. Going to try a dessert sometime this week, I'm thinking of Crème brûlée but I'll need to get hold of a hand-held torch - no nasty broiling for me! Also vaguely thinking of doing up a chili con carne, just to use up the ground beef I've got sitting in the freezer. It's either that or steak-and-kidney meatballs, hah. Ewww ... chili con carne. Reminds me of those horrid Morrisons dinners I had.

Went for more salsa tonight ... omg, I really must bitch about this bitch. Imagine this - oldish (early 50s) woman who thinks she can dance, but totally can't. I'm perfectly fine with followers who aren't GOOD followers, but a follower who can't dance and tries to lead the lead? (Originally inserted something exceeding rude here). Anyway, I MADE SURE she couldn't lead me. Everytime she tries to, I GRABBED her hand and led her FORCEFULLY. MY WAY. It most probably hurt her (and good riddance if it did), but then again she was utter rubbish during the lesson. Trying to sway the wrong way all the time. Hope she quits.

Hmm. Monday blues starting to come in. It was momentarily offset by the endorphins, but now it's back. Ah. It didn't help that the Thomson Jazz Band was playing amazing pieces at that place, and by the time I ended Salsa, they were gone. Alas! Too late for some impromptou swinging outside the function hall, hahahahahahahaha. Locals need to just loosen up and dance when there's good music.

Oh. I forgot. You get arrested. Dance license and all that shit.

Hello, hello! Secret Police?

*****

Gourd Update

The ridiculous phallus has grown to alarming proportions (it's almost a metre long right now, and STILL growing), and I was extremely nonplussed this week, due to neighbours coming round and asking about the Vegetable Penis. First off, it is NOT my plant. And how DARE they interrupt me when I'm wrapping up my precious venus flytraps to put them into a cold dormancy?

As you can tell, I'm highly-distressed, irritable and grouchy right now. Alarming swing in moods.

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Saturday, July 08, 2006

Argh, stupidity!

I decided to work on my skates today, it hasn't been decently-cleaned for months, and thoroughly-cleaned since I bought it more than a year ago.

Well, YX and I both decided to pamper our skates (ourselves, more like) and bought 16 titanium bearings each, and I got a new set of wheels to boot! Blue wheels look really good on mine, haha. Anyway, I got all my old Salomon wheels and bearings out, and put in the new titaniums. And my ITCHY fingers decided that they must do some thorough cleaning of the old bearings.

SO, I removed all the C-rings from the bearings, opened the shields, and soaked in turpentine to produce some squeaky-clean bearings. Then I decided to take a look at the bearings.

OMG. Twincam bearings with TK grease!! Was told numerous times that they shouldn't be serviced at all, since these bearings are almost indestructable. And there I was, wondering HOW COME the outside of the bearings were full of gunk while the insides were so clean. Excellent. So now I've gotten all the grease out, and will have to oil them instead. =(

Can't wait to try out new bearings tomorrow!

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Thursday, July 06, 2006

DSM-IV Criteria for Major Depressive Episode - again.



(1) depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day

(2) markedly diminished interest or pleasure nearly every day

(3) significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.

(4) insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day

(5) psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day

(6) fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day

(7) feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day

(8) diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day

(9) recurrent thoughts of death

I scored for every single damn one today. For (9), I'm taking it at surface value - I did think I was about to drop dead any moment after a particularly nasty, protracted Wenkybach episode tonight.

To top it all, I'm going through a sad -> eat -> get fat -> get sad -> eat cycle right now.

I hate this freaking posting.

To my dear friends who will eventually embark on this eventually, just some words of advice - prophylactic Prozac.

I hate to imagine what'll happen during the internship. Somehow, my mental sinews need to toughen up. Need to get strong from within. Never mind the loneliness, never mind the scariness, never mind the miscellaneous troubles that simply roll into the way at a time when what I really need is a clear path to concentrate on. Just get down to doing it, and getting through it.

Perhaps it's got something to do with being in final year? It's everything I expected it to be. From the forgiving, slightly-mollified exclamations of ,"Ah! You're year 3s" to the accusatory, reprimanding comments of, "You're final years, you should know this!". That, and knowing that I'll be in a room all by myself, with 3 examiners who'll seal my fate in 8 months' time.

Somehow I'm taking this posting too seriously. Way too seriously. Even though I DID talk to myself, reasoning it out that it fucking doesn't matter anyway. I'm fretting about a test, I'm actually STUDYING for once, and I got myself upset enough to binge on noodles tonight. I can think of one tutor who made it worse today. I know it. MH, who was with me, was entirely pissed with him too. Hope he dies of fungating, ulcerating, oozing wounds from HIV.

OK, had enough. I AM going to thoroughly enjoy myself tonight. Yes. A nice drink, a couple of apples, good music and a nice book. Live while I can eh? Because, I might drop dead anytime anyway. I know it's probably not a Wenchybach anymore from the change in how the blocks occur, but fuck it. If it cranks up on me, so be it.

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Tillandsia bulbosa


HPIM0985 (Large)
Originally uploaded by Ryan CP.
Hanging upside down ..

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Tillandsia streptophylla


HPIM0981 (Large)
Originally uploaded by Ryan CP.
"Mom's Hair Plant" - as yx pointed out that my mom's perms are exactly like these leaves

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S. x umlauftiana


HPIM0963 (Large)
Originally uploaded by Ryan CP.
Pitcher of S. x umlauftiana

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Sarracenia flower bud


HPIM0964 (Large)
Originally uploaded by Ryan CP.
Spring is here?!? Emerging flower bud of Sarracenia x umlauftiana

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Gourds


HPIM0988 (Large)
Originally uploaded by Ryan CP.
My parents' precious gourd. Just sprayed Provado on them tonight, and praying that the plant doesn't die. I'll be skinned alive if anything happens to it.

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Future cactus corner


HPIM0980 (Large)
Originally uploaded by Ryan CP.

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Pretty!


HPIM0977 (Large)
Originally uploaded by Ryan CP.
The new vine I bought. The flowers look like Ipomea (morning glories), but are much smaller and of a different genus.

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Polyacrylamide gel


HPIM0961 (Large)
Originally uploaded by Ryan CP.
Using these between my pots right now to prevent the horrid mosquitoes from laying eggs. Still under review right now, I have a feeling this breaks down in sunlight to form a sticky mess.

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Tuesday, July 04, 2006

OMG. Just ended a really tiring day. 8-3.30 of clinics, then lecture till 5. To top it all, I was really toxic today. Might have been a viral gastritis or bacteraemia originating from the sore tooth (which thankfully stopped). So yeah .. myalgia, LOA, arthralgia, malaise, fever, chills. Still having it right now, and went home to wrap myself up in blankets. (I KNOW. I'm not supposed to do that with a fever.)

And had to go for dance from 8-10, yikes. Someone mentioned I looked "pasty" .. what's that supposed to mean? Pale? Yellow? Ended up being nauseous at 9pm. At least the 9-10 session was good - it's the one that's really meant for the dinosaurs in the club, so we got to learn new steps at last! Otherwise the entire year's filled with going back to basics to accompany the beginner-advanced classes. Not good for someone with arthralgia though - there was this step called the guy's Tunnel (the classical Tunnel involves pulling the girl through between our legs), where we had to bend forward 90 degrees flat to squeeze through some odd potential space comprised of arms.

Great. Backaches the whole night.

Going to have an early night I guess, and perhaps might not go tomorrow morning if I continue being toxic. Had a good time dishing out sample facial pharmaceuticals to the vainpots at home, I felt like Father Christmas!

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Yikes, a visit to the dentist is in order. Had an ache at the last tooth of the right side of the upper jaw, and it bled when I brushed it last night. I'm trying to put this off though - an extraction is inevitable, as is the barrage of ridiculous questions that dentists love to ask.

Going to embark on the cactus corner sometime this weekend, shall take before and after photos and do it as a log! Hopsefully it doesn't turn out to be a disaster. I have a nastily black, soggy, gangrenous finger when it comes to growing cacti. I have no idea why.

