Lazy Worm Infestation

HELP!! Someone help me! Lazy worms are creeping all over me. I tried to pinch them away, but they are just so sticky, and would not let my skin go! Anyone with solutions??? Please fill me in. I really need it ASAP.

Sigh. Lazy worm infestation is my own diagnosis. The infection just started a few days ago, but it has gotten worse today. How did I contract this fatal illness? Let me explain.

Tomorrow I will begin my 1 week shadowing at the hospital I will be working in starting August. Excited? Nope. Basically, what I understood the objective of this shadowing week is to help us students (who will be working soon) to orientate ourselves in the hospital setting as a junior doctor. I will learn how to function properly in the ward (prescribing, learn where to get what forms, etc). Every student in Scotland has to undergo this shadowing week. Well, it is, of course, really good to get my bearings correct prior to working full swing, but I am dreading it. I want to enjoy my last few weeks as a student as much as I can. I do not want all that responsibility once I start working. Moreover, I haven't touched my book since my exam, and have been spending my days shopping, travelling, watching movies, watching the world cup and now, the wimbledon! =P How am I going to pull myself together to work in the hospital tmr?

To make me dread tomorrow (and the rest of the week) further, I am travelling everyday from Dundee to Glasgow at 5.30 am (which means I have to be up by 4 something in the am!!!). The reason for this is because no accomodation is provided for us. I suppose I could stay a couple of nights in a B&B, but I need to save some money. I have been spending too much on shopping, and travelling too. A night at a B&B will cost me about 20 quid at least, whereas, my megabus ride to and fro Glasgow for the week only amounted to 28 pounds. Guess I have to sacrifice abit of my precious sleep to save the money. After the hospital, I am going to catch the 6pm bus back to Dundee, and by the time I reach home, it will be 9pm. Sigh.

I forsee my next few days till the weekend as tiring. Hope I do not need to work too hard in the hospital during this week. hehe. Ohh...I just can't wait for the weekend...me and my friends are planning to go to Stonehaven. Till I find a cure for my lazy worm infestation, I shall continue to watch the world cup match between Switz and Ukraine......and then, probably retire to my bed early. Fingers crossed, I would be able to wake up in the wee hours of the day! Wish me luck!

O.V.E.R.L.O.A.D.

Summer sale is here! Most of the shops here are having big sales. But there is nothing much to buy really (yeah, rite). Well, I guess I would be buying more if I have my own money. Sometimes, I kind of feel guilty spending parents' money. ;)

Bodyshop. Yes, I am addicted to it now. Thanks to my housemate, who introduced me to the body butter from Bodyshop. Ever since then, I can't seem to live without it. The Bodyshop sale just started on Wednesday. I popped in to see if there was anything affordable and nice to buy (esp body butter).

"Special edition body butter, 50% discount"

My eyes opened wide the moment I saw the statement above. I looked down to the display table and saw 4 special edition body butters on sale. The normal price is about 10 quid, but it is only 5 quid today! This is even cheaper than msia. . The blueberry body butter was also sold at half price. So it was a must buy situation!! hehe

The 4 special editions were:

• melon (very refreshing, smells like a honeydew)
  
• banana (my goodness, who wants to smell like a banana??!)
• honey (very sweet scent)
• avocado (the butter was bluish in colour, smells almost similar to the olive body butter)

I got all of them (except the banana one of course) and a blueberry. =) While paying, I passed my Bodyshop card to the cashier, and to my surprise, I was told, "It is your bday month, you can choose any pdt worth 5 pounds." I was happy, but did not know what else to buy. So in the end, I took another body butter. In total, I walked out of the shop with 4 body butters!! Talk about overload man! =P

The next day, my housemate and I went shopping in town again. We walked into Bodyshop and this time, I bought their shower gels instead. It was cheap! One bottle for only 2.50?? keke...yeah, I could not resist the temptation to grab a few of them (which was exactly what I did). As I was paying for my 3 bottles of shower gels, the cashier said this to me, "Oh, this is your 4th visit to Bodyshop, and you're entitled for a 5 pounds voucher." I was like "Whoa, why are there so many free gifts?" I did not know what to get. But in the end, I took one avocado body butter." hehe.

