omg, my brain hurts!

music
chocolate
laughter

the only things that can truly soothe the soul....
and not necessarily in that order! :)

yay!!!!!
i'm finally moving out!!!!
no more oestrogen overload!!!! :)
so it'll just be me, myself and i....:)

holy.fucking.hell!!!

i woke up with a start waaay too early this morning (it was 8am on a sunday!) and i heard a deep male voice....
the first thought that came to mind was - abah?
i dunno why....and then i replayed yesterday in my head and in slow-motion, the layout of my apartment started forming in my head...
it was then that i realized that i wasn't in tmn tun....but here in auckland...
disappointed that i wasn't home with abah and mama...i forced myself back to sleep..

weird.....

the makings of a grand day...:)

• a good cuppa to start the morning - today it is a brazilian blend...:)
• chocolate - duh!
• my daily fix of anderson cooper......=)
• great music

and, voila! a good day! =)

over the past week or so, i've been reading about the sudden death of stephen gately...
listening to the autopsy report, he died secondary to pulmonary oedema...and they queried an unknown cardiac cause - so my immediate assumption for a 33y/o previously fit and healthy man dying of a cardiac cause - ?cardiomyopathy - this theory somewhat supported by revelation that there was a hereditary cardiac thing on his dad's side...

anyway, that's beside the point....

the point being, just minutes ago i was reading about his memorial service and the very touching eulogies from his friends and family...

and that got me pondering and reflecting inwardly...

when i die, will there be anything said about me?
will i be at the receiving end of a moving eulogy?
will there be anyone who would stand up and give a spiel about how i touched their lives?, how my life made a difference?
* ok, a eulogy by mama & abah doesn't count - they're parents! *

would i be remembered, and would it be in a good way?

a hero's birthday...:)

Dear Ian,

HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY!!!

love, nana....:)

i am officially employed!!! :)

it took 2 weeks longer than it should have, but alhamdulillah, it has all panned out...:)

in all honesty, there are heaps of things to complain about where i'll be working at next year...
BUT as we all know, beggars can't be choosers! :)

so yeah, i think the relief of being employed trumps the negative points....:)

p/s: i can now buy the things i want!!! :)

i can't believe there's only 6 weeks left!
i can't imagine what it'll be like...
it's been 7 years since graduating high school...

am i ready to face the real world?
am i ready for my signature to actually mean something?
am i ready to take responsibility for someone else's well-being?

it's finally the moment we've been waiting for...
but it is also the moment i've been dreading...
i AM scared...
no, i AM terrified of what all this means...

will i make it out alive?

Ian Thorpe Foxtel ad with Hugh Jackman

can it get yummier than this? :)

wouldn't it be HEAPS easier if we just knew the answers....

hmm....a point to ponder:

if ian had swum in beijing, would he have still used his adidas - granted, it'll be an updated version - or would he have gone with speedo's LZR like mike and the rest of them - which was obviously a suit that was at a whole other level...

Sesame Street: Anderson Cooper Reports

so cute!!! :)

“Beyond Sport Summit” in London on Thursday July 9, 2009

wow!....i am most definitely impressed...kudos to ian....

