the gravity of the current situation was driven home yesterday, when it was announced that in the event of an emergency, we medical students would be dispatched to the various hospitals to aid in the crisis. of course you can't expect clueless first and second years to set up IVs, so they have the honourable task of doing admin work (sounds like an ordinary job to me). the senior years with their basic clinical skills will be on the frontline in the wards. oh yes, and emergency here means a bird flu outbreak or a terrorist attack. so, if anything happens this year, you'll find me cradling several telephones in some back office of a hospital.


on a lighter note, the class committee has taken the initiative of celebrating everyone's birthdays. last year's efforts came to naught, but i guess after one year we're all more comfortable with each other as a class, that's why it's only working this time round. and i kinda like the idea, other than the part where you've to go up and say something funny.


after people-watching these few weeks, h and i have come to a conclusion that there're more people dressing up. or maybe they're taking the advice of a recent newspaper article to be more fashionable. anyhow, it's vaguely interesting to see what people wear, and wonder at the same time wonder about their motivation for dressing up. is it "for fun", or is there more than meets the eye?

dnd was a smash. it was a zillion times better than last year's in a million different ways. i had fun, the food was reasonable and everyone enjoyed themselves last night. the idea for us to come in our own themes was sheer brilliance. there were so many wacky cosutmes all around the hotel that night and it was funny to see chewbacca and wilma in all their glory. my table came as cocktail drinks so we all looked quite prim and proper. dr vivan balakrishnan seemd quite interested in our sashes though. by the way, both he and his wife are a fine-looking pair, and their bodyguards look good too. -grin-


there was this medicine idol component too, which janise won! her choice of song was superb and suited her voice, which, together with her stage presence, probably was the reason why she won (other than the fact she was at our table lah). but i like the other performances too, one which feature a self-made mtv of a jay chou song starring ruxin and wee soon (complete with lyrics and tinted film effect) and amanda and howen's gershwin tribute.


the party started after they announced the results of the idol contest, at nearly midnight after the dean and his wife had left. too bad i had to leave early, so the crazy weekend that started with the dean's party ended very soon. med fac has some very good clubbers, and it was hilarious to watch sharier and zt dance as well.


don't think i write very well these days. i've got all these thoughts and events i want to record in my blog, but when faced with the computer screen my brain freezes. perhaps i should go back to my patho for now, and sleep early tonight, because the admin plans to slaughter us tomorrow with a ten hour day with only an hour's break in between.

a blessing in disguise, that's how i would have described last night at the dean's party. serene, nimi and i were horribly late because of the dearth of cabs along south buona vista road. two cabs we flagged down refused to take us so we had to call a cab. denise later joined us, and it was another ten minutes before our cab came.


and so it was that we were late, and the props/stage crew table was already full, that we had to settle down at a smaller table. flora and her friend came over, as well as a fifth year ticketing guy. then guess what, dean john wong came over to join us, and proceeded to regale us with stories from his undergraduate and medical officer days. there were tons of funny stories, like how someone was trying to auscultate a patient without putting the ear pieces into his ears, and how they tried to tell a patient that she had a fungal infection.


to say the least, the party was a success. prof wong's house is really suited for such occasions, cuz the living room opens out into the garden, which was where the food and tables were. on top of this he's got a fine house, of which he gamely gave a tour of. most of the OT people were there so we could catch up, and for the pulse team, it was double the success because we managed to get two interesting men to agree to be interviewed. so look out for the next issue of pULSE, cuz we've got goodies coming your way.

i admire some people's tenacity and inner strength. to talk through pain and loss, to be happy when you're sad while everyone bemoans their relatively happier fate. i just feel bad because stats, or rather maths, has almost never been my strong point (i lost any relevant aptitude after psle) so i've been frustrated or bored during her lectures. but it's amazing how she erases all memory of any sadness by just being happy.


now if only i could be like that.

i think my feet are edema-rised from all that walking today. met the "table gang" at orchard today to shop for dnd. (by the way those of you out there who're not going, go! just grab a couple of friends and have a smashing time! there's zouk after that too. teehee.) everyone got something i think, except me, cuz the feather boa from spotlight was too bloody (sorry mary) expensive. damn. my dress is waaay too plain, even if i get that uber cool bag from forever twenty one. -sigh- such a headache.


