Bloody exams.

NUR 1109: Healthcare Ethics and Law
SSB 2216: Employee Management in Singapore
PP 2106: Basic Pharmacology
PY 1106: Physiology 2 EDIT @ 17 34, 26/04/07 (Happy Birthday, Hali!)
NUR 1110: Therapeutic Communication EDIT @ 1735, 30/03/07 (Yes! One more to go!)
NUR 1111: Contemporary Nursing EDIT @ 11 56, 02/05/07 (I'm done!)

Yes! The worst day is finally over. Remind me NEVER to take 2 papers in one day again. It's really quite bad, especially with 2 very heavy modules one after the other.

Anyhoo, today's Employee Management and Pharmaco exams were not good, to say the least.

I didn't manage to finish writing the essays for Employee Management. I was afraid I wouldn't understand the question but I should've been petrified of the fact that I knew how to do the questions (I think!) but Just. Could. Not. Finish. Writing. *sigh* this is what happens when you don't write essays for like 1.5 years.

And Pharmaco? Hm let's see. I totally blanked out on anti-diarrhoeal drugs for about 10 minutes before I finally remembered some of them, one of which is wrong. I forgot about Cysteinyl-Leukotriene Receptor Antagonists, which I thought were anti-inflammatory but are actually bronchodilators. I couldn't recall the adverse effects of nearly all the drugs even though I did study, although from reading the above diatribe (did I use the word correctly?), one might think otherwise.

Oh well. Learn to move on, Dina. And move I shall...to study Physio which is tomorrow. Boo.

EDIT (17 58): I cannot study cos I keep thinking about what I'm going to do after the exams. Anyway here's a list of things I really really REALLY want to do; feel free to add to it so I have more fun during the holidays and so that I don't go insane doing Rag.

1. Watch POC: At World's End, Spiderman 3 and HP Order of the Phoenix, Fantastic Four, Ocean's 13.
2. Go to Bukit Timah with Wanting as my guide.
3. Go rockclimbing with Wanting.
4. Sentosa
5. East Coast (cycling, kayaking, etc)
6. Shopping!
7. Pulau Ubin cycling, maybe see Chek Jawa at the same time.
8. Work

I wish I was nerdier!

Wannabe Nerd only, damn. This is a bad omen for tomorrow's exams!

The Opera Ghost

The Phantom of the Opera was simply superb!

I loved the costumes, the sets and especially the music :) though I didn't like the soprano singing; just can't appreciate it. You know how they always show how sopranos break glass with their singing? I never believed it before but I do now. Honestly, the singer who played Christine Daae could shatter some wine glasses if she held the note long enough. The Phantom was excellent cos he could always convey the emotion he felt through his singing and Raoul was just hot lah.

What helped me enjoy the experience even more was the fact that I was sitting so close that I could actually see the actors' expressions! That $100 ticket I bought was totally worth it. And oh, I bought a mug (I had to get some souvenir) on which the Phantom's mask will "magically" appear when you put hot water in it. It's quite cool actually.

Anyway The Phantom of the Opera has extended its run so for those of you who have yet to watch it, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Hurry go buy the tickets! Even if you sit far away, you'll still enjoy it.

Think of me
think of me fondly,
when we've said goodbye.
Remember me
once in a while -
please promise me
you'll try.
When you find
that, once
again, you long
to take your heart back
and be free -
if you
ever find
a moment,
spare a thought
for me.

Damn.

My plan to sleep early and wake up early isn't working out too well. The time this entry was posted is concrete proof.

Sometimes I wish I was a mugger. Not a total mugger though; the price to pay is a little steep for a young person like me. Then again, 3 years of hard work to have better pay and job prospects ain't so bad. Studying's better than working anyway and to those who say otherwise, you're sorely mistaken. Can't believe I feel this hostile towards attachments. Makes me wonder if I'm even fit to be a nurse... I think the harsh reality of the healthcare world just disenchanted me of my wonderful visions of helping people.