Ian Thorpe: Australia’s dirty little secret

by Ian Thorpe

In a speech given at the “Beyond Sport Summit” in London on Thursday July 9, 2009, Australian Olympic legend Ian Thorpe dove head first into Australia’s failure to address the problems in its indigenous communities. Ladies and Gentlemen, first may I thank you all for participating in this wonderful event. I am incredibly excited to be able to address you in regards to Beyond Sport. For me this is an ambiguous topic. As you may or may not be aware I am indeed an Olympian, I am no longer competing as a swimmer. I do take pride in my achievements in the pool and the valuable insight and education it has allowed me to take on, as I travelled the globe throughout my career. When we speak of athletes there is a great deal that we know, like what is required of them, for me that meant 30 hours of training a week. We do this training just so we have a sporting chance to fulfil our life long dreams. My travels with my sport since I was a very young and shy 14 year old opened the world to me, I didn’t realise at the time that this adventure would turn into a career beyond my wildest dreams. I was the youngest male to ever represent Australia in swimming. By 15 I was the youngest ever male world champion. At 16 I broke four world records in four days and at 17 I was Olympic Champion, I had fulfilled my life long ambition as a child. I quickly realised I was a child in an adult world. It was the child in me that throughout my career questioned why? Why is it so? Why is it done that way and why is the world the way it is? In my travels, competition took me to places where sometimes I was met with abject poverty, whilst I simply swum. Why was my life so blessed when others just by fate had less opportunity than I? I guess I witnessed at a very young age how sport is an international language, a language that transcended borders, boundaries, cultural ideology, politics and even socio economic disadvantage. I have only discussed my career up to when I was seventeen. It is because when I was 18 I established my charity, “Fountain for youth”. I didn’t realise at the time that this may be my biggest accomplishment. An achievement not in the sense of doing something right, rather a stepping stone where my values that I had gained from sport could be transferred to something that is bigger than sport and in my opinion far more important. That said, sport was what has made me who I am today and has afforded me the privilege to work beyond sport. My charity work didn’t begin at 18, I was just 15 when I began working with those less fortunate then myself. It was those years that shaped my understanding of what charity was. It gave me an insight into the power of celebrity and sport, especially in sport mad Australia. I realised my value to organisations trying to bring positive change lent enormous weight to these causes. I must say though this should be an outrage, because as an athlete I am not as qualified to comment on health or education as the health professionals and educators who daily tackle the big issues. In fact it is a bit disappointing that a teenager’s opinion garnered more attention than those who had been working on their chosen causes before I was even born. This realisation of the opportunity that my voice and name could lend to an excellent cause was the simple foundation laid, for my very own charity. I continued to win medals, breaking world records and continued travelling around the world recognising the needs of people, particularly children, in many places I visited. By this time my charity had enough money raised to commit to larger projects, I sat at a board meeting and stated that I wanted to help the world’s neediest children. I started to think of what impact my effort could have in places like Africa or South East Asia. I then visited some of the worlds neediest communities, places without access to planes and cars that seemed to be a world away … but now they were truly at my back door. The communities that I visited had illiteracy levels at 93% … that was staggering only seven percent of a populous being able to read and write. Up to 80% of the children in these communities have serious hearing impairments because of “glue ear”; middle ear infections neglected from infancy. These kids will never hear the teacher in front of them in a classroom … that is, if there is a teacher and indeed a classroom. Malnourished mothers are giving birth to babies that are seriously underweight and this only gets worse throughout a life born into poverty. Here diabetes affects one in every two adults. Kidney disease is in epidemic proportions in communities where living conditions; primary healthcare and infrastructure are truly appalling. In this part of the world even the community leaders are afflicted by clusters of chronic illness. Syndrome X, the doctors call it, diabetes, renal disease, strokes, hypertension, cancer and heart disease. Some people die with four or five of these chronic illnesses. Rheumatic heart disease among the children in these places is higher than in most of the developing world. But I was not visiting communities in the developing world, I was in the middle of Australia, remote, yes, but this is Australia, a country that can boast some of the highest standards of living of any nation in the world. How shocked I was that Syndrome X was afflicting so many of the 460, 000 Indigenous people of my country. As a result of these chronic illnesses and conditions Aboriginal life expectancy has fallen twenty years behind the rest of Australia. For some of my fellow countrymen life expectancy had plunged to just 46 years. Australia’s grim record on health care for Indigenous people is by far the worst of any developed nation. Developed? How can a country be “developed” when it leaves so many of its children behind? Australia has not provided its citizens with an equal opportunity for primary health care, education, housing, employment, let alone recognition and a life of dignity. Now I don’t expect you to just take my word for it. I am not a Doctor, I am simply an athlete. But ask Australian health professionals like Doctor Jim Hyde who says that while our nation has plenty of medical problems, only Indigenous Australians are facing a genuine health crisis. The Governor of NSW, my home State, Professor Marie Bashir, an eminent Child Psychiatrist, has repeatedly pointed out the national disgrace of allowing the forty per cent of Indigenous children under the age of fifteen to put up with health problems found in no other developed nation. Patrick Dodson, winner of the Sydney Peace Prize and one of out greatest Statesmen, identifies health as a human right for Indigenous Australians. “Only the most urgent government action”, said Australia’s “Father of Reconciliation”, “could change the inequality that has created this health tragedy in our own backyard.” How could citizens with the greatest need be so under funded? If we were to indeed recognise the severity of this gross neglect, funding to these communities should be extradited. A commitment to the first Australians is well within the means of my country, and this is what I find inexcusable. I am talking about an issue with a solution. For Australia to heal its wounds that have been weeping for 200 years we must not ignore the issue, we must start the healing. Like many people in Australia I was completely unaware of the huge gap in health and education outcomes let alone the differences of life expectancy. I, as many had, made an assumption; Australia is a rich country, don’t we throw a lot of money at that problem? It disgusts me to speak those words now but that was what I thought. This was not just my lack of knowledge of this area but it is echoed throughout my nation. An Aboriginal health expert, Shane Houston says: Aboriginal people are viewed by too many in the Australian community as an unwelcome burden on the nation. Governments say they have spent a lot of money on Aborigines but where do you see the results in this squalor? So the mainstream concludes that Aboriginal health is a waste of money. It is all the fault of the poor blacks. My people are somehow expected to just extricate themselves from this maze of life-threatening conditions. And if we can’t manage to do that, then many white people will shrug and say our end is inevitable. Visiting Aboriginal people, in their homes, their communities, on their land, has allowed me to listen and given me some idea of the problems that Aboriginal people face. I listened to the concerns of mothers and fathers for the betterment of their children. This unwavering strength, in the face of social injustice. Within these communities I witness poverty, despair and pain … but I also see hope … hope from those men and woman who want more for their children. With the words of these people in my head, I became part of a campaign in Australia called; “Close the Gap”, it is quite simply a program that recognises the difference between Indigenous and non Indigenous life expectancy in Australia and the huge gaps in all of the factors like education, jobs and housing that leave Aboriginal people so deeply disadvantaged. Close the Gap is a commitment that this difference is unacceptable. It was supported by the Government and also the opposition. This is the kind of action that is required in Australia. The issue of Indigenous health and education goes beyond government, it is a fundamental right. I hope all sides of government continue to commit to this policy as a starting point and it is not another hollow promise that falls short. Just this week Australia’s Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd said that it was “devastating” that a new report by our productivity commission showed that Aboriginal people had made little progress to close those gaps since 2000. He said this was “unacceptable” and “decisive action” had to be taken. The truth is that none of the problems I have mentioned can truly be rectified until our government and my fellow Australians recognise the injustice faced by Aboriginal Australians and how they are denied so many human rights. This has been highlighted once again by what is called in Australia “The Intervention”, the Federal Government’s takeover of 73 remote Aboriginal communities. The Intervention was constructed by the previous government and has since been reported to have been assembled in the space of just one day. The irony is that Aboriginal people had been campaigning for decades about the living conditions and the neglect of their children within their communities. The programs to protect and nurture the children, had been grossly neglected and under funded by government over the last decade. What appears to be a political stunt and a grab for government control over Aboriginal people continues to this day under the new government. Once more an Australian government has claimed it is doing its best for Aboriginal Australians by taking over their communities, appointing white managers, more government bureaucrats, promising all kinds of things, if Aboriginal people will just sign over their communities under forty year leases to the Federal Government. And politicians wonder why Aboriginal people do not trust them. The truth is for over 200 years Australian governments have neglected and patronized Aboriginal people. The Intervention is unlikely to provide any lasting benefit to Aboriginal people because it tries to push and punish them, to take over their lives, rather than work with them. One of Australia’s oldest and wisest Aboriginal leaders, Galawuy Yunupingu says the only way forward is for Aboriginal communities in these remote areas to be led and organised by their own organisations. Assimilation will not work. So in the work I do, the way I try to contribute through my organisation, Fountain for Youth, we work with Aboriginal teachers, health workers, parents and children, with the health services and the schools, to encourage people to believe that we can move forward together. We support pre-schooling, health education, literacy backpacks that let kids carry home reading for the whole family. And we use sport where we can to make a difference. As a swimmer, who would have thought I would have ended up supporting Flipper Ball, junior water polo for little Aboriginal kids in the mining communities of Western Australia. As a swimmer, who would have thought I would be back at university studying psychology and at the same time working with young Aboriginal university graduates on a mentoring program to help get more kids to complete High School and go on with their studies. As a swimmer, maybe I was expected to just be satisfied with the gleam of those gold medals. But all sportsmen and women know the truth — there is something beyond sport. There is the challenge of playing a part in the human family … to contribute and make a difference. We can use sport and use our sporting status to improve the lives of children and whole communities in so many places. We can make it a fairer, safer playing field for everyone. In twenty remote Australian communities and with thousands of Aboriginal children I know life will have some extra opportunities if I commit to work hard on this. I do intend to work hard at this for the rest of my life. That is my promise to you — beyond sport!

