DAY 1954-1969

Jan 8 - 23

1) So a wonderful two weeks it has been since starting our last semester of medical school. Our class was split into two - Group A (my group) would start with medicine then finish with surgery, while Group B would start with surgery first and then medicine. Honestly, there is a huge disparity in the way the two modules are conducted. While medicine only consists of three clinicals in a week (+/- some online lectures), surgery is a whole different affair. They have 8-12 sessions every day, and sub-internship is literally an entire week of 7am-7pm clinicals, including Saturdays and Sundays. For our group, this means that we start off really slowly, giving us ample opportunity for self-directed learning and also to finish our case write-ups.

2) I would be remiss not to talk about my birthday celebration. Having mentioned to my good friend Tenisha that I usually never really celebrate my birthday, she decided to help me properly celebrate it this year. So on my special day, we kicked off by going to watch Spiderman: No Way Home at Gurney Plaza. Without spoiling, I especially loved the nostalgia and homage that it paid to the previous movies. We spent the afternoon at Straits Quay, whiling away the time before an early dinner at Pulau Tikus Kitchen - famous for their chili crab. I should mention that I am really quite fond of crabs, so it was an absolute delight to sink my teeth into them after such a long time. Then Tenisha surprised me again for dessert, taking me to China House for some kahlua infused tiramisu - their house specialty. I was at a loss for words as I genuinely did not expect any of this. Suffice to say, it has been my most memorable birthday celebration to date :)

3) Fast forward two weeks and it's Tenisha's big day. Unfortunately as it fell on a weekday, we could only celebrate it belatedly during the weekend. So for dinner, Tenisha, myself, and Olly met up at The Loft. It was fully packed that evening, so luckily we had reserved a table earlier. Unfortunately, service was really slow, as we waited for almost an hour for our meals to arrive. Luckily, the company more than made up for the poor service. We even managed to surprise Tenisha with a very impromptu slice of birthday cake - complete with birthday song and card. Hopefully it's been a memorable day for her in the same way she had made me so memorable for me. 

4) With no more birthdays to celebrate, I guess it's back to the daily grind. And what a grind it is going to be - with finals looming so large, there simply is no excuse anymore. Hopefully, we'll all make it out in one piece. And with that, I'll end my blog post here. Thanks very much for visiting as always, and have a lovely week ahead. Cheers!

Dessert at China House was such a nice way to end my special day :')

Of course, I would notice that the "KC" in the sign is my initials while the "8" represents my birthdate. Coincidence? I think not!

Another year older, another year wiser (or so they say)

Spending the afternoon at Straits Quay, while waiting for the restaurant to open for dinner

Straits Quay Marina Lighthouse

Pulau Tikus Kitchen, located right beside the police station

Was asked by our server to promote the shop, since we told her we really enjoyed the food.

Chili crab was the bomb...

Pro tip: Use the mantou buns to mop up all that sauce :)

Chili crab, fried bee hoon (vermicelli), and fried mantou buns for dinner
As you can see, we're more excited to begin eating than to pose for a picture XD

So I apparently love crabs. A lot XD

A perfect end to a wonderful birthday celebration!

Myself, Olly, and Tenisha - dinner at The Loft :)

Clockwise from top: Pasta Parma Rosa, Beef Lasagna, Alla Bolognaise

I don't think the whole hand gesture thing worked out as planned XD

Post-prandial smile :)

Trying out Bee Hwa Cafe (a traditional Hainanese Kopitiam) for the first time!

L-R: Sagar, Helmi, Myself

Banana leaf rice today

Penang is truly a food haven

And that's the end of my printer ):

Spotted crossing the Penang Bridge today - a red Lamborghini Huracan Performante Spyder :)

That's the last one I promise :)

DAY 1942-1953

Dec 27 - Jan 7

1) It has been 12 days since my last blog post. And what a busy 12 days it has been! We've started a New Year, finished our public health rotations, sat for the Public Health II Examinations and end-of-block surgery examinations, gotten swabbed (again), and received our booster dose vaccinations. Public health was the final hurdle that we had to clear before our final semester of final year (due to it being a barring examination), and I'm really glad that it's over so that we can get back to our bread and butter of medicine / surgery.

2) On a personal note, I had another SFP (Specialised Foundation Programme) interview recently. Without getting into too much detail, it certainly was not what I had expected for an interview session. Imagine studying the entirety of A-Levels physics only to appear for a History examination - that's how far I missed the mark XD. At this rate, only time will tell if it was good enough for an offer, although I'm certainly not keeping my hopes high. At least I'll find out the results for both interviews soon, as they are due latest end of this month.

3) Semester 10 will be the final semester of our long medical school journey. It consists of "only" two modules - medicine and surgery, each of which lasts 7 weeks. Half the class starts with medicine, and the other half with surgery. I'm in Group A7a, which means I'll be starting off with medicine first. For this semester, three training hospitals are utilised - Penang General Hospital (PGH), Seberang Jaya Hospital (SJH), and Taiping Hospital. 

4) In addition to the usual ward rounds and clinics that we have become familiar with throughout our course, this final semester also includes sub-internship, where we shadow house officers and observe / assist / perform procedures as required. Sub-internship seems quite daunting for now, as it is 7am-7pm every day including the weekends, and 7am-1pm on Sundays. A measly 2% is awarded for sub-internship in both medicine and surgery, which frankly is inconsequential compared to the remaining 80% available from our final examinations. Nevertheless, I'm confident we'll gain some good practical experience from being exposed to the daily tasks and duties of a house officer in the wards.

5) It is the start of the new year, and hopefully the start of better things to come. Thank you for visiting my blog as always, and have a great weekend ahead. Cheers! 

Celebrating Nana's birthday @ Coffee Elements, All Season's Place

Ending public health with another nice group photo!

Pic taken at Seberang Jaya Health Clinic (KKSJ)

Doing my part for the community - my presentation on smoking cessation

It seems like I'm presenting to an empty audience 

but there were actually loads of people behind the chairs

A nice thank you gift!

I certainly was not expecting to bump into Hoong Yun, and right in front of my apartment too!

Hin Bus Depot on New Year's Eve - very lively and happening as always :)

Hin Bus Depot - for our New Year's Eve Countdown

Bumped into our seniors Jason and Vivien from C2019! :)

Ushering the new year with four thumbs up!

Liang pi (spicy cold skin noodles) from a food stall nearby

At an undisclosed bar, where we drank the year away :p

(bumped into yet another senior in the form of Kay Vin)

A very thoughtful message from the drive-through staff at McD today :)

Beef barbacoa served with crispy tortillas

A very Mexican lunch at Holy Guacamole

Batu Ferringhi Beach today

(killing time while waiting for our booster dose walk-in at Seberang Jaya Hospital)

Chinese-style lunch today (chicken with dried chilli and claypot tofu)

before heading for our booster shots

I'm starting to notice a trend of bumping into people lately XD

With Fadhli at the walk-in vaccination centre

Title above my head reads "I've been vaccinated!"

Pfizer 0.3mL intramuscular injection into the left deltoid muscle

No side effects, all good