new year, new resolutions 2012

Happy New Year 2012!

This is my first post for the new year. I wondered how did everyone celebrated their NYE? Usually, I just prefer staying at home, away from the sweaty crowds. But this year, I received an invitation for dinner at a friend's house. It was so much fun chit-chatting with my Form 6 classmates all night. Will post up the pics soon!

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Here is a short update on my activities in the last month of 2011. Not much actually, I think I have grown old in the sense that I prefer spending my free time relaxing in the comfort of my own home rather than facing the crowds at the shopping mall. I was really tempted to join in the rush for the year-end sales but when I think about the crowd, the queues, the parking, etc. Maybe I am just getting old.

Just sometime last week, all the PRPs and also new FRPs were asked to attend orientation course at HKL. It was a full day event, with short talks given about each department. It is really interesting, the introductions each FRP gave about their respective departments. My only wish is for their talks to be longer and also, I wished they had given us this orientation sooner, instead of giving us after 4 months of work.

Joanne, a PRP friend was "distracted" during the talks. She sketched this and had each sea creature represent us. I thought it was kinda cute and funny;)

labelled as: my bday is 22 nov

*strictly for gossip girl fans*

I am sorry
...for losing my temper the night you told me Louie proposed to you
I am sorry
...for not waiting longer at the Empire State building
I am sorry
...for treating you like property
I am sorry
...I didn't tell you I love you when I knew I did
Most of all, I am sorry I gave up on us
...and you never did...

I am still such a fan of this series although some of the episodes from last season have been yawn. But when I heard this excerpt from the script of last week's episode, my heart started fluttering again. I was so touched by how Chuck apologized to Blair, especially when he said he knew he loved her all along.

Don't you just love awesome writers? ^.^

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A short update. Still having busy on-calls but fret not, since a whole new batch of PRPs arrived 2 weeks ago, ready to start on-call in January.

Right now, I am at my 3rd station - Pharmacy Store. Apparently, I am supposed to learn about procurement of medicine, invoices, etc. here but thanks to the influx of PRPs in the store, most of the time I have nothing to do. Nothing to do also means nothing to learn. Yes, I absolutely detest this kind of working environment. Now I am just praying that my time in Store finishes quickly. 

I complained a lot, don't I? I was just telling my mom the other day how we should try to just go one week without complaining anything at all.

A really cute "customized" speaker I saw when I was touring the store the other day

On a brighter note, if you didn't know (shame on you lol wtf), 22nd November was my birthday and it also marks the 4th anniversary of this blog. Yes, it has been 4 years blogging now and I am still enjoying every moment of it. This may actually be the only hobby that has stuck with me for the longest time ever wtf.

The weekend before that, my aunt treated me to dinner. Initially, we planned to go to a place called "nine-to-five" or something, a restaurant serving grilled meat and fish. Unfortunately, when we reached there, turns out the restaurant had moved its premise elsewhere. Instead of wasting time searching for its new premise, we decided to settle with one of the restaurants within the vicinity of that area. Lucky for me, I finally saw the place I have been wanting to go all this while - Food Foundry at PJ. The reason? My cravings for Mille crepe cake that I had for the first time at Nadeje, Malacca. Since they also served main courses besides the specialty desserts, we decided to have our dinner here instead.

Thanks to me aunt for dinner;)

My cordon bleu chicken; my mom's grilled sea bass; and my lovely strawberry mille crepe cake! 

forensic exam is finally over...

So exhausted today. Finally my Pharmacy Jurisprudence aka Forensic Law exam is over. I have spend 2 sleepless nights going through the Malaysian Law books hoping that I can pass the exam the first time around. Despite it being an open book exam, it is still so tough and oh well, I will just leave it to fate now to decide if I pass it or whether I will repeat it again next year.

Some few pics to update this boring blog. Lol. There really is nothing much to blog about since I don't go out much during my weekends. My weekends are either my rest days or my work days. But I have been shopping way too much. Must control my spending. I cannot wait to take snapshots of all my favourite shopping buys. #Shopaholic. 

Belle & Stephanie during on-call at OPD

Last weekends, I did my OPD on-call with Belle and Stephanie was the Shift 1 PRP that same day. It was fun doing on-call with friends and an added bonus was that they both had attached to OPD before so I learned so much things from them since I have yet to attach to this super busy department. 

This picture basically summed up what we do during on-call. OPD on-call usually is doing dispensing whilst Shift 1 PRP is in charge of calling regarding Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM). I absolutely detest the TDM part because I has such a nightmare with it the first time around.

Wai Yin driving and her little gift for me

On that same weekend, I went out with dear old friend who survived sitting next to me for 1 and a half years during Form 6. I am so glad to see her again. She is finally graduating and is starting work already! So fast, lol. Had so much fun shopping (but my purse did not have much fun wtf). She also gave me a little doll with handphone pouch. Now I have 2 dolls for my collection. #Super cute.

