First experience.

I was in the clinic the other day, and have my first volunteer patient in my third year of studies. I can say albeit I am nervous, I look forward to it!

My patient is over 60 years old female who is really friendly and lovely to talk to.

As usual, I start off by "Hi, are you Mrs ____? I'm Anna and will be testing you today." She is nice and we went to by asking her "How are you? And did you have a nice weekend?". (FYI: We had a module about communication skill.)

Later, she told me, "Anna is my favourite name." I'm so happy and replied "Thank you". Then we had a little chat then continue with my routine.

First she told me about her complain and I'll try to fix it. I checked her vision and I cannot go any further than what normally we get. She kept telling me that she sees double vision in one eye. I checked her muscle balance and she does not has any problem, at all.

The nerves ran up and my super-nice supervisor came in to my cubicle. I told him what I've done and can never get any further for her vision. Questions that he asked me gave me a really blank-mind and all that I answered was trial-and-error. *I feel ashamed in front of my patient!!*

After that, I check the back of the eye, then I discover that there's something in front of her retina. It looks like floaters of clog of fibres to me. "Ah-ha! That's the reason why she sees double in one of her eyes!" Not entirely the problem that I am bad in doing it.

The result is that she has Cortical Cataracts. Something like this:

I can see streaks floating around the viewing media. It scatters the light that went into the eyes, so that is the reason why she sees double in one of her eyes.

It was a REALLY good experience and she is a wonderful patient who is really patient of what I did. She made my day!

Leave a comment if there's any question about the eye that you would like to ask!

Malaysian Food in Glasgow (2nd Edition): Rumours Kopitiam

Being far from home always makes you feel like eating something that reminds you of it. I'm from a city named Kuching, an urban city on the Island of Borneo, which has lots of affordable and yummy food for you to taste, day to night, all day long!

There's a few authentic Sarawak food that I missed. Sarawak Laksa, Belacan Beehoon, Sotong Kangkong, and Kolo Mee, to name a few.

Here in Glasgow, there's a Malaysian Restaurant- Rumours Kopitiam. It's a place where I can eat food (not all) from home. Some of the authentic one is Nasi Lemak, Mee Goreng (Fried Noodles), Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice), and Curry, to name a few.

This is kind of like our starter. Quite heavy though. Good.

Fried Chicken Wings. Behind: Red-Ice Blended Watermelon Pearl; Yellow: Mango Sago

Me with my Singapore Laksa Noodles and a glass of Mango Sago. Singapore Laksa is different from what I get from home, the Sarawak Laksa. Singapore Laksa, I would say, more of the curry taste where as Sarawak Laksa has more coconut milk and sambal. I personally prefer Sarawak Laksa, though the Singapore Laksa served at Rumours Kopitiam taste pretty much authentic and good.

Tips: If you like spicy food and would not want to have rice, you can order this Singapore Laksa which is worth a try. It's served with mussels, fish cake, prawns, bean sprouts, as well as some meat.

Rumours Kopitiam.

There quite a lot of their menu I've tried. I will try more in future. And, just a quick review, I went there 2 years ago, click here to see!

x.o.x.o

There are songs that you sing with
There are songs that you dance with
But there's always one song that you always love
It's the song that you first heard of.

Pleased.

Checked my mail at the security office. I used to have lots of mail hence they already know my name. This is my third year with Caledonian Court.

And, I finally receive my Backstreet Boys new album, which just launched in UK last week! The new album titled "THIS IS US". It's a deluxe version I own.

Some of you might think, "What? Backstreet Boys?? Be a grown up!". Ya, I know, I know. They are my first favourite boy band and I first knew them when I was 10! Imagine that! They might be too pop and a bit cheesy, I still like them!

I'm enjoying my new songs now! With their new song, "Straight Through My Heart".

Berlin, an overview.

I've promised a blog about my recent travels. Went to Germany and Italy in mid-September with my family. BERLIN is my first stop.

The Brandenburg Gate (German: Brandenburger Tor), is the icon of Berlin. If you have not seen this, you've not been to Berlin. Behind this Unter den Linden, the boulevard of the city. And the part where I tool this pic, which divided by the gate is Ebertstraße. Lucky for me, the weather is good hence any picture would perform well.

[BTW: all these pictures were taken with Canon Powershot G10, and I am satisfied with its performance, except the fact that I've resize them]

Spare some time, sitting at the fountain near the gate, looking at people, have a nice break, just makes you feels good while traveling. Noted in the picture, I was doing some jump. It just came across my mind that I should do so though there's lots of people wander about. :P

Then, another must go place is Potsdamer Platz. It's kind of like the Time Square of Berlin, though not as busy. Platz, simply means square in German. This place is modern, with sky-scrappers surrounding you, feel as if you are in a young city!

This is a place I like!

Somewhere round the corner, is the Sony Centre, very upfront and intelligent architecture.

The umbrella-like roof will closes itself when it rains. It is structured beautifully! Though it's by the name of Sony Centre, but there's IMAX, Flim Museum and restaurant there!

Normally, before I travel, I will use Google Earth to my research of places. Otherwise I will buy a travel book. It really helps me a lot. I am quite good in sense of direction so sometimes even when I am in a foreign city, I still roughly know which direction to go, left or right as soon as I come up of a tube station. It all depends very much of my picture memory of map, with hint from the pictures of buildings and places, comparing to those I see on the spot!

Long story short, I saw a picture online then I google-ed how to go there.

Legoland Discovery Centre! The giraffe is made of Lego!! I love Lego when I was a kid! I am sure many of you does.

Look at the eye lashes of the giraffe! So cute! Then I saw my all-time-favourite-scientist, Albert Einstein! These makes me feels like a kid. I am as happy as a child!

And not to forget, somewhere there, we saw part of the Berlin Wall. If you know a bit of German history, spill out more to me! In 1949, the Federal Republic of Gemany was founded in West Germany, and eventually included all of the American, British and French zones, but excluded those three countries' zones of Berlin, while the Marxist-Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany. This is it:

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Well, I'm not finish yet. There's more about Berlin that you have to know. I am sleepy yet more coursework to do, so I will continue next time. Check frequently!

On your own... abroad

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

Just watched a Taiwan variety show online, and it talked about id study abroad is better than studying in your hometown. What's the difference?

Personally, I still think, it depends on how you live with it. On your own out there isn't as easy as many people think. I know it's a chance to get away from parents, enjoying your total freedom. I think that is a bit childish.

At home, everything is so convenient, you get a car, live with people you used to be with, and you can stay with your parents always. This is what I miss when I am out here on your own.

Same thing with travel, if travel alone and saw something really pretty, you cannot share it with your companion, and just keep all to yourself. Bringing pictures back from holidays, is a sharing moment but a totally different feeling.

When you are on your own, you learn to be independent, get to travel to different places (like me), experience different culture, and be a grown up! No matter what, know what you are doing, know what you want and live the best out of it!

p= F/A

I start to feel it.
The weight on my shoulder.
I have to overcome this throughout the year.

Just read some core instructions,
it sounds scary,
though at the end,
it says "Enjoy as much as you can!"

There's so many 'must' around,
number of clinics,
number of patients,
number of dispensing,
number of prerequisite,
number of lectures,
number of seminars..

Will get to see real patients,
hope I can communicate well with them,
though English not my first language.

'Revise before lecture',
is what I see often.
'Read again after lecture',
is not too remote either.
Can I possibly do that every now and then?

I will provide the best service,
learn the most,
and outshine myself!