Was in Cranky Mode again the whole of the weekend and yesterday, according to eyewitnesses at home. But HONESTLY. While I was sitting at a cabinet ledge in the kitchen on Sunday night, I was entirely convinced that I was somehow invisible, or camouflaged. Dopey, I might jolly well be the first to knock on your clinic door.

Right. Shall strive to find the small little pleasures in life. But these horrid seeds grow SO SLOWLY!

1 Comments:

At 7:44 PM, Blogger Francesca said...

yoz, cheer up! it might help you to know that we are all in the same boat... (sinking one)

 

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Sunday, July 02, 2006

Back again

Ah, following the prime example set by Dopey, I shall tread once more the path of the insane blogger. It's actually more of pure laziness that's keeping this blog unattended to for the last couple of weeks - that, and TONNES of back-logged stuff waiting to be settled (and mostly settled, thankfully!!)

1) Update D/O on electives
2) Elective report (still to be done)
3) Photo albums - and damn proud of them =)
4) Finding a missing box of precious CP seeds
5) Finding some missing CP catalogues
6) Collecting a few Nepenthes from a friend
7) Replying to emails from 2 weeks' worth of netlessness
8) Touching up the garden
9) Touching up my fish tank (OMG - this needs an entire post to explain)
10) And mostly, getting to grips with a drastic change in the people I hang out with in school

I think most people would know about my new groupmates by now .. they aren't a bad bunch, to be honest. Just needs getting used to. It's such a shame, I hate D/O for doing this. It's not easy for a sociophobe cum agoraphobe to really get comfortable with people. Ah. Miss my old group. We did have a good time in the past. Sensible, mature, intellectual people.

OK, enough ranting about this.

*****
The Tickling Game - several days ago, 20-ish of June?

Most of the time, playing with Brownie = mock war games. I'd get his (new) favourite soft toy rabbit, pretend that it was attacking me and shriek in horror, and the boy would pounce, fling, wrestle and chomp the poor toy into submission.

Just that other day, yx decided it would be funny to tickle an exquisitely-ticklish person. Of course, I decided to fight back and in the midst of this, Brownie hopped into bed and joined in the fun! So it was a tickling fight between 3 people, and then he started imitating us! When I did my low-pitched laugh (from amusement), he'd do a low-pitched grunting noise - the usual "gwow-gwow-gwow" stuff that he does when he's trying to tell us he's hungry. But when I started shrieking (because a certain idiot started tickling me instead of the boy) he actually howled together with me! Haha .. I told yx to reach for the video cam at this point - this would have been a definite AFHV gala-winner - and started choking from tearing too much. It was hilarious. Of course, the fun stopped, and we didn't manage to get a shot of this.

*****

Garden Day - today

Went out early in the morning to get some materials for the garden, and ended up buying an absolute gem! Bought myself a vine, Jacquemontia violacea, with 2-cm diameter satin-blue flowers. Ooooh, I am so in love with it! Mom's gourds are also putting out fruit. Also bought 4 pakcets of gravel to cover up the muddy areas of the garden, and a couple of fittings - the start of Mission: Automate Garden Watering.

Spent some of the morning conceiving the earliest ideas of making a cactus corner in the garden, inspired by the Princess of Wales Conservatory in Kew. Lithops, anyone?

*****

Fish tank business - ok, it's a really long story, I think I'll tell it after I've done something about the tank. Vaguely thinking of re-scaping the tank. Veering away from the cliche (as yx guessed at the start I eventually would. Look at the CPs. It started with orchids.) - so, no reef tank I guess. I'm vaguely - vaguely, mind - thinking about a kelp forest biotope. Not giant kelp of course, but mainly seaweedy stuff, bundles of molluscs like mussels and oysters, seagrass, just a couple of corals here and there (I still love corals!!!!!) and seahorses, pipefish and the like. We'll see how the funding goes. As it is, funding's bleak.

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Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Right, ready to start blabbering about the trip. I'm not putting these up in the Scotland blog, since someone (*cough* Dopey!! *cough*) apparently missed my tiny announcement that I'm starting on a new blog.

glasgow

DAY 1


Checked into Euro Hostel in the morning before taking a coach to receive them at the airport. Took the city tour bus to go round most of Glasgow's touristy areas - both the Old Town and New, then we stopped at the Glasgow Cathedral where their patron saint, St. Mungo (sounds familiar??), is supposed to be entombed. Took a short hike up into the Necropolis (cemetary) to get some lovely views of the city. Mom was enthralled by the wild flowers and picked some cemetry dandelion seeds home to grow! Went back to George's Square in the evening, and took several photos of the lovely, imposing Victorian buildings there, including the City Council. Apparently, the insides are an exact replica of the Basilica in the Vatican City. And since no filming's allowed in Vatican City, guess where all your Vatican City shots were filmed at?

Glasgow city council
Glasgow City Council at George's Square. 2 very silly women hiding from the camera in front of the stone lion on the left.

DAY 2

Took a cab from the Hostel to my Hall in the morning to show them the arduous task I face every single damned morning. They could hardly catch up =) Spent some time walking through the Rhododendron forests near Wolfson Hall, showed them the foxhole, and walked up Bearsden Road into Morrison's where we bought a load of microwave dinners. We then took a bus to Gartnavel Hospital, where the 2 of them had hell of a time hand-feeding the ducks, pigeons and swans at the pond. Loads of little ducklings have hatched already!

Fox hole
Nice foxhole in the woods near where I live. Managed to see the fox cubs while I was studying there, but when I brought yx and mom to the whole, all were camera-shy.

In the afternoon, we took the city tour bus again and dropped off at the Barras Market - kind of like some pasar lambak, which totally thrilled the 2 women. It's like Camden Market in London, but smaller. They went wild at the cheap jeans and (unearthly) fashions, while I had my fair share of lovely whelks and cheap cherries too.

Whelks!
Bought this load of whelks for 1 quid at a local bric-brac market in Glasgow. The other 2 thought I was disgusting (why?!?) eating them using a hatpin.

Afterwards, we took a 15-minute walk to reach the People's Palace & Winter Gardens. It's really like a huge greenhouse in the Gardens, and some Cactus Society was having a nice show there. Alas! Obviously I couldn't buy any of the stuff back.

flowering cacti
Pot of very nice cacti - I was lucky enough to catch the Cactus and Succulent Club's show day at the Winter Palace.

lochlomond

DAY 3

Packed everything up, and took a horrid, horrid, HORRID 40 minute walk (dragging all our luggages) to the care rental place to pick up our Ford Focus. It's in beautiful condition, and was as smooth a drive as I could wish for! Highly recommended. The boot seemed small, but oooh. It managed to take in 1 giant luggage and 3 standard ones, all in the boot!

Drove up the M8 towards Loch Lomond, reaching there in only 20 minutes (man at the car hire said 40. He obviously wildly under-estimated our enthusiasm). We took a pee-stop at the Trossachs National Park visitor centre, where mom went wild picking up these fantastic cones and lichen from the pine forest nearby. No idea what these cones were, but they looked like small roses arranged prettily along a branch. Moved on yet again, to reach Loch Lomond itself.

Grrr. We were totally clueless there, and spent 30 minutes walking along a wooded trail (the daisies and poppies!!!) and back again, till we asked a woman where we could take a cruise on the Loch. ALAS. We had to walk back along the trail. The cruise wasn't *that* fantastic, in retrospect - but maybe because we eventually saw even more breathtaking scenery on the Isle of Skye.

Lomond (6) (Small)
Mom posing with a Scottish guy wearing an ornamental kilt. Oh dear. He wasn't even local!


Happily picking up cones in a pine forest near Loch Lomond

In another 40 minutes, we were in the lovely, lovely, lovely town of Stirling. It's REALLY lovely. Neat little rows of stone houses, all beautifully-decorated with gardens to die for. ALL of them. Mom was a little grouchy about coming over, but Stirling convinced her that she had to get a house like that. =) We took an evening walk around the town centre, which surprisingly was filled with shops of all kinds. It's lovely, because the entire town of Stirling is centred around the Stirling Castle, which sits on a huge rock. And all the way down on the slopes of the rock were neat rows of cafes, pubs, eateries, small stores and churches. Yx and mom starting trespassing into church grounds to pose with rows of pansies there (mom claimed initially that they were plastic flowers).