At Ben's @ Pavilion KL

Fridays are the best days ever. #TGIF that it's the end of the week but best of all, our lunch hour, which is for 2 hours 30 mins. On that particular Friday, I went to Pavilion with Len Yi, Li Ling and Stephanie. We tried Ben's, which was packed with people during lunch. 

But my pasta was too sour for my liking so I was a little disappointed. But the ambience is nice and it was so cute that they have little cards placed in the middle called, "table topics" or something like that. Definitely will give this place another chance next time.

Char Siew Rice and Shio ramen

Roasted pork cheek

Last Friday, my Mom and I went to Tokyo Street @ Pavilion to try one of the Japanese restaurants there. It was a place my mom read in the newspaper earlier, called Hokkaido Ramen. The reviews were not bad and since we always run out of ideas on places to eat after work, we decided to give it a try.

The food is actually quite nice or maybe it was the hunger talking. The rice with char siew was fragrant and so delicious. The noodles were actually so-so but the soup is very good. Apparently, it was their signature soup. We ordered 2 side dishes, i.e. roasted pork cheek (very yummy, love eating it with rice but needed some sauce though) and chicken cutlet (which I am not a fan of, since it has some tinge of ginger taste). 

The prices are pretty reasonable though but next time, we want to try the other Japanese restaurants in the same area :)

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Okay, way too tired to continue typing. A short update on my life in HKL would be that today is my 1st day in a new department - Pharmacy Store. I am not sure as to what my work here is since I clocked in at 4pm today (because of my exams in the morning, added with lunch and traffic jam afterwards) but I hope I can gained much experience here. I miss Gallenicals a little though, the people there are so nice. I am going to miss having morning break with the trainees and listening to the PPFs teasing each other. I am also slightly missing Orthopedic Clinic. The work there is a lot and difficult but the people are also nice and I learned so much there. 

But life goes on, and I am just praying and hoping that I will only encounter good things in the Store. Gonna be here for one month before moving on to a busy and super strict department in December:) 

P.S. there is this new stall called Planet Popcorn in Times Square and omg, I am so addicted to their popcorns - especially their cheese popcorn! So freakin' orgasmic...I can eat the whole packet in one go. SO must-try!!!

counting down the days

Happy 24th birthday to my dear friend, Gary. It has been two years since his demise. I miss him dearly.

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I have finally decided.

Next Monday I am going to report myself at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) to undergo my one-year training as a Provisionally Registered Pharmacist (PRP) under Ministry of Health. 

Quite psyched to work at HKL. It was after all, my second choice in my application. HKL is the largest hospital in Malaysia and receives the most number of patients than any other hospitals in Malaysia.

I have my work cut out for me, I know. HKL is not exactly the best place to undergo PRP training but with the numerous departments and clinical cases, undoubtedly I am sure I will learn lots of things there.

My biggest fear is that I do not seem to be well-prepared at all. Maybe I am still feeling a little traumatised from my previous training at Guardian, whereby the pharmacists there were really stern and constantly looked down on students. I hope the staff at HKL will be more forgiving and willing to teach us. People make mistakes, and perhaps myself more than others. 

My batch coursemates, Stephanie from Kuching and Carrie from Malacca will be joining me at HKL. Plus, my former Form 6 classmates who studied Pharmacy at IMU, Len Yi and Li Ling also received posting at HKL. 

euro, pepper, manhattan, shutter and iron…

Today was the last time I go to HUKM for my thesis work before starting my industrial training next week. But I am quite disappointed since I only had few patients this week, lesser than last week. I am more upset at XXX than at the patients.

HUKM pharmacists khen pen bu pang shu sen. Jiao ta pang wo screen prescription, kan you mei you diabetic yao, heng jian tan de se, ke se ta men lan duo. Luong tao wo missed heng duo patients. Wo heng xiang sa kwa, zhang zhe den patients. Jin tian wo heng shen zi, ming ming jiu se diabetic patients, ta bu keng wo jiang. Xin hau wo zhe zi kan, na ke prescription. Wei she me ta men jiang bu pang wo men? Wo mei you jiao ta pang wo interview, just keng wo jiang jiu ke yi. 150 patients le~~~ wo zheng de heng stress, pang wo xiao she ke bu ke yi? Heng tao yeng ta men jin tian. Pharmacy jiang sau patients, hai se jiang lan duo.

I had to write in mandarin pinyin what happened today because I don’t want to get into any trouble. All I am saying is that, from now onwards, I won’t depend on others so much, and no need to care so much about the others. Just do my work, regardless of others. At the end of the day, it is MY thesis, not theirs. It is not their responsibilities, but MINE.