look what the mailman brought....:)

look what came in the mail yesterday.....
Anderson Cooper's Dispatches from the Edge - A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival (2006)
my first eBay purchase!!! :)
so stoked! :)

and this is what came in the mail today!!!
Beneath The Surface - the 2008 updated version
AND
No Limits: The Will To Succeed (2008)

eBay has given me the 4 bestest books ever!!! :)

Phelps Behind the Scenes SUBWAY Visit

To celebrate the commercial, Jared and Michael met in Indianapolis the week of the launch for lunch....

this was just at the beginning of the month, before the Indy meets...:)

Michael Phelps for Subway

A new television commercial debuting nationally July 5, 2009. The 15-second and 30-second spots, are entitled "Be Yourself", and will air during popular shows in Primetime, Cable, and Syndication.

my new pride and joy!!! :)

Ian Thorpe, The Biography....
been wanting this since it first came out in 2004!
well, thanks to my new favourite site - eBay - it' mine for a bargain!! :)

aaah....1 book here, 3 more on the way.....;)

ROMA 09 (www.fina.org)

the 13th FINA World Championships 2009 - Rome, ITA

Roma 09 - Swimming mascot

Dates of competition: July 26-August 2
Venue: Stadio del Nuoto
Capacity: 13,000 seats
Medal favourites:

• Men – Michael Phelps and all the team from USA, Oussama Mellouli (TUN), Tae-Hwan Park (KOR), Alain Bernard and all the team from France, César Cielo (BRA), the team of Australia, Milorad Cavic (SRB), the team of Japan, Laszlo Cseh (HUN), the team of Italy;
  
• Women – Stephanie Rice and all the team from Australia, Marleen Veldhuis and all the team from the Netherlands, Britta Steffen (GER), Federica Pellegrini and all the team from Italy, Rebecca Adlington (GBR), Kirsty Coventry (ZIM), Katie Hoff and all the team from USA

FACTS & FIGURES (some of them):

• The men’s 4x100m freestyle relay has been almost exclusively dominated by American teams. Only in 2001 (when the medals went to Australia, Netherlands, and Germany respectively), and in 2003 (when Russia took gold, USA silver and France bronze) was USA denied gold.

• Micheal Phelps (USA), now the greatest Olympian ever, is also the best performer in the history of the World Championships. Before Rome 2009, Phelps already has 18 World medals (15 gold & 3 silver) since the 2001 edition. The next best Championship performers are Grant Hackett (AUS), who earned 18 medals (10 gold, 5 silver & 3 bronze) over 5 editions from 1998-2007, and Ian Thorpe (AUS), who has 13 medals from 3 editions (11 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze)

• Ian Thorpe retained his 400m freestyle title for three editions (1998, 2001 & 2003), as well as his back-to-back 200m freestyle crowns (2001 & 2003). Grant Hackett, in addition to the 800m freestyle title he retained in 2003 & 2005, held his 1500m freestyle title for four-straight editions (1998, 2001, 2003 & 2005)!

• All Championships records date from the 21st century. The oldest ones (3) of this list were established in 2001 at the FINA World Championships in Fukuoka (JPN): among men, the 400m free by Ian Thorpe (AUS) and the 1500m free by Grant Hackett (AUS), and in the women’s competition the 50m free by Inge de Bruijn (NED)

(pic: Mike, leaving a training session in Riccione, northern Italy...)
*yummmm* check out them abs...:)

Can't wait for Mike to sweep all SIX events this year....yeah, only 6 unfortunately....
He'll be swimming only 3 individual events in Rome — the 200 freestyle, and 100 & 200 butterfly — plus all 3 relays....

oh well, can't wait for the Worlds!!! I wanna see all my faves! team USA, Australia, Italy....etc...:)

the ONLY thing that could make this any sweeter - IAN and GRANT coming out of retirement and showing the rest of 'em how it's done....:)

the latest in my extensive list of drool-worthy obsessions...:)
aaaahh....those piercing blue eyes.....*sigh*.....:)

'tis a sad day in history....

tears are forming at the corners of my eyes....
MICHAEL JACKSON has died....
or so they say....
but i flat out REFUSE to believe this to be fact....
just like elvis, MJ is still somewhere out there....:)


bad enough that a music icon has passed....
a movie legend has also left us....
FARAH FAWCETT has lost her battle with metastatic anal ca....


the world just got a lot less brighter....

im leaving on a jet plane...
don't know when i'll be back again....

ok, i fib....i'm leaving on a regular plane - possibly a boieng...
heading to MELBOURNE!! and then SYDNEY!!!....
and i knw when i'll be back - in 10 days!!! :)

weehoo.....:) so stoked....all the friends, the family, the food....
can't wait! :)

LongCase....

today, 04/06/2009....
Gen Med Cycle 4 Long Case exam.....
i really, really hope i dont fuck up!...

