yesterday i went to monash medical centre (mmc) for my buddy visit and boy
did i love it! i think i'm going to mmc next year for clinicals if nothing goes
wrong. i just love the place. and the seniors we had were absolutely gems! they
were so willing to teach and gave us so many tips and tricks to handling
patients. this guy ben even typed out a list of what he thought we should know
about the clinical years! i was so impressed that he bothered!

i was initially torn between alfred and mmc. alfred, being near the city, by
default has a higher glam factor. it is, obviously, a much more sophisticated
hospital than mmc. BUT, mmc is the busiest hospital in melbourne! and it has
the most facilities. mmc centres on hands-on learning, while alfred places more
emphasis on lectures and academics. the seniors told me that it doesn't matter
where you go, because eventually, if you're really good, you'll end up someplace
good. like keegan, the other senior, who went to mmc for 2 years but he's
starting out at alfred for his internship next year. so there! point taken.

plus mmc is like 10 minutes walk from my house! that is like an added pull
factor for me. i really think mmc gave me a much much better impression
than alfred. thank goodness i got to visit mmc this year! we went to the cardio
ward but i didn't manage to use the stethoscope that i so excited lugged along.
however i took a history and presented it to everyone and the seniors said that
i did an excellent job! yay :) i heart mmc! <3

oh man. and i've been gaining weight! this is weird because i've been exercising
and logically speaking i should lose the pounds so why is the reverse happening? :(

even though there are things i'd love to write about, i'm too worn out to write
in detail :/ even though i've been on holiday mode and slacking away for the
past week, i just can't imagine why i feel so knackered... plus i just got hay
fever today, which makes things worse! hello watery eyes and runny nose :S

here's a roundup of my week in point form:

• friday & saturday: DARE women's conference, which was absolutely amazing and inspiring :)
• saturday night: takeaway nandos and fast&furious:tokyo drift with nick
• sunday: shopping at DFO! ; then a trip down to the city to visit audrey with nick
• monday & tuesday: community placement

i have to write about this gorgeous lady i met at community placement yesterday. she had the most cheerful disposition i'd ever seen and was just so warm and friendly. i heard she'd got into some terrible car accident some years ago which damaged her brain badly, so that she spoke with a stutter and had some memory loss. but she has such a lovely and endearing personality i must say! placements are fun but i guess they can get draining at times. i spent most of yesterday doing tapestries with the participants, and today it was collage-making and music, plus getting kissed on the cheek by frank! haha :)

i am so digging this bag!



this season's handbag by prada. clipframe bags are so in!

on the other hand, i'm loving this paul&joe bag too:



tell me it's not cute.... i want!!! haha.

just got back from the DARE women's conference. boy was it empowering!
sesh two is on tomorrow i know it's going to be great :) for now, i'm gonna
wash up and read my new sophie kinsella book yay!

good morning! i think i woke up on the right side of bed today :)
probably because it's the first time since school started that i finally had
ENOUGH sleep! haha. i skipped the 8am lecture today though, because i
figured i wouldn't be able to get up, and in true eleanor fashion, i overslept.
haha!

last night nick and i went to this japanese place called Shira Nui for our
first anniversary dinner. it was located very inconspicuously along the shops
at glen and looked very unassumingly like someone's humble abode rather than
a restaurant. however, we checked up on the place online before we decided on
this restaurant, and it received a fair bit of commendations, so we were assured
of good food. because the place was quite packed, we had to sit at the sushi bar,
but that was cool because we got to see the chef-owner, hirosan, in action! we
watched him prepare some kind of eel sushi which involved grilling the eel with
something that looked like a handheld bunsen burner and then packing the eel
and rice into a wooden mould, which could be detached to reveal the perfectly
formed sushi.

we had sashimi for the entree, as usual, and this time nick chose a platter of
rare beef sushi as well. the sashimi was not too bad but the beef sushi was just
divine! it arrived as thin slices of beef coating the rice balls underneath, and the
beef was only slightly grilled (hence somewhat rare). this dish was a winner
with the both of us! it was the first time i ever had sushi with beef, and i think
that it was an ingenious combination. for the main course, nick had the grilled sea
perch with miso seasoning, and i had the momo-yaki chicken. both were on
the whole, above average and did not disappoint our palattes. i meant to take
a few pictures of the lovely food but we kept forgetting to do so! (maybe because
we were too ravenous.) we didn't stay for dessert because they had mostly creme
brulee which nick doesn't take to, and then we went to purple stone for some
black sesame (nick's) and cookie fudge brownie (mine) gelati. yum! :)

then we went home and watched prison break 2 episode 1. boy it was so
exciting. and shocking too. can't wait for the next episode!