what a week. would really like to elaborate on it but i've only just finished my bath and i just remembered that we're expected to read up for tomorrow's patho lecture. horrors!!

i'm dead beat. came home late on monday after dinner with friends, yesterday we had the dean's talk in the evening and i end at six tomorrow after a three hour session in the lab. what a week. everyone around me has some form of 'flu so i think i'm going to come down with a sore throat soon. oh well. i think i should sleep now, but something i found out today upset me quite a bit. let's just say when someone jumps into things without thinking and chewing it over carefully, and especially something that's really expensive, for a reason that isn't quite justified, doesn't impress me the least.

i've added more stuff on my europe site. didn't know people were relying on it for info. heh. hope it is of use.

fairly good week. had our first series of lectures in patho and cofm, and i must say patho has gotten off to a better start than cofm. the latter is just dengue, dengue and more dengue, only with stats to go along with it. oh the horror, the horror of stats. i still remember myself two years ago trying to figure out the intricacies of stats. blimey. we got a good tutor for patho today, which heightened my enjoyment. it's so far been quite fun to look at a specimen and guess if it's necrotic or hypertrophied or something else. so far.


another busy weekend which will lead to an even busier week. frs, long days, etc. playhouse is just before CAs, but i feel compelled to be involved because one, jo's running it this year, and two, i should do something else other than mug isn't it.


anyhow, i just located an interesting recipe online, and i'm going to experiment on sunday. here's to cooking!

had our first proper lecture yesterday with an introduction to immunology. he delved right into the subject and kinda left us gasping for air a little. oh well, immuno seems interesting for now, can't say i'll think the same way when CAs roll around.


originally wanted to catch ccf at orchard cine with golli and fishie, but by the time we got there, the tickets were sold out. we forgot that it was a half school day, which meant school gates all over the island were opened and kids in all sorts of uniforms would pour into orchard. trying to look for a place to eat was difficult because every eatery was chock full of schoolkids. we decided to try taka but to no avail, so we had to rely on our "contingency plan" - nydc at wheelock. finally, we had good food and conversation, and with kenk and gg too. what a harrowing experience.


i finally had the chance to walk through orchard road at leisure, and i mean real slow, not caring about the time and what i was doing. talked with everyone about a whole lot of things - people, seniors, young kids nowadays, rcs. one thing we all agreed about kids nowadays (note that i've taken the liberty to call them "kids" since i'm already out of my teenage years, muaha) is that they're so different from how we were then, and yet we are lumped together with them as the "generation y". they owned their first cell phone in primary/secondary school, grew up with irc, icq and msn chats, and have no idea who princess diana is. i had my first mobile in jc one, started using the internet in sec one, learnt about chatting one year later, and my earliest memory of a big news event was the gulf war. most important difference, they have more money to spend than i did.


the weather's killing me. maybe i should swim later.

first day of my second year, and i strolled into the lt with a disastrous haircut but with a surprisingly light heart. nice people said my hair looked nice ("i didn't know tha-at") while others told me that mr black was damn good ("yes! yes! i know that!"). it felt just a bit weird to see everyone again, not sure why, but we've gotten the better lt, because it's larger and the seats are blue instead of pink, so it's got a homely feel. also found out stuff about certain people today, rather interesting. oh well. year two, here i come!

suffering from OT withdrawal symptoms. i'm just waiting patiently for the video to be out so i can watch the play properly, and not the side or back view! so many emails are going back and forth on the groups, thanking everyone for all their hard work. yeah, it's been a great experience. yie hui, aili, shirlyn, benny the defactor, sui ann, ming yuan the macs guy, terry, yong chin, serene, nimeshi, see ming, darryl, andrew, shing hui and sharon my mrt kaki. my patient, victor, who had to bear with my inability to handle masking tape and who managed to expose the needle from my tubing! ivan, who yakked to me about ballet versus tap dance and big *ahem* and who kindly tapped the wobbly cafe table on the last night instead of thumping it like the previous nights, and who surprised me by asking about his hair and later appearing on stage (during a rehearsal) with two ponytails! zhentang who conducted like mad on stage left and, could be found playing the moonlight sonata and fantasy impromptu in pitch darkness on stage right, also the one who let me have a chance to be part of this big show. the cast and chorus and costume people who all grooved to the beat behind the curtains, especially in med school of the future(will be so much more), and offered us chocs and pringles on the last day. gosh, so many people! and the music, which also explains why i was so high the whole week. so if you're down, just go on a one week course of OT, and you'll be on your way to the stars.

