i couldn't think of a title. actually, most time si can't think of a title. just thought i'd do some updating. i've been here in Ann Arbor, Michigan for a week now. tonight's the 7th night and my parents have left.

i'm settling in quite fine. better than in SHanghai amazingly. i still havr to register for classes coz us int'l students are the last to register. and i'm likely not to get the classes which i want. but that can't be helped and i can only look forward to getting my classes next term.

my side is a quaint little town. it's a town in a university and not the other way round. the whole area near my university and even in neighbouring towns give great publicity for my school. such as selling UMich paraphernalia in hypermarkets. and i don't see the blazers or other merchandise sold for other unis.
the weather's good. and i walk quite a distance everyday to get to my classes. the singapore community is large so currently i don't have any American friends. unless you count my resident advisor. we're always planning things like mahjong sessions, ultimate frisbee and captain's ball. however, there are really few girls so everytime we play a sport, i'm really at a disadvantage. i'm always open coz no one bothers guarding me and when they finally throw it at me, i succeed in dropping the ball.

anyway, i'm having fun here and i hope you guys are too!

Heyhey! long time no blog... This is my first time uploading pics onto blogs, so please don't kill me if this takes super long for the blog to load. =S and sorry if some of the pics look kinda dark. I did switched on flash but it's on auto mode. so just brighten your computer screen to get a better effect! =)
anyway, it was nice to see you guys, esp in a hc setting. Going back to hc itself didn't particularly bring back any sense of nostalgia or what not, prolly coz i went back quite often, esp when i was still at hcis. Places only hold meaning when the people are there, which is why it was much more enjoyable when you guys were there today.
tt's all for now... i have nothing to update since i've been slacking. the only thing being that the courageous champion here has been trying to learn swimming and making only minute improvements that are quite likely to be insufficient for her to pass her swim test at UChicago. =S it'll be exactly two weeks to go before I leave for chicago. kinda fast... yupz.. any0ne interested to drop by chicago can contact me or those who wanna go for SEP in somewhere close to chicago.

since geraldine requested an update on each other's life... i'll start with mine.

two weeks of med school.
i feel quite stupid already. =)

its a humbling process, getting into med school. you finally know where you stand on the mugger and genius scale.
medicine is filled with loads of different kinds of people. a wide spectrum of characters. but all of them have something in common: they have what it takes to get there, either through smarts, hard work and determination, or scheming and manipulating their way through the crowds.
(more commonly seen though, are people with all 3 qualities.)

two weeks of med school.
i feel as if i did manage to learn something out of it.

i've made some progress in getting started on anatomy. anatomy practicals where we observe cadavers are always a hoot. i have loads of fun in them.
i've made some progress in physiology, with some readings done on cell membrane potential, structure, action potentials etc.
i've made some progress in biochemistry. i've started on enzymes.
histology is a bore. pracs just consist of us looking into microscope slides and pretending we really observe what the profs want us to see. but all in all, still okay.

i'm still alive after two weeks in med school! woo-hoo!

its hard to not feel scared at the rate the other medical students are studying, and mugging, and working.
but i guess, i just have to tell myself to not panic, and be consistent, and study at a pace that you are comfortable with. it pays to be sure of what you are doing, and not, do it out of uncertainty, and to just beat the crowd.
afterall, i'm studying for my own sake. not to crush other people with my seemingly perfect memory.
progress with progression. thats the key.

but enough about med school. how's your life been recently?

well, i think we could all provide a little update about our lives now. i know, it wasnt too long ago that we did an update, but i'm sure circumstances have changed quite drastically from then. i recall all the guys had to say at that time was on bmt. things should be very different now, no? and us girls: most of us are already in university. in fact, i'm typing this while sitting in lecture listening to national day songs. i'm serious.=P yepp hope to hear from you all soon. =)

haha. i guess damian's punchline at the bottom of his post was just a more sophisticated way of putting tings. when was the last time i did my english grammar MCQ with 'heart'? probably never. there was just one goal in mind: to finish it.

and as for old people being lonely and left to vegetate by their children. i'd say that if i never get married and never have kids then i think suicide is qute a reasonable end. what's the point of living when you're ailing and sick and unhappy right?