I envy those people who can sit for hours on end and absorb things like an unlimited sponge. My brain just can't do that and my butt gets numb after a while. Plus I realise hall isn't a good place for me to study. Yes I'm free from most distractions like the TV and good food, but the problem is when I need a proper break, I can't get one. On the other hand, at home I feel a lot more willing to hit the books after I've watched a little TV or eaten chocolate cake.

Anyway I'm going to watch the Phantom of the Opera on Sunday! Good thing musicals always come around my birthday so my parents can pay for the expensive tickets :) btw I have an extra $90+ ticket for Phantom. Anyone interested, please tell me ASAP.

Mid-mid-life crisis

Written on 17 April:

Well it's 12:02am and my birthday is finally over. One of the better ones I've had, I must say. From eating Chindian food and absolutely heavenly cheesecakes for Sunday's dinner to the Block B people celebrating my birthday. Thanks girls (and guys)!

I LOVED the card they made for me. They photoshopped my face onto a picture of a sexy nurse with big boobs and put a little styrofoam box between her fingers and changed the Blink 182 name tag to dink 509! =) damn funny.

The messages inside were great and very thoughtful but I think nearly everyone wrote something about (a) nursing, (b) tapowing, (c) barney/dinosaur or (d) all of the above. Well I'm glad I'm known for something around hall =) even if it isn't for something glamorous, like being the hottest babe *coughWantingcough* or pageant queen. You know, things like that.

You may be saying "Yes yes the card and cake are all well and good but where's the PRESENT?" After all, what's a birthday without a present right? :) anyway I got a really nice kimono top from them. It's just what I wanted so I really liked it. I'll wear it soon, maybe when I go and watch Phantom on Sunday, which is like the DAY BEFORE MY EXAM!

Darn. I need to study now.

April Fools

From an article in the Sunday Times:

"Sungei Pandan and Sungei Ulu Pandan - a 2.7km stretch of river from West Coast Road to Clementi Road - is now open to kayakers who wish for a scenic view of HDB flats."

I actually laughed out loud when I read this. I'd rather kayak around East Coast if I want a scenic view, thanks.

waitaminute!

There goes my holidays again :( with 3 weeks of attachment and Rag starting on 21st May instead of the original 14th June, I won't have any holidays until the next 3 month break. If I manage to stay in hall, that is.

Just look at the schedule!
(okay I tried to post the schedule up but it's in Adobe format, and being the tech-moron that I am, I don't know how to change it to JPEG or GIF. is it even possible?)

Boy, am I going to be exhausted during the hols! Nevermind, the mantra is "WE WILL WIN!"

If you add a little to a little and do this often, soon the little will become great. - Hesiod

I bought a ticket to the end of the rainbow

I can't wait for wait for the May/June/July period! No not cos of Rag even though I'm looking forward to that but I'm even more excited for the summer blockbusters!

Okay okay, Singapore doesn't have seasons so technically, the phrase "summer blockbusters" doesn't exist in our hot and humid lying-at-the-Equator (big whoop there.) country but I'm an American media junkie so I shall use it. So there.

Back to the main point: summer blockbusters. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Spiderman 3. I LOOOVE!

I only hope that The Queen Mother will take pity on me and give days off to watch the movies.

WARNING: Long rambling entry.

And the blows just keep on comin'...

Jian Hui just informed me that I'm 15th on the waiting list, the 9th girl and quite obviously not on the Master's List. Of course I asked if I could be moved up but he said it is a decision the JCRC and the blockheads have made. He also said from his experience, it is likely that I will not be able to get in and that if I wanted to quit Rag, he'd understand. I immediately said No, I will still help. I'm looking forward to Rag, to have a chance to be an active participant in something so important to SH; I'm definitely not going to take that away from myself. I don't want to, I CANNOT, leave Sheares Hall without participating in Rag. It's a cardinal sin, really.