UPDATE!

yup, FUBAR doesnt even begin to describe how my long case went....
saying i did badly is like saying tht hell is warm....
the best i can hope for is a borderline-pass....
ok, im gonna try looking at the silver-lining,
if i fail this, i get another chance at a repeat longcase....
worst-case, i juz have to do another 3mths of TI GenMed...
i'd still get to graduate...pfft....

why am i never in tmn tun when i really need to be?

Celebrity Fight Night - March 2009

2 of the biggest names in sports....

drool......

the oh-so-yummy mike.....:)

musings of the head VS the heart...

i have come to realize something COMPLETELY retarded about myself...

i have in recent years become cynical about love and the likes, and have almost completely ruled out it ever happening to me...and then the "imu affair" happened - with a person i LEAST expected, at a point in time i least expected...as we knw, tht fizzled....

so now, i pretty much went back to square one - which is fine by me...

then i now realize tht i've got a bizzare frame of mind....the people i turn my thoughts/attention to are the ones i KNOW would never work - well, unless a snowstorm decides to freeze hell over....

i see that i have a pathological pattern in liking dudes who are WAAAY out of my league, they might as well be out of earth's gravitational pull! examples include various rockstars/celebrities/swimmers....and in this recent months, a surgical registrar...

i think i've also come to a point where i juz completely tune out "regular" dudes...and seeing as how im psycho-analyzing myself here, i think it's because it's juz easier liking dudes i KNOW i can never get....and that i know by liking these dudes with the background that i can never have them, it prevents the heartache and heartbreak tht's bound to happen with realistic relationships.....

so yeah, i think tht it's a wall i've built to not get hurt, to not feel the pain and to not get my hopes up...plus, i think i might juz be a tad bit of a commitment-phobe....

hmmm......i think this is what happens when i use my head to rationalize these things instead of using the heart....go figure...

this whole weaning-off business is mighty difficult to pull off!

i tried my darndest NOT to think about R...in fact, i didnt even ask nurul about him today...
she mentioned him once...
and when i went to meet her in apu, there he was...
R...all yummy in his scrubs....*sigh*....
it was good talking/joking with him....

but i gotta wean off R!!!!

fun fact - anderson cooper takes lipitor! :)

must.get.over.boy!

the master plan - so as to preserve my sanity:

to wean-off R!!!

• i was about to leave the hospital after work....
• went to see nurul, so we could go home together - bt she did say R wasnt there..shame!
• i went up to 76....as i was walking there, i saw a familiar figure....
• my insides did a flip-flop, a reflex smile crept up....lo-and-behold, it was R! ;)
• went in, saw nurul....saw R sitting by the comp again...
• said hi to him...we started chatting....
• he asked wht i was upto...
• i said i was heading home...said to him tht he ought to go home too....
• he said they were working hard, not like the TIs who could go home early...
• i knew he was joking...so i retorted -
  
• when i was working with him, i almost never went home early - he ought to know tht, seeing as how we walked home together a couple of times...
• he said he was juz getting dinner, and was planning on coming back to hosp after tht...haha...AS IF....;)
• we went on joking summore - me asking him how he's liking life with internet now...:)
• it was awesome!!! i was smiling and joking with him all the way - while miraculously trying to act cool at the same time...;)
• in the end, i left....we said bye, and he said to me "bye. don't work too hard."....

oh, the permanent smile etched on my face....:)

they're baaackkk.....;)

finally! after a much-much-much-too-long hiatus, BLINK182 is back!!!! :)

a new record is in the works! :)
plus, there's a tour - a national one only unfortunately....

i mean, i wish i could go for the concert!
supporting bands incl: FOB, weezer, PATD, AAR, TBS, Chester French
daymm.....i'm missing out on brilliance!!!!

more sightings!

about 3-4 sightings/encounters today....
1 of them was more than an acknowledging smile,
it was a "hi, how are u? whatcha up to?" encounter...;)

all while R was in scrubs!!! yumm...so delectable...;)

smiles, smiles....;)

wht a way to spend a day....;)

0745 -

• on the way to work, bumped into I...so we ended up walking together...;)

1045 -

• level 3 coffee place - saw the colorectal team there....amongst them - the oh-so-yummy R...;)
• he obviously didnt see me, bt hey! at least i got my dose of eye-candy!

1230 -

• saw R in the cafe having lunch with the other Regs and the cute boss Mr Collinson...
• daym, Mr C and R at one table....*drool, drool*...;)

1700 -

• found out from nurul tht R was in 76 for paper-round...
• turned out, they were done, and nurul got me to go up there - under the pretense of seeing her...
• R was there! at the computer beside nurul...so i got an eye-full! he was as usual...so yumm! :)
  
• then i said hi...hehe.....
• snippets of our "conversation"...not verbatim, bt close enough...:
  

R: so, you can't stay away from here eh?
me: yeah...i miss surgery!
[wht i wanted & should've said was "yeah...i miss my favourite reg!!"]

me: i miss surgery! i can't do medicine...takes too much brain, and i dont have enough brain!
R (with a smirk): so, u're saying that we dont have enough brain, tht's why we're doing this?
me: wht? noo...i didn't say tht..u assumed....;)
[what i wanted & should've said was "are u kidding?!? YOU are like the most medically-sound surgeon i've met! u are soo friggin smart!!!"]

and he was wearing tht pair of pants i like - the denim-looking one...nice....
and i saw his tie - it had the insigna of the Royal College of Surgeons...nice...

so yeah...SMILING ear-to-ear!!!! :)

Phelps returns to pool with two gold-medal performances (5/15/2009)

[taken from usaswimming.org]

Three-time Olympian Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) returned to the pool for his first competition since the 2008 Olympics with a pair of gold-medal swims on the second day of the Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix.