In just 2 days, my room has been overloaded with Bodyshop products. I do not know where to put them as my cupboard is pretty pack. I think, with this amount of body butter, I probably do not need to stock up for the next few years!! I wonder how long will I take to finish using all the body butters?

Ciao Italy!

After a few days of rest, I have finally geared myself to put in some details about my trip to Italy. It was great fun!! My frens and I visited Milan and Venice. To be honest, I prefer Milan to Venice, because:

1. Things are more affordable in Milan.
2. People are more polite in Milan.
3. It is less crowded in Milan.
4. Gelato was more yummy in Milan.

Our first stop was Milan. The weather was great. The sun was shining away brightly. It was such a good feeling to finally feel the sun burning my skin. (As you know, Dundee is super cold, and the summer has not be very warm either). Anyway, we visited the main attractions there, such as the well-known Duomo (a church), Castello Sforzesco (a castle), Parco Sempione (a pretty park), and of course, I celebrated my bday there!

The Duomo, Milan.

The Duomo was such a majestic building. I was really mesmerised by the amazing architecture, and had the opportunity to stand at the roof of the Duomo! The view was fantastic. The Parco Sempione was very beautiful. Many gals put on their bikini, laid their rugs on the grass, and began sunbathing at the park. We also managed to visit one of the famous Italian lakes, Lake Como. I love Lake Como. We joined a short cruise around the lake, ate big apples while enjoying the scenic view around the lake and had our first gelato! yummy!

Parco Sempione, Milan.

On the night of the 12th of June, my friends gave me a bday surprise. First, Geak Poh said he was going down to the hotel lobby to get some beer. I told him I did not want any as I was still very full. Then, when he came up, a tiramisu cake with a candle appeared. =D I was very surprised. Too bad we didnt have a lighter to light up the candle. Grazie guys! The cake was quite nice.

Buon compleanno! Happy Birthday to me! On my bday morning, we visited a few places and had lunch alfresco style along a famous street, known as Via Dante. From there, they led me to the famous chocolate shop, Pasticerria Marchesi, in Milan, which was nearby. I am a self-proclaimed chocoholic, and I have been talking non-stop about wanting to visit this chocolate shop before our trip to Milan. So, after lunch, my friends suggested that we take a short walk further down a road in order to board the electric train, that would take us to the Duomo. As we walked, SzeLeng said (while pointing at a shop ahead), "Hey sawling, does that shop look familiar?" I looked up and saw the sign board, "Pasticerria Marchesi." And replied, "Eh, we accidentally walked into the shop!!" All of them giggled away. Only then I realised that it was all planned out by them. So sweet! =D Thumbs up to the dark chocolates there! It was cool to celebrate my bday in a totally different country. It was a great day. Sono felice. (I am happy).

Having said that I prefer Milan to Venice, the latter is no doubt a very pretty place, especially the Islands nearby. Romantic? Well, I beg to differ. I think the only romantic part of Venice is the gondola ride. You know, image riding on a nice gondola with your partner, during sunset. The gondolier would row the gondola down The Grand Canal, with the beautiful orangy sunshine, and the gondolier singing "Santa Lucia" and a musician playing his accordian. Ahh...this is romantic. =)

Gondolas in Venice.

My friends and I did not ride on the gondola. As there were far too many gondolas moving along the canal, therefore, causing a Gondola Traffic Jam. And, unfortunately, being partnerless, riding the gondola is meaningless (moreover, I could ride on the traghetto, which is similar to the gondola, but at a price of only 50 cents, as opposed to the gondola, which would cost about 80 euros).

The famous Rialto Bridge, Venice. The colourful wooden stilts serve as parking poles for the gondolas.