Oh! And the B&B there was simply lovely. I gasped involuntarily when shown to our room. It's a huge suite, with soft beds and sheets on its 2 king-sized beds. Of course, the bathroom was amazing too, tastefully-decorated with shells and an assortment of bath bubbles - I ended up spending an hour in the bath alone. At only 80 pounds per room per night, I wish we had arranged for a longer stay there! For future reference, the place is called No. 10 B&B, look for Mrs. Carol Cameron who cooks the most fantastic full Scottish breakfasts. =) Now this is hospitality!

DAY 4

We started off early by walking to the Stirling Castle - it was hell of a climb up that rock to reach the Castle itself. Our hostess did her thing again by filling us all in with devious tips on how to save $$$ on admissions. Beautiful views all round in the Castle, but the other 2 were so mean. They made me climb onto this platform that runs all round the Castle walls - and remember, the Castle's built on a huge rock. Very pretty views including the Wallace Monument far away, but nasty drop down. Trooped back to our car at the B&B, said our goodbyes, and drove up North to reach the Old Bridge in Stirling. It was here that William Wallace fought one of his famous strategic battles against the English. Then on towards the Wallace Monument. Yet another very nasty and very steep walk up the hill to reach the monument.


Wallace monument
The National Wallace Monument in Stirling. Extremely high, at 260 steps to get all the way up. OBVIOUSLY I didn't go - the other 2 did. I gave up after 1 flight of precarious spiral stairs that were wide enough only for half a normal person. To the left of the pic is this row of pagoda-looking structures - THAT WAS THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE. Wouldn't have been so bad if there hadn't been slits along the stairs, with horrendous winds howling through them.

Stirling, from the Wallace Monument
Lovely view of Stirling taken from the top of the Wallace Monument.

edin

We left Stirling in the afternoon and drove for another 45 minutes to reach Edinburgh, where we checked into this nastily expensive ($100 prpn) B&B that was SO HORRID. Never stay at Aarajura if you can help it. The toilet lights go off after 15 minutes, plunging you into total darkness, and the rooms aren't en-suite. Only good thing is that the staff were rather friendly, and breakfast was acceptable. Met up with Xiaoyan and Min'er in the evening for dinner, and after sending mom back to the B&B we went for the horrid 2 pub crawls. I don't really want to remember the post-drinking nastiness. 17 drinks!!

mussels!
Mini JC gathering!

3 sisters
Our SECOND pub crawl for the night - total of 17 drinks! It was hell. First pub crawl brought us around the entire Edinburgh city, and we won a T-shirt after visiting all 10 pubs. Second pub crawl was at the Three Sisters where we downed these 10 potente-looking, venomous, lurid drinks. That did the trick. Was sober enough to get yx to xiaoyan's house for a rest and a cab back to our B&B, where I totally knocked out. Next day was hell.

Some photos of Happy Hours by the Expert Self-Photographer, Xiaoyan!

Fisting a cow. No, I wasn't drunk. That was after only 5 drinks.

Milking a skeletal cow on Royal Mile

Xiaoyan looking all smug after I hoisted her onto the cow. Min'er took 3 tries (complete with loads of hilarious floundering and screaming) before she managed to stay up. We almost decided to let her stay UP through the night!

Edinburgh Pub Crawl - Pub #1: The Black Bull

Edinburgh Pub Crawl - Pub #2:Pivo

Edinburgh Pub Crawl - Pub #3:The Albanach

Edinburgh Pub Crawl - Pub #4:Henrich's Bar

Edinburgh Pub Crawl - Pub #5:Drouthy Neebors

Edinburgh Pub Crawl - Pub #6:Swany's

Edinburgh Pub Crawl - FINAL DESTINATION! Pub #9:World's End
All 4 of us proudly displaying the T-shirts we won from killing our hepatocytes.

And by 1am - YX and I ended up with TWO!

DAY 5

The morning started with a visit to the Holyrood Palace, which is the official residence of the Queen when she visits Scotland. It's situated right beneath this small hill called Arthur's Seat, but mom and yx decided that we shouldn't climb it if we wanted to catch the 1 O'Clock Gun.

On to Edinburgh Castle, to catch the 1 O'Clock Gun. Wonder if I can post videos? The horrid canon scared the SHIT out of me. This gun blasts off at exactly 1pm each day except Sundays. Beautiful views across the Forth of Firth, Edinburgh's New Town and Arthur's Seat from here. Took a walk back down from the Castle, down the Royal Mile and shopped for a hell load of nice stuff! Yx was still feeling very ill from the drinking, and was complaining why I didn't puke and how come my liver has more cytochromes. Yes. A big liver comes with a rotund physique too.

arthur's seat
Arthur's Seat (the hill behind) as seen from Edinburgh Castle.

In the evening, we found ourselves at Mercat Cross in preparation for a night of frights. YESSSS. The Edinburgh ghost tours. A heavy mist was rolling in beautifully, the lonely chimes were singing in bass tones, a cold wind was whipping through the streets - PERFECT. Mom was cold, yx was cold, and I was excited. I'd highly recommend Mercat Tours for their ghost encounters. No dressed-up actors, only highly-trained historians and excellent story-tellers. You'd never believe the tension the guide could build up, using words alone! Our guide, Emma, was so enthusiastic and dramatic in her story-telling that I was inclined to believe she was somehow possessed. She started off the evening telling us about the history of Mercat Cross itself, and we proceeded to the underground vaults. These were originally the underside of an ancient stone bridge, but merchants soon vacated them due to water seepage and they became home to criminals and their crimes. We were barely 10 minutes into the vaults when a woman freaked out, said she was extremely uncomfortable, and had to be led out of the vaults with her husband. It was kinda creepy, really, inside there. Being a totally-sealed vault, there were odd drafts coming in from blind corners, and there was one particular room where my hair started standing on end. A few people somehow totally refused to enter this room, staring in with wide, wild eyes. Ewww. Quite a few people felt either a cold draught passing by their legs, or something cold touching them. Emma was extremely bad at the end!! She was telling us about the various ghosts in the vaults, when the candle she was holding extinguished, plunging the group into darkness. Gosh .. the screaming!

edinburgh vaults
One of Edinburgh's underground vaults that were supposed to be severely haunted, according to a study done in 2001. Supposed to be a ghost in this corner (a cobbler, apparently), so I took this photo to test (push) my luck.

After the vaults, we took a night-time stroll to a churchyard, where several prominent people were buried. Right at the end of the cemetary however, was the grave of a half-eaten boy. Eaten by a Duke or Earl or something like that, after being put on a spit and roasted over an open fire.

rosslyn

DAY 6

Next morning, we drove South of Edinburgh to find the suddenly-famous Rosslyn Chapel. You'd never believe the place it's located in! A tiny village called Roslin, tucked into a tiny wooded lane near the ruins of Roslin Castle. I shan't spoil the sheer beauty of the Chapel by words. Un-mentioned by Mr. Brown, however, was a haunted corner and a ghostly monk that resides in the Chapel. Nice!

code
The mysterious engraved codes mentioned in Dan Brown's book. The codes are engraved singularly into each of the projecting cubes across the arches, and are believed to be musical notes that have to be played in the right order, at the right time, on the right instrument. In the room below, there's yet another code - not mentioned in his book - formed by various angels situated in the room, each facing a different direction. Apparently by following the different gazing directions, it leads to the direction where the Holy Grail is kept. Loads more interesting symbols all carved in the church, each of them unique except for the Cross of Saint-Claire (sounds familiar?).

mason pillar
apprentice pillar
The set of 2 pillars also mentioned in the book.

We left Rosslyn Chapel near noon, and took a quick visit past the graveyard to reach the ruins of Roslin Castle.

inver

Hahaha .. Phase II of ghost-hunting! Mom took over the wheel in the 2-hour drive from Edinburgh to Inverness in the afternoon. We didn't actually stop in Inverness, but drove on North through the Black Isle to reach Dingwall, where we had a nice castle stay. The Green Lady is supposedly a resident of Tulloch Castle, but even without the Green Lady the place is creepy enough. Barely 30 minutes after we moved into Room 4 (not even the most haunted room!), a lamp broke off from one of its 2 supports with a loud clang, and started oscillating slowly. Mom couldn't sleep the entire night because of odd noises emitted by the radiator (which yx later fixed, to stop the noise! haha .. false alarm). But honestly. The passages leading to our room were lit by torches - not flames, of course, but there's always this creepy feeling of being watched. It didn't help that after nightfall, the only way to enter the building was through this dark cellar at the side.