The 14-time Olympic gold medalist proved to be in good form, as he swam a time of 1:46.02 in the men’s 200m free, which was faster than his preliminary time in the event in Beijing. Phelps’ former Club Wolverine teammates Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) and Davis Tarwater (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished close behind, with times of 1:46.71 and 1:47.35, respectively.

“I wanted to come back and do something respectable in the pool,” Phelps said. “The next few weeks are going to be really important in my training. It didn’t matter how I felt tonight, I was just excited to race. That’s what is important – that I still have that passion to race.”

Phelps came back two events later to win the 100m fly in a time of 51.72. Tyler McGill (Riverside, Calif.) finished a full second later with the runner-up time of 52.76, and Corney Swanepoe rounded out the podium in 53.22.

UPDATE: [taken from AP on yahoo]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Michael Phelps is not unbeatable.

Not when he's going against Aaron Peirsol.

The world-record holder and two-time Olympic champion handed Phelps his first defeat in nearly a year, winning the 200-meter backstroke at the Charlotte UltraSwim on Saturday night.

Wearing his new Arena suit, Peirsol got off to a strong start and touched in 53.32 seconds. Phelps was trailing by more than a half-second at the turn and had no chance to make that up against one of the greatest backstrokers, taking second in 53.79

LATEST UPDATE: [taken from www.telegram.com]

Phelps loses again at Charlotte UltraSwim
Two days, two losses for Michael Phelps. Phelps was beaten again at the Charlotte UltraSwim last night, losing to Frederick Bousquet of France in the 100-meter freestyle. The loss to Bousquet, world-record holder in the 50 free, came 24 hours after Phelps lost his first final in nearly a year. Aaron Peirsol beat him in the 200 backstroke.

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-phelpsreturns&prov=ap&type=lgns

Feeling This (live) FIRST SHOW BACK!!!!

they're baaaackkk!!!! =)

u gotta love a man in scrubs....;)

well, tht's wht i first saw R in today...:)
delish...yumm....;)

saw him in the cafe...too bad he was with the others...so i couldnt sit with him...:)
oh well, he saw me, i smiled & waved, and he reciprocated with a smile and wave....;)

yup....im definitely on the brink of insanity.....;)

so this is how it went down today....

0755....

• went down to apu to get today's list before handover...
• i knew tht colorectal was on acutes today....
• as i hoped, R was there....he was at the computer beside the photocopy machine i wanted to use....:)
• *drool*...esp with R in scrubs! :) hehe.....sungguh sangat lazat...=p
  
• we chatted a bit.....then unfortunately, i had to go for handover....but with a HAPPY grin etched on my face....;)

1600...

• one of our patients who has ??appendicitis had his CT abdo/pelvis....verbal report couldnt exclude appendicitis....
• he was already reviewed by the HNBE team....
• BUT, me, i volunteered to help my H/O by calling the OC GenSurg Reg to let him know abt our guy...while at the same time, i cmpltly aware tht he was sorta under the care of the HNBE team...;)
• so...i called the OCphone...knowing it would be R at the other end...hehe....
• got R on the phone...we talked abt the guy, and he redirected me to the HNBE reg (as expected).....hahahah....bt it was worth the 2 min chance of being able to hear him (and the funny way he pronounces my name...;)

so yes....as per usual, i walked home with the most retarded grin plastered on my face! (and this was in broad-daylight!)........;)

SNL - Justin Timberlake + Andy Samberg (Mother Lover)

the sequel to "Dick in a Box"....
sooo funny! i cant believe they susan sarandon to join in! :)

live long and prosper....

Star Trek....
most definitely worth watching...
especially with such memorable lines....:)
AND such delicious faces....;)

• chris pine - those blue eyes...to die for!!! :)

• zachary quinto.....hubba, hubba....

• eric bana......yummm.....:)

NOT.gonna.be.a.competent.doctor.

more smiles....;)

a few days ago -

• was in apu...looking up stuff on concerto....
• suddenly someone was like sorta stepping on my shoe....
• turned out it was R....juz playing around.....;).......*drool*......:)
  

yesterday -

• team post-take round.....grrr....sooo freaking long! i only got home at 6pm! on a sunday!
• but....saw R lots! :)
• he swapped his shift - tht's why he was working this w/end as opposed to last w/end with the actual team....
• poor man was all alone...
• he was there on sat also...too bad i decided to skip work on saturday...could've helped him out when he needed it.....
• oh well....most definately good to talk/laugh with R....;)
  

6:30pm -

• saw R down in apu....

6:45pm -

• R was seeing a pt....my brain was done for the day..time for home...too bad i dont see him...
• took a slow walk home - all the time looking behind me in hopes...
• otw home, contemplating if i oughta get groceries....
• finally, at the fork btwn home vs groceries.....took 1 last look behind...i thought i spotted R - i thought i recognised the gait of tht dude 20ft behind me....oh well....;)
• made up my mind - will get groceries....
• suddenly, someone was playing with my (L) earphone...
• it was R....;) good thing im grocery-shopping today.....
• got to walk with him for a bit.....

.....*SIGH*......

life is sweet as of now.....;)

reupdated list....

