Saturday 29 March 2014

How to save a life

Today, I attended a CPR + first aid course in the city. I knew it was going to be a tiring day (9-3:30), but I learnt a lot and got to do things I've never done before! The instructor had a knack for making us all laugh, but as the day wore on, I got over his jokes. Our class had many Singaporeans (that was the majority - there were even two indians who were Singaporean), one Korean, one Vietnamese, one HK (me!) and 3-4 white people. Physio and OT dominated (I think it's because the SHRS sent out health requirement emails to everybody so we all went to get our first aid done haha). Singaporeans are taking over allied health and indians are taking over med. True story.

CPR went by with a breeze, we did babies and adults and got a free face mask! First aid was interesting and pretty practical. Here are some things I learnt/got to do:

  • How taking simple steps increases a person's survival rates e.g. using a spacer with a puffer
  • If unsure, call the ambo!
  • Poison line 131126 for qualified assistance - toxicologists, medical students, pharmacists
  • Better to help than to do nothing 
  • How important is a first aid kit! Bandages, puffers, face masks, spacers, gloves, epipens can make the world of difference!
  • If someone's having an asthma attack and they don't have a puffer, ask the crowd if anybody has one or go to the local chemist and get one there + bring the pharmacist with you
  • You can have an epilepsy without any movement - the person just pauses 
  • Do not move a person with a fracture/dislocation/protruding object - splint and bandage them 
  • A.M.P.L.E - questions to ask someone who is in need of first aid (Any allergies? Medications that they take for their condition? Past history? Last meal? Event history?) These questions can tell you a lot/can affect your decision making!
  • Know where you are! As in the exact street address, because ambos find you if you don't!
  • Stay calm and look like you know what you're doing so the casualty doesn't freak out even more and exacerbate their condition.

I'm sure I learnt more, but here are just some. I hope I never have to perform first aid/CPR on a person, but if I do, I pray that I can do a good job at it. At the end of the day, I rewarded myself with a necklace from colette. All jewellery was 50% off, so it was only $5! Jeffy picked me up and I had a really nice meal with him and his parents :) 

Wednesday 12 March 2014

One Year



When you first think about it, one year is a pretty short time. To me, it felt like ages. Time went by so slowly.. maybe because it's actually been 1 yr + 3 months, not sure? Anyways today finally came. A year ago, Jeffy was stressing his head off because he was about to go ask my parents if he could date me. They didn't say "yes", just "are you going to put it on facebook?" I guess that essentially meant yes. I would say a lot has changed in one year's time. J and I progressed pretty quickly, so we basically took intensive course on each other. One of our church friends said to Jeff: "it seems like you guys have been dating for ages. 2-3 years?" It sure feels like that long! Anyways, Jeff scared me when he said he had already bought a present for me.. I had completely forgotten I had to get him something!!! I quickly whipped up a card and present in no time:






Jeffy couldn't wait to give me his present, so he just gave it to me a couple of days ahead of schedule. It's a bluetooth/wireless speaker! I've always complained about not having one when I'm around the house e.g. when I'm baking I just want some music to listen to!! I always thought of just buying a cheap one, but Jeffy got me the good stuff! He even chose green as well (my favourite colour) ^_^ <3 I love it, and I use it everyday! He did something pretty special with the present as well. He cut a hole in the box and wrapped paper up to make a little stick so that when you press down on it, it turns the thing on. When I hadn't unwrapped the present yet, he asked me to press down on the protrusion and A bitter day by HyunA started playing! I was like confused whaaaaa :O then unwrapped the present :D yay! Turns out you can control the speaker with your phone, so that's what Jeffy did to make it start playing.



We planned to go to George's Paragon in the city, but we couldn't find parking/parking too exy, so we just went to our fav thai restaurant which also has free parking! It was an enjoyable day indeed. 

Thursday 6 March 2014

Week One


Diaries, free vouchers and quirky sticker tabs from Bonnie who recently came back from Taiwan
/\/\4 /\/34T $3tuP. Thanks for the screen Hannah!
Awesome foursome's first day of 3rd year. One day we will look at this and thank me for capturing
these memories. 

Pandan toast... so delicious.. I can foresee that this will be my study/exam prep fuel 
Ah the joys of waiting for the bus and getting off $3 poorer.. I do not miss those days. 

After a good few months, all has gone back to normal i.e. I've returned to uni! Like always, I have mixed feelings about this. I'm going to miss all those days where I've not had to worry about occupying my time with study and just doing nothing without having a guilty feeling haunting me.. but on the other hand, I'm excited to go back, learn more and be able to take pretty notes and get into the swing of things. I'm also feeling a bit sentimental, I will only have one more year left of full time study, and I know that's something I will definitely miss.