Tulloch Castle
Tulloch Castle at Dingwall, about 15 miles north of Inverness - with her famous resident ghost, the Green Lady. We spent a night there (really an excuse for me to do some ghost-hunting), with some odd occurances which I lived to tell later.


I actually liked the animal head better than the fire itself.

Lupins
Lovely mauve lupins in front of Tulloch Castle. Mr. Ye, I agree - these are so much prettier than bluebells! Pity there weren't any wild ones in Glasgow. Perhaps it was too cold?

DAY 7

sheep in mist
Beautifully-foggy morning, with the poor sheep all huddling out in the cold! Taken fron our room window in Tulloch.

hearth
Beautiful fireplace in the castle, with a hearty fire blazing away.

After a splendid Scottish breakfast in the Castle, we drove on back down, right past Inverness and along the Northern Coast of Loch Ness. Took a photo stop at one of her most scenic points, had lunch at Tomnahurich. Obviously Nessie didn't make an appearance, or I'd be in the news right now. Nessie or not, Loch Ness is quite a scenic place.

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In quiet contemplation along the banks of Loch Ness. Or were they secretly hoping to see Nessie?

We proceeded Westwards to reach the ruined Urquhart Castle, and had fun watching movies on her history, taking some of the best shots of Loch Ness and also seeing a nice Scottich wedding!

marriage
Caught a glimpse of a traditional Scottish marriage at Urquhart Castle, which sits on one of the banks of Loch Ness.

black

OOops. This came before reaching Inverness from Tulloch Castle. We made an unplanned detour to the Black Isle near Inverness, to let mom and yx see some interesting animals.

kangaroo
Are kangaroos normally this tame?

monkeys
Hand-feeding some lovely lemurs. They're actually extremely gentle animals with really short nails, and with some of the most graceful table manners. No squabbling, snatching or pushing - they took turns, and each took a fistful of grains and let others have their turn.

Just a note about an amusing incident. There were some Feral Goats (fierce wild goats) that were behind an electric fence, and yanxian - despite my warnings - started feeding them. I walked towards the deer, and all of a sudden, she came sprinting up with a heart-stopping scream. One of the feral goats had escaped and started coming towards her for more food!

portree

The most beautiful part of this trip ... and the scariest to drive! We drove up north from Urquhart Castle towards the Kyle of Lochalsh. Along the way, at around 6pm, we passed by the famous Eilean Donan Castle and had a lovely time with photos. Then again on our way up, through the "road over the sea to Skye" - a bridge that joins mainland Scotland to the Isle of Skye. Our B&B there, Braeside, was bad for parking but our host Phillip was really friendly, hospitable and welcoming. Portree is the main town on Skye, but is SO SMALL!! We finished walking through the entire town centre in just 15 minutes. Eeeeks. Island as it may be, Skye is HUGE. It took almost an hour driving at 50 miles/hr just to reach Portree from Broadford, another small town near the Skye Bridge. Roads were small and treacherous too.

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Mountain ranges flank all the roads. This road was pretty big at first, 1 lane on each side. But the bends!! Cars were scooting round them at 70 miles/hr, while I was precariously doing 50-55mph.

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View from the town of Portree, where we spent 2 nights at.

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Sunrise from The Lump, which is a small knoll rising above Portree, where the Skye Highland Games will be played in July.

sleat

DAY 8

The southern part of Skye, Sleat (pronounced as "Slate"), where we went to the seaside village of Armadale to get to see the whales. We first got to see a nice colony of seals, tonnes of seabirds and reached the awfully beautiful island of Eigg. The seawater was really clear, and there were gigantic seaweed in there. There's this one that looks like a huge leaf, each leaf spanning 1-2 metres across and several metres long. Could also see loads of crabs and some fish scurrying along the sea floor.

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Powercraft to chase down some whales - we did see 2 eventually!

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We landed on the isle of Eigg halfway through the whale-watching, where the seawater was ooh la lah! The dark stuff is a whole clump of seaweed, and seagrass too!!

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Looking very wind-swept.

We managed to see 2 minke whales on our return trip. These whales do not breach (jump totally out of the water), but they still do flips in the water when they come up to breathe. They were too quick to take photos of, but I managed to take a video of them .. it's in one of the memory cards .. somewhere.

After landing back on Armadale Pier, we had a lovely lunch of seafood at a small hut by the sea, and went further South to find the heavy horses. Fack. The map we had was WRONG! We went too far south, and I'll never forget that horrid drive. Ended up at the southernmost point of Skye, and the sheep were all staring at our car like they've never seen cars in the last 10 years.

Took a precarious U-turn (car almost slid backwards - it simply couldn't reverse against the steep slopes), both women were scared stiff. In retrospect, it was really exciting though! On the way back, I took a sudden stop and started climbing down slopes, to the bewilderment of the 2. Managed to find a whole population of Drosera rotundifolia and Pinguicula! Back to Portree, had a nasty time when I got back (remember my sms Mr Ye?). Spent the night being very upset, and was attached by a hordge of midges while sitting out in the garden. Narration to be continued ...

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Lost on our way to ride some heavy horses, and ended up at the southern-most point of Skye. A drive that'll be the stuff of nightmares for decades to come. Precipitous drops and overhanging cliffs on the left, no space for U-turns (we were lost), single-track roads wide enough for only 1 car to pass, steep slopes that made the car groan even on first gear, blind summits and blind turns. Eeeep.

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Driver's solace on the way back to Portree - crazy CP guy scrambling down slopes.

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Score! Drosera rotundifolia and Pinguicula lusitanicum were found at this locality. Brought back a sample of Sphagnum moss to try and grow.

uig

DAY 9

Took a roundabout journey through the north of Skye to reach Uig, a small town on the western coast. The entire trip was impromptou, and we only decided to visit the Fairy Glen near Uig that very morning. The eastern route was shorter, but Phillip advised that the western roundabout route was much more picturesque. Indeed, it was sooo worth it!

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The Old Man of Storr. Whoever that old man was, he sure took an overdose of Viagra!

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Very nasty cows that hogged the road for 10 minutes!

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Lealt Falls. We almost missed this one, since it was listed on our map but as you can see, it's not visible at all from the main road! I was driving along, and the other 2 pointed out that hey, loads of cars along that side, let's stop! Gosh, it was a horridly precarious journey to this side of the cliff, just to look at a waterfall! As an index of scale, those green bushes are trees, and that's a major expressway behind.

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Kilt rock in the background, with a nice waterfall down a horrid cliff. It doesn't look all that scary on photo, but just use the fencing on the left as a gauge for size. People were all looking at Kilt Rock (so-named because the lower parts of the rock looks curiously like a pleated Scottish kilt), but the coast was really fascinating. Just off to the distance is the North Sea.

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Yes, there's no need to look. That's a REALLY nasty drop down. The wind was so savage!

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I only put this photo online because yx INSISTED that I do. I shall not explain; it's embarassing. Never again.

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Ah, final destination at Fairy Glen, a little more inland from Uig. Loads of remarkable features in this deserted area. Yes, it's very non-touristy. Then again, Skye isn't touristy in the first place. Apparently, Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert de Niro had been seen filming at the Fairy Glen not long ago, so watch out for this area in any upcoming Holywood movie. Some visitors have also taken the liberty of forming beautiful structures using rocks, to form certain shapes and formations on the grass. It's a pity it was a hot day - Fairy Glen is said to be at its most mesmerizing on a misty day. Found yet more sphagnum and Pinguicula - but no Drosera - here.

fortwilliam

From Fairy Glen, we drove back into Portree for lunch at an Oriental restaurant before heading back to the mainland. Once again, driving through mountain ranges was pure hell, but scenery was again breathtaking, with various awesome Lochs to view and get blown away by. We got past the Spean Bridge, and right past both the old and new Inverlochy Castles (the ladies were so sick of castles by now, they strictly forbidden me from going .. booohooooo!!! BTW, I originally wanted to stay at Inverlochy Castle - tariff however, totally turned me off. 400 pounds a night??).

