Ahh...1 week has passed..5days down, 95 more to go.. Strangely, the past 5 days seem much longer..STC has almost becomed a second home..Though its alot bigger than TAF, with alot more people and most days, there's pretty much NOTHING to do.. At least in TAF, theres always cat husbandry and rabbit husbandry AKA sai kang if you wanna pass time.. But in STC, the only things to do are, collect samples, process samples, run the tests, check results, get supervisor to validate and print results then send the results to the vets. THATS IT! ARGH! I'm frigging bored outta my mind! I spend most days reading the operator's manual for the Cell-Dyn 3700 which is used for haematology (CBC, RBC, Haem, etc counts..) In 3 days, I've mastered the operation of the machine and in those 3 days, I'm left to run the samples while my supervisor does her paperwork in the makeshift office outside. The office is still under renovation apparently. And she knows that I'm very bored. She kept bringing me around for rides to the EHR though we both know that there are no samples.. And I got to see one of the stables! That particular stable belongs to Bruce Marsh. He's a funny guy lol. Being a racehorse sure has some benefits..the track walkers pamper them..the stable hands keep them clean..they get walks once or twice a day and visits by the vets..Eat good quality hay and they get to crap wherever and whenever they want LOL. Countless times I have to navigate the buggy around heaps of poop.. Definitely wouldnt wanna let the tires roll over it.. My supervisor is really friendly too..after 4 days, I'm left to drive myself back to the EHR, drive myself to the lab in the morning (a very dangerous task! Must be very careful not to hit any horses..alot of 'traffic' in the morning..) and she made me clock in and out for her! ARGH! At least she trusts me. Thats a plus point..
Cam whoring..since theres nothing else to do..
P.S: Horse urine is really thick..and bears an uncanny resemblance to honey.. yucks..
Yes, I have a car. No, I'm not kidding. Nothing beats racing down the roads in Turf Club. Feeling the wind in your face and the whistling of the wind in your ears.. Priceless.
Well, back to the main point..
Are you ready?
Check out my new ride!
GOTCHA!
Anyway, yea, I get to drive a buggy around Turf Club. This one isnt very fast..The 4-seater one is much faster and quieter..
Bored. Seriously boring. Reporting time at 0830..though I reached turf club at 0745. Way too early lol. Sat around and waited till 0815 before I walked into the admin office. Then it was waiting again. Apparently the people at the Admin Building dont arrive till 0830. Finally someone walked in through the door to get me and brought me up to the Learning & Development Department. And it was more waiting still. In the end, went up and down the Admin building and passed from one person to the other. -.-"
Finally, the admin staff from the Vet dept came to get me. Woots! Angie is nice. She showed me around and introduced me to the Vet surgeons, vet nurse, vet officer. Then I was introduced to the Head of Clinical Vet Admin, Linda. And she too brought me around the Equine Hospital. Saw the ultrasonography room, the radiography room, surgery room, even the isolation stables for the horses where I met a very temperamental horse. I got to pat him though..but when we had to leave, he started jumping and kicking..awww..he missed me already...
Then it was on to meet my supervisor, Diana. Again, another very nice person. She drove us to Blk 30 where the lab I will be spending most of my 5 months at is located. I know blk 30 sounds really huge..honestly, its tiny..the lab is perhaps half the size of TP's lab..and the office just got renovated so no one has moved in yet. But Diana did tell me that I will get my own desk once the office is ready. WOOTS. Sat around somemore in the lab and read the protocols. Didnt actually got to do anything until after a meeting with the acting head vet, Dr Dan, Linda and Diana where we discussed my MP title. All in all, a rather boring day..since there isnt much to do. Though, I did get to drive a buggy around.. It's like driving a toy car..The lab is way too far away from the Admin blk to walk..Tomorrow, the real training begins. I hope I'm still alive by the end of the week..first day and I already fell into a deep slumber on the bus trip home..
Blah. 1 day late. Anyway, we went to Kuishin-Bo located at Suntec! Took 518 with Marissa, Mark, Isaac, Kok Tong and Wei Hong from TP to Suntec after the SIP briefing. (KW and Mich just had to zoom past in the couple carriage -.- ) Sitting in between Mark and Mari only made me hungrier since they keep complaining about hunger. After a long 40mins spent playing psp and sleeping in the bus, we finally arrived at Suntec! (Never sit next to Mark on the bus especially when he falls asleep. His shoulder would keep bumping into yours and it frigging hurts since he's so bony -.- ) It was a mad rush through the crowd to get to the Tower 1 and the 3rd floor. Almost couldnt find the restuarant..it was tucked away in a corner LOL. After standing around for about 10mins..we got a seat! A table for 10 which was outside the resturant. Who cares..as long as we got a table.. And so, the guys settled down at the table leaving me to ask "Why do you all even bother sitting?!" Mari immediately sprang up from her seat and shoved me roughly towards the buffet spread (I got manhandled T_T) We took quite a lot of food..a little of everything. Okay I lied about the little part. We took a huge plate of salmon.. I think we ate at least a whole salmon that night.. Didnt take any pictures of the food...we were more interested in eating it... That sort of concludes Round 1..
Round 2 involves alot of random stuff like a paper steamboat thingy (I havent a slightest idea what it's called..), Mari kept bringing weird stuff back to the table..stuff which none of us even saw.. Like this teapot which contains some soup brewed with prawns (a prawn to be exact) and ginko nuts.. Then Mark decided to start on the crabs. Bad idea really..He sprayed Mari and I with the juice from the crab -.- (Tip no. 2: Never sit across or next to Mark at meals.) It didnt help that Mark was more clumsy than usual that night lol.