wahoooo
this is the start of my short but hopefully sweet break!
even though i had to rely on a lot of blind guessing to answer the questions, and that i forgot all
my urology stuff, i think (and hope) it didn't go as bad as i thought it would, because His mercy and grace always carries me through! talk about being ill-prepared. i totally abandoned anatomy
for physiology and neuroscience and i think i got all the gastro questions wrong (why am i surprised? haha). but yes, bottomline is: i'm still very thankful!

i'm now in the uni library blogging away because i skipped a lecture! haha. evidence based medicine and critical appraisal. with a title like this, i don't know how much i'm going to really
pay attention. plus the exam's just over, and i'm in party mode! haha. lots of people skipped
it too! so that makes me not-so-guilty, in a way. and it's not like i'm going to miss much.

yesterday's community placement was the best ever. the kind people at wavlink gave us
half a day off, and we watched a movie at the village cinemas. i got in for free! :) we watched
hoodwinked which was kind of like little red riding hood with a twist but it wasn't really that
good, because there wasn't much of a humour element involved. but there are a lot of cool
cartoons and animated films coming soon so i'm really looking forward to them because the
trailers were so hilarious.

ok i've nothing much to blog about anymore, and i refuse to think of or write about stuff that
does not make me happy. haha ok off to lectures! i hope the lecturer isn't a monotonous droner.

sometimes i feel like i think too much for my own good.
like seriously way too much.
to the point that i tend to veer on paranoia;
ok that is pretty freaky i should just stop thinking so much. haha
anyway my exam is on wednesday and i am as usual doing everything but
studying... haha. wish me luck people!

i feel like such a fool sometimes.
always doing silly things, and so weak in the mind and heart, especially,
because i know it's gonna hurt but i'd still go along with it
gosh. i wish i were stronger

i wish we could just be truly happy
like we used to be

i am practically coughing and coughing my lungs out.
this is the first time in years that i've been ill for more than a week, and all along
i thought i had a pretty good constituition, so this comes as an unprecedented
bout of prolonged illness. :(

then i went running today and made it worse... :/ and drank coke and ate ice cream
nick says thats why i'll never get well soon, because i never look after myself
which is true to some extent, and maybe because he doesn't sympathise with me
haha. and my dad called/messaged me to make sure that i was fine. feeling
like a pampered kid now! i love it when people care for me. :) i appreciate
caring acts very much so yes hint hint hint all you people out there! (just kidding.)

and my mood is so labile. i wonder why.
not that i am easily prone to anger... just that i'm getting more easily disturbed
even over small things; and i just can't put any reason down for it.

today at community placement we had fun! karaoke is so not for me because i
absolutely cannot sing. haha. and my general knowledge, as i have discovered today,
is more limited than i thought it was. haha. oh well! the consequences of not
reading the papers. i'm beginning to really love the people at wavlink. they are
the sweetest people i've ever met. and they just are so simple and kind. even with
their disabilities they still strive to make full use of their abilities and are so inspiringly brave.
dear frank is so endearing. he always greets us with a kiss on the hand
and he never stops telling us girls that we're beautiful and nice. :)
like how cute is that!

i meant to blog about something in my heart but i have to hold it off because
i absolutely have no time to do so. plus i've been sick for a whole week... and
it isnt getting any better. my voice is going and i'm still coughing and phlegmmy.
being sick sucks!

oh yeah and i went to the DFO in essendon yesterday and i blew 250 bucks
:( my entire pay for the past 3 weeks... evidently every shred of self-control i
have has flown out the window.