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Loch Lochy (cool name!) on our way to Fort William, before the town of Inverlochy. (Once again, Gaelic Made Easy!)

We finally got to the Alexandra Hotel, which was right smack in the middle of Fort William, the largest town in the highlands actually. I highly recommend this hotel, if not only solely for its unbelievable breakfast! Imagine a standard, full Scottish breakfast (found in all except Euro Hostel and Aarajura) - first course of fruit juice and various cereals and milk, or hot porridge with brown sugar; second course of coffee/tea, and toast with preserves; the hot course of sausages, fried egg, grilled tomato, back bacon, sauteed mushrooms and haggis and/or black pudding. This exceptional hotel offered all of these, of course - as a BUFFET! OOOOH! Went for eggs and more eggs, and tonnes of mushrooms. All at 70 per room per night, it was such a steal! And of course, the main shopping area, High Street, was right at the doorstep. Only complaint was the hotel's own restaurant - my medium-rare Aberdeen beef came in fit for Hannibal. At least the staff were nice about it, but keep your money and go for the Grog and Gruel just minutes away. Avoid the Fish n Chips shop too. Their potatoes ain't good. The hotel's barman was also excellent, he gave me free beer samples because he ran out - I just mentioned in passing that how come I never saw this Isle of Skye Beer when I was in Skye, and he just dished whatever remainder he had out for free! He deserved the nice tip later on. =)

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Fort William's High Street.

Day 10

We started off the morning visiting the Ben Nevis Distillery, and bought a nice 20-year-old Scotch for my dad. It was in an ornate bottle, and I had 4 quid off its price from my entry ticket, so it was good! Free whisky sampling too, hah! Learnt quite a lot about the production process and appreciating whisky. For those whose fathers keep their whisky in bottles for years thinking it'll get better (mine)- tell them that whisky's at its best in the glass. It never gets any better after de-casking. The whole of Scotland is whisky, whisky and more whisky - whisky fudge, whisky honey, whisky condoms.

Went back to town for some excellent shopping along High Street, then a 10 mile drive down South to arrive at Glencoe, the site of the infamous massacre of the Glencoe MacDonalds. I was so thoroughly excited about climbing the range to find the falls, Witches' Cauldron and Hidden Valley, but ALAS! Road works. WTF, WTF, WTF!!!!!!! Appeased myself by having a nice Orkey Island ice cream (while mom was huddling in the car wearing 3 layers of clothes), and taking lovely shots of the Three Sisters range with Yx. Ooooh and also found loads of Drosera rotundifolia and Pinguicula!!! Very, very nice indeed, even though it was swampy.

To satisfy my urge to do some serious hill-walking, yx and mom agreed to have a walk in the Glencoe Lochand (small Loch - Gaelic Made Easy?). It was eerily beautiful, the pine forests, and although the ground and ditches were filled with lush carpets of sphagnum moss, no CPs were to be found!

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One of my favourite photos! Sunlight breaking through a hole in stormclouds over Glen Coe.

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Reeds at the Glencoe Lochand. Took a lovely walk through Sphagnum-filled ditches and pine forests here.

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And also found loads of these HUGE, jet-black slugs all over.

Day 11

Had to return the car by noon, so we started off early. Stopped at a couple of places along the way (we were driving faster than we expected we would), including the lonely Rannoch Moor (where I found EVEN MORE CPs) and also at a caravan where we bought lovely souvenirs.

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Rannoch Moor, a really desolate and lonely marsh area, a little off Glen Coe.

Back to Glasgow
I drove at an alarming 70mph on the way back, and ended up having 2 spare hours. Visited the Hunterian Museum (again) - mostly for the other 2 to visit, while I buy University souvenirs at the shop.
Hunterian museum

london
Right, London has been photographed ad-nauseum, so I'm just going to be quick here.

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Amazonian water lilies in Kew Gardens. Loads of axolotyls in the water! Bought packets of seeds and smuggled back a pot of Utricularia sandersonii. =D

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Very strange, purple-coloured cones in Kew Gardens.

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Ah! The movie premiere of "The Break-up". Jennifer Aniston was such a snob! She didn't even make a full round, unlike her co-star who looked so cool.

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Night shot of Piccadilly Circus, after watching Phantom at Her Majesty's.

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Big Ben

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Westminster Abbey. Almost perfect as postcard material? Haha.

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Mom, come back!!

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Our search for ballroom shoes brought us to The Factory, a dance studio specialising in Argentine Tango. The community in this area (near Finsbury Park tube) is quite dominated by blacks, but made for very, very, very cheap and good shopping in London (dresses for 5 pounds?!?). Took a pic of the studio owner's car - now, what did I expect eh.

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"Get out of here, you silly woman!!" (a la Jack McFarland). Just outside Buckingham Palace, while waiting for the Changing of Guards.

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Monday, June 19, 2006

Back Home!

Still trying to sort through some 4 gigs of photos taken over the last 5 weeks, but here are just a couple taken in Scotland that I've managed to sift through tonight. Body's still running on GMT, so I'm quite up and about right now. Had a really fun time with Brownie, he's now mortally paranoid that I'll run off again. =
Going to try getting to bed soon, more photos coming up.

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Ben Nevis


HPIM0744, originally uploaded by Hongyee.

Britain's tallest mountain as seen at the village of Corpach, just a little off Fort William. I was standing off the last lock of Neptune's Staircase while taking this picture, which is a series of several mini dams along the Caledonian Canal that connect from Inverness all the way to Fort William. A bit of the saltwater Loch Linnhe is in the pic, and on the far right (beware strained eyes!) is the town of Fort William, nestled right at the foot of some mountains. Beautifully misty morning with dramatic rolling clouds to take pics of Ben Nevis!

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ilean donan castle


Eilean donan, originally uploaded by Hongyee.

Eilean Donan Castle sitting on Loch Long, another saltwater loch. The little bits of gross-looking stuff on the water are seaweed. In the far, far, far background are some of the mountain ranges on the Isle of Skye, where we were heading towards that evening. It's a really lovely castle sitting on it's own island, with a bridge connecting to it - wish we had time to go into it! At this point in time, however, all 3 of us really had had enough of castles in scotland. We even skipped Windsor in London! Hah.

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Saturday, June 03, 2006

You Are Cyclops

Dedicated and responsible, you will always remain loyal to your cause.
You are a commanding leader - after all, you can kill someone just by looking at them.

Power: force beams from your eyes


Right, thanks to Dopey's links ... she must be really bored to come up with all this stuff. Hah .. I like Cyclops the best in the movie anyway, but the quiz is still rather lame.

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Thursday, May 11, 2006

A new start

My new blog for the Scotland trip

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Sunday, May 07, 2006

The results!

It was most satisfactory, if I may say so! (Has the "persistently political blogging" ban been lifted yet?)

Now don't get me wrong here. I'm sure the more discerning would have seen past the mere wins and losses - just look at the popularity trends and at the brags of astounding wins (and failing miserably in fulfilling them). What a kick in the head. And the last 9 days most certainly brought to surface (once again, to the more discerning at least) the kind of politics practised here.

Seems like the young ("radical english-educated young" - first thing; never insult your prospective voters) are finally becoming more saavy about these issues. I say generally. Unfortunately most of Gen X and some of Gen Y, still rank no higher than level 2 on Lawrence's Kohlberg's stages of moral development. Stage 1: because I'll get penalised if they ever find out, because if it's the other side I'll not get better upgrades. Stage 2: because I'll get certain perks if I go for this side. Alas for these people, what good was there in reading GP then? People need to understand their rights, and cultivate integrity (yes, there's a difference between moral integrity and mere honesty, I do not mean them to be synonymous.) Moneys and assets that may form part of the "perks" do not belong to that certain group of individuals; rather, these Chosen Ones act in our good faith to allocate it to good use. Looking at some odd (white elephant-like) structures found in certain places for example, I have doubts about this. I see the recent handouts as a fractional "rebate" from whatever contributions we have made in the last x number of years, in whatever form. Mere peanuts, if you like. (Pun fully intended)

I'd like to see some challenging wards next round, and not the remotely-entertaining oddities like Serangoon Gardens somehow turning into Marine Parade GRC.

