bonjour brightside

rafael nadal won!!!! HOOORAY!! that was a well-deserved win after a gruelling and protracted 5h 12min match. i am sorry that verdasco had to lose on a double fault, but rafa’s game was amazing. ive never seen a human being run like that for a ball. rafa was caught on camera tossing a dandelion in the air on his break and making a wish…. well i guess his wish came true

tomorrow dinara safina plays serena williams. i am supporting safina! they interviewed her on TV and she was super adorable

interviewer: what does it feel like to play in the finals?

safina: to play against serena, to have a chance at becoming the world number one…. i don’t know, maybe i’ll buy chocolate cake.

i totally agree. tennis players are so cute! after this weekend i promise i will study…..

we’ve had shocking weather this week- soaring temperatures of 43-45 degrees Celsius for the past 3 days!!! it is insanity. i haven’t been sleeping decently for many nights now….and i ate a 1L tub of icecream in 3 days. i hope this crazy weather clears up soon

i am 2 weeks into neurosurgery and having been spending close to 12 hours a day in hospital and half-living in scrubs but i kind of love it! haha no i’m not saddistic or anything but surgery is pretty much growing on me…. it is kind of exhilarating when you get to see brains and spinal cords up close and get involved in the action. and i’ve learnt so much in a short time, and hanging out with kristy and kai is super fun and we’re always laughing at something/somebody…. hilarious!!

notes to self:

1. do not become crap GP who makes crap referrals to neurosurgery clinic. ie not all leg numbness is neurological in origin!

2. if you are blond and wear fake eyelashes, 5 inch wedges and fake tan, no one will take you seriously. much less think of you as a doctor

3. if you are a supercool kickass no-nonsense female neurosurgeon, you can get away with pretty much anything.

p.s. i am currently watching the Aus Open semi-finals now and it’s an intense match. i want nadal to go through but verdasco is putting up such a good fight. the first set took 75 mins(?!) and they just deuced for like the 5th time. nadal is playing an amazing game i want him to win so so badly

today is chinese new year, according to the lunar calendar. today i said goodbye, over the phone, to my grandmother, who passed away after a long fight with liver disease. my mother told me that this was perhaps the saddest and happiest chinese new year we’ve ever had. she told me not to cry because everyone was at my grandmother’s bedside ushering in the new year with her. it was what my grandmother wanted. she was so happy seeing everyone that she cried tears of joy.

this is the fourth chinese new year that ive had to spend away from home. ordinarily, i would have just sucked it up because my family is in my heart, and it’s not that big a deal…. only this time i think it is, because i didn’t get to see my grandmother, i wanted to hold her hand and tell her that i love her. i want to be there for my father because i can’t imagine how excruciating it must be to watch his mother go. my heart is broken but i know my grandma would want me to smile for her. i miss you mama! i miss you very much, rest in peace.

i just made chocolate pudding cake! it was a sloppy effort considering i only spent 30 minutes or so gnashing about with the ingredients, and it turned out a little more cakey than puddingy, but still delicious. yum! next time i’ll add more water to get that self-saucing pudding effect. i’m so glad my baking streak has been revived, it’s been ages since i last baked (not counting chicken).  i’m wondering if i should bake cupcakes or cookies next?

anyway the recipe can be found here, it’s really simple and worth a shot, if you crave chocolate cake like i do. and you don’t even need eggs. or butter. :p

AHHHHH tomorrow i start my first rotation. i’m more scared than excited really, my clinical skills are rustier than the sunken titanic and i havent been doing any reading that is even remotely related to medicine. i am not a fan of medical journals, truth be told. i would much rather flick through the glossy pages of Vogue than pore over the BMJ. don’t get me wrong, i do love med, for me its not about the reading, it’s about the doing. but of course you have to know before you can do (things correctly)… so it looks like i can’t escape the reading! ooh and speaking of fashion and medicine, i came across this interview in NYmag with Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz. he’s funny.

I wanted to go out of fashion, to study medicine. I thought, you know, who needs fashion? How important is it if you wear a red dress and an orange jacket? It’s not really. But it is important for that woman, she will find a nice fur coat and it will make her happy, she will have a better day. Our job is to give you comfort, to hug you with clothes. I always tell this story a woman told me, that every time she wears Lanvin, men fall in love with her.”

i love how he says “hug you with clothes”. i never thought of it that way, but i want to be hugged with clothes. engulfed in a giant wool scarf in the harshest of winters. i guess fashion has oft been regarded as ’superficial’ but i really do think it’s more than that. and i say that because dressing better inspires my confidence and makes me feel like i am better equipped to take on the challenges of the world…. and one day i would like to wear Lanvin (and Balmain and Valentino too. a girl can dream! teehee)

anyway tomorrow will be interesting! i’m so psyched that i’m in final year!!!! but that comes with the responsibility of doing things well and teaching the 3rd years… i remember this amazing 5th year louise who used to teach me how to examine patients properly, patiently correcting my technique and giving me useful critique that i still remember to this day. i really hope i’ll be useful to patients and to my juniors (and that means i have to start reading talley and kumar all over again.) i’m am going to have to get used to the wards again but i know i will love it- interacting with patients, seeing everyday miracles and just basking in the sheer privilege of being a part of other people’s lives. yes i know i love it.

ok i shall go do work now. i have watched the entire season 1 of samantha who?, and it is so funny. i love samantha! she is so endearingly cute.

annnnd. i leave you all with this SUPER HILARIOUS KARAOKE VIDEO called TUTS MY BARREH (go figure). watch it please?? please?