One might ask, "why are you eating so much food?" Well, this time of the semester, I'm pretty free. My placement starts later on and my elective doesn't require me to go to weekly pracs (YAY). Actually I've been pretty on the ball with study this week, which is good. This semester, we are mainly applying the knowledge we have learnt in the past two years and figuring out what to do within a clinical situation. Pretty cool! I've been going through old notes and ordered a few textbooks the other day so I have a richer source of info. I'm surprised I got this far without owning textbooks *you should be impressed*, but I've realised that having some sort of professional library is important, even if it's as little as 2 books. I've compiled a list of textbooks I want to purchase, and it's pretty extensive. But I reckon it could really be useful.. I mean in a couple of years later when I'm in the big bad world I'll have no access to UQ resources i.e. books, free download of articles from prestigious journals, that kinda stuff! I'm just trying to prep myself I guess. And while I'm at it, I'll take this time to talk about some other random things that's been on my mind this week. 

On the days where I don't have to wash my hair, I use a shower cap to keep my hair dry. That requires me to put my hair up. I usually take this opportunity to experiment with hairstyles (when I'm not in a major rush/too tired). This is usually the time when I suddenly become a master stylist and create something aesthetically pleasing with my hair. Yesterday this happened.. I was so proud of myself and even thinking "yeah I can wear this one of these days" - ah that was wishful thinking. I attempted it this morning and it just failed. I don't know why this happened, but I think I've finally figured out that this is due to my hair being more flexible and easy to play around after a day of wearing it in a ponytail. When I do my hair in the morning, it just doesn't want to cooperate. I'm sure all the girls out there can relate. 

This sem, we've been given the opportunity to study an elective. The three are a) ergonomics, b) technology in health, and c) music and health. When I saw the last one, my face lit up and I was auto keen for this one. Music had always been my favourite subject in high school and I really do miss all those lessons, assignments, practice seshs, composing, analysis, aural skill tests, music history lessons and randomly watching musicals in class. I was definitely choosing this one. Besides, I had a glimpse at the ECP of the other electives and the ergonomics one required you to go to heaps of pracs, tutes AND lectures, whereas the technology in health one required class/discussion/participation to get marks (lame).. music on the other hand - two hour lecture each week, no tute, no group assignment, just a written exam and a literature review! Plus it actually interests me.. when I was deciding what to study in uni (back in the day), my recorder teacher recommended me to study music therapy because of my interest in music and health. Anyways, I was pretty excited to see what this course was about, so I rocked up to my 5-7 feeling keen. It did not disappoint! The lecturer is a really cool and funny lady - one of the few lecturers that make me laugh during lectures (that's a rare one!). We went through the history of music and it's association with health/healing over the different epochs (eras) - i.e. ancient, medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, 20th century, 21st century (sorry if this isn't in the right order, it's been a while). Lots of it was revision from music in high school combined with a bit of AMEB theory. We listened to Chopin, Bach, Pink Floyd, Ladyhawke and sang the tritone. We actually sung :') one half of the room sung F# and the other side sang C to create the tritone. Then the F# side resolved it and went to G. It was amazing - I felt like I was in music again! Never would I have considered the thought of being able to sing in a lecture! So good. There were lots of people studying this course, from different courses. There were OT, physio, speech, med, psyc, journalism, music students (from the people that called out). Although it was late, I didn't feel tired, and came out really enjoying the two hours of music :)

I was reading Luke the other day when I was doing my bsf homework. Luke 2:48 stood out to me. It says, "When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."This is when the Jesus (in his younger days) stays in Jerusalem to listen to the teachers listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone there was amazed at his understanding and his answers. I use a NIV application bible and occasionally read the commentary when I don't understand a particular verse/just for my own interest. The commentary here was particularly interesting. 

Mary had to let go of her child and let him become a man, God's Son, the Messiah. Fearful that she hadn't been careful enough with this God-given child, she searched frantically for him. But she was looking for a boy, not the young man who was in the temple astounding the religious leaders with his questions. Letting go of people or projects we have nurtured can be very difficult. It is both sweet and painful to see our children as adults, our students as teachers, our subordinates as managers, our inspirations as institutions. But when the time comes to step back and let go, we must do so in spite of the hurt. Then our protégés can exercise their wings, take flight, and soar to the heights God intended for them. 

Strong. I often think my parents are being too sheltering, protective and clinging too tight to my brother and I. It's hard on us and quite frankly it restricts us from maturing, experiencing life and learning to take care of ourselves. It is hard to deal with, not only for me, but for Jeff as well. I've talked to my mum about this issue in the past, and I know her and my dad are putting in effort to improve. I just thought this application articulated my thoughts so well. It's so important to give someone space to grow and learn, no matter how much you love them. Just thoughts. 

Sunday 2 March 2014

Last week of holidays in photos

Dad comes back from Canada, mum cooks him a feast! We love crab!

Pec flys - did three of them and the next day my
pecs were hurting :(

Jeff does not look happy, but on the inside he is radiating because
he's so happy he gets to spend time with me

Auntie Alice's birthday dinner. Bumped into Huldah and her friends
there. Lots of yummy Japanese food.

The best place to get three colour drink! So
refreshing in this hot weather!

We were craving pho.

Hotpot buffet. So good, but so much food.

pandan//chocolate//coconut//green tea crepes. which one should
we make? We ended up going pandan. 


Ikea to get decorations for the party. Purchased
mandatory hotdogs on the way out :)

The best laksa for only $9.50. I am definitely coming back for more!

Last Saturday night of holidays spent with two awesome people.
Mandatory selfie. I had fun guys, I had fun.