Kudos to you all (well, not ALL. And definitely not a certain idiot who was flapping his arms like a chimpanzee), in particular AMK's WP kamikaze team. You fought valiantly, and took a good proportion off the other side along with you to boot!

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Saturday, May 06, 2006

Where's everything?!

Frantic packing, hah. Although I do have a few more days left, but I *know* I'm going to start rushing at the end. Forget this, forget that. Forget plane ticket, forget passport, forget socks. That kind of thing. And loads of domestic affairs to settle too (pets and plants).

Now, about the bowling. It's been like .. 6 years at least since I last tried? So, I told M. that I'm no good at all at this stuff. Shock #1 - he remembers my name. The last and only time we talked much was during the O&G posting, otherwise it's just a greeting when we run into each other at Coffee Grounds. (Shame that non-med students don't get the pun of this coffee place's name.) Talk about being creepy. I forget people's names within 2 days. And somehow, the balls actually end up hitting the pins. Most of the pins. And M. just couldn't resist teasing about the Cheat Who Claimed He Can't Bowl through the entire evening. Bleargh. He's a smart guy, but not very fun to be with. Poor yx. Imagine getting stuck with him for another 4 years.

Half-thinking of going shopping for more clothes. I'm definitely short on shorts, so unless I wear boxers ONLY and have them as shorts, I'm going to have to go starkers over there. New socks are needed too.

Mr. Ye, I want those widgets! Are they Mac-only?!? The Apple site is killing me. MacBook Pro 17" 2.16GHz ... $4988!! I need to pimp myself out to buy this baby. Too many wants, too little money (actually, NO money). And there's that MP3 player I've been drooling over, and that PDA phone. I'm drowing in drool.

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Oh, the horror!

Just spent 5 very alarming hours together with yx's prof, M. Which included 2 hours of bowling and 3 hours at dinner, with plenty of small talk regarding the evils of LASIK and the inadequacies of medical education here (M's an MBBS as well). But more on the frightful bowling later. So, horror #1.

Managed to find campus accommodation today, called the hall up. Wolfson hall, fully-catered. 23 pounds per night (!!!) BUT it includes breakfast, dinner, free laundry, and (best of all) the rooms are cleaned out by the staff. Works out to be near 600 pounds for my whole stay there. Own room (not flat), shared toilet, no cooking utilities. And anyway, as yx pointed out, it's downright silly to bring/buy cooking things like sauces and whatnot for only 3 weeks. Sounds alright? Only thing is the location. It is SO ULU. Had trouble finding the bus services that go from the hall to gartnavel hospital, and although they claim a 40 minute walk to the U itself (Gartnavel's closer to hall than U is), I don't see how anyone can walk 3 miles in 40 minutes. Our 2.4km was like ... 15 minutes on average, 11 if you're good? I'm pretty sure they said 40 minutes' WALK.

SO. I checked Google Earth, EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Words fail to describe my horror.

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Thursday, May 04, 2006

Angeli nel blu

Sleep dysfunction again. Complete with what feels like a C3-4 cervical radiculopathy and L4-5 PID - PERFECT.

Anyway, pics of the little bubble tips!


First pic, I really can't count how many anemones there are now. The brown waving tentacles near the middle are the torch corals (Euphillia ancora) and a large blue-tipped sand anemone sitting on the sand, on the left. The white fish with black polka-dots is the panther grouper - it's so difficult to get decent pics of him. Bicolor blenny just to the right of clownfish, and flame angel to his left.


"What the hell are you looking at?!?"


Now, some pics of the plants I've been working on. I think the non-biodiversity people are getting quite confused by now, about my endless rambling. So, a pic speaks a thousand words.

Albany pitcher plant (Cephalotus follicularis)


Something exciting that was happening through the weekend - flowering of Drosera falconeri. =) It's the weather.




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Wednesday, May 03, 2006

The divorce of love and lust

Ignore the title, it's just something that popped into my mind. Watched The Family Stone in VCD yesterday, it was a bad disappointment. The problems with the show:

Too many good ideas, but lacking a central theme;
Too many (potentially) interesting characters, but lacking development;
Abrupt, patched-together kind of ending; and
(worst of all) a very bad soundtrack selection.

Anyway, spoilt for choice regarding car rentals. Had been looking out for deals for a suitable car, that can carry 3 adults, 1 large luggage, 2 medium-sized ones and 3 small ones (Over-estimate, I know. Doesn't hurt to have it more roomy.) Then I started getting fancy ideas about cruise control and sunroofs. Hah. Way out of budget.

Stupid accommodation woman at the U. still hasn't gotten back to me, and I'm fearing the worst. Fack.

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Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Gross reports

Hmm .. my writeup is turning out to be frightfully long. Somehow, I don't think that's what the prof had in mind. But how would I know? It's so vague.

Took pics of the tank, shall post them when I have the time. Now to type one last email, just to get it off my back.

And choices - B&B with shared bathroom, but excellent breakfast. B&B with amazing en-suite room, but average breakfast. Same price. Which would you take?

***

OK, finally steeled myself up, and cancelled the B&B in Inverness. I rarely feel so bad about things like these, and was so pretty darned sure that the B&B would have been one of the best parts of Inverness. Sigh.

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At 8:24 AM, Blogger Monty Elm said...

Speaking of Inverness, wj and yk were just in inverness in March. they mentioned that a number of tours were not running at that time. so you might want to double check on those things. Then again, you're driving.. so perhaps no such technical probs.
I would pick the breakfast over the bathrooms! English breakfasts are scrumptiously sinful.

 

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Monday, May 01, 2006

Paging for weekend

Enough about the weekend that mysteriously fleeted past. Still have the final touches of elective project to finish up by today, return the silly VCD, skate in the morning, and perhaps making a trip to somewhere, that I had been procrastinating for 2 weeks but really need to get done. On seconds thoughts, I think I'll go next weekend instead. Please forgive me.

Rapidly going out of shape (not much to start with anyway), ever since stopping of the twice-weekly Lindy and weekly Samba. Salsa's fine, it qualifies as light-medium activity, but it just doesn't cut it for a serious workout. We need titanium calves for Samba and Celine Dion's lungs for Lindy. So. Going skating as one last desperate bid for those much-needed endorphins.

Talking absolute rot early in the morning! Too much to do, too little time - that's why. Feeling slightly freaked out by what's coming up; as always, I'm not sure what I want to achieve there. YES. HOLIDAY.

Ha. That's so shallow. Nevermind.

OH I WANTED TO BITCH ABOUT THE YEAR 2s. THEY ARE A FUCKING SHITASS BUNCH. I have *never* seen such frightfully-ugly XXs before, and those that come with just the slightest touch of looks behave so bimbotically, I can't wait to smash my bottle of Bombay Sapphire over their heads. Apparently, some of them approached one of our colleagues and asked if they can do a knee examination on him. (What's the fucking logic in that huh?) I would have said yes of course. In exchange for a per-rectal examination on them. Yep. The very-remotely-girl-looking-things deserve to be gang-raped, and the irritating-and-wimpy-guys deserve to get a bilateral orchidectomy done, STAT.

I'm dearly praying that these only represent the situation where I am posted to. It'd be a sad day for our healthcare system if all of them are such a bunch of idiots.

1 Comments:

At 8:26 AM, Blogger Monty Elm said...

Hmm, you are doing great publicity. How could they irritate you that much in such a short time? I'm amazed by their abilities. They must be caterpillar spirits (aka mao chong jing).
Then again, that's clutching on to the faint hope that they'll become moths one day.

 

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Paging for weekend

Enough about the weekend that mysteriously fleeted past. Still have the final touches of elective project to finish up by today, return the silly VCD, skate in the morning, and perhaps making a trip to somewhere, that I had been procrastinating for 2 weeks but really need to get done. On seconds thoughts, I think I'll go next weekend instead. Please forgive me.

Rapidly going out of shape (not much to start with anyway), ever since stopping of the twice-weekly Lindy and weekly Samba. Salsa's fine, it qualifies as light-medium activity, but it just doesn't cut it for a serious workout. We need titanium calves for Samba and Celine Dion's lungs for Lindy. So. Going skating as one last desperate bid for those much-needed endorphins.