To start, the people in Venice did not give me a good impression of the place. We were answered rudely by those working in the Tourist Info centre. From the main train station, we took a vaporetti (water bus) to San Marco (a district in Venice). The scenery along The Grand Canal was pretty. Saw many gondolas and interesting buildings. At San Marco, the whole area was so pack. We could hardly walk without brushing shoulders with those around us. We tried a Venetian snack, Involtini, for lunch. It was nice but a wee bit salty.

The gelato shops in Venice were not as impressive as those in Milan. The gelato were not decorated with fruits or biscuits, and were not colourful enough to look appetising. hehe. But we did manage to eat nice gelato at the Lido beach.

Gelato shop in Milan.

The islands around Venice, Murano and especially Burano, were really pretty. Murano is famous for glass blowing. Here, I spent sometime buying accessories for myself and as gifts. At Burano, the houses were all painted in bright colours. The sight was picturesque. =) I have yet to find out why the houses there were painted in different colours. We had lunch at a nice Venetian restaurant. I tried their seafood spaghetti (spaghetti ai frutti di mare), which was excellent. SzeLeng tried gnocchi cooked in Arrabiate style. Gnocchi is a potato pasta. It was spicy and delicious too. Both Geak Poh & Su Ann had tasty fried seafood. It was a molto buono (very nice) lunch!

Lunch @ Burano.

Italy is certainly a place to visit. But, I found Venice abit of a disappointment. It was too "tourisy." That aside, I really enjoyed my one week in Italy. I have managed to get a mild brown tan (I tried really hard to become more tan, but it was not an easy task, as I don't tan easily). I am still abit too fair. I have picked up some Italian words too. keke. Ciao!

Beautiful Burano.

Arrivederci

Arrivederci = Goodbye (in italian)

keke...yes yes I'm going on a holiday!!! =)

Leaving in 10 mins time to embark on a journey to Milan & Venice, Italy, for one week. I'm looking forward to the trip!! =) But abit scared of the various nasty stories about things being stolen over there (passport, money, watches). Will have to keep my eyes open all the time to watch out for those ppl!! *fingers crossed

Will update you guys about the whole trip and upload some pretty pics!!

Hope you guys have a great week ahead! Study smart & Chill Out!

New Addition to The Family

Yes yes... Let me introduce you to my Nici family. =) ooh... I would Nici toys, bcoz they are just so soft and cuddly. Every animal is so so cute. The only bad thing about Nici toys is the price. They are quite expensive. But, when you love them, you just gotta get them. keke. This post will be all about the members of my Nici family. The language used will be those baby-ish, so if you can't tolerate it, then, my advice is to stop reading this post now. Otherwise, if you want to get to know my Nici family members, you're more than welcomed to read on.

Right. Where should I start? It started off with 2 of them, one was a pillow, named "Moo Moo" and the other was a sheep, which I have named "Baa Baa." I love them both so much that I've decided to take them along with me to stay here in the UK. Without them, my life would be empty and lonely. Thanks to them, I get to hug something. (I know, I know, I sound very pathetic). Here they are:

Then, about a year later, 2 new members joined the family. They are Bud Belly, the pink hippo, and Polar, the special edition christmas bear. (see pic below)


Recently, I added another 2 Nici toys. Unfortunately, this time I have to make do with mini-sized ones. Let me introduce you to my wee Magic Meadows, the yellow fairy, Rapphie, the baby giraffe. =) If I'm not mistaken, the fairy is only found in limited places, such as UK. Look at them, they are so adorable!!! Don't you feel like getting one too? =P



awww...look at the happy family. =) I just can't get enough of Nici toys. Think my next target would be the leopard with blue spots...keke. hmm..I shall wait till I get my first paycheck! (not too long from now, but I am surely not looking forward to working life).