off to school peeps. i'm off today too. to explore a new world of possibilities and to face my fears. not very tasty.

hello, i decided to respond to ailin's entry.

the little boy's seriously adorable for saying that. little pearls of wisdom there. =) yup. do it with heart. not many people remember to do that these days, and i guess thats the sad truth of today's society. there are so many things controlling our lives, expectations to be met, practicalities to be attained, that most people end up forgetting what's most important, is that we like what we are doing, and put your hundred percent into it, pour your heart into it, to achieve something.

we can't control everything in life, but we can control how well we want to live it, and how much we want to get out of it.

i think its also important to also do things with heart, in another sense, which is to do things with compassion. i went to renci hospital recently, and i was well, affected by the visit. it was sorbering, and very depressing, to see old folks who deserve so much more, being left alone by their children, whom they still ponder and yearn to see despite the fact that their children gave up on them. granted that some of them may have reasons for doing so, but i guess, i was just struck by how unfair the whole situation was. and many of these old folks are such sweet, happy, optimistic people. they don't deserve such a fate, and i'm horribly affected by it.

i wanted to be a doctor, so i can help people. and being there, watching all the old people, made me realise how insignificant i am, but also how important i am in giving these people hope. in some sense, the visit, gave me greater conviction to do it right, to perservere, and hopefully, one day be able to go back there, and make a difference as a volunteer doctor. because their smiles meant so much to me. and i wanna see them, again.

i'm sorry if the above entry has become so psuedo-emo, which is very uncharacteristc of me. but oh well, i just thought, that today's society really needs more love and care. and so, whatever you guys do, do it with heart.

do it with conviction. do it with compassion. do it with love.

yoohoo!! how's everybody?? school has started for many people yeah? now that school has started for lots of you gals (and to a lesser extent guys), i think the blog will be moving very very very slowly... so until i'm gone, i shall name myself the official "blog mover"?

some interesting stuff i've experienced so to speak... i started giving tuition to this p5 boy boy in may... initially when he got questions wrong, or dropped his pencil on the floor, the word that comes out of his mouth is, "stupid". then somewhere in july, "stupid" evolved into "sh*t". then last week, "sh*t" underwent yet another transformation and the big 4-letter word starting wif F, came out! imagine my shock, cause up till the ripe old age of 19 years old, i'm not a person who swears using the F word ever so casually. makes me wonder what's becoming to kids nowadays!!

anyway here's another interesting story. yesterday i had tuition with the same p5 kiddo. so i was marking his english mcq paper 1. for the first time in a very very very long time, i could move through a single page of 5 mcqs, without giving a single cross!! so i did a little praising (in an attempt to encourage the little kiddo) p5 kiddo was quite proud of himself and started explaining all his techniques of choosing the correct option, eg elimination etc etc. and his last sentence ended with "I did it with heart!" i must say i was quite impressed with him, cause i haven't heard people saying that in a long time! haha and for once i actually feel that p5 kiddo is quite a lovable kiddo! (must be cause it's my 3rd last lesson with him...)

yup so moral of the story is find ur heart and put it into whatever u are doing! then you'll find the drive to go on :) take care everybody!

hope everyone's national day was good =)

hello! this is immediately after the gathering like half an hour ago.
since i'm the earliest home, i'm blogging!(being an ass here)

thanks for coming yeah. i'm sure we all had fun catching up.

have a great week ahead.
oh and HAPPY NATIONAL DAY!

this is an ANNOUNCEMENT!

haha. me sounding so self-righteous. anyway, it's at my house. i think it's around evening time. about 5 or 6pm. i'm making fruit and green salad. i would think that we'll meet at Yio Chu Kang MRT station. and since it's a public holiday, there will be no feeder service to my house. we're gonna walk folks!
other buses that go to my house are 163 and 855.

see ya then!

the farwell is on 9th august, national day!

this is a plea to bring food okay... pls dun go and expect to be fed... pls contribute... farewell is at xiaoyan's place... but the farewell is also for her, so dun make her prepare food for us lah.... let's bring food for her and the rest of the pple we are farewelling... haha.... try to bring food food, not like snacks and potato chips... or the alternative is to get pizza.... that's all