• anderson cooper
• chris pine
• mark hoppus
• travis barker
  
• tyson ritter
• nick wheeler
• ryan star
  
• collin farrell
• ryan reynpolds
• ryan gosling
• shannon leto
• jeremy piven
• toby rand
• rob pattinson
  
• michael phelps
• ian thorpe
• eamon sullivan
• ryan lochte
• adam levine
• freddie prinze jr
• zachary levi
• dave annable
• david cook
• adrian brody
• brandon boyd
• james franco
• adam brody
• al pacino (when he was younger)
• milo ventimiglia
• james mcavoy
• jonathan rhys-meyers
• travis barker
• jake gyllenhaal
• jordan knight

the friggin post-take round ended at 5pm!!!!
and there were only 15 in total to see!!!
holy crap!

i wanna go back to Surg!!!!

yup, 90% definately gonna go down tht path...

p/s: saw the cute Reg today....;)

Day 1 GenMed....
can't believe im missing the hustle and bustle of GenSurg!

hmm...maybe thing's will pick up tmrw.....

thank you GenSurg....:)

once again, at the post-round coffee session, i had the HOT reg to my left...and the CUTE consultant to my right....*sigh*.....;)
had a good chat & laugh with the hot-reg....:)
definately on cloud 9 then...hehe...

oh, and he said he was gonna email me a funny thing....yay! lol...

and...today is the last day of my GenSurg attachment....
definately had it's moments....
did my mini-cex with mr bissett - turned out well! haha...got 4s and a 5....and he gave a great feedback! definately stoked! :)
and he was happy to give me a reference....:)
and i also got an awesome reference from mr collinson...:)

things are good right now.....:)

oh yeah...
HAPPY 61st BIRTHDAY ABAH!!! :)
and...
HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY TYSON!!! :)

smiling...

today, walked home with the hot venezuelan Reg...=D
it may have only been about 5mins along grafton bridge for the 3rd half of his walk - you gotta be there to get the joke ;) - but it was the bestest 5mins! :)

now, am smiling ear-to-ear....nothing can wipe this off...;)

infatuated....:)

today, after our consultant rounds, we had the usual team coffee where the bosses buy us coffees..:)

go to sit with the drool-worthy reg on my left and the cute consultant on my right...

*sigh*....if only life was so...;)

oh yeah, and i am SOOOO in-like with my reg....;)

south american, so hot, smart, funny, a surgeon!....*drool*...

i hv to bite my lip everyday juz so i dont smile like a fucking retard while at work! - i'll juz leave tht to when i walk home at night...;)

working till 9pm on a sunday - i'd rather not...

scrubbing in for a Hartmann's & a total colectomy - very cool...

faecal peritonitis - super gross!

sticking my hand into a super-dilated resected sigmoid colon filled with faecal matter just so i could feel a sigmoid cancer - priceless!

.so.tired.

the list...updated again....:)

those in red are the recent updates to the list....:)

• tyson ritter
• nick wheeler
• ryan star
  
• collin farrell
• ryan reynpolds
• ryan gosling
• shannon leto
• jeremy piven
• toby rand
• rob pattinson
  
• michael phelps
• ian thorpe
• eamon sullivan
• ryan lochte
• adam levine
• freddie prinze jr
• zachary levi
• dave annable
• david cook
• adrian brody
• brandon boyd
• james franco
• adam brody
• al pacino (when he was younger)
• milo ventimiglia
• james mcavoy
• jonathan rhys-meyers
• travis barker
• jake gyllenhaal
• jordan knight

Viva La Vida!!!! :)

i have just gotten home from one of the bestest, most fantabulous nites in a loooooong time! :)

watching COLDPLAY live in concert was one of the best decisions i've ever had the pleasure of making....the concert was worth every cent, every penny, every dime i had to fork out....

chris martin was like a friggin' manic energizer bunny on crack! :) the man hardly ever stopped moving! he was constantly switching from singing/guitar to the piano, back to running all over the stage, jumping, lying on the stage...i mean, chris was everywhere! :)

mind u, the others were juz as awesome! i was juz staring at the oh-so-lazat guy berryman...:)
jonny was great...and will champion was beyond amazing! such a multi-instrumentalist! :)

anyhoo....all i can say is that, this concert surpassed all my expectations...
it is most definitely the BEST concert i've been to - bar none!

thank you coldplay!!! :)

the rest of the photos are up on facebook....:)

Set List:

“Life In Technicolor”
“Violet Hill”
“Clocks”
“In My Place”
“Yellow”
“Glass Of Water”
“Cemeteries Of London”
“42″
“Fix You”
“Strawberry Swing”
“God Put A Smile Upon Your Face”
“Talk”
“The Hardest Part”
“Postcards From Far Away”
“Viva La Vida”
“Lost!”
“Green Eyes”
“Death Will Never Conquer”
“I’m A Believer”
——
“Politik”
“Lovers In Japan”
“Death And All His Friends”
——-
“The Scientist”
“Life in Technicolor 2″

Michael Phelps with Matt Lauer (03-13-09)

mike's first interview since the pot-photo incident....

HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY CHUAN HERNG!!! :)

sudden strong urge to cut...

NG is a go! :)

today, day2 of our TI procedural skills training thingy....
one of the procedures we had to learn to do was how to put in an NG tube...
we could do it on each other, or on the model/dummy...

so, it was riyaz and i partnered up again...
we got to the station and after the nurse-educator finished her explanation, i voluntered....
i said, "i'll do it"...to which riyaz responded with a look of horror and said "on me?!?"...
i laughed, assured him that i was gonna let him put the tube down my nose....

it was definitely weird! thankfully it was a small tube - size 10 - and well lubricated! it was slightly uncomfortable up the nasal canal...and felt really sharp as it hit the stricture before passing into the nasopharynx...at tht point, they got me to keep on swallowing water to help ease the tube down....

boy, did THAT feel weird!!! especially when u could feel the end of the tube juz sitting at ur throat....tht's when we pulled it out...*phew*...good thing it didnt have to go all the way down into the stomach - or we would definately have had a spillage of lunch!

