Why film maker need to go to a medical school

I like watching 'medical' scene in any Asian drama. They are absurd!

I was watching a drama circling around a life of the blind.

1st: Ophthalmologist can diagnose glaucoma just by doing visual acuity test. Where is your tonometer or at least slit lamp? Aqueous depth? Yes you can do that with primitive tools, but to come to a diagnosis, one have to have the intra-ocular pressure, unless if the person is already blind, by then the cause is apparent.

2nd: One can get blind from glaucoma. Yes indeed it is true, but iridectomy, is not that hard to do. One can just use laser beam to open up a hole. As long as the doctor detect it earlier.

In the drama, the diagnosis was done before the hero gone blind.

Asian drama... DRAMATIC! no wonder Asians are a bunch of paranoid and hypochondriac.

Lunchbox

I was preparing my lunchbox a while ago. While preparing, I reminisced the past.

I was thinking of packing some chips to school. However, I would never put that idea into action. Back in the kindy, we had a strict regulations on junk food. Initially, almost everyone would pack junk foods to school. Not my mother though. They are convenient and... delicious?

Back then, there were no specific regulation from the ministry on junk foods at school. The new regulation was introduced to our teacher to encourage students to have proper nutrition. However, students speculated that, our teacher impose the rule because of our tendency to litter. After eating those junk foods we would simply throw the packaging on the school ground. The refuse bin is always full anyway. That is just a speculation.

Our teacher, Madam Suzanna and Madam Annie would inspect our lunchbox. Students line up and show the teachers what they are packing for recess. A friend of mine, Jacqueline brought a lunchbox full of fish crackers to school. She usually shares her lunch with her twin cousins, Rachael and Cynthia. Madam Suzanna warned her not to bring junk food to school.

She did the same the following day. A few seconds later, she received a stroke of rattan cane. She cried. Even worse, her lunch was confiscated. So Jacqueline, Rachael and Cynthia have no food for recess. Luckily, Robson was kind enough to offer them some of his lunch. Valena too. I didn't offer them mine because I would usually pack boiled egg with soy sauce and vegetables. I have the most boring food.

We think that she's innocent because she only bring the contents of the packaging. Yes, we didn't know the idea behind the new rule. We thought that we are good enough not to litter the school compound. This was more than 20 years ago.

Children never care whether our food are nutritious or not. We cared more about the taste.

Yes, our teacher would cane us. However, I had no resentment towards my teachers. They were brought up the same way. And I don't promote canning. We've taste our medicine. Detention is better.

Packing junk food for recess? I would definitely think twice.

Mas, I would like to have a glass of limeade.

My mother and I were at the town, shopping at the Sunday Market. It's where jungle produce can be found. One can buy wooden pestle an mortar, snails (local 'escargot'), even turtles and tortoises. Live chickens, quails and fish are also available. If they're in luck, one can find pythons and venison and other exotic foods. Today I saw some civets lying in front of the peddlers.

Then we went to a coffee shop to have our breakfast. Serving us is an Indonesian gentlemen. As we are seated, I call for a waiter. Asking for a glass of limeade, I address him as Mas, a polite way to call another male (your age or slightly older) in Indonesian.

"Mas, can we have 2 glasses of limeade?"

He replied "certainly"

A few minutes later, he came with our order. I thanked him "Thank you, mas" while my mother handed him some money. He came back with the change and said "This is the balance, thank you Bu"

The moral of the story is, if you want a good service from a foreign worker, try to make them at home.

That's how my younger brother survived his internship at a plantation. He tries to make friends with his Indonesian colleague. His new friends were pleased that they gave him a Buginese machete, probably from the Celebes as a token of their friendship.

Jumping on a New Year...

Yes, jumping, literally...

My Filipino aunt would ask us children to jump on the midnight of New Year. By doing so, we would get taller. I'm the tallest among all of us, and I'm just 173cm high!

I should get a trampoline next time.

Thanks Mikey Bustos. I can't stop laughing.

And having a Filipina aunt is fun too... new food. new custom, new language...

The world could be a better place with atheist... REALLY?

I'm not an atheist, nor am I a devout religious pious person.

Never underestimate an atheist. They know a lot more about religions than the religion adhering person. They lack faith. Not to say that I am very faithful. Life experience could change a person's point of view towards religion.

The Muslims would label a Christian 'Kaffir' in a Muslim majority nation. Not complaining. Halfway across the world, Christians call Muslims 'Infidel'. Doesn't apply to all but the truth is religions do divide human beings.