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On a lighter note, here are some delayed pics. Sometimes I take pics of so many things that I don’t even remember taking…

On Earth Hour day, my cousin Deric and aunt Wendy belanja (crap, what is the English word for belanja already? My English is getting worse) the family for dinner at Eurodeli, this European-style restaurant at Ampang, right behind Old Town. My first time here, like to try new places. We all had the buffet option since it gave us more varieties of food.

cny eve:strawberries & yee sang

Tiny updates:
*I love U-Kiss’s new song Bingeul Bingeul (Round Round)*
*My English writing sucks. Having headache now. Lazy to improve.*
*This new blog is so funny (and addictive). The trials and tribulations of online shopping in Malaysia.*
*CNY angpows this year so little. Sob sob :(*
*Why I have not update here for more than 2 weeks T.T (but I updated my shopping blog ^^)

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Every Chinese New Year, Mom and I always go to eat reunion dinner at my uncle’s house. Yup don't believe can check back archives. Kekeke.

 

Uncle’s house decorated with lots of CNY stuff. Festive mood no? The Choi san yeh is d-i-y by my cousin Vivien.

This dish is so pretty right? And it tastes as good as it looks too…

 

Strawberries main decor coz my uncle brought them back from Bangkok.

Crabstick wrapped in bread and then fried. So delicious!!!

Other dishes that are equally delicious ^^

  And of course, cannot miss the must-have yee sang for lots of prosperity!!!

 

Let’s lo yee sang!!! Very fun. And I love eating yee sang with lots of sweet sauce but the ginger was a little too strong. Must remind my Mom not to put too much next time.

Let’s start our reunion dinner!!!

More photos in my facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=152232&id=515975840

[delayed updates] food galore: of second times

Holiday mode: On

Morning: Go online

Afternoon: Nap till evening

Night: Watch TV

A life like this, I wonder how long will last. LOL.

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I have not been updating my blog with much photos lately. I decided to delayed any blogging because I was in the midst of my exam preparations. And after my exams were done, I was just too lazy at home to even start blogging. Lol. Yes, that is the truth, I am really lazy. I guess my worst traits are probably my procrastination and my hot temper (especially when I am not in the mood). *Sigh*

I have been wanting to post these photos for a long time now. These are photos of food galore taken way back in September. LOL. I am glad I finally decided to blog about them.

And yes, my laptop has been reformatted (is this right? it feels wrong) AGAIN. This is the 3rd time already. The previous times were because of virus attacks. I was a lot more careful after that when it comes to downloading, however, I forgot that my hardware can also get "konked" off. Haih... So I had to replace the hard disk. All my programs are gone, including Picasa, hence I cannot edit my photos as easily as before.

#1: Dinner at Taman Rashna Chinese Restaurant.

My aunt decided to treat the family for dinner here. It is always fun when my aunt treats us for dinner because she has good taste in food. Lol. So, the food is undeniably great. I have actually been to this restaurant here before, for my late Grand Uncle's 60th birthday. The food in this place is really good but it is really far, all the way in Klang.

Yummy appetizers for headstart

Great shark fin, taste even better with vinegar ;)

Curry fish head, always a dish favored by my family

This is actually a pork dish placed in pumpkin bowls. I joked with my cousins that we can eat the bowls so the staff don't have to wash them. LOL.

#2: Max @ iHaus, Imbi

This is also my 2nd time here. Honestly speaking, there is really nothing nice to eat in Bukit Bintang area except for this place here. The first time, I did not bring my camera so I was not able to capture pictures of this place. This time around, I did not forget my trusty camera.

The name of the restaurant is quite peculiar. German, perhaps?

The interior. Mom and I sat in a secluded spot so I was not able to capture good angles of the place. I like the first pic, it was inside the secluded spot, where we sat.

Mom and I, before our meals arrived

We ordered the set lunch. Hehe. Ala carte was too pricey for lunch anyways.

Cauliflower cream soup with olive oil

Salad dish with smoked duck breast

I like this. Really pretty. It was a fish fillet dish with potatoes

Pasta dish. The sauce is heavenly.

The place looks like one of those old huge mansions at Imbi

#3: Family Mooncake dinner

On this day, it was quite funny because my cousin had a car problem and my uncle had to go get him. So we waited for them both before we can start dinner. LOL.

Scrumptious dishes from my aunt and uncle

Homemade mooncakes: One with coconut gratings inside and another one with sesame snow skin

My favorite is definitely the jelly mooncakes. So yummy!!! Red bean, corn, cheese and mango ;)

Random pic: My cousin sister has a thing for collecting all things cute. This is her mini food collection. I think they are so adorable...

of cny eve dinner, jogoya and karaoke no.3

Female artistes' songs I am currently lovin' - "If you seek Amy" (Britney Spears), "Reach Out" (Hilary Duff), "Fly on the Wall" (Miley Cyrus), "Sober" (Pink) and "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield).