so....role-reversal! got riyaz - who didnt wanna do it at first - to let me put an NG down his nose...definately fun making him squirm! :)

so now, when i put it down a real patient, i can confidently say to them tht it's not as bad as i'd imagined it to be......:)

domino cutie...;)

today mo, subs and i decided to walk down to domino's to get us some dinner...
while waiting for our order, we were juz chillin and talking and crapping and juz laughing about...not long after we sat down, i noticed this really cute guy sit next to subs....so while i was talking to them (i was standing facing subs and mo), i could steal glances and mr lazat....;)

one thing i noticed was tht everytime we laughed - mind u, we laughed out loud quite a few times! - i noticed tht mr D (lets call him tht - D for dominos..hehe) snickered....in my head i was going "apehal...whts up with him? gile takder keje"....and it was the same the 2nd time we had a loud laugh and the 3rd and finally at our 4th outburst, mr D laughed at the same time! the 3 of us were in shock and juz stared at him!....

the 1st thing he said was something along the lines of "you guys sure like laughing"....at tht point, i was juz swooning cos he had a sweet british accent!!! hahah....cair....;) and the conversation started from there...he asked us wht we were drinking to get us all happy...haha...definitely nothing for me... ;)...we juz said we were really really hungry and he said how most ppl would be moaning when they were hungry....it went on for abit - all the while i was trying my hardest NOT too look like a cmplt idiot in front of this yummy man with the sexy british accent!...haha...

we then veered on to ourselves when he asked us if we were studying here and said he wanted to guess wht we were doing....he took a second, then pointed to mo and subs, saying they did something scientific (and i thought he meant the 3 of us) and then looked at me and said i must be doing something in media! haha...wow, i looked like the media type..;)....haha...either tht or i was so loud i had to be in a job where i'd be talking none-stop...:) he was kinda surprised when mo told him tht all 3 of us were medical interns...

he then told us tht he studied mechanical engineering in london but he had never will never work as an engineer....after uni he said he travelled, and danced and worked at the london trains controlling the signals and tracks or something like tht, and is currently here in NZ studying to be a pilot! *swoon*....he's based in hamilton at the airport there and says its boring down there so he comes up to auckland cos it reminds him of london and new york! at this time, all 3 of us, in our own heads were like "wht the?!? hell no!"...:) oh, and he teaches dance! wht dance u ask, well he teaches salsa dancing!!!! i think my heart skipped a beat at this and i swear, at the mention of salsa dancing, my eyes averted themselves (this was not something i controlled!) to his tummy area imagining a beautifully toned abs...:)

we talked a little bit more, but before long, my pizzas were ready and we bid him goodbye...and we walked off, all the while gushing about how cute he was, especially with him being british!....we had juz walked like to the corner when mo and subs stopped and wanted to get his number for me - or at least give him my number! -....i was obviously shocked at this! but after a couple of minutes deliberating, i gave mo the greenlight, while i embarassingly sorta walked away....i was sooo embarassed! but i think i was secretly hoping she'd catch him in time and things mite pan out nicely...;)

too bad the reality is soooo different! mo came back and said tht he had left....aah, so close yet so far....mo and subs were juz really pissed they didnt think about asking for his number earlier...haha....i knew it was too good to be true! happy tv shit like this does NOT happen to me! only in tv, or to others - not to me....hahaha....i think i mite be juz a tad bit disappointed, but it's alrite....there's always dominos....;)

threaded and sore....

it was only sometime last year that sal first plucked my eyebrows
that was the only thing that was ever done.....
that all changed at about 3pm this evening...

suckered in by curiosity and pushed over the edge by moush's challenge, i had my eyebrows threaded....and boy did it hurt as hell!!!
it was fucking sore! my face in that area still smarts up to now....jeeez....

but at least i've got pretty eyebrows....:)

sooo....shall i do this again? maybe it wont hurt as bad? maybe then there'll at least be one part of my face that's groomed and presentable.....:)

Charlotte, North Carolina...
may 14th - 17th....
mike is back! :)

notice!

NKOTB's new vid is out!
always liked 2 in the morning....
jordan knight (& the boys) are delish! :)

banning ian's suit at fina'09?!?!?
wtf?!?

have u ever felt so alone despite being in a room full of people?

is it possible to sink so deep, u thought u've reached rock-bottom, only to find urself sink deeper still?

do u belong?

sounds like dumb questions - questions asked when one wallows in self-pity...

answer is simple - pick urself up and count ur blessings and get on with life...

so easy to say, yet so hard to achieve...

for i AM alone, even though i am surrounded by people...

i continue to SINK deeper into oblivion/self-loathe...

i DON'T belong...

and the winner is....

the 51st annual grammy awards juz ended bout 15minutes ago....

the show:-

• coldplay, jay-z - lost, viva la vida..i LOVED this!!! :)
  
• ti, lil wayne, jay-z, kanye, mia - swagga like us - ...how much greater can this get!!!
• lil wayne. robin thicke, allen toussaint - tie my hands and a tribute to new orleans....i really like this one...:)
  
• sir paul mccartney, dave grohl....awesome...bt dave gemuk?
• JT, al green, boyz II men, keith urban....pretty good...
  
• carrie underwood - she rocked it...
• taylor swift, miley cyrus - 15....man, taylor is soo talented...but i soo wanted a shotgun to shoot miley cyrus!
• jonas brothers and stevie wonder - burnin' up + superstitious....really?