Growing up, I am afraid of the Catholics. Well, Sunday Law is a very big thing in our denomination. Yes, I'm a paranoid. My Catholic friends doesn't do any good. They questioned me with 'how genuine is our denomination?' and 'why I don't worship on the Lord's day?'. Well, we're naive. As long as you're not of the same flock, you will be marginalized.

Can the atheist help? SURE? Put a Christian and a Muslim (preferably those extremist, both) in an atheist majority world, they'll more likely to be friend, understand each other's religion better, and would taste the taste of prejudice. There, atheism saves the world.

Well, personally, I think religion is man-made. God is God. And man are more likely to worship a religion than worshipping God. Religious tension? Man-made. Nothing to do with God. And religion politicize God. Blatant idolatry.

And God would surely smite me! For blogging on Sabbath and for promoting atheism. And my left ball hurts.

Canadian would thank Aussies for this (Aussies help Canucks retaliate?)

All this while, Canadian monies became the subject of almost every American joke. Canadian banknotes looks like monopoly? Let's hear what Aussies think of America?

Yes American banknotes are not as colourful as Canadians or Australians...

And yes, why do you like imperial units so much?

Thanks Aussies for the help. Canucks are too polite to answer back.

Beau and his reflection

Finally Beau made peace with his reflection.

And he starts to jump out of water.

A cute boy.

Sleeping Beauty and Laura Zee Pam

Aurora is the sleeping beauty
Lorazepam is a sleeping pill.

Can't think of a joke but imagine how funny if there's a real person by the name of Laura Zee Pam.

Maybe Aurora's full name is

AURORA ZEE PAM...

Meet Beau, my fish.

Beau flaring his gills and fins to scare off his reflection. Silly Beau!

It's been almost a week since I bought Beau. I bought him on my bestie's birthday, St. Paddy's day eve. (Yes, it's a he... a male Siamese fighting fish)

I read online that, bettas would respond to his name. He's red and aggressive. Initially, I thought of naming him Maple, but that's too girly. Yes, I'm a Canadiophile, but a sensible one... not that Canadiophiles aren't sensible though.

Red and aggressive, bought a day before St Patricks'. Maybe an Irish name. Seamus? Eamon? Danny McCavany? Eoin?... to tell the truth, I have problem pronouncing Irish names. How about Patrick?

Finally, a name best describe him. Beau. He's just dandy. And it's French.

This is to honour the Quebecois, French-Canadians and also my French readers. Readers from France contribute to about 10 percent of my blog readers. (10 percent readers from foreign nation, second to the United States)

To all French and Francophone readers,
MERCI BEAUCOUP!

And Beau said Hi!

A time capsule... a decade ago...

CARGO MAGAZINE is one of my favourite magazine. That explains my affinity towards metrosexualism.

This edition is 10 years old now. It's March 2005 issue.

Recognize this guy? Back then he's just a model. Michael Bergin was the supermodel back then, and perhaps Will Chalker. No Sean O'Pry, no Noah Mills. But yes DAVID GANDY. 10 years later, he's a sensation. Back then, he's just another model for GANT. If you're not familiar with David Gandy, just google up DOLCE & GABBANA LIGHT BLUE. And you would melt upon seeing his eyes... and probably bulge. Not that you eye would bulge but his bulge... and I'm starting to make a homoerotic comment. Well, it's the truth and I must admit I envy him.

One of the coolest gadget, a roll up keyboard. CARGO is actually, men's shopping magazine. It's more of a catalogue than magazine. But cooler!

Yes, March 2005. 10 years ago. An era which I would like to be in if I can turn back time. Pre PTSD, positive attitude, better me. Only back then, I never appreciate it.

Well, c'est la vie. Nobody knows their future. 

If I can send a letter to the in-the-past me, I would tell myself not to study in a CHEAPSKATE UNI and just go ahead with my plan to study medicine in Manipal. The only reason I got myself into the cheapskate uni is the offer letter came first. The board sponsoring the medical students, initially, rejected my application because of my father's income. And I thought sponsorship should be offered to somebody with good grades not just their income. Yes, it's above average but my father paid more income taxes too...

Bureaucracy... tsk tsk tsk. (I believe it's because I don't embrace the major (official) religion... typical)

And these bureaucratic insanity drives youngsters to migrate out!

Brain-drain

Sunset

Sunset by the beach

Isn't this place beautiful? I felt like I'm at a foreign land.

A tree. A nice spot for a wedding photoshoot.

A cute house

This house is cute. A wooden house with annexed kitchen. I would built that way too. Kitchen are generally hotter and it's a good idea to separate it from the main house. And by separating the kitchen, it's windy too. You can put windows at all 4 walls for ventilation.

