Singapore

the few of us went for a short trip to Singapore right after our exams, mainly to see Red off to Adelaide. i had such a great time although i was only there for 2 days.

Singapore this time around was just... different. perhaps it was the company (no family this time), a little less shopping (rather, no shopping at all), no 5-star hotel stay along orchard road (ymca instead- which is actually on orchard too. i know! ymca! me! but it was worth it) and for the first time ever, i travelled there by the ktm train (10 hours one way yo). our money was well spent on food (especially at mayim!), transportation, the zoo and the science center. haha. eh we are cool geeks ok?

now for SOME of the pictures! as usual, stolen off Michelle & Kwan's facebook albums.

(btw these were all taken on the first day, in case you think we so dirty never change clothes. hmph.)

Bugis Sq...

...while waiting for bao to join us...

...where kwan found his niche.

lunch at this quaint little cafe called Food For Thought where we were stuffed with pork. pork!

the singapore national library. i tell you if we had this here, i would've been top student or something.

singapore zoo! now who doesn't love going to the zoo!

beautiful white tigers. my favourite.

huge lily pads!

hawker food at makansutra gluttons bay. treated by howai's very generous friend david. happy happy!

the esplanade.

the singapore night skyline.

on the mrt (lrt?) going to changi.

goodbye red & jankee :( enjoy clinicals in adelaide while i bum until september. hahaha.

giant kaleidoscope at the singapore science center!

End of a Chapter

i have officially moved out of Vista. left my empty room slightly teary-eyed and with a heavy heart. i can't believe it has been 2.5 years since i moved into that place. can't believe it has been 2.5 years since i started this course and met all these wonderful people who had made it possibly the best 2.5 years of my whole and entire life. can't believe i am a half-doctor now! :) (well technically i am 1/3rd a doctor thanks to all the waiting i have to do before i move on to clinicals. but i'm not complaining.)

i loved my life in IMU. sure, there were some piles of shit that i stepped on, but the friends i have made just compensated for all the unfortunate events that had taken place throughout my time there. it was also when i actually realised how much i love medicine (exams aside) and how i wouldn't give this up for anything else. i just can't see myself doing anything else.

i'm just SO... SO happy; and most importantly, i have no regrets.

:)

because i'm feeling rather nostalgic, here are pictures of some of my favourite moments of 2008 with my IMU friends:

1) CNY "reunion" dinner! we didn't go back for CNY because it was 4 days before our EoS 3! terrible, right? nonetheless we had each other so it wasn't that depressing.

2) post-EoS 3! we passed! our short trip to Penang. this is at david brown's strawberry hill which is simply gorgeous.

3) the IMU Ball!

4) BIRTHDAYS!!!!!!!

my fabulous 21st. haha.

Teong Rhen's "surprise"

Adrian & Yilin's! this is Merv not Adrian. Adrian doesn't like to take pictures. =/

Priya & Divya's surprise party at their home

Ho Wai's green party

Pei Shern's 21st @ The Attic

Red & Tracy's @ The Maple

Ben's. ok Ben i'm sorry i had to superimpose your face on Kwan's but i really don't have a picture of us together at your party =P

Michelle's krayzeh birthday at Putrajaya

Kwan's halal cheena birthday celebration

5) The Lord of the Rings Symphony by the MPO. good stuff.

6) winning IMU Cup! :)

7) Christmas Eve! 1 week before EoS 5.

will blog more tomorrow! singapore trip and the start of farewells.

... and I am done.

Thank you:

God. for being faithful and assuring. for Your peace and Your strength. for Your word. and mostly, for Your grace.

Mum & dad. for being so understanding and encouraging. for the many trips made to KL just to provide me with home-cooked food.

Teong Rhen. for always being there.

IMU friends. for the good times in the library & osce practices (i know, how ironic). for all the fun & laughter. for all the food-hunting & shopping/movie trips. for upholding each other in spirit pre-exam. for being the best of friends for the past 2.5 years.

Priscilla, Jiang Mun & Eli. for all the kind words. :)

Church people. for the prayers.

Eu Yan Sang. for your very powerful chicken essence with gingko.

IMU. for the memories, both good and bad (but mostly good).
....

Manchester, here I come! :)

(now to really start cracking my head on what to do until September.)

p/s: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! haha my 2009 officially starts!

Your light will shine when all else fades.

so this is it.

just a pass please.

a decent pass.

i surrender.