the music's still swirling in my head. i had such a hard time falling asleep last night because i couldn't stop the music from doing loops. OT, as everyone's been saying on their blogs, has been one hell of an experience. i won't regret the late night rehearsals and having to run like mad for the last train home. there's this certain magic about this production, maybe it's because it's a once in a hundred years thing, or maybe it's the fantastic medical people who are involved that made me look forward to rehearsals every single time (something which has never happened before). i got to know people from the other years, done things i never thought i'd do, and seen certain *ahem* r21 stuff. -chuckle-


our first performance was the scariest. the jubilee hall curtain jammed on us one minute before the doors opened, the ticket sale was the worst out of the five shows(not even half filled), the actors stumbled a little here and there, and i stepped out onto the stage when i wasn't supposed to. how nice. saturday's matinee was a lot better, with a much larger crowd and everything went smoothly, although the audience laughed at the wrong parts. saturday evening, i rushed down from greg's party to jubilee for the gala night. luckily they started late, so i didn't miss much. health minister khaw boon wan was there, as was dean john wong as well as tons of profs. parts of the script were changed to accomodate the more distinguished crowd, which didn't quite get the jokes. sunday was our last day, so everyone went crazy. the props people came out for the curtain call holding kiddy shakers which made weird sounds, and the cast seemed more relaxed and happy. after our last show, zhentang the stage manager aka the mad conductor led us in a rousing cheer.


you will never guess what happens backstage. during the series of scenes which we weren't needed, the guys would run out to macs to buy drinks and fries. when cool music came on, we'd be grooving to the beat and singing along. after pushing out the screens, mingyuan, terry and i would hide behind to dance and sing. the scene changes were the tricky parts because it was pitch dark, and it's amazing the number of head on collisions we had. during one performance one screen very nearly toppled. such is the life of the backstage crew.


the best part of being in the wings was being able to watch the show a zillion times and picking apart the characters in your head. even then, i still haven't figured out the significance of act 2 scene 8, aka the haunted ward 72 scene. we also got to watch ivan do his...uhm...thing many times, and i must say the final version is funnier and a lot less r21 than the rehearsal version. he loved to change his lines too. in the scene where mary (one of the suits) sneezes, the script says "if you were a horse, i'd have you made into glue!" in the last rehearsal and the first two shows, it became "if you were made of rubber, i'd have you made into a condom!" for the gala night, it was toned down to "if you were a bear, i'd have you made into a rug!", sunday afternoon it was "if you were a chicken, i'd have you made into a shuttelcock!", and we ended OT with "if you were a pig, i'd have you made into a char siew pau!" it was hilarious. his solo for the med school of the future (will be so much more) is, imho, the best song in the entire musical. full of sleaze and with strains of broadway in it, it was such a joy to watch, and it always got the backstage cheering. -heh-


you know, there're so many memories i could note down here. how the audience laughed when kok appears in his super-kok costume, when the suits in their sunglasses walk on stage, and when mr black's photo is flashed on the screen and everyone goes, "it's him!" sigh, just too many memories. here's one of my favourite verses:

when we first started out
we wanted to, shout out loud
we're medical students if you don't mind
tomorrow we're gonna save makind!
a dream come true!
passed the interview!
mum and dad will be so glad!
parental pressure ain't so bad!
in the anatomy hall!
finally - we can stand tall!

funny but true.

OT's finally over. whoot! five performances on three consecutive days is really no big feat. i really have no idea how the actors keep the energy level up every single show. kudos to them for putting in so much effort in telling such a wonderful story. i'm at home blogging now because i've got no transport home. sigh, everyone lives everywhere except in the northeast. while the cast met with friends and prepared for the post-performance party, the props people were busy packing up everything. not sure if they'll be joining them later.


oh well i'm rambling. zj and my parents came for the matinee performance. i'll blog about the entire experience later after i catch some sleep...