Just the day before yesterday he was saying it's probable that I'll get the Master's list. That lifted my spirits a bit cos I thought he'd work a little of his magic. I thought if anyone could solve my problems, it'd be him, but he's not God and will never be. Anyway if it weren't for his interventions there wouldn't even be any negotiation at all. I'll be out of Sheares without a second thought. At least now, I'm still on waiting list. That's something, isn't it? *forces fake optimism*

Everytime I think about the people I will leave and the events I will miss, I feel a big wave of sadness engulfing me. I will never be able to experience hall as a senior, never again take part in events like Buaya Week, Night Cycling and endless suppers and never be able to spend another year in the company of good friends who are a breath of fresh air from my coursemates.

Why do people always revere leaders? Must you be a leader to be deemed good enough? Followers are important too. What is a leader without his people? As useless as the rain in a flood, is my best guess. A leader who can't follow is pretty much no good as well. Imagine one day if someone else is in charge, he'll forever be questioning decisions, not obeying orders cos he thinks his way is best, arguing with others who don't share his point of view and basically creating trouble. He'll be a wrecking ball, slowly knocking the team down. Of course this is not to say leaders are worthless, on the contrary they are important indeed but just don't forget the people under them.

Anyway I was thinking maybe I'm destined to be an APN and God's taking me out of hall to concentrate on my studies.

But because I love hall so much, I'm going to apply for the waiting list, which is really the last of last resorts already. If I don't get it, well then I'll deal.

Edit (18 00): Blubber just smsed me to say my chances of getting back in are pretty okay but daren't get my hopes up too high, just for them to come crashing back down again. Still keeping my fingers crossed though.. But I really must concentrate on my exams now!

All was fine and dandy until...

Latest news on my hall stay: Blubber and Seah have just told me there's nothing they can do and I don't have a place in hall.

My last resort as of now is to somehow wrangle a place on the Master's list and that battle is up to Rosanne to fight for me.

I thought I had come to terms with the fact that I won't be staying in hall any more but when they came to my room to let me know, I realised I hadn't.

I hate the fact that I'm totally powerless to do anything, short of forging the confirmation slip or making a ruckus at the OSA.
I hate it that I have to leave hall when I'm not ready to, all because of one stupid mistake.
I hate leaving all my friends behind, people I see more than my own family; people whom I've eaten breakfast and dinner with almost every day and people I can just go up and talk to even at 1am in the morning.
I hate all the red tape that governs NUS (why can't I just pay a late fee and be done with it already?!); just process the bloody application, dammit.
I hate it that the bad news had to come now when I have an essay due tomorrow and a test on Wednesday.

Interruption to my ranting: Rosanne informed me that Master's list for me may not be possible cos they had to submit in the names some time ago and she didn't cos obviously she thought I was staying, which I thought I was too. I most probably won't be able to get it cos then I'll be depriving someone else of a place, someone probably worthier than me, unfortunately. Anyway back to the entry.

But best of all, I hate the fact that Life's a bitch.

EDIT (00 52): The only small comfort is that at least I have SECC and Rag to look forward to. I'll be able to tell everyone that I was involved in Sheares Hall Rag; something to be proud of indeed.

More DND photos!

Yen, Eng Hooi, Denise (Program I/C), me and Sandra

This photo would've looked reeeaally nice if SANDRA hadn't done what she was doing. What is she doing?

Yau Yen Woon, once again the girl who took EONS to get ready.

Eng Hooi and me with former Mr Sheares reincarnated as Bona-san aka CMB chair. I can't get over the size of his boobs!

Beekers!

AGAIN, I don't know what LSM is doing!

Acting cute.. Why must girls have the "act-cute" pose in every event? I don't understand it.

I obviously can't act cute, I think that's why I don't like the act-cute pose.

The six of us again, standing on a carpet that was strangely bumpy (?) in all the wrong places.

Told you I can't do it. I. Simply. Cannot.

They say Sandra looks like she has the tree growing out of her head in this photo but I still like it very much :)