Of...

...movies:
watched the simpsons movie two saturdays ago with the cg and it was everything i expected from it. funny, smart and simple. i've literally grown up with the characters, and it was touching to see the relationship between homer and marge taken to a "deeper" level. as usual, the writers could be trusted to include digs at various people and organisations into all the crazy gags and jokes. i started watching the show in primary school, so i'm really glad it's still around. i give it 4 stars!

just yesterday, as a way to wrap up our short postings, we went for a midnight screening of rush hour 3. it was hilarious, what with the brainless slapstick and all, not to mention the "yu" and "mi" joke that was funnier by virtue of the fact that we understood chinese. if you were looking for a meaningful movie, you'll be sorely disappointed. but if you need a show to destress, you'll enjoy the fast pace and action in this movie. the icing on the cake is hiroyuki sanada (absolutely droolsome, but you're free to disagree!) - i can't believe he's 47 years old!

...postings:
opthalmology was interesting all right, but i'm not likely to pursue it further after this posting. heh. it's probably the only specialty that has clinics in such ornate surroundings, but the reality of the subsidised clinics is seeing these poor diabetic patients who default on their eye check ups and who only return when they experience loss of vision. the few have nearly lost all sight due to diabetic retinopathy, which is a major cause of blindness in the developed world.

i start paediatrics tomorrow. somehow this and obg have held the greatest intrigue for me, so i'm quite looking forward to them. sure, i've heard those horror stories about how the paeds folks love to grill you about the smallest things and the almost daily tests during obg, but i shall wait till i'm done with these postings before i form an opinion of them. no point starting a new postings with preconceived negative notions.

school life:
so the dean's office has finally decided to make the meeting with the perm sec compulsory. (now, why was i not surprised?) it used to be a nicely worded email inviting us to rsvp, now it's a terse "we wish to inform you that attendance is compulsory for the following event." it apparently was a communication error of sorts. oh wells.

what's more astonishing is that we're hearing rumours that the short postings will be removed from the curriculum from next year onwards! this is quite unbelievable because i love the idea of short postings to expose us to the various specialties in medicine. i mean, who better to explain diabetic retinopathy than an opthalmologist? or the finer points of intubation from an aneasthesiologist? i mean, first they remove systemic patho from the second year curriculum, and now this. i honestly can't fathom what's going on.

as a f/u, chek jawa was excellent, and if you haven't gone, do go before the tours are turned over to a private company to run, and then you'll have to pay just to tour. our volunteer guide was this friendly, retired english gentleman originally from manchester who's married to a singaporean. it was great to just walk on the sandbar and touch the different creatures. we were never meant to live in cities surrounded by metal and concrete, so this get away really recharged me, and i came home feeling most peaceful, and strangely comforted. heh.