• as far as U2 goes with opening the show....im still not too sure about "get on your boots"...needs more airtime for me...:)
• favourite moment!!! - mark, tom & travis are back!!!! :) travis looked awesome except for tht arm in a sling...and i cant wait!!!! :)
• the show closer - stevie wonder - pretty boring....i think my fave was still when blink 182 brought the house down with their show closer....:)
• rihanna and chris brown were a no-show....its a shame we couldnt see chris brown - not too fussed abt rihanna...:)
• seriously, i think the brits are taking over!!! u've got coldplay, duffy, adele, mia, robert plant, leona lewis - i mean, it's all brits for the song of the year!
  

winners! :-

• coldplay won a few! :)
• adele won a couple! :)
• john mayer!!! he's still got it with a couple more grammys to add to his collection...:)
• wayne won i think 3!...
• kings of leon's sex was on fire with a win! :)
• miss independent was on fire also...
• i was surprised to see tht the BIG winner of the night went to robert plant & alison krauss - i mean, led zeppelin anyone?!?...:)
  

all in all...i LOVED 97% of the night!!! kudos to all....:)

p/s:...did anyone else notice how lazat the following were tht night? :)

• jason mraz
• josh kelley
• john mayer
• t.i.
  

drama of the day...

alhamdullillah, mama's ok....

i got the call, thought it was a prank...turned out to be real...
grabbed a couple of towels, panadol and water, thinking the scratch on the head wasnt all bad...
next thing i knw, they called an ambulance - and it was off to UH....

finally got there - the awesome mama was completely lucid! GCS 15!
u cant get more lucid than making sure i called all her atm banks and creditcards to report and block the accounts...:)

she had a neck brace - duh!
had her trauma XRs done - duh!
got worried cos of c-spine changes + nausea/vomiting
so did a CT head and neck....

it was all good - .alhamdulillah...
took the neckbrace off - which was a relief to her tired neck!
checked the occipital lacerations - thank God they werent too bad
required only a couple of sutures...
observation for about 4-6hrs....
able eat/drink/mobilise...

the police by some great chance got her handbag back
the bloody crooks took her atms + ic + drivers license! BODOH, SIAL, BABI, SETAN!
police report made...hope it'll be easy!

ALHAMDULILLAH!!! i really, really pray tht the CT was normal and clear and dandy...
i really, really do not want this to be the "lucid interval" associated with an epidural haematoma...

FUCK YOU, you fucking snatch thieves! i hope u get wht u deserve for doing this to my mom!

plz God, i pray to You, let this not be an epidural haematoma....amin....

grumbles....

3months suspension?
really? ok...i guess they HAD to do something juz to appease the masses...

i do hope he makes it to rome...
and i REALLY, REALLY hopes he'll stay on for 2012...

*fingers crossed*
still a loyal fan....:)

PISSED!!!

feb23 - why did it have to be on this day - FOB, ft AAR & Hey Monday....

1st - i miss the concert itself...
2nd - now i miss the chance to "meet & greet" tyson....:(

bloody pissed!!!

McYummy....:)

finally! after 4wks in UH, i saw a McYummy...:)
he's an ED dr....
dr izzat (how similar is tht to mr izzard?!?)
*swoon*....:)

reckless abandon...

http://www.usmagazine.com/news/michael-phelps-apologizes+for+drug+photos

oh for God's sake!
he is a kid!
he's only 23!
he wants to be normal
give him a break!

but i guess, given his situation - athlete and 14gold Olympian - he ought to be careful and NOT have his photo taken, seeing as how marijuana is banned under World Anti-Doping Agency rules..

"I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again."

but hey,
to err is human...

pirate meets lords of dogtown

once again, this is a sure-fire recipe to make the heart skip a beat! :)

1. shaggy, grungy hair-do
2. body-art (a sleeve would've been ideal!)
3. a hot bod!

orlando bloom....this grungy, bad-boy-ish look suits u like a glove...
i heart you...:)

atopic hell!

i HATE being atopic!

i HATE having allergic rhinitis!!

i HATE having allergic conjunctivitis!!

leaky eyes and nose are NOT cool!

lies!!!!

LIES!!! all lies!!!

why would they say this....

but i love him anyway - always have, always will....:)


quoted from perezhilton:-

In Australia, the media has done everything but out swimmer Ian Thorpe.

Long rumored to be gay, the potential apple of Ian's eye is Brazilian swimmer Daniel Mendes.

Thorpe and Medes have been living together for the past three years, and Ian was recently spotted frolicking vacationing with Daniel. The pair spent the holidays between each other's families, and not for the first time either.

Ian and Daniel (has a nice ring to it!) have also attended recent events together.

They were introduced to each other by Ian's former coach, and started out as "training partners" before becoming "friends."

Thorpe's manager, however, says they're "just mates" - which is Australian for "fucking."

Gong Hey Fatt Choy!!! :)

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!! :)

may everybody have a bountiful and prosperous new year! ;)

and to my fellow OXen,
this is OUR year!!!! lets make it count! :)

new day...

it's the start of a new day...
the start of a new era...
for america, for the world...

lets hope Mr Barack Obama will do good by us...

free dinner?!? :)

so....it's just been about 10 minutes since i got back from sending puchi home after our "girls-night-out" at mosin....

as per usual, we were hanging out, chatting, catching up, reminiscing, and being our usual crazy, psycho selves....;) somewhere in the middle of our lepakking, i noticed 3 guys arriving and sitting at the table in front of ours....throughout the rest of our time there, i definately noticed tht those dudes were glancing at our table...as usual, i expected it - it is expected when one is hanging out with one's hot BFF...:)

anyways, here's the clincher - here's where it became interesting (to put it mildly)....
we were gonna call it a night and so we went to the cashier at mosin...when we got there - all ready and willing to pay for our horlicks-ais, milo-ais and double-cheese naan, lo-and-behold, the cashier-mamak told us "sudah bayar"...obviously, puchi and i gave and immediate "huh"?!? he told us tht the dude in white at tht table of 3 had already paid for us....

we were pretty befuddled to say the least...it took us awhile to comprehend wht had just happened and after tht it took us even longer to figure out wht to do nxt! me, i thought puchi oughta say thanks - seeing as how it's clear as day tht they were trying to get in her good graces....:) too bad for them, being the crazy/blur duo tht we are, we juz kinda walked behind their table back to my car with puchi juz shouting out a quick "thank you" and me gave a slight wave before the 2 of us jumped into my car!
as expected, they were kinda looking at us in a weird way as we drove off laughing and bewildered...:)

and so, the moral of tonight is, i sooo oughta have more of these lepak sessions with puchi - seeing as how she tends to get her meals paid for by strangers....:)