A bed of roses?

You have heard of the horror stories. I have heard and read of them just like you about how often junior doctors are overworked.

Well, now 1 week plus into the job, perhaps it is due to the early enthusiasm, but working has so far been pretty fun to me! Yes, I might sound like lunatic to the rest of you out there trying to pass the final exams.

But so far, despite the 7am to 11pm schedule that I follow, more of my choice rather than being forced to (I don't start work exactly at 7am though, tee hee hee), the amount of paper work, 4-5 ward rounds per day, the amount of social withdrawal and all the failures of performing procedures, life is really enjoyable!

After 5 years of being an observer and bystander, I finally get the chance to participate a bit more, just a wee bit more in helping those people. And this extra bit of action has really been gratifying so far.

So, I guess it is after all in the mindset of each and everyone. If you set out really wanting to help others, I think work is not that daunting either. Even I who used to need afternoon naps can now stay awake at work without naps. Haha.

Ipoh thus far

Okay, I'm officially in Ipoh for the past 5 days now. Reported for duty on Monday and 'hell' began after that.

Monday started off with reporting for duty at the state health department, then a last good meal of Shredded Chicken Kuey Teow with a glass of Iced White Coffee. After that went to hospital for another reporting in and more briefings.

Briefings after briefings and plenty of filling up forms later, I'm ready to start work!

Work starts officially at 7am but if you arrive at 7am, you won't get any work done. So everyone arrives at 630am or earlier. I still arrive at 7am but tomorrow I'll try to arrive earlier. Haha. The keyword is try.

After morning rounds, you stay on till lunch and hope there is lunch. Or rather make an effort to make sure that you get lunch. Then followed by rounds and more teachings. Work is supposed to end at 5 but as usual you only get to go back after 6 usually.

So far, the people here are nice! And whacky to a certain extent. The whole place looks more cheerful and lively with those happy go lucky people around. Makes live much easier too. The system is slightly different but I'll adapt soon.

Life is pretty different. I am now having my first roommate in my entire life. We wake up at totally different times and go to work and finish work at different times. I am supposed to have many seniors in my workplace but they are actually more of my bosses than my contemporaries.

But overall I guess, everyday I get this satisfaction despite of all the fatigue from seeing this on my labcoat.

The day has finally come

There has not been a moment during our undergraduate life that we do not think about this day. The day when we start work, officially. Part time jobs and freelancing are not counted.

And yet, when the day has arrived finally for me, there seems to be this heavy feeling in my heart. Is it because I'm actually going to miss home?

It is not like this is the first time I am 'moving'. I have moved when I was 15 to Subang Jaya, at 22 to Seremban and at 24 to Batu Pahat. Interspersed in between are short period of times when I spent away from home like in Sarawak, Terengganu and etc.

But this time, I will be 'moving' to somewhere completely unexpected. It may be as far as Tawau to as close as Kuala Lumpur itself. Yet, I guess this prospect of not knowing where one is being sent off to grips and clutches the heart in fear.

Fear of not being able to settle down quick enough. And by quick, I mean in 24 hours or less. Because that is the amount of time we have.

Fear of being in a totally new environment and you have to start from scratch again. Making new friends, new bosses, new colleagues, new expectations, unfamiliar roads and plenty of other new things to be explored.

Well, I guess the day has finally come, hasn't it?

The day when I conquer this new fear and grow up.

Have you been to a Chinese wedding?

I've been to a couple of Chinese weddings. Probably up to 7 or 8 of them from when I was much younger until today.

They were all weddings of my relatives, some of whom I am not even sure how to call them. You know la, we Chinese have this rule where we respect our elders by calling them with their 'titles'. And it gets quite messy after a while especially when there are too many cousins, siblings and etc.

Of all these weddings, I've been from a mere spectator to even the 'door boy' (my task is to open the door for the groom, do some rituals and earn many angpaos). And I don't know if it is the same out there, but seriously, every wedding is quite the same to me! Probably because they hired the same wedding planner.

Oh yeah, my relatives didn't really hire those modern planners, they stuck to the aunties who can speak flowery words about the groom, wife, parents, future offsprings and etc etc. It is just amazing to see her in action really.

To some people, the highlight of the event would be the wedding dinner. I have only attended one wedding dinner in a hotel and the rest was in a huge banquet hall converted from several badminton courts. So in the midst of eating down the sharkless fin soup, I can see Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan, Wong Mew Choo staring down at me too.

Then comes to singing part which is a compulsory of Chinese wedding dinners also I think. They will hire 'aunties' to belt out oldies. I really don't know what songs they usually sing. First, it would probably be in a Chinese dialect like Hokkien. Second, haven't heard of it before. The only recognisable song which is in the list is Ave Maria but the first few times I heard it, it sounded like AHHHHHHhhHHHHH MeHHHHHMoHHHHHHREEEEEEeeeeeAHHHHHHHH!!!

So, last night, when I listened to familiar songs such as David Tao - Ai Hen Jian Dan, Robbie Williams - Better Man, Roberta Flack - Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You, the sharkless fin soup and the Steamed Fish was suddenly more palatable than usual.

They should really stop hiring 'aunties' to sing during Chinese wedding dinners. Don't you think so?

Adulthood

A friend's Facebook status update suddenly got me thinking.

What does adulthood entail? And how do you know when you finally are stepping into adulthood?

1. Slowly but surely, news of death of relatives of yours or your close friends suddenly begin to reach your ears. And you really feel the sadness of it unlike when you were a teenager when you didn't think that death could be anywhere near you.

2. Suddenly, hot young teenage girls wearing short tight skirt, low cut top with pushup bras showing ample cleavage doesn't whet your appetite anymore. All you want is someone who really enjoys your company. (applicable to boys only)

Actually, there should be more about the money and working and stress stuff. But I guess it was really the death of the father of my close friend which got me thinking so much about death, and adulthood, and responsibility.

I have never really thought of the day when someone really really close to me pass away. Would I really lose my mind? Would I be strong enough to face it?

So, my dear friend, I hope you have the strength to pull yourself together. I'm sure you've done your old man proud. =)

Hey, why not?

After much or actually no deliberation, I thought, hey, why not keep on writing? Once in a while when my thoughts are actually too long for the Facebook status? Or when there are too few or many pictures to be uploaded in Facebook.

So, today's random thought of the day is like this.

I was in Sunway Pyramid buying expensive toys. And I just realised there is a Maybank branch there. Yes, I jakun la. Anyway, since I didn't have a credit or debit card, I thought, hey, why not apply for the Maybank Visa Debit card.

And the process was very much hassle free. Just submit my MyKad and Maybankard. Simple. Until the problem arose.

The MyKad reader failed to read my MyKad. Which basically means they cannot certify my identity. And I can't apply for my Visa Debit card in the end.

So while waiting for my friend to finish his application, I thought of something. What if on one fine day, if I am stopped by a policeman and he asked for my MyKad and his reader fails to read my MyKad.

What do I do then? Will I be brought to the police station? Hmmm...