Talking absolute rot early in the morning! Too much to do, too little time - that's why. Feeling slightly freaked out by what's coming up; as always, I'm not sure what I want to achieve there. YES. HOLIDAY.

Ha. That's so shallow. Nevermind.

OH I WANTED TO BITCH ABOUT THE YEAR 2s. THEY ARE A FUCKING SHITASS BUNCH. I have *never* seen such frightfully-ugly XXs before, and those that come with just the slightest touch of looks behave so bimbotically, I can't wait to smash my bottle of Bombay Sapphire over their heads. Apparently, some of them approached one of our colleagues and asked if they can do a knee examination on him. (What's the fucking logic in that huh?) I would have said yes of course. In exchange for a per-rectal examination on them. Yep. The very-remotely-girl-looking-things deserve to be gang-raped, and the irritating-and-wimpy-guys deserve to get a bilateral orchidectomy done, STAT.

I'm dearly praying that these only represent the situation where I am posted to. It'd be a sad day for our healthcare system if all of them are such a bunch of idiots.

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Saturday, April 29, 2006

Arch of the Heavens

Song keeps ringing in my head. Shame, I lost the original registration disk for this piece; setting my own voices for it was good, but nonetheless I still miss the tastefully-placed cymbals and fade effects that the original author used. Better yet, the book is out of print.

Woke early cause of a timing clash. Supposed to meet someone at 10.30am, yet forgot about going to TTSH for a flu jab as well today. So I'm going to arrive at opening hours, and hope to get it done asap. Settled all accommodation venues except Edinburgh and Stirling. Spoilt for choice in those areas. Now to email the whale people to book a trip. I NEED TO SEE THOSE MAMMALS. Thankfully, no one keeps whales in captivity - yet. These things are best appreciated in the wild.

I'm now extremely confused over the precise number of anemones I have in the tank. Took a good look yesterday, and the clownfish was actually having hell of a time with all 5 (or 6) rose anemones in the tank. Perhaps it's time to actually sell those cnidarians to raise funds for the trip? Ooooh. Saw a glipse of the sand dollar again yesterday, and astounded that it's alive!! The tank substrate must be full of fauna to be able to support this creature's dietary habits. =)

Had a rather nasty day yesterday - not in hospital, it was a nice, relaxed day. Just getting a bit insane inside. Just a little bit.

OH AND I MUST BITCH ABOUT THE YEAR 2S ONE DAY. They should first be "burned alive, then beaten to death, and kept on water and bread for a month", to quote "The Horse and His Boy". Reminds me of the old English punishment of "Hanged, Drawn and Quartered" - go read about it, it's fascinating how cruel these people were. Got drawn into this during my search in Scottish history and the Jacobite rising.

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Friday, April 28, 2006

Buzzing in the head

Right. Bed at 2? Been busy together with yx finalising the trip's details, and even then it's not done. Got my place at castle, shall have to be so mean and tell B&B I'm not going (going to spin a tall tale of some sort, don't want them to feel hurt that I'm staying somewhere else. If I had 2 days to spare I would DEFINITELY stay there, lovely folks.)

Now feeling slightly frightened about having to navigate the roads there.

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Thursday, April 27, 2006

Discombobulation

Oh cripes, made a really horrid mistake! Just realised that Tulloch Castle is in Inverness, not Stirling - OMG, how could I have been so idiotic? What's more, I've already arranged with a B&B in Inverness yesterday, and the lady was SO friendly and welcoming. No deposit needed since they can't take credit, and said they'll be happy to reserve the room on my word. Any cancellation/changes, just let them know.

I am so NOT about to break faith with these lovely folks, even though I'm really itching to stay in Tulloch. SO. Did a search again for Stirling, and found the original castle, Airth castle. Hmmm. What can I say. Poor reviews on this one, compared to Tulloch.

Now at a total loss of what to do. I could shuffle the schedule around a bit to stay for 2 days in Inverness I guess, 1 at Tulloch and another at the B&B, but it's going to be so much work - have to either cut short Edinburgh or Skye, or skip Stirling entirely and shift everything forward. OR, I could just skip the castles. But Tulloch is so haunted it'd be a shame to miss it. =( OR, I could be mean and tell the B&B I've changed my mind. But that's so mean.

HOW?!?!?!

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Wednesday, April 26, 2006

The Glasses, Part III

Got my glasses today! Hmmm. Oh fack it, it just didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but at least it isn't hideous. Looks pretty cool actually, once I get over the shock of wearing something slightly younger. The bloody lenses were THICK though, really THICK.

Got irritated by people once more, but that's their problem. HA. I'm hoping to get some lovely plants during the trip anyway.

Thoughts are oddly disjointed, but trust me, it's much less disturbing than the runaway daydreams I've been getting. One of them involved the Prof telling me I'm way too stupid and punching me in the face.

Going to be horrid tomorrow, I can just feel it in my bones. Shall spend the whole night moaning, I think.

Endorphins ... yes, I think I shall try that. Weather-permitting, of course. Alas, more unforeseen expenditure coming my way - time for new wheels on the skates.

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Memories

Somehow I was lying in bed this evening, when all of a sudden I recalled a certain day, some 8 years ago. The first ever major loss in my life, and one which after all these years, I still know I haven't done enough to prevent. And it rapidly got bad. I kept that episode in my only surviving diary, and read it. Don't ever read diaries - not even your own.

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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Coffee in the night

Just a little treat made by yx, been feeling generally moody these few days. Dreading going to school and having to take the place of the silly HO during the ward rounds. It's just murder, every single day. Some are just worse than others.

Doesn't help that our peace will now be disrupted by an addition to our duo, i.e. less flexibility and more accountability. To top it all off, the year 2s are making their entrance to this brand new world come tomorrow. I'd just love to see the shock register.

Oh - no, wait. THOSE were the honeymoon years, still. It's alright to forget the vocal fremitus, just because you're fresh. And just look generally stupid when asked a question, and admit that you've never been taught - yet. And of course, it started out feeling fun, flouncing around with instruments that you still don't know how to use properly. Hahaha. They'll soon discover. Soon.

Just random thoughts. Prof frightened the crap out of me by reminding us of the student internship next year. Uh oh. I'll be on my own. Can just imagine myself mixing up the wrong casefiles for the wrong patients, looking all flustered at being asked questions, and tugging frantically at needles that just REFUSE to hit the correct vein. Shit, shit, shit!

And the Glasgow thing's looming overhead. To be REALLY honest, I have NO IDEA WTF I'm going to do there, or what I actually intended to achieve. Perhaps it just stemmed from knowing that so many students actually use the electives as an extra learn-all-you-can posting, and not an "explore and indulge in your interests" period. I just don't know. Only wanted to get a glimpse of how the healthcare system works elsewhere, that's easily achievable. Wanted the perfect excuse to travel, that's done. But what about the practical aspects of it? Heck. I suppose if asked to perform an indirect fundoscopt during the MBBS, I should be able to do it with relative ease.

Actually had depressive thoughts today. Very depressive. Full marks on the DSM-IV criteria.

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Monday, April 24, 2006

Almost there, and some things had to go

Firstly, I'm probably out of the running for writing the essay this week. It's just so hopeless. So hopeless. I simply can't finish it up, and the weekend just flashed past in a second.

Brownie had an awful time last evening and today, with quite a severe diarrhoea. No idea what may have caused it; might have been the nasty sprays I used in the garden (more on that later), or bad chicken livers, or the carrots that he ate. Woke me up in the morning by garbling at me (he's learnt to talk actually, making these grumbling noises which can either mean "mum mum" or "go out") - extremely loudly, and rushed down to the garden to avoid messing my room up. He gets all upset when he has diarrhoea, and looks miserable every time he messes himself up. In an effort to cheer the poor boy up, I cooked a nice chicken soup for him with slices of chicken breast and just a touch of salt. Yes, doggies that become ill get to eat chicken broth.

About the garden, I was absolutely paranoid about caterpillars (Mr. Ye, YOU and your caterpillar picture!!), so I liberally applied Malathion in the garden, eventually killing half of my parents' balsam plants. Yes, after I got a telling off for that, I finally found the REAL culprits - fricking slugs! Slug bait's out in full force.