Haih...I am so in love with Seungri, the youngest member of Big Bang as he makes his solo debut in an a la Justin Timberlake video.

-linkie-

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I was looking through my camera's memory cards and found some photos that I had forgotten to upload into my laptop. These are pics taken with my family on Chinese New Year's Eve, the must-have reunion dinner.

-the array of exquisite home-cooked dishes-

-minus my uncle the chef who took this photo-

Date: 23rd February 2009

Venue: Jogoya StarHill

Activity: Buffet dinner with roommate

A few weeks back, Beng Beng or BB, my roommate, had a BUY ONE FREE ONE meal voucher for Jogoya. Since both of us had never been there and we did not want to waste the voucher, we decided to head on to Jogoya on Monday night, after classes.

It was my first time attempting to drive to the Bukit Bintang area from Setapak. Although I can drive, I am absolutely horrible in remembering roads. Until today, I still do not know the name of roads, except roads that I lived in or where my schools are. Other than that, I am in a complete blur.

So after making a few wrong turns and U-turns, we finally made our way to Starhill and to the Relish floor where Jogoya is situated.

After paying RM114.40 for 2 pax (I was told by BB that it originally costs Rm101 per pax), we made our way inside. Eventhough the name sounds Japanese, I heard it was actually owned by a Taiwanese. And the food there isn't 100% authentically Japanese, as I soon discovered. There were Western-style, and also Chinese-style cuisine. So good news for the non-raw-food eating type.

-snapshots of me and BB throughout the night as we attempted to try all the food-

Good thing about the buffet here is that they do not charged you for leftovers, unlike Sushi Station. BB was so funny because she only like, took one bite of her food and then threw the rest away because she wanted to try all the food. But she only did it in the beginning, and she finished up all the food she took in later helpings.

-these are some of the food we tried. We could not managed to try everything because there were too much and let's face it, we both are not huge eaters-

We originally took the food pics for our other roommate, Suz M, who did not want to join us due to money constraint and her dislike of Japanese dishes.

-dessert! my favourite, yum yum! I once told someone I did not care what food the buffet offers as long as they have varieties of desserts!-

-secretly took this photos of how Jogoya looks like inside. lol-

-other pics of me and BB as we enjoyed ourselves in Jogoya-

We both also stopped by Pavillion to take some photos after we left StarHill.

-Pavillion is celebrating its 1st anniversary-

Needless to say, that night, me and BB ate to our hearts' contents. So much so that we both were feeling a little sick the next day.

Date: 25th February 2009
Venue: Green Box Sungei Wang
Activity: Karaoke session with housemates

My housemates and I had already planned have a karaoke session after the mid-sems week. Luckily, Ah Wei and I had no lab practical that day, so together with our Biomed housemates, we went on our first karaoke outing.

This is my third time going to a karaoke joint despite rejecting numerous invites before this.

-the five of us-

The reasons I seldom visit these singing joints is firstly, those who always invite me are Chinese-ed, meaning they will sing a lot of Mandopop songs, which I don't mind because I listened to them too. The only problem is that I do not know how to read Chinese characters, hence I cannot sing along. Secondly is because, I am so paiseh to want to sing in front of people, because to be honest, singing was never my biggest strength. Yes, I enjoyed giving critiques to those singer wannabes on "American Idol" but in real life, I can barely hold the mic and sing. So I always found my karaoke outings to be quite boring and a little wasting money-lor.

But this time around, I did enjoyed myself. Why? Well, firstly, I was not the only English-ed in the room. Hehe. My roommate, Suz M, is also a banana like me. So that made me feel not so isolated like previously. And then, the night before, Ah Wei helped me to look for pinyin lyrics online so that I would not be left out when they sing those Mandarin songs. Like me, Suz M also had a collection of pinyin lyrics so together, we both could sing almost all the songs they picked that day.

-a collage of our fun time in green box-

From the mesh-up above, you can spot me and Suz M holding up song lyrics. Lol. Then there was the "Sarawak S.H.E.s" -MeiChen, NgiikLing and Wei2; Suz M trying to give those very fake natural poses (she is such a poser =.=!!!) and those funny faces that Ah Wei always gives.

-yay!!! we sang for 3 hours straight!!!-

And so that ends my week filled with activities to relieve those stress after mid-sems. However, it was also a week burdened with so so so many assignments. So many that I keep forgetting who my group members are because we were divided into so many different groups for each assignment we had. Not to mention, those pain-killing lab reports whose results I have to modify type.

If you don't believe me, just go ahead and see the msn. Every of my Pharmacy coursemates will write something with the word "assignment" on their personal message. Haih...