There you go, my sweet Nici family. They have become part of my life. And I hope to take good care of them till I die. *muacks to them all! Here is another pic to end this introduction. Hope you guys will have a great weekend and an excellent week ahead! I'll be heading to Italy on Sunday! Really looking forward to it. =)

My First BBQ in Dundee

It is amazing how 2 years passed by so quickly. Today, my friends and I decided to have a BBQ party in the garden of my house. This was the first time we have a BBQ in Dundee. We never had a chance to do this last year as we were too busy preparing for our exams. Moreover, previous months have been too cold to even sit outside.

The weather in Dundee is rather unpredictable. I woke up this morning worried whether it would rain, as stated in the forecast. The sky was rather dark and soon, it started to rain for about 15 minutes. Luckily, it stopped and the sun showed itself. The weather was not too cold, so it was a rather nice day for our BBQ! =)

As I sat down in the garden, I began to realise how peaceful the garden at the back of my rented house was. Although there were only plain green grass with loads of wild flowers, the garden was rather cosy. We bought instant BBQ sets which were sufficient to BBQ our 24 pieces of chicken wings, more than 10 sausages, 4 pieces of salmon, 4 corn cobs, 2 chicken fillets and a couple potato wedges. Yeap, I ate quite alot, and could not stop junking on Doritos. keke...by the end of the BBQ, my tummy was extremely distended. I think all the rugae in my stomach has been stretched to the max. =P That aside, I really enjoyed sitting down with my friends. We are officially called "The Pea Family."

Why use the word "pea"? Well, it all started from Su Ann, who was given the nickname "Green Pea" by KC. And as usual, Su Ann loves to give us all nicknames. Frog-saw, oyster, lai lai, etc are a few of my nicknames so far. hehe... To be part of the Pea Family, we all need to dress correctly according to our colours. For eg, I am known as "Pink Pea", therefore, I need to be dressed in pink, Sze Leng is "Blue Pea", so she needs to be dressed in blue, Geak Poh is "Yellow Pea" and KC is "White Pea". It was a Hap-pea day! The only regret I have was, the time passed so fast and it is back to Monday again = back to lectures.

The Pea Family (noticed each of us were in our respective Pea Colours).

Giant Microbes Have Arrived!!

hehe. I knew that I would have caught your attention! To those of you who did not study about microorganisms, let me introduce you to them. Microbes are little germs (bacteria/virus) that can cause infections (eg. sorethroat, stomachache, common cold). They are not visible to the naked eye. If you wanna check them out, visit http://www.giantmicrobes.com.

My housemate's (Su Ann's) bday is on 5th June. Since this is her last time here in UK, we all decided to give her a nice present, something memorable, cute and meaningful, hence, we bought her a set of giant microbes (7 of them). For us who studied about these microbes, it was really cool to see them being made into soft toys. For us who have studied about these microbes, it was really cool to see them being made into adorable soft toys. You'll get what I mean when you see the pics later.

Su Ann threw a mini bday dinner at a restaurant called Byzantium. The food was alright, but the portions were rather big. I ate something called Mossaka, which was made of aubergines, cheese, onions and a nice sauce. It was served with rice and Greek salad. It was yummy, but I could not finish the whole thing. We had mussels for starters as well.

Anyway, after we all had our dinner, we gave Su Ann her present. And my, she was really surprised! hehe. Let me show you how adorable these Giant microbes are. (see the pics below). I love the purple one, which is the Ebstein-Barr virus....look at the eye lashes! Oh well, I am glad that Su Ann loved her present. Can see that she could not stop smiling from ear to ear for the rest of the night, even the whole of today! =)

Su Ann can't stop smiling.

Cute giant microbes.
(Red one: Streptoccous --> Sorethroat)
(Purple one: EBV --> Kissing disease)
(Brown: Shigella --> Stomachache)
(Blue: Rhinovirus -->The common cold)
(Yellow: Bordetella pertussis --> Whopping cough)
(Light green: Orthomyxovirus --> Flu)
(Darker green: Porphorymonas gingivalis --> Bad breath)

An Evening at the Park

The weather yesterday was superb! It was the first time in the whole year that the temperature rose up to as high as 21 deg C!! It was warm, and the sun was shining brighty. My housemates and I could not resist the good weather outside. So we decided to walk to the park nearby our house.