The logic behind this is to prevent fire from the kitchen spreading into the main house. It's not just here. In fact some houses/mansions in the Southern States have separate kitchens too.

If I were to build a house, I'll cover the porch between the main house and the kitchen for dining.

My new pet. A red Siamese fighting fish

Yesterday, I bought a  fighting fish. Bright red. I bought it in an aquaria owned by ex-classmate's brother. And it's the nearest fish shop too. I never thought of finding bettas there. Slipped off my mind. I was thinking of buying one in the town as I've bought some from an aquaria in the town, more than a decade ago.

I surveyed the shop last Sunday to see if they sell bettas. This is my first visit to the shop/house. Previously, my ex-classmate Sen's aquaria was near the 8th junction, now they move to the 7th junction which is busier that the 8th junction, In fact, it's the busiest junction. My house is in between the 8th and 7th street, near the river. Older generation would refer to my place as P. 8 but the younger one would say that I live in P. 7D. Including me. Yes, when I was in the kindy, my home address is P.8. Once P.7D was complete, the easiest way to my place is through P.7 (from the town)

Enough about my place. I bought the fish, the aquatic plant and fish feed from Sen's. I was indecisive on which one to buy. There are more than a dozen displayed. Blue one, red one and more behind the cupboard. A boy was helping me choosing one. He asked me if I like day or night. I'm not sure how to answer him. Apparently, he meant that if I like bright or dark colour. A helpful boy. I'm not sure if he's Sen's nephew or just another client. But he's smart for his age. Reminding me of my nephew.

I asked the owner, who I assumed to be Sen's sister, a red one. It wasn't in the display. But I like the red fish once I see it. A cute healthy one. With flowing fins. The boy also asked me if I like tortoise. This boy is intelligent. He told me a male tortoise is rounder than female one. And he tried to explain this in English. Finally, he asked me if I know Mandarin because he's exhausted. Yes, English is exhausting. I don't blame the boy. That's how we are. It's not our mother's tongue. But I salute his effort. And for a 6 year old, non-native English speaker, he has a good command in English.

 

p/s I use RO water to fill the jar

it's St Paddy!

these are actually weeds. I'm not sure if it's a shamrock.

one of my favourite photo

My picture with my oldest bestie. Best-friends since 1994.

For more than 20 years.

And both of us are still studying when others are working.

I decided to post it here because it's priceless.

Facebook...

I finally logged into my facebook account.

I must admit I cried. One of the message in my inbox was from my late cousin.

Another one is from my former bestie, Dante, telling thanking me for being her friend although I tried to forget her, well most medical school friends.

Another message was from Atiqah, hoping that I continued my study so that we would be in the same group. Yes, Atiqah, if only you didn't went MIA during our 2013 final years, maybe I could stand the pressure. Despite being harsh and quite insecure, she is not a hypocrite. We argued very often but we didn't take our difference seriously. Atiqah, if only, Atiqah.

Well c'est la vie.

I'm not going to use facebook anymore. It's just painful.

Luckily, I logged in. Honestly, I've forgotten when is my bestie, Simone's birthday. After PTSD, I just lost some of the crucial information. Becoming more forgetful, making me doubtful about my credibility to be a doctor. Well, losing a lot of sleep. Nobody could understand a person inflicted with PTSD besides PTSD survivors. Not even doctors or psychiatrist. We are angry at ourselves, others and almost everything under the sun.

We are just angry because it is unfair for us. And the other so-called normal person doesn't think that it's a valid illness. Nobody takes PTSD seriously. We look normal but in our heart, it's either a big black hole or full of resentment.

C'est la vie

p/s It's your birthday tomorrow Bestie!

Sprained wrist

I was mending the pipe. It's leaking.

The pipe is a HDPE pipe. The black one.

The advantages of using one are, it's durability, there no need to apply glue and it's more flexible than copper or PVC.

However, there a downside that I dislike. One must be careful when connecting HDPE pipes. One must insert the compression nuts and then the white thingy and then the O-ring.

I did all correctly, but I force the white thing into one of the pipe. And I sprained my wrist. My left wrist, my dominant hand.

It's painful and I have tons of assignment.

And my tyre failed too. I can't change the tyre even with good hands, what more to say with a sprained wrist. Why the car manufacturer produce tight rims and wheel hubs...

A weird squeaking sound

I was alone at home. And my house is a 3 bedroom bungalow. Built in the late 80's, it's quite large. Large and old. I am not afraid to be home alone but if there's a weird sound, that would trigger my anxiety.

There a squeaking sound in the living room. A squeak almost similar to a hawk's squeak.

