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 :) 

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. 

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.

Konnichiwa Food Day

It was a total coincidence that J and I had Japanese for the two main meals of the day. We went to Ku-O for lunch after visiting a cake equipment shop to stock up on some essentials. On the menu was teriyaki don and fishcake, cuttlefish and tofu fish oden. I was so bummed that they didn't serve skewers until 3:30pm. The oden was not worth our money - next time no Ku-O for lunch. I'm keen for the drinks and dessert though! One day, when I'm loaded. 

Dinner with J and his mum was a spontaneous thing - Auntie Alice suggested Ren. Traditionally, I'm not a fan of this place, simply because the food doesn't speak to me on the menu. There are abstract items named in Japanese which are not explained. In the end, we let J do the ordering. He asked for agedashi tofu, karaage chicken, aburi salmon, aburi eel and spider roll. I preferred this combination a lot more than a huge main meal. It was a lot of food - very filling. They didn't do the karaage chicken as well as Ann Bar Gyoza, but their aburi salmon was delicious. We had an enjoyable meal, and I was glad to be able to catch up with Auntie Alice as well. 

One thing's for sure: I won't be having Japanese food in a while now!

A new start to a new year

Hard work produces nice results. In this situation, this was the case. It took me days to move furniture, wipe dust off everything, buy storage boxes, find space for storage, move everything into storage, chuck things away, vacuum and take photos, because quite frankly, I'm a hoarder. When I sort through my stuff, I'd say less than 20% of it actually gets thrown away (which is already pretty good). These couple of days have been tiring, cleaning constantly and having my parents pester me about getting it done just because they don't like the sight of things in the corridor/on my floor. 

Alas, I have completed my job, with the help of my trusty boyfriend Jeffy. He did all the stuff guys do (e.g. tightening handles on my old desk, moving my bookshelf, build the desk + bookshelf). 

I LOVE the bookshelf that the desk attaches to! Such a nice and simple way to display my things and have them
close without having to clutter my workspace! I used the Rejoice cup (courtesy of Huldah and BD) to hold my
stationary, and an organiser frame thing from Muji to hold random things that aren't pens (e.g. cute totoro!)

The two empty spaces below are for my uni books for when I start. 

Down below to store random things.
The holes in the bookshelf is so convenient for cords to reach my power bar. 

I decided to hang fairy lights that my friend Borthi gave me for Christmas!
They're so pretty to look at with lights off.

This dish was $1 from a garage sale! What a bargain. It's holding my earrings now :) 

All in all, getting this desk was a good idea, and I'm so glad it could FINALLY happen. 

I'm ready for study now!!! 

Ikea - the one stop shop

I've thought long and hard about this - to desk, or not to desk? That is the question. I have decided to get it, for several reasons: a) I've wanted an external monitor for a while (my mac is not big enough to open many articles and documents especially when I am working on an assignment) and my current desk is not deep enough to fit one, b) it's aesthetic and functional (will hold all my stuff), c) I need a change. I bought the expedit in white, so it'll look different to the picture below.

I finally took the step to get someone to come pick up my old desk so now there's a gap in my room - it's kind of good to have more space, but I'm very keen to start assembling the new desk. I'm doing a massive cleanup this week and putting old things away into storage. Getting ready for a new year!

Right/top: J being a man and doing the heavy lifting.
Bottom: We couldn't resist ($1 for each item) - I gotta say, Ikea knows
how to do business. It's a win win situation really.

So happy it's finally happening!!!!

After ikea, we went to DR Lee's house to have lunch. He's so hospitable and cooked for a bunch of us. Here is his classic udon with bak choi and balls. 

Books, books and more books!

When you're somewhat of a bookworm, on holidays and have some extra cash to spare (not in my case) why not head off to the local bookfest? I had never seen so many books in one space all my life! The books were sorted into paperback fiction, hardcover fiction, comics, reference books, Australia, cooking, crafts and gardening, games, rare and collectables, history, war and vehicles, music, health, new age and comedy, sci-fi, religion, foreign languages (I might have missed some). 