Added the finishing touches to the itinerary today, and now I realise that accommodation at Skye is a major problem. The island is huge - whales and ponies are down south, while town and touristy stuff are central/north, lovely mountains are due west and the Fairy Glen is in the far north. This is absolutely awful. Spent the evening looking for B&Bs that are below 25 pounds, but the problem is that Skye has few premises that offer triple or family rooms.

Feeling a little worried right now.

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Friday, April 21, 2006

Oh no no no .. I look like a complete prat right now. Huge eyebags, periorbital oedema and partial ptosis. This comes from trying to read Kumar & Clarke last night and waking early today to finish it up, and there're 2 essays to complete too. I am so f*cked. Praying that today will be a little nicer than yesterday. 2 cases to present.

Castle, or no castle - that is the question. No castle = £60 for 3 people, castle = £160 for 3 people. HMMM. It'd be cool to stay in the castle though, but mom wasn't too keen after I frightened her with stories about floating green ladies and headless men lurking around. Meeting with an old JC classmate too, but alas. Someone else will be there as well, the bimbo queen. Also, changed the itinerary rather drastically in view of the fact that the classmate will be leaving for S'p on the 9th. So now it's:

3/06-5/06: Glasgow
5/06-6/06: Loch Lomond and Stirling
6/06-8/06: Edinburgh
8/06-9/06: Perthshire (just passing by for lunch) and Inverness
9/06-11/06: Isle of Skye, Eilean Donan castle along the way
11/06-13/06: Fort William
13/06: Glasgow, London

A little ambitious perhaps? Haha. Stirling was originally planned to be a commerical day trip to and fro Glasgow, but the Scots said that the trip wouldn't have done the place any justice. Going to be tricky driving in Edinburgh though. I just don't figure that Loch Ness is worth staying for more than 1 day, so Inverness was cut short, highland capital as it may be. Managed to fit in a trip to Skye too, for the whales and the ponies. Frickin' weather had better be good, I'll do a nut if I don't get to swim with a whale.

Think the stress is somehow building up, been getting strange dreams again. In fact, been getting dreams, since all dreams are strange anyway. I don't dream. Not usually.

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Having one of those irritable moods today. Sudden dispair, and thinking about places. Where patients do as they are told, where there are no phoney made-up political titles, where people are not told that they owe a debt to the country (I pay my goddamn fucking taxes and tuition, thank you very much! And people with XX chromosomes don't, just because they produce children? What, have we turned into a child-producing factory? Hoorah for genetic engineering then! ). Where there are no ignorant non-medically trained top people trying to teach doctors what to do when prescribing drugs, where doctors are not trained to be a frickin' hospitality representative, where (as our dear Prof puts it) medicine is still a profession, not a haggling-market where GPs - instead of pharmacists - are forced to dispense medicines instead, just because no one feels that consultation is worth that much. (If you're so darned smart, go start from Snell, Guyton, Marks & Smith, Rang & Dale, Robbins, Harrison's, Kumar & Clarke, Bailey & Love etc and go get your own darned diagnosis. Oh, and while you're still at it, why not see the beloved chinese witch-doctor to treat that lovely fungating lung carcinoma too? Then sure, come back and tell us that the doctors' presciptions caused this. ) And I don't even want to get started on the polyclinic system.

****************

On a lighter note, something hilarious happened today. There was this decrepit-looking patient, non-ambulant and uncommunicative, sitting on a chair between his bed and the next. We proceeded to the next bed, drew the curtains and continued the rounds. At the end of it, one of the docs drew back the curtains and they continued discussing the case. Took me a moment to realise that, hey, how come the curtains are in the shape of the a sitting person? Apparently the curtains ended up draped right over the poor patient sitting up in the chair, and being uncommunicative as he was, he simply sat there in silence while getting smothered.

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Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Hee, just had a set of T5s delivered as a present for myself! OK, actually I want it, but making it a present takes off some of the squeeze. These are 6500K lamps, and will be tentatively installed in my room as a plant-shipment holder. I get my plants sent back, someone unpacks at home and puts under the lights, with a soil-less medium that I experimented with a few months ago. I'll pot them up and acclimatise to full sunlight when I get back home. After that, the lights will be decomissioned from the room, and be used as LOVELY refugium lights! =) Yay yay yay, more seaweed in the tank!

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I need psychiatric referral.

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At 12:34 AM, Blogger Francesca said...

me me me, come see me! heheheh

 

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Gasp!! An affordable sulphur denitrator at last!! OMG. Reef Depot is selling units of Deltec's NF-509 denitrators, and it really is going at half the price I expected! Gasp!! Oh dear. Oh dear. I need the $. Totally dared not measure the NO3 levels in the tank, the water's been running entirely off no changes, no additives and minimal skimming for the last 2 months during the exams. Definitely need this piece of equipment to make my job easier.

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Why you should never throw away a dead coral - remember the dear piece of Dendrophyllia which won me the photo competition? And how it got stung to death by the neighbouring rose bubble tip anemone? I left the skeleton in an area behind the rocks, and it actually regenerated! Now there are some 7 babies growing out from the skeleton. Gave they were surviving really well without me noticing, and without supplementary food, so I suppose there's now an equilibrium between planktonic life and predation in the tank. In any case, I gave the polyps a hearty feeding of Cyclop-eeze last night.

Going for a rather major revamp of the tank when I get back from the UK. Oh dear .. $$ issues. Hmmm. Totally missed out on a caribbean shipment a few weeks ago. Exams. This is SO LOUSY. Yes, a trip of coralfarm is in order. Somehow, the 250W Radiums aren't doing a fantastic job. The corals are colouring up without growing because of the light spectrum.

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Monday, April 17, 2006

The Glasses

As continued from the grousing about my broken glasses ...

Yx managed to get my ass down to get a new pair made, and it was such a totally caustic experience. I went to a different branch, since my favourite optician wasn't working at the usual one anymore and this particular branch made a most marvellous impression the last time (involving a very sloppy person running out of contact lenses before the exams and the shop running out them too and an extraordinary manager who saved the day by presenting me with a free pair while I waited for stocks to arrive).

It was a total fiasco.

Maybe I'm just used to my optician having an impeccable taste and whipping out the most delicious frames for me all the time, but the young man at the counter was such a total nincompoop! The brand wasn't an issue, Tauruses always stick to what worked before. I was looking for a particular style of frame (stroke of inspiration from the cute guy in "In Her Shoes") and told him just that. He rummaged around the area and fished out some 20 pairs before I found something even halfway-decent.

First pair - THICK black-rimmed frame. I don't need to draw even more attention to my eyebags, thanks.
Second pair - LURID bright, poisonous blue frame. Yeah, if you want hospital mortality rates to go up from cardiac arrest.
Third pair - SQUARE frames. SQUARE. SQUARE I aged 50 years in an instant.

You get the idea. I whipped round to face yx and whispered rather loudly, "OMFG, he has ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WTF he's doing!!!" So anyway, I finally found what I *think* I wanted. Not the exact type, but close enough. And it's got this young, sophisticated and "smart but not nerdy" (according to yx) look to it.

SO. I asked him how much it'd be to make a pair of glasses, using these frames. He went ON AND ON AND ON about a 30% discount on these frames. Dude. I need lenses to go with the frames? Young man whips out a chart with a flourish and went ON AND ON AND ON about lens thickness. After a long ramble, he finally told me that Hey, we've got a promotion actually for a lens + frames set. DUH. Buzzing filling my head head, disbelief that anyone could be so daft, and definitely grouchy from being almost blind without glasses (a watch shop looks to me, without glasses, like a puddle of sparkling water at 2 metres away. Imagine that.) To finish up this mockery of a day, I just had to see another shop selling lovely Tag frames. Out of budget though.

Just out of curiousity, why isn't it assumed that if I want to buy a frame, I need lenses to go with them?

Collecting them next Sun, it's either going to be good, or a total disaster. You know how thick lenses can totally ruin a look. Just like how I can't wear rimless glasses. Fuck. In any case, no one's going to see me in them, except for utter vanity on occassion.

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