VLADO'S



dinner tonight was at vlado's, an old-fashioned cosy little steakhouse tucked
along many quirky shops in bridge road. vlado's boasts the best australian beef
and i must say even though i haven't really tried that many steaks in australia
to judge that claim, i must say that this is probably the best steak i've ever had!
we each had a porterhouse cut in medium-rare, which was delightfully succulent
and tender. each bite oozed with reddish juice which was more appetising than
off-putting. the slab of beef we had was utterly humongous! check out this picture of the beef i took (i was so ravenous that i had forgotten to take a picture
at the start so what you see here is the two-thirds-eaten remnants of my steak.)

i must give special mention to vlado's mustard. it is by far one of the best mustards
i've tried. it is not too overpowering and goes oh-so-well with the meat. we
nearly tried to pilfer a jar home (haha).

then we also had dessert-- a wonderfully decadent platter of strawberry pancakes
served with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. it was so good :)


vlado's has no menu, except for a beverage list. that's because they only serve a
standard set meal that comes with appetiser, main course of steak (with your choice of cut) and dessert. it cost 75 bucks per person but i would say it was
well worth the money given the satisfying and large portion of steak, and with dessert that simply blows your mind away.

of course, what made the evening enjoyable was not just savouring good food
but also with wonderful company! :)

nick and i! // eileen and joshua :)

ok, i so need to go and do work. :/ ta!

as promised, here are the convention ball peeks! :)

nick and i! love this pic of us. next up in the pretty blue dress is sherlynn :).
and with lynette in her lovely black dress with bows (i love it).
i think she looks oh so fine! and with jon lee, whom i was really happy and
surprised to see at the ball!

nick, i and cheryl! nick looks nice here and i like guys who dress smartly. haha.
ok and actually i'm wearing the same dress i wore to aaron's wedding.
i am so not getting another black dress... :/

my easter camp committee! :) a surprise impromptu reunion i'd say.
bobby looks so cute and boyish in his new haircut haha! and we missed suee
and june... if not we'd be in full force. i kinda miss planning for easter camp :(

ok i had a really good time at the ball, and i only wish i didn't have such a massive
breakout. but thanks to the wonders of make up, i got through the night a little
easier. haha. ok and i need to go and exercise... soon.

and just before i go:

HEHE :)

hello i just woke up.
the ball last night was preeedy fun! haha. everyone looked so dressed up and
lovely and i met all my easter camp committee people there! :)
we had nice food, for a start. and the entertainment wasn't so bad either.
we went to a jazz club at brunswick after that! it was awesome cos the band
was just fab and we danced the night away. :) then we had supper at lygon and
went home at 330am when we were too stuffed and stoned to do anything.
pictures will be up layderrr
i'm still sleepy haha

oh yes and i FINALLYFINALLY got my black suede pointy boots
courtesy of sherlynn and the rest. i am soooo happy!
i must wear them everyday now cos winter's nearly over haha

ok just a quick one cos i'm really really tired not to mention knackered.

we had a decadent dinner today (again).
we bbq-ed, yes we had a bbq pit, and we bbq-ed honey glazed chicken wings (mine)
and black pepper chicken wings (nick's) and belacan fillets (sherlynn) and boy
were they yummmmalicious*. and dessert was warm blueberry danish with vanilla
oreo ice cream. by the time we were done we were bursting at the seams.
hearty house dinners rock!

and nick and robin have gone to play pingpong (it's 10pm now).
i'm so tired i want to sleep but work beckons... :(

i had a fabulous dinner just now. courtesy of leftover frozen roti prata from
saturday's party and A1 chicken curry paste and sher's efforts. yums! :)
also bought fruit salad from periperi during work today because i realised i
hadn't had fruits in so long... i'm really unhealthy aren't i?

i'm having a bad pimple outbreak it's all over my forehead. arrrghhhhhh :/
and the ball is this saturday helpppp.
ergh i have to work again tomorrow and i'm so dreading it.
work today was fun because i got to do the chocolate mousse and then
the best part was pilfering the leftovers. so yummy! i love chocolate mousse.
but i saw that it was 500ish calories per serving thank goodness i didn't
pilfer a lot if not i'd be panicking like crazy now. haha

i should go and sleep now if not i'm pretty sure i wont be able to catch the 8am
bus to glen tomorrow......... :/

thing is, i am a fool in love (once again).

:) :) :) happyyyy ok not making sense here gooooooonight