I had a really good time trying to see if anything tickled my fancy. I had a pretty big pile of books by the time I finished, but I cut it down to three in the end. Jeffy was so good carrying all the books for me (a good 1.5 hours spent doing so) and hanging around even when next to none of it interested him. I knew from the start that he would be bored, yet he trodded along patiently and happily. Here are some photos of our adventure. Enjoy!

For some reason we found an awful lot of these books (not just in this pile but scattered throughout the paperback
fiction section. I figured that this series is either a) very popular or b) unwanted by a lot of people.

Here is J looking through a meat cookbook. He wanted me to buy it and cook him the food in it. I told him I could
but in the end he didn't want to buy it because he was determined not to buy anything. I think he was just
craving some meat because we had fish + veges + rice for lunch. I was getting pretty hungry by the end of the browse.

The three books I ended up purchasing!

The Shakespeare Curse; by J. L. Carrell ($5)

A brutally murdered body is discovered on a remote Scottish hillside - with a mysterious knife beside it. The victim was a beautiful young woman, throat slashed by an unknown assailant. The circumstances of the murder suggest ancient pagan sacrifice. Then a trench on that same hill is found filled with blood. The shocking discoveries seem to be linked by the ancient curse of Macbeth. From the streets of New York to the twisting corridors of Hamptom Court Palace to a remote loch in the Scottish Highlands, the race is on to stop a deadly modern serial killer who will do anything to uncover priceless ancient treasures... 

Soups and Breads; by Jane Price ($10)

From light and zippy soups to more substantial main meals, and accompanied by delicious bread recipes, Soups and Breads offers a tantalising array of dishes for every occasion, no matter what the season. Some soups I am keen to try out are: Ratatouille and Pasta Soup, Vietnamese Combination Seafood Soup and the New England Clam Chowder. 

The DaVinci Code - Special Illustrated Collector's Edition; Dan Brown ($6)

Harvard professor Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call while on business in Paris: the elderly curator of the Louvre, Jacques Saunière, has been brutally murdered inside the museum. Alongside the body, police have found a series of baffling codes. As Langdon and a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, begin to sort through the bizzarre riddles, they are stunned to find a trail that leads to the works of Leonardo da Vinci - and suggests the answer to a mystery that stretches deep into the vault of history.

Langdon suspects the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion - a centuries-old secret society - and has sacrificed his life to protect the Priory's most sacred trust: the location of a vastly important religious relic hidden for centuries. But it now appears that Opus Dei, a clandestine sect that has long plotted to seize the Priory's secret, has made its move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine code and quickly assemble the pieces of the puzzle, the Priory's secret - and a stunning historical truth - will be lost forever.

In this exclusive edition Dan Brown allows the reader behind scenes of the novel, which now incorporates over 150 photographs and illustrations throughout the text showing the rich historical tapestry from which he drew his inspiration. The visual sources, which provide both the backdrop and the stimulus for the novel's action, are revealed for the first time and uniquely complement the reading experience. 

What's been happening these days? Quite a few things. As J makes the transition to a FT job, there are several major changes to be made - one of them being selling the car. He bought it a bit more than a year ago around the time when we started dating. I guess I will always associate this car with this period of time. :) J washed and waxed the car just so we could take a few 'glamour shots' at night time (apparently darkness brings out the shine). I must admit, this one looks pretty good :D Apart from the memories, I will probably miss the tight suspension and recaros the most. I won't miss the 2 doors, tiny glove box and power distribution. 

Honda Civic Type R

Last Sunday I had Max for dinner with J, Wells, Charles, VChan, Calvin and Jason. It was quite a meal - VChan had a whole chicken to himself... not surprised. I haven't had this in a while, so it was delicious! It was nice having dinner with the guys. 

Speaking of chicken, my mum was unwell so my brother made this massive chicken. It was cooked to perfection. I deboned and cut it all up for us to eat. 

Borthi came back from Bali and gave us these bracelets.
Triplets!

You know those bubbles J and I made (previous post), we made it for real this Sunday for the Children's Holiday Program at church. It was not as successful as the ones we made previously, but still good. It was so nice to see the kids have fun :) 

When hungry, eat 2 minute noodles.

Holiday read - Almost finished Allegiant, and just started the Goldsworthy Trilogy. I just wanna read more! This is pretty much the only time of the year when I can dedicate chunks of time to reading, so I hope to make the most of it.