At the park, we sat down on the bench and had a wee chat. Then we started to jog around it. I am happy to say that I almost met my target for the day, which was to jog 3 rounds (I managed 2.5 rounds). After months and months of cold weather, being able to have the sun burn my skin for awhile was really a great feeling. At least (and I hope) the sun has managed to make me less white. keke.

Next, we made our way up to the Mills Observatory (which is a mini planetarium on the hill). We managed to take a few photos, and joked around. It was fun. We decided to walk down the other end of the hill to make our way home. So in the end, we actually did quite alot of walking. Peeking at my brand new pedometer (which I just received a few days ago), I walked about 12088 steps yesterday!! hehe. I dunno whether that is alot or not, but I am just one of those people who gets so excited with all these teeny weeny gadgety things. haha.

The day ended with a nice dinner (fried meehoon tomyam style). And I spent the night watching the last episode of season 3 of "The O.C." Could not really sleep. For the past few nights, I was knocked out by 10pm. But last night, I did not sleep till 1 something. Probably coz my endorphin levels were markedly elevated. It was a fantastic day.

My housemates and I clowning around at the Mills Observatory.

A Different Kind of Stress

There are so many types of STRESS in life:

--> study stress (will i pass or fail?)
--> work stress (so much to do, so little time...I can't meet the deadline)
--> family stress (why does mum/dad have to do this to me?)
--> relationship stress (does he/she love me?)
--> finding accomodation stress (I can't find a decent room to rent!! argh!!)
--> friend stress (why is she not talking to me? why does she have to lie to me?)
--> holiday stress (hmm...I hope I have booked everything correctly. Did I bring my passport?)

Everyone hates stress, I'm sure. I doubt that no one has not faced any stress before in their life, except, probably a newborn baby. I hate stress, I really do. Some stress are tolerable, some are not, and it will worry you for quite awhile.

I have highlighted many times that "Life is Tough." And it is true! Although I have finished my exams, now I am stressed out with other things, which may not be as critical as passing my finals. But these wee things are capable of making me quite stressed up as well.

For eg, I am going to work in Glasgow. I have not found an afforable room to rent yet. Everthing in Glasgow is double the price here in Dundee. (ok ok I know I should not complain since I was the one who decided to apply for jobs there anyway). And yeap, I am abit particular. I do not like sharing toilet with strangers. So I am looking for an ensuite room. There are not many rooms like this out in Glasgow. sigh. I have just about 1 month left to find a room and it is stressful! why? Coz I am not in Glasgow to hunt for rooms and I hardly know the area around there well enough. So it is difficult = STRESS.

Relationship is a very stressful thing as well. I love you, and you love me, we both get together and pak tow lo! Sounds easy eh? But heck, it isn't. Well, maybe for some of you it is as simple as ABC. I would not say that I am very experienced in relationships. But from what I have went through so far, I think it is very complicated. I have different ideas and opinions which my partner do not seem to be able to comprehend. Neither am I able to get his ideas and opinions. After endless arguements, we are still not able to come to a compromise. I respect his ideas, but by following his ideas, I am no longer ME. I want freedom to do what I want. (me is not a very sentimental person). I feel that I should achieve something first before settling down. If only, we could find a solution, something that we would need to compromise a little. This is just STRESSFUL.

These 2 examples are TWO different types of stress...which is so different from my exam stress about a week ago. When will I ever be stress free? (just wished I was a small girl again). I doubt I will, because, once I have resolved a particular stress, a new one will appear. I could forsee my new stress, which would be my working life!! argh...it is scary to be the person in charged of another person's life. Just yesterday, my friends and I were asked to react in an emergency situation. Saying and thinking about what we should do is simple, but really, carrying them out is a task! sigh. STRESS!