By the time Wei Qiang arrived, followed shortly by Michelle and Ke Wee (cant remember the order, really..), we already stuffed ourselves with a lot of food..(Kok, Mark and Isaac were down for the count by then) But heck, Round 3! Bring on the chawanmushi and the tempura! The quest to kill ourselves with food continued only to be interrupted slightly by the arrival of Manda. Blur girl...She was only 3 metres away yet she still didnt notice us till we yelled and waved. Seriously, the crabs were great..the flesh is sooooo sweet! *drools* oh, dont forget the thick slices of salmon which were oh so drool worthy.
Manda is so funny..first time I've ever seen anyone take those xiao bai cai when dining in a Japanese Resturant..LOL. And the way she eats is simply hilarious. Not that I'm staring..but its hard not to notice her queer eating habits when she was sitting just across from me.. (Tip no. 3: Sharing food with Manda is a bad idea..she only takes a bite out of everything..her plate was covered with half eaten food LOL.)
Dessert was a very sweet affair and involves random tarts and cakes. The fondue wasnt that fun..Though Mich gushed that grapes coated in chocolate is to die for. Gotta try that someday..I seriously cant remember what I ate..
Time to let all the food get digested while we talked and cam whored. Amid downing several cups of hot tea to aid digestion that is..
Mich, Manda and Me
Kok Tong, Wei Qiang and Wei Hong
Isaac, KW and Kok (ugh. We didnt capture Markie on camera!)
Marissa, Amanda, Michelle and me 
Group Pic!
Seriously, I should have known it was a very bad idea to watch 4bia..I have no idea what came over me and caused me to spontaneously agreed on watching 4bia. With Mally, no less. Bad bad idea. Its not that the movie is a Thai horror flick which reviewers have claimed to be one of the scariest..that I assure you is not as scary as the person you are watching with. We entered the cinema a little late and the movie already started. Had to trample on a few feet to get to our seats. The first 20minutes or so was utterly boring which I spent munching on Nachos while Mally devoured a tray of wedges. (I didnt expect her to finish them so quickly -.- ) Then the fun part begins. =D I will not include any spoilers..but honestly I was flinching while Mally was covering her eyes. Then she screamed. That did it. I started laughing not just at the screen like some of the guys in the cinema but also at the way Mally was screaming bloody murder. LOL
4bia consists of 4 stories in a 2hr long movie. First one was boring..second one was amusing, third was hilarious, fourth was horrifying. I spent the second story laughing while Mally again was screaming a little more than the first one. But still the fourth story was the best. Not because it made me peek through my fingers just to look at the bottom of the screen at the subtitles, but also because Mally was screaming like a lunatic. Should have recorded the screaming. Priceless. Hate to admit it but I was too afraid to watch most of the fourth story. Yup, it was THAT scary. Though not as scary as the screaming on my right, or as amusing as Mally whimpering away. Anyway, the movie ended and the audience were rather scared shitless from the way everyone were scampering to get out of the theatre..
We decided to walk to Orchard. Though I manage to convince her to go Takashimaya where we ate Taiyaki! (lots of chocolate..all the way to the tail too =D ) Then I dragged her into the mid-autumn festival fair thingy in the middle of Taka. Noticed this girl there..she has really big brown eyes lol. (we caught each other looking -.- twice in fact >.< ) My nose led me to Cold storage where I bought sushi! Three salmon and two unagi for the affordable price of $5.00! Yea, they are about to close thus the discount. Sushi never fails to make me high~
Continued walking all the way to wisma atria before we took the MRT back. Man..been a long time since I last went out with Mally LOL.
xoxo
Carmen
Had badminton today at Safra Tampines. Started playing from 5pm with Yumin and Terris before Dr Jomer joined us at 6pm. Yes, Dr Jomer. I'm not kidding. Well, he is pretty good.. though during warm-up he got trashed by Yumin effortlessly and Yumin kept turning away from him to snicker. Funny really. Each time he misses, he would claim that he wasnt ready. HAHAHAHA. We had a match which lasted around 15mins or so and I teamed up with Dr Jomer while Yumin teamed with Terris. We were leading at first before they caught up and the scores were even. At the crucial moment when it was like 13-10 to Yumin and Terris, we managed to even the scores to 13-13 and went on to play till 17 points from the initial 15 points. At that moment, GW arrived and he subbed Terris in the game. Which was fortunate for Dr Jomer and me really.. LOL We managed to win! WOOT! Cant remember the score though. But victory was sweet ahaha. Dr Jomer was nice enough to treat us to drinks and we settled down at the little snack bar to share a bag of potato chips (wasted our effort lol) Dr Jomer seems happy to play..He even wanted another round this weekend and he mentioned something about playing badminton every week. Wow. Talk about healthy lifestyle. Still, its nice to have a group to play badminton with..And now that we are freed from this bane of our existence known as studying, we have lots of time for recreational activities. Bleh. I hate to admit it, but I am looking forward to another game lol.
xoxo
Carmen
Dear Ling Qi,
even though we have never met before face-to-face, its almost as if we have known each other for ages. Fate is strange, isnt it? I never thought I would ever 'meet' someone who's so much alike to me in terms of mindset..yet, here you are! A friendship which is so strong though its still new. (We met in May? Through CR? LOL) I vaguely recall the first thing you said to me. We were talking about Last Friends. How time flies eh.
Anyway, this one is for you:
'Your greatest strength lies in who you are. Not who you can be.'
Dont be afraid or ashame of who you are. The people who matter, do not mind. The people who mind, do not matter.
hugs
Carmen