Upon hearing that sound, I couldn't help but to think about my little garuda. Too bad, it died.

The sound is persistent, and it started to annoy me. Annoyed and a bit scared. It sounded like a timer. I was looking for the source of the sound. Not in the master bedroom although it sounds like it is from that direction. I returned to the living room and the sound gets louder.

Apparently, it's the table fan.

I sprained my left wrist

It's tender but I don't think I want to go to the emergency room. Something about the attitude of staffs there.

Yes, the ER is busy, but the the staffs are... I prefer not to say.

Yes, sprained wrist is trivial, but it is painful. On the scale of 1-10, it's 6. I can type because I'm resting my wrist on the keypad. And it's still painful.

Forget the ER, I prefer browsing the internet. WebMD is cheaper, more convenient and wouldn't bark at you. And to be honest, most medical students refer the WebMD for our assignment.

How PTSD benefit me

How PTSD benefit me

Yes, I've been ranting about my PTSD, it's recurrence and all. An almost hellish experience one 

would not want to experience. Something which leads me to quitting my Medical degree.

Looking at the silver lining, PTSD helps me to be more emphatic. I would try to understand the 

others.

Being in the rut, I could feel how hard it is to be depressed and helpless. And realizing that sympathy doesn't work but worsen one's morale. Sympathizing makes one more helpless. And there is a real 

medical term called 'Learned Helplessness'.

After this unpleasant experience, I HATE the word sympathy, sympathizer and anything to do with it.

PTSD helps me look into the other side of the mirror. A new perspective on life.

I might cursed the force which gave me PTSD but deep in my heart, I am thankful that I have the 

experience of being in deep shit.

(p/s Patrick Jane is another example on how PTSD turn him into a better person)

Why bondage is good for relationship.

Why bondage is good for relationship.

First sexual desire is normal. If you think that blogging about sex is inappropriate please do not judge me.

My sexual fantasy is to be tied by my significant other and have sex. Yes, I'm talking about 

BONDAGE. A pleasure. Somebody taking care of your carnal desire while your girlfriend pleases you. Just relax and sit back. Doing such makes you feel desired. Imagine a hungry girl devouring a big slice of chocolate cake. I want to be that chocolate cake.

Imagine yourself helpless, powerless and tied to the bed, subdued by your significant other. Yes, I'm into femdom. 

Committing yourself into bondage needs a lot of trust. You must trust your spouse and you reciprocate it by being trustworthy.

Why is it good for relationship? Trust is one of it. Trusting your girlfriend not to harm you. Just a bit of teasing. Spanking, pinching and biting. Being treated like a precious cake. Appreciated by your 

significant other. Without trust, would you commit into bondage? So a couple practising bondage is a very trusting one.

Next it gives break to the girls. They want to be in control too. All this while, women are being 'subdued' by guys. Let them have their good time, controlling you. Let them have pleasure as they please. I guess by doing this, women would like to have sex more.

Guys want to have sex too often that they forget that it takes two to tango. If guy let the girl to have fun like we did, it would be a pleasurable experience. Making sex pleasurable to both is hard, so try to talk to your girl on what would they like to do on bed.

And guys, don't forego foreplay.

Dried curry leaves to down under...

A distant cousin of mine is a nurse in Australia. South Australia.

Her mother called my mother if we have any fresh curry leaves. We have 2 curry trees. One is enclosed in the chicken coop another one is further back. It's dark so I managed to get a few fronds of curry leaves from the one growing in the chicken coop. Fortunately, my pet chook doesn't peck me. Well silkies are the tamest breed of chicken. 2 roosters but they never fight. The 2 roosters are like buddies.

While plucking the curry leaves in the dark, something came into my mind.

CAN ONE BRING IN CURRY LEAVES INTO OZ?

And then, Trevor Noah's Australian Quarantine joke.

Not wanting to waste such a fine ingredient, I googled up on Oz's food quarantine.

http://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity

(p/s and my earworm is playing Waltzing Mathilda)

Blogging from my smart phone?

I wish I can. I know it is possible. I've just installed Blogger from Google Play to my smart phone.

But I can log in into this blog. Not an expert on IT.

Another thing to be considered. Can I continue my anonymity like I did now if I use my smart phone. In time like this I wish my bestie Simone is around to guide me how.

Uloh, putang ina!

Putang ina is a rude phrase. It means son of a bitch, literally, your mother is a bitch.

Last Thursday, a colleague of mine (Occupational Safety and Health student) 

I'm the only one who laughed. 

Speaking of SOB, in medical jargon, it means shortness of breath. Imagine if an English/English educated patient gasping for air, and the doctor said "this patient have SOB"

Imagine the confusion caused. The patient thinks that the doctor is being rude when the doctor is just describing his condition.

Why I wish medical students don't watch Gregory House...

House M.D is a good medical drama. A good drama as a drama but not good as an example.

One can learn how to make diagnosis with differentials diagnosis by watching House M.D. It's a good teaching aid. I recommend medical students out there to watch the drama.

You can ditch your Clinical Medicine book if you watch it religiously.

However, Gregory House is not a good example. His knowledge is but not his attitude. He has psychiatric issues anyway.

Most young doctors learnt that it is okay to be a jerk, just like Dr. House. I've seen a lot of those. Being a jerk just because Gregory House is. Don't they know he has mental issues to handle?

Ironically, medical student with psychiatric illness wouldn't act like a jerk. We can if we want to, but we know how hard it is to live with any illness. We are more empathic towards patients. We were in their shoes like literally.

So my advice to future doctors watching House M.D., please watch at your own discretion. You don't have to be a jerk in order to be 'cool'.

And other healthcare workers would appreciate it too!

(I've talk to nurses and technicians at the hospital. They all came to a mutually agreed conclusion. Doctors are indeed not really the sharpest scalpel on the trolley)

Asian Medical Drama

We were having our dinner at a restaurant. Well, the signboard said restaurant. In this region, any food and beverage outlet can be a restaurant. One can simply name their establishment a restaurant as long as food and drinks are served.

I'm not sure about the exact name of such establishment in other countries. Imagine a place selling food with the telly switched on. A bistro? A trattoria? A canteen?

While eating dinner, I watched (at a glance) the Korean drama in the telly. It's a medical drama.

Well, Korean drama is a craze here. Not my cup of tea though. I prefer the Japanese drama. Korean drama is too sappy. Augmented reality like their body. It's almost a fairy-tale like story plot. Okay, back to the medical drama.

There, a suspense music played. A lady was lying unconscious on the floor. Come 2 ER doctors, resuscitating the poor lady. A suspense drama should come with a thrilling scene. One of the doctor pulled out a portable Oxygen tank from his bag. Then a syringe with hypodermic needle.

I was expecting a tracheotomy. The scene was so tense. And... there, the lady, stabilized, gaining her conscious, with a NASAL PRONG/NASAL CANNULAE in her nostrils. While the other patron was concentrating on the telly, I laughed. Yes. It's funny. Why bother carry an oxygen tank when the patient can breathe through her nose? Never heard of Ambu Bag?

I was expecting the doctors to inject anaesthesia and incise the neck for tracheotomy, connecting the tracheostomy tube to the tank. The scene is not suspense enough for such sound effect.

Well, medical drama in this region is a crap. The formula for an Asian medical drama is (Handsome/Pretty doctors + complicated love + 'high tech' medical facilities*)

The best Medical Drama still goes to E.R.

It was written by a former medical student (like me) the late Michael Crichton M.D.

Grey's Anatomy? So sappy. Formula as above.

House M.D.? Hmmm I'll write a blog on it. I don't really like it and I promise I'll explain it in the other blog.

*Yes high-tech facilities but still the patients die. High tech gadgets without medical skills is like a gold ring on a pig's nose.

Singing in the class.

For our English class assignment, the lecturer gave us a task.

The task was to complete a travel log/plan for a writer. The countries provided for the assignment are Australia, South Africa, India, Canada and Ireland.

Naturally, when ever one mention these countries; Australia or New Zealand or Canada or South Africa, I would start to sing their National Anthem.

My seatmates were puzzled when I sang those anthems while doing my assignment.

I would start to sing ...Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free... to ...O Canada, our home and native land, true... to Nkosi sikelel iAfrica, malupha kanyis uPhondo lwayo...

Too bad New Zealand isn't in the list. I would have sing ...E ihoa atua, o nga iwi...

Well, India is in the list and I only can sing a few words.

I'm not a linguist but...

I'm not a linguist but I like to learn how people pronounce a word.

This may not be accurate. Better is pronounced differently among English native speaker.

UK (non-RP) would likely to omit the T in better.
It sounds like be'er. (imagine Jamie Oliver)

American substitute T with D.
It sounds like bedder.

Australians are more laid-back.
Their better sounds like Beta, like the Greek letter.

New Zealander and South African
Bitter?

Canadians are like American/British hybrid. The follow the American pronunciation (most of the time) while retaining British spelling.

Rest of the world
Pronounce batter and better the same way.

Please